Random Thoughts

There's a lot of talk about Sara Palin running for President. I don't think I've paid much attention to her, especially in this blog. But she would not be my choice. Enuf said on that I think. Don't really know why some hate her so much, but I've come to accept that hate toward conservatives -- especially conservative women -- by the left.

This TSA search thing has gone too far. Can you image the reaction if Bush was still in the White House. I won't be flying anytime soon, not necessarily because of the new search program (went through that when I was stationed in Italy in the 1980s and traveled several times to Turkey.) My biggest complaint is against the airlines. At 6-feet, I can't really fit into economy class seats anymore, and if I have to pay business class, I'd rather just drive. Then I don't have to pay ridiculous car rental fees.

And answer this one: How many terrorists has the TSA apprehended?

This whole thing about Obama's trip overseas costing $200 million a day, along with 34 Navy ships deployed, shows how real journalism has ended up in the basement. When I worked as a reporter for the European Stars and Stripes, if you didn't have two credible sources for your story, no matter how juicy it might be, it didn't make it in print. And I did some juicy stories, some which made the military look bad, and some that made them look good. And I had some stories that never made it to print, because I couldn't find that credible second source. Doesn't anyone think critically these days? It used to be that reporters were trained to be skeptical of every "fact" that came across their desk. Guess that ain't so anymore. Too bad.

The term "progressive" used by many on the left is really a misnomer, if you understand anything about the historical roots of classical liberalism. Because the left has taken over the Democratic party, it is no longer "progressive." Their big-government plans take us back before the founding of this country, when an armed revolt was needed to through off the weight of big government. (Note: I'm not advocating armed revolt today.)

For those of you who criticize Fox News, but defend Maddow, Olbermann, and Matthews, et al, are just as hypocritical as those who think Fox is the only source of valid "news." These days, it's pretty damn hard to get the straight news from any network or publication. But at least people like Hannity admit their slant is hard conservative. Maddow thinks she's a news anchor, and Olbermann -- well, I don't know what this angry man is really all about. But when MSNBC tries to claim neutrality, Fox blows them out of the water for at least being less hypocritical. Bottom line: It's ok to have a liberal-slanted show, but at least admit it.

Ban on American Flag reversed, but...

After being banned from flying the American flag from his bicycle, a Denair Middle School  (near Modesto, California) student, Cody Alicea received an apology from the School District.

According to a local news report, Cody was notified by a school official that the flag shouldn’t be on his bike at school as it is offensive to other students.

What is going on in this country? This is not the first time we've heard this. When has the U.S. Flag become offensive? When conservatives say things like "let's take back our country," it's because of left-wing loons who are in our school systems, teaching left-wing ideology.

But a community of Americans won this battle:

Rangel walks out during ethics hearing

(Update for Nov 16, 2010: Rangel was convicted on 11 counts of ethics violations by a House subcommittee, though it is doubtful he will be expelled.)

I think it's time to make our politicians follow the same laws we have to.

From the New York Times:

The public ethics trial of Representative Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of New York, on 13 charges of unethical behavior took a stunning turn Monday morning when Mr. Rangel walked out of the hearing 40 minutes after it began, complaining that it would be unfair to continue the process because he could no longer afford a lawyer.

But the hearing continued without him.

And Rangel got nearly 80 percent of the vote in the last election. One might claim a rasicist slant to to this, since the demographics of his district is largely black, but so was his Republican opponent. I guess the people of Harlem and surrounding neighborhoods like Charlie, even if he is corrupt. It's interesting -- and sad -- how people will vote for their party regardless of the candidate. I suppose that happens on both sides. bottom line: We get the government we vote for...

Hat tip: American Power

Obama: Didn't get cooperation from Republicans

According to the Washington Post today, Obama made this statement on 60 Minutes:

Obama has criticized Republicans in Congress for not working with him, but framed that in a personal way, saying on "60 Minutes" that "I couldn't get the kind of cooperation from Republicans that I'd hoped for."

What Obama means is that the Rebuplicans wouldn't fall into step to support programs that just won't cut it. And he spurned their ideas at every turn.

Bill Clinton used to talk to Republican leaders daily. It took Obama 18 months to talk face-to-face with the house minority leader.

Obama really doesn't want Rebublican support or ideas. He'd rather they go away and shut up. But that's not how our system works.

Factcheck.org: Pelosi, Obama overstate their case

Two days ago, I posted an article about Nancy Pelosi and her outrageous claims of accomplishments. Today, Factcheck.org released a similar article, which came to the same conclusion I did.

Here's what Pelosi said in a USA Today article:

We achieved more progress over the last four years for our veterans and military families than any time since the passage of the original GI Bill in 1944. And we did all of this while restoring fiscal discipline to the Congress by making the pay-as-you-go rules the law of the land.

Here's what Factcheck.org had to say:

The fact is the federal government ended fiscal year 2009 with a $1.4 trillion deficit — the highest deficit as a share of the gross domestic product since 1945. And it only dipped slightly to $1.3 trillion in the fiscal year that just ended on Sept. 30.

It is true that Congress restored the pay-as-you-go rule, which requires new spending in certain cases to be offset with new revenue or spending reductions elsewhere. The House adopted a PAYGO rule in 2007, and it became the "law of the land" in 2010 legislation. But the new PAYGO law was part of a larger bill that raised the debt limit by $1.9 trillion — a fact the speaker doesn’t mention.

President Barack Obama signed the PAYGO bill into law on Feb. 12, and it was promptly ignored. The PAYGO law was waived less than two weeks later on Feb. 24, when the Senate voted for $15 billion job creation bill.

Obama also chimed in on his greatness during an interview with 60 Minutes:

We’ve probably done more than any administration over the last 20, 30 years when it comes to increasing veteran spending. Because we’ve got over a million folks who’ve served in Iraq and Afghanistan who’ve come back with post-traumatic stress disorder you know, traumatic brain injury.

Factcheck.org came up with a different set of facts, as I did earlier this week.

That was true last year, but only in terms of raw dollars. Bigger percentage increases took place under Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush.

Final spending figures for fiscal year 2010 (which ended Sept. 30) show that total spending on all "veterans’ benefits and services" reached $108 billion, an increase of $13 billion over the previous year. That’s the largest one-year increase in that category on record, according to official historical budget figures.

But in percentage terms, the increase amounted to 13.6 percent. And the fact is, spending on this category increased 112 percent during the eight fiscal years for which Bush signed the spending bills, and there were bigger one-year increases in fiscal years 2005 (17.4 percent) and 2008 (16.3 percent).

An oh, let's not ignore his statement about there being over a million "folks" with traumatic brain injury. Hard to believe someone with a Harvard degree would say that. I think I know what he was trying to say, but it didn't come out right. And some people call George Bush a dumb-ass. Hey, Obama, ah, ah, ah, was your teleprompter broken?

Spin it anyway you want, and you are entitled to your own ideas and opinions, but not to your own set of facts. SO QUIT LYING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!!

Veteran's Day 2010

Our version of democracy is a noisy system, mostly because of our Constitution and our freedom of speech. We still have it, and a large group of men and women made many sacrifices -- some the ultimate sacrifice -- so that we can keep our freedoms.