SM1's BLOG 4 U: AN AGGREGATION OF CONSERVATIVE VIEWS, NEWS, SOME HUMOR, & SCIENCE TOO! ... "♂, ♀, *, †, ∞"
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Noah David Simon
The new face of Likud
The Chuck Hagel Bankster Connections
American International Group Inc. wound up getting about $125 billion from the U.S. government in the complex bailout
Apartheid Jordan Accepts Syrian Refugees, Turns Back Syrian Palestinians at Border
Kentucky Fried Brain
renowned socialist & opponent of private health care Gerry Adams flies to USA for operation in top private clinic.
breathing machine is involved
America and Russia Set for a Showdown in Syria
In case you've ever wondered, the Palestinians have their own passports
Obama Gives Hezbollah 200 Armored Personnel Carriers
The new face of Likud
Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:46 PM PST
Until now, Danny Danon was a marginal character from the extremist back benches. In the next Knesset, he will be at the heart of Israel’s ruling party
(Times Of Israel) One of the most important events in Danny Danon’s life happened in 1969, two years before he was born.
That was the year Joseph Danon, a 29-year-old army reservist, was pursuing a Palestinian guerrilla cell in the Jordan Valley. When battle was joined, one of the Palestinians threw a grenade and Danon was hit by shrapnel. He emerged from a coma after several months, having suffered a serious head wound. He was rendered permanently deaf.
Many of Danny Danon’s childhood memories are of serving as his father’s interpreter at banks and government offices and of going on hikes across the country and then reporting back to their home in Ramat Gan, describing the routes and the landscapes to his father, once an avid hiker himself but now too infirm to come along.
“We would re-enact the hike at home,” Danon said in a recent interview. “Despite his injury, he managed to get across the message of knowing the country and loving the country.”
Danon began reading books about the underground groups that fought the British in pre-state Palestine, and learned the sites of battles from David and Goliath to the Yom Kippur War. That, he says, gave him a strong connection to the geography of Israel. Interpreting for his father, he said, “gave me the confidence to speak and argue and say what I think.”
In 4th grade, he remembered, he once argued with a teacher about the event that still serves as a dividing line in Israeli politics — the sinking of the Irgun weapons ship “Altalena” off the coast of Tel Aviv in 1948 on the orders of David Ben-Gurion, who feared a rightist putsch. Menachem Begin, the Irgun leader and future Likud prime minister, was on board. Ben-Gurion’s commander on the scene was Yitzhak Rabin, the future Labor prime minister.
“She said Begin was to blame,” Danon recalled. “I said Rabin was to blame.”
Danon’s mother was born in pre-state Israel — “a Palestinian from Palestine,” Danon says. His father came from Egypt as part of the mass exodus of Jews from Arab lands; Joseph Danon died of complications linked to his combat injury when Danny was 22.
Anyone paying attention to the stream of hardline rhetoric and legislation emanating from the Israeli right in the last four years will have noticed Danon’s name attached to much of it — attempts to disqualify certain Arab lawmakers, or to make getting an ID card contingent on a loyalty oath, or to hem in leftist groups by outlawing contributions to nonprofits from foreign governments. Last May, he declared at a rally that illegal African migrants — “infiltrators,” in the lingo of the right — had set up an “enemy state” in south Tel Aviv. After the rally, some Israelis attacked Africans who happened to pass by.
Danon is not a joke. He is not crazy. And he is no longer a back-bencher
Danon has mostly been described as a fringe character from Likud’s rabid back benches. Recently, the country’s most popular satire show, Eretz Nehederet — “Wonderful Country” — began mocking him as a lonely and weird teenager with acne scars.
But Danon is not a joke. He is not crazy. And he is no longer a back-bencher. Years of smart maneuvering inside the Likud catapulted Danon to the ninth spot on the joint Likud-Beytenu list for the upcoming election, putting him ahead of veteran politicians like Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and security figures like Moshe Ya’alon, the former army chief of staff. The same primary vote banished Dan Meridor, a prominent moderate, and Benny Begin, a principled hardliner of the old school and Menachem Begin’s son, to unrealistic slots at the bottom of the list and ensured they would no longer be members of Knesset.
Along with Danon, the Likud vote strengthened other candidates who believe in building settlements and in eternal Israeli control over the West Bank, dismissing what that would mean for Israel’s Jewish majority or its democracy, and who have acted to constrain state agencies or civil organizations which might impede their goals.
It further brought in Moshe Feiglin at number 22 on the list. Feiglin supports building the Third Temple in Jerusalem, has suggested that Arabs not be allowed to vote in national elections, and once told a reporter, “You can’t teach a monkey to speak and you can’t teach an Arab to be democratic.” Feiglin’s inclusion has accomplished the admirable feat of making Danon appear moderately right-leaning and Netanyahu a staunch liberal.
The Likud primary vote put Danon and his vision at the center of power in the party and within reach of a post in the cabinet. Netanyahu, outmaneuvered, is outnumbered in his own party. Menachem Begin is long dead, and his son is in the political wilderness. Anyone following Israeli politics after this election will have to get used to the fact that today Danny Danon is Likud.
Danon lays a symbolic cornerstone for new Jewish construction in East Jerusalem, November 2009. Settlements, Danon says, ‘are not an obstacle to peace’ (photo credit: Flash90)
Danon, 41, lives in Moshav Mishmeret, in central Israel. His wife is a dietitian and they have three children, the oldest 11 and the youngest 5.
For those who are used to his strident public persona, Danon’s personal demeanor can come as a surprise. He is polite and well-spoken, his answers polished and his words chosen with care. He spurns the informal dress of many Israeli politicians for a suit of a conservative congressional blue. He comes across less as a rabble-rouser than as someone who has correctly gauged the fears, frustrations and dreams of Israel’s right, shares them, and has done a canny job of riding them to power.
Danon began trying his hand at politics at his secular high school, participating in the school’s branch of Techiya, a now-dormant rightist faction. After serving in the army as an education officer with Jewish teenagers coming from abroad for a taste of Israeli military life — a distinctly noncombat position — he became active in the Zionist youth movement Beitar and spent time doing organizational work in Miami, Florida.
In 2006 he ran an upstart campaign for the leadership of Likud’s international arm, World Likud, beating out Netanyahu’s candidate, Yuval Steinitz, who is now the finance minister. He entered the Knesset in 2009, and became associated with a new bloc of young MKs in the party who made a habit of attacking Netanyahu from the right, opposing the few conciliatory moves the prime minister wanted to make toward the Palestinians — such as announcing a partial housing freeze in the West Bank in 2009 to assuage American displeasure and allow talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to go ahead.
Netanyahu made the move in order to salvage Israel’s deteriorating ties with the administration of US President Barack Obama, but Danon saw it as an unacceptable admission that the Jewish presence in the West Bank was illegitimate or temporary. His vocal opposition to his party leader’s policy brought him substantial national attention and bolstered his position among the party’s base.
(photo credit: Moshe Milner/GPO/Flash90)
Danon believes his hardline positions have helped Netanyahu fend off international pressure. Netanyahu in Jerusalem last week
“The settlements are not an obstacle to peace,” Danon said. “After the disengagement from Gaza, the public freed itself of the idea that this is about the settlements, and about land for peace.”
Danon believed he was both expressing a necessary truth and doing Netanyahu a tactical favor — allowing the prime minister to point to the internal political challenge mounted by Danon and others to show Israel’s allies and critics abroad why the freeze was a major concession and why it could not be extended.
“It was important to Netanyahu that my voice be heard, and I know he used it, in the US and Europe, when he talked about his domestic difficulties,” Danon said.
Netanyahu has said he supports the idea of a Palestinian state, though some in his own party doubt his sincerity, as do many outside it. Even if that is Netanyahu’s goal, he no longer has a majority inside Danon’s Likud.
Danon’s platform is virtually indistinguishable from that of the ascendant Jewish Home party, a religious pro-settlement faction that supports annexing nearly two-thirds of the West Bank and leaving Palestinians in enclaves surrounded by Israeli territory. Likud has been bleeding votes to Jewish Home despite an attempt to attack the smaller party as too extreme — an attempt that is doomed to fail, given the current makeup of Likud. Jewish Home appears to many voters from the ideological right as more pure than Netanyahu’s party, which has been tainted by the compromises necessary to govern.
Danon believes Palestinians in the West Bank should be given “autonomy” in their cities and towns, but that their state is actually Jordan and their blocs of territory should be linked politically with the Hashemite Kingdom to the east. The Palestinians of Gaza can look to Egypt. Israel will directly govern most of the territory, have security control of the rest, and continue to build settlements, somehow remaining a Jewish democracy while ruling over more than 2 million Palestinians who are denied equal rights. The Palestinians, and the world, will live with it.
Does he believe the plan is realistic?
“Nothing is realistic,” Danon said.
That rather apt take on where the prospects of peace stand has a lot to do with Danon’s own rise within the Israeli right and with why the right will win this election.
“In terms of dealing with Arab nations, many Israelis today have gone back to the warrior mentality of David Ben-Gurion,” Danon wrote in a book he published last year, “Israel: The Will to Prevail.” “We’re sick of hollow accords and grand ceremonies done for the camera’s sake.”
Politicians of the right have taken to citing Ben-Gurion as their model for ignoring international opinion, quoting his oft-repeated line, ‘The question is not what the goyim say, but what the Jews do’
Ben-Gurion, he wrote, “was willing to pay a price for the security of Israel in international opprobrium, and so it is with a new generation of Israeli leaders. We also understand the necessity of shaping our fate by our own hands. If we have to pay a price with the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States, so be it.”
Politicians of the right, both from Likud and Jewish Home, have taken to citing Ben-Gurion as their model for ignoring international opinion, quoting his oft-repeated line, “The question is not what the goyim say, but what the Jews do.” That quote is featured in a Jewish Home video, for example, explaining why annexing most of the West Bank would be a good idea.
Ben-Gurion detested Likud’s ideological forebears and would almost certainly have detested their descendants. He was keenly aware of international opinion, and ensured Israel was always allied with a greater power. Some remember that he famously declared that when faced with the choice between the entire land of Israel and a Jewish state, “we chose a Jewish state.” That adage does not appear popular among candidates from Likud or Jewish Home.
While Netanyahu has been circumspect in public about his presumed affinity for the Republican party, Danon has been openly critical of the current US administration, writing in his book of the “growing irrelevance” of American influence under Obama and suggesting that “confidence in the US as a stabilizing force is eroding.”
“The Obama administration support for the Palestinian position and their engagement of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt call the strength of its support for Israel into question,” he writes. Danon is proud of his contacts with influential figures in the US; he mentioned TV host Glenn Beck and one-time Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee.
But at the same time, he says ties with the US administration are “very good,” pointing, as do other politicians of the right, to security cooperation over the last four years — the point being that Israel can continue its current policies without causing undue harm to the country’s most important strategic relationship. His own plans for the permanent disenfranchisement of the Palestinians notwithstanding, Danon says he believes “Obama and Netanyahu will work together this time.”
In any case, he said, peace is off the table in the near future.
“In the short term there are two options: One is what’s happening now in Judea and Samaria, where the conflict is being managed,” he said. “The other is what’s happening in Gaza, which is chaos. I choose the one in Judea and Samaria, which is not ideal, but at least we’re in control.”
“Our area is so dynamic and dangerous that you can’t afford to make mistakes,” he said. “If I told you three years ago that Hosni Mubarak would be in a cage in Cairo, or that Assad was going to fall, you would have said I was crazy.”
In January 2013, it would be hard to find many Israelis, on the left or right, who would disagree. The electorate is currently split over whether a peace agreement and a withdrawal from the West Bank would theoretically be desirable, not about whether those things are practically possible now. Almost everyone knows they are not. After years of rocket fire from Gaza, and with the old Mideast disintegrating around Israel and morphing into something that will probably be markedly more dangerous, it is not only ideological rightists who look at a city like Jerusalem, for example, with its heterogeneous and combustible population, imagine an Israeli withdrawal, and see the specter of Aleppo.
The left has failed to present voters with a clear or credible alternative. The right has: control the West Bank forever. That vision now dominates the right and is set to dominate the next Knesset.
For guidance, Danon says, he looks to Vladimir Jabotinsky, the ideologue of Revisionist Zionism, who said Jews must build an “iron wall” of military force that would ensure their safety in Israel.
“We’re not there yet,” Danon said. “Today there are forces in the area who still think they can get rid of us with force. When we create a real iron wall, it will be possible to think about peace agreements.”
_________
This is the fifth in a series of profiles of political players leading up to Israel’s national election on January 22, 2013. Previous installments featured the renegade rabbi Haim Amsalem ;retired general Elazar Stern; Ayelet Shaked, a secular candidate in the religious party Jewish Home; and Omer Barlev, a former commando and hi-tech entrepreneur.
Find Matti Friedman on Twitter and Facebook.
The Chuck Hagel Bankster Connections
Posted: 08 Jan 2013 02:27 PM PST
The Chuck Hagel Bankster Connections.HT: EconomicPolicyJournal.(many faces in many places)The nomination of Chuck Hagel has prompted an email response from Alan P. at PEU Report. He writes to EPJ:
Pentagon nominee Chuck Hagel has his own PEU ties. I've yet to see the media report them.
Alan, also, provided a link to his post, Chuck Hagel PEU, which details how Hagel has been keeping himself busy with his bankster ties.
In his post, Alan notes that Hagel sits on the advisory board of Corsair Capital. a private equity underwriter (PEU) focused on the financial services industry. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Chevron Corporation and Zurich’s Holding Company of America; and the Advisory Board of Deutsche Bank America, and is a Senior Advisor to Gallup.
Most noteworthy, Hagel is a director of Wolfensohn and Company. The company is founded by global operator James Wolfensohn. After Paul Volcker left the Federal Reserve to cash in, he chose to go with Wolfensohn's predecessor firm as a senior partner. Wolfensohn sold the predecessor firm when he became president of the World Bank.
In 2005, upon leaving as president of the World Bank, he founded Wolfensohn and Company, LLC, where Hagel is a director. The firm is privately held firm that invests, and provides strategic consulting advice to governments and large corporations doing business, in emerging market economies.
Since 2006, Wolfensohn has also been the chairman of the International Advisory Board of Citigroup.
In 2009, he became a member of the International Advisory Council of the Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation.
Bottom line, Hagel is operating at the core of crony corporate America and the expanding empire, if he is that close to Wolfensohn.
Neoconservatives and and gay rights groups are up in arms about some of Hagel's comments in the past about Israel and gays, but Hagel is a major insider. The empire will continue to expand under him, if he becomes Defense Secretary. For the real insiders, the Israel controversy and the gay comments are surface skirmishes, what the Hagel nomination is really about is a major league bankster heading the DOD, and in the end that means its about huge crony $$$$.Read the full story here.
That Chevron board essentially means oil money that is loyal to Saudi interests. Actually that is surprising since Hagel appears to be lenient with Shia interests like Iran and Hezbollah and their allies in Asia like Russia and China.
American International Group Inc. wound up getting about $125 billion from the U.S. government in the complex bailout
Posted: 08 Jan 2013 11:31 AM PST
The people who were investors would of done better to of gone bankrupt and sold the toxic assets for what they were worth
(Mark Lennihan / AP Photo)(WASHINGTON)AIG is said to consider suing U.S. for bailout that saved company. At the same time American International Group Inc. has been running high-profile ads thanking America for the bailout that saved the company, the insurance giant reportedly is considering joining a shareholder suit against the U.S. government for the rescue.
The AIG board will meet Wednesday and could decide to join a $25-billion suit led by former chief executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the New York Times reported.
The suit by Greenberg's Starr International Co. alleges that the 2008 bailout of AIG by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve Bank of New York in which the government received an 80% ownership stake in the company violated the rights of shareholders. The ownership stake later climbed to 92%.
The suit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington alleges that the bailout cost shareholders billions of dollars and violated the 5th Amendment, which prohibits the taking of private property for public use "without just compensation."
A similar suit against the New York Fed was thrown out by a New York federal judge in November. But Judge Thomas Wheeler of the Court of Federal Claims had ruled in September that Greenberg's case against the U.S. government could go forward.
A September court filing said the AIG board expected to make a decision by the end of January.
An AIG spokesman declined to comment Tuesday. A Treasury Department spokesman also would not comment.
But U.S. officials would not be pleased if AIG joined the suit. The company received the single largest bailout of the financial crisis, leaving the government on the hook for more than $182 billion.
AIG ended up taking about $125 billion in the complex, multi-step bailout. In the process, the company became the poster child for reckless risk-taking on Wall Street and the focal point for anger by the public and lawmakers over the unprecedented government intervention to save the financial system.
In December, the government sold the last of its stake in AIG. The bailout formally ended with the taxpayers earning a $22.7 billion profit, though critics noted there were additional, incalculable costs, such as a loss of public confidence in the financial system and a precedent for rescuing too-big-to-fail financial firms.
AIG has been touting the end of the bailout with print, TV and online ads titled "Thank You America." The ads, which have aired in recent weeks during college football bowl games and National Football League playoff games, note the company "repaid every dollar America lent us."
Apartheid Jordan Accepts Syrian Refugees, Turns Back Syrian Palestinians at Border
Posted: 08 Jan 2013 11:14 AM PST
(
(Can you say Apartheid State?) As the civil war intensifies in Syria, more refugees are trying to escape the conflict. Some have crossed into Turkey. Others have gone to Lebanon. But the biggest refugee camp for Syrian refugees is in the neighboring Kingdom of Jordan. But not all refugees are allowed in.
FRIED KOOLAID:
80% of PalArab "refugees" have citizenship!)
Speaking in an immaculately clean tent over coffee and endless cigarettes, a 23-year-old construction worker who would only give his name as Mohamed said he left the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, where many Palestinians live, about two months ago. The place was getting violent and food was hard to find, he said.The young man said his mother is Syrian, but his father is Palestinian. Mohamed said the Jordanians are turning people back at the border if they have ID cards that say they’re Palestinian. Lucky for him, he has a Syrian ID.
Mohamed’s uncle, he said, is a Palestinian from Damascus who has been turned away at the Jordan border five times.
With his four-year-old son in his lap, Daloul said he’s happy to be in Jordan, away from the fighting in Syria. But he says it’s also frustrating. Daloul is registered as a Palestinian refugee, even though he was born in Syria. So are his kids. But his wife is registered as Syrian. Now, she’s staying with relatives elsewhere in Jordan, while Daloul and the children live in this single room. They are not allowed to leave the camp for any length of time, he said. And his wife cannot move in with them permanently. “It’s a difficult situation,” he said.
Daloul is 55 years old. He was born in Syria. His kids were born in Syria. If he goes back, his grandchildren will be born in Syria. But he’s not considered Syrian by the Syrian government, even though his wife is, and since his children have their father’s status, they’re also considered Palestinian.
The Arabs don't like Palestinians
Kentucky Fried Brain
Posted: 08 Jan 2013 08:26 AM PST
I threw it down onto my tray immediately. It looked like a brain.
renowned socialist & opponent of private health care Gerry Adams flies to USA for operation in top private clinic.
Posted: 07 Jan 2013 11:25 PM PST
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has been accused of being "incredibly hypocritical" for choosing private medical care in the US, despite criticising private healthcare in the Republic and Northern Ireland.
breathing machine is involved
Posted: 07 Jan 2013 11:07 PM PST
(Simply) The history of this part of the world shows that close associates are often the initiators of coups and army, swearing loyalty to the current government, forgets the oath. In addition to the multibillion dollar arms contracts, Russia has also invested in the oil industry in Venezuela. Russia plans to set up a consortium to develop oil fields in the country, the project involving all major Russian oil and gas companies. The project is estimated at $ 20 billion. The sources cited by Stratfor reported that the candidate favored by Chinese, Russians and Brazilians is Nicolas Maduro, while Cubans tilt more toward Chávez’s brother Adam, mainly because they don’t believe Maduro will guarantee the oil subsidies they have enjoyed so far.
America and Russia Set for a Showdown in Syria
Posted: 07 Jan 2013 11:12 PM PST
Syria has a large Russian emigre population, particularly of women who married Syrian men. But Russia can afford to lose Syria.
In case you've ever wondered, the Palestinians have their own passports
Posted: 07 Jan 2013 10:13 PM PST
scrapping the old "Palestinian Authority" logo is as far as Abbas is willing to go in provoking Israel. He is not rushing to change passports and ID cards Palestinians need to pass through Israeli crossings.
Obama Gives Hezbollah 200 Armored Personnel Carriers
Posted: 07 Jan 2013 10:01 PM PST
The United States has provided more than $140 million in equipment and assistance to the Lebanese armed forces in the past six months, including six Huey 2 helicopters, a 42-metre coastal security craft, more than 1,000 guns – including grenade launchers – and 38 million rounds of ammunition.
The United States has given 200 armored vehicles to Lebanon, the Lebanese army said… The M113 armored personnel carriers (APCs) arrived by ship to Beirut on Sunday, the army said in a statement. A Lebanese security source said the army now had 1,200 APCs.
Check out "Mom's Shooting of Intruder Puts New Twist On Gun Control Debate! - Megyn Kelly Reports" on Patriot Action Network
To view this video, visit:
http://patriotaction.net/video/video/show?id=2600775%3AVideo%3A6051592
Check out "Gun Myths - More Guns = More Homicides." on Patriot Action Network
To view this video, visit:
http://patriotaction.net/video/video/show?id=2600775%3AVideo%3A6051436
Loganswarning
Tonight at 6 PM EST: Logan’s Warning on TUFFTalk Radio!
Posted: 08 Jan 2013 01:50 PM PST
Hello mighty infidels! Right before the new year I pledged on Facebook that I was going to pick up my game, and take it to the radio to reach a broader audience. Surprisingly, just days later I received a radio invite from TUFFTalk radio’s Pete Parker, (by Changing Worldviews).
The main reason that I am planning on doing more radio shows is because what is being done by our side in the war with Islam, is not even close to working. One of my goals of taking it to the radio is to change the narrative from the fictional fantasy land that Islam itself is not the problem, and just some form of “Islamism” is, to inspiring non-Muslims to lay the blame exactly where it belongs. On Islam itself! A second major goal of mine is to bring the narrative from just talking about the problem, to actually providing answers to it. Because what is being done now, is not even close to working. The rules must change!
Straight shooter Pete Parker’s show is the perfect place to lay the foundation for the truth and answer campaign! The show begins at 6 PM EST, and I will be coming on at approximately 6:20. The call in number is (424) 222-5360, and the show can be listened to by clicking HERE.
Joining Pete Parker, former Navy Seabee and Professional Strength Athlete, for this month’s “TUFFTalk” edition of Changing Worldviews, is Christopher Logan editor of “Logan’s Warning” which is an on-line publication that educates and alerts non-Muslims to the threat Islam poses to a free and open society. Don’t miss this eye-opening show!
BTW, I will gladly debate any Muslim on the show. Do any of you have the guts to call in, or will you pull a Muslim Houdini on me?
Guns Save Lives
Homeowner in CO Shoots 2 of 3 Home Invaders with .357 Magnum
White House Making Big Push For Gun Control This Week
Mass Shooting Survivor Speaks Out…IN FAVOR of Guns in Testimony to Congress
Homeowner in CO Shoots 2 of 3 Home Invaders with .357 Magnum
Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:36 PM PST
A homeowner in Colorado successfully fought off 3 would be home invaders. The homeowner said three men burst into his home and that’s when he grabbed his .357 revolver that he keeps close at hand. He fired at one suspect, hitting him in the chest. A second suspect managed to grab his arm as he [...] Related posts:
Knoxville, TN Homeowner Shoots 1 of 2 Violent Home Invaders in Chest
IL Homeowner Shoots 1 of 2 Intruders Using His .357 Magnum
TX Homeowner Shoots 1 of 3 Daytime Home Invaders
White House Making Big Push For Gun Control This Week
Posted: 08 Jan 2013 08:18 AM PST
The following is an excerpt from Fox News who is reporting that the White House is ramping up their gun control efforts this week. The Obama administration is making a big push this week to gather ideas for a comprehensive plan to curb gun violence, amid reports that the Vice President Biden-led task force is [...] Related posts:
Biden Tells Boston Mayor That Gun Control Will be Implemented “by the end of January”
Democratic Senators Propose Gun Control Bill as an Amendment Attached to Cybersecurity Act
Blog: Second NYC Tourist Arrested in a Week For Trying to Check Gun
Mass Shooting Survivor Speaks Out…IN FAVOR of Guns in Testimony to Congress
Posted: 08 Jan 2013 07:12 AM PST
Many people who have been fighting for gun rights for a long time or fought the first assault weapons ban have probably seen this video. This is Suzanna Hupp. She survived a mass shooting in Texas in which her parents where killed right in front of her. You might think she would speak out against [...] Related posts:
Some NFL Players Get Rid of Guns While Others Speak Out in Favor of Guns
SC CCW Holder Holds Church Gunman At Gunpoint; Prevents Possible Mass Shooting
Guns as the Ultimate Force Equalizer
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Meet Laura Hollis - Prof of Law Notre Dame on the election results
PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS-----THEN WORK TO SEE IF WE CAN REVERSE THE ATTITUDE!!
November 8, 2012
Laura Hollis is:
Current: Associate Professional Specialist and Concurrent Associate Professor of Law at University of Notre Dame.
Past: Director at Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, AssociateDirector and Clinical Professor at University of Illinois atUrbana-Champaign.
Education: University of Notre Dame Law School , University of Notre Dame.
Summary: She has 20+ years ' experience in curriculum and other program development and delivery.
#########################################
I am already reading so many pundits and other talking heads analyzing
the disaster that was this year ' s elections. I am adding my own ten
cents. Here goes:
1. We are outnumbered
We accurately foresaw the enthusiasm, the passion, the commitment, the
determination, and the turnout. Married women, men, independents,
Catholics, evangelicals - they all went for Romney in percentages as
high or higher than the groups which voted for McCain in 2008. It
wasn ' t enough. What we saw in the election on Tuesday was a tipping
point: we are now at a place where there are legitimately fewer
Americans who desire a free republic with a free people than there are
those who think the government should give them stuff. There are fewer
of us who believe in the value of free exchange and free enterprise.
There are fewer of us who do not wish to demonize successful people in
order to justify taking from them. We are outnumbered. For the moment.
It ' s just that simple.
2. It wasn ' t the candidate(s)
Some are already saying, "Romney was the wrong guy"; "He should have
picked Marco Rubio to get Florida/Rob Portman to get Ohio/Chris
Christie to get [someplace else]." With all due respect, these
assessments are incorrect. Romney ran a strategic and well-organized
campaign. Yes, he could have hit harder on Benghazi . But for those who
would have loved that, there are those who would have found it
distasteful. No matter what tactic you could point to that Romney
could have done better, it would have been spun in a way that was
detrimental to his chances. Romney would have been an excellent
president, and Ryan was an inspired choice. No matter who we ran this
year, they would have lost. See #1, above.
3. It ' s the culture, stupid!
We have been trying to fight this battle every four years at the
voting booth. It is long past time we admit that is not where the
battle really is. We abdicated control of the culture - starting back
in the 1960s. And now our largest primary social institutions -
education, the media, Hollywood (entertainment) have become really
nothing more than an assembly line for cranking out reliable little
Leftists. Furthermore, we have allowed the government to undermine the
institutions that instill good character - marriage, the family,
communities, schools, our churches. So, here we are, at least two full
generations later - we are reaping what we have sown. It took nearly
fifty years to get here; it will take another fifty years to get back.
But it starts with the determination to reclaim education, the media,
and the entertainment business. If we fail to do that, we can kiss
every election goodbye from here on out. And much more.
4. America has become a nation of adolescents
The real loser in this election was adulthood: Maturity.
Responsibility. The understanding that liberty must be accompanied by
self-restraint. Obama is a spoiled child, and the behavior and
language of his followers and their advertisements throughout the
campaign makes it clear how many of them are, as well. Romney is a
grown-up. Romney should have won. Those of us who expected him to win
assumed that voters would act like grownups. Because if we were a
nation of grownups, he would have won.
But what did win? Sex. Drugs. Bad language. Bad manners. Vulgarity.
Lies. Cheating. Name-calling. Finger-pointing. Blaming. And
irresponsible spending. This does not bode well. People grow up one of
two ways: either they choose to, or circumstances force them to. The
warnings are all there, whether it is the looming economic disaster,
or the inability of the government to respond to crises like Hurricane
Sandy , or the growing strength and brazenness of our enemies. American
voters stick their fingers in their ears and say, "Lalalalalala, I
can ' t hear you." It is unpleasant to think about the circumstances it
will take to force Americans to grow up. It is even more unpleasant to
think about Obama at the helm when those circumstances arrive.
5. Yes, there is apparently a Vagina Vote
It ' s the subject matter of another column in its entirety to point
out, one by one, all of the inconsistencies and hypocrisies of the
Democrats this year. Suffice it to say that the only "war on women"
was the one waged by the Obama campaign, which sexualized and
objectified women, featuring them dressed up like vulvas at the
Democrat National Convention, appealing to their "lady parts,"
comparing voting to losing your virginity with Obama, trumpeting the
thrills of destroying our children in the womb (and using our
daughters in commercials to do so), and making Catholics pay for their
birth control. For a significant number of women, this was appealing.
It might call into question the wisdom of the Nineteenth Amendment,
but for the fact that large numbers of women (largely married) used
their "lady smarts" instead. Either way, Susan B. Anthony and
Elizabeth Cady Stanton are rolling over in their graves.
6. It ' s not about giving up on "social issues"
No Republican candidate should participate in a debate or go out on
the stump without thorough debate prep and a complete set of talking
points that they stick to. This should start with a good grounding in
biology and a reluctance to purport to know the will of God. (Thank
you, Todd and Richard.)
That said, we do not hold the values we do because they garner votes.
We hold the values we do because we believe that they are time-tested
principles without which a civilized, free and prosperous society is
not possible.
We defend the unborn because we understand that a society which views
some lives as expendable is capable of viewing all lives as
expendable.
We defend family - mothers, fathers, marriage, children - because
history makes it quite clear that societies without intact families
quickly descend into anarchy and barbarism, and we have plenty of
proof of that in our inner cities where marriage is infrequent and
unwed motherhood approaches 80 percent. When Roe v. Wade was decided
in 1973, many thought that the abortion cause was lost. Forty years
later, ultrasound technology has demonstrated the inevitable
connection between science and morality. More Americans than ever
define themselves as "pro-life." What is tragic is that tens of
millions of children have lost their lives while Americans figure out
what should have been obvious before. There is no "giving up" on
social issues. There is only the realization that we have to fight the
battle on other fronts. The truth will win out in the end.
7. Obama does not have a mandate. And he does not need one.
I have to laugh - bitterly - when I read conservative pundits trying
to assure us that Obama "has to know" that he does not have a mandate,
and so he will have to govern from the middle. I don ' t know what
they ' re smoking. Obama does not care that he does not have a mandate.
He does not view himself as being elected (much less re-elected) to
represent individuals. He views himself as having been re-elected to
complete the "fundamental transformation" of America , the basic
structure of which he despises. Expect much more of the same - largely
the complete disregard of the will of half the American public, his
willingness to rule by executive order, and the utter inability of
another divided Congress to rein him in. Stanley Kurtz has it all laid
out here.
8. The Corrupt Media is the enemy
Too strong? I don ' t think so. I have been watching the media try to
throw elections since at least the early 1990s. In 2008 and again this
year, we saw the media cravenly cover up for the incompetence and
deceit of this President, while demonizing a good, honorable and
decent man with lies and smears. This is on top of the daily barrage
of insults that conservatives (and by that I mean the electorate, not
the politicians) must endure at the hands of this arrogant bunch of
elitist snobs. Bias is one thing. What we observed with Benghazi was
professional malpractice and fraud. They need to go. Republicans,
Libertarians and other conservatives need
to be prepared to play hardball with the Pravda press from here on
out. And while we are at it, to defend those journalists of whatever
political stripe (Jake Tapper, Sharyl Atkisson, Eli Lake ) who actually
do their jobs. As well as Fox News and talk radio. Because you can
fully expect a re-elected Obama to try to reinstate the Fairness
Doctrine in term 2.
9. Small business and entrepreneurs will be hurt the worst
For all the blather about "Wall Street versus Main Street ," Obama ' s
statist agenda will unquestionably benefit the biggest corporations
which - as with the public sector unions - are in the best position to
make campaign donations, hire lobbyists, and get special exemptions
carved out from Obama ' s health care laws, his environmental
regulations, his labor laws. It will be the small business, the
entrepreneur, and the first-time innovators who will be crushed by
their inability to compete on a level playing field.
10. America is more polarized than ever; and this time it ' s personal
I ' ve been following politics for a long time, and it feels different
this time. Not just for me. I ' ve received messages from other
conservatives who are saying the same thing: there is little to no
tolerance left out there for those who are bringing this country to
its knees - even when they have been our friends. It isn ' t just about
"my guy" versus "your guy." It is my view of America versus your view
of America - a crippled, hemorrhaging, debt-laden, weakened and
dependent America that I want no part of and resent being foisted on
me. I no longer have any patience for stupidity, blindness, or
vulgarity, so with each dumb "tweet" or FB post by one of my happily
lefty comrades, another one bites the dust, for me. Delete. What does
this portend for a divided Congress? I expect that Republicans will be
demoralized and chastened for a short time. But I see them in a bad
position. Americans in general want Congress to work together. But
many do not want Obama ' s policies, and so Republicans who support them
will be toast. Good luck, guys.
11. It ' s possible that America just has to hit rock bottom
I truly believe that most Americans who voted for Obama have no idea
what they are in for. Most simply believe him when he says that all he
really wants is for the rich to pay "a little bit more." So
reasonable! Who could argue with that except a greedy racist?
America is on a horrific bender. Has been for some time now. The
warning signs of our fiscal profligacy and culture of lack of personal
responsibility are everywhere - too many to mention. We need only look
at other countries which have gone the route we are walking now to see
what is in store.
For the past four years - but certainly within the past campaign
season - we have tried to warn Americans. Too many refuse to listen,
even when all of the events that have transpired during Obama ' s
presidency - unemployment, economic stagnation, skyrocketing prices,
the depression of the dollar, the collapse of foreign policy,
Benghazi , hopelessly inept responses to natural disasters - can be
tied directly to Obama ' s statist philosophies, and his decisions.
What that means, I fear, is that they will not see what is coming
until the whole thing collapses. That is what makes me so sad today. I
see the country I love headed toward its own "rock bottom," and I
cannot seem to reach those who are taking it there.
#############################################
If we cannot regain control of those critical institutions ("that
instill good character - marriage, the family, communities, schools,
our churches"), that Ms. Hollis enumerated, and rekindle the rational,
sane and conservative values they once represented,.....WE ARE DOOMED
TO CONTINUE THIS SLIDE INTO A LEFTIST, PROGRESSIVE, LIBERAL LED DECAY
and ULTIMATE COLLAPSE.
Please share this with as many as you can!!
Anti-Gun Senator Shoots Intruder
This is very typical of Democrats, "do as I say, not as I do. It's OK for me, but not for you."
Anti-Gun Senator Shoots Intruder
State Senator R.C. Soles (D - NC)Long time Anti-Gun Advocate State Senator R.C. Soles, 74, shot one of two intruders at his home just outside Tabor City , N.C. about 5 p.m. Sunday, the prosecutor for the politician's home county said.The intruder, Kyle Blackburn, was taken to a South Carolina hospital, but the injuries were not reported to be life-threatening, according to Rex Gore, district attorney for Columbus, Bladen andBrunswick counties..The State Bureau of Investigation and Columbus County Sheriff's Department are investigating the shooting, Gore said. Soles, who was not arrested, declined to discuss the incident Sunday evening."I am not in a position to talk to you," Soles said by telephone. "I'm right in the middle of an investigation."The Senator, who has made a career of being against gun ownership for the general public, didn't hesitate to defend himself with his own gun when he believed he was in immediate danger and he was the victim.In typical hypocritical liberal fashion, the "Do as I say and not as I do" Anti-Gun Activist Lawmaker picked up his gun and took action in what apparently was a self-defense shooting. Why hypocritical you may ask? It is because his long legislative record shows that the actions that he took to protect his family, his own response to a dangerous life threatening situation, are actions that he feels ordinary citizens should not have if they were faced with an identical situation.It has prompted some to ask if the Senator believes his life and personal safety is more valuable than yours or mine.But, this is to be expected from those who believe they can run our lives, raise our kids, and protect our families better than we can.WHAT YOU THINK?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Featured Post
RT @anti_commie32: Keep up the great work!!! https://t.co/FIAnl1hxwG
RT @anti_commie32: Keep up the great work!!! https://t.co/FIAnl1hxwG — Joseph Moran (@JMM7156) May 2, 2023 from Twitter https://twitter....
-
Share it Tweet it Donate Ad Feedback Four Charged with Hate Crime, Kidnapping, Assault After Facebook Live Video...
-
Sandra Ávila Deported from the U.S.-But Legal Troubles Follow her... Eduardo Arellano Félix, El Doctor, Sentenced to 15 years in Prison 7 di...
-
THESE CARTOONS ARE ALL FROM OVERSEAS... None of these are from U.S. newspapers > NONE OF THESE ARE FROM USA PAPERS. HOW IS IT T...