WATCHDOG STATE OF THE UNION
We are in the midst of the heralded, oft-discussed and propagandized “First 100 Hours of the 110th Congress,” and I have to admit I spent a great deal of time watching CSPAN the first two
weeks. Some of the rhetoric, dialogue and legislation was so over the top, so ridiculous it felt like I was watching a Rob Schneider film. These blowhards are our best and brightest? These are
the people that are supposed to lead us? Take the complete lack of leadership and incompetence in Washington D.C. and a culture that seems to be becoming soft and degraded. I am beginning to get a little bit skittish. Our society seems to be stuck between the states of complacency and apathy.
What is next for America? Are we going to continue our slide toward bigger government and less freedom? Are we going to allow our children to become pop-culture
obsessed, blackberry addicted little socialists who think People Magazine is great literary work? Or will we get back on track and once again become a society based on individualism and
personal responsibility, a society that places the family and raising one’s children at the highest level importance rather then fulfilling ones own selfish whims?
Great Examples of Modern Day Leadership.
Beam me up Scotty!
David Wu comparing the Bush Administration to Vulcans and Klingons from Star Trek:
“This president has listened to some people, the so-called Vulcans in the White House, the ideologues. But you know, unlike the Vulcans of Star Trek who made the decisions based on
logic and fact, these guys make it on ideology. These aren’t Vulcans. There are Klingons in the White House. But unlike the real Klingons of Star Trek, these Klingons have never fought a battle
of their own. Don’t let faux Klingons send real Americans to war.” Socrates is turning over in his grave.
A Fish Called Nancy.
Nancy Pelosi decided to exempt the island of Samoa from the new minimum wage bill. After further investigation I discovered that the largest employer of Samoa happens to be Starkist Tuna, which is owned by the DelMonte Corporation, which just happens to be located in Nancy’s home district of San Francisco. Not to mention the fact that her husband owns millions in DelMonte stock.
Buttercup Goes Ballistic.
Barney Frank, Representative from Massachusetts threw a sissy tantrum on the floor of the House when Representative Patrick McHenry from North Carolina rose to offer an amendment
that would exempt American Samoa from the Stem-Cell bill. This was an obvious dig on Nancy and her gang however, to witness the Barney Frank meltdown was like watching one of those spoiled rich brats who don’t get their way on MTV’s “My Sweet Sixteen.”
Remove All Options So We Have Options
The New York Times quotes Senator Max Baucus in a story about Social Security Reform, “Senator Max Baucus of Montana, the chairman of the Finance Committee, a critical venue for
any Social Security plan, said he too believed the president must give up his private accounts before serious talks occur. If so, he added, “I’m more than open, if the president is truly willing to look at all options.”
“These Are Not the Droids You Are Looking For” Jedi-Mind-Trick Student Loan Bill House Democrats were standing on the soapboxes and holding press conferences to honor the virtues of their student loan bill that they say will open college to Americans with moderate incomes. Impervious to the Jedi trick, Washington Post columnist Robert Novak comments, “This bill passed by an overwhelming bipartisan vote, was touted as reducing the interest on federally subsidized student loans, from 6.6% to 3.4%.
Actually it gradually reaches the 3.4% level on July 1, 2011. Only 29% of all students getting loans would be eligible for this gradual reduction. Other student loan programs will be cut to cover the costs of $7 billion. And contrary to what the Democrats suggest, the bill does nothing to slow skyrocketing college tuition.”
RHINO”S (Republican’s in name only)
We are equal opportunity bashers. Want to know why the Republican’s lost the House and the Senate? Conventional wisdom says the war in Iraq. Even Republicans want you to believe that
to be the case, but the reality is that the Republican Party did such a horrific job governing based upon core conservative values that the base didn’t show up. From bridges to nowhere, immigration, energy policy, and corruption scandals, are a few of the reasons the base stayed home. The Republican Party deserved to lose. Despite all the fanfare regarding the President’s low approval ratings Congress’s was worse. What we need are more people like Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma who has been warning everyone who will listen that the fix is on. The
backroom deals, the waste, the 10,000 personal projects and earmarks that our modern day pharaohs sneak into the budget every year. In a fantastic, and I admit, surprising article this past
month by Wil S. Hylton in GQ Magazine Senator Coburn states…
“The waste I saw everyday was incredible. Most of our politicians don’t have high self esteem, so they have to have people doing things for them all the time, telling them how
great they are. The system is broken, and the only way it gets fixed is by throwing the vast majority of the incumbents out. One of the greatest things I saw in six years was Arlen
Specter and Tom Harkin, this just shows you how callous and brassed these guys are, introducing a bill on the floor naming institutions that already had names, naming them after themselves! I would tell you; in Arlen Specter’s case he’s done a great disservice to the nation. Also Robert Byrd, he knows exactly how to rape the U.S. Treasury and mortgage the future. It’s sad.”
It is much too easy for me to make fun of these modern day sophists. However, when I do point out the logical fallacies from both Democrats and Republicans I do so with a bit of fear in my
heart. The essential claim of sophistry is that the actual validity of an argument is irrelevant; it is only the ruling of the audience which ultimately determines whether a conclusion is considered “true” or not. In other words, the lie becomes the truth. This is frightening because it opens the door to disastrous public policy decisions and legislations which serve political gain rather than the public good. We have a complete utter lack of leadership in this country with a political class that tells us what we want to hear rather than what we need to hear.
Our Country is Soft.
The new season of American Idol has kicked off and the big story on all the news programs and talkers during its first week was “Are the judges too mean?”
Too mean? This I had to see.
After bearing through the first fifteen minutes of the next episode I came to the realization that the judges were not mean enough. Correct me if I am wrong but if you agree to appear on national
television and sing, do you think it might be a good idea that you have the ability to carry a tune? The contestants were so over the top horrible that I thought the whole thing was staged. Adding
insult to injury, after making a fool of themselves on national television these idiots would embarrass themselves further by crying and throwing tantrums. Did these people actually think
they had talent? I cannot sing. In fact my singing voice is so bad, I pull an Ashlee Simpson and lip-sync at church. With full knowledge of my limitations I would never try out to be the next
American Idol. However, if I was forced at gunpoint to do so, I would work my tail off and do everything and anything I could to prepare. But most certainly after Simon and the drunk chick
tell me to take a hike I most certainly wouldn’t cry about it. The fact that the treatment of ill-prepared talent less hacks was a major topic of conversation in our country scares me. The sad truth is that our enemies see this stuff and lick their chops.
American Idol is just one example of the softening of America. Others include: The controversy over terrorism and the show 24; Uproar over racial profiling at airports and the flying Imams;
Dietary concerns and proper handling of Korans at Guantanamo; The Saddam Hussein execution. I could go on and on. I believe we foster this ridiculous cultural phenomenon by
coddling kids with nobody losses or keeps score youth soccer leagues; the “everyone makes the team and gets to play mentality”, (True story: I have a kid on the high school lacrosse team that I
coach tell me that he would only make practice three days a week and felt that he should still be able to play and in fact start.) moral relativism, diversity training rather than history training,
apathetic parents, and lack of discipline. I sat the bench when I was young little leaguer when I wasn’t any good and rightfully so, it made work harder. Sorry kids but “gold stars” should be
earned. The reality is that life does not give a damn about self-esteem, future employers care about results. Our culture is turning our boys into a bunch of sensitive pony-tail metrosexuals and
our girls into a bunch of underwear-less ladies of the evening. (Check out the new Barbie van with hot tub in the back, what’s next… Barbie Planned Parenthood Clinic.) I get a kick out of the football pre-game shows, not only are they often hilarious, but often quite ironic. Take for instance the CBS show. Is it me or does Shannon Sharpe have a mouth full of marbles? I need closed-captioning just to understand that guy. As well…have you ever noticed the look on Dan Marino’s face when Boomer Essiason talks about how meaningless Peyton Manning’s career will be if he doesn’t win the big one? I swear one day Marino is going to take a bat to Essiason head like DeNiro in the Untouchables. I digress…Anyway these so-called football experts week in week out give us their winning picks which in turn end up being wrong greater than 50% of the time. (I have suggested that the football experts trade places with the CNBC and other business talking heads/gurus. The results would be equally inept and comedic. Imagine Shannon Sharpe discussing interest rates). One thing that the football guys do get right, a truth that they recant time and time again, is the football law of nature, “Whoever wins the battle at the line of scrimmage will win the game.” In other words, whoever is tougher, mentally and physically will win. The battle at the line of scrimmage is a battle of will. Head, heart and hustle will triumph. Not only is that an unalienable truth of football, but of life as well. I am here to tell you that we are currently losing the battle for the line of scrimmage.
Examples: Our media playing up stories of Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and other American human rights abuses, yet they ignore the beheadings and atrocities done by our enemies. Hugo
Chavez, the pimp from Venezuela comes to our country and ridicules it and our President, and is welcomed and honored by certain congressional leaders. The Mexican government passes out
literature to its citizens that is basically a How to Manuel for breaking our immigration laws. Iran, supplying terrorists in Iraq with weapons to kill our troops, yet we do nothing. Islamist terrorists
are taught how to play the victim card and game our legal system. The 1-800 I SUE EVERYONE class action attorneys. Political correctness run amok. The ACLU, which will defend a pro-child
molestation group and anyone else who wants to destroy this country. I could go on, but I think you get the idea.
I was ridiculed at a Christmas party I went to this past year because I cited that new movie Rocky Balboa was great and a film that I highly recommended everyone to see. Laughter followed by
the comment “Gee, Chris we thought you were an intellectual.” There is an old poster that used to line many classrooms I attended while growing up. It stated at the top, “All I Ever Needed toKnow, I Learned in Kindergarten.” Some of the points in the article were accurate such as: Play fair, Clean up your own mess, and don’t take things that aren’t yours. Some of it was hooey like: Warm cookies and milk are good for you, and hold hands. I have a new poster idea, Everything in Life I Need to Know I Learned from Rocky Balboa.
The lessons learned from the films (except V) were timeless and needed now more than ever in our modern society. Think about it…Rockytaught us how to lose, how to win, how to fight, do not rest on your laurels, train hard, stick by our principles, be true to the ones we love, basically, to be a man. Most people have no idea that a penny-less Sylvester Stallone turned down countless offers to sell his screenplay for the original Rocky because the studios wouldn’t include him in the roles.
He went back to working as an usher at the movie theater until he got what he wanted. Three points in the latest installment that I appreciated and everyone should learn from were: Doing for others without any thought of “what is in it for me”, Not letting others or society set boundaries for what one can or cannot do. Understanding that the purpose in life is not avoiding life’s battles, rather it is taking them head on. Getting knocked down and getting back up. Life will inevitably punch us all in the gut, withstand the blows, stand up, and move on. Our society has much to learn from Rocky Balboa.
I have twice done segments on my radio show regarding congressional testimony dating back to 1963 when Florida Congressmen Albert Herlong Jr. entered into the record the findings of Cleon Skousen and the goals of Communism. Both times my email box was flooded with responses of shock and disbelief. Here are some of the goals cited and unfortunately achieved…
Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. Capture one or both of the
political parties in the United States. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights. Get control of the schools. Use
them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks. Use student
riots to foment public protests against programs of organizations which are under Communist attack. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, and policy
making positions. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American
Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.” Control art critics and directors of art museums.
“Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art.” Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press. Break down
cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio and TV. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal,
natural, and healthy.” Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion.
Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a” religious crutch.” Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the
grounds that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”
Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to
cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
Discredit the American Founding Fathers.
Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the “common man.”
Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the grounds that it was only a minor part of the “big picture.” Give more emphasis to Russian history
since the Communists took over. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture–education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand (or treat).
Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals. Discredit the family as an institution.
Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should
rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.
If this list made the hair on the back of your neck stand, join the club. It is time to push back. It is time to reclaim the line of scrimmage. It is time to demand honesty from our leaders not sophistry
and false promises. It is time to bring America back to its pioneering roots based upon self-reliance and personal responsibility.
We need more Rocky less Jerry Springer. The United States of America is the greatest country this world has ever seen. The wealth and prosperity created here is unparalleled. Despite that, it is not time to rest on laurels. Apathy and dependence can lead to tyranny and it can happen much quicker than everyone realizes.
Do you think that the ancient Greeks or Romans would ever believe that they would fall? The late President Gerald Ford once stated, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is
a government big enough to take away everything you have.”
Are you with me?
