The Word is Traitor

Nidal Malik Hasan is a Major in the U.S. Army. He is not a civilian, not a jihadist, not a terrorist. First and foremost he is a traitor and he should be treated like a traitor. I have not heard this word use by anyone yet. Not the media, not the military, not even the President. Hasan should be court-martial-ed and executed for treason. There is no doubt about his guilt and no mitigating circumstance for an officer who wantonly kills his men. He not only took the oath of a soldier. He went the extra mile and took a commission. His major job was to protect the men under his command, even if that command was indirect. Enlisted men are trained to trust officers and obey their commands. The troops in the base were not expecting to have to defend themselves on their own base from one of their superiors. For the most part troops on a military base do not carry arms unless their specific duties or maneuvers call for it. Hasan was given every chance. He gave lectures in which he espoused the dictates of the Koran. He found beheading infidels and filling their severed heads with boiling oil defensible. He defended the activity of Muslim terrorists. He was permitted to continue on active duty. We now know he was communicating with terrorists and that it may have been known by others in the chain of command. If this turns out to be true they should also bear some responsibility. Enlisted troops must know they can trust their officers without hesitation and without trepidation that he or she may kill them when they are defenseless. Many men have cracked from the prospect of being sent to a war zone and react badly. It is an issue of personal courage and Hasan chose to go out in a blaze of jihadist glory and put the blame on the Army and America rather than himself. There is ample evidence that his attack was premeditated. We do not need to know the workings of his inner mind, his personal conflict about his role in the military, or whether or not he is a Muslim. The military accepted him despite his flaws and he chose to repay the military by killing and wounding unarmed soldiers who where at home and not expecting to have defend themselves against one of their own. He should be stripped of his commission and executed by firing squad.

It's Almost Over

Over the past several weeks the Democrats have been playing a little game. They have been trying to pretend they have passed health care so that when a version that passes both the House and Senate finally does come up for a vote the people will think it's already been done and that the final vote is just a formality when in fact it is the vote that really counts. It is all the votes that have taken place up to now that have not really counted. The five bills in Senate and the three in the House (or was it three in the Senate and five in the House?), were all meaningless committee and floor votes that only serve to begin the debate. All this hoopla, ceremony and histrionics over bills that are really meaningless is designed to stop you from paying attention to what they are doing. Even if the House of Representatives is successful in passing its health care reform package it must still go through the conference process with the U.S. Senate, which may not take place until the next Congressional session. And, most experts agree that if it goes into next year it's very unlikely to get passed by both houses and get to the President's desk. Congress may finally decide that it's better to do nothing than to make a mistake that could cost them the majority in 2010. Don't be fooled. Your freedom and our health care system are at stake.

The Party of Different

It is the fancy these days to call the Republicans the party of "no" on healthcare. Democrats and their toadies and lackeys in the mainstream media must feel that if they keep repeating it, it may appear to be true despite the false foundation it is built on. Republicans are not the party of "no" on health care they are the party of "different." One of the principle components of real reform is tort-reform. An idea vehemently rejected by Congressional Democrats because of pressure by the American Bar Association. This idea is part of a Republican proposal. Another principle component is to permit providers to sell policies across state lines thereby increasing consumer choice. The current law limits the number of companies that can sell in various states, which decreases competition and keeps prices high. A third important component is making such purchases tax deductible for individuals as they are for businesses. These three changes in the current law would have a dramatic affect on quality, price and availability. It would have a positive impact on those already with insurance and would make it more affordable for those who don't. These are the ideas that are ignored every day by politicians and journalists whose goal is to suppress these views rather than elevate them into the public space. It is just simpler to repeat the lie than to tell the truth.

Hey Larry; Write Any Good Jokes Lately?

Comedy writing is very difficult. That is why so often writers and comedians go for the cheap joke. The one that makes you laugh at the expense of someone who can be stereotyped. For example, just this past week Larry David put on a skit in which he accidentally urinated on a portrait of Jesus Christ and made a joke out of the fact that some people thought it was Jesus crying and constituted a miracle. HBO and his defenders say he makes fun of everyone and show no favorites. So I wanted to offer up a few ideas: How about a skit where a Muslim accidentally puts down his Koran in a men’s room and Larry comes in and urinates on it. Isn’t that funny? Or even better, how about one where Barack Obama uses the paper from a 10-page NY Times puff piece about him and the First Lady to get a fire started in a homeless camp. That would be a real funny one. I have more. Email your joke requests to gbuzz9@gmail.com

All Roads Lead to the Public Option

N o matter how the Congress and the President try to disguise their intention they plan to create a system of rationed care run by the government. Many in Congress have been waiting their entire career to accomplish this including Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi and many others. They know that single-payer does not have the votes in the House or the Senate so they will change its name, call it what it is not and try any combination of devices to get it through. Witness the current situation. After getting a bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee they have moved the discussions behind closed doors and now plan to write the pubic option, which could not pass, into a new bill and call it the bill that passed. This "is the best path to get us to single-payer" according to Barney Frank, a long-time supporter of the Canadian system. So despite all current statements to the contrary this is where the liberals in Congress want to take us. With the Presidency and strong majorities in the House and Senate this is their best opportunity to do it. Take a minute and ponder this: we already have several examples of government-run healthcare including Medicare and Medicaid, veteran's hospitals and Indian reservations. It is well-known that those with Medicare must have supplemental plans for things not covered and we have all heard the horror stories of veteran's and Indians. Through the years Medicare has covered less and less, and supplemental coverage has cost more and more. Medicare has cut the reimbursement rate, which has resulted in many doctors and hospitals no longer accepting Medicare patients unless they carry supplemental policies. The current plan includes additional cuts in Medicare so it will only become worse. None of this is to even mention it has 46 Trillion in unfunded liabilities already. Add to this the myriad penalties, forced enrollment and increased regulation and there is no way such a plan could be deficit neutral or cost less. And finally, what is perhaps the most telling of all is that our Congress plans to exclude them selves from the system they are devising for us. Changing the name of the bill from National Healthcare to Healthcare Insurance Reform does not disguise the truth of what the government wants to do. The plan ends with a single-payer government run healthcare system, which history shows will destroy a healthcare system that is the envy of the world. Keep talking America. Let your Representative and Senators know how you feel. Keep those cards, letters and phone calls coming.

Men in White Coats

The Obama Traveling Medicine Show made a stop at the Rose Garden yesterday to help the President sell his healthcare reform message. There they were seated before and standing around him as he delivered the spiel of the day declaring doctors from every state supported his health plan. To prove it we were treated to a large group of lab-coated doctors in blazing white unused lab coats. The lab coats had never seen a hospital and it made you wonder if the doctors that were present had ever been in one either. After all you could be a doctor and never have practiced medicine. Say you were a Juris Doctor or a Doctor of Business Communication. You would be a doctor that never practiced medicine. However, it's not very likely that Obama would go such as great extent to trick the public. Oh yes, we know about the town hall plants, the predetermined questions, the orchestrated yelling, fainting, bussing and other activities that surround the President's activities. We here at thenewnarrative have been following the escapades of the Traveling Medicine Show since the end of the 2008 Democratic Primary. Given those things it's not likely he would try such a bush-league prank as dressing everyone up as a doctor. Or would he? Under normal circumstances the media would be asking questions, but with this President they just comply. So the questions remain: were all those present doctors or were just some of them doctors? How many of each? Is it just another illusion created to fool the crowd or can we take it at face value? Make your own judgment.

Obama Lets Iran Off the Hook

Iran got the best of both worlds this week when it forestalled any action on its nuclear ambitions, and will also get other countries to enrich much of its current un-enriched inventory of uranium, which it can use to create additional nuclear warheads for its missiles. You really can't make this stuff up. Perhaps if President Obama had flown to Switzerland instead of Denmark, the outcome might have been different. Any effort to portray the talks as anything other than a disastrous failure is an effort in futility and entirely dishonest. If the President wants to succeed with Iran he needs to fire a bunker-buster Cruise Missile right into the Qom facility tunnel entrance. The QOM facility is not even operational yet so it serves the purpose of providing a demonstration of force and also eliminates the possibility of radiation escaping into the atmosphere. The real work of enrichment goes on at the Narantz underground facility and the UN won't be permitted to go there. A Cruise Missile would be a meaningful message; "You stop now or else your Capital will be next." He has been fooled by his allies and snubbed by his enemies who are entirely unimpressed with his charm, wit and charisma. He either knows he is being played for a fool or he's a totally committed participant to the erosion of American influence in world affairs. As the star of the Obama Traveling Medicine Show he is a real pro, but as a world leader he is an amateur.