The message of last night's election is pretty clear.  America does not like they way Democrats lead by Pelosi and Obama ruled the land from on high.  The message to the Republicans is don't give us fake conservatives. The message to the Tea Party is vet your candidates better! Agreeing is just not enough, learning some personal editing and decorum is needed also.

Lets talk about Delaware.  O'Donnell losing probably says more about Delaware having standards for candidate credentials higher than say the fools in Minnesota.  This is the state that elected Jessie Ventura and Al Franken.  Al Franken is no more qualified to be in the Senate than O'Donnell and yet there he sits. Problem was Castle was ready to "cross the isle" and be Obama's fig leaf on some key issues, and exit polls show he was not a sure thing either.  We need to make it clear to America what the Democrat progressives own and not add a single name to the list from the GOP.

We can all smile that the face of the Democrats in the Senate is Harry Reid and Al Franken, that should be easy to run against in 2012.  Harry is now impotent, with Nancy gone and the jar she kept his man treasure in gone with her

Unlike some conservatives, I am not opposed to crossing the isle if they are meeting me half-way.  For me as a libertarian thinker, Obama is a nightmare.  He is a progressive, which is not the same as a liberal.  Progressives are about power, personal power and agenda power.  If you look at his agenda it always skews to more control for him, for government, and for his operatives in the unions. This is why he is pro-war and slow to deal with "don't ask don't tell."  This is why he removed the ability of poor kids in DC to have a shot at the same schools his daughters are in.  This is why he has admitted that he knows raising tax rates can hurt real tax revenue for his programs, but he wants it more fair (meaning "let me spend the money").  This is why he has over and over in real action curried favored to Wall Street and helped them recover while many of us are out of work.

Liberals have a desire for more liberty and a feeling that we can all just get along if you buy everyone a free lunch and hug.  That is an over simplification for course, but it is very different from the use of government money to buy votes and favors to gain power vs trying to actually help people who are down and out.  If Democrat liberals are wondering what happened, its simple.  You mistook progressives offers of gifts paid for with the money of others for an actual social conscience.  This is why things like gay rights, help for illegal immigrants who you see as Americans in waiting and Gitmo have had nothing but lip service. Obama and Pelosi don't care about these as they don't advance real power.  They have gained a lot of power from fighting rules asking for proof of citizenship in voting, and they know that pushing too hard on amnesty will cost power from other places so they pretend to care and that is where it stops.

Finally, if you look at what they forced through the congress related to health care.  They did not guarantee coverage so much as guaranteeing that we will all pay more for coverage.  Unions may not see this until their next contract, but your benefits will cost you more in real pay to keep and soon Obamacare will tax you for having such nice plans,  What the bill did do is let the progressives tell us what we can't choose like lower cost plans and health savings accounts.  In the bill they protected control and took away more choice.


Now Republicans need to be clear on what they want to do.  Health care needs some changes.  Insurance companies have violated morals by using technicalities to remove people in crisis.  Their executives do make too much for what they do.  And we as a people do have a moral obligation to make sure there is access to basic and emergency health care for all our people.  Some of this should be the work of active shareholders who need to police pay for executives with votes from their shares.  But some of this might take government, because morals do have a place in government.  However, anyone who knows the reality of "free" government health care knows it is not a moral choice.  (I am close to someone who lost a friend waiting for a test in a good UK hospital, but still his access was slower than in the US.)

GOP HEAR US NOW!!! This is not about you spending on your projects or even you legislating your social agenda where it limits the rights of others.  This is about liberating our economic engine so there is real opportunity for success for all, not a system of Washington DC choosing winners and losers.  Let the people choose.

The Tea Party was smart in not going the third party route.  But the GOP needs to know they failed in what they had become and only succeeded with Tea Party principles of fiscal restraint and expanded power to the individual.  The new GOP needs to stand tough, because it will take years of real restraint to let the economy catch up to the size of government and the debt.

Even today Obama is talking about debt and credit cards for the next generation.   The shopping spree is over!! The truely needy need protection, but programs like we have had here in WA state that helped families making almost 90K buy homes must end.  Things like that just inflate the market and raise prices for everyone.

I am sad to say in Washington State the Kool-aid is still potent. But also the GOP candidate, Rossi, while a generally good man, doesn't get it.  He did not utilize the grass roots of the Tea Party and he ran the same campaign he ran that split the state and cost him the governors race twice.  Both the "I always vote (D)" crowd and the state GOP need to realize no more politics as usual.

My last message:  This is just the start!  Democrats you need to take your party back from the progressives and get it back to where it can work with a strong free market to empower all people and help the needy without punishing success.

* All Photos are linked, copyright by respective sources.

 

UPDATE10/28 : Moodys Agrees that Obama's Uncertainty is why we have no jobs.

ORIGINAL BLOG:
This week an AFL-CIO executive said 'Hey, Jesus Christ couldn't do anything more than President Obama has on the agenda we supported two years ago..."

Well that is of course just more Democrat sillyness. We didn't need Jesus to start the recovery again, we just needed one smart German chancellor named Angela Merkel.

If you read the news stories from 2009, you will find that Merkel worked with her coalition and attacked the recession with spending (yes it can work) but, she followed with a program of tax cuts and planned spending cuts.

Some of the left, like Paul Krugman have pointed out that Germany did some spending just like the US. He has also pointed out that much of the Germany austerity program has not been triggered. They are correct on both counts.  Germany jump started the economy with some quick spending and made it clear the spending was temporary and it would come with tax cuts.  They created an environment where business could bet that things would get better.  This optimism becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The United States jump started the economy with some quick spending. As much as many Teaparty supporters may hate to hear this, done right it could have worked. However the alliance of Obama, Reid and Pelosi promised more government spending by passing a stimulus with much of its spending out in the future.  They then created enormous uncertainty by forcing through a giant 2200 page bill that not even the creators have read. The "health care" bill made so many changes to our health insurance system, including costs that not even the bill's creators know what is in it.  To add to the chaos they have promised to pass "Cap & Trade" that would charge working industry for CO2 emissions and make many associated with a new Chicago based "CO2 Exchange" very rich.

Finally, congressional democrats chose not to create a budget for 2011, they also chose not even vote on which tax rates would stay the same leaving almost every US tax payer and business due for a giant tax increase in Jan 2011.

Germany did spend, but tied it to a plan that would allow business to trust in the recovery.  The US spent, then planed for more spending, and used their control of Congress and the White House to plan for pushing years of failed agenda they have wanted for years.  Democrats have created years of uncertainty for businesses that are now happy to do what they can with the workforce they have.

This is why President Obama owns this jobless recovery

The Numbers

Lets look at some key charts from: Tradingeconomics.com  Chart Problems have been Figured out and fixed.. had to take image grabs from site as links changed as people played with new charts.


This is the chart of GDP growth Quarter over Quarter.   We see US and German spending spiked GDP, but as soon as core spending trailed off, Germany is seeing real business growth pick up the slack.  In the US we are heading back down again and may be one or two quarters away from a double-dip recession.

Good News:  Since I write this initial Q2 numbers added show GDP fall ("double dip fall") may be leveling off, I hope.

Recovering from Unemployment
Now more importantly to the claim that Obama just needs more time to start getting jobs back.  The US unemployment rate has not moved even as government payrolls have increased.  Why? Because every smart business in the US is streamlining for the coming increased costs of health insurance and the automatic tax increases coming on Jan 1, 2011.




Not Jesus - Just Willing to Accept Advice

We didn't need Obama to be Jesus, we just needed him to work with the GOP and take advice he has ignored from leaders in Europe about creating a plan business can trust.   The irony is if Obama had not gone it alone and taken a 100% progressive economic path, we might see jobs coming back. This of course could have meant he might not be loosing some or all of the congress and he would have created enough political capital to try his agenda in coming years, without trashing our economy to do it.

Hubris and impatience created a bad stimulus, a bad health insurance bill and a jobless recovery balanced on the edge a second recession.

Déjà vu
Finally, it is interesting to note that the New York Times and other media criticized Germany for planning to cut taxes and increasing the deficit.  Now, Germany is already seeing an increase in tax revenue from its smart business friendly policies.

Will They Never Learn?!

Links to Read:
Merkel 2009 Tax Cuts criticized by NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/business/global/14gcon.html
2009 Germany Media also assumes tax rate cuts will increase deficit:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5035680,00.html


Germany 2010 in growth ready for more tax cuts to keep it going while tax revenue is up:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20101023/tpl-uk-germany-taxes-20b2d2f.html

 
Being a conservative-libertarian leaning person who sees excessive government as a real problem I am going to disagree with Mr. Juan Williams more often than not.

Any person who has watched Juan in verbal battle on Fox News Sunday and other Fox News programming knows he has a unique style.  He is passionate while charming, he is steadfast while respectful.  Juan Williams is something I will never attain someone who has reached the nearly perfect balance of political passion with civility and class.

I was watching last Monday when Juan made his statement about feeling discomfort when those who choose to dress in Muslim attire share the plane with him.  I thought, “Wow that was honest.”  Juan Williams admitted that his gut reacts before his better-self kicks in.  But that is Juan, honest and willing to speak his mind.

Without a well crafted façade of political correctness, Juan is someone you have to listen to with respect even when you are sure he is totally wrong.  Why? because Juan isn’t faking it, he isn’t spinning for some other group to curry favor he is telling you how he sees it.

Juan Williams is at times very intimate with his audiences. There may be marriages that don’t share the level of sincere honesty that Juan chooses to share with his colleagues and viewers.

Today, Juan Williams was liberated from the prison of NPR liberal PC dogma. Today NPR showed it has a double standard.  That its OK for Nina Totenberg to wish AIDS on someone’s grandchildren, it is ok for her to lament that there are moderates in the Democrat party.  All this as she pretends to be a news correspondent for NPR.  Yet Williams as an analyst can not share a personal secret in an attempt to expand the dialog on what creates prejudice.

Ironically, Obama was willing to share this secret about his grandmother. Jessie Jackson once shared that even he at times felt uncomfortable when encountering black youth on the street.  What does this mean?  It means Obama’s grandma, Jessie Jackson and Juan Williams are human.  They they have a survival instinct that happens faster than the mind can insert reason.

Of course most Muslims are not terrorists, but most terrorism in the last two decades has been carried out in the name of Islam and that creates a pattern that few can ignore.  Juan is self-aware enough to know he has a reaction, he is honest enough to share that awareness. Outside of NPR anyone who has listened to Juan speak, knows he personally empowered enough to choose to treat people he meets as individuals and to fight for their right not to labeled with the horrific actions of others.

Many in the left will be cruel to Juan and CAIR has again outed itself as an enemy of the kind of discussion that can help us understand the true diversity of Muslim attitudes in America.  And again, Fox News wins as it is there to offer Juan a greater roll in expressing a view that goes counter to its editorial slant.

At NPR the kool-aid will be flowing strong. At Fox News Juan will now be free to share himself and work to bridge the ideological gap without worrying that one of his employers will be upset.  Juan is someone who can help us understand that liberals and conservatives all can share a love for America and have different views about how to fulfill its dream.  Today he is liberated from the “head in the sand” liberals at NPR and can now show us Liberalism in its best and most honorable form.

My only fear is that this truly nice man might actually win some people over to his views because of his respectful charm.  Its easy to dislike and dismiss the shrill cat calls of most left-wing commentators. It is never easy to dismiss Juan. Even when he is wrong, he will always have my respect.

Juan Williams, congratulations on your new found freedom to speak your truth where we can listen.

The liberty of America has created a place for some terrible hate groups to emerge.  From the KKK to the Weather Underground hate goes hand in hand with a faced of arrogance.  In truth haters feel so pathetic they can only "raise" how they see themselves by knocking down others.

In some cases involving the KKK the Constitution has protected hate speech made in a public venue.  In these cases it has been ruled that the community must tolerate the hate speech in the form of parades and protests.  Protecting the rights of even the vile in our communities is one of the things that makes America great.  Just north of us in Canada, people are arrested just for saying things that others consider hateful.  Free speech is under full attack above the 49th parallel.

But down here we need to be diligent in protecting the rights of free expression above the rights of the community to squelch it for comfort.

Too many people including, Glenn Beck, have mistaken what the monsters of the Westboro Hate Cult as a public protest.  If this was about the community preventing these hateful monsters from expressing their revolting views the Constitution wins the the community must tolerate this.  To do otherwise is to put the First Amendment in jeopardy.

However, these protests are not located to protest a public institution or public entity.  They are not even located to optimize visibility to the public as a parade or protest down "main street" would.  What this hate cult does is designed with the intent of targeting for maximum emotional damage.

These people pick an emotional event where they can inflict maximum pain and create a contrived feeling of power.  This is the key, their message is not about about changing public policy directed at those with the power to change it.  If you search for their website, look at the URL they have chosen.  This message is a personal attack of hate.  When they show up at funeral their hate becomes an attack on vulnerable people meant only to create a perverted power structure where the mourning families are meant to feel powerless. They are parasites feeding on the pain of others to create a feeling of personal empowerment what they are too weak and stupid to do for themselves.

This is not what the First Amendment was designed to protect.  It was meant to protect expression from censorship by government and by extension the community.  It never was intended to protect intentional infliction of harm on another.  This is where we have long had exceptions.  Slander and liable are not protected forms of speech, because they are designed to do harm.  They are sometimes protected when the target has by choice become a public figure.  These families are not mourning by choice. And it is this emotion of mourning that is targeted.

What this hate cult does has the same intent as a cross burning.  The Supreme Court has already ruled just seven years ago in Virginia v. Black that laws meant to prevent intimidation are constitutional.  In this case it is not a law, but the outcome of a civil suit.  The result of the suit was overturned on the assumption that this hate speech is protected. However the intent is the same, to intimidate and feed perverted needs by seeking out the most emotionally vulnerable in our communities, those mourning the loss of a loved one.

If this cult of hate wants to express their vile opinions within the bounds of the constitution, they should be required do it where those in mourning are not forced to see it.  That means away from the ceremonies and away from any routes required to arrive at and leave the cerimonies.  As long as the family can mourn and return home by at least one route without being the victim of these vile attacks, the rights of the vile to be vile in public should then be protected.

In this case the family was not protected they won a case, but a disconnected appeals court failed to understand the nature of this hate and reversed the will of a jury.  It is my hope that Supreme Court will realize this is not about protecting the speech of the Westboro haters who have nearly unlimited options to express their views, it is about protecting the vulnerable in a time of mourning.

 
In this week's debate, Jerry Brown said Meg Whitman should "just admit she made a mistake."

Here are the Facts:

• The Whitmans used an employment agency seeking a legal worker.
• Nicki Diaz had forged papers and has admitted to lying on multiple legal forms that proved she was legal.
• The Whitmans paid all her taxes and paid her $23 hour, not any hint of them trying to save money or avoid taxes like many politicians have been caught doing.
• The Social Security paper said there may be an issue and asked for more info and it specifically said that taking any legal action based on the inquiry could get the Whitmans in trouble.  They asked their long-time employee who provided all the legal documents to check into it.  She did not do that.
• When they found she was illegal, they followed what the law REQUIRED and terminated her employment. They did not opt to turn her into immigration.

So what is the mistake Jerry Brown sees?

A) Was it hiring a Hispanic and trusting her without doing a full background check?  If this is the mistake, then it would appear that Jerry Brown thinks it is common sense to racially profile Hispanics and do extra checks on them based on race. That means he thinks Whitman should have done MORE than the Arizona law calls for
.
B) Was it a mistake not to get her deported right away?  Given that Jerry Brown supporter Gloria Alred is doing all she can do to get Nick Diaz deported by putting her in the media, maybe Jerry Brown is a strong advocate of deporting illegals to deal with immigration issues. Again that would put him more inline with the Arizona approach than Meg Whitman who in a moment of compasion did not report her former employee.

Or maybe...
C) Jerry Brown is not in support of Arizona like policies, knows Whitman did nothing wrong and is willing to let his long time supporter Gloria Alred use Nick Diaz so he can get elected.

So my question for the voters of California is who will you be voting for:

• Jerry Brown the pro racial profiling and background checks on Hispanics candidate?
• Jerry Brown the it's a mistake not to deport illegals right away candidate?
• Jerry Brown I will say anything to get elected candidate?
• Meg Whitman the woman who trusted her employee, paid her very well and chose not to report her out of compassion?

Who best represents the heart of California?
 

UPDATE: See Gloria Alred Destroyed by superior legal mind Greta Van Susteren (Video Below)

Democrat Jerry Brown's attack dog, Gloria Alred, in an attempt to help her retread friend return to his glory days, has launched a campaign to make life harder for hard working Hispanics in California including the millions that are citizens and legal immigrants.  How do we know this? Would Democrats be running this smear attack if Meg Whitman's former housekeeper was Scandinavian?

Democrats Attack Whitman for Trusting a Hispanic
They are attacking Meg Whitman for hiring a Hispanic woman, paying her $23 an hour for nine years and accepting her employment papers as genuine.  She didn't pay her a low rate. She didn't forget to pay her taxes. She didn't pay her under the table.  Democrats are attacking Meg Whitman for treating her Hispanic house keeper like an American!


Democrats Explain How Employers Can Avoid Legal Action When Employing Hispanics
What is the real message employers are hearing from the Democrats in California?   Employers are hearing anytime you hire a Hispanic you should do a deep background check or you are placing yourself at risk of being sued.  Democrats are saying that it is wrong to trust a Hispanic when they say they are here legally and sign thier name legally to attest to that fact. Democrats are saying the first time you get any paper asking for information about a Hispanic worker, you should assume they are illegal and fire them right away.

Whitman Failed By Not Assuming Dias was Illegal
If Meg Whitman had racially profiled Nicki Diaz and made a deeper check of her identity she would not be under attack.  If they would have racially profiled and assumed clerical letters from Social Security which are "just paper work" for most Americans must be a red flag for Hispanics, they would not be under attack now.

If you are Hispanic in California, you had better have all your papers correct and make sure there are no mistakes on your computer records, because you can be sure employers, especially employers of domestic workers are getting the message Democrats are sending.  The message is being sent to money seeking attorneys statewide.  Every copycat low class attorney will be using Gloria Alred as template for new lawsuits against people who hire Hispanics.

The fear of copycat legal actions may lead many good people to require extra documentation from Hispanics just to get and keep a job.

Meg Whitman Treated Nicki Diaz Like An American
It was the Republican that paid Nick Diaz $23 an hour and paid all the proper taxes.  It was the Republican that allowed Nicki Diaz to bring her sick child to work. It was the Republican that did the minimum under the law when she learned Nicki Diaz was not here legally and did not report her long-time employee to immigration.


Democrats Treat Nick Diaz Like a Pawn
It is the Democrat that is saying employers who don't distrust the word and signature of Hispanics are now open to legal attacks. It is the Democrat that thinks it makes sense to do more background checks on Hispanics than one would expect for other American workers.  It is the Democrat that has now publicly identified Nick Diaz as here illegally. They have told the world that Nicki Diaz committed fraud to get her job.  It is the Democrats that may get her deported.


Jerry Brown is willing to teach Californians to distrust Hispanics, so he can win an election for a job he walked away from years ago to seek greater power.

New Video Added to Original Blog
Go Greta!!

Two Men Unprepared to Discuss Religion
This week Bill Maher knowing Bill O'Reilly would be terribly under educated and prepped to debate religion showed up with the boilerplate arguments Dawkins probably gave him over an imported beer. His counters to Bill were lazy and dripping with the confident ignorance only world class arrogance can bring.  His demeanor is that of someone who has grown so sociopathically sure of his superiority, that he can no longer connect with most of humanity enough to pretend civility. 

His goto tool for this interview was the straw man argument that has become a key tool of liberals recently.  I half expect to see Obama or Maher skipping down the yellow brick road looking for a tin man to dance with their troop of straw men.   (Ok that is pretty tortured imagery but if I keep it I promise to avoid any other OZ references, for now)

When you see the straw man you know the person is fully aware they would lose a debate over the real issues.  Or they assumed it is too much work to even learn the other side of the discussion, since they are always right. Rather than have a real discussion they carry around a ready made fake opposing positions they use in place of the real arguments and ideas they oppose. They can knock these down with cool skill that comes from practicing it in the mirror over and over.

Bill O'Reilly did Ok with the standard strawmen.  But he had problems with the typical misquotes and biblical references. We should all be ready to deal with them before walking into a discussion with Bill Maher style atheists.

Bill Maher's angry Atheist Straw Man Number One:
"All Jews and Christians have to believe all that is in their Holy Book and if they don't, my work is done and you are all hypocrites."  At this point the ignorant atheist before you has defined themselves unprepared for a serious discussion of religion.  You might land a glancing blow and offer a way out at this point.

Your response at this point is simple:  
"If that were true, there would not be the diverse denominations that create the rich tapestry of the Judeo–Christian community worldwide.  We can discuss what I believe or compromise on a discussion of how much faith it takes to remain a Seattle Mariners Fan."    [Make sure to use the word "diverse" it subtly points out their straw man is a bigoted stereotype. Those of you in Chicago should make the appropriate team substitution]

The key here is that there is no denomination that has not accepted that free will allows them to apply the Bible to the current century.  Bill Maher should thank God for this, because if even a few of his straw men Christians existed, they would have stoned him years ago.


Bill Maher's Angry Atheist Straw Man Number Two:
"The Bible IS written by YOUR God and no real god would have written such things. So I win"  If you get both of these you know your "worthy" opponent got his understanding of religion from Michael Moore, who learned what he knows about religion off a cereal box.  (I do claim bonus conservative points for gratuitous use of Micheal Moore at this point.)


Your response to this would be:
"The Bible was written by men gifted with the same free we all have, who added the flawed nature of man and the context of the time to any inspiration God gave them for the book. Like a tapestry if you look too close you can find those flaws and become obsessed with them and miss the artistry of the message and story that is meant to be seen in its entirety from the fall of Adam and Eve to atonement for all sin purchased for us by Christ's acceptance of the Crucifixion." 
I have no idea how your atheist will react here.  Concepts like self-sacrifice without tax-deductability and eternity tend to create a sputtering noise followed by a retort that will revive memories of elementary school.


Bill Maher's Angry Atheist Silly Argument #1
"You can't believe all that is in the Bible, its just so much fantasy and is just silly, Faith is about abandoning logical thought.  I believe in science and logic"   The basic idea here is that if you understand how the V-8 engine and five-speed transmission works, that is proof there is no Ford Motors.   Keep in mind if you suggest that it might make sense to look for a maker's mark on the engine, you are a heretic in their tiny world.

Your response would be: 
Odds are your Bill Maher type has no clue about Quantum Mechanics, Black Holes (except at feeding time) and M-theory if they did they would realize science is fluid and full of contradictions . "The science you believe it has postulated in the last few years that time can be stopped, the spontaneous creation of matter from nothing happens all the time and that is possible for something to exist in more than one place at the exact same point of time.  Which until about 50 years ago would have been the stuff of fantasy.  Science can not disprove a creator it can only improve our understanding of creation.  Atheism is a faith based religion, with people like your-self doing missionary work."


It is impossible to prove there is no God, so Atheism is the adoption of the belief with no proof.  An atheist without faith is called an agnostic"  Agnostics see no proof either way so they don't know.  It takes faith to come to any conclusion about God.

Alternate Current-Affairs Response for Silly argument #1 is:
"You support the Obama health-care bill right?  Have you read it? The blind faith needed to accept the miracle of creating savings from covering 30 million more people with  the same sized medical community and no rationing dwarfs the faith it takes to believe a man walked on water. I only pray I can someday bring that level of faith to my love of God." 

I took the time to cover some of the basic carbon copy straw man atheist arguments.  The moment someone declares them-self an Atheist, you have found common ground, faith.  No matter how well you understand the the universe understanding can not disprove the existence of a consciousness that existed outside of it and created it.  Science can never disprove God, it can only expand the on the elegance and mastery God would need to create what we have come to understand.

Atheist are people of strong faith and even if you come prepared with logic and facts about religion  and your faith they will ignore it because their doctrine requires them to simply religion to something they can criticize rather than deal with it as an key part of history and culture that is as diverse the cultures of the Earth.

Stealing Jefferson
Here it is FINALLY Definitive Proof Bill Maher is Ignorant. Not only is he unable to make his points without repeatedly making incorrect biblical references.  He like many atheist evangelicals loves to misquote Thomas Jefferson.   Watch here if you dare:  Unedited Interview

In the interview segment Bill O'Reilly aired on 9/30/2010.  Maher suggested he had a quote that proved Jefferson would "ridicule" the idea of a God.

The full quote is as follows:

Atheists love to take Jefferson out of context.  It is clear that Jefferson was comfortable questioning and even adjusting his faith in God. There is no indication that his version of being a Christian included a belief in the divinity of Jesus and yes he had disdain for doctrines like the immaculate conception and centuries of church created dogma.  (I would tend to agree with Jefferson on much of what has come since the Bible)  This makes for some juicy quotes that used out of context can be used in opposition of his actual beliefs.

Jefferson had a clear faith in God the "God of Jesus", one he shared with Adams. He believed in a God that actively created the world and one that he hoped would approve of his life's work.  He was not talking about a Gia like "Nature's god" as some atheist claim.  In many ways Jefferson is the modern doubting Thomas.  For him God was real, but he had no proof of Jesus divine nature so he questioned it. 


Any Atheist who quotes Jefferson to support an atheist faith, is proclaiming a deep ignorance of Jefferson and American history.  Congrats to Bill Maher for confirming what we have all known for a long time, he is just a grumpy dunderhead!  A man who lost relevance years ago.

  
This blog is written in the context of thoughts I laid out in my blog “The Poison of Right Meets the Teaparty.”

Utopia Declined
This week it is clear that Obama is clinging to his own “rightness.”  He is so sure of his academic theoretical vision of equality distributed by the educated elite; he refuses to see that more than half of America knows Utopia cannot be paid for with opportunity stolen from our children.

The Choices of Leaders
Not one of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence did so to increase their bottom line or lay the foundation for a coming election.  When they signed that document the chances that they would hang for it were very high.  They did so for one reason, they were proclaiming to God and humanity that the future of America, of their children and their neighbors’ children was more important than their personal safety and comfort.

America has reversed direction.  Not only do we have leaders that think the immediate safety and comfort of their supporters is worth borrowing from the future.  We now have leaders that are sure their own personal needs are more important than the future of a nation that includes their supporters.  They now buy personal comfort and power for themselves on promises that not only will burden our children with their excess, but promises timed to collapse after their term in office ends. 

We see the proof of this in a congress that has amassed a fleet of private jets so they not only can avoid flying with the “common folk” but will not be subjected to hopping a ride with our troops.  We have a congress that has failed for the first time ever to accomplish its primary job of creating and approving a budget, but will soon recess to ask for use to send them back to fail some more.

We have a President who claims he doesn’t go to church because it will create inconvenience for others but has no problem shutting down major sections of New Your City and Washington DC to take his wife on a date, this even as the White House hosts world class acts for his personal entertainment.  Entertainment enjoyed while oil spilled into the gulf and millions of Americans are losing their homes.

Intentions
At the very best President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid believe they are smart enough to chart the destiny of 300 million Americans.  They assume they are wise enough to choose the winners and losers across the diverse American map.   At best we have good intentions leading us to the hell of fiscal insolvency.

But history tells us we may have a new pantheon of political elites whose self-esteem is not built on personal accomplishment, but demands the edifices of generational reorganization with their names chiseled on cornerstones quarried from liberty of our children.

Do we have leaders who are comfortable fiddling while America’s future burns?

Strong Words
Yes these are strong words.  Words earned but a congressional leadership who made deals and twisted arms to pass legislation they never read.  Words earned by leaders who demanded a man leave his mother’s graveside to pass a bill in the middle of the night before America could read it.  Words earned by leaders who have confused an election with a coronation.

This week President Obama managed to create some passion.  Passion to blame others for problems he has created or failed to address.  He blamed his supporters for being lethargic, while failing to deliver well on even one promise. 

Utopia Denied
His supporters are not lethargic, they are feeling cheated.  They are cheated by a Gitmo without even the illusion of a plan to close it.  They are cheated by inaction on “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” They are cheated by the 50,000 troops in Iraq who still are in harm’s way but have been politically renamed “non-combat”  They are feeling cheated by a healthcare bill that was more about winning than healing.  They feel cheated because they see the political price their progressive movement has paid while the actual vision has moved forward very little.

Conservatives just know the cost of these incomplete promises will be opportunity and choice for generations to come without even the specter of Utopia that some progressives see in their policies

Enough Blame for All
From stump speeches in Wisconsin to his interview in Rolling Stone, we see a President who claims success and will deflect all blame towards his own supporters as easily as he will towards those who oppose his policies.  He has created a tightrope of “rightness” stretched over an America he sees as either lethargic and uncommitted or ignorant and selfish.   He walks above us on the thin idea that if we only understood his intentions we could forgive his results. 

His lack of ability to complete a single promise with overwhelming control of congress will not inspire his base.  His willingness to compromise America’s future for an incomplete vision of an impossible Utopia has created the Teaparty

No More Excuses
Obama, Pelosi and Reid are only the figureheads of a political class that has become more about being right, than constitutional rights.  They are more about personal comfort than economic empowerment.

America has been poisoned from the top down.  Come November not only should we want leaders who will move the country in the right direction, but we need leaders with the humanity to own when they are wrong or the same mistakes will be made with new excuses.

 
Let me start by saying I do not believe conservatives should require 100% agreement on all issues in the conservative spectrum to be part of the movement.  I think we should be unified around defending self-determination and individual rights.  Discussions about what that means within our ranks should be civil.

Respect

I have deep respect for gay Republicans and gay conservatives that are "out of the closet" on both counts.  I consider them some the bravest of the politically active.  They make a choice many of us, especially straight white people, will never understand.  They choose what is right for the nation and liberties that help all of us, over an agenda that what would make their life as gay Americans easier in many cases.  Unlike race, there are some current conservative policy goals that limit choices for gay Americans.  In supporting the core conservative causes, they may be working against some important areas of self-interest.

They risk ridicule from both liberal gays and conservatives who believe their faith calls for certain judgments. Even if you are a devout fundamentalist Christian who holds fast to a biblical interpretation, you need to respect the courage of being "out" as both gay and Republican / conservative.

Straight is All Around Us

Being straight, it's easy to miss the role our sexuality plays in daily life.  It is just there.  We don't think about how it affected our youth and the small things we do to increase attractiveness to the opposite sex from better clothes to a better job.  We blithely go along as the deep drive to mate, procreate and protect the progeny is neatly wrapped up in tradition and ritual of family.

I can't write about what it is to be gay in America, to grow up as a youth seeing all those rituals that often don't have a built in place for a gay person. But I do know that just being honest can put you at risk for harm, ridicule and still can lose opportunities, like serving your country. It doesn't seem right that the law of the land says to serve this nation with honor you must hide or lie about who you are. In the end that cannot be good for the country or the bond of trust needed between soldiers.

I don't think in our hetero-sameness we can understand how for some gays thier difference becomes a conscious part of core identity.  This means when someone says "It's wrong," it is possible to hear it as "You are wrong just for being." No one is wrong for just being.

Being Good

It is too easy to adopt the idea that being a good Christian one has to be "against homosexuality" without thinking about what that means to real humans.  I am not asking that you stop being good Christians. I believe that good Christians and good people who care about faith are the hope for this nation.  I will ask you to pull out your Bible and read EVERY word that Jesus said himself.  Not one word about the subject.  He did tell the parable of the Good Samaritan, where a man from Samaria who Hebrews would mistrust and see as unworthy is shown to be a good man.  He did tell us to " Do to others as you would have them do to you.." 

I am quite sure based on the words of Jesus; I can be a good Christian and be loving and accepting of those that are gay.  I am also sure that it is impossible to be a good Christian and be cruel to my fellow humans.  Jesus stopped the stoning in-favor of compassion.  We don't throw stones anymore; we make rules and laws to cage people into neat little boxes of conformity.

I don't want the government telling me how to love my wife, if you are a conservative; you can’t want the government controlling how anyone loves another consenting adult.  That is not in The Constitution.


We can debate for hours why people are gay.  For me it is clear many if not most are born that way.  One might say, they were CREATED that way.  So who am I to question God's plan for his creation.  From a scientific standpoint it’s just as easy to suggest being gay is a standard variation in the population as it is to jump to the conclusion it is a defect. Would anyone reading this want to be defined as "defective?"  But if you prefer to think about this from a "God as creator" view point, is there any chance the plan is to test our compassion for differences?

We The People

Gay persons are just another part of WE THE PEOPLE and are part of who we are as a country and a planet. I would hope we can agree as conservatives that WE THE PEOPLE includes every American and that part of restraining the government is keeping it out of defining what appropriate adult love is.

The question of balancing respect for individual liberties both religious and personal is more complicated. As conservatives working together, not as opponents, we may come to solutions to the more complicated issues of government approved marriage, military service, what we teach in the schools and equal protection under the law.

To be effective conservatives we have to welcome allies from all walks of life that value personal liberty. When any person, the progressives assume is a lock for them, joins the cause we all win.
 

 
I'll keep this short. I am feeling pretty disgusted if what I think I am seeing is true:

CBS has released new promos of the much hyped Justin Bieber CSI episode. This will be opener for season eleven.  You have to watch closely but in a couple of the clips we see flashes of a meeting with an American flag and the words "Freedom" on a banner at the side.
 
To me it clearly shows a teenager who is or has family in a "patriot" group turning to terrorism with bombs that kill police etc. Spoiler web interviews already tell us Bieber is the bomber.

The formula for shows like CSI is to usually echo what is in the news.  Tell me who was the last one to try to blow up something in the USA.  It wasn't a clean cut looking kid in a patriot group, it was Jihad wannabe in NYC.

Watch the Promos: One running on CBS television that I can't find on net yet, has clear shot of a man speaking before a flag, then cuts to bomb blasts.

Watch... Decide on Your Own... then if think this is a slander of conservative / Teaparty teenagers.  Call the sponsors etc.  This kind of thing is pathetic. Cowards attack and slander children.

Watch CSI Clips Here:  (also watch for CSI clip in TV)

 http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/


The episode aired and was just as a predicted.  
Watch Full Episode HERE: http://www.tv.com/video/10487107/csi--shock-waves

I was right and Fox News finally covered this story AFTER the episode aired.  

For me when TV fiction goes to full propaganda I am out.  In the case of CSI we stopped watching years ago, but I had been looking forward to the new Jimmy Smits "Outlaw" series until a saw a clip that made it clear they were going to use dishonest information to attack the Arizona Illegal Immigration law.   Based on ratings it appears many of us avoided that show.  Keep your eyes open.  This will only get worse.

See how Megyn Kelly covered this topic:

 
The human condition is often poisoned by "RIGHT."  The need to be right is so strong that people have fought, died and killed to 'be right.'  Right about god, right about leaders, right about flags, right about family members; needing to be right poisons relationships and cultures.

Right Leads to Collecting

We all want to be right; frankly it is an important part of feeling relevant in a universe that is too big to comprehend.  Where the poison creeps in is how we confirm our place in the universe.  The most common way people confirm they are right, is by counting the people who agree with them and working to collect more.

Some of you may be screaming, I am unique I don't want people to be like me!  Ever been to some of the streets common to university areas?  You will see groups of people making extreme fashion choices to be different, standing in groups all dressed in the same choices.  Preppy or Goth, people want to belong.  Often as we grow up we decide we need to be different from our parents, so we seek out groups not like our parents to join and be right with.

My final proof would be that Anarchists who show up at rallies to disrupt, do it with organization and in a uniform of black.  Organized anarchist!!

Two Parties Making Each Vote about Being Right

In American politics we have a two party system.  In some states you have to choose one or be left out of the process of voting in the primary.  Each election voted as a Democrat or Republican creates a moment of choice that then must be defended as being "right" with each new vote.  This need to be right makes it easy for party leaders to poison our minds with fears about other groups.  "Democrats hate Christians" , "Republicans hate Blacks" I have heard both of these spouted by people trying to create fear.

Guess what, both are true and both are false, because these groups are made up of people and sadly people hate.  So yes I know of Democrats who hate Christians and I know Democrats in my own family that are devote church going, charity working Christians.   I have met Republicans that hate blacks (I either tell them they need to rethink their attitude or I run away, I have no place for racism in my life)  I also know many Republicans that are black and the Republicans I associate with want economic success for ALL Americans.

If you get one thing out of this blog, get this.  When someone trying to collect you into their group of "right" tells you a group made up thousands or millions "hates you" unless it is a hate group like the KKK or HAMAS they are lying, they are using your need to feel right, to keep you from learning and listening to other ideas.  Run away from that person!!!

Here is my challenge. Your being right has nothing to do with the party.  Party affiliation is a part of how you judge a candidate's views.  Always, always take the time to vote for the person or the issues, especially for leadership positions like Mayor, Governor and President. 

How do you avoid being poisoned by "right"?  It's not easy, it appears to be pretty deeply part of the human programming to join and follow strong leaders.  This is my advice.  Be Your Own Leader!!  Avoid being collected by someone looking to prove THEY are right.

How to Be Your Own Leader!

Twenty years ago, maybe we had to rely on others to feed us a truth that we used to "be right."  No more, if you are reading me, you are on the Internet.  Learn to question anything told you in order to collect you into a group of "right minded" people.

Polls show most of the news-media votes and favors Democrats and liberals.  If you are using the "news" to measure your rightness, they are trying to collect you, Beware!.  But also while Rush Limbaugh will play audio clips the news media tends to hide, he also edits them to make them match his interpretation, he is trying to collect you, Beware!  If you see something on MSNBC or FOXNEWS that makes you mad, that makes you feel like you agree with them, they may be collecting you.  If it evokes an emotion that makes you distrust someone or change your vote, it is worth the time on the Internet to find the other side or the full video clip.

The Teaparty and Being Right

The Teaparty is not about a party. It it is about economic liberty.  If someone tells you it's just Republicans, they have lied to you and are trying to collect you.  The Teaparty has to work in the two party system because of laws and our current culture.  They have chosen the Republicans for a couple of reasons.

• The GOP platform and voters are closer to agreement about stopping the dangerous overspending and cutting taxes so the economy can recover.  Trust me too many of the GOP politicians are no different from Democrats in wanting money for their own pet projects and contributors. 
• The GOP right now has fewer incumbents. Incumbents tend to use name recognition and cash shake downs to fund re-election so its easier to beat non-incumbents in the primaries.  The Teaparty is cleaning out the GOP spenders in the primaries; you have to help clean out the congress in the general election.

Why should a Democrat or Independent vote GOP this year?

Why should someone who has been a Democrat all your life vote for a Republican or Teaparty candidate.  Because every other right you might care about or program you want to be saved hangs on a strong economy and economic freedom.  We can not get out of this by expanding the debt or taking money from the economy siphoning off the typical cut for special interests and sending back less to a weak economy.

Except for property taxes, we tax money when it moves.  If people are scared or unsure they stop spending. If it costs too much to move money, take a profit etc. their money stays where it is. That means higher tax rates that seem more fair end up hurting the poor who have to spend and can't leave money in an investment. Lower tax rates (within reason) tend create more movement of money in spending and changing investments, the rich end up paying more in tax with the money they move, vs paying less when they store the money.

I totally disagree with some stands on social issues the GOP has and that many Teaparty people may hold, but those won't matter if we lose our ability to choose.  We are losing the ability to choose, choose to move (underwater mortgages are anchors for people), to choose the insurance that has lower coverage the the government wants to force you to pay for, to choose to get the care that lets Grandma live six months to see her grandchild born.  Most importantly we are losing our ability to choose not to be in debt and managed by Washington D.C.

Be your own leader! Do you care about jobs or someone's personal religion?  Do you care about reducing the debt your children will pay or what someone does for recreation?  Most of all beware of those are trying to collect you, with agreement on things that this year don't matter!!!

You are not wrong for being a Democrat and the Teaparty I know welcomes you.  I for 15 years called myself an Independent because I didn't trust elected Republicans to keep their promises. This year I did adopt the label Republican, because I think we need to choose a power party that is closest to our key views.  I am libertarian in most views, we need to keep economic liberty first or the rest of the liberties that you care about might not matter.  As a Teaparty supporter and Republican for the moment, I will talk to others about why it makes sense to support or allow things legal gay marriage, outside of religion I can make a strong conservative case for this.  (I will probably write about this in the next few weeks)

This is about choosing theoretical economics that have failed or proven policies that helped the US recover from recessions. Polices that were carried out by both John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.  At the very least it is about stopping uncontrolled change that has businesses too scared to hire new people.  This is about jobs, that fuel the economy, that fuels the government and dealing with those that have it backwards.

If you read my whole blog I thank you, now go out be your own leader and don't be collected, even by me :)
  

  
We'll folks, tweets are just too short to express all that I have to say.  If you are here I most graciously thank you for reading this far, as I am not a celebrity, candidate, politician or even a clever pundit.

Who Am I?

I am a husband, father, American, Christian, writer, Libertarian and Teaparty Supporter that votes mostly Republican.

Why I list these identities in this order: 

I am only 100% aligned to being a husband and father.  I love my wife and daughter without question. It is what I am most certain of in life. 

Some might question the order of putting American before Christian, oh! my!  I know what it is to be an American most of the time, but I question that regularly.  Being a Christian is an act of faith and it evolves as I do, I will write about that at times, but lets face it, no one knows the face of God. So it is sometimes hard to grab on. I will count on his mercy after listing him #4 on my identity list.

This blog is about me trying to be the writer with some regularity, I think my life would be much more enjoyable if writer was on the list right after father, but it isn't. Writing is something that drives me, but I have not yet harnessed it to fill my life and pay bills and it is too small a part of the jobs that do that.

Then there is what will be the major subject of this blog, POLITICS!  I can't help it, it matters; it always has.  I could never be one of those Jay Leno stops who are willing to float where the government lets them with no clue about what is going on.   Libertarian comes from both American and Christian.  Take the Bill of Rights and The Golden Rule and you have how I expect the government and my fellow citizens to act.  It is how I aspire to act.

Before you start searching blogs written when I was tired and mad or paging through tweets sent in frustration, I am far from perfect. But I can tell you I never write from bigotry.  If you think I do, call me on it.  But keep in mind bigotry is not the same as disagreeing with the politics of race, gender, sexual preference and religion.  I can support equal gay rights and get really disgusted with some of the tactics used to "advance it."  I can be proud that America was open to choosing Barack Obama as our President and mostly frustrated with the results of that choice.

Lets talk about Twitter
Twitter is easy to define.  It is a global cocktail party where we have no idea how much each person has imbibed before they speak.  Important communications are missed and the trivial tweets can start a riot.  It is the background noise of the connected plant.

• What I like is that it creates the illusion of relevance from my little home office.  
• What I hate is that it creates the illusion of importance to too many people who have nothing to say*
• What is ugly, well Twitter is about people and it is quick and easy and becomes a channel for some ugly language.

It is one of those inventions no one saw coming and yet from the first cell phone text message it was inevitable.  It would be nice if we actually communicated with it and it helped bring understanding, but I am pretty sure that is not a feature of the technology.  It at most gives a place for people to find like minds or prove they are different.  A few people get to feel important when they get thousands of followers, problem is those followers are following hundreds of others, you are still a face in the crowd.

And for those that choose to post ugly, rancid, bigoted, misogyny in tweets. Stop that! it totally ruins the illusion that you matter, it defines you as refuse to be ignored.  Find a clever way to express yourself, maybe you will inspire someone to rethink a position or try on a new idea.

I welcome your comments and critiques.  Keep it civilized, you are much more likely to get your comments dumped for crude attacks on others than of me. I can take it,but I also think we have a duty to call out people who practice personal destruction as their main form of communication.

*yes I often tweet when I have nothing to say... :)