Freedom of Thought

In light of yesterday’s lottery extravaganza, I thought this was a rather sobering tidbit.

I am back; tanned and rested! Well, rested. I took a few days off to devote myself to something really important: family. Having eaten my yearly fill of turkey, I am ready to rejoin the fray. Lots of things are happening that beg commenting, so, here we go!

American media and hoi polloi are consumed with the behavior of actors, or, as Paul Harvey aptly put it, “play-actors.” I am mystified by this sycophantic fawning. It seems that for many the fact that a person is in movies or on television somehow transmogrifies that individual into a font of knowledge. In truth, nothing could be farther from the truth. These actors are just people, like you and I. They are no more qualified to speak on weighty matters than anyone else. Why am I ranting about this? Jamie Foxx. This play-actor took it upon himself to announce that Barack Obama was “our lord and savior,” while making a presentation at the Soul Train Awards Saturday evening. What nonsense. What utter nonsense. It is also dangerous nonsense. Elevation the status of a political figure to religious significance has never worked out well for the people.

While on vacation, I finally sat down and watched “2016: Obama’s America.” Dinesh D’Souza did a great job researching Obama’s past and asking good questions about how Obama’s past affects his beliefs of today and his actions as President. Watch this film. You will be glad you did.

I kinda figured the Obamacare debate was over, however, those kooky kids on the Supreme Court ordered the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to reopen a case filed by Liberty University. Yes, this is another case of an organization objecting to the contraception mandate on religious grounds, however, it also signals that the court is willing to hear arguments against this atrocious legislation. Hope lingers.

Despite being lauded as freedom-loving by Obama, islamist, Muslim Brotherhood leader, and Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi declared himself “above judicial oversight.” The result has been violent unrest in the streets of Egypt and silence from the Obama administration. Looks like the “new” Obama will be just as gutless in dealing with the thorny issues of foreign policy as the “old” one.

Gutlessness isn’t a problem in Israel. Having made their point with the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists in Gaza, the Israelis agreed to a cease-fire. There was much mewling from the Leftist media outlets about “human-rights, “peace loving islam,” and so on, but, do not forget, these same Gazans took to the streets to celebrate the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Israel took the fight to our enemy. We should be ashamed for not taking care of our own affairs. We should also support our ally in the Middle East.

Preliminary estimate shows Obama won 22% of US counties and 62% of the Electoral College votes. That is ominous news for the future of freedom in the Republic.

Another interesting tidbit of information from this last election is the lack of support for third party candidates. Nationally, 1.72% of votes cast went for someone other than Romney or Obama. Make sure to give this information to your Libertarian friends.

Speaking of ominous, the UN wants to run the internet. You know, just to keep us safe and to generally make things better. Given the state of dysfunction and penetration of anti-freedom operatives in that monument to the folly of anti-colonialism, this is nothing but bad news. Pay attention to this one and make sure to pester your federal officials to oppose any involvement by the United States with this awful plan.

UN “Ambassador” Susan Rice met with Senators John McCain, Lindsay Graham, and Kelly Ayotte. This is a clear overture by the Obama administration to clear the path for Rice to replace Hilly-Mae Clinton as Secretary of State. Graham was quoted as saying, “The bottom line is that I’m more disturbed than I was before … about how four Americans died in Benghazi, Libya.” Let’s hope the GOP keeps the pressure on until the entire ugly truth comes out about the deaths of four Americans and the clumsy attempt to cover up this act of terrorism.

The inevitable negotiations about the “fiscal cliff” or, as I call it, how to pay for all the giveaways the government can’t afford to give away, have begun. Tightening and removing “loopholes” appears to be a firm goal of the Obama administration. On one hand, this is a good thing. That pesky tool called “math” ably demonstrates that reducing deductions will raise more revenue than raising the nominal rate, nevertheless, here’s the bad news. Obama says he only wants to tax “guys like me who make over $250,000 per year,” but both sides are looking at capping deductions at a fixed percentage of net income. This means that the loophole manipulations may expand to encompass the evil middle-class as well. In other words, the fifty-odd percent of us paying taxes to support the forty-seven percent of moochers who don’t will all get the “opportunity” to pay more for the privilege. Yay!

Lastly, in other grim news, Justin Bieber was booed in his native Canada, performing at half-time of the Grey Cup, Canada’s version of the Super Bowl Those loveable scamps over at The Onion got one over on the commies! They ran a story that Kim Jong-un was named “The Onion’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2012.” Hilarity ensued when the commies at “The People’s Daily” ran a fifty-five page photo spread of the North Korean commie dictator with the headline, “North Korea’s top leader named The Onion’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2012!” Now we know that irony and satire are not part of the commie world view. Then again, maybe not! The old Russian commie paper “Pravda” ran this op-ed about Obama failing to learn from history and taking the United States down the failed path of Soviet socialism. By the way, for those who don’t speak Russian, “pravda” means “truth.”

Up the Republic!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

It is a disappointing day for America. The Twinky and its manufacturing company Hostess were destroyed by union greed. As with all companies saddled with union labor, Hostess was cycling through negotiating terms of a new contract with its unions. They reached an agreement with their largest union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, but their other union, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union, went on strike last week. Hostess officials warned that the company would not survive a long-term strike and that they would be forced to shutter the business if the workers were not back by 5:00pm yesterday. The union refused.

Today, Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn said, “We deeply regret the necessity of today’s decision, but we do not have the financial resources to weather an extended nationwide strike. Hostess Brands will move promptly to lay off most of its 18,500-member workforce and focus on selling its assets to the highest bidders.”

This sad news is a clear reminder that labor unions are in no way beneficial to business. They are a parasitical growth on every business they enter and only leech funds away without giving anything back to the host business. The end result is that their greed and refusal to put the well-being of their members first has resulted in thousands of new names on the unemployment rolls. The worst part of this unnecessary tragedy is that only one-third of Hostess’ employees are union members. Yes. That’s right! The other two-thirds of the newly unemployed Americans lost their jobs due to union intractability. So much for unions “caring” about the welfare of workers.

Same as the old boss….

Senate Dems are testing the waters over not passing a budget for fiscal 2014. If they follow through, 2014 would be the fourth consecutive year the Democrat party controlled Senate has failed to pass a budget. In keeping with socialist tradition, the Democrat party ignores the plain fact that federal law requires the Senate to produce a budget every year! Don’t believe me. Refer to the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. The law is very clear and it is likewise very clear that the Democrat senators feel they can ignore the law and continue to spend public funds at an unsustainable rate.

It is intolerable for elected officials to knowingly and willfully violate the law; which, by oath, they swear to uphold! Every single American should be outraged by this low behavior and work to correct it.

Do not let this outrage continue! Contact your Senator, via phone, letter, email, or, if you can, a personal visit. Demand that the law be followed! Contact the Senate Budget Committee members and demand the law be followed. Remember, when you talk to politicians, be firm but polite. Be brief. Present them with finite choices and do not accept equivocation. Americans can only improve the government by holding its elected members accountable.

Surely, this is not too much to ask of patriotic citizens.

Up the Republic!

First, it was “Papa” John Schnatter who announced that the new state-run healthcare program would cost his company an estimated five to eight million dollars per year. This cost would result in hours being reduced for employees as franchisers seek to curb costs.

Today, the owner of approximately forty Denny’s and five Hurricane Grill & Wings franchises says he will be adding a 5% surcharge to customer bills to offset the costs of the new state-run healthcare program.

The moral of the story is that no one denies the American health care systems need improving, but, a takeover by the government will only result in higher costs in premiums and goods and services. Once again, the government interposes itself in the free market and makes a mess of things.

Today is the third day of media coverage of General David Petraeus’ extra-marital dalliance. The hysteria around this event has driven the dark, disturbing events in Benghazi from visibility. Some claim that the administration is trying to distract the citizenry by fanning the flames of the Petraeus controversy. Possibly. On the other hand, I find it far more believable that the masses love a salacious story and the MSM is pitching it them for no other reason than ratings. Sad, but, true. Interestingly, it was widely known that Ike was sleeping with Kay Summersby while running the Allied war effort, however, for some unknown reason, there was no front page cover