First_Things

For a Conservative Understanding of Things

SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THESE UNITED STATES:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." (It's not about hunting ducks.)

For previous Letters, go to Archives.

Serious Considerations:

12/31/09 I, myself, have on occasion been guilty of excusing the excesses of the ‘60s generation by recruiting the woes of their elder depression & WWII era parents. Such explanations, alone, are superficial at best. The Progressives of our day follow a lineage at least as far back as the French Revolution of the late 1700’s (in reality, it was a strung out affair). The Mountain Observer knows this, and has written here of it often, directly and in various contexts. I think it useful to make this point now as we move into an election year, frequently to be expected full of campaign rhetoric, on all sides, sometimes short of clear substance. That is the nature of political campaigns. The priority for Conservatives in 2010 will be to expose the Progressive agenda for the intellectual travesty that it is, and offer to a more receptive audience the more positive and constructive imperatives of objective reality in words and language the can connect. JES
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12/30/09 Post 09/11, the Bush Administration ran about 7 ½ years (to completion) without a terrorist attack directly on our soil. For the Obama Administration, it is now conceivable that this record may not survive the first year. All real Americans pray that this will prove not to be the case, however, at this moment; we have reason to be concerned. IslamicFascists correctly sense American weakness and lack of resolve, as also do otherwise generic Statists and socialist freeloaders worldwide. With Obama’s help, America is seen to be on the ropes and bleeding. Bad news for IslamicFascists, generic Statists, socialist freeloaders and Democrats (redundancy intended); the American heartland, real America, is possibly on the edge of rebellion in the most Jeffersonian sense of the word. The spirit of United Airlines Flight 93 is alive and well, and if you don’t “get it”, likely you soon will; time to grow up and get a grip on reality. JES
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12/27/09 Welcome to Jamaat Al-Fuqra, coming soon to your neighborhood. http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/jamaat-al-fuqra-terrorist-training-compounds-inside-the-united-states/ Check further;
perhaps they’re already there. JES
PS: http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/about/ .
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12/20/09 The farce that was Copenhagen. Mercifully, it is finally over, and all those delusionally pleading for a huge fascist experiment to “control” the world’s climate by converting the United Nations into a world government, or some such arrangement, are left with carbon on their faces. May they all fester in hell; I will continue to burn coal. It’s the cheapest heat per BTU, and if it generates some extra CO2, then all the better: food for trees from which I can earn cash. I love coal miners, lumberjacks and oil field roustabouts; my kind of people. Folks so full of themselves that they imagine their own power to own and steer God's creation are truly dangerous to themselves and others. In just 220 years, France has almost managed to pollute man's minds to the tipping point. JES
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12/15/09 Perceptive followers of the train wreck of “science” regarding ClimateGate will recognize the identical pattern of “science” deception regarding the longstanding controversies related to intelligent design. For many years, actual scientists who have raised questions about the theory of evolution v. an “intelligent design” explanation of the origin of the universe, and life, have been blown off as religious fanatics when nothing could be further from the truth. Just as those scientists who have raised questions about the “settled science” of man-made global warming, other scientists have carefully pointed out certain flaws in the various explanations of evolution, and also have pointed to hard evidence that supports certain possible theories of intelligent creation. It seems that many “scientists” of an ideological secular persuasion cannot handle the metaphysical implications raised by their science colleagues who are brazen enough to ask certain inconvenient questions. For more, go to Intelligent Design. JES
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12/08/09 As a Catholic who takes Christ’s Church seriously, I find it encouraging that the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops), even at this late date, has finally decided to take an active interest in the politics in DC concerning Right To Life issues. Any coincidence that the heat seems to have been turned up post Ted Kennedy? I can’t help but wonder. Your Excellencies, a whole string of your “Catholic” pro-abortion politicians remain raising moral havoc; you are about 5 decades late to the scene. However, better late than never. JES
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12/07/09 Pearl Harbor day slides by without much comment; much like 09/11 in “mainstream” circles, except that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is welcomed to the city of his greatest crime to be found guilty in a civilian court. Given the present state of American law, this might not be as easy as Baraka Hussein Obama publicly claims it will be. Obama, you are no Judge Roy Bean, and it is unclear if you actually want that result for a fellow Muslim. I would imagine that New Yorkers, who voted for Obama in large numbers, might be perplexed at the implicit invitation for a second 09/11. JES
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12/02/09 Obama’s speech on Afghanistan; I’m still looking for the word victory. What we have here is essentially a policy strategy on how to bob and weave through the matter prior to the 2012 elections; very crafty indeed. We have saved this speech for future reference. JES
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11/30/09 It seems that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has just had his Michael Dukakis moment (don't laugh Democrats; Dukakis was your guy). I have been trying to warn fellow Conservatives about Huckabee for years. Nine years ago, as Governor of Arkansas, Huckabee commuted the lengthy prison sentence of Maurice Clemmons, a really bad guy then and now. Clemmons, it appears, may have just shot and killed 4 cops in Tacoma, Washington. My contention about Huckabee has been, right along, that he might be a fine evangelical preacher, however his record as a governor and politician was never that of a conservative or a man of sound worldly judgement. Evangelicals, you need to get a grip on things; and I suggest you follow this unfolding story. JES
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11/27/09 The State of Dubai has defaulted on an interest payment due on its debt of about $80 billion dollars, and world financial markets are shaken as they ought to be. The international house-of-cards game of shoving national sovereign debts off on each other is about to collapse at a rate yet to be determined. The message, however, to sovereign American individuals is clear; if you own federal government, or government backed bonds of any size or shape, it is time to engage in an orderly withdrawal from such positions. From this point forward, in the opinion of this observer, if you consciously purchase federal bonds, or federally backed bonds, you are a fool. Corporate, and government bonds originated at a lower level, also deserve the greatest scrutiny. One Big Ass Mistake America. JES

11/25/09 THE DAY SCIENCE DIED

Are you still in bed with the CLIMATE CHANGE crowd? Before you continue with your enthusiasm for CAP & TAX, consider a different perspective; that climate change “science” has been politicized to advance a Progressive agenda for Statist control of your life, and tax dollars, with billions of tax dollars at stake to fund the good lives of fake scientists, and Al Gore. Open any of the following current news links, and consider the matter seriously:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100017393/climategate-the-final-nail-in-the-coffin-of-anthropogenic-global-warming/

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/24/hiding-evidence-of-global-cooling/

http://briefingroom.typepad.com/the_briefing_room/2009/11/hadleycru-says-leaked-data-is-real.html

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/hadley_hacked/

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/11/19/breaking-news-story-hadley-cru-has-apparently-been-hacked-hundreds-of-files-released/#more-12937

http://www.investigatemagazine.com/australia/latestissue.pdf

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/globalwarming/6637006/Climate-change-scientists-face-calls-for-public-inquiry-over-data-manipulation-claims.html

Ad Nausium. JES Also Posted .
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11/22/09 As this weekend passes, the US Senate is considering a decision on the future of the United States; shall we remain free, or recover our freedom, or shall we travel the full distance into Fascism? Under the rubric of healthcare (insurance) reform, this is what the discussion is really all about.

I began this journal over 8 years ago beginning with the fundamental premise that the signature American political error of the 20th Century was the passage of the 16th Amendment and the implementation of the income tax in 1913. Virtually all the problems we have had with government from that time forward are directly, and indirectly, traceable to those events. (Ron Paul makes some good points about the Federal Reserve, however I believe the Federal income tax is the greater problem.) With the individual income tax the direct, and purposeful, consequence was the opening of a blank check to politicians, and lawyers, and to re-make America in the Progressive format with the unlimited funds to do it. The income tax afforded an avenue of control, over an otherwise free population, with the ability to tinker with social engineering experiments at the behest of the ruling elites. (The analogies with the political direction of Italy in the 1930’s, at the time were then, and remain now, stunning.) Over a period of time it put those with their hands on the levers of government, and the law, in a position to dictate and manipulate a centralized (generally collectivist) purposeful result. The word bribe, over the decades has evolved to a new level of meaning, and the American system today is essentially corrupt. The end of the road of this process is what we are facing today. We are staring straight into the face of raw, hard Fascism; America, and the Constitution be damned. The continuum has been totally logical. Power draws money, and money draws power. It is not a coincidence that a Christian God has been lost in the dust; He is a nuisance. And it is not uncommon to find in the motivation of those in power a neurotic guilt complex with respect to the country’s history of race relations, fully exploited by willing alleged “victims” in supplication to self appointed white masters. Manhood is in short supply; however, tax funded Fascist “fixes” are not.

In the 1980’s, under Ronald Reagan, with the help of Art Laffer, the nation rediscovered supply side economics (It had a run briefly in the early 1920’s and later in the early 1960’s under John F. Kennedy.). The lessons were many (go elsewhere in this website to Markets > Books > and Economics, Liberals and Conservatives for an education) however, the bottom line lesson is that free markets work and socialism, by definition Statist, doesn't.

The Mountain Observer (myself) for years has recommended an enhanced repeal of the 16th Amendment and complete elimination of the federal income tax. No matter how extensive any “reform” of the federal income tax there may be (“flat” tax or a value added tax included), so long as individual, and business income taxes exist, politicians and lawyers (please excuse the redundancy) will have their noses under the tent.

So how is one to pay for government? To begin with, most of it is unnecessary in a free society, and un-Constitutional in the Originalist American sense. The federal government’s constitutional role is to defend our shores, our national security, the integrity of the currency, and little else. In my opinion, Art Laffer fell a bit short. Fees and taxes should be applied to matters of consumption, not income, with the free market monitoring consumption accordingly. I would predict that such an approach could generate more revenue than the government could constitutionally use. What a problem; make my day. The problem here, of course, is that our culture has become so invested in confiscating other people’s money that short of national and international government bankruptcy we are likely doomed to consume ourselves and each other. As things are now going, that could be the lasting legacy of the Left. One Big Ass Mistake America. Be prepared to grow your own spinach. JES
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Recommended Reading:

The Dollar Meltdown: Surviving the Impending Currency Crisis with Gold, Oil, and Other Unconventional Investments

Charles Goyette Go to Books > Collapse 2008 Forward > Pg 1

Portfolio Hardcover 256 pgs
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Serious Considerations:

11/18/09 Any decision Obama the Faint Hearted makes regarding Afghanistan will be strictly political in nature; quite exclusive of national security considerations about which he has no evident knowledge or concern. Obama the Faint Hearted’s narcisstic priorities are driven by the domestic politics of the Left, his base, and the necessary accomplishment of a statist health care “reform” in some configuration sufficiently pleasing to the same so as to imagine their success. In this process, our military, and our national security, will be hung out to dry, as no effective or actual decision will be made, which is to say that a decision to promote defeat will have been made. The inevitable default result will be war; war likely of a very serious nature. JES
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11/17/09 Sarah Palin’s father says that his daughter is "not retreating. She's reloading." Well said; we anticipate at least 50 caliber. The fear on the Left is beautiful to behold. JES
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Recommended Reading:

Going Rogue: An American Life

Sarah Palin Go to Books > Obama Era > Pg 4

HarperCollins 432 pgs.

The Persecution of Sarah Palin: How the Elite Media Tried to Bring Down a Rising Star

Matthew Continetti Go to Books > Obama Era > Pg 4

Sentinel HC 256 pgs

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Serious Considerations:

11/16/09 This morning in London gold has traded at $1,133.20, and is climbing. JES
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11/11/09 In 2007, Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, in a presentation to fellow Army doctors, stated "It's getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims." Advising release of his fellow Muslim soldiers from certain assignments ("adverse events"), he commented that "We love death more than you love life". Well you big dork, Americans love America; not Islam, and the truth is that the two are mutually irreconcilable.

Notice that all of this took place within the U.S. Army community, and not a leaf was turned. Where were the commanders? The Mountain Observer’s recommendation for all this nonsense is straightforward. Let us candidly recognize that, at its foundation, this is a Judeo-Christian nation, and get all the Muslims the hell out of our military. The first Amendment needs to be returned to what it actually says on this matter. Meddlesome judges can all go to hell. Yes, I am a very angry white Christian heterosexual AMERICAN male, and I’ve had enough of all this crap. JES
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11/09/09 The FHA has taken up where Fannie May and Freddie Mac left off with sub-prime mortgages, except that this time around the taxpayers will be directly on the hook. This bubble sequence could take 5 years to play out; and it is the housing market, coupled with construction and manufacturing, that has already been pummeled. Speaking with reference to the government’s economic “stimulus” measures: “If electric shock is administered to a dead body, it will twitch. And that is what we are seeing.” I quote Alan Tonelson with the U.S. Business and Industry Counsel, himself referring to the current and pending woes of U.S. manufacturing. Nationally, today, the unemployment rate overall is 10.2 %, not counting those who have given up. Incidentally, to accomplish a re-growth of foreign markets for American manufacturers, and de-incentivize moving more jobs abroad, it will be necessary to pull the plug from under any public health care, current or proposed. Also on the necessary list are tort reform, regulatory reform, energy freedom and reform and radical tax reform. None of this will happen under Democrats, or RINO Republicans. Sarah gets this; nobody else, so far, does. Folks, that is just the way it is. Go grow your own spinach. JES
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11/08/09 Political correctness is destroying this nation. The most recent example is the national paranoia over why Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan did what he did. The answer is simple; he is, and has been all along, a Palestinian Muslim jihadist, aka; terrorist. The truth is that there are likely thousands of these people seeded around the country, including in the military. Given the history of, at least, the last nineteen years, this should not be hard to understand. Nidal Malik Hasan, alone, is responsible for what he did; no excuses or psychological analysis required, appropriate or acceptable. The truth is that every person in this country with an Arab name or Muslim association should be suspect until proven innocent. Islam, all of it, has a problem, and it is long since time that the United States woke up. Am I profiling? Yes, of course. Am I a “racist”? Call me anything you wish; I could care less and am unimpressed. I tossed that rhetorical stunt overboard years ago. If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck; there is a good possibility that it is a duck. Toss it a pig. And furthermore, world president Baraka Hussein Obama’s behavior concerning this Fort Hood massacre should raise a few red flags by itself. Getting sick and tired of “American” airheads. Getting more sick and tired of “American” traitors. JES
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11/04/09 New York State’s 23rd Congressional District. RINO Republican Scozzafava screws up the works by taking 5% of the vote. Democrat Owens wins with 49%, and Conservative Hoffman loses with 46%. Do your own math. What to make of it? The national and Eastern GOP need to decide what they are; liberal or conservative. In this case, voters, liberally inclined, as most New Yorkers have been for decades, logically chose the real deal, Owens, over the liberal pretender, Scozzafava. Most Republican “victories” in New York, for decades, have come at the expense of conservative principle. At a time when even the residents of New York may actually be starting to think for themselves, confusion reigns. Actual Conservatives, nationally, need to re-take the GOP from top to bottom, and begin to provide the nation with some intellectual leadership. I think this race in New York State’s 23rd Congressional District shows potential opportunities for an audience, however, we need to find some GOP leaders with testosterone. In short supply on both coasts, and some places in between.

Otherwise, the lesson from this race is that Obama the boy King, is in trouble, and GOP imitators of liberalism are too. JES
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10/31/09 New York State’s 23^rd Congressional District. Republican Scozzafava drops out of the race. New York State Conservative party candidate, and Republican, Doug Hoffman should pick up most of the pieces, although Scozzafava was so far left, this race will continue to be interesting to watch. There is a lesson here for the national GOP: stop with this RINO business and start to get behind some true Conservatives. Sarah Palin had this figured out; she was just being herself. Newt Gingrich; go back to your classroom. You are an embarrassment. Of all places, out of the ashes of New York State politics, is real reformation possible? Full disclosure: I fled the place in 1979. JES
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Recommended Reading:

The Persecution of Sarah Palin: How the Elite Media Tried to Bring Down a Rising Star

Matthew Continetti Go to Books > Obama Era > Pg 4

Sentinel HC 256 pgs

Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor

Matthew Latimer Go to Books > Post Reagan > Pg 14

Crown 304 pgs

Serious Considerations:

10/27/09 Back on 10/04/09 I opined that we should give Gen. Stanley McChrystal all that he asks for, now, or get out of Afghanistan, now. Of course, as a matter of national security, getting out of Afghanistan, now, would ultimately lead to an international disaster. However, the General’s primary problem is not al Qaeda or the Taliban, but the American Left. Baraka Hussein Obama has left our national security interests, our allies, and our troops, hanging out to dry. So it should be no surprise that Foreign Service officer and former Marine captain Matthew Hoh, with an impressive service record in both Iraq and Afghanistan, is personally calling it quits. Quite correctly, he points out an absence of policy direction and purpose from Washington, or any evidence that such will be forthcoming. His fellow Marines, and Army soldiers, are sacrificing themselves, and dying, for what? Baraka Hussein Obama, pretending to be president of the United States, is too busy playing golf to address the matter. There is a correct answer to these questions; however it runs contrary to the purposes of the Left. Our country is in for a very difficult future. JES
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10/26/09 If ever there was a set-up for open rebellion in the United States, Thomas Jefferson style, it may be coming down the tracks right now. Follow the “progress” (I hate the word) of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, 07-18. What is really going on behind our backs here?

Lord Christopher Monckton has some thoughts on the matter that are very disturbing, and he has the credentials to command our attention to his commentary. Keep checking: www.globalwarmingheartland.com/expert.cfm?expertId=349 . JES
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10/26/09 On election day, pay close attention to the race in New York State’s 23rd Congressional District. The National GOP continues on its own suicide mission. Far Left “Republican” Dede Scozzafava is the GOP leadership’s favorite, and, according to ongoing polling data, folks are saying “no” to both Scozzafava and her Democrat opponent Bill Owens. On top of the heap, and climbing, is Doug Hoffman, running on the New York State Conservative ticket, and endorsed by Sarah Palin, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, former PA Sen. Rick Santorum, Rep. Michele Bachmann R-MN., and Rep. Todd Tiahrt R-KS. This race will prove to be an important barometer in the battle within the GOP for the party’s soul. Conservatives will win this tussle, either inside or outside the party, one way or the other. Doug Hoffman is with the Tea Party crowd, and so is Sarah Palin. As for the GOP’s future, the hour is getting late. JES
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10/21/09 Local residents of Park County, Colorado, in the RE-2 School District might want to take a look at a posting on Editorials, Local Park County. JES
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10/20/09 If there is any doubt that the “Progressive” Left is in a state of confusion, panic and despair, consider the fact that one of its darling publications, THE NATION, is now in total consternation about, in its own words, “the whiner in chief”. FOX NEWS, centrist publication that you are, carry on. My fellow Conservatives, as a Bronco’s lineman once observed years ago as the team huddled on the Cleveland 5 yard line (if I recall correctly), behind, and with moments to go in the game, “We’ve got them right where we want them”. Denver won. Now it’s up to Real Americans, the Heartland, to redeem our nation. We can do it. JES
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10/20/09 The Senate version of ObamaCare, as it stands today. Read all 1500 pages. Go to: http://finance.senate.gov/press/Bpress/2009press/prb101909.pdf Have a nice day. JES

10/16/09 Where is Paul Nitze when he is needed? An older generation remembers, and is grateful. A younger generation, seemingly unable to put one foot in front of another, doesn’t understand the discussion and will suffer the consequences. The nation, generally, has lost its ability to think and reason. JES

10/16/09 It has just come to my attention that the really huge bunker buster bombs, designed 4 years ago and then put on the design shelf, have been ordered into production on a crash basis. It seems that there are those deep in the Pentagon who can, in fact, think and reason, and it is a mostly quiet program. Don’t tell Obama. JES

Recommended Reading:

The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War

Nicholas Thompson Go to Books > The cold war > Pg 7

Henry Holt and Co 416 pgs

Origins of the Cold War: The Novikov, Kennan, and Roberts 'Long Telegrams' of 1946 : With Three New Commentaries

Kenneth M. Jensen (Ed) Go to Books > The cold war > Pg 7

US Institute of Peace Press; Rev edition (Dec 01, 1993) 128 pgs PB

The Anti-Communist Manifestos: Four Books That Shaped the Cold War

John V. Fleming Go to Books > The cold war > Pg 7

W.W. Norton 368 pgs

Why Are Jews Liberals?

Norman Podhoretz                        Go to Books > The Obama Era > Pg 2

Doubleday                                     352 pages

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Where Keynes Went Wrong: And Why World Governments Keep Creating Inflation, Bubbles, and Busts

Hunter Lewis                                   Go to Books > John Maynard Keynes Pg 2
                                                      Go to Books > Collapse 2008 Forward Pg 1

Axios Press                                     384 Pgs
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Serious Considerations:

10/12/09 One final comment about Ted Kennedy, and the family flotsam and jetsam still surrounding him. The Kennedy story, for what it was ever worth, ended on November 22, 1963. Lefties should get over it and grow up. JES
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10/12/09 Kids, contrary to what you are probably being taught in school today, Christopher Columbus, by virtue of his explorations, was a great man and a great contributor to the eventual civilization of both North and South America. In proper historical context, no apologies are necessary. Don’t be fooled by Leftist weenies on this matter. Study the matter yourself. JES
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10/09/09 Baraka Hussein Obama, absolute zero and President of the world, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for absolutely nothing. Nothing makes clearer the fact that Real Americans are in a battle on an international level with collectivism and intellectual relativism at its worst. The absurdity of it all is beyond comprehension, and must eventually collapse under its own weight. We will win. JES
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10/04/09 Afghanistan again. Give Gen. Stanley McChrystal all that he asks for, now, or get out. Whatever problematic issues in the General’s recommendations and requests that might exist can be corrected as necessary. Certainly our armed forces are much better at adjusting to circumstances on the spot than anybody in Washington. Let’s not bleed our forces again without clear purpose and a will to win. Either we are willing as a nation to do what has to be done, and in this case should be done, or we are mousy little cowards and deserve the consequences of retreat and failure. Fight or quit; that is the choice before us, and we need a decision NOW. JES
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Recommended Reading:

Going Rogue: An American Life

Sarah Palin Go to Books > Obama Era > Pg 4

HarperCollins 432 pgs.
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