Happy Halloween!

Halloween has always been a really great time at our house. My daughter was born on Nov. 1st, so every year we would have a Halloween themed party. It was always so fun. We've had everything from a full out haunted house to a spooky tea party. When she was in Jr. High, I put black plastic on the walls of our three car garage and decorated it to the hilt with spiders, pumpkins and cobwebs. We had a fog machine and a stobe light and her older brother and friend DJ the dance. Everyone came in costume and it was a blast. She is in college now. I do miss those parties. Anyway, a few years ago I posted on the background of Halloween, so I thought I'd repost it today.

"The true origins of Halloween lie with the ancient Celtic tribes who lived in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany. For the Celts, November 1 marked the beginning of a new year and the coming of winter. The night before the new year, they celebrated the festival of Samhain, Lord of the Dead. During this festival, Celts believed the souls of the dead—including ghosts, goblins and witches—returned to mingle with the living. In order to scare away the evil spirits, people would wear masks and light bonfires.

When the Romans conquered the Celts, they added their own touches to the Samhain festival, such as making centerpieces out of apples and nuts for Pomona, the Roman goddess of the orchards. The Romans also bobbed for apples and drank cider—traditions which may sound familiar to you. But where does the Christian aspect of the holiday come into play? In 835, Pope Gregory IV moved the celebration for all the martyrs (later all saints) from May 13 to November 1. The night before became known as All Hallow’s Even or “holy evening.” Eventually the name was shortened to the current Halloween. On November 2, the Church celebrates All Souls Day.

The purpose of these feasts is to remember those who have died, whether they are officially recognized by the Church as saints or not. It is a celebration of the “communion of saints,” which reminds us that the Church is not bound by space or time.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that through the communion of saints “a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth. Between them there is, too, an abundant exchange of all good things” (#1475)."

Saint Anthony Messenger.

Happy Halloween Everyone! Have Fun!

Big Trouble Brewing in The GOP

In case you haven't noticed, there is troubling brewing in the Republican party. As I have said all along, the tea parties were not just about Obama, the Democrats, and the overreaching and over spending of government. It was also about the Republican party. Many of us who are Republican are fed up with our party as well. We are sick of politicians who claim to be Republican, but spend like a Democrat (Pres. Bush, can you hear me?). We are sick of Republicans who compromise their principles. We are sick of Republicans who are, for all intent and purposes, a Democrat.

Last year when head of then NRSC, our own Sen. John Cornyn backed Arlen Specter for re-election (before he changed parties), Republicans went ballistic. I can't tell you the anger I saw. Of course Specter left Cornyn out hanging to dry, so that's what he gets for his trouble. But it's much more than Specter. It's about the people of the Republican party up against the establishment of the Republican party. It's a battle that the leaders of the GOP do not want to talk about. But it's there, it's brewing, and it's about to boil over.

Republicans who voted for TARP and the Stimulus bill only added fuel to the fire. Enough is enough. It was time to fight back.

This is what I was talking about in my post earlier this week on "NY-23" regarding the harbinger of change for the Republican party. The special election in District 23in New York has a three-way race, but Republicans are more interested in the race between Republican party backed Dede Scozzafava and Conservative party Doug Hoffman than they are the Democrat. This is people v. Party, make no mistake about it. Newt Gingrich came out for Scozzafav and has been excoriated for it. Sarah Palin, Dick Armey, Steve Forbs. and Gov.Tim Pawlenty are backing Hoffman. Newt says it's all about local control. Yeah.....you see Newt, we have a big problem with "local control" of the GOP as well. The old GOP needs to get on board or get out of the way. Did you wonder why the latest poll shows conservatives as the largest ideological group in the country at 40% (liberals are at 21%), yet only 20% identify themselves as Republican? This is why.


This situation is also brewing in our Governor's race. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is endorsing Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in her bid to unseat incumbent Gov. Rick Perry. Sarah Palin has endorsed Gov. Rick Perry.

Now, a lot of people might say that Rick Perry is old school GOP as well, but I think Perry wisely saw the writing on the wall, and did things we liked. He rejected the strings attached federal stimulus funds. This was big and it was important to us. Then the icing on that cake was when he argued the 10th Amendment for state rights, and that he might resist the federal health mandate should Obamacare succeed. He rightly claimed that a government run healthcare system is financially unstable and that states must find solutions to their problems. Then in April, Perry announced his support for a non-binding resolution in the Texas House that says the federal government has overstepped the authority granted to it by the Constitution.

That roar you hear in the background is millions of people shouting, "It's about time!!!"

So Perry kind of won his street cred with the tea party protesters there.

Cheny vs. Palin. Could it be more delicious?

Politically it's just fascinating now. The liberals are starting to get very upset with their Mr. Wonderful, Obama, who is not living up to anyone's expectations, and then there is this internal battle in the Republican party that has only just begun.

If Republicans think they can slide into 2010 on the back of an unhappy out of work populace disappointed with Democrats, they better think again. Republicans used to say that "any Republican would be better than a Democrat." We don't say that anymore. Now, we say, "Be the small government, low taxes, property rights, gun right, and pro-life Republican we want, or get off the stage."

The fact is, it couldn't get any worse than it is right now. Maybe a good taste of Democratic leadership is what this country needs to see how sorry that is.

In other words, just because you have a "R" next to your name, doesn't mean we are going to vote for you. Prove yourself. Tell me you believe in the constitution. Tell me you believe in state rights. Tell me you will not spend any more money that we don't have. Tell me you will not allow this government to take over private industry. Tell me you will let business thrive with low taxes, less red tape, and incentives. Tell me you believe in freedom, liberty, and the principles this country was founded upon. Tell me that government was never meant to be our daddy. Tell me that we will teach people not to depend on the government, but to bear responsibility for their own lives.

Tell me all that, and then we will vote for you. Just because the GOP has backed you, does not mean you automatically get my support anymore.

No more.

Stay tuned. 2010 is sure to be a doozy.

Bless This Democrat For Doing The Right Thing

From The Hill:

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) on Tuesday threatened that he may work with Republicans to torpedo healthcare reform unless he gets a vote to strip abortion-related provisions out of the House bill.

Stupak wants a floor vote on a measure that would prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for abortions. And in an interview on C-SPAN on Tuesday, he suggested if Democratic leaders don’t give him the vote, he’ll work with Republicans.

It gets better:

According to Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.), an ardent opponent of abortion rights, Stupak is confident in the support he has within the Democratic Caucus. Stupak said he has about 40 Democrats who will vote no on healthcare reform unless Democratic leaders change their bill on the abortion language.

Sometimes I see a glimmer of hope for the Democratic party. This is one of them. Start being the party of life, the one who stands up for the most vulnerable in our society, and then I will have respect for you again.

There are many issues that I disagree with with the Republican party. Believe it or not, I would LOVE to be able to consider voting for a Democrat. I would love for all people to respect the value of human life so we could concentrate on other issues.

It's pretty simple. Without the right to life, all other rights are moot.

Whether a politician understands this is fundamental to me. A leader, to me, must respect the value of human life. I can tell you right now, with all I know about Stupak, I would vote for him, if I were in Michigan, over a pro choice Republican any day.

Palin Power

Sarah Palin was paid $1.25 million for her book "Going Rogue," as "a retainer."

It's likely she will be make more money when it's all said and done. "Going Rogue" catapulted to No. 1 on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com after HarperCollins announced in late September it had moved up the release date of 1.5 million copies from spring to Nov. 17.

Palin will appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" the day before the release of her book, which is currently listed at No. 6 on Amazon.com and No. 11 on Barnes & Noble.com.

Laugh at the liberals and media who tried to destroy you all the way to the bank sister.

You deserve every penny.

White House attacking Fox News Makes No Sense

Like almost all political pundits (liberal and conservative), I just didn't get the strategy behind the White House going after Fox News. If it was to isolate them, or make people think twice about watching it, it has failed miserably:

Nielsen: Fox News ratings up almost 10% since WH declared war

It’s a nine-percent bump in the two weeks since Anita Dunn’s whine heard ’round the world — in terms of overall audience. Among the coveted 25-54 demographic? A 14-percent bump.
............

Red Eye,” at 3 a.m., is beating Campbell Brown at 8 p.m. on CNN in the demo. (Worse, perhaps: Anderson Cooper is getting beat by … re-runs of Nancy Grace.)

I heard someone on TV with this theory. They think the White House did this to distract the news organizations from other issues that the White House is losing on right now. Health care, the war, and the economy. It could be, but bringing more Americans in as viewers of Fox News, that will report the stories on the White House, seems rather stupid to me. As wrong as this White House is on the issues, I never thought they were stupid.

Maybe I was wrong there.


This is not related (except for maybe the stupid part), but it is necessary to point out. Remember when White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel went on a Sunday talk show and said that Obama is having such a hard time with Afghanistan because they had to start from scratch? And then Cheney said in a speech that they were indeed briefed and handed over all the findings of the Bush administration. Cheney says that their strategy in January was remarkably similar to the one the Bush administration left to them.

Well, Gibbs avoided the question the first time around, but this time he was forced to answer:

In the press gaggle aboard Air Force One this afternoon, White House Press Secretary Gibbs admitted the Obama administration received and was briefed on the Bush team's review of Afghanistan.

Gibbs bobs and weaves, but it's clear that Cheney was telling the truth. I just find it astonishing that Rahm thought he could get away with it.

NY-23

"NY-23" might just be the new rallying cry of the people of the Republican party. Not the establishment, not the leaders, not the politicians, but THE PEOPLE.

What is NY-23? BigDog explained in a post yesterday:

District 23 in New York is having a special election for their House seat. Its a three-way race which surprisingly includes a strong third party challenge from Doug Hoffman from the Conservative party.

The GOP is backing the "Republican" candidate Dede Scozzafava. I put the word Republican in quotes because she is hardly Republican. She isn't even a RINO. She is more like a Democrat wearing a Republican mask.

Sarah Palin has used her political might to back Hoffman. Newt Gingrich has backed the establishment with Scozzafava. So basically it's the old good ole boy network against the new face of the party. One that doesn't put up with RINOS or Democrats masquerading as one.

Why is this little race important? Because it will be a harbinger of change. It hopefully will wake up the Republican party to the fact that these tea parties weren't just against the over reaching government of the Obama administration, but also against Republicans that don't hold true to our values and principles. Be a true Republican or get off the stage.

I hope that Scozzafava is shown off the stage. She is hardly different from the Democrat she opposes. She is pro-abortion, pro gay marriage, she approved of the President's stimulus plan, and she is supported by Big Labor and Big Education. Even the founder of Daily Kos endorse her for God's sake.

Hoffman is not a career politician. He is a CPA that came from a poor background and made a success of his life. He is the epitome of what the tea parties were about. He is tired of Washington stifling businesses and people with taxes.

People like Newt say that splitting our votes will only give the victory to the Democrat, Bill Owens. Maybe. But maybe the Republican establishment will realize if they don't back real conservatives, they LOSE. We just aren't going to take it anymore. If that means we lose a few races to prove our point, then fine. We may lose the battles, but we will sure as hell will win this war within our own party.

Watch this race closely. If Hoffman wins it will be fantastic for the Republican party. If Scozzafave loses, I hope the GOP will understand finally that we aren't following their misguided lead. Maybe they will think twice about races like the one for the U.S. Senate next year from Florida, and let Marco Rubio have a chance to beat wish washy Florida governor Charlie Crist in the primary.

NY-23!!! Let's make it happen for conservatives!! Give to Hoffman HERE.

Troll Alert

As many of you know I have a troll that has stalked me (and other conservative bloggers) for many years. She was the "manny" that was so absurdly wrong regarding my post about the other networks defending Fox News recently. Here is the comment she left at at my Chron blog:

Kathleen you have fallen yet again. Manny is me -- Michelle -- your supposed "stalker" but I am just trying to keep you honest. I love that you quoted me. Mission accomplished! In the meantime you publish my tripe while the surge in Iraq is failing. Where is you cheer for the troops? Like it helped at all. Laughable is all I can say.

Folks, remember when I said the troll comments make me laugh? This one really did. Imagine how sad one's life must be when your greatest delight is that you used a sockpuppet name to comment on the blogger that you stalk (yes, for 4 yrs she stalks me. It's pathetic). Oh wow. She really got me right? Heh. At least she admits it's "tripe." Iraq is failing? Uh, no. That would be Afhganistan. Our President "dithers" while our boys die. 16 civilians today. Over 50 soldiers dead and over a 1000 Afghan civilians. But that's ok, Obama needs a few more weeks to decide what to do.

For anyone who like to see what my troll looks like and how she uses our taxpayer money to use computers that you and I pay for to leave troll comments everywhere, go HERE (another blogger she stalked) and scroll down comments to comment 41 for her picture and comment 47 on how she uses our taxpayer money. You might want to use her work information to let her boss know. I would suggest calling since I think she runs the website and your e-mails might not get through. Feel free to e-mail the President of the school though.

This is what she does for fun. It's a sad life, isn't it? Michelle, you don't have to sockpuppet anymore. You use your real name and I will publish your comments along with your info of course.-TexasSparkle

http://proteinwisdom.com/?p=9680

Nothing In Washington Has "Changed". It Was Nice to "Hope"though....

So says.....MSNBC, First Read??????:

The more things change…: Bloomberg's Al Hunt writes a column that has been waiting to be written: All of the promise of changing the way Washington does business hasn't been turned into a reality yet by the president. One just has to look at his fundraising schedule to see that the political realities continue to creep in. While unrelated, today's Washington Post story about Dem Rep. Pete Visclosky's use of earmarks to raise money is a reminder how just how the culture hasn't changed all that much, even as the party in control did change. Just asking, but if the president had vetoed an appropriations bill that contained earmarks (which he could have done this past spring), would he be looking like more of a change agent, making it harder for the Al Hunts of the world to note how the president has spent more time promising change than delivering on it? Speaking of vetoes, anyone else surprised he hasn't found something to veto? Talk about a way to show some Washington independence at a time when the rest of the country has had it up to HERE with Washington.

Against the Establishment

Posted by BigDog

A short Sitrep: District 23 in New York is having a special election for their House seat. Its a three-way race which surprisingly includes a strong third party challenge from Doug Hoffman from the Conservative party. Recent events have shed light on and damaged the Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava. Including calling the police on a Weekly Standard journalist. Honestly, what a wimp.

Many prominant Republicans have endorsed Scozzafava, including Newt Gingrich. Gingrich's strongest argument is that we can't let the Perfect be the enemy of the Good. While I understand and agree with the concept, I don't think Scozzafava is the Good at all, therefore his premise is wrong. She says she opposes Cap and Trade and ObamaCare. Well and good. While she has signed a no new taxes pledge, I think its questionable given her later statements. She also favored the Stimulus and is endorsed by labor unions, the NEA, abortion groups like Planned Parenthood and of all people Markos Moulitsas of the Daily Kos. Huh.

(For the record, I am not anti-abortion, but imo Planned Parenthood is a radical leftist ideological group as much if not more than an abortion group.)

His other strong argument is that she was chosen by the local Republican establishment, as opposed to the national one. Fair enough. But that doesn't mean Gingrich is obligated to endorse her just because she has an (R) behind her name. IMO, Scozzafava in office as a Republican would be worse than having democrat of any political leaning.

Doug Hoffaman isn't perfect by any means. In his NY Post article he talks entirely too much about himself and he refers to the "9 trillian dollar deficit", I think he means 9 trillian dollar DEBT. Oops. Dude, have someone proofread. But Hoffman is the Good. He is endorsed by Sarah Palin, Dick Armey and Santorum, the Club for Growth and much of the Conservative base.

Its this kind of thing that proves Palin is a genuine rogue - dare I say genuine Maverick? - willing to buck her own party on principle. As opposed to a community organizer who votes Present most of the time or an old Mcfart who picks whatever position will give him the most notoriety.

Were I in District 23 and I had only the choice between the Republican Dede Scozzafava and Democrat Bill Owens, I would vote for the Democrat. Running Scozzafava is the very establishment Republican behavior which lost the 2006 and 2008 elections as well as leading to a relatively weak showing in 2004. Scozzafava is the type of candidate or elected official who would actively damage Republicans. Ours is a center-right nation, and moving center-left in hopes of capturing a minority of votes while alienating the majority is a losing strategy.

When a Hoax Is Something To Worry About

One of my commenters made me aware of Rush Limbaugh falling for a hoax regarding Obama's college thesis. I hadn't heard about it because, believe it or not, conservatives don't listen to Rush all the time. But I found it interesting because I was watching CNN this morning and Howard Kurtz (who happens to be one of the few journalist I respect on CNN) was exasperated with another hoax.

Remember back during the presidential campaign when MSNBC reported that that someone "inside the McCain campaign" had leaked that Sarah Palin didn't know that Africa was a continent? Well, the "insider" was Martin Eisenstadt, a person who actually doesn't exist. That's right. The leaks that were smearing Palin was a joke, a hoax.

Not only did David Shuster of MSNBC report the smear, but to this day people still spread that lie about Palin. Shuster even identified the non existent person in another newscast as a "McCain Policy Advisor, Martin Eisenstadt" reporting that he had come "forward today to identify himself as the source of the leaks.”

Sure, anyone can fall for a hoax. But as people delight in the fact that Rush fell for one, they might want to think about the fact that Rush is just a talk show host, and David Shuster is supposedly a journalist reporting the hard news. When a journalist is quoting a non existent person it means that they didn't bother to check out the person at all. It's called Journalism 101.

This is why people don't trust the media.

Update: Ryan tells me that Rush didn't fall for the hoax but used it as an example of how they misquoted him. That sounds more like it. But since I didn't hear it, I can't judge.

Conservative Women; Making a Difference.

Three women the left love to bash more than any that came before, are Sarah Palin, Liz Cheney, and Michelle Bachmann. Why? Because they are strong smart conservative women who embrace their roles as mothers and activists for conservative causes. There is simply nothing the left hates more. Which is why the attacks on Sarah Palin were unprecedented and the ones coming at Liz Cheney and Michelle Bachmann are starting to catch up to the smears Palin had to endure.

I cannot tell you how much I admire these women. They talk the talk AND they walk the walk. I didn't think I could admire Michelle Bachmann (a Republican Congresswoman from Minnesota's 6th Congressional District) more than I do now, But then I didn't know this about her:

"She and Marcus, a clinical psychologist, were raising their children -- they had four then; they have five now -- and, as foster parents, were raising some other people's children, 23 of them, a few teenagers at a time."

This is walking the walk folks.

Like me, she turned away from liberalism. I voted for Jimmy Carter, She and her husband danced at Jimmy Carter's inauguration. Both of us were changed by Ronald Reagan.

Sarah Palin is making an impact in politics and in political races through facebook. Truly amazing. Liz Cheney is making sure we are aware of what the White House is doing and not doing that is making us less safe. She has begun a new group called "Keep America Safe."

These political firebrands do this all while having five children each (and many more with foster kids in Bachmann's case). I may not agree on every single issue, but I know we share the same values, vision, and hope for America. Whenever I start to feel down from all that is happening politically in our country, I think of these women and what they fight for, and it makes me proud and happy once again.

whatever happens, It gives me great hope to know that these women are fighting the good fight.

Give Credit Where Credit Is Due (Update Below)

Sometimes people do the right thing when you least expect it.

Via Fausta's Blog:

Charles Krauthammer explains,

Then on Thursday, the administration tried to make them complicit in an actual boycott of Fox. The Treasury Department made available Ken Feinberg, the executive pay czar, for interviews with the White House “pool” news organizations — except Fox. The other networks admirably refused, saying they would not interview Feinberg unless Fox was permitted to as well. The administration backed down.

I think maybe the journalists understand that what goes around comes around. When a Republican administration comes back (and let's hope that is sooner than later), they could just follow Obama's lead and only give interviews TO Fox News. If the media doesn't rise up against this now, then they will have no credibility to complain if that happens (I don't think it would happen with a Republican administration, but the media is better safe than sorry).

Also, read Krauthammer's article. It's excellent. It outlines this Chicago type politics that this administration came from. Did you know that Rahm Emanuel once sent a dead fish to a pollster? I didn't know that. It's like a movie about the mafia, really.

The more we know about this administration, the more surreal it is.

UPDATE: It seems the left is spreading a certain meme to prove that (heaven forbid!) the other networks were NOT standing up for Fox News. No, no, Talking Points Memo put this out to prove it was simply a technical issue:

Feinberg did a pen and pad with reporters to brief them on cutting executive compensation. TV correspondents, as they do with everything, asked to get the comments on camera. Treasury officials agreed and made a list of the networks who asked (Fox was not among them).

But logistically, all of the cameras could not get set up in time or with ease for the Feinberg interview, so they opted for a round robin where the networks use one pool camera. Treasury called the White House pool crew and gave them the list of the networks who'd asked for the interview.

The network pool crew noticed Fox wasn't on the list, was told that they hadn't asked and the crew said they needed to be included. Treasury called the White House and asked top Obama adviser Anita Dunn. Dunn said yes and Fox's Major Garrett was among the correspondents to interview Feinberg last night'

In reference to Manny's assertion that my post and Krauthammer is inaccurate, I didn't realize at the time he was quoting The Talking Point Memo. Which is laughable in itself. Not only leftwing, but known for it's own inaccuracies. Manny's supposedly "correct" version is an unsourced post by Christina Bellantoni at the leftwing Talking Points Memo. So please. I think I'll take Krauthammer over TPM any day.

What is amusing about this is that the left does not want anyone to IMAGINE that the other networks would show integrity by doing this. The bigger story here is, of course, that the White House tried to exclude a news organization and was rebuffed, whatever the reason you want to believe, even the TPM one, this is an embarrasement to the administration for trying to manipulate the media and failing.

But if you would like to hear from someone else on this instead of the left leaning TMP and the right leaning Krauthammer, how about White house reporter from CBS?:

"And on Thursday, the Treasury Department tried to exclude FOX News from pool coverage of interviews with a key official. It backed down after strong protests from the press.

"All the networks said, that's it, you've crossed the line," said CBS News White House correspondent Chip Reid."

Nice, Talking Points Memo, but your spin didn't work this time.

Update II: Another meme TPM tried to put out there (and picked up by the associated press I might add) was that Fox News hadn't asked for an interview and THAT was why Fox wasn't included. Yeah.... That isn't true either:

Today Fox News provided more details on the sequence of events to the Huffington Post.

“Of course we requested an interview,” Fox News Senior Vice President Michael Clemente told the Huffington Post.

This directly contradicts reports by the Associated Press and Talking Points Memo, both of which reported that the White House had excluded Fox News because it did not request an interview.
........................

Clemente said that CBS News Washington Bureau Chief and current pool chairman Chris Isham — who did not respond to phone or e-mail requests for comment Saturday — received a call from the Treasury Department Thursday saying that Feinberg would be available to speak to all of the networks in the pool except for Fox News, and that Bloomberg would be included instead.

Clemente said that when Isham presented that scenario on a conference call with the other pool members — including Fox News — "they unanimously said, instantly, no, that's not gonna fly. Either Fox is in or none of us is doing it."

So, you guys who so desperately wanted to believe that the other networks wouldn't stand up for Fox News will have to accept the disappointment that they really did do the right thing and go against the Obama administration. Sorry.

HHS Sec. Sebelius Could Learn Something From Her Cancer

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius appeared before a Senate panel Wednesday with a bandage on her forehead and a puffy eye.

I wondered what had happened to Sec. Sebelius so I checked the WaPo and found this:

Sebelius had a basal cell carcinoma removed from her forehead on Tuesday during a successful standard outpatient procedure, according to HHS spokeswoman Jenny Backus.

"She is back fighting to get everyone the same good health care she has," Backus said in an e-mail.

She just had to throw that in there, didn't she?

Keep in mind that Sebelius recently said that she is "all for a single payer system eventually."

A single payer system like the NHS (National Health Service of Great Britain) perhaps? I happen to find someone online who also had a similar, although more rare, cancer, Merkel Cell Carcinoma. He found a spot above his elbow. You can go here to read his journey though the kind of system where "everyone receives the same good health care." It begins in June of 2004 and was last updated in August of 2008 (check out the photos linked on the left. They will freak you out).

If you think that is just one person, you might want to check out this helpful page called "CancerHelp UK." It has all kind of information for you if you are under the UK's nationalized health care system. Like this for instance:

"There can be quite a long wait to see a dermatologist. This can be very worrying if you are concerned you may have cancer. But non melanoma skin cancer takes years to develop in most cases. Waiting a few weeks isn't likely to do any harm."

You wouldn't have minded waiting, would you Ms. Sebelius?

If you read the journal link I posted above, you might get an idea of what happens when you wait a few weeks.

Ms. Sebelius, this is the kind of care you would have received under a single payer system or a government run "public option. So why don't you inform your spokesperson to not use your cancer scare as a propaganda piece for government run health care, when it is clear that you would never have received the kind of excellent care you did anywhere else but here, and without a government system.

Dick Cheney sets us straight on Afghan war policy

Everyone is talking about Dick Cheney's speech yesterday. Here's the money quote (via HotAir):

“Recently, President Obama’s advisors have decided that it’s easier to blame the Bush Administration than support our troops. This weekend they leveled a charge that cannot go unanswered. The President’s chief of staff claimed that the Bush Administration hadn’t asked any tough questions about Afghanistan, and he complained that the Obama Administration had to start from scratch to put together a strategy.

“In the fall of 2008, fully aware of the need to meet new challenges being posed by the Taliban, we dug into every aspect of Afghanistan policy, assembling a team that repeatedly went into the country, reviewing options and recommendations, and briefing President-elect Obama’s team. They asked us not to announce our findings publicly, and we agreed, giving them the benefit of our work and the benefit of the doubt. The new strategy they embraced in March, with a focus on counterinsurgency and an increase in the numbers of troops, bears a striking resemblance to the strategy we passed to them. They made a decision – a good one, I think – and sent a commander into the field to implement it.

“Now they seem to be pulling back and blaming others for their failure to implement the strategy they embraced. It’s time for President Obama to do what it takes to win a war he has repeatedly and rightly called a war of necessity.”

This was necessary to say since White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel had said on the Sunday talk shows that the Obama administration had had to "start from scratch" in Afghanistan because there was no policy in place.

This is the astonishing thing. The Obama administration ASKED the Bush administration NOT to make these findings public and because the Bush White House agreed, they actually decided that it was ok to go on the news and LIE to the American people about it. Did they really think that they could get away with that? The ego involved here is mindboggling.

Here is the former Vice President of the United States clearly calling out this administration in a lie so egregious that it demands our full attention. I don't remember anything like this before. Will the MSM (other than Fox News) cover it? At 6:54 am central time I take a look at CNN.com and see nothing at all about Cheney's speech. MSNBC? Nada. ABC News? If you click on Jake Tapper's page you will read about it. Why? Because Jake Tapper is one of the last great journalists who never lets his own politics effect his reporting. George Stephanopoulos mentions that Cheney "took a swipe" at the Obama administration. A swipe? Really? The Obama administration is lying about our war strategy and it's just "a swipe?" Seems the last time a White House was accused of lying about a war strategy, we couldn't pass by a newspaper or a news program without that point of view screaming at us. CBS news has zero about it in their "Top Political News," but thank goodness they have the important story of Michelle Obama hula hooping there.

I am beginning to wonder how much the msm is willing to ignore about this White House until they find their journalistic integrity again. That is, if they have any left.

Fox News Unhurt By White House Boycott

If you were wondering if Fox News has been damaged by the attacks of the White House, wonder no more.

For the week of October 12-18, amid MLB playoffs and "Monday Night Football" on ESPN, Fox News was the #4 cable network in primetime, averaging 2,098,000 total viewers — placing it behind only ESPN.

Just to compare.

MSNBC ranked #27 in primetime with 696,000 total viewers, while CNN came in at #28 with 674,000. In total day, CNN ranked #25 with 511,000 total viewers, while MSNBC did not place in the top 30.

Does anything this White House does ever work?

Obama's Enemies List

One of the reasons many people voted for Obama was because he promised a more civil tone in Washington. People believed that his friendly charismatic demeanor would mean a more bi-partisan cordial way of politics. Remember the "No red states, no blue states, only the United States" rhetoric? Well it seems it was only rhetoric. In nine short months the opposite has occurred.

As far as reaching across the aisle, Obama makes George Bush look like Gandhi in that regard.

Republicans have all but been shut out of the health care reform process. Obama is using Chicago type politics to "neuter" the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from its traditional Washington role as the chief representative for big business because it disagrees with the White house on Cap and Trade and the public option for health care reform. And most disturbing of all, he now uses the office of the Presidency to shut out a news organization.

This is beginning to be called what it is....an enemies list. Sen. Lamar Alexander, familiar with the Nixon enemies list, being a 29 yr old staff aide in the White House at the time, is warning Obama that this is a very bad idea.

Alexander remembers back in 1971 that Nixon had a list of what he called “persons known to be active in their opposition to our Administration” and to "use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies.” Many on that list were news organizations.

Is this sounding chillingly familiar?

Is Obama using the federal machinery to "screw political enemies?" You decide. The Obama administration, through The Department of Health and Human Services, imposed a gag order on a health care company, Humana, who had sent its Medicare Advantage customers warnings that their benefits might be reduced in Democratic health care reform proposals (the gag order has since been removed thanks to Republican Senator Mitch McConnell). The White House has also been reportedly "taking names” of bondholders who resisted the GM and Chrysler bailouts." Remember when Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, said to ABC that the stimulus plan wasn’t working? The White House then writes to the governor of Arizona and said, “If you don’t want the money, we won’t send it.”

One would hope that if Nixon taught us anything, it was that bullying and wielding power over the heads of those you are suppose to serve, only ends in humiliation and defeat.

The Obama administration would do well to learn from history and not repeat it's mistakes.

Commentary from the Rush Limbaugh Show's Official Obama Criticizer, Bo Snerdley

Why Rush Limbaugh and Fox News Are So Popular

I can't get this video to embed here for some reason. But check out HotAir that has a CNN video explaining why people listen to Rush.

Here CNN attempts to explain why people listen to the likes of Rush Limbaugh. This is the usual absurdity from the "real" news channel that facts checks SNL skits.

If anyone is really interested, I thought I might explain why I think Fox News is the number one rated cable news, and why Rush is so rich and talk radio so popular. And it has nothing to do with us going along with the so called "bully." If anything, Rush is the kid on the playground keeping the bully (govt) from beating up us.

In the early 80's I couldn't wait to get my issue of National Review. I would sit down and read it cover to cover. I knew that I would get "the other side of the story" there. I was just becoming a conservative and I was young. But I knew already there was a liberal slant to the news because I used to believe in that slant. When I read the National Review, I just couldn't believe what the mainstream media had left out of any given story.

During the Reagan years the media turned even farther left. Reagan had the communication skills to overcome that, but for conservatives and libertarians watching the news became downright painful.

This, quite simply, is why Rush began his incredible rise to the top of talk radio. Finally someone was speaking to the conservative values that we embraced. It's almost like when someone lives in a foreign country and you miss America terribly. Then you find a radio station that is American based. You turn it on every day to hear your native language and hear the news from where you grew up. You didn't feel so alone. That is what listening to Rush was like in the '80's.

But even with talk radio, the evening news and CNN still drove us crazy. We would listen to a news story, and we knew the rest of the story that was being left out. We would yell at the TV, "Show some objectivity for heaven's sake! Tell us both sides!"

Then came Fox News, who promised "fair and balanced." And that is what they gave us. The hard news at Fox is as fair and objective as it gets. It doesn't get better or more objective than Brett Baier, Major Garrett, Shepard Smith, and Bill Hemmer to name just a few. The left and the White House sees it as right leaning simply because the news had never shown the right side AT ALL. So naturally hearing it as well drove them insane. Which is where you find the White House today, stomping their feet like a toddler with a temper tantrum, and refusing to go on Fox News. It's petty and it diminishes the office of the Presidency.

The White House's fight with Fox News is also a warning to the other news organizations. In the interviews with the rest of the mainstream media on Sunday, the White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel told CNN that President Obama does not want “the CNNs and the others in the world [to] basically be led in following Fox." In other words, don't pick up their stories that make us look bad. As Greta Van Susteren points out, it's not like the White House has been sending people to Fox News and now suddenly stopped. She says they haven't sent people sent January and obviously it hasn't effected their ratings or how they do their job.

But there is another reason Fox News is so popular. Obviously it isn't just conservatives watching Fox News. So why do people watch Fox News more than the others? Every day news organizations have editorial meetings. They get together and they decide which stories are interesting and important and should be on the air. Fox News is genius at this. While ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC and CNN dismiss stories because they let their political bias get in the way, Fox News seizes upon them, and Fox is always right on the money. They are the stories that people want to see. That is why their ratings are so high. Many times the other news organizations are forced to follow because of the obvious interest in the story, like the Rev. Wright story. Other times they refuse to follow Fox News and get embarrassed. For example, when Van Jones resigned over his controversial past. They had to report that one of Obama's Czar's had quit over stories that they had never even bothered to cover.

We on the right have no problem with the left's point of view. We have never been afraid of debate. What we had a problem with was having our point of view ignored. With Fox News and talk radio, it isn't ignored anymore. And that is why they thrive.

Obama and The Black Urban Family

You might remember my post from a few days ago called "Emotional Adoption." Basically saying that if we don't step in and fill the void of fathers in the inner city, we will continue to see the drugs, violence, and crime we see now.

The WaPo has an excellent article up by a high school teacher who finally asked the children why they didn't try. They answered honestly:

Why don't you guys study like the kids from Africa?"

In a moment of exasperation last spring, I asked that question to a virtually all-black class of 12th-graders who had done horribly on a test I had just given. A kid who seldom came to class -- and was constantly distracting other students when he did -- shot back: "It's because they have fathers who kick their butts and make them study."

Another student angrily challenged me: "You ask the class, just ask how many of us have our fathers living with us." When I did, not one hand went up.

This is one issue that Obama and myself agree. And Obama has said the right things (even to the point where he riled up Jesse Jackson, always a sign you are doing something right)

Here are a few excerpts from his speech to the NAACP:

"...more than half a century after Brown v. Board, the dream of a world-class education is still being deferred all across the country. African American students are lagging behind white classmates in reading and math -- an achievement gap that is growing in states that once led the way in the civil rights movement. Over half of all African American students are dropping out of school in some places."

Unfortunately Obama starts out citing a dozen different way of throwing more money at the problem, which we know doesn't work. I think Obama knows that too, but has to tow the liberal line, but he goes on to say:

"Government programs alone won't get our children to the Promised Land."

Then he gets to the crux of it that he and I agree:

We've got to say to our children, yes, if you're African American, the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that somebody in a wealthy suburb does not have to face. But that's not a reason to get bad grades. That's not a reason to cut class. That's not a reason to give up on your education and drop out of school. No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands -- you cannot forget that. That's what we have to teach all of our children. No excuses. No excuses.

...................

To parents -- to parents, we can't tell our kids to do well in school and then fail to support them when they get home. You can't just contract out parenting. For our kids to excel, we have to accept our responsibility to help them learn. That means putting away the Xbox, putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour. It means attending those parent-teacher conferences and reading to our children and helping them with their homework.

But where Obama really came down hard on the absent dads was in a speech in a large black Chicago Church in June of 2008:

Too many fathers are M.I.A, too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes,” Mr. Obama said, to a chorus of approving murmurs from the audience. “They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.”

Obama doesn't mince words or specifics here either: In Texas in February '08, Mr. Obama told the mostly black audience to take responsibility for the education and nutrition of their children, and lectured them for feeding their children “cold Popeyes” for breakfast.

Ouch.

Just an aside, but can someone tell me why Obama can say that with no problem, but when Michael Steele says he's going to bring "Fried chicken and potato salad" to woo African Americans, the left side of the blogosphere goes nuts?

I suggest to anyone who has a problem with people referring to blacks liking fried chicken, to go get a room at The Reality Hotel (although I honestly think it's more a southern thing, than a black thing).

Also in Obama's speech:

“But we also need families to raise our children,” he said. “We need fathers to realize that responsibility doesn’t just end at conception. That doesn’t just make you a father. What makes you a man is not the ability to have a child. Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.”

Mr. Obama spoke of the burden that single parenthood was on his mother, who raised him with the help of his maternal grandparents.

“I know the toll it took on me, not having a father in the house,” he continued. “The hole in your heart when you don’t have a male figure in the home who can guide you and lead you. So I resolved many years ago that it was my obligation to break the cycle — that that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my children.”

Obama may be the only one who can say the things that need to be said. If he would like a truly remarkable legacy for his Presidency, then this should be his focus. Changing a generation of inner city African Americans into successful and happy human beings that don't leave their babies, that don't turn to drugs, and don't end up in prison.

Talk about bi partisan support.

All of us, white or black, Democrat, or Republican feel sadness for what our inner cities have become. We desperately want someone to address it, to fix it, to show those living with limited means that you can make a good life for yourself.

I believe this is possible. But we have to stop wringing our hands and do something. We have to demand out leaders do something. No one has the ear of those mired in poverty and drugs more than our President right now. He can really make a difference here.

I hope he does.

"Go Back To The Porch"

via Johnny Dollar's Place

One of the things that has happened because of Obama's presidency is that we are finally talking about race more. One thing that seems to have been highlighted is how black conservatives are smeared by black liberals. In fact, you don't even have to be a conservative black, but if you disagree with the left, you are smeared as a "Uncle Tom." Here is Juan Williams, no conservative, being told to "go back to the porch" for defending Rush. Also, a close black friend of Rush's speaks out.

The left has been determined to paint Rush as a racist. They couldn't find any quote in all the hours Rush has on air, so they just made up some quotes. Vile. Just vile.

There are many things Rush could be criticized for, but being a racist isn't one of them.

Kevin at TheBlackSphere has more to say on the subject.