Sunday Open Thread

Certainly not a shortage of issues to discuss or make fun of:

1. Is climate change the global threat of our time?

2. Is Hillary the most qualified Democrat for POTUS?

3. Do IRS employees deserve $50 million in bonuses?

4. Will Bernanke stop the presses and will the last mirage of a good economy stop with it?

5. Why does Jay Z win awards for saying the N word and Paula Dean gets fired?

6. Will there be any intelligent analysis of the Farm Bill?

7. Do Democrats still care about ethics and honesty?

Feel free to add your own and have a great Sunday

The Rise and Fall of Barack Obama

It’s been an interesting six months for The One We Have All Been Waiting For. Shortly into his still-hard-to-believe second term, it seems that the disenchantment is growing rapidly due to a continued struggling economy, high unemployment with no real concerted effort to do anything about it, his feckless foreign policy, and of course the scandals, which seemingly grow by the day. A new CNN poll shows just 45% approval, down 8 points from just a few months ago, and fueled by a 17 point drop in those folks 30 years old and younger. It seems as though the younger generations “hope and change” has been met with the reality of progressive policies, which only bring about bigger government and less opportunity. It’s not as though we didn’t have history to look back on, or that they were warned that this would be the eventual result, so it’s hard to be sympathetic.

Yesterday, Mr. Obama spoke to a considerably smaller crowd then the one that met him in 2008, and gave a yawn of a speech. Or as Nile Gardiner from the The Telegraph so aptly put it – “a weak and underwhelming address from a floundering President”. Obama’s speech contained meaningless platitudes that have been uttered so many times, by so many empty leaders that they resonate with no one. Sadly we have three and half more years of listening to his empty speeches and living with his harmful policies, but have no fear, the white guilt that drove the Democrats to nominate Obama in 2008, has now morphed into gender guilt, as the Democrats and the progressive media are quickly falling in line behind Hillary in hopes of keeping their oligarchy alive. It’s actually kind of a slap in the face to Democrats around the country isn’t it? No one within that party stands a chance at the nomination if Hillary decides to run. She has been pre ordained because of her gender, her lineage, and the fact that she was tossed aside in 2008 in favor of someone who represented a more appealing minority.

The Democratic Party has devolved into a paranoid oligarchial cult followed by a sycophantic media and a mindless constituency afraid to death of right wing strawmen. It’s actually comical when you think about it. But what’s not funny is their authoritarian tactics, particularly the monitoring of Sheryl Attkinson’s personal and professional computers, the domestic monitoring of emails and phone calls, and the level of scrutiny directed towards conservative political groups. Fasten your seat belt folks, it’s going to be a bumpy few years.

Giving America Away

On the heels of the nine robed justices decision to over ride the sovereignty of my state, I was compelled to write a scathing article full of four letter expletives but discovered that E.W. Jackson recently said it much better than I ever could:

A few years ago the Obama regime filed a lawsuit against my state for the audacity of actually upholding federal law in terms of immigration. That lawsuit was not only a violation of my states sovereignty, but also wasn’t in keeping with federal immigration laws as they are currently written. And now, the nine robed elitists on the SC, decided again that AZ was incapable of governing within it’s borders as they threw out Arizonans desire to have proof of citizenship before casting a ballot, preferring instead to uphold the federal requirement of simply checking a box claiming that you are a citizen, which is a very weak standard. Yesterday however, Marco Rubio proposed an amendment to the immigration bill which would raise that standard nationwide by requiring proof in the federally written motor voter law, but that’s provided the immigration bill passes, which is uncertain at best. Considering that the immigration bill calls for amnesty now, and border security later, I hope like hell it doesn’t pass. It’s 1986 all over again where Congress promises to secure the border in favor of immediate amnesty and we all know how that turned out. This AZ election decision and the current immigration bill obviously pleases the open borders crowd and the Democrats who are always in pursuit of a new block of constituents to give our treasury to, in return for votes, but these two decisions are harmful to the country overall, as they have the potential to create absolute chaos in the border states. Thousands of immigrants will flock across the border with amnesty just around the corner, and then subsequently vote for the politician that promises them the most, and why wouldn’t they? If we are so stupid to allow that to happen, why wouldn’t someone take advantage of it? This is not only outrageous, it is a violation of state sovereignty, a violation of common sense, and an offense to every intelligent American. E.W. Jackson eloquently said – “keep the federal government out of my state, out of my healthcare, out of our schools, and out of our lives”. Which leads me to quote the great Smokey Robinson – “I second that emotion”!!!

Libertarianism

Jonah Goldberg recently wrote an excellent article over at National Review Online:

In a much-discussed essay for Salon, Michael Lind asks: “If libertarians are correct in claiming that they understand how best to organize a modern society, how is it that not a single country in the world in the early twenty-first century is organized along libertarian lines?”

Such is the philosophical poverty of liberalism today that this stands as a profound question.

Definitions vary, but broadly speaking, libertarianism is the idea that people should be as free as possible from state coercion so long as they don’t harm anyone. The job of the state is limited to fighting crime, providing for the common defense, and protecting the rights and contracts of citizens. The individual is sovereign; he is the captain of himself.

It’s true, no ideal libertarian state has ever existed outside a table for one. And no such state will ever exist. But here’s an important caveat: No ideal state of any other kind will be created either. America’s great, but it ain’t perfect. Sweden’s social democracy is all right, but if it were perfect, I suspect fewer cars would be on fire over there.

Ideals are called ideals for a reason: They’re ideals. They’re goals, aspirations, abstract straight rules we use as measuring sticks against the crooked timber of humanity.

Goldberg goes on to say that the progressive movement is only moving America towards the tried, failed and archaic system of statism, wherein our lives are largely dictated by leaders who are purported to know what’s best for all of us. Been there, done that, throughout history and it has never turned out well. How liberals and democrats can cite this as “progress” is beyond me.

I increasingly find myself on the libertarian side of the political equation, having been disappointed with the “conservative” movement far too many times. The less of an authoritarian figure that is in my life, the much better off I am – and that is both from a political and personal standpoint. I would much rather fail on my own, than succeed as a result of someone else’s decisions. Sadly I believe we have abandoned that ideal as a country and now far too many of Americans would prefer to be “employed” and work and live at the direction of someone else, rather than take a risk and seek their own path. The other day one of our resident progressives asked what did “conservatives have to offer”, which I found to be extremely disheartening. Too many people have simply lost sight of the spiritual and professional fulfillment that complete liberty can bring. When you are left to your own, failure is a given, but so is the potential abundance of spiritual awareness and financial rewards. You never really know who you truly are, until you have only yourself to rely on and I wish more people would take the leap to experience that.

Happy Father’s Day y’all!!

Global Warming Update

A while back, Rusty, one of our resident progressives and I, debated the global warming issue specifically as it related to human involvement. I cited several sources wherein it was noted that temperatures had leveled off over the last decade despite continual measurable  increases in carbon emissions. Well this fact has even now caught the attention of the “quite liberal” Gray Lady:

The rise in the surface temperature of earth has been markedly slower over the last 15 years than in the 20 years before that. And that lull in warming has occurred even as greenhouse gases have accumulated in the atmosphere at a record pace.

Amazingly, despite the fact that previous claims of rising temperatures as a result of carbon emissions by global warming alarmists have now been proven false, the movement to control personal activity continues. And dovetailing into Mark’s previous thread, the global warming issue, or climate change issue, or whatever it is called today, IS just another mechanism for control over the population sought by governments. And even more harming to America is the fact that this cause has become global, and many world governments are hoping to legislate our activity and redistribute our wealth in the name of climate change. Restricting our freedoms? You’re damn right, and those freedoms are being assaulted on many different fronts. The worst enemy to an ever expanding and controlling government is an educated and armed populace, unfortunately the “educated” part of that equation has waned considerably over the last few decades, and the “armed” part of that equation is currently under attack. Thomas Jefferson once said that a “democracy requires eternal vigilance”, and for those of us who hope to keep liberty in tact, we had better start stepping up to the plate.

Memorial Day Weekend – Open Thread

I have to say that this new age of civility at B4V has me all a flutter. There were some very good comments and discourse in the previous thread, so it is possible to post respectful comments and not be offended by those we disagree with. However there was one casualty – LOL.

Lot’s of issues to comment on, so pick your favorite and let us know how you feel about it. The one that caught my attention this morning was the riot in Sweden. Often touted as a liberal paradise, it seems that the NON natives are now restless. Do you suppose that we will ever be able to convince progressives that legislating “fairness” is impossible? Based on the recent post from the DailyKos – I would say not –

..[T]he ideals of the Republican party reflect tribalism, selfishness, and zero-sum games, while the Democratic party’s reflect unity, humility, and leaving a better world to our descendents… …[T]here really is no room for Republicans in the world we are living in. So long as the people in this country are facing unpredictable, deadly, natural as well as man-made disasters, medical care that needs to be provided, life-altering climate change that needs to be managed, and the turmoil that comes with living paycheck to paycheck, Republicans and their supporters are dead weight to the rest of us…But then, there’s no denying that Republicans are also a demographic of the people with whom we need to plan on sharing this better world, because they are likely not going to change their ways anytime soon. The best we can do is get them out of the way, as in out of our government…

Think about the statement for a moment. The “reflection” of unity, humility and leaving the world in a better place is how this poster sees the Democratic Party. Not for the results the policies actually produce, but simply for the “feel good” intent. That is a dangerously educated person that is currently walking our streets and voting.

Take a moment this weekend to say a prayer of thanks to our veterans that have given the ultimate sacrifice in protecting this greatest nation on God’s green earth, and I hope you all have a fun filled weekend.

Liberalism

We are living it now folks. We are up to our collective necks in liberalism and it wasn’t just a result of the last 5 years under Obama, of course he opened the throttle quite a bit, but this is a slow, festering symptom that started with Republican Theodore Roosevelt, picked up steam with Woodrow Wilson, accelerated with FDR, and reached overdrive with LBJ. And now we find ourselves mired in a mediocre stew of progressive feel good policies that have only served to bring the strongest, most economically robust, most individually free country to its collective knees. Ironically, the policies that progressives champion, hoping to “level the playing field”, do anything but and were strictly designed and marketed by a ruling class to win elections. There is zero intent by the leaders of the current Democratic Party, or the ruling class which includes many Republicans, to actually resolve the issues they promise to fix primarily because, to do so would render themselves useless. Their sole intent is to continue to amass money and power and doing so, requires a loyal, fever pitched base convinced that they need their benevolence and protection. For those conservatives who fear the onset of a socialist state, that ship has sailed – we are already there. The myriad of welfare programs, Medicaid, Medicare, SS and now Obamacare has America firmly planted in socialism.

What other current issues can we attribute to liberalism you may wonder? Take Benghazi – here is a ME outpost that sits in a chaotic country void of any leadership, specifically because of the recent actions of our military, and one that is rife with rogue and radical elements. The current liberal brain trust, which included Ambassador Stevens, thought that reinforced security measures were not important, and would send the wrong message, primarily because liberalism believes that the US military is part of what’s wrong with this world, not what is right. Therefore, their cavalier attitude towards radical elements resulted in four American deaths, and their attempt to obfuscate that fact has resulted in the recent scandal.

The IRS – liberalism believes that any opposition towards their high-minded policies is tantamount to malicious obstructionism and borderline treason (see Michael Moore), therefore, the intense scrutiny the IRS applied towards groups opposed to the administration was in line with the culture that liberalism creates.

The debt – Every dollar taxed and sent to Washington DC, is another dollar stripped from the private market, rendering it less powerful and more dependent on the government. It’s really that simple. By creating crisis’s that require additional spending and running up the debt, the Federal Government can convince their loyal base that taxes need to increase and the problems they face are not because of any actions of their own or the government, but because those with the money refuse to pay their “fair share”. Take for example Oklahoma – the Democrats are claming that they need to borrow more money to pay for the storm, are demonizing conservatives for wanting off sets, and not reminding anyone of the fact that Obama just sent $200 million to Syrian refugees that could have been used for the storm, or that there is $11 billion currently in the FEMA account. They are simply exploiting a crisis to rile up their base, demonize an opponent, and take more money away from the private sector.

These are just a few examples of what the disease of progressivism has wrought, and if we continue down this path, these and other problems will only persist and expand. As David Axlerod recently admitted, the Federal Government is too vast, our debt is too big, our problems are too pronounced, and our labor force is too small, but our country is too important. We currently have a President that does nothing, and knows nothing so it is incumbent upon us to be diligent and engaged if we are to ever repeal the progressive efforts, policies and mindsets that brought us to this point.

UPDATE, by Mark Noonan.  Axelrod tweeted that he hopes the bridge collapse will induce us mean, evil Republicans to pass more spending for infrastructure.  This is the kind of nonsense I think all of us on the right are sick of.  Axelrod’s President has been in office for more than four years; trillions of extra money has been spent since Obama took office, a great deal of it justified as money to rebuild infrastructure and here’s comes one of the dunces who put Obama in office to demand that we GOPers agree to spend even more money!  Tell you what, Axelrod, maybe if you and your buddy Barry hadn’t use the last pile of money just to keep your union buddies employed then that bridge would have been fixed!  I hold Obama and Axelrod personally responsible for this – they didn’t do their jobs and a bridge collapsed.  They’ve had more than four years to ensure that all bridges are inspected and necessary repairs done.  That is more than enough time – though I guess what with all the vacations, golf outings and neglect of embassy security, fixing bridges escaped our President’s notice.

The View From Here

There has been a lot of discussion lately re: the continued admittance of liberal posters at B4V, the cautioned albeit well intended advice to a friendship based on commonalities other than politics, but those thoughts and discussions are also combined with an increasing obsession to personally belittle others from both sides. I must admit that early on in my B4V presence beginning in 2006, I did enjoy attacking liberals, and still do post some sarcastic remarks, but the personal attacks have certainly escalated over the last few years, and that is just not healthy for anyone, particularly the one leveling the attack. Personally, I had to reflect on that – do I really harbor such disdain in my heart for someone I don’t personally know? I will admit that when I read a post from majordomo that begins “We, Ourselves”, I still have to hold back from launching into a sarcastic tirade, but on the occasion I have, I realize that that tirade only affects me, and me alone. It tends to discombobulate my attitude and my day, and quite frankly majordomo isn’t worth it. So I decided a while back that I just wasn’t going to engage in the swamp anymore. That I would simply voice my opinion, which I enjoy doing, and would only respond in kind to those liberal posters that I deemed worthy of a response. Everything else I would just ignore, and I must say, that my blood pressure is down – LOL.

As some of you know, my daughter is a liberal and voted for Obama in the last two elections. In 2008, she and I were at odds, and the dialogue was heated on occasion, but being that she is my daughter, I made a point to converse on a range of topics outside of politics and when the conversation did circle back around to politics, I was tempered as was she. Consequently, we have had some very good conversations. A while back I sent Mitch a personal email at his request, and in the beginning we did battle each other on political issues, which of course we were at odds over, but slowly the conversation turned to other issues and common ground was struck. In my opinion, life is simply too short to personally attack each other on line. This doesn’t mean that I have stopped contributing, campaigning, writing on, and voting for the demise of liberalism, as that is a passion of mine that will not abate anytime soon, but I also realize that at my age, heated rhetoric is something I choose to largely ignore and wish everyone on this blog, conservatives and liberals, would also adhere to. Simply voice your opinion on the issue du jour, or comment on your over arching ideology, be prepared to defend it civilly, and don’t be offended by those who try to drag you down into the swamp. I also ask of Matt and Mark to delete posts that do insult and harangue, and if it doesn’t stop, to ban the commentator, and that includes me. I would like to see a new direction at B4V, one that actually provokes thought, converses on a range of topics, and one that welcomes civil and insightful input from a diverse group. What do you think the chances of that are?

In keeping with the spirit of the blog, my issue du jour is – The Fifth! Hard to believe that Lois Lerner plead the Fifth. I think it does more harm to the regime than good. It just reeks of malicious intent. Furthermore, why is Sarah Hall Ingram not testifying? And why is she being promoted to oversee the ACA enforcement? This whole IRS scandal doesn’t pass the smell test.

Sunday Open Thread

There is so much going on that a dedicated thread just seems inadequate. A couple of things on my mind – the other night Bill Maher and Michael Moore claimed that the GOP is committing borderline treason for obstructing Obama’s agenda. Apparently escalating debt, a shrinking work force, and higher taxes are patriotic. Who knew? The major media is back in cover mode for the regime after a brief brush with faux outrage. Chris Matthews and David Corn claimed that the continued investigations just proves that the GOP is pandering to their racist base. But I think the best example of journalism mal practice came from Martin Bashir when he pointed out that the head of the IRS during the time of the unethical inquiries was appointed by Bush – meaning of course that this is again Bush’s fault. To which I will gleefully remind him that the head of the CIA at the time of 9/11 was appointed by Clinton – so 9/11 is Clinton’s fault right?

Discuss these and other topics amongst yourselves – be civil and pithy.

Damage Control

This has been quite a week for the Obama regime, who may want to brush up on the first rule of holes. From Benghazi, to the IRS, to the AP, it seems as though Obama continues to double down on excuses rather than come clean. Ironically, for a President who says he champions the “little guy”, he has no problem throwing that “little guy” under the bus if it serves him. How can a President who has been described as a master executive and in command of the issues, know nothing, when an uncomfortable issue presents itself? Equally ironic is David Axlerod’s admission today that the federal government is just too big, and too vast, to have control over everything. Isn’t that what conservatives been trying to tell liberals for years now? That a big government, presents big problems? Unfortunately, Obama chooses to blame others and plead ignorance, rather than take ownership as any honorable leader would do.

I have a feeling that Obama might actually be pleased that the IRS and AP scandals surfaced this week as it does distract from his deplorable absence on the Benghazi issue. What President is absent during a raid on an embassy in the ME? What Secretary of State doesn’t even call the second in charge back (Hicks), in Libya for two days following his plea to evacuate?  These actions by Obama and Clinton are indefensible. Obama claims he wants to bring those responsible to justice? Well he had the chance to get those responsible the night of the attack, but chose to disappear. And furthermore, he has yet to bring any of those people responsible to justice.

The IRS issue gets deeper by the day. The number of targeted groups swells to nearly 500, the discovery that liberal groups were receiving IRS approvals within days, including Obama’s brother, while conservative groups were being held up, and the possibility that some leaked IRS reports on Romney were used against him. Nixon was impeached for this kind of activity, so it doesn’t surprise me that Obama is being held to account, and surprisingly by the mainstream media as well. I was shocked when Joe Scarborough lit Axlerod up this morning on MSNBC. If Obama loses his sycophantic media support, he could be in a real bind. The next few weeks will be fun to watch.