The USA is in Disarray

How can one man, one party be so wrong, so often, and so quickly after commenting?

The Economy and bi-partisanship

Obama is inaugurated in late January 2009. He tells Congress to get him a stimulus bill and he’ll sign it on Presidents Day. Democrats control the House, the Senate and the White House. They pass a $780 billion bill and call it bi-partisan. Zero Republicans in the House vote for it and only three in the Senate vote for it. One of those three is Senator Arlen Specter who a short time later changed parties. Obama signed the bill two days after President’s Day so he could have that photo op in Denver. His photo op was more important than his word.

Obama and the Democrats say unemployment will not exceed 8%. It jumps to 10.2%. Unemployment begins running out so those that drop off are not counted as unemployed any longer and Obama and the Democrats tout the bill as reducing unemployment. Cash for Clunkers is a massive failure. The stimulus package didn’t stimulate. This has been the slowest recovery in history.

Immigration reform and bi-partisanship

Candidates always make promises and then don’t deliver. Obama promised immigration reform in his first year. He promised Gitmo to be closed within the first year. Obama had a strong advantage to his agenda. He had a Democrat House. Republicans could stop nothing. He had a Democrat Senate, just shy of having a filibuster proof Senate. Yet, immigration reform was not touched. Gitmo is still open today. Now Obama promises he will do some immigration reform himself by executive order, but not until after the election so that he can hopefully save a couple of Democrat Senators their seats and not lose as many seats nationwide as it appears he will.

At the moment, there is bi-partisanship on immigration reform. Most Republicans don’t want what’s being proposed and most Democrats do. Obama blames Republicans for immigration reform not happening, which is bi-partisan, so he’s going to remove the bi-partisan from it and issue executive orders. If this “MUST” be done why didn’t he do it when he had full control of both Houses of Congress? And remember, for a brief time, after Arlen Specter changed parties, he had a filibuster proof Senate and control of the House. If this “MUST” be done, why are Democrats in danger of losing the election causing him to delay what “MUST” be done until after the election?

Scandals, Transparency and bi-partisanship

Fast and Furious, NSA, IRS, Benghazi, solyndra, voter discrimination/intimidation by the New Black Panthers, The VA scandal, and more. There is no transparency. Documents are requested and not forthcoming. Computer are mysteriously crashing at the IRS. Border agents and American Citizens are killed at the border by cartels using guns provided by the US Government under Fast and Furious. Benghazi was a terrorist attack, but the administration claimed it was due to a video (which nobody had seen).

There is only one place in the Obama administration where transparency has been frequent and obvious. After being promised that the TSA (Transportation Security Agency) new screening process and X-Ray machines would be immediately destroyed upon a person being cleared to get on the plane, it only took a few days for it to come out that those X-rays showing body parts were being saved and admired by TSA agents and in one case a TSA agent was teased about his lack of girth after passed through the machine and that created a physical altercation.

Grandmothers were hand patted and groped. Children were groped. Men and women’s private areas were molested. Disabled people were embarrassed to have their disabilities and prosthetics and other extremely private remedies, such as colostomy bags exposed for all to see, but those that truly looked the part of a possible terrorist suspect were not given a first look, let alone a second.  

Health Care and bi-partisanship

In March of 2009, despite polls showing 67%-75% of the American people against the government take over of the health care system, both Houses of Congress took up what is now known as Obamacare.

The Democrats could not get it through the Senate because they didn’t have a filibuster-proof Senate. Then two events happened. Senator Arlen Specter changed parties giving the Democrats the needed 60 votes so that Republicans couldn’t stop anything.

The House didn’t matter because a simple majority as all that was needed and the Democrats had control. They didn’t need any Republicans to pass anything. Any Republicans voting with them would only lead to claims of bi-partisanship.

However, Senator Ted Kennedy died of his brain cancer taking away that needed 60^th vote. Being from Massachusetts, the special election would likely put another Democrat in the seat Kennedy held, so it would just be delayed. A special election was held and people from around the country helped the Republican, Scott Brown win the election. He ran as the 41^st vote against Obamacare which in effect would kill the bill. It is clear now that Browns election was to prevent Obamacare from being passed, because he lost the seat in the next election when Obamacare was no longer on the table.

There was now only one way to pass the Obamacare bill. The Democrat House wrote the bill and passed the bill without one Republican voting for it. The only way for the Senate to pass Obamacare was to vote straight up or down on the House bill. No changes. That way, they too only needed a simple majority, and that’s exactly what they did. There is nothing bi-partisan about it. Not one Republican in either House voted for the bill. That is not bi-partisan.

 Current Events

We’ve had illegal aliens coming across the border and this administration has been sending them out to every state in the country. 35 year old adults claiming they are childen and this administration believes them and puts them in schools. Criminals coming across the border and committing murder here of American Citizens. First it was lice and scabbies but they said it would be contained and not be a problem. Now we have Ebola that they said wouldn’t be a problem, yet in todays news, there are many cases that are suspected of Ebola around the country.

Obama claimed ISIS was Junior Varsity. They marched from Syria into Iraq in a quick and orderly fashion killing anyone that didn’t join up with them, then after Obama called them JV, they take the heads off of a couple of Americans.

Each time Obama downplays an event in the news, it’s a matter of days or even hours it becomes a major catastrophe. But then, it’s no wonder he doesn’t know anything since he rarely attends intelligent briefings.

It’s easy to understand why the USA is in disarray.

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett

They're heeeere!

A little blonde girl standing in front of a television set showing static (we used to call it snow) says, “They’re heeeere.” I believe it is from the movie “Poltergeist” in the late 70’s or early 80’s.

Unfortunately, that line now fits in today’s current climate. This week a 54 year old woman was killed by a man that was fired. She was beheaded. This was not in the desert of the middle east. This was in Moore, Oklahoma! Apparently, by a man that converted to Islam while in prison.

In another story, two men in Texas were tortured and one died by a drug cartel at the border.

In yet another story there have been over 100 people with terrorist ties caught crossing the southern border illegally into the United States.

You have a bees nest hanging from a tree near where your family has their picnic table in the backyard and close to the swing set your children use every day. You grab a rake or a shovel and knock the bees nest down and tell your family, “stay away for a couple of hours until the bees go away.”

Where do the bees go? They go off nearby and start building a new nest. Maybe they go to your neighbors yard or maybe just a different tree in your own yard. Had you placed a large bucket of water on the ground for the bees to fall into, you’d have killed many of them. Or sprayed the ground then sprayed them with bee killer when they fell, you’d have killed them. No fear of them coming back.

Obama has decided to attack ISIS in the Middle East. He’s bombing them but refuses to put boots on the ground. Not only that but he announced what he was going to do before he did it. At least when you knock the bees nest down you didn’t send them a certified letter telling them to duck. Obama is hitting ISIS with a rake.

Terrorists are pouring across our border. Obama is going to announce unilateral amnesty after the election. Apparently, he thinks you and I are too stupid to realize he’s going to hang a big welcome sign across the southern border and still vote for those that agree with him. He’s not even hitting border security with a rake, but rather is raking the grounds so the illegal aliens won’t stub their toes as they cross the borders.

Three Americans have been beheaded in the past month. Two of them by ISIS in the Middle East and one American woman in Oklahoma. Terrorists have been caught at our border, but have all of them? The Obama administration has done nothing but lob some bombs with advanced notice to ISIS and nothing to protect our borders.

Since when did attacks on Americans here and abroad, become such a tough decision on how to handle it?

By contrast, here’s another way it was handled in the past. September 11, 2001 four planes were crashed. Two into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and one in a field in Pennsylvania due to heroes on board the plane. Nearly 3,000 people dead in less than an hour on our shores. On October 7, 2001 President Bush began bombing and sending troops to Afghanistan. It took him less than a month to decide and set in motion going after the terrorists that attacked us.

He didn’t worry about how it would play out in the polls. He didn’t wring his hands or sit in the corner sucking his thumb worrying about what to do next. He didn’t worry about whether or not his fellow Republicans would get re-elected. He moved the most massive military in the world to the other end of the world and started enacting the plan his military advisors had drawn up and he did it in less than a month!

What is so hard about making a decision when you’re being hit? It’s simple really. Either you sit back and wait for more or you fight back. If someone doesn’t like you, you get away from them. These terrorists don’t like us. So we should get away from them. But we’re opening our doors and saying “Come on in, make yourself at home.” They are killing our people, but we’re not making them pay for their actions any longer.

I know longer think we need an adult in the White House. I’m now convinced we need a man with a set of values, set of principles, and even some common sense in the White House. Obama clearly is not that man, and Joe Biden is not the man and even Hillary Clinton is not that man.

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett

Where were you.....

We all have times in our lives where someone can ask, “do you remember where you were and what you were doing on…” this date or that date or when this happened or that happened?

Some of us have several of those dates and events. My own that stand out are a small handful. I was in the second grade when President Kennedy was assassinated and I remember someone coming down to our class from the office to make the announcement. We didn’t have intercom speakers making announcements in those days.

I remember being at home during the Detroit riots and looking to see if I could see the red glow from the flames. I remember being in the sixth grade when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, and then just a few short weeks later when Bobby Kennedy was killed in California. A year later, playing baseball out back and then coming in to watch Neil Armstrong step on the moon. I was working in a gas station that August day when President Nixon resigned.

Presidents fall from one thing or another and others stumble but get right back up, like when Reagan was shot. Civil rights was front and center for several years and they had violence, but it was localized each time. Those leaders too fell. Political wannabe leaders, and then amazing events.

September 11, 2001 was the first attack on this country in my lifetime. I was in a hotel in Virginia and came down for the Continental breakfast. Standing there drinking coffee when the first tower was hit and I turned to the guy next to me and said “how can a pilot be flying over New York and not see he was headed for huge building?” Then a few minutes later as we were watching another flew in to the other building and I said “we’re under attack”. Then there was speculation the Pentagon had been hit. A couple of women sitting in the lobby were crying. I called home.

When it’s all said and done, nearly 3,000 dead. Four planes, four targets and three direct hits. Because of the first three hitting their targets and passengers on the fourth knowing about it, they did what the government and the military couldn’t do. They took the plane back from the terrorists.

A surprise attack that wasn’t expected and in the span of minutes citizens, not part of the government, not part of the military, took their plane back from the attackers and saved countless lives on the ground at either the Capitol or the White House.

This country had not seen this sort of attack on its shores since the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

When this happened, my son was 11. My daughter was 5 and my other daughter was 3. It makes me wonder, if these things are what I remember in my lifetime, how horrific will the things be that they will remember when they reach my age and say “do you remember where you were and what you were doing the day that…….”

You’re welcome to comment and encouraged to share you own stories.

Brett

Wishy Washy President Obama = Dead Americans.

The Obama Administration is wishy washy at best. Think that’s too harsh? Ask me what I really think about these people.

It’s just been discovered by Judicial Watch that the federal government has put a warning out of an imminent terrorist attack on the southern border (link below). This threat is from Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS).

In addition, the drug cartels have taken over regions and even the U.S. Border patrol has ordered their officers to avoid the most crime infested areas because it’s too dangerous and patrolling them could cause an international incident.

In the Daily Beast (link below), there has been a debate going on between Obama and his national security bureaucracy about how, where and whether to strike ISIS. In light of this debate Obama came out and said “we don’t have a strategy yet”.

First of all, perhaps he ought to talk to the military. I’ll bet they have a strategy. They plan for all sorts of contingencies and even if they didn’t, they are the experts. They would have a strategy within a few short hours and probably less and ready to implement it.

The debate seems to be going on between politicians. Obama’s department heads. Leaving it to this bunch, they will not get it done. They seem to be afraid of protecting this country. Some are upset that we can’t find allies to help us in the middle east. Does this really surprise them? Why would any country offer help to a President that is afraid to defend his own country?

This should not be a surprise to anyone. Obama always puts out mixed messages. He tells the world that he sent in special forces to rescue hostages only to find that they had been moved. Why would he advise our enemy that we’d tried something and failed? Keep your mouth shut and try again.

Now he tells them we don’t have a strategy for dealing with ISIS and the very next day we’re put on alert for an impending attack on our southern border by ISIS.

We are the United States of America. We have the strongest, brightest and best military in the world. Americans don’t hide behind trepidation. We stand up. When one of ours is killed, we go and kill more of them. But not under this President.

Under this President, an American is beheaded and he talks big, then says we don’t have a strategy and no friends in the region to help us so James Foley murder goes unanswered.

We liberated Iraq from Saddam Hussein and instead of finishing the job, Obama brings the troops home despite being warned that if we don’t finish, Iraq will be a mess. Welcome to the mess created by Obama.

James Foley was beheaded and Obama was mocked and made fun of by ISIS and he does nothing but sit in a room debating and unable to decide despite reasons given from both those that want justice and those that don’t want to fight. All he has to do is make a decision and turn the military loose. But he claims they have no strategy.

Second, since when do we back away because an international incident may occur if our border patrol does its job?  We armed the cartels under fast and furious. You want to avoid an international incident? Arm our border patrol better than you armed the cartels. If there is an international incident, it will be caused by the Mexican drug cartels not by our Border Patrol. There would be no one left over there to complain about an international incident. We don’t back down when Americans are killed….until now, under President Barack Hussein Obama.

With all of these illegal aliens coming across the border it’s been warned by many that terrorists would be coming across with them. Again, this is Obama’s doing. His administration has gone so far as to advise some of these illegal aliens to claim that they were abused by their spouses so that they can stay here. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. It’s just an excuse for them to use so the authorities won’t send them back. But they really aren’t sending many back anyway. How many times have we heard that dangerous criminals from these other countries are being turned loose in our country?

Mr. President. If you want to eliminate ISIS for what they are doing to tens of thousands of refugees in Iraq and for the beheading of an American, there is a simple solution. You send the might of the American military over there. Give them orders to shoot ISIS soldiers and to keep shooting them until they run out of ISIS members.That's how and where. "Whether" was answered when they took off James Foley's head. 

Mr. President, if you want to eliminate the border threat, enforce the laws on the books regarding our borders and actually send those that come here illegally and ship them back. If the cartel crosses the river into Texas, shoot them. If they sneak over and kill Americans and run back home, send the soldiers in and tell them to keep shooting until they run out of Cartel members. If President Nieto of Mexico has a problem with that, tell him to police his own country and eliminate the problem or we will.

Mr. President, if you can’t lead, call a former President for advice and follow it. 

You’re welcome to comment

Brett

 http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/386694/judicial-watch-feds-bulletin-describes-threat-imminent-terrorist-attack-southern

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/28/why-obama-backed-off-more-isis-strikes-his-own-team-couldn-t-agree-on-a-syria-strategy.html#

Does your Vote Count? Are you sure?

Voting season is coming up once again. Have you ever wondered how your vote is counted? If your vote is counted? If your vote is counted accurately?

Voting is not a Right. It’s privilege. It’s also a duty if you want a say in your representation at the various government levels.

During my voting lifetime which began forty years ago, I have voted in various methods. Paper ballots where you put an X next to the person’s name or the proposal or millage you’re voting for or against. There were the booths where one lever closes the curtains and a wall of levers next to each candidate and item and even a lever to automatically vote for everyone in one party or the other. Then there were the punch cards where you poke a hole for you vote. Computers with touch screens where you only need touch what you’re voting for and it’s recorded.

For the past two elections, my precinct has had a two sided scanner. You color in the  bubble on your ballot, then slide it into a scanner and it records your vote.

But how do we know that our vote is counted accurately on any of these methods of voting? Are we to just trust our elected officials? Trust is something that is earned. Has our government earned our trust?

Remember the election of 2000. More specifically the Florida debacle that dragged the election out for 35 extra days. Ballots were gathered up and brought to a central location within three counties and officials were counting them by hand. Who can forget the judge, with glasses on his forehead holding a ballot up to the light to try to figure what the voters intent was. That election gave us pregnant chad, dimpled chads, swinging chads, tri-chads and so on. Just as they get their recount done, another batch of ballots is miraculously found and need to be counted.

We have a government that does not trust its citizenry yet they expect us to trust them. Quite often when there is lack of trust we find that it’s because the one not trusting actually has something to hide.

The past two elections, I decided to ask questions about my vote counting. The latest was on August 5 of this year in the primary here in Michigan. After filling out my ballot, I then walked over to the machine and fed my ballot into the scanner. As it was sucked my ballot in, there was nobody within ten feet of the machine except for me.

I turned and asked if I get a receipt for my vote showing who and what I’ve voted for. I got two of the most dumbfounded looks that I’ve ever seen. I was told that the machine had my ballot in the storage bin and it automatically counts it as it’s scanned. So I asked how I was to know that it recorded my votes the way that I voted. The answer was that it was automatic and they are verified. I then said, “there was nobody near the machine so how can you verify it?” I was then told that if the number of voters didn’t match up to the count on the machine, they’d have to recount them by hand.

I had to push this just a little bit further. So I said, “there is one office that has two people running for it. I refuse to vote for the one because I disagree with them completely and I refuse to vote for the other because he has done just the opposite of what he said when running the last time. So the numbers won’t match up. So how do I know that someone won’t look at my other votes and determine that I would have voted for this one person and I must have accidentally missed it?” The answer: “We wouldn’t do that.”

There is one other new feature this year. Now as you’re going through the line from one worker to the next, one of them asks for your drivers license and they run it through the track on their computer as though it were a credit card. It’s reading the magnetic strip on the back. I asked if they are seeing my health records and driving record on there? He smiled and said no. I should have asked if I could see what’s on there because frankly, I don’t know what’s on that magnetic strip. Whatever is on there, I don’t think that some guy working an election line that is either retired in his everyday life or maybe works at Fords, should be seeing my personal information. So I guess I have my question for the next election in November.

I should mention that I live in a remote area. When I went in to vote there was only one other person there voting. I would probably be more annoying to them if they were busy and trying to answer my questions. 

We go into cast our vote and they are gathering information on us, and we are trusting them to count our ballots accurately, and record them just as accurately and we have no way of verifying that they are doing as they should be. Can we really trust these election officials that don’t trust us?

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett

Who's In Charge?

Who is in charge in Ferguson, Missouri? It doesn't appear to be any good citizens of the small town. It doesn't appear to be the administration of the town. Nor the police. 

Following the shooting of Michael Brown, the police would not release the officers name, fearing for his and his family's safety.  During the day they had and have peaceable protests, but at night it's a different matter. It's not about Michael Brown at night. It's more about stealing by looting the stores. Throwing things at the police, such as molotav cocktails. 

Isn't the motto of the police to "serve and protect"? Ok, so they want to protect the officer and his family. But then they changed their position. They released the officers name. CNN broadcast his address and even filmed in front of his house. The police also released a video of Michael Brown stealing some cigarellos and pushing the store clerk or owner into a rack as the owner tried to stop him. 

Following the release of the video, the attorney for the Ferguson Market and Liquor store where Brown stole the cigarellos held a press conference, according to KDSK news. The press conference was not to verify or deny the events on the video, although it did verify it with what they said. The reason for the press conference was because of fear. 

The attorney told the press that the owners wanted to make it clear that they did not report the incident to the police and that they did not offer the video to the police. They did not "snitch". The police asked for it and they had to hand it over. Basically, they were saying 'please don't hurt us, we tried to keep it quiet.' 

According to the Washington Post, the owner said, ““It’s very dangerous,” he said. “They kill us if they think we are responsible. People don’t understand that.””

The owner pleaded with them not to use his name in their reporting. 

This reminds me of the movie "Escape from New York". The criminals run the town. Everyone else serves them. 

The police, and the governor seem to be backing down and giving in to these looters. Although, on Monday, there were 57 arrests and only four of them were from Ferguson. That wasn't the case before this incident, but it's added to it. Nobody in authority has taken charge. 

So it appears that the answer to Who's in Charge, is the looters, while the business owners and law abiding citizens (if there are any in Ferguson) cower in the corners thankful to only get robbed and not being killed by the thieves. 

You're welcome to comment. 

Brett

Are we Really that Stupid?

Ten days ago it was reported that a police officer had shot and killed an unarmed 18 year old black kid. His parents appeared on camera and said they were taking him to sign up for college classes on Monday but now they can’t. Not only was the “child” unarmed but he raised his arms as though to surrender. This bit of information set off day time protests and nighttime rioting.

We have a justice system in this country. It’s not perfect, but it is the best. Even corrupt officials haven’t taken away from it being the best system. However, it does take time to  see if there is a case and then to put it together. Witnesses must be interviewed, credibility checked, and evidence gathered. But the people of the area can’t wait. They act on what they originally heard without regard to the actual events.

We now know this 18 year old unarmed “child” was six feet four inches tall and weighed just under 300 pounds. We also know that ten minutes before he was shot he took some cigarellos from a convenience store and when the store owner tried to stop him, this kid pushed him into a rack. What is striking is that the store owner looked like the kid and the kid looked like a bully on the video.

The kid, Michael Brown, left the store and was walking in the street with his friend who also had been in the store. A police officer drove up and told the two of them to get off the street and on to the sidewalk. The kid, Michael Brown, then went to the police car, reached in and punched the officer breaking his eye socket. They apparently fought for the officers gun and it fired while in the car.

Brown ran off and the officer followed in pursuit. Brown stopped, turned and put his hands up. Then apparently started running right at the officer. The officer had drawn his weapon when Brown started to run and yelled out “freeze”. When Brown then turned with his hands up and started running towards the officer, the officer fired six shots into Brown. Brown fell dead three feet in front of the officer.

The protestors and rioters either don’t believe the story or choose to believe what they originally heard or they are opportunists and took advantage of the easy pickings of the stores by looting them.

Originally, when the rioting started, the police and the governor wouldn’t release the officers name. They feared for his safety. Then they acquiesced and made his name public. Does that mean the officer and his family is now safe?

Brown was not unarmed. He was armed with nearly 300 lbs and a 6’4 inch body. He was strong and he was dangerous. The reason we know he is dangerous is because the officer was punched by this “kid” and has a broken eyesocket.

In Michigan, one of the University of Michigan football players was walking on July 18 at or near a bar. He was bumped by someone passing by. He says he was taunted, but the video shows he was bumped and turned and sucker punched the guy. The man he punched had his jaw broken in three places. That football player was just kicked off the team.

Across the country, we hear of people passing people, strangers on the street, and just all of sudden sucker punching them. Young people and the elderly. They seem willing to punch anyone just for the fun of it.

Monday night, the Washington Redskins played a football game and the players ran out on the field with their arms raised, ala Michael Brown. This was their way of protesting what happened in Ferguson, Missouri.

These professional football players are college educated. You would think they would have a basic understanding of how the law works in this country. You’d think they’d know the entire story isn’t out there yet.

On February 25 this year, I wrote about the NFL threatening to pull the Super Bowl out of Arizona next year if the governor signed a law that had been passed. I decided then that if the NFL can dictate laws by withholding their product, then that product is something I wouldn’t participate in, even if it means just not watching their games on television.

Football season is here and I haven’t watched the exhibition games. Soon they’ll be playing on Sunday afternoons and I won’t be watching. I won’t even have it on the TV as I do things around the house. I will watch college football if I want to watch football this year.

How can so many college educated people in a huge sport such as football be so stupid? How can so many people, including Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson be so stupid to immediately go and lead protests when the facts aren’t out? Jackson was even trying to raise money during his speeches and it’s been reported that Sharpton wanted to be paid by the family of Michael Brown to come to Missouri.

We have had Americans killed at the southern border of this country. So what is Obama doing? He’s plotting how to do an executive order to allow more of this. Obama pulled us out of Iraq despite being warned that Iraq would fall apart. Today, a video was sent showing that ISIS has beheaded an American in response to the air strikes Obama ordered when he took back a bridge.

How can this President be that stupid? How many Americans must die at the hands of our enemies before he grows a pair and defends Americans and American interests?

Finally, we elected this guy not just once, but twice. Are we really that stupid?

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett

A Bitter Republican Victor:

Representative Justin Amash embarrassed himself following his victory in the primary on August 5. The sad thing to me is that I don’t think he even realizes it. The challenger in the primary was Brian Ellis, a west Michigan businessman.

Brian Ellis seemed to back the Core Curriculum for schools, and had some other ideas that caused question into whether he’s conservative, moderate or even a liberal Republican.

Amash has been supported by the Tea Party and has bucked even the establishment Republicans. He apparently leans more to the Libertarian view than Republican and certainly not Democrat.

The campaign was very contentious. It was a classic example of what’s wrong with politics in this country. Ads were run by each campaign but not one was heard where the candidate advocated for his own position and what he would do for his district. They were all about the evils of the other guy. There was nothing positive about themselves only negatives about the other guy.

When you’d hear an ad if you heard the candidates voice, the opponents name was mentioned. You usually didn’t hear the candidates name in their own ad until the end when they approved their message.

Amash refused to debate Ellis saying his campaign was not a serious campaign. The guess is that Amash is afraid to debate his opponents so he implies that the other candidate is not worthy of his time although he had no problem paying for advertising telling everyone the ills of Ellis. Ellis ended up with 43% of the vote. That sounds like a serious campaign to me. 43% of the voters in Amash’s district considered Ellis serious enough to vote for him.

Don’t make the mistake that I was in favor of Ellis over Amash because you would be wrong, but in the interest of full disclosure, I have no stake in race other than that of all Americans because while these candidates represent their districts and only answer to them, all Americans are affected by these candidates. I am not in Amash’s district. I had decided a week ago that Amash is who I’d have voted for if I were in his district.

Amash put his arrogance and ungraciousness on full display on election night. Brian Ellis called Justin Amash to concede the election to him and wish him well. Amash refused to take his call, instead choosing to let it go to his voicemail.

Then in his victory speech he was not humbled by his victory to represent Americans in the people’s Congress. He chose instead to take the low road by saying the following:

“To Brian Ellis, you owe my family and this community an apology… for your disgusting, despicable, smear campaign,” Amash said toward the end of his victory speech. “You had the audacity to try to call me today after running a campaign that was called the nastiest in the country. I ran for office to stop people like you — to stop people who were more interested in themselves than in doing what’s best for their district.”

The only place that I’ve been able to find that said that Brian Ellis’ campaign ran the “nastiest in the country” is from Amash himself. I have yet to find anyone else say it. But Amash wasn’t done with just Ellis. He also had some unkind words for former Representative Pete Hoekstra. Hoekstra had been a Representative for 18 years and then ran for Governor of Michigan and for the United States Senate, losing the first to current Governor Rick Snyder and the latter to Debbie Stabenow.

 “I want to say to lobbyist Pete Hoekstra, you’re a disgrace,” he said. “I’m glad we could hand you one more loss before you fade into total obscurity and irrelevance.”

Hoekstra’s crime? He endorsed the man that Amash considered not a serious candidate.

Representative Justin Amash should have been happy he won his election and shown some class and a little humility in victory. Imagine what he’d have said had he lost this election. When Amash was first elected there were positive hopes and he was a man to keep your eye on. Now, he appears to be someone you don’t want to let out of your sight.

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Enemy of the State?

Representative Luis Gutierrez is a Democrat and an elected Representative from Illinois. He is a strong proponent of immigration reform.

On Saturday, in Los Angeles, Gutierrez told a crowd in Spanish, that he has assurances from President Obama to be generous and broad in stopping the deportation of “our people”.

He also said, “We need to raise our voices, make ourselves citizens, sign up to vote and punish those who speak ill and criminalize children who come to our border,".

These comments by the Representative creates questions. Who is “our people” to Rep. Gutierrez? Is he an American? Was he born here or did he become a citizen after immigrating here. If he came to this country, did he do so legally? Of course, one big question is how can a Representative of The United States advocate “punishing” Americans who have a differing opinion? Then there is also the question of who criminalized the children who come to our border?

When Gutierrez was elected to be a Representative in the United States House, he had to take an oath. The oath is as follows: “I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

 

Isn’t an illegal alien a foreign enemy? They are coming here illegally. Violating our laws as their first act in coming to this country.They aren’t just aliens, they are “ILLEGAL ALIENS”.  By taking up their cause against our laws, doesn’t this make Gutierrez guilty of not supporting our Constitution?

Those against illegal immigration, of which I count myself as one, are now being threatened with punishment by a Representative of The United States. Yet, our Constitution says that we have the freedom of speech. Perhaps Representative Gutierrez ought to read at least the first amendment to the Constitution he gave an oath to support and defend.

If he really wants to blame someone for criminalizing those coming to the border illegally, not just children, but all that come here illegally, he ought to take a look at who wrote the laws that he seems so willing to be ignorant about and ignore. The laws were written by lawmakers. His predecessors. People that held seats in the House, Senate and a President that signed them. That’s how it’s done here in this country. As a Representative, he ought to know this.

So where did Gutierrez come from? Well, he was born in Lincoln Park, Illinois. He is an American citizen. So who is “our people” to him? He went to school in Illinois. His parents are from Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States and those born there since 1917 are considered United States citizens, but this doesn’t apply, even if it mattered, to Gutierrez because he was born in Illinois. Gutierrez didn’t even go to Puerto Rico for the first time until after his freshman year in high school and he didn’t even speak Spanish until he went there during his high school years.

He returned to Illinois and attended college at Northeastern Illinois. So, who exactly does he mean when he says “our people”?

It’s obvious to me that Gutierrez doesn’t have any respect for the laws. After all, he’s willing to reward people for not following our laws in coming here. He’s not in favor of enforcing the current law so why should we create a new law? If there is something he doesn’t like about the new law or if the law doesn’t give him enough of what he wants, will he still advocate for people to violate the law claiming that it’s a broken law that he helped to write?

When does giving an oath mean something to these elected officials? The definition of oath as intended for those supposedly holding the public trust is: a solemn usually formal calling upon God or a god to witness to the truth of what one says or to witness that one sincerely intends to do what one says a solemn attestation of the truth or inviolability of one's words and something (as a promise) corroborated.

Representative Gutierrez has clearly not intended to honor his oath. His word cannot be trusted. He wants to punish people that he represents for daring to have a different opinion from his and from those wishing to see the current law enforced. He’s on the verge of calling for insurrection or revolution. He’s putting other Americans at risk by telling “his people” to punish anyone that speaks against his position on an issue. Representative Gutierrez is not fit to be a Congressman in the United States of America.

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett

Barack Obama: Domestic Terrorist

Our borders have not been secured. Since the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 when the World Trade Centers two towers came crashing down after two planes flew into them and the pentagon was hit by another plane, and a fourth plane that was supposedly headed to either the White House or the Capitol building, but was saved by heroic civilians who gave their lives and crashed the plane in a field in Pennsylvania, the fear has been that terrorists could come in nearly completely unchecked through our southern borders.

We learned that the terrorists used box cutters as their weapons. We learned that they were in flight schools learning to fly but not how to land. We also learned that they could come in across our southern borders very easily. After it’s been done for years by illegal aliens from Mexico and other countries in South America. We are now seeing it en masse on an hourly basis with children crossing the border.

Detention centers are being set up not unlike what was done during World War II with the Japanese but with one difference. The Japanese were held because they were of Japanese descent. These illegal aliens are being housed in detention centers until they can find a place to send them within in our country.

How many of those coming across the southern border are terrorists taking advantage of the influx of illegals and the ease in which they come across? It took just 19 terrorists to bring down four planes and kill nearly 3,000 people. There’s been nearly 100,000 people come across our southern border recently from Central and South America.

These people coming across are coming with scabies, lice and other ailments. They are being put on buses and planes and shipped to other states for processing without having been deloused. Public transportation just before the Independence Day weekend. Now when we board a flight or a bus, must we worry about getting lice because the last flight that plane took was to haul illegal aliens to another part of the country?

A Repubilcan Congressman is denied entry to a detention facility in his district in Oklahoma, while the Democrat Leader, Nancy Pelosi, is greeting the illegal aliens and Sheila Jackson Lee, another Democrat from Texas is handing out lollipops and saying that the illegal aliens are not a threat to national security.

It appears as though the Obama Administration and President Obama himself, is preventing Americans from finding out just how dire the situation is across the south and west.

Obama wants immigration reform and is willing to go to any lengths to get the legislation he wants. Rather than enforcing the current laws, he is allowing an invasion into this country from the south and denying anyone access to the truth of what’s happening. This is not transparency, this is a veil of secrecy.

I’ve already mentioned the danger of terrorists slipping in along with the illegal aliens. They may try to push the idea that these are children and not terrorists. But we know that terrorists have used their children as suicide bombers.

Allowing diseases into this country due to this is at best neglect. Since it’s known this is happening and it’s not being stopped, the only conclusion seems to be that the end justifies the means. Obama doesn’t care that they are diseased and will spread those diseases here. It’s already started.

Border patrol agents are becoming ill with the maladies that are brought to the United States by these illegal immigrants. Doctors and nurses are forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement to not talk about what they are seeing while working in these detention centers. They are threatened with arrest if they do talk.  

Doctors and nurses are concerned about their well being. American citizens are protesting and attending town hall meetings protesting this invasion. Ranchers are being threatened if they say anything or do anything to impede the illegal aliens as well as the smuggling going on along the Texas/Mexico border.

The drug cartels are assisting these illegal aliens in getting into the country. What do you think their purpose is in having them here? What’s being done to stop them? Nothing!

This is a very real threat to this nation, and the people of the United States. Obama seems more interested in making excuses and giving leeway to everyone but Americans and even going so far as to help them and hurt us. That makes Obama a domestic terrorist in my book!

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/07/packed-murrieta-town-hall-sounds-alarm-on-illegal-immigrant-invasion/

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/07/03/Sheila-Jackson-Lee-Brought-Lollipops-to-Illegals-Insists-Border-Crisis-Not-National-Security-Threat

http://www.krgv.com/news/border-patrol-agents-report-increase-in-fake-families-/

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/07/brown-shirts-threaten-medical-workers-treating-illegal-immigrants/

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/07/02/medical-staff-warned-keep-quiet-about-illegal-immigrants-or-face-arrest/

The Incompetence of our Elected "leaders"

Every once in a while, I just list things and make comments on them and try not to go into too much detail. This is another of those hodgepodge of topics.

Michelle Obama school lunch

I’m now convinced that Michelle Obama ought to be investigated for Child Abuse. If she’s been feeding her daughters the way she expects our children to eat in the schools we send them to, it must be a form of abuse somehow. Kids are now going without lunch because they refuse to eat the “approved” school lunches as dictated to by Michelle Obama. These politicians have complained that parents aren’t feeding their children at home, so they pay for school lunches and what do these kids get? Green slop that looks like it’s already been eaten once.  

Immigration Reform

President Obama should be required to take a civics class in high school (which means he’d be susceptible to Michelles luncheon requirements) and learn about the three branches of government.

He is threatening to use executive powers to get immigration reform done claiming that the Republicans are doing nothing so he must. Well Mr. President, in this country, in our form of government, there are three branches of government. 1. Executive (that would be you Mr. President). 2. Legislative, (that would be both houses of Congress, Mr. President). They write the laws. 3. Judicial (you should be familiar with this branch Mr. President, they are the ones that have shown repeatedly that you don’t know what the Constitution is).

You see, Mr. President, Congress writes the laws. They either pass them or they don’t. If the House writes a bill, passes it, it then goes to the Senate for their consideration and their vote. Once they’ve gone back and forth, they then get together for what’s called a markup where they negotiate in or out their particular preferences. Once that’s done, both Houses vote again and if passed, it then comes to your desk and you either sign it or veto it.

There is another side to this. If Congress decides not to pass a law, they’ve obviously decided that your way is not a good way. That is not a prescription for you to ignore them and dictate what the laws will be. Imagine if a Representative decided you weren’t doing things right with your meetings and decided that they’d come to the White House and conduct your meetings because they don’t agree with you. The executive branch is a co-equal branch of our government. Not more equal than the other branches.

If our politicians (that would be the President, the House and the Senate) really want immigration reform they ought to try enforcing the laws on the books. Their lack of enforcement  has led to children coming across the border in droves. It has led to young girls being raped on their trek to violate our borders. It has led to people being killed coming to our borders. So the ones that make it are filled with people that have literally killed to get here and raped and stole to get here. Are these really the types of people we want coming to this country? Maybe if we had illegal aliens that were better politicians coming across our borders, it might be beneficial to us (or maybe our elected leaders are already illegal immigrants). Unfortunately, we get the criminals (politicians?). Each one that comes across the border illegally is a criminal.

Impeachment

President Obama is not the only one that should be required to attend civics classes. So should Speaker of the House, John Boehner. Boehner has announced he will sue the President for ignoring the Constitution and not honoring his oath. Mr. Speaker, you don’t need a lawsuit. What you need to do is bone up on the laws that govern your responsibilities of your job as a Representative of the people of the United States of America. It’s called IMPEACHMENT. Learn what high crimes and misdemeanors means and ascertain whether the president falls into that category. You ran for your job as a Representative, I think you should have known what your options were before you took the job.

Please allow me to help. Your job is not to protect your butt in the seat you sit in. Your job is to protect the people in your district that voted for you. You are there to protect us from corrupt government officials. Learn what your options are, grow some guts and do the job you begged for and were elected to do.

IRS

The IRS has lost E-mails pertinent to an investigation into whether they were biased towards left wing organizations and against right wing organizations. This I find very confusing. We know that the NSA has been gathering our phone and E-mail records. They can listen as we talk and read what we write. But anything to do with this particular topic from the IRS, tied to Lois Lerner has crashed and been lost forever. This strains all credibility. Perhaps the Congressional investigators ought to go to the NSA and ask for copies of those E-mails and any phone calls made by those under suspicion.

Are we to believe that our government will spy on us and every aspect of our lives but they don’t have the capability to gather these E-mails? Are they not spying on themselves?

VA

There is absolutely no excuse for treating our veterans the way they’ve been treated by the Veterans Administration. There is no excuse for the president, nor the Congress to have this happening. As though it’s not bad enough that our vets had to wait a couple of months to get appointments. Now today, there is a story of a woman who received in her mailbox a letter from the VA saying that he can now come in for a primary doctor and get the care he needed. They want him to get in touch with them promptly. At the bottom of the letter, dated June 12, it reads: “We are committed to providing primary care in a timely manner and would greatly appreciate a prompt response.”

The problem is that the vet, Douglas Chase, died in August 2012. To add insult to injury, when Mrs. Chase applied for funeral benefits at the time of his death, she was denied.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/06/30/iteam-acton-vet-finally-gets-va-doctors-appointment-2-years-after-he-died/

Obama ran for president claiming he was going to fix the VA. This only makes me wonder how many other vets are getting letters like this five and ten years after they’ve died. Obama says that this problem started long before he became president. I don’t care when it started. I care that it’s stopped. I have no confidence that it will be stopped by this president.

Summary

We live in the greatest nation in the world. Unfortunately, we are overloaded with some of the most incompetent people running this government. The really sad thing is that in four months, we’re going to have an election and we’ll keep the majority of the incompetent morons running this country. This gives me an increased admiration for the founding fathers. They put together a country that even a bunch of incompetent boobs have a hard time tearing apart.

These clowns work for us. Attend their town hall meetings and ask them directly about the topic you want to know about it and make it known to them that they haven’t got a clue what the American people think despite how many times they tell us what we want.

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett

The Amazing Hillary: It's not the People Stupid

Politicians like to say that they are “serving” the people that elect them. But it’s never about their desire to serve. It’s about their ego. Making a name for themselves and a legacy that will last long after they are gone.

We all know this and complain about it and it will likely never change. Their first priority is themselves and if it happens to work out good for the people they represent it just turns into a coincidence that they can use to get themselves elected again next time around. Honesty is never a consideration.

We are now getting two more examples thrown in our faces again and likely to have it thrown at us several more times over the coming months by an old hand at this deception. Hillary Clinton.

The first example, also includes President Barack Obama. On September 11, 2012, Hillary Clinton, then Secretary of State received a telephone call from President Obama.

She received a call from Obama at 10:00 that night. She already knew that the Ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, had been killed and a communications operator was also dead. She also knew it was a coordinated terrorist attack. Since it happened on the 11^th anniversary of the attack on this country, September 11, 2001, it wasn’t hard to figure out.

Obama had been campaigning and repeating in his speeches that al queda was on the run and Osama bin Laden was no more. Al queda is on the path to defeat, and various other lines with that theme.

But the night of the attack in Benghazi, Obama placed a call to Hillary and told her that he wanted her to come out and say that it was a spontaneous demonstration due to a video berating the Prophet Muhammad.

To Hillary’s credit, she apparently told the President that the story wouldn’t be credible especially since this was happening on the anniversary of the 2001 attack. Obama stuck to his plan and said he needed her to come out with that story. With just a few weeks to go to the election it was important that that be the story.

Hillary called her husband and apparently he was surprised that was the story the President was going to use, but then again, he wasn’t because Obama doesn’t want any terrorist attacks being on his watch. Bill Clinton and Hillary considered Hillary resigning as Secretary of State.

But they decided against Hillary resigning. Not because she could clean up the mess when it blew up in the Presidents face. Not to come up with some reasoning for an inaccurate story being put out.

The reason she didn’t resign was because if she did, and it hurt Obama in the election a few weeks later, the Democrats would hold it against her and it would hurt her chances to run in 2016. The truth was not an option for her because it could hurt Obama’s chances for re-election in November, and hurt her chances in 2016.

The second example of Hillary making decisions based on what she wants rather than what’s best for the country has to do with her health.

Hillary has had a problem with fainting spells. More than we were aware in the past. One of those falls, she broke an elbow. The fainting spell she had that led to her being away from her office for an extended period was apparently worse than the American people were told. This happened in December 2012. We were told she fell at home. Now it’s said she actually fainted in her office in Washington D.C. She went to the hospital and when Bill Clinton showed up, he had her moved to a hospital in New York.

Hillary gets blood clots and this one apparently was between her brain and skull. Clotting in the brain can lead to strokes according to doctors.

She was also found to have a thyroid condition according to sources and her fainting spells also was an indication of a heart condition. Following these tests in the hospital before they released her, they apparently told Bill Clinton that she will have to be monitored closely for the rest of her life.

These revelations are written in the new book coming out called “Blood Feud” by Edward Klein. The Benghazi information can be found in the NY Post. http://nypost.com/2014/06/22/clinton-bristled-at-benghazi-deception-book/

Should Hillary run for President in 2016, and get the nomination, the most important part of her campaign following the nomination will not be what she will do during her Presidency if she were to win, but it will be whom she chooses as her Vice President.

The right thing would be for her not to run for President, but since what’s right for the American people is never a consideration, the American people should place much more importance on her choice for a running mate because if Hillary is elected and these stories are right, that VP could become the next President in very short order.

Lest you think that I’m only thinking of Democrats as running for dishonest reasons, consider this. The Republicans are just as guilty in their actions and intentions as the Democrats.

There are many reasons that are viable for impeachment proceedings to begin against Obama. But Republicans in the House, where it should start, won’t go near it because they think it will make them look bad to the American people and they might lose their next election if they start moving towards impeachment. Their JOB, their RESPONSIBILITY is to the country, not their own re-elections or personal approvals. I find it very hard to trust a politician that puts his re-election above doing the job they are responsible for doing.

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett

Freedom of Speech

Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;or abridging freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people  peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Earlier this week, Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers basketball team apparently made some remarks to his girl friend, who is of black and Hispanic descent, which were recorded.

I am not going to repeat them here partly because they seemed to be edited, but mostly because I found what was quoted as offensive to the American people regardless of whatever context they were stated. Not just blacks, Hispanics, Asians or any other ethnic group but also because they are and should be offensive to whites, which is also an ethnic group.

There were two other events that happened this week that has brought race to the forefront once again. Cliven Bundy, the rancher in Nevada that was involved in a standoff over the government charging him grazing fees for his cattle and the Supreme Court ruling on Affirmative Action.

As you can see, I opened this with the text of the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. When I see things happen, I wonder what could be done. If we assume that Donald Sterling meant what he said in the most vile way he could possibly be thinking and even if the edited quotes left out even worse comments, there is nothing that can be done to him legally for his own words and beliefs. The Consititution forbids it. I do not know if the NBA has their own rules for members of their club (the owners) regarding their speech.

Can anyone really take a man’s business from him? It’s not freedom if he’s forced out of business by organizations or government. But the American people can do something. The players can do things and without risking their livelihood. The fans can do things without affecting their desire to watch their favorite team.

Let’s start with the players. Were I one of the players for the L.A. Clippers, and asked by a reporter my thoughts of what happened, I think I might say something like “how many people in this country work for someone that they don’t like? I’m now one of them. Our team is the players on the court, the coaching staff, the front office and all of the workers from the secretaries to the mail room. Our team is just owned by someone that has no tolerance of people different from himself. The owner of the club is not a team member. He can sign my paycheck, but he doesn’t get my loyalty.” What is the owner going to do? Fire the team? Trade them all? Sell their contracts to other teams? The players will catch on with other teams. If they are traded, they’ll happily be away from that owner.

When a team wins the NBA championship, the owner is usually in the locker room for the celebration. Players could refuse to be interviewed with him. They could refuse to be seen with him. I’d be surprised if Sterling showed up for this, but imagine the players, coaches, general manager refusing to stand on the platform with the owner.

One thing a businessman does not want is to portray himself as negative. It’s not good for business. Even at the age of 80, he’s certainly not wanting to hurt his business interests and while it’s probably too late, he doesn’t want to leave a bad legacy for himself when he’s gone.

Fans could avoid going to the game and watch on television instead. What would that look like to the country to have a playoff team playing a home game with no fans in the stands? It would send a message to the owner that the players are backed but he’s not.

Fans could go the game with a person of a different skin pigmentation. Imagine a black man and a white man going to the game together. The white man wearing a black shirt and black man wearing a white shirt and everyone sitting black then white, black/white all around the arena. That sends a non violent message to the owner and shows support for the team.

While this idea might be considered racist, this could very well be a good reason for everyone that is white to color their skin black for a night at a game.

President Obama was asked about this controversy and he actually had a very good answer. He said, “When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't really have to do anything, you just let them talk,".

Donald Sterling and every other American in this country has the right to say as they please. They are guaranteed this right in the Constitution. But so do the rest of the American people.

There are people that will try to deface the Staple Center where the Clippers play, and they may even try destruction of property around the Center. I hope this doesn’t happen. I’d rather see Tee-shirts sold that support the players while condemning the owner of the team.

Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, a supposed target of Sterling's remarks, said he wouldn't attend Clippers' games as long as Sterling was the owner. I’d like to see him do just the opposite. I’d like to see him go to the game, and sit in the front row and before the game shake hands with the players on the court from both teams and then again after the game is over on the court.

Donald Sterling is entitled to be a moron and say bigoted things. But the American people also have the right to voice their opinion in non destructive, non violent ways to rebuff his idiocy.

You’re welcome to comment.

Brett