All the News That's Fit to be Tied

I have an axe to grind, but unlike the New York Times, I freely admit it.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

What is all this Cheering?

Every time President Obama opens his mouth there is a screaming bunch of teenage-sounding teenyboppers cheering at every sentence. I'm no expert but this seems a little overdone to me, unless of course there is a Guinness Book of World Records contest for the most cheers after sentences in any given speech. There are those, myself included, who are starting to think these constantly cheering sections that seem to accompany the President everywhere he goes are just part of a covert attempt to make the press, who already loves him, record and report on the cheering throngs as if he is adored by everyone. Since we know of so many who don't like him, don't agree with his policies, think he is a bit naive and resent his attempts to transform the U.S. into his own image, I can't help but thinking these cheering crowds are bought and paid for. It may well be that people less than enamored with the President are not allowed to be anyplace he is. That may explain the constant hoorah, although I agree with those who believe it's fixed.

What Sotomayor Tells Us About Obama

When President Obama introduced Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor he gave his usual rousing, instructional speech complete with talking points to his subjects and supporting media groupies. He demanded that the Senate confirm her before the August recess so she can "walk up those powerful steps and begin dispensing some justice." Exactly what does he think has been going on in America? He acts and speaks as if he were the very first President. What does he think the Supreme Court has been dispensing for the last 200 years? As a nation we are more diverse than any other country in the world. I am willing to bet that most people wouldn't think that was true if they get their information from the mainstream press. The propagandists that pass for purveyors of news in America are even more ignorant than those they try to keep in the dark. Real journalists and editors sift information for a living. They know what the truth is and only pass on what fits in with the mainstream view. For example there was other Hispanic, Latin nominee to the Supreme Court by the name of Miguel Estrada, who was nominated by George W. Bush. There was also a rumor that he was considering Alberto Gonzales, but knew the Senate would savage his character over the torture debate and the President declined to nominate him. So in reality Sotomayor is not the first Hispanic nominee, but because she is a liberal the fawning press corp. carries the water and skips over the facts to make her story "compelling." And in truth, her story is compelling. For those of us from the Bronx Sotomayor's old neighborhood is a tough place. She is a gifted individual, despite the mixed reviews on her lawyerly intellect. There are those that think there is a true jurist in her and she may turn out be Obama's David Sooter. She is being chosen for her espoused views on courts making public policy and the dispensation of racial and restorative justice. America can only hope that once nominated she discovers the calling that is the Supreme Court of the United States.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Colin - Take your Little Red Wagon...

...and join the Democrats. Just who does Colin Powell think he is to the Republican Party and to the vast majority of conservatives in the party? It must have killed him to admit that Bush was right on the torture question on CBS' Face the Nation. His argument that the Republicans need to be more inclusive is ludicrous; we have him. We also have a whole bunch of Democratic wannabes that I wish would join the Democrats. Don't be like Arlen Spector, who joined the Dems because he was unlikely to win in Pennsylvania. Just join them because, in truth, they are your party. Your think fits right in with their think. So just do it. Conservatives don't need to be told what to think. We don't need to be led around by some pie-eyed piper with a little red wagon. When the truth mattered Colin was absent. When his trusted aide Richard Armitage leaked the name of CIA agent Valarie Plame to the press he knew it. And yet, he let Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff Scooter Libby get hung out to dry by not going public with the knowledge. This is the man that wants you to trust him. He took part in ruining the life of an innocent man who served the White House and the people, when all he had to do was encourage Armitage to go public. But even Powell now suffers from Bush Derangement syndrome. Dick Cheney is right. Colin Powell is the worst kind of RINO because he too wants to desert the values that make our nation greater than either party. He wants to trade them in like an old car and get one with an Obamasheen. Just grovel Colin; the President will give you a minute or two.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Tidbits: Pelosi, NPR and ACORN

Last month in a column called Water boarding was no Surprise... it was clearly demonstrated that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi knew about enhanced torture techniques, including water boarding, despite her now well-known and exposed public positions to the contrary. There she was in the front of a compliant Washington Press Corp media pretending to be Sergeant Shultz citing his now famous phrase "I know nothing." Her real complicity was verified by the most recent CIA internal report that shows her in attendance at meetings where this information was provided, discussed and approved by Congressional oversight. Will anyone in Congress or the media call her on this? Not likely. The biggest surprise in the CIA report was that water boarding has not been used on anyone since 2003 and when it was, it was only with two detainees. It was so surprising that the mainstream press ignored that story, which points out the battle reasonable and fair people face in getting the truth to the public. Public Health Insurance is being put in the forefront as an integral part of Obama's healthcare reform plans. Today on NPR I heard something I think would have been impossible on NPR is the not too distant past; a serious talk show about National Healthcare Reform whose main guest was the president of the American Medical Association. Twenty years ago a NPR radio host (don't call me disc jockey) would have refused to give the AMA a platform because it was part of the establishment that supporters of NPR thought were part of the problem. The main discussion was the development of paperless electronic medical records, which some, including the President, claim will provide the savings required to provide healthcare for everyone. Aside from the irony of NPR interviewing the AMA this also permits me to say the "paperless revolution is a hoax." There will never be less paper. As a pioneer in the paperless revolution I can tell you from direct experience that the computers and copy machines consume more and more paper every day. People now can easily make copies, tens of copies, hundreds of copies, etc to their hearts and supervisor's content. It's a good thing that most paper products are bio-degradable otherwise we would all be up to our proverbial necks in it. On October 13, of last year I wrote that ACORN's, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, voter registration work must be exorcised from the voting rolls in every state they have registered voters. This organization has been indicted in 13 states for voter fraud. They and their partners are implicated in a Hilary Clinton primary loss in Indiana and the registering of democratic voters for Al Franken in Minnesota in the Coleman-Franken contest, which is still unresolved. Voter fraud on the scale of that practiced by ACORN can effect election outcomes and transform the nation to fit the views of a few. When voter fraud is not addressed everyone's vote is watered down and made more meaningless. Every voter registration submitted by ACORN and organizations like them must be rejected by every voting district in the country in favor of individual registration so we can be sure that every voter is a district resident and eligible to vote.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Arlen Spector Gets His

When Arlen Spector deserted the Republican Party for political expediencey last week I was thrilled because after hearing him speak in the early 90's at a Corrections Conference I concluded there was nothing republican or conservative about his philosophy or his outlook. When he switched parties last week I though good riddance to another RINO. In getting him to switch parties Majority Leader Harry Reid promised he would retain his senate seniority placing him ahead of many Democrats on the various committees of which he is now a majority member. However, late Tuesday night the Senate voted to strip Spector of his seniority and the announcement was made by Harry Reid himself. This illustrates two things. The first is that Spector has shown himself to be short-sighted and acting only in his own self-interest. The second thing is that the word of Harry Reid has little value when it comes to advancing his caucas. This should also serve as a warning to other Republican senators who might consider a move to the other side of the aisle. Unless of course, you would enjoy being the most junior democrat on any committee you serve.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Why National Health Care will Fail

The recent story of the 23-month old Mexican child who died from the Mexico-based swine flu aptly demonstrates why national health care is destined to fail. His family was coming to Houston, Texas for a day of previously scheduled doctor's appointments for the mother and aunt. The sequence is as follows and was reported by KPRC radio: The boy's family flew from Mexico City into Matamoros, Mexico across the border from Brownsville on the evening of April 3. They spent that night and the night of April 4 at a Brownsville hotel. On Sunday April 5, the boy, three brothers, his mother and a cousin drove to Houston for a day of previously scheduled doctor's appointments for the mother and aunt. The boy, who officials said had several underlying health problems, did not see a doctor. The long and short of this story is that people from Mexico are coming to the United States for health care. I assume that they are Mexican citizens and I would like to assume that they paid for the health care, but I don't know. I would like to assume that they crossed the border legally, but I don't know. I would assume they are well-off enough to spend a day at Houston's upscale Galleria shopping mall and therefore well-off enough to pay the hospital bill at Texas Children's Hospital or the hospital in Brownsville, but I don't know. There was no mention of cost by Kathy Barton of the Houston Health Department. There was no mention of cost by Houston Mayor Bill White. There was no mention of cost from Cameron County Judge Carlos Cascos, who said he spoke with boy's aunt in Brownsville. Look at the level of care this Mexican family received in the United States and all they had to do was walk across the street from Matamoros to Brownsville. All this care will be billed to the American's with health insurance and the when there is national health care events such as these will continue and all Americans will be forced to pay through a healthcare tax for anyone who finds their way into the country. If this Mexican family paid for this care I would like someone to step up and prove it. In fact I challenge Barton, White and Cascos to prove it. As it stands right now I must assume that I paid a little, you paid a little and many of your friends and neighbors also paid a little. That is what will happen with national health care whether people are entitled to the care or not. In some countries with national healthcare care is non-existent. For example, in Cuba healthcare is free but there are no medical supplies and the majority of hospitals and health care facilities are completely run down. In other countries with national healthcare, such as Canada and Great Britain, care is rationed. Their citizens flock to America for the privilege of buying the healthcare they need in a timely manner. How can we protect ourselves from pandemics like the swine flu if its victims can come to America for free health care they cannot get in their own country? The Obama Administration, following in the steps of single-payer advocates, is sowing the seeds of destruction for America’s health care system and increasing the chances of a healthcare catastrophe in this country.