I took the weekend off from news and I really haven’t followed the attacks on Libya this past weekend, so it’s Monday morning and straight to Drudge to catch up.  So King “Nonuts” Obama finally grew a pair and joined up with France to take on Gadhafi, (The irony of that is not lost on me *) but only after the UN and the Arab League said it was ok, of course.  Now we got the Dems all conflicted, the Arab League conflicted, and Gadhafi disappointed in his son Obama.

I must admit also being conflicted about the whole thing, but isn’t how it is suppose to be with the Middle East?  I mean when has anything been cut and dry with these people? 

Consider:

1. Saudi Arabia is our friend that sells us oil and takes that money and gives some to Al-Qaeda and other bad guys.
2. Freedom movements around the region which we should support because freedom is the best way to provide the standard of living that would promote peace, but we fear freedom there because of the under current of support for terrorism by a good portion of the population. 
3. Governments that oppress and murder their own people but hold the West up as the reason and something for their people to fear.  And the people buy it.
4. Countries in that region use the Palestinians to spread hate of Israel but use the Palestinians as nothing but weapons and give families money to have their young blow themselves up.

We need to fully understand that the rulers and governments over there want the confliction.  They want to rule with the iron fist, but need to have a boogieman to focus their people’s hate against so that it doesn’t turn to them.  They need Al-Qaeda and terrorists to strike Israel and the West to give their people something to cheer, but they also want our money and don’t want Al-Qaeda and other terrorists to gain too much power, so they have to keep them in check. What we are seeing in the Middle East is the balancing acts of the governments there being disturbed. 

So, what do we do?  How do we deal with such a conflicted people and region?

1. Drill baby, Drill.  We need to have enough of our own oil on tap and ready to supply our needs both militarily and economically.  We should never be in the position to have to buy oil from anyone that will turn around and use the proceeds against us.  Any country that wants our money should not only be willing to sell at a price we want to pay, but be sure than none of that money ends up in the hands of people that want to kill us.
2. Support freedom, but be very clear that if you use that freedom to support those that wish to do us harm, we will kick your sorry free ass.
3. Never wait on approval from ANY other country to move to protect our interests.  The countries of that region need to know that if we need to; we will act swiftly and not wait for the approval of others.  Especially for the approval of countries that do not like us very much anyway. 
4. Confront and deal with Iran.  The amount of trouble they cause and support has no bounds.

Just because the Middle East, their people, and their governments act conflicted doesn’t mean we have to.  We should always be clear, both in intent and action.  We may be surprised how quickly things may settle down not only in the Middle East but in other areas, if the US will only step up and lead in a clear and concise way.

 *  In all fairness, France did help the US gain independence and the French Resistance in WWII were incredibly brave.

We as a nation now owe over $14 trillion dollars.  Take a minute and think about that.  Is there any way in the world we can possibly pay that off in the next 60 years?  There is a reason I asked that question… 60 years, but more on that in a minute.

First of all, I know that we can’t just blame King Obama and the Democrats for this.  This debt has been building for sometime now.  Former King Bush and the Republicans added quite a bit also.  That being said, King O and crew added $1 trillion in just 7 months.  7 MONTHS! 

Now… back to that 60 years.  What we have done is essentially taken out a loan that we can never pay back in our life times.   60 years plus 18 years (the voting age) equals 78 years which is about a person’s life time.  What we have done as a generation has borrowed money that we have assigned to persons that are not even alive yet to pay back.  Yes I know that it is the nation that owes the money and not one single person, but a government produces no money.  It only has the money that is raised by taxes.  So the only way to pay it back is to take money from persons not yet living. 

We pass on our Constitution and laws to future generations, but they have the option of changing or repealing them therefore they are not forced to follow the path of past generations.  Do they have the same option with our debt?  Can they say “Hey, we didn’t spend this money; we aren’t going to pay it back!”?  By all rights they do have that option.  After all what right do we have to spend their money, when they aren’t even alive to either allow or stop us?  This is the same as taxation without representation.

“Every office and department has its despotism, founded upon custom and usage. Every place has its Bastille, and every Bastille its despot.” – Thomas Paine

On Wednesday the 112^th Congress will convene and the Republicans will have control.  At least we can breathe easy because now Obama and the Dems will not have the power to force their agenda upon us any longer… well… maybe they can.  We must not forget about the bureaucracy.  You know those departments and offices that come into existence with about every new law that is made. 

Want to help the poor, fine, let’s pass a law and set up a “system” to provide this help.  Want to stop pollution?  Great, let’s create a department of government to setup and enforce regulations.  Want to “fix” healthcare… well I think you get the picture.

 Our first president had 4 Cabinet posts, today there are 15.  And each one with its own bureaucracy that is subdivided into smaller bureaucracies.  Every time we ask government to solve any problem, you can bet your rear that new offices will be opening up. 

Politicians love bureaucracies.  They provide power and cover for the politician.  Check out this from Dr. Krauthammer.  Want to get something done without Congress?  Want to get it done quietly?  Want to claim ignorance when something goes wrong?  Bureaucracies are the answer. 

Lawyers love bureaucracies too.  Is the IRS giving you problems?  Well you need a lawyer to fight for you.  Have you been denied Social Security and disability benefits?  Well you don’t want to take on the government on your own, you need a lawyer.  Watch television for any length of time and you will see the ads for lawyers and other professionals ready and willing to “fight” for you against the cold and heartless offices and departments that were setup by politicians to solve your problems and make your life easier.

The point to all this is that politicians come and go, but the bureaucracy remains and it is in the halls and offices of the bureaucracy that the power of government is welded and freedom is taken.  Want a good measure to judge the new Republican Congress with?  How about the number of government offices and departments closed or prevented?  Yes, I know that Obama and Harry Reid will prevent any attempt, but even if the 112^th can prevent any new offices from opening, that would be a start and the best reason to give them the White House and Senate in 2012.

Republicans gained control of the House, gaining 61 seats and a gain of 6, maybe more Senate seats.  They also picked up 8 more governorships and picked up control of several state legislatures.   The North Carolina legislature is going to be under Republican control for the first time in more than 100 years.  Even though control of the Senate did not change, a pickup of 6 seats is no small feat considering that only one third of the seats were up for election.

The taste of victory was indeed sweet, but now it’s the day after the election and we realize that the election was meaningless if the Republicans do not do what they are being sent to Washington and the state capitals to do.  And that is to do whatever they can to stop Obamacare, do not let taxes go up, stop the spending spree, and reduce the control government has on our lives.  Oh yeah, jobs… the role of government is not to create jobs, but rather to get back and allow the free enterprise system to do what it has to do to meet the demands of the people.  Meeting these demands is what creates jobs.  Real meaningful jobs are created to fulfill the needs and wants of the people. 

Now for the bipartisanship and compromise talk.  These things need to be said and I know that this angers many people that have lived with the anger at having things shoved at them, at being ignored, at having lost their jobs, at being insulted, at seeing their country derailed and seeing the arrogance of the political princes and princesses in Washington.  Many hear this talk and get depressed and think that nothing has changed, but talk is talk.  The actions that the Republicans take are what are important.  Let us hear the talk, but watch very carefully at the actions.

Why does this bipartisanship and compromise talk need to be said?  Glad you asked.  I believe that the Congress needs to take control of the situation.  The White House needs to be put on the defensive and their backs kept to the wall.  Let’s say the House passes a bill to repeal Obamacare.  It will then have to go to the Senate which is controlled by the Dems.  They don’t have the power to filibuster it but if the bill is sent to the Senate having being passed by the Republicans and a number of Dems, many of which ran away from Obamacare during the elections, the Senate will have more pressure on it to pass the bill.  Pass it or be seen by the American people of stopping something that the American people want, both by Republican and some Democrats.  That can get the bill to King Obama’s desk where he will have to defend the indefensible.  Talk of bipartisanship helps make the road of the willing Democrats much easier to walk.  This will go for any bill that needs to be passed. 

Yes the talk is unsettling, because we have seen what bipartisanship has meant in the past.  It has meant Republicans going along with the Democrats.   But as I said, now is the time to vigilant and vocal.  Let’s be sure they know that we are willing to have willing Democrats help defeat the White House agenda, but there is no compromise with Socialism and Marxism.

I read this article after hearing about it on Rush and I had a few thoughts about the hypocrisy in it.

1.       “It’s not that we believed our own press or press releases, but there was definitely a sense at the beginning that we could really change Washington,” another White House official told me.  So are they admitting that they weren’t honest in their own press releases??

2.      The biggest miscalculation in the minds of most Obama advisers was the assumption that he could bridge a polarized capital and forge genuinely bipartisan coalitions. While Republican leaders resolved to stand against Obama, his early efforts to woo the opposition also struck many as halfhearted. “If anybody thought the Republicans were just going to roll over, we were just terribly mistaken,” former Senator Tom Daschle, a mentor and an outside adviser to Obama, told me. “I’m not sure anybody really thought that, but I think we kind of hoped the Republicans would go away. And obviously they didn’t do that.”  So they wanted to work with Republicans as long as the Republicans would just “roll over”.  I remember that during the writing of the Health Care law that Republicans were shut out.

3.  “…The American people have a limited attention span. Once you convince them there’s a problem, they want a solution.” – Dick Durbin   I hear here that the American people are basically stupid.  Normally the Democrats count on this “limited attention span,” so they can do idiotic stuff and the American people will forget and vote for them again.  How’s that working for you now Sen. Durbin??

4.       That’s a refrain heard inside the White House as well: it’s a communication problem. The first refuge of any politician in trouble is that it’s a communication problem, not a policy problem. If only I explained what I was doing better, the people would be more supportive. Which roughly translates to If only you people paid attention, you wouldn’t be kicking me upside the head. Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, laughed at the ever-ready assumption that all problems stem from poor communication. “I haven’t been at a policy-problem meeting in 20 months,” he noted.  This paragraph stands on it on. 

5.       “The other side would like more ideological rigidity. Norman Solomon, a leading progressive activist and the president of the Institute for Public Accuracy, said Obama has “totally blown this great opportunity” to reinvent America…”  Nice look at the mind of a progressive… America needs to be reinvented.

6.      Pummeled from both sides, Obama clearly seems frustrated and, at times, defensive. At a Labor Day event in Milwaukee, he complained that the special interests treat him badly. “They’re not always happy with me,” he told supporters. “They talk about me like a dog — that’s not in my prepared remarks, but it’s true.”   If only they would treat him nicely like that did George W. Bush.

7.       “Obama came to office with enormous faith in his own powers of persuasion. He seemed to believe he could overcome divisions if he just sat down with the world’s most recalcitrant figures — whether they be the mullahs in Tehran or the Republicans on Capitol Hill.”  Not sure if it is the author that groups Republicans with Mullahs or if he got this idea from someone at the White House.  Either way…Obama would be great at persuasion if only people would just relent to him more easily.

8.      “Still, Obama plays the partisan game as well. After months of quiet negotiations, some administration officials thought they were close to a package of new financial regulations with Republican support when, to their chagrin, the White House decided to use the issue to wage a high-profile and politically useful battle with Wall Street special interests. At that point, the chances for a deal across party lines collapsed, administration officials said, and Obama was left to rely almost entirely on Democratic votes. “So the Republicans were going to negotiate with Obama in good faith and he stabs them in the back.  Stupid Republicans for not trusting Obama. 

9.      “As we talked in the Oval Office, Obama acknowledged that the succession of so many costly initiatives, necessary as they may have been, wore on the public. “That accumulation of numbers on the TV screen night in and night out in those first six months I think deeply and legitimately troubled people,” he told me. “They started feeling like: Gosh, here we are tightening our belts, we’re cutting out restaurants, we’re cutting out our gym membership, in some cases we’re not buying new clothes for the kids. And here we’ve got these folks in Washington who just seem to be printing money and spending it like nobody’s business. “  A moment of clarity?  Not really… the initiatives were not necessary.  The messy task of “reinventing” causes pain.  It requires the total breaking down of the object and a rebuilding.  Ask a Marine about this.  But the thing is we don’t need to reinvent America.  It is pretty damn good as it is.  A little refinement yes.  The point is that all this pain is not necessary.

10.   “Plouffe agreed that guilt by association with Democratic lawmakers did not help.”  You lay down with dogs you get up with fleas.  But I think the Democratic lawmakers that are running for reelection could say the same thing about Obama.

11.   “Obama aides, liberal and moderate alike, reject complaints from the right that the stimulus did not help the economy or that health care expands government too much, as well as complaints from the left that he should have pushed for a bigger stimulus package or held out for a public health care option.” Well a hell of a lot of America voters sure do not believe the stimulus worked or that the health care law didn’t expand government to much.

12. “…Obama’s problem is that he is not insecure — he always believes he is the smartest person in any room…”  Obvious is that this article is written about what has gone so wrong.  Maybe the problem is that Obama is not the smartest person in the room, or maybe that if he is… that may be a bigger problem.

13.   “By year’s end, there will be a new chief of staff, a new national-economics adviser, a new budget director, a new chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and a new national-security adviser, among others. Axelrod and Messina expect to leave by spring to set up Obama’s re-election effort, and Plouffe will almost certainly come into the White House in a senior role. “  Is this an attempt to rid the White House of dumb people or an attempt to be sure that Obama is the smartest person in the room.

To me the main theme of this article is “poor pitiful Obama.”  It seems that Obama isn’t a great communicator or post partisan or any of the things we were told about him.  He was a blank slate that people could project what they wanted on.  The true problem for Obama is that the blank slate is gone and people are seeing what they elected.

Well, the Royal White House has given us another reason not to vote for Republicans. As if killing kids, old people and your family pets weren’t enough.  Now it is because foreigners gave money to the US Chamber of Commerce and the US Chamber of Commerce is supporting primarily Republicans.  Oh yes… and the US Chamber of Commerce is also”shills for big business”, you know, the evil business that employ possibly you and many of your neighbors and would like to grow and employ even more.  Well we can have none of this… I mean, any US organization that has foreigner members or accepts any foreign money, no matter if that foreign money is not used for policial purposes is bad and can’t spend ANY money to support Republicans…stupid foreigners!!!

And we know how the Dems feel about foreigners…

Oh wait… that last one… she just looked foreign.  Well can’t be too careful, better bow.

Usually when I come across articles that I want to bring to your attention, I have comments to add, but in this case, there is nothing to really add.  It is a small column by J.C Watts, whom I have I much respect for.  Enjoy.

My almost daily trip to NRO today led me to read this article by Andrew McCarthy.  In the article, Mr. McCarthy gives a very scathing review of the “Pledge to America.”  I said in my last post that there are those on the right that would not like the “Pledge to America, “but wholly crap does Mr. McCarthy give it the smack down.  As a reader of the “Federalist Papers,” as everyone should be, I fully understand Mr. McCarthy’s point of view and can’t say that I disagree, but I have to ask, “Mr. McCarthy, in what universe do you think Republicans can come out and say we want to do away with all the entitlement programs and still get elected??” 

The fact is that these entitlement programs have had their intended affects on the American people.  Almost all Americans today have grown up with these programs in place and it has long been ingrained in our minds that these programs are “basic rights” so to speak.  Yes the Tea Party is a great and awesome movement, but I do think it would lose some of its momentum if we start talking of doing away with Social Security. 

Do I agree that these programs are unsustainable?  Of course I do, but we have many battles ahead of us.  We have to fight the Liberals, the MSM, and the RINO Republican establishment in not only this election, but for all elections in the foreseeable future.  It will take time to reintroduce the ideas of our Founders. We have decades of Liberal reeducation to reverse.  Please Mr. McCarthy, one step at a time.  It was only two years ago that America elected this King Obama clown.  I think we have made tremendous progress, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Mr. McCarthy, I do thank you for this great article. It was a much needed slap in the face and a reminder of the long path ahead of us.  We know how the Republicans have let us down, but the Republican Party is the best vehicle, as damaged as it is, to move forward in.  Let’s not shoot the tires out by talking about sweeping away entitlement programs while we are just getting our momentum up.  I know that time is short to do something about it, but it will take even longer if we don’t at least get control of the House first.

For those of you that have not read it, here is the Republican Pledge to America. I have read it and found a few things I like, such repealing the healthcare law and that little thing about adhering to the Constitution. Of course this document is not exactly one of the great documents of our time, but it is a start. 

What I find interesting is the reaction to this document.  We have everything from thinking the whole idea of putting the document out was a mistake, to thinking something needed to be put out but this thing is lame, to people that like it and want even more and this is all from the people on the Right.

The Left, of course, has been waiting for the Republicans to put something like this out there so they can say, “SEE! SEE! Republicans want to burn houses and towns! They want to kill old people and children! THEY WANT TO KICK YOUR DOG!!”  We even have James Clyburn of SC claiming “the infliction of a plague on America.” This is the same old stuff that the Left comes out with every election.  Nothing new.  To think that the Left wouldn’t say this stuff, with or without the Pledge, is down right stupid.  So to think that the Republicans shouldn’t have put this out for the sole reason of not attracting this lunatic reaction is naïve.  The Left, especially with their backs up against the ropes, has to say these things. 

I think the Republican’s had to put something out.  Everyone remembers the “Contract with America” and many were calling for something similar.  If they didn’t put something out there, there would be cries from the Right that the Republicans have to be more than just be the opposition party and have to state what they want to do.  The big problem is the reputation that the Republicans have earned of being weak kneed and basically Democrat Lite.  Though I do think the Repubs have helped their situation by sticking together, for the most part, during the last two years.  We know we can’t trust the Dems, but we really don’t want the Republicans to think they can get away with the spending they did during the W years and more government expansion.  I believe that the primaries did rattle a few cages, but was the point made?  I hope so.

We can fully expect the dust to really start flying for the next few weeks.  This happens during all elections.  One of the chief tactics the Dems use is to muddy the water as much as possible.  Make the opposition voters throw their hands up and say “What’s the use?”  You will hear outrageous charges from the Left in an attempt to start yelling matches.  You will hear of how the Tea Party is not as big as they think they are and that the Tea Party is not going to be effective.  The Left and the MSM will do all they can to discourage and disgust you. 

As for the “Republican Pledge to America, “all I have can say is ok, fine.  I would have loved to hear something of tax reform and more about entitlement reform, but we at least have this document.  Republicans, you are about to be swept into power, at least in the House, DON” BLOW IT!

Today at work I had the pleasure of hearing our resident Obamamaniac melt down because of the looming threat of the Tea Party.  Feeling smug because of the O’Donnell the teenage witch situation, he started in on trying to discredit the Tea Party as a bunch of extremists.  Rott3nHippi3, a co-worker/Death Metal drummer/ friend of mine, jumped in with both feet.  The argument itself is not the important thing here, but needless to say, Hippi3 pushed all the right buttons to send our resident Obama Cabana boy into a tirade.  The usual cries of racism and right wing extremism followed.

The point here is the position the Tea Party has put the Dems in.  The usual political playbook is not working.  Normally they would have a particular person to demonize, but because the Tea Party has no central leadership, there is not a focal point for their venom.  Yes, the Tea Party played no small part in O’Donnell’s win, but she is not a leader of the Tea Party.  Sarah Palin is riding high on the Tea Party wave, but still, she is not their leader.  The Tea Partiers know this and thus it is not effective to attack any particular person.  The Tea Party movement is a creature all its own. 

The Tea Party is John down the street.  The Tea Party is Jane at work.  Besides voting, most Tea Partiers are not usually politically active.  I would say a majority of Tea Partiers have never been to a political rally before the movement came along.  These are people that look around them and see the pain that their family and neighbors are in -if they themselves are not suffering- because of the bad economy.  They saw the Congress of the United States ignore the will of the people.  They see the President do his best to convince the world that the US is nothing all that special.  The Tea Party did not come together because the Democrats beat the Republicans in the last couple elections or because they woke up one day and figured out that the President was black.  They rose up because they themselves felt threatened.  They have children that are graduating school with little hope of finding a job.  If they have a job now, they wonder for how much longer.  So attacking any particular person is not going to be effective because no matter what venom is unleashed, it changes nothing.

The next tactic in the playbook is to cast the opposition as extremists.  Again, John and Jane are not extremists and they know it.  The Tea Party relishes the cries of extremism because they know it is a sign that they are being effective.  It is a sign that they are making a difference.  The cries of extremism may make the Democrat loyalist feel better, but again, it changes nothing. 

As far as Karl Rove is concerned, Mr. Rove, bless his heart, is a political being.  He has done a lot of work in the establishment and sees the establishment being chipped away.  Mr. Rove is about being a Republican- a GOP man all the way.  The Tea Party knows it has no place in the Democrat Party and one of their goals is to reform the Republican Party.  To simply elect Republicans will not do, the RINOs must go.  The Tea Party wants any elected Republican to know that how they vote matters.

The next few weeks will be interesting.  To see the Dems and the political establishment quake in their boots is very satisfying.  It is time they understand that the biggest of the checks and balances in our system of governance is about to be exercised.   As one tee shirt I saw states, “IT IS WE THE PEOPLE, NOT YOU THE POLITICIANS”.