History lessons are often incredibly simple.

by Paul E. Marek

I used to know a man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II. They owned a number of large industries and estates. I asked him how many German people were true Nazis, and the answer he gave has stuck with me and guided my attitude toward fanaticism ever since.

"Very few people were true Nazis," he said, "but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories." 

We are told again and again by experts and talking heads that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unquantifiable assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. 

The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars world wide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or execute honor killings. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard, quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful majority" is the "silent majority," and it is cowed and extraneous. 

Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people. The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a war-mongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across Southeast Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians - most killed by sword, shovel and bayonet. And who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery? Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peace loving"? 

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt; yet, for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points. Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by the fanatics. Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because, like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun. 

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Bosnians, Afghanis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians and many others, have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. As for us, watching it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts: the fanatics who threaten our way of life. 

RESPONSE

My Journey For Your Freedom!

On this day, the struggle to maintain freedom in our country continues! From the moment the Declaration of Independence was signed, our independence, the precious freedoms in it instantly became vulnerable to erosion to the ambitions of the self-centered, and the power-hungry. 
 

You are all a very lucky people to have been born in the land of the free! But I must question on this day, especially in these times when this all important freedom is so severely threatened, does your passion still resonate in every cell of your being as it did inside your ancestors, who over two hundred years ago secured this incredible thing called freedom? Are you still so in love with your country, that you feel your blood boil when someone questions its dignity?……And does it humble you to your knees, when you pledge allegiance to your flag? 
 

I would like to believe my birth-land of Hungary endured what it did, so our America may not have to. It gives me a bit of comfort to think it was not for nothing, that a once large and strong country was reduced to shambles…at the whim of people we though were smart! To stand here and think that I might have something of importance to offer makes me wonder, perhaps my journey was necessary not only for my freedom, but maybe for yours as well! My question to you today is: I know your eyes are open,…….but do you truly see?
 

At the end of World War II Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, with pen in hand changed the destinies of eight sovereign nation, and took the God given right of men to freedom from millions. Nations suddenly fell under total Soviet rule,...and their only guilt was their geography. We were given to slavery by important men who didn't know us, didn't understand our history,...and frankly didn't care what Stalin will do with us. The Red army marched trough without opposition. They intimidated and plundered, they took the food from the mouths of starving children, they ripped earrings out of women's ears, slammed their babies against walls if they cried. Fathers, brothers, and husbands were shot on the spot, if they tried to protest as their women were raped in front of them.

In one of the ancient Hungarian cities is a marble plaque that reads:

 
They came believing in the revolution,

They asked for a hopeful future

Cannons, tanks, and machine guns answered them.

On October 26, 1956, it is in this place they received their fatal wounds.

They were regular citizens who loved their country, and they did not set out to become heroes. Most of them were barely adults, and they were killed, because they dreamed of freedom. The Hungarian revolution was not an organized event, it happened spontaneously, it contiguously swept through the entire country within hours. The gathering and actions of the students was looked at as a threat to the regime, the Soviet army rolled in with tanks, and the revolution became bloody. 
 

At age three I didn't understand the significance, nor the impact on the country and its people when the Red army tanks snaked through the city streets, but I saw the fear on my parent's faces, and I heard them ask what will become of my brothers who fought against the invaders. I saw the helplessness...as the world around me became uncertain. 
 

The revolution failed, and the aftermath was unimaginable terror. The Iron Curtain tightly shut down the borders to keep people, and information from moving in either direction. Those who fought for the country's freedom became enemies of the state. The police used photographs taken during the revolt to identify everyone involved. There were many who waited for the arrival of the falsely announced American troops. Inside Hungary desperation and fear was so great, that mothers drugged their babies to keep them quiet while crossing the border, and young children suffocated as parents tried to keep them from crying, while the guards walked only a few feet from their faces, as entire groups laid in the mud holding their breath. In a country of only about 10 million people, 200.000 citizens of Hungary in danger of persecution walked across the border into Austria, and over the next five years, scattered throughout the world looking to make a life for themselves. 
 

Information was dangerous in those days, and the truth was difficult to find. Parents feared telling their children anything, to speak the truth in front of them, a slip of the tongue could make any person disappear. We acquiesced when they forced on us their ideology. As a people we were spiritually numb when they prohibited church attendance, and we watched in silence while they removed the crosses from all buildings and replaced them with their red stars. Our flag became bare in its stripes of red, white, and green, without the crest of the kingdom,...as it fluttered in shame,...under the soviet flag. 
 

Everything was nationalized! They said: it all belongs to the people now! First the banks, followed by industry, energy, health-care, agriculture, restaurants, hotels, the corner store, were no longer in private hands. WE WERE FORCED TO GIVE UP OUR GUNS……THEN THEY TOOK ALL OUR FREEDOMS, AND OUR COUNTRY! 
 

It was illegal not to work! The people worked hard for their meager existence, and the government took the profit to feed the Swiss bank accounts of those at the top, and the mighty Soviet machine so it can become a world superpower. Nearly in an instant millions were made dirt poor, displaced, living in complete insecurity, fearing the government…. and each other,…as 40,000 neighbors turned paid informants. We called them the "whisperers" because under the cover of night they went to the government to whisper their information! 
 

It became unlawful to speak against the government, or to tell a political joke. If you showed dismay, you became the enemy of the state, and were picked up in the middle of the night. Most people ended up in Budapest in a place we all knew simply by it's address, as Andrassy Ut 60, which today is a museum called The House of Terror. Most of them were never seen again. 
 

My family set out to make the desperate crossing ourselves, but my uncle in fear for my life put his foot down and told my parents they would have to leave me behind. Returning to our home we found it empty, furniture, dishes, clothes, everything was gone, we had nothing left but the clothes on our backs.

The government assigned us to a barrack where we shared the shower and toilets with 50 work-men. We were marked, and our future was dismal. Under those conditions my parents would forever work for the bare minimum, and the government would control where we live, how often we move, how much education I would be allowed. By the time I was 15, we were moved 11 times, and I attended 6 schools in 8 years. 
 

In 1963 the government feeling the possibility of unrest, in fear of another uprising tried to create the feeling of openness, transparency, and gave amnesty to all the freedom fighters. To show how open we suddenly became, they gave passports to a handful of people to visit relatives in the west. My mother received a passport to visit my brothers. After her return, the following year my father had permission to visit the US, He never set foot on Hungarian soil again. 
 

With my father in the West, my Mother and I were harassed and questioned by the police regularly. We were threatened with jail and work-camp, if we didn't convince my father to return. We never asked him to come home, on his return he would have been jailed for life. I wanted to leave and we applied for passports. After our application we were followed by agents, and the police came to get us frequently to parade us through the city, to the police station for questioning. This continued for five years. 
 

Between Christmas and New Year's in 1968 the police came for me. The chief wanted me alone for questioning! He put a paper in front of me and demanded I sign it without allowing me time to read. At age 15 I refused to put my signature on that paper without first reading it! While the chief was screaming at me for my defiance, I read the paper in which I was going to give up my Hungarian citizenship. I took the pen and wrote on the bottom margin that under no circumstance am I willing to give up my Hungarian citizenship,…and then I signed the paper. 
 

This pushed the chief to his limit, he was covered in sweat as he screamed at me when my mother, who was a tiny woman came busting through the door. Looking confused, almost disoriented, he told us we were both leaving, stating the country will be better off without us, and to our astonishment he gave us a month to leave the country. On my way out he grabbed my arm and he spun me around to face him, his last words to me stuck with me to this day. He said: "We do not need your kind, you are the type who can cause revolutions". I stand steady in my convictions, and of them all freedom is most important to me……based on that, perhaps the chief was a wise man! 
 

₪

I AM AN IMMIGRANT. In recent years most Americans think of immigrants as poor people, undereducated, in search of a financially better life, coming to the United States for the opportunity of work. Today that is mostly correct, but going back a few decades, immigrants came to America for entirely different reasons. We were seeking liberty! Poor we could deal with, that was the smallest of our problems. We came with broken wings and broken spirits from lands controlled by tyrants where we had no hope for a brighter future, and we, the lucky ones who did get out, came here to take refuge under the protective comfort of the Constitution. We did not come to change America, we came with respect for its laws, language, and we are proud to Pledge Allegiance to the flag! 
 

We loved our homeland, yet, we fully dedicated our allegiance to a foreign land we did not know, we came deeply thankful for the sanctuary of its freedom, and the graciousness of its people for allowing us the privilege to live here. Most immigrants struggle for years to enter this country legally, struggle to learn English, but in time we adopt this country as our own. We learn its ways, we honor the blood that is shed for this soil, and we jealously guard over, and protect the freedoms of this country. 
 

My three children were born here in freedom with the birthright to speak their minds, form opinions, and dare to dream of limitless possibilities knowing that if they are willing to focus and work hard enough, anything is within their reach. It is all up to them and not the government to determine their futures. 
 

Through the decades I watched the very freedoms I would have swam an ocean for slowly recede. Little-by-little, all taken from us through more government control, programs, and regulations, with the promise "We will take care of you". I heard this song before! It sounded out of tune when I was a child, and now, in this place and time, it is like the repeating tune you cannot get out of your head, it lingers and becomes irritating, but you can't put it to rest because you know in your gut the message is so wrong that the patriot inside you keeps pushing the replay button until he forces you to finally scream in protest,...and causes you to act. 
 

And act we must! According to the Declaration of Independence it is our right "whenever any form of government becomes destructive, it is the right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness". To fail to realize the government's illegal or treasonous actions, and not to act is illegal or treason on the part of the governed, and if we do not act, we will be forced to stand in shame in front of our children and grandchildren, who's freedoms we so easily betrayed!!! 
 

I came from where we are heading, and this road was paved by tyrants.

I have been through a revolution, lived the consequences of the people turning a blind eye to the wrongs their government, and their courts have done. I fought, stood up against a communist regime, for five years I looked evil in the eye to get away from the corruption! They threatened me with work-camp, tried to intimidate me by shaming me in front of the city, but I kept my dignity, and in the end I didn't sneak across any border, rather with my head high, I walked away as they watched with envy, each of them wishing they could live inside my skin that day…and I was only 16 years old!

₪
 

SOCIALISM!!!! Seams a perfect, equal system for all, a Shangri-La if you will, not realizing it is nothing but a bridge to Communism, which is total government control! Socialism at its best is corrupt, rotten to the core, a government without overseers! The idea of Socialism is not new in the United States, but it is not openly identified as such in the places it exists. If you live near by, drove through, or happen to live in the projects, you have seen and experienced Socialism in America! Government housing, government healthcare, government schools, government food stamps, and what you see there is as good as it gets, when the government decides what is good for the people, takes the power out of the hands of the people, and they spread the wealth. Our government imposed full blown Socialism on our inner cities, and in over fifty years hasn't been able to raise the living standard of those who live there! And look how happy and motivated are those, living in the projects with all that the government is providing for them. 
 

Is that the best we can dream for our children and grandchildren? Is that the America we want to see? I certainly hope not, but that is exactly what the government means when they tell you they want to spread the wealth. They will make us all poor by breaking down our economy, forcing on us taxation on a level never seen before, and if we don't like it and cause too much difficulty for them, at that point they will have the power to no longer tax us at all, simply take over completely, shut down the borders and impose full blown Communism. Not in America you might say! Think again, look around and see how much we lost just in the last year! 
 

We are citizens of this country first, and private citizens second! This citizenship comes with responsibilities! Keeping the Constitution intact, the freedoms in it, is our foremost responsibility. Citizenship is our birthright, but freedom is not, we have to be diligent in making sure it is not snatched from us in the midst of indifference, ignorance, or under the assumption that it is being properly looked after by our representatives in Washington. 
 

Our greatest enemies are not always those on the outside of our borders, sometimes, as today, they walk among us, pretend to serve, and represent us. Both parties have betrayed us, they both not only strayed from the Constitution, but trying to destroy it. We the people have sat in indifference too long, allowed our children to be indoctrinated by the left, making them believe their ancestors were terrible people committing terrible acts, placing doubt into young minds…questioning their parents' intent, rather than the government's! We turned a blind eye to corruption of government, our courts, and through political correctness they shamed us into shutting up, so no one will ever question or oppose, and feeling alone quietly stand watching the government enslave the people! We need to demand Constitutional correctness from our representatives! 
 

We are the mothers and fathers of this great land! As we would with our children in danger, we viciously, with our blood if needs to be, have to protect this soil we stand on from those who are limiting our rights and carelessly selling our country to foreigners. To those countries who are not our friends, nor supporters, they are in many cases our enemies, who are only worried about how they will get the return on their investment. The fall of this great country would cause them no emotional hardship at all, perhaps a gleeful grin of satisfaction over the idea that it was a job well done. The arrogant Americans got what they deserve. But we are not the arrogant Americans! Our corrupt politicians are! 
 

The most precious thing we have is our country, without it we have no home! Our founders swore to protect it from enemies outside our borders, and from the enemies within! Times may have changed, but human nature has not, money and power is still a lure for men of weak convictions. We need to recruit those who through the political evolution from George Washington to today managed to keep their spines intact, and are still able to stand upright with dignity, and willing to preserve the last bastion of freedom in the world. We need to judge all politicians guilty, until they prove to us they are PATRIOTS! 
 

These days we may be softer in our comforts then the early Americans were, but I can say with certainty, we do not love our country any less today, and I feel confident if we are called, now that we are called, we will not be less of a patriot than those who fought back then. Our commitment cannot be less than to offer our life if necessary. We have to have commitment on that level, even though we may not want to. Freedom is that important, ask anyone who knows what it's like not to have it! Most recently, look at the people of Iran!
 

This is the most dangerous time in our country's history, since the founding fathers fought for freedom, and laid the cornerstone for what is today the greatest country on earth! Our liberties have never been more on the brink of extinction than today. It is time for all eyes to be wide open, and believe what used to be unbelievable! The changes we see today have been coming for decades, but today they are meant to change our country's DNA, and cannot be allowed to continue. 
 

As a nation of diversity we have faced great challenges in our history, and we always overcame, remained strong, but today, NOW our country is in grave danger! It is time we take the loss of our freedoms, and the corruption in our government, and courts seriously, and finally stand together as the Americans we are, all citizens, all the races, all nationalities united, under the one flag of the United States of America, for the most important single cause of our lives…our freedom. 

Written by ILONA TROMMLER

Twenty-Eighth Amendment

Paul R. Hollrah, O.E.

The Twenty-Eighth Amendment

November 24, 2009

As a measure of how far Islam has come in its stated goal of subjugating and/or destroying the Christian world, consider what Winston Churchill wrote in The River War (First Edition, Vol. II). He said:

"The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, (Islam) is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome."

If Churchill were alive today he would be horrified to see that Christianity has not been "sheltered in the strong arms of science," as he predicted, and that the civilization of modern Europe has all but fallen to the forces of Islam. If he could see the streets of London, Liverpool, and Manchester today, teeming with hordes of Muslims, the unintended consequence of the British colonial era, and if he could see the extent to which Muslim populations on the European mainland are within striking distance of having effective political majorities, he would see it all as an act of war and take steps to counter it.

Former president Theodore Roosevelt expressed, albeit unwittingly, the American view of conquest by immigration in a January 3, 1919 letter to the American Defense Society. He said:

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...

 

"There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

The sentiments expressed by Roosevelt have not changed much in the last ninety years; they fairly represent the feelings of the vast majority of Americans...then and now. He would not understand how our treasured religious liberties have been used as a Trojan horse to undermine American society, not in the interest of freedom of religion, but most often to promote freedom from religion.

Yet, while American liberals continue their relentless attack on anything remotely connected to Christianity...even to the point of prohibiting the use of red and green paper at a pre-Christmas public school fundraising event...they lean over backward to accommodate the religious demands of Muslims, such as providing foot-washing facilities in public places, setting aside class time for Muslim prayer, and making dress code allowances for Muslim girls and women.

In his discussion of religious liberty in his best-selling book, Liberty and Tyranny, conservative commentator Mark R. Levin, tells us:

 

"A theocracy is not established if certain public schools allow their students to pray at the beginning of the day, or participate in Christmas or Easter assemblies; or if certain school districts transport parochial students to their religious schools as part of the district's bus route; or certain communities choose to construct a manger scene on the grounds of their town hall or display the Ten Commandments above their courthouse steps.

 

"The individual is not required to change his religious affiliation or even accept God's existence. He is not required to worship against his beliefs or even worship at all. Some might be uncomfortable or offended by these events, but individuals are uncomfortable all the time over all kinds of government activities. Some might oppose the use of their tax dollars to support these events. So what? Individuals oppose the manner in which government uses their tax dollars all the time. That does not make the uses unconstitutional.

"While all religions may not have similar access to these public places, they are largely free to conduct themselves as they wish, uninhibited by the community, as long as they do not engage in criminal or immoral practices…"

 

But it is the violent and criminal acts of Muslims...acts which they see as religious imperatives, while to Christians and Jews they are repugnant acts of violence...that concern us most. We are told again and again that Islam is a religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims want nothing more than to live in peace. Although this may be true in most cases, it is entirely irrelevant so long as peace-loving Muslims fail to stand up and expose the radicals in their midst. The Muslim who claims to love peace, but who ignores the radicalism he sees and hears in his mosque is just as guilty of terrorism as those who carry out terrorist attacks against innocents.

 

Today, it is the fanatics who rule Islam; who war against non-Muslims; who slaughter Christians and Jews around the world; who bomb, behead, murder, and honor-kill; who take over mosque after mosque and radicalize its members; who stone and hang rape victims and homosexuals; and who teach young men that they will have eternal joy in paradise...to say nothing of seventy-two virgins...if only they will strap bombs to their bodies and detonate them in crowded marketplaces. These are the things that the Koran teaches.

 

So, given the non-Christian, non-Judeo teachings of the Koran, what do we do about the millions of Muslims who are now flocking to our shores? Is it possible for Christians and Jews to coexist with Muslims if they are prohibited by the Koran from tolerating and accepting the religious teachings of the Christians and Jews who were here before them? How can we accept Muslims as Americans if they are unable, by adherence to the Koran, to assimilate fully into our society?

 

When the Founding Fathers drafted the First Amendment they had not the slightest inkling that one day an alien culture would come to our shores...an alien culture whose adherents feel free to capture innocent non-believers and slice their heads off, unrestrained by religious dictates or doctrines. Nor could they envision a time when an alien sub-culture would insist upon the right to murder wives, daughters, and sisters for no reason other than the cleansing of their family name.

 

The 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution tells us,

 

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

 

If Islam, as we know it today, had existed in the day of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and had Muslims been present in large numbers during the early years of our Republic, religious liberty would today be an entirely different matter. So perhaps it is now time for a Twenty-Eighth Amendment, to read:

 

"The right of the People to be secure in their persons and property shall not be abridged, and no person, or group of persons, may interfere or attempt to interfere in the right of others to pursue life, liberty, religious practice, or freedom of expression. No religious sect or denomination may advocate violent opposition to any other religious sect or denomination, or to the members thereof. Any religious sect or denomination which utilizes its religious freedoms in pursuit of political ends averse to the general welfare, at home or abroad, shall be in violation of this provision, shall forfeit the right to peaceably assemble, and shall not maintain places of worship."

 

Pope Benedict XVI has extended the hand of friendship to Islam, asking nothing in return but global reciprocity...the right of Christians and Jews to practice their religion in Muslim states, just as Muslims are allowed to practice their religion throughout the Christian world. Judging by the response, to date, there is little hope for the Pope's initiative. If we are to save our nation from total Islamization we must first have a president and congressional majorities who see the Islamic threat clearly and objectively.

 

Now that Obama has decided to give the 9/11 terrorists full constitutional rights in our American courts, it is all but a certainty that the greatest casualty will be a large measure of the goodwill that the American people have extended to the people of Islam.

Genuine Realism

Genuine Realism—A Sequel to "Wishful Thinking Realists"

Paul Eidelberg


Is it realistic to believe that while Islam is conquering Europe and spreading throughout America that there is an economic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, indeed, that making Palestinians prosperous will transform them into bourgeois democrats?   Is it not the case that many Islamic terrorists, including those that destroyed the World Trades Center, came from middle class families?

Is it realistic to think that a few million "Palestinians" are going turn their back on 1.5 billion Muslims on planet earth?   Is it realistic to believe that these Palestinians are going to trash their fourteen-century religion, overcome its equally long hatred of Jews, and genuflect to Bibi, who insists that they recognize Israel as a Jewish state?  This strikes me as a page from Alice-in-Wonderland—to put it kindly.

Of course, Bibi and his allies may be disingenuous, merely playing the "politics of peace."   Many politicians and pundits pose as "politically correct" because they lack the courage to be politically incorrect.  Like Hamlet said of men's conscience, "Islam doth make cowards of them all."  It takes intellectual probity to see Islam for what it is.  This is especially, but not exclusively, true of superficial secularists.  It's difficult for such secularists to take any religion seriously, especially one that strikes them as utterly alien and irrational.

If you ask any religious Jew whether genuine peace is possible between Israel and the Palestinians, I dare say nine out of ten will say no, and he will add that those who think otherwise are not realistic.

To clinch the argument, a large majority of Israel's own Arab citizens, who enjoy a relatively high standard of living and possess educational and professional opportunities unequalled in the Islamic world, identify with Israel's enemies and are therefore committed to Israel's demise—contrary to their own economic interests.

Genuine realism requires a candid theological understanding of Islam correlated with a candid review of Islamic history—a correlation of the Quran's venomous hatred of "infidels" and Islam's genocidal slaughter of Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, Hindu, and Armenian communities.

Genuine realists like philosopher Lee Harris and psychiatrist Wafa Sultan know that Islam's ethos of Jihad makes it an enemy of civilization.

Genuine realists know there are no evidentiary grounds to expect the Palestinians to renounce that Islamic ethos—the precondition of peace—and become bourgeois democrats, unless you so devastate them as to eradicate their desire to wage war for a hundred years—as the Allied powers did to Germany.

As indicated in "Wishful Thinking Realists," the economic approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is based on a Marxist mode of thought: the primacy of economics over religion.  Marxism involves a simplistic view of human nature.  By the way, one reason why Bibi is so lucid is because he is rather superficial.   Consider his insistence on "reciprocity" in negotiating with the Palestinian Authority.  What can these Arabs give Israel that is comparable to Israel's heartland, Judea and Samaria?  Assume Bibi knows this.  Then his talk about reciprocity is "politically correct" flapdoodle, which Arabs must surely laugh to scorn.

His talk about "reciprocity" has nothing to do with realism. If Bibi were a realist, he would know that a non-compromising approach to dealing with non-compromising Muslims is the only genuine realism.  Secure in his prestige as an orator, however, Bibi talks foreign policy; he does not make foreign—certainly not a Jewish foreign policy.

So he plays a game of "political correctness."  You can hardly expect him to say in public that Israel is confronted by a foe with which genuine peace is impossible?  He could confirm this "politically incorrect" position by recalling the Camp David Summit of July 2000, when Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered Yasser Arafat s a series of concessions including Israeli withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip and 95 percent of the West Bank; the subsequent creation of an independent Palestinian state in the aforementioned areas; the dismantlement of all Israeli settlements in those areas given to the Palestinians; land compensation outside of the West Bank for settlements to remain under Israeli sovereignty; and Palestinian rule over East Jerusalem and most of the Old City (excluding the Jewish Quarter) and "religious sovereignty" on the Temple Mount. In exchange, the agreement called for Arafat to declare an end to the conflict and a prohibition of future claims on Israeli land. Arafat rejected the proposal and made no counter-offer.

There's a little secret here.

No leader of the Palestinian Arabs is going to sign a peace treaty with Israel—will recognize Israel as a Jewish state—because he knows he will be assassinated soon thereafter as was Anwar Sadat.  Does Bibi know this?  Is this why he endorsed a Palestinian State?  If so, who is Netanyahu deceiving, and how many "politically correct" pundits are keeping his secret?

If this assessment is correct, does Bibi have any constructive plans for Israel's future, plans that will preserve Israel as a Jewish polity?  I intend to address this issue on my Monday morning (November 15) report on Israel National Radio.

Political Correctness

Political Correctness Has Poisoned America

By Thomas D. Segel | Posted November 14, 2009

Harlingen, Texas, November 12, 2009:

It started out as a mild virus initiated by the left of center intellectuals of academia. But, like every virus from computer carried to influenza, it spread rapidly through schools, hospitals, civil service, the media, companies, governance and the armed forces. Political correctness has poisoned all of America.

The famed author of children's books, Anthony Browne has also written a telling examination of political correctness in The Retreat of Reason. Says Browne, "Political correctness is the 'heresy of liberalism' under which reliance on reason has been replaced on the emotional appeal of an argument.

Adopting certain positions makes the politically correct feel virtuous, even more so when they are preventing the expression of an opinion that conflicts with their own. Political correctness is the dictatorship of virtue."

Europe has seen political correctness applied everywhere. They have seen the rise of anti-Semitic attacks in England, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. The politically correct "truth" of these attacks being presented to the public has been White Neo-Nazi skinheads waged the attacks. The reality is, young Muslim men perpetrated most of the attacks.

 

From the United Nations we keep hearing that Africa is getting poorer with every passing day. According to Browne, it is charged that the West not giving Africa enough economic aid causes this poverty. Again, the truth is quite a different story. Africa is getting poorer because its various governments range from corrupt to politically ignorant.

 

Back home in the United States we find ourselves infected with political correctness starting at the White House and reaching into our smallest communities. Political correctness is used to justify the excessive immigration, extravagant guest-worker programs, the overseas outsourcing of job, foolish trade policies, and even more foolish energy policies.

A left of center lap dog media has condoned excessive national debt, unemployment, oppression of taxpayers, and a collapse of the middle class by pointing its long finger at the previous administration. Again, the truth is quite different. If allowed to continue, the policies that created this sick economy and confused electorate will destroy our culture along with our economy.

There can be no greater example of political correctness than the Obama Administration and the Democrat controlled Congress. We are no longer fighting a global war against terror. The word 'terror' has been removed from current political language.

We must understand why the Muslim world is upset with us.

We must dialog.

We must talk unconditionally and on and on.

 

The truth is we are hated by the Muslim world. It is not only political correctness, but also political madness to hear the words of hatred aimed at the West and not accept them as reality. Even the threats of Osama bin Laden were taken from the eighth and ninth chapters of the Koran.

"When you meet the unbelievers strike them in the neck…. If you do not go out and fight, God will punish you severely…Whenever you find the polytheists, kill them, seize them, besiege them, ambush them…You who believe do not take Jews and Christians as friends…The Hour of Judgement will not come until Muslims fight the Jews and kill them".

 

Those are the words of the Koran, yet being politically correct we keep saying Islam is a great culture and a religion of peace and tolerance.

 

Ayan Hirsi Ali is a former Muslim who has been amazed at western denial of radical Muslim terrorism. She says, "This is Islam. This is based on belief."

She is quoted in her book Infidel as saying of the 9-11 attacks, "It was not the lunatic fringe who felt this way about America and the West. I knew that the vast mass of Muslims would see the attacks as justified retaliation against the infidel enemies of Islam." Our own political correctness would not allow us to take the same view.

We are now faced with the new terror attack, striking our nation in Fort Hood, Texas. American soldiers were killed or wounded at the hand of another American soldier who had told everyone he was a Muslim first and an American second. He killed crying out the words Allah Akbar, but we were told not to rush to judgment. Even the FBI said we should not consider this a terrorist attack.

Next we learned that Nidal Hasan has a history of suspicious behavior, including multiple emails to a known radial Islamic cleric. These were passed off as not even being worthy of detailed examination.

There is no doubt that political correctness has brought about a corruption of public debate. The poison of political correctness has spread itself throughout our country. The jury is still out as to it ultimately being the downfall of our society and the country.

Email:  Tom@thomasdsegel.com

Homepage:  www.thomasdsegel.com

 
 

A Turning Point, Swiftly Reached

A Turning Point, Swiftly Reached
By Alan Caruba

The November 3rd elections were a turning point, swiftly reached.

The inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama was followed by Tea Parties around the nation that aggregated into the huge September 12 rally in Washington, D.C. And barely two months later, the election of Republican governors in Virginia and New Jersey. In Maine, the voters repealed the authorization of same-sex marriage, an anathema as morally debased as abortion.

My mind went back to Barry Goldwater’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention in 1964. “I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

That speech was given when communism, led by the Soviet Union, was challenging freedom around the world. Lyndon Johnson who had assumed office upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy had initiated the “Great Society”, a government program that was the welfare state on steroids. A war was raging in Vietnam. The civil rights movement was gaining momentum.

“This is the Republican Party, a Party for free men, not for blind followers, and not for conformists,” said Goldwater.

Barely ten months after the inauguration of Barack Obama, the blinders had fallen from the eyes of his followers and others beguiled by his oratory, his promise of change that proved itself to be the takeover of the economic foundations of the nation, and his weakness in the face of a world filled with the enemies of freedom.

In 1964, Goldwater said, “We Republicans seek a government that attends to its inherent responsibilities of maintaining a stable monetary and fiscal climate, encouraging a free and competitive economy and enforcing law and order.”

Today, thanks to a profligate Congress controlled by the Democrat Party since 2006, the economy is in shambles, a free and competitive economy is under attack by massive government programs intended to control one sixth of it, the destruction of private property, and borders that remain unprotected against those who would take advantage of benefits intended for our citizens while destroying their lives with illegal drugs.

“I know this freedom is not the fruit of every soil,” said Goldwater. “I know that our own freedom was achieved through centuries, by unremitting efforts by brave and wise men. I know the road to freedom is a long and a challenging road. I know also that some men may walk away from it, that some men resist challenge, accepting the false security of government paternalism.”

To read that 1964 Goldwater speech is to be astonished by its prescience and to be inspired by its faithfulness to the fundamental values of what it means to be an American.

That Americanism filled the street of Washington, D.C. and will do so again for as long as it takes to defeat “amnesty”, to defeat an apologetic and weak President schooled in the tenets of communism and dedicated to a government in complete control of our lives.

Goldwater could have been speaking of Afghanistan when he said “We are at war in Vietnam. And yet the President, who is Commander-in-Chief of our forces, refuses to say, refuses to say, mind you, whether or not the objective over there is victory.”

What followed in the wake of Johnson’s election and the subsequent terms of Richard Nixon was the death of some 53,000 young Americans sent into a war where victory remained beyond grasp because of weak leadership, of moderation, and the misjudgment of the enemy’s devotion to the cause of communism.

Today, the nation faces the horror of a nuclear-armed Iran and the determination of al Qaeda to destroy us.

Americans recoiled from Obama’s world tour of apologies for being the world’s beacon of freedom and protector of the peace. “We here in America can keep the peace only if we remain vigilant and only if we remain strong,” said Goldwater.

“Those who seek to live your lives for you, to take your liberties in return for relieving you of yours, those who elevate the state and downgrade the citizen must see ultimately a world in which earthly power can be substituted for divine will, and this nation was founded upon the rejection of that notion and upon the acceptance of God as the author of freedom.”

A president awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for no discernable reason has discovered a world filled with the enemies of peace and of freedom. He could well have been the subject of Goldwater’s call to Republicans and lovers of freedom.

“It is the further cause of Republicanism to restore a clear understanding of the tyranny of man over man in the world at large. It is our cause to dispel the foggy thinking which avoids hard decisions in the illusion that a world of conflict will somehow mysteriously resolve itself into a world of harmony, if we just don’t rock the boat or irritate the forces of aggression…and this is hogwash.”

A turning point has been reached. Americans will not accept the erosion of their constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, will not accept an all-powerful federal government interposing itself between them and their physicians, will not except the taxation of energy use, and will not accept the “hogwash” of a world we’re told will yield to the soothing charade of diplomacy in the face of naked aggression.

To refresh and renew your dedication to freedom, read Barry Goldwater’s speech, as fresh today as when it was delivered:
www.washingtonpost.com/may98/Barry Goldwater’s speech

Alan Caruba writes a daily post at factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com. An author and business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.

To Health In A Handbasket

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To Health In A Handbasket

By: Ron Marr

10/22/09
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I'm all for doctors. To me, there is no more valuable service on this earth than the professional care administered by a qualified practitioner of the medicinal arts. I don't particularly enjoy going to the doctor (they always lecture me about smoking) however I can't think of too many things more comforting than the knowledge that an experienced doc is close at hand should I get a treble hook in my eye, shoot myself in the thigh, or get my foot stuck in mouth.
Being from the Missouri Ozarks, I grew up with a lot of "untraditional" home medical practices. We always figured that there was no need to waste the doc's time if you could fix it yourself - kinda' the same theory as changing your own oil on the family Chevy. It’s not that tough a job and the pros have more important stuff on their minds.

Nothing is worse than a hypochondriac (unless it's a sick hypochondriac) and so, like I said, we often doctored ourselves. Bee stings were treated with a baking soda poultice. If you had a sore throat, you got a long Q-Tip and swabbed your throat with merthiolate. Chigger bites? Dry them up with toothpaste (preferably Crest). If you cut yourself, you doused the gash in hydrogen peroxide and connected the escaping folds of skin with duct tape. If you got strains or sprains or bone aches, you just sprayed some WD-40 on the afflicted area.

Many people dislike my usage of WD-40 on creaking joints. A friend of mine just about had a conniption fit when I sprayed a bunch of the stuff on her blown-out knee, but the pain was relieved within forty-five seconds and now she swears by this all-purpose rusty-nut buster/blown-out ACL remedy.

As an aside, WD-40 is also a pretty good scent to spray on nightcrawlers. The catfish seem to love it, and as an added benefit they don’t squeak when you cut into them.

So, I'm all for docs. What I'm against is socialized style medicine ala El Presidente Obama. Both he, and the flaming liberals who sip at his tankard of Koolaid, seem to feel we should follow the lead of rotting countries like England and Canada and dispose of the advances in medicine that occur when physicians and surgeons and such are allowed to practice their arts in a free market economy. Those Socialist types would prefer that everyone have access to free health care, even if the folks who run the el-cheapo clinics can't speak but about ten words of English and nine of those are "You want buy pretty brass elliefant? Only twenty dollar." Have we forgotten that it was the government who gave us Amtrak, the U.S. Post Office, The IRS, Cash for Clunkers, and thousands of other enterprises and programs that work about as well as teats on a bull?

There is much discussion over a “public option,” but lets just face facts here. The entirety of Obamacare is nothing but a giant public option. The quality of care will plummet, and rationing is a given. You best hope you only have Stage One cancer at the time of diagnosis, because by the time you get a second appointment you will either be pushing Stage Four or pushing up daisies. You will wait, and wait, and wait, and it’s very possible that you will end up paying more for the privilege.

There are really only two goals behind federally mandated health care programs. The first is control. The current crop of clowns feel that they should control your every move, monitor your every whim. They believe they should not only tell you how to handle your health concerns, but also be allowed to pry into the most intimate details of your life. What’s more, if you refuse to participate, you will either be fined or tossed in the pokey.

The second goal is the outright destruction of the companies that offer health insurance. There is no way a private insurance company can compete against government insurance. If they even try, they will be fined and regulated up the wazoo. Seriously, how can a private insurance company make a profit if they have to cover those with pre-existing conditions for a minimal sum? This is a little like saying car insurance companies have to provide you with low-cost insurance after you’ve smashed your Camaro into a bridge.

Thanks to the liberals in Congress, there is a very good chance that government-run health care will be a reality. Over fifty percent of Americans don’t want it, but that matters not a whit to the folks in Washington. They view themselves as an aristocracy, and besides, they won’t have to use the crappy programs that you’ll be forced to endure. Your health care, if the government programs become a reality, will be provided by organizations devoted to providing the least amount of care at the cheapest cost and making big bucks by getting chintzy on service, I'd just as soon give my cash to a joint boasting a sign reading "Bar, Grill and Mortuary."

Sadly, for America, it looks like some version of Obamacare will be a reality. The wishes of the citizens don’t matter, for we have a man in the White House who was suckled on the milk of radical socialism.

My suggestion, is that you stock up on baking soda, merthiolate, Crest, and WD-40.

You’re gonna’ need them.

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- 30 -

Ron Marr is the editor/publisher/and janitor of the weekly, online magazine, troutwrapper.com.

He can be reached via his website at www.troutwrapper.com

Rules of Engagement Revisited

By: Thomas D. Segel

Date: September 22, 2009

Website: www.thomasdsegel.com



Harlingen, Texas, September 22, 2009: Active duty military personnel, veterans and retirees alike all expressed their outrage and disdain for the reported Rules of Engagement (ROE) that resulted in loss of life to four United States Marines and nine of their Afghan army allies. In a Taliban initiated ambush the insurgents out-gunned the joint military unit and pinned it to indefensible ground. The NATO advised Afghan force was denied artillery support and did not receive close air support for more than one hour after coming under attack. By that time 13 lives had been forfeited because of a politically motivated ROE that always favors the insurgents.

Why was artillery support refused? Why were the helicopter gun ships needed for close air support late? Why did more Americans die? Many feel it is due to the always politically orients Rules of Engagement, a war fighting practice that is only rarely understood by the general public, and is seldom clarified or accepted by members of the military community.

One person voicing such an opinion is retired Marine Corps Major Frank Stolz. This author and authority on weapons of mass destruction points out that the ROE has been a very controversial issue since before World War II. He explains, “The original rules were formulated through the League of Nations (1929 – 1946) and were mainly written and approved by diplomats, lawyers, peace advocates and many others appalled by the slaughter of millions in World War I.” The actions of that war, according to Stolz, “included the use of poison gases and the destruction of entire cities through artillery, naval gunfire bombardments and for the first time ever, aerial bombardment, often times when the cities were still filled with non combatant civilians.”

Those who formed the first “rules” included a few people who had observed the horrors of war, but most were never in or near the front lines. They formed their opinions on the conduct of war from places of safety and comfort.

Though the League of Nations attempted to stem the threat of wars, success was never seen. The first rules they accepted were No shotguns in warfare; No flamethrowers in warfare; No aerial bombing of inhabited cities; Enemy and allied supply ships were to be stopped at sea, the crews and personnel were then allowed to get into lifeboats with sufficient food and water to reach the nearest land, and then their ships would be sunk. Says Stolz, ”these were but a few of the nonsensical rules made up by pinstripe diplomats and lawyers.” As history tells us, all parties engaged in combat followed few of these rules.

The ROE we find practiced today will vary slightly from one combat zone to another. It combines the old League of Nation rules along with newer insufferable conditions demanded by the United Nations and many of the European countries. As Major Stolz points out the ROE was intended for the conduct of warfare by uniformed combatants. It was not created to deal with terrorists, anarchists, insurgents and criminal elements all hiding among the civilian populations. Stolz concludes by observing, “Either through stupidity or a desire by some to see us fail, we have now given terrorists who indiscriminately bomb and harm innocent civilians, the same “rights” afforded uniformed military combatants. That, to me, is akin to allowing serial killers periodic home leaves in order to get their heads straight.”

The retired military community seems to be angered by the ROE now in place and how our government appears to have little regard for the lives of our many troops now in harms way. Says one veteran, “I believe we are wasting lives in Afghanistan. It cannot be won without taking out all extreme Islamic fundamentalists. The Taliban are ruthless. They follow no rules, period! They massacre at will. They are pure evil. How do we win this? There is no way except massive casualties across the board. It is a useless war and one our brave soldiers should not be fighting.”

Marine retiree William Bloomfield write, “Having lived through more than one tour in Vietnam, in spite of the ROEs, it smells to me an awful lot like “de javu” all over again. Politicians who haven’t a clue in charge of those who do. It is egos taking precedence over good judgment and common sense.”

Master Sergeant John Clayton says he is an old Vietnam combat veteran, who fought in that war during 1967 and 68. Clayton says, “There is no substitute for victory and appeasement leads to defeat, as France found out in World War II. Do our enemies have ROE other than to defeat those who oppose them?” He notes they battle the enemy “kill n any way they can and to hell with humanitarian ROE that our government imposes on our military for political and appeasement reasons.”

One soldier now on active duty, (we will call him Bob) writes, “ I am scared every time I’m told to move into a dangerous area. Most of us know we will receive little support when things get hot. Nobody really seems to care about us. If they did, they would make sure we had the weapons and troops needed to protect ourselves and win this thing.”

General Stanley McChrystal seems to have those same feelings. He has requested more support troops and equipment. He has requested thousands more troops and sent the White House a detailed report of the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. He says he needs this support at once and if it doesn’t come we could lose the war. The report has been sitting on the President’s desk for almost a month and no action has been taken.

While all the political indecision continues, the ROE remains in force. More soldiers and Marines will be sent into impossible situations and asked to win without the tools of combat needed to complete their tasks. More calls for artillery will be made and denied. More calls for air support will be made and delayed. More Americans will die because of indecision and political cowardness at home.

Liberals are Killing America

Liberals are Killing America
By Alan Caruba

It is not a new observation, but it is one that needs review and repeating every so often. Why do liberals always seem to get on the wrong side of any issue concerning America’s future? Its sovereignty? Its financial security? Its defense?

I think this question is particularly timely given the public discussion of Obamacare that included a huge peaceful protest march on Washington September 12th. The President’s non-stop campaign to get “reform” passed and the heated exchanges in Congress do not represent actual healthcare reform, but are testimony to a liberal obsession with a very bad idea.

You know something is desperately wrong when Democrats will not permit the proposed bill to enjoy a grace period of 72 hours during which both the public and members of Congress can actually read it before a vote is taken.

The irony of the current battle is that the bill will significantly change Medicare, a program advocated by liberals and, like Social Security, established by Democrats in Congress. It will destroy a free market for insurance programs individuals may choose to purchase. Or not.

There is no dispute that both programs, safety nets for Americans, have been helpful. Neither is voluntary There is no doubt that both are insolvent because they are unsustainable. This has been exacerbated by the way Congress has dipped into the funds intended to be set aside for them.

Obamacare will end up killing a lot of the people that Medicare was intended to save from the diseases and accidents that afflict the elderly.

It is not so much a “reform” as an admission of the failure of Congress to properly administer Medicare. Moreover, the “reform” will seize control of one sixth of the nation’s economy and dangerously, insidiously come between physician and patient.

It is a reform that is doomed to failure because there simply are not enough doctors, nurses, and other licensed and certified healthcare providers.

The global warming hoax and the arguments that “saving the environment” justifies a horrid “cap-and-trade” bill under consideration is another example of how liberal zeal for apparently noble “causes” reaps more harm than good. In the process, actual known, proven science has been abandoned.

In many ways, America has historically demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to Nature. The set asides of vast tracks of national forests and natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone attest to this and the national effort to clean our waters and air attest to this.

The problem, one that was anticipated and feared by the Founding Fathers, is the continued expansion of the federal government’s control over all aspects of our lives. The creation and existence of the departments of education and energy have harmed America in countless ways. The Environmental Protection Agency is an assault on science and property rights. All are essentially unconstitutional.

There never was any scientific evidence for “global warming” and yet it has been the all-purpose “go to” justification for restrictions that range from toilets that lack sufficient power to flush and, soon, a prohibition on the incandescent light bulb. Environmental restrictions have done irreparable harm to the nation’s economic growth.

Natural phenomenon from hurricanes to floods to forest fires have been blamed on global warming and this continues even though the Earth has been in a cooling cycle for a decade and what warming occurred after 1850 was a natural cyclical response to a previous little ice age that had begun in the 1300s.

Liberals, however, lack common sense. Environmentalism has transformed from conservation to a wholesale attack on America’s industrial base and, in a larger sense, capitalism. The Left has always attacked capitalism and the free market system that is essentially self-regulating.

This is particularly evident in liberal efforts to render the nation unable to access its own vast energy reserves of oil, natural gas, and coal. Energy is called the “master resource” because, without it, life can be harsh and progress in the form of innovation and invention, slows. Industrialized nations are differentiated from “undeveloped” nations almost entirely on the basis of the availability and widespread use of affordable energy.

Liberals, however, would not just leave vast parts and populations of the world bereft of the energy needed to grow crops, create jobs, and serve the basic needs of their people, but continue to use environmentalism to denigrate everything from driving one’s car to the use of plush toilet paper.

While America has always been “a nation of immigrants”, the process of accepting new citizens has been undermined in recent decades by the ceaseless flow of illegal aliens entering the nation and not merely ignoring the naturalization process, but also taking wrongful advantage of social programs such as welfare, our educational system, and our healthcare system. Liberals, however, continue to campaign for amnesty programs.

The liberal attack on the institution of marriage, on the free expression of religious faith, and other elements necessary to a civil society is yet another example of the way a nation they profess to love is undermined as its core values are systematically destroyed.

And let it be said that in the decades since the 1960s and 70s, men and women who have been elected to Congress and to occupy the White House on the basis of their avowed conservatism, have too often yielded to liberal arguments and programs. Tax and spend is now a bipartisan philosophy.

Liberals now hold majority political power in Congress and the White House, and the nation has been witness to the abandonment of our allies abroad and an appalling level of corruption, wasteful spending on pet projects, of which ACORN is just one example.

Liberals created the programs that led to massive mortgage loan failures; liberal programs enacted to impose “fairness” ignored the inability of everyone to own their own home. Something was desperately wrong when government entitles such as Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac owned over half of all mortgage loans.

The government’s failure to exercise oversight and regulation over all elements of the nation’s financial system, based on existing laws, has resulted in the greatest ponzi scheme of the modern era and the failure of banks and investment houses. The Federal Reserve is neither federal nor a reserve.

Lastly, the grasp for ever more power, the introduction of unelected “czars” in the executive branch, and the possibility that the most liberal president ever elected is seeking the destruction of the nation call for both action and an increased devotion to conservative principles.

Americans are demanding a return to governance based on the limits of the Constitution and the reduction of senseless spending and borrowing. America belongs to “We the People” and We the People must defend it from those who see America only as a nation to be plundered.

Alan Caruba writes a daily post at FactsNotFantasy.blogspot.com. A business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.

A Return From The Land of Nod?

By: Thomas D. Segel

Date: September 1, 2009

Website: www.thomasdsegel.com

Harlingen, Texas, September 1, 2009: In deference to those on the radical left who may never open the pages of a Bible, the term “Land of Nod” is taken from the Book of Genesis and refers to that locale as a place of sleep. Truly, Americans were in the Land of Nod during the many months of the previous presidential campaign. They had to be sleeping to have allowed such a radical and destructive administration to gain power.

When the army of the far left marched into Washington last January, they were already in friendly territory. A Democrat-Socialist majority in Congress, willingly assisted by the Bush White House, had already poisoned the economic well with massive TARP bailout legislation. It was quickly outdone with a stimulus bill that tacked on another $800 billion-plus in debt.

We all heard about the big financial houses on Wall Street who had their futures assured by the taxpayers. We all read about the AIG bailout that even included enough of our money so the huge corporation could stabilize its foreign investments. We read about the $14.9 billion bailout to Chrysler and the $50.7 billion bailout to General Motors. A few people even heard about the $12.5 billion of bailout funds we handed over the GMAC to keep that segment of the auto lending market afloat. But, we were not too concerned, because we were all off visiting the Land of Nod.

So, now the political elite of Washington is in control of our national financial markets, they will build our automobiles at a design and price the government desires. They will even handle the financing of those cars and trucks through the government controlled GMAC.

Since they were so deep into the business they never wanted to run, it was only logical for them to come up with “Cash of Clunkers”, which might have been a blessing to some taxpayers, but was really another handout to the auto industry.

They next were talking about “Cash for Crappy Appliances” as a bailout. Folks would be able to turn in old refrigerators, washers, dryers, air conditioners and perhaps even electric toothbrushes. They would then get rebates to buy more energy efficient models.

While all of this was taking place the American public quietly continued resting in the Land of Nod. It was so quiet across the country that our caring Congress slapped together a pork laden healthcare bill that promised to help its friends and punish its enemies. It would force every person in America to eventually accept government healthcare. Oh yes, it would also tack on an additional $1.5 trillion dollars to the national debt.

In the space of less than nine months, the Obama Administration and Congress moved us from financial solvency into the status of being the Number One Debtor Nation in the World. There were a few yawns when this happened, but not many stirred from their resting positions.

So, those of the liberal left looked around and pronounced what they accomplished as good. They had already managed to control American education. The teachers unions of the nation were marching in lock step to the socialist drumbeat. But, they needed to cancel those pesky voucher programs just to keep the public school monopoly happy.

If anyone objected to what the political elite was attempting to accomplish, they already had an army of trial lawyers ready to take up their cause. The President also wished to establish his own version of the “Brownshirts”, an expanded Civilian Youth Corps.

The ACLU was so busy attacking everything American its litigators were working around the clock. It was “Change you can count on everywhere. This was particularly true in Congress and the Administration where nobody felt it was necessary to govern according to the Constitution. If there was too much noise about that issue they could always marshal ACORN and MoveOn.org to handle the distasteful tasks of keeping the country distracted. But, why really worry? America was still off in the Land of Nod.

So, the far left thought this would be a good time to expand the agenda. The President suggested that it would be a good idea if the military and veterans of this country paid for their own health care. He said they should pay like everyone else because, “Nobody made them sign up in the armed forces. They were all volunteers.”

He also thought it would be a good idea to cut some of the waste out of Medicare by lowering payments to healthcare providers. This was suggested even though the payments are now so low many in the healthcare profession will not accept Medicare patients. In addition, he thought it would save a few bucks if we canceled the Medicare Advantage program.

The Administration talked insurance companies to back its play by promising they would get more business. The same confidence game was played on pharmaceutical companies, promising them a bigger healthcare pie would mean selling more pills. Some joined in support of the healthcare reform con job. An eye or two was opening up in Nod.

As a tool to keep costs lower, Congress made sure “end of life” counseling was included in its health care reform/health care insurance reform bill. With senor citizens now understanding they could be placed on a death list there were a few more stirrings in Nod. When the VA was instructed to provide veterans, particularly the newly wounded warriors, with the same “end of life” or “quality of life” instructions in booklet form, there were further awakenings.

But, the Administration was still not happy with the controls it was attempting to establish over the citizenry. Diversity Czar Mark Lloyd decided to control free speech on radio and television by using a variety of FCC rules including 100% profits taxation to silence unsupportive or uncooperative radio or television stations. The administration also thought it would be a good idea to move cable and satellite television under the FCC umbrella. And of course, we must have an FCC Czar. If that wouldn’t do the job of keeping the public silent, the Obama Administration wanted authority to take over or shut down the Internet in the event of an “emergency”. Eyes were now opening very wide in Nod.

As Americans started to awaken, they also started to talk, and argue, and yell, and rage at what their government was trying to do to them…all in the name of “Change”. They sent Tea Bags to Washington. They held Tea Parties. They wrote letters, sent emails, used the telephone. They stormed into town hall meetings.

But, the political elite did not like this noise and got very upset at the citizenry. Now they were no longer “My Fellow Americans”. They were mobs, crazies, GOP clones, and radical organizers. Some of the political elite tried to bluster their way past these multiple voiced concerns, but the sound of anger was too much for their timid souls. Most of them just hid from their constituency.

It is now very clear governmental hiding and ignoring isn’t going to work. From California and Arizona citizens are preparing to move. From Nevada they are coming. From Virginia and Maryland and Texas and New Mexico the airline tickets have been purchased and the buses have been chartered. Americans from across the country are marching on Washington D.C., September 12, 2009. They will be presenting grievances against wasteful spending, pork laden legislation, bank and auto bailouts, increased taxation, government control of salaries, the firing of corporation CEOs, unprotected borders, inattention to the illegal alien threat, government control of healthcare, unconstitutional czars, the threat of housing terrorists in the USA, the closing of Gitmo, the movement into socialism and a score of other misuses of their governmental offices.

Most of all, these Americans want their country back. They want limited government and they want The Constitution of the United States of America restored to its rightful place as the binding authority for the governance of our nation. Those in the power seats of government should really start paying attention. Joe Six-Pack and Molly Mall-Shopper are no longer asleep in the Land of Nod.

The Greens Hate Energy, America, and You!

By: Alan Caruba

I doubt that most Americans have a clue what the leading Green organizations like Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club have as their agenda for 2009. They have already made it known their members, so I will share it with you.

There are literally dozens of these groups in the United States and each has their own particular focus of attention, but the largest among them play well together in the giant sandbox of Green utopian fantasies. That’s why both FOE and Sierra Club announced they are looking forward to “a clean slate” from the Obama administration.

“There’s nothing like a fresh start. On his first day in office, President Obama could make four decisions that would start 2009 with a ‘clean slate’ of energy policies,” said Friends of the Earth at the same time, the Sierra Club announced its own “Clean Slate Energy Agenda” that—surprise—was the same.

The focus of both is on energy use and accessibility. Both want a lot LESS energy use. Along with all other environmental organizations both use the bogy man of “global warming” to demand huge reductions in “emissions.”

The Sierra Club informed its members that it wants to “reduce global warming emissions quickly by making it possible for over a dozen states to implement their clean car requirements.” This is the objective of one of President Obama’s earliest executive orders. Driving up the cost of owning and operating a car directly strikes at the ability of Americans to be mobile and independent. Justifying it as necessary to reduce global warming is just a big fat lie. There is NO global warming.

Friends of the Earth are totally opposed to any economy stimulus that might include improving the nation’s infrastructure of highways. They warned the plan “is in danger of being hijacked by the road-building lobby, which wants billions of dollars for unnecessary new roads that would increase global warming pollution.”

Over the years I have come to marvel at the ability of environmental organizations to conjure up statistics faster than a magician can pull a rabbit out of a hat. “”Transportation is responsible for 30 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and 70 percent of our oil consumption” warned Friends of the Earth. What does it matter that carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) have no impact whatever on the Earth’s climate? And just what is wrong with oil consumption if it contributes to the success and growth of the nation’s economy?

“Just 10 miles of a new four-lane highway lead to emissions that are equivalent to the lifetime emissions of 46,700 new Hummers,” said Friends of the Earth. To which I reply, who cares? With oil prices plunging, those Hummers, particularly in parts of the nation hit by bad weather, look like a good idea. Bottom line: if you can afford a Hummer, where is it written you should not be allowed to own one?

Friends of the Earth, however, want to “shift the debate” in the environmental community to get the nation to avoid “car-centric highways and toward sustainable alternatives such as transit, biking, walking, and smart growth development, that will help fight global warming.”

What are these Green groups going to do when the vast population of the United States and elsewhere around the world concludes that there is no global warming? That day is not far off insofar as the Earth is now fully a decade into a cooling cycle that promises longer, harsher winters and a shift to generally cooler temperatures that will affect all northern hemisphere nations in particular and to an extent those in the southern hemisphere as well.

This explains why the United Nations environmental program has shifted into high gear to get the bogus Kyoto Protocols ratified. Not surprisingly, the U.S. has never signed on to it and even European nations that did are balking at emission reduction mandates. Meanwhile, neither China, nor India, nor many under-developed nations are subject to any of the restrictions. It’s a plan to undermine the economies of developed nations because greens hate humanity in general and successful economies in particular.

We’re not even halfway through the “clean slate” proposals. They include Sierra Club’s call to “require new and existing coal power plants to limit their global warming emissions” and to “end destructive mountaintop removal mining…” Finally, they want to “restore America’s international leadership in the fight to end global warming by publicly committing the U.S. to cut its CO2 emissions at least 35 percent by 2020.”

The Greens are so demented that the American Bird Conservancy released a statement in mid-December hailing the appointments of the new Obama administration. Its idea of stimulating the economy was to “invest $29 million dollars over the next four years in the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act” because “bird watching is now big business.” The Conservancy wants the U.S. to “invest “$540 million in America’s 543 national wildlife refuges” to create more “green jobs.” What a big help that will be to Americans who live primarily in America’s cities and suburbs.

The bird-lovers are a bit conflicted over another recommendation to “invest $30.5 million in the five year extension of the renewable energy production tax credit and making renewable energy tax incentives fully refundable. Wind energy is one of the alternative sources of energy” they recommend, but “if left unregulated, has the potential to kill large numbers of birds and bats and harm fragile habitats.” Well, which is it? Dead birds or more “alternative” energy? Both are extremely bad ideas.

The Greens for all their enthusiasm to spend tax dollars on their favorite notions remain opposed to any real energy generation by coal-fired or nuclear plants to meet current and future needs for electricity. They are utterly opposed to people driving around in cars for any reason and, one must assume, trucks that deliver the goods we require to live.

The longer one listens to what the Greens want, the more one becomes convinced that the members of these organizations must be utterly brain dead and that their objective is to render America a third-world nation by opposing the building of new power plants, along with the exploration and extraction of our natural resources of coal, natural gas, and oil.

Does this sound like a good plan to you?

Alan Caruba writes a daily blog at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/. Every week, he posts a column on the website of The National Anxiety Center, http://www.anxietycenter.com/.

© Alan Caruba, March 2009

Vision-4-Freedom

In God We Trust - Keep the Faith!

Negotiating Our Way Out of a Mess

By: Jim Camp

Not since Franklin Delano Roosevelt entered the Oval Office for the first time in 1933 has an American President faced such an array of domestic and international troubles. History tells us that Roosevelt struggled mightily to overcome the Depression, but it wasn’t until World War II provided a full-employment opportunity that he was able to turn the nation’s economy around and help defeat two of the most vicious totalitarian threats to humanity in the modern era.

History, if you do not pay attention to it, has a way of repeating itself. With a national debt of $10 trillion, some 70% of the Gross Domestic Product, the incoming Obama administration is faced with enormous economic challenges, not the least of which is to build a new economy that puts people to work and moves us closer to energy independence. His vision driven by his mission and purpose is something we should all pay attention to. In fact we all should adopt our own mission and purpose in all the areas of our lives moving forward.

What should our financial mission and purpose be? If we have a solid career safe from the looming depression, it may call for us to tighten our belts mightily and save at every opportunity. Or, if we are someone who has been knocked down and struggling to get up our mission and purpose may be to put every family member to work 16 hours daily, 7 days a week and numerous jobs if necessary to climb back.

If we are starting a new business that we intend to lead us through the tough times ahead, we may have to spend more than we would like but our mission and purpose will guide us through the tough decisions. Pay close attention to the new administration as it discusses vast spending programs for infrastructure and “Green” projects driven by our President-Elect’s vision. That vision radiates from his mission and purpose for America.

President-Elect Obama knows the critical importance of our security and the demands of a growing population for more energy. His effort to develop new energy sources is driven by his mission and purpose. He knows that if we do not break our dependence on foreign energy we will never climb out of the mess that we find ourselves in. Will his mission and purpose for new energy work with his mission and purpose to save the environment? That is the question that is most on our minds.

Where does expansion of oil drilling, gas drilling and coal fit in? We will see as it all unfolds, but you can bet if it goes against his mission and purpose in either arena, it won’t happen and it shouldn’t. After all is said and done we “need” a new vision, a new direction because the last one helped in many ways to get us where we are today.

If there is any good news to be found in the worldwide economic slowdown it is that nations who self-describe themselves as America’s enemies are going to be far too busy trying to keep restive populations in check than to spend time and money on activities to create new problems for us. Both Iran and Venezuela, to name just two, are in serious financial straits. Russia, dependent on its oil and gas exports is feeling the pinch and China’s interests are far more aligned with those of the U.S. than many realize.

The world is a mix of developed nations that have adopted the capitalist model and those clinging to some form of socialism. We as a nation are a prime example of how ideology sometimes must adapt and change. I do not and will not judge the bailout of Wall Street and the Auto Industry in this discussion, but they are perfect examples of ideology change. Who would have ever believed that a Republican President would allow let alone request such a thing? Again mission and purpose defined as long term aim and continuing task and responsibility leads the decisions that are tough and must be made. Before you judge the tough decisions just ask your self, what is the mission and purpose? Start to worry and complain if you find there isn’t one.


My firm provides negotiation coaching and consulting throughout the U.S. and in nations around the world. As such the staff and I are on the front line with those engaged in deals that often involve millions of dollars. I just returned from Russia after a week of working with one of the world’s largest banks. Their deals and many others deals reflect how present and future conditions are actually perceived. Here is some of the feedback we are receiving.

1. There is considerable concern regarding America’s current financial problems, but both at home and worldwide there is the perception that the U.S. government is demonstrating the willingness to take extraordinary measures to avoid a Depression. Also, it is not all bleak news. The vast bulk of homeowners with mortgages are still meeting their monthly payments. The unemployment figures are still well below the highs experienced in the Depression. New FDIC rules extend further protection to personal savings in banks.



2. The present troubles offer the opportunity for local, state and the federal government to rethink and work through programs to be sure they are efficient and not wasteful. The mission and purpose of small government may be to mandate balanced budgets and, if so, could bring strong long-term benefit to all of us. With a strong mission and purpose in place new taxes will not be proposed lightly. They will be well thought out before being implemented.



3. Putting aside the known financial difficulties to which Wall Street and banks are adjusting, the greatest unknown factor will be the policies of the incoming Obama administration. There is concern that the new Administration will be overwhelmed and decisions will be made without regard to environmental and energy requirements for our future. The feedback we are receiving is the view that the financial health and stability of the nation will so occupy the administration that a pragmatic approach will trump ideology, a situation being seen in practice worldwide. The jury, however, is still out, but based on my observations, the President-Elect has a very clear vision and is driven by a valid mission and purpose and that will rule today and win the future.

The ultimate “unknown” will be those events, natural and manmade, that will affect the immediate future. The recent attacks in Mumbai, India are an example, forcing both India and Pakistan to review their relationship to ensure a peaceful resolution. The focus of the Islamic Jihad movement seems to be shifting from Europe to the Middle East and Asia. Ironically, it is beginning to anger Muslims. I am sure our leadership will deal accordingly with the threat. And, pay close attention to how the pirates in Somalia are dealt with by the world. Watch as the world comes together and tires of such terrorism.The mission and purpose will be clear and the execution of it swift.

The “irrational exuberance” that former Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan, warned about a dozen years ago has now been sobered by the failure of various forms of securities and some banks, by the ripple effect that is being felt by every business enterprise and by individual Americans with investments, dependence on pension programs, and similar vulnerabilities.

Though conditioned to look to the federal government to “solve” problems, there is a growing realization among Americans that the federal government’s policies have been a contributing factor and that many of its agencies to whom we look for protection proved inadequate to the task.

The new President-Elect will solve many of these issues because he delivers a fresh vision and perspective that will drive change over the next 4 to 8 years. The changes he makes will solve the real problems and if he does that it will pay dividends. How can I say that? If you listen closely to him and read his books, he functions with a valid mission and purpose in all areas and is surrounded by like minds. They are extremely effective in their decision-making abilities.

We the voters have hope in our new leadership and now it is time for us to deliver hope to those we are responsible to. We must become better negotiators, we must make better agreements for our futures and to do that we must learn to develop mission and purpose statements that will build vision and drive our decisions.

Jim Camp is an author of two books on negotiation and an internationally recognized negotiations coach providing counsel to nations, corporations, and individuals.

He is the CEO of The Camp Negotiation Systems, http://www.startwithno.com/.

© Jim Camp, January 2009

PATRIOT PERSPECTIVE

Our sacred honor ... to support and defend...

By: Mark Alexander

In 1776, an extraordinary group of men signed a document that affirmed their God-given right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." By attaching their signatures to our great Declaration of Independence, they, in effect, were signing their potential death warrants.

Indeed, the last line of our Declaration reads, "For the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor." Many of these men, and many of their countrymen, the first generation of American Patriots, would die fighting for American liberty.

A decade later, their liberty having been won at great cost, our Founders further codified their independence and interdependence by instituting yet another historic document, our Constitution.

The Constitution specifies in Article VI, clause 3:

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution..."

Bound by Oath to support...

The Constitution also prescribes the following oath to be taken by the president-elect:

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Preserve, protect and defend...

Commissioned and enlisted military personnel are also required by statute to "solemnly swear, that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same...", though the officer's oath doesn't include any provision that they obey orders.

Against all enemies, foreign and domestic...

Notably, all these oaths mandate the preservation, protection, support and defense of our Constitution as ratified, not the so-called "living constitution" as amended by judicial activists populating what Thomas Jefferson predicted would become "the despotic branch."

While uniformed Americans serving our nation defend our Constitution with their lives, most elected officials debase it with all manner of extra-constitutional empowerment of the central government, not the least of which is the forced redistribution of income to benefit their constituency groups which, in turn, dutifully re-elect them.

Military service personnel who violate the Constitution are remanded for courts-martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, while politicians who violate the Constitution are remanded for -- re-election.

On that note, the latest crop of Leftists on their way to Washington under the supervision of President-elect Barack Obama are destined to make a greater mockery of our Constitution than any administration in history. Clearly, Obama and his ilk have no history of honoring, or intention to honor, their oaths and, in fact, have no context for such honor.

A small cadre of liberals who believe themselves to be "patriots" have asked, "Can't I be a bona fide Patriot and support Barack Obama?"

In a word ... NO, unless in a state of solemn repentance.

In the spirit of charity, perhaps Obama supporters, who self-identify as patriots, are just grossly misinformed about our Constitution, our history and their own civic duty. Of course, they would likewise be grossly deluded about their identity, but perhaps the delusion is temporary.

I would suggest that Obama "patriots" are nothing more than "sunshine patriots," as Thomas Paine wrote, who "will in crisis, shrink from the service of his country."

At its core, the word "patriot" has direct lineage to those who fought for American independence and established our constitutional republic. That lineage has descended most directly through our history with those who have been entrusted "to support and defend" our Constitution -- more specifically, those who have been faithful to, and have abided by, that oath. As previously noted, by "our Constitution," I am referring to the United States Constitution, not the adulterated vestigial remains that liberals call "the living constitution."

I have taken oaths five times in the service of our country. But I did not have to take any oath to understand my obligations as a citizen "to support and defend" our Constitution.

So, does the title of "Patriot" apply to an individual who votes for a man who has not honored his public oaths of office previously, and has given no indication he intends to "bear true faith and allegiance to the same" as president -- a man who subscribes to the errant notion of a "living constitution" which, in his own words, "breaks free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution"?

No authentic Patriot would support those who violate their sacred oaths.

Unfortunately, in this most recent election, we saw even a handful of flag-rank military officers who have no more reverence for their oaths than Obama. However, they are the exception, not the rule.

Obama's mantra, "change," is a euphemism for constitutional abrogation -- an incremental encroachment on liberty until, at last, liberty is lost.

Our nation's second president, John Adams, warned, "A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever."

As for Obama's deception about his own patriotic pedigree, I commend the words of our nation's first president, George Washington: "Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism. ...[W]here is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths...?"

Regarding the Presidential Oath of Office, Justice Joseph Story wrote:

"[T]he duty imposed upon him to take care, that the laws be faithfully executed, follows out the strong injunctions of his oath of office, that he will 'preserve, protect, and defend the constitution.' The great object of the executive department is to accomplish this purpose."

He wrote further that if the president does not honor his oath, his office "will be utterly worthless for ... the protection of rights; for the happiness, or good order, or safety of the people."

Of course, Barack Obama proposes to further constrain the rights of the people by advancing centralized government control of the economy by way of regulation and forced income redistribution, all in the name of "happiness, good order, and safety of the people," but in direct violation of his oath.

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