Vacation

Big Frick is on vacation and will return Monday July 6th.

France's Shining Star

Well, looks like I’m back to calling them French fries.

The world just celebrated the 65th anniversary of D-Day, when the heroic bravery of Americans along with her allies began driving the final nail into Hitler’s Nazi Party coffin. Who would have imagined those 65 years ago that in 2009 we would celebrate a free France with a pacifist socialist American leader and a strong conservative French President?

Obama celebrated D-Day in France after making yet another historic trip to the Middle East where he praised the bloody terrorist organization Hamas as being a key player in the new government of Palestine. He then went on to scold the world for trying to interfere with Iran’s efforts to arm that jihadist nation with world ending nuclear capability. No country has the right to prevent another from developing nuclear weapons, he said. Obama has spent the better part of his early administration trying desperately to placate Muslims at any cost. He has publically credited Muslims with creating everything from mathematics to chicken soup and has constantly chanted the Muslim mantra that they are a religion of peace.

Obama immediately took credit for the sham election held in Iran stating it was his speech that invigorated the voters and forced Iran to hold open and free elections. Not surprisingly he was as quiet as the backseat of the Clinton’s limo when it turned out to be nothing but a charade put on by the real ruling mullahs. After taking almost 20 minutes to recount the entire nation’s votes the Ayatollahs have gone back to what they know best in order to remain in power, big sticks and loaded guns.

Yet in the face of all the worldwide Muslim unrest a surprising strong voice has risen to at least attempt to put an end to oppressive Muslim religious rule in France, that of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In a country that knows all too well the scourge of Muslim extremist tactics with occasional bombings and almost nightly acts of vandalism and arson, Sarkozy knows his words will likely cause a huge backlash in Muslim neighborhoods. But as one of the few world leaders still capable of distinguishing right and wrong from rhetoric he has chosen this time and this place to take his stand.

In the first presidential address in 136 years to a joint session of France's two houses of Parliament, Sarkozy laid out his support for a ban on the Muslim head to toe dress worn by women known as a burqa.

"In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity," Mr. Sarkozy said.

He went on to say "The burqa is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement -- I want to say it solemnly….. it will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic."

He was greeted with several rounds of extended applause even though there are numerous critics in France who fear his stance will only fan the flames of Muslim unrest and possibly stigmatize Muslims.

I agree that their will likely be an increase in bombings and pillaging ordered by the leaders of this religion of peace. A leading Muslim group is already warning of repercussions if a panel even begins studying the burqa. But did it ever dawn on the critics that perhaps the Muslims are stigmatizing themselves by forcing their women into these degrading symbols of second class submission? And as for the repercussions, the Muslim youth in France have been setting fire to block long lines of parked cars almost every night for a year. It’s not like they need a reason to riot.

I firmly support religious freedom for Muslims and any other religious group. But if you choose to emigrate from your native country you need to be prepared to live by some different rules and regulations. That’s probably why there are not a lot of folks looking to move to countries ruled by Muslim mullahs.

As for Sarkozy? It’s still early, but so far he shows a lot more promise than his American counterpart.

MSNBC And The Lonely War

Remember the poster from the 60’s that said “What if they had a war and nobody came”?

That is the way I view this supposed “war” between Fox News Channel and the poor folks at MSNBC. They are trying; Lord knows they’re trying, to create this rift in the public consciousness about how unfair Fox News is to the Anointed One’s administration and socialist ideology. It’s a desperation play by this little news network that can’t.

Led by their most vocal critic Keith Olbermann, MSNBC is trying desperately to boost their viewership by attacking the dominant competition. The only problem is that nobody is coming to this war.

The latest viewership ratings show the Fox News Channel continuing to widen its lead over its competitors. Fox has on average over twice the daily viewership of their closest competitor CNN and four times the viewership of MSNBC. That is not only a shot to the pride of those at the challenger stations but to their wallet as well.

The business side of any news or entertainment outlet, television, radio or print, is selling advertising. Regardless of what drivel they put out for public consumption the life or death of the company depends on what they are able to take in from advertising. This is playing an even bigger role now as the weakness in the overall economy has advertisers picking and choosing far more carefully where they will spend their limited advertising budgets. It was announced recently that advertising associations are warning television networks that they will need to lower their advertising rates by at least 15% just to keep their current customers.

The Fox News Channel can resist that kind of price cut by supplying a greater number of viewers to their advertisers then CNN, MSNBC and CNBC combined. So while some of Olbermann’s rant may be chalked up to typical left wing bitchiness, the driving force behind this news network jihad is good old greenbacks.

For their part Fox News is wisely refusing to take the bait. MSNBC and Olbermann continue to rant and Fox ignores them like the insignificant non-issue they are. It makes no sense to give credence or attention to the juvenile name calling being done by their distant competitors. It also makes no sense because Olbermann and his liberal cronies are on the wrong side of the public opinion on this debate, a fact that is becoming more and more obvious.

While CBS, NBC, ,ABC and their cable compatriots at CNN and MSNBC all bow down before the Chosen One like Obama at a Saudi King convention, the American public is getting less and less enamored with the change they are getting.

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows an amazing 70% of respondents are uncomfortable with the moves Obama has made with the economy and in taking ownership of major corporations like GM. 58% disapprove of his closing of Guantanamo Bay and an equal number want him and the Congress to focus on reducing the newly created $1.6 trillion deficit rather than spend more. Obama’s overall favorability rating is still over half but has slipped dramatically from 61% a month ago to 56%. And without the 99.9% favorable rating he is still getting in the black community that number would probably be closer to 50%.

The Democrats were hammering the news stations with their newest mantra that Obama inherited the bad economy. But after 2 years of campaign promises, 6 months in office and over a trillion dollars in deficit spending he has not only failed to improved things, he has made them worse.

I suggested immediately after the election that this thoughtful community activist has survived on promises alone without ever having to deliver. Being judged on accomplishments is unfamiliar territory for Obama and at some point, as he continues to fail, even the black community will turn against him.

For now all MSNBC can do is wail about the evils of Fox News, but as far as picking up any of their audience, the chances are slimmer than Keith Olbermann’s lips. Their only hope of increasing viewership is to steal the ones who get their news from Comedy Central, MTV and BET.

When Facts Get In The Way

Facts! We don’t need no stinking facts! When it comes to “global” warming you must first understand that everything you know is wrong.

That seems to be the premise on which most of the scientific reports are based. With volumes of data from points all over the globe, the manmade global warming factions are picking and choosing which tomes of information are important and which are not. Naturally anything that shows even the slightest rise in temperature is deemed as invaluable and any data that shows otherwise is excluded.

A perfect example of this came out of Argentina this past week. It seems that the glaciers in Argentina are actually growing in size. This obviously has the global warming bloc scrambling for answers, as it does not fit their neat little global impact model. The response from scientists at the Center for Scientific Study in Chile is that “not all glaciers respond equally to climate change”.

Now I don’t mean to sound stupid (probably too late for that), but if a glacier is made of ice (which it is) then these scientists are saying that not all ice is affected by rising temperatures. So if that’s the case, perhaps the problem is not with global warming but with wimpy ice. If we actually have ice that isn’t affected by globally warming temperatures why don’t we just put that temperature resistant ice on the supposedly melting polar ice caps and just use the wimpy, melting kind of ice for our beer coolers? It makes sense to me, but I’m not a highly subsidized scientific researcher.

The United Nations released their gloom and doom report of the number of people that will die because of raising temperatures. The report said these learned men of science feel the best solution for this oncoming heat wave holocaust is increased funding, to the tune of a hundred billion dollars. Surprise!

Bloomberg and Reuters carried a story out of the UK that stated “Climate Change May Kill Thousands in UK by 2017”. This is based on a study showing the impact of the theoretic increase in heat waves. What they didn’t include in their piece was a report carried by the BBC which said even more lives would be saved by an increase in temperature due to a decrease in cold weather related deaths. The BBC has always been a strong supporter of the global warming team so their editorial decision to carry this report was surprisingly admirable.

A similar pro and con debate is beginning in the US Congress with Midwestern politicians citing the damage that would be done to farmers in America’s rural Farm Belt communities by the cap and trade regulations proposed by the President and Representatives from both coasts.

In what appears to be a growing rift within the Democrat Party regarding the presidents cap and trade policy, Democrat Representative Collin Peterson of Minnesota said “It looks to us they made a deal on the two coasts with the big guys and didn't think about us...the farms, the Midwest." He went on to explain that Midwestern farmers depend heavily on the energy produced by cheap coal burning power plants. Cap and trade would dramatically increase their costs and impede their ability to remain solvent. If the ethanol fiasco taught us anything it is that any impact on the food grown in the Midwest will have dramatic and certainly deadly consequences around the world.

On Tuesday, the White House released a report based on the work of government scientists that said climate change will cause more frequent and intense heat waves. Rep. Peterson responded by saying “We've just had the biggest floods and coldest winters we've ever had. They're saying to us [that climate change is] going to be a big problem because it's going to be warmer than it usually is; my farmers are going to say that's a good thing…”

Willie Soon an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has compiled data showing the earth is warming but that the affects of man-made greenhouse gasses is negligible. Rather the variation in climate is due to variable solar output. He has proof that the documentable changes in energy put out by the sun, the source of all the earth’s heat, corresponds exactly to the historical changes in climate.

The UN has attempted to suppress Dr. Soon’s report and Greenpeace has placed him on their ominous “deniers” list.

Then Dr. Anastasios Tsonis, a scientist and mathematician at the University of Wisconsin published his findings that the earth is actually cooling and has been since 2001 and will continue to do so for the next 10 to 20 years. He says climate is heavily affected by a few well known oscillating systems, El Nino in the Pacific for one, and that from time to time four major oscillating systems synchronize. He has data showing the impact of this from 1943, the 1970’s and currently.

So what are we to take from all this?

Well first, not all ice melts over 32 degrees. Second, everything is relative. And third, if the UN can snag another hundred billion from man-made global warming you can bet your ass they are going find some.

Requiem For A Free Press

Although it has not yet been passed, the Obamanation Health-Care plan has caused the death of its first victim.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to mourn the death of a free and open press. It was not a sudden demise by any means. We have been forced to stand by helplessly and watch as the slow decline of openness and balance has given way to the ravages of left wing partisanship for some time.

The senseless beheading of Richard Nixon in the now infamous Watergate non-event was at least offset slightly by the less than friendly coverage of Jimmy Carter and his dysfunctional hillbilly family, as well as his failures at anything even remotely presidential. Repeated efforts to thwart Ronald Reagan and the ravenous exploitation of the Iran-Contra hearings were in the end a failure, but success was celebrated in every newsroom around the country with the false economic forecasts that tipped the scales in favor of Bill Clinton over his predecessor George H.W. Bush. Clinton lived the dream for a while having ardent press support until a blue dress forced them to turn on the hand that had fed them and expose the hypocrisy.

George W Bush garnered support after the tragedy of 9-11 but that soon faded when the Democrat playbook called for rewriting history and the need to convince Americans that it was our own fault that we were being killed. Try as many of them did, there was still just enough balance and honesty by a rare few to foil John Kerry’s grandstand play allowing Bush a second term, even in the midst of an unpopular but ultimately necessary war.

But with the election of the Anointed One we can now lay to rest any hope of recovery for the ailing bastions of truth and fairness. The once free press has gleefully handed over their investigatory reins to this say anything administration and is no longer even the slightest bit concerned about faking an attempt to appear fair or balanced.

During the Bush administration Democrats thought it would be useful to punish the Fox News Channel by boycotting appearances on the network. The plan failed miserably as Fox maintained their ratings dominance over all the other news outlets, so during the last presidential campaign Democrats lined the halls of Fox News to get some national face time. Fox accepted them back like prodigal sons and allowed each their say.

But now ABC (the All Barack Channel) has successfully staged a coup by being named the sole news outlet to broadcast from inside the White House what they are claiming to be an open question and answer format town hall meeting with the president regarding his new health-care plan. The only drawback to this “open” discussion is that Republicans are being banned from attending.

The Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay sent a strong protest to ABC stating that the RNC was “deeply concerned and disappointed with ABC’s astonishing decision to exclude opposing voices on this critical issue…” McKay went on to say “Today, the Republican National Committee requested an opportunity to add our Party’s views to those of the President’s to ensure that all sides of the health care reform debate are presented. Our request was rejected. I believe that the President should have the ability to speak directly to the America people. However, I find it outrageous that ABC would prohibit our Party’s opposing thoughts and ideas from this national debate, which affects millions of ABC viewers.”

McKay also suggested that without any opposition allowed in the room this will likely be nothing but a “glorified infomercial” in which case the DNC should pay for the airtime.

The response from ABC’s Senior VP Kerry Smith would be almost laughable if it weren’t so tragic. He said “ABCNEWS prides itself on covering all sides of important issues and asking direct questions of all newsmakers — of all political persuasions — even when others have taken a more partisan approach and even in the face of criticism from extremes on both ends of the political spectrum. ABCNEWS is looking for the most thoughtful and diverse voices on this issue.

“ABCNEWS alone will select those who will be in the audience asking questions of the president. Like any programs we broadcast, ABC News will have complete editorial control. To suggest otherwise is quite unfair to both our journalists and our audience.”

So let me get this straight, you are hand-picking the audience allowed to attend and taking complete control over the questions to be asked, and you have the balls to describe yourselves as journalists? You’re not reporting the news, you are writing a screenplay.

If ABC is looking for a moderator for this debacle maybe they can get the Sham Wow guy.

Obamanation Health-Care

Reality. What a concept.

In what he is describing as yet another historic opportunity Barack Obama stood before the American Medical Association and tried to explain his vision for lowering the consumer price of health-care while improving quality to all and availability to the poor and uninsured while absolutely refusing to do anything to lower the main driving factors in the cost structure of providing that care.

I have to marvel at the complete lack of realistic thinking that goes into some of his misguided ideas. Thanks to a campaign that promised nothing but theoretic rhetoric the country is now saddled with a president who honestly believes things will work out the way he envisions simply because he says so. His concepts and ideas defy even the most rudimentary principles of cognitive thought by simply claiming a governmental mandate that 2 + 2 no longer equals 4.

It is the mind of a socialist community activist attempting to right nonexistent wrongs that is now threatening the very health and survival of the elderly and infirmed in America.

Where as in the past if a president from either party made outrageous claims or accusations at least some of the press would endeavor to do some fact checking and question those statements. Outside of some of the staunch conservative talk show hosts, none of the major media news outlets is willing to question anything this president is purporting. Some of what the president said at this AMA convention is just blatantly false and most of the rest has the facts so skewed that it would be nearly impossible for anybody other than him to connect the dots.

Being careful to avoid the obvious comparisons to the failed “Hillary Health-Care” plan of the Clinton administration, Obama said "We are spending over $2 trillion a year on health care, almost 50 percent more per person than the next most costly nation. For all this spending, more of our citizens are uninsured, the quality of our care is often lower and we aren't any healthier."

The attempt at deception contained in this statement is profound. First, we are spending more on health-care because we are living longer and we are now aggressively and successfully treating illnesses that only a few years ago meant certain death. Secondly, the number of uninsured Americans has nothing to do with the quality or availability of health-care. And third, to believe we are receiving a lower standard of care then previously given or that we as a nation are not living longer is completely contrary to every statistic available on life expectancy and quality of life, including those compiled by the US government.

The president refuses to even acknowledge that in the cost structure of health care the number one item is malpractice insurance and the number two item is unpaid medical bills. The crowd at the AMA conference was polite and gave the president the respect his office demands, but the one time they booed was when Obama said he opposed setting any limits on awards for malpractice lawsuits. He said nothing about the influx of illegal aliens using hospital emergency rooms as their regular physician and then skipping on the bill. The most recent statistics show a nearly 90% default rate on undocumented patients.

No, for this socialist, the costs involved in providing the health-care mean nothing. It’s all about the greed and profit mindset of doctors, hospitals, drug companies and health-care companies. Unfortunately reality once again is left out in the cold.

To be sure, the voters who bought the slick campaign ads and chanted with glee the mantras of “Change” and “Yes We Can” may indeed get of what they were promised, but not what they expected.

Can this president put a stick in the spokes of the highest quality health-care available on the planet? Yes he can. And when doctors can no longer practice due to the ever increasing rates charged by their insurance carriers, or when doctors can longer afford to accept Medicare patients because the amount allowed for payment doesn’t cover the cost, or when even more hospitals are forced to close because of mounting debt due to unpaid bills for services provided there will indeed be a change.

Hillary Health-Care was a bad idea that even Democrats rallied against. This Obamanation Health-Care plan is even worse.

Can we take our national life expectancy back down from its current average of 79 to where it was 50 years ago?

Yes We Can!

Cuts That Won't Heal

Every time Barack Obama comes out with another one of his historic groundbreaking initiatives all I hear is the song “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places” playing in my head.

News wires and television talking head shows are again buzzing with the latest in this string of misguided loads of poppycock. This time it is for what the Democrats continue to portray as the ominous “Heath-Care Crisis”. The reality is we do not currently have a health-care crisis but if the president is successful at instituting his plan we certainly will.

Senator Christopher Dodd was on the Sunday morning TV circuit as lead man trying to bolster support for the president’s plan to immediately cut what they are claiming is $313 billion in short term health-care costs. The ultimate goal is to cut nearly one trillion dollars in government supported health-care spending. Dodd repeatedly used the Democrat bugaboo of blaming “profits” as the cause of this imaginary crisis. “Health-care providers are too profit driven” he said, along with the “need to rein in the profit mentality of health-care”.

During his Saturday radio address the president targeted health-care providers and drug companies as being some of the initial targets for these cuts. Obama’s new proposals would decrease payments to hospitals and doctors that provide care to Medicare patients. He also said "If the drug makers pay their fair share, we can cut government spending on prescription drugs". Fair share? Fair share of what?

The obvious question that none of the adoring press is asking is if our country has such a health-care crisis why do citizens of countries with socialized medicine come here for medical treatment?

Profits are not the enemy; they are the reason that drug companies invest tens of billions of dollars every year in research and development of new life saving drugs. Drug companies and health-care companies are just that, companies. They live on their profits and they die without them. The quickest way to ensure a complete halt to medical discovery is to remove the incentive of being able to make money after completing the arduous task of getting a new drug on the market. Americans are not dying because of profits they are living longer because of them.

The president’s socialist approach to nonprofit medicine is a very dangerous road indeed. Doctors will be forced to reduce the number of Medicare patients they are treating just to stay in business. Yes Virginia, doctors are in business. And like any business, if you can’t make money doing it you have to stop.

Senator Dodd also made a very revealing disclosure on the talk shows when he discussed smoking and obesity as prime targets for cost reductions. Prepare yourself for the next catch phrase connected to this socilaist mentality, particularly if you are dependent upon Medicare. Smokers and overweight people will soon be known as “Enemies of the People” for it will be their reckless and irresponsible behavior that will be blamed for driving up everybody’s health-care costs. Can Soylent Green be far behind?

Through all this mealy-mouthed rhetoric so far nobody in the Obama administration has addressed the number one cost of providing health-care, that being malpractice insurance. All things health related are forced to pay ever increasing premiums to protect themselves from the avalanche of alleged malpractice lawsuits. The cost is so high that some of the more specialized and risky areas of medicine have seen a dramatic drop in the number of doctors willing to roll those dice.

In Illinois there was an exodus of high quality OB/GYN doctors because anyone who suffered discomfort during childbirth was suing for malpractice. The malpractice insurance rates went up and the doctors could no longer afford to do business.

If Congress and the President want to reduce the rapidly escalating cost of health-care they need to pass some meaningful TORT reform.

Focusing reform on the profitability of health-care providers and drug companies will only reduce costs through a reduction in the population.

The McCain Prophecy Fulfilled

I don’t watch a lot of the celebrity news shows.

Sorry TMZ, Access Hollywood and the rest, but you just can’t depend on me for that 55 year old, conservative white guy demographic you have been craving.

I find most of the news today about the so called celebrities to be nothing but boring voyeurism about people I either don’t know or could absolutely not care less about. I know these sensationalized tabloid news shows seem to be multiplying exponentially so someone must be watching, which actually surprises me as most of the regular television news shows have become far more concerned with juicy tidbits of fluff than nuts and bolts news.

Even though I am not an avid follower of celebrity dirt, it dawned on me that I have not heard much lately about even the most prominent standard bearers of bad behavior amongst the current class of pop idols.

Is Brittany Spears no longer crazy or did she just hire better bodyguards? Is that little boy Paris Hilton still around or did an El Niño northwester blow her wispy frame off to the nether regions never to be heard from again? Did Brad and Angelina decide to get back to making movies and close their United Nations daycare center? Did Amy Winehouse ever end up going to rehab or is she still saying no,no,no?

These were all household names for so long that even I notice the absence of news about them. Every news show, every hour of every day was covering some form of debauchery from these infamous A-Listers. I wondered, is it possible they all grew up and became responsible citizens? Could it be that these jeunesse dorée had actually decided to step out of the limelight?

And then it dawned on me.

The reason I haven’t been kept abreast of the coming and goings of these megastars is that they have all been cast into the shadow of the one who shines brighter than all of them put together. There simply isn’t enough broadcast airtime or newspaper ink space to waste on these Hollywood elites because all of it is being taken by the young community activist turned president, the Anointed One, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

Nobody cares if Brittany dropped another baby if they can hear about what kind of mustard Obama likes on his burger. Nobody cares if Lindsay Lohan is drunk driving her Rolls Royce into her lesbian lover’s garage door if they can watch videos of the Obama’s new puppy taking a leak in the White House rose garden. Nobody cares if Brad Pitt had to actually carry his own quadruple-wide baby stroller through LAX if they can read the list of Obama’s latest i-Pod downloads. Nobody cares if the weight of Amy Winehouse’s tattoos actually pulls the meat off her bones if they can hear what appetizers Barack and Michelle had for dinner and the type of buckles on her shoes. And it doesn’t matter what the report is as each detail is met with the same gleeful approval.

In Chicago the city council advocated banning the sale of foie gras (goose liver pâté) at all restaurants and food stores. The reason was to placate vocal animal rights advocates who bewailed the cruel treatment of force feeding the geese to fatten up their livers to extreme proportions. One by one Chicago aldermen, complete with videos of the geese having hoses jammed down their throats and being pumped like a basketball, stood before news cameras to put a pox on the tasty paste. Yet when Barack Obama enjoyed foie gras during his recent visit to France nobody blinked an eye.

During the campaign the press was in a frenzy to snatch receipts of every outfit down to the underpants worn by Sarah Palin to portray the reckless spending of the Republicans. Michelle Obama even chimed in on the Tonight Show discussing how she prefers to shop the sale racks at J Crew for her mix and match ensembles. Now the adoring media is gasping with delight in anticipation of every new high fashion designer outfit worn by the first lady, including the ones she wears to walk that new puppy.

During the campaign John McCain was roundly criticized for the ad he ran comparing Barack Obama to the high profile celebs. Even Paris Hilton expanded her vocabulary enough to discuss her displeasure of the ads on the Larry King Show. Now poor Brittany and Paris can’t buy front page news space anymore.

Barack Obama – Superstar

John McCain – Prophet

The Audacity Of Being Wright

Barack Obama may no longer be sitting in pews of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, but the words he heard there still echo in his consciousness.

The Right Reverend Jeremiah Wright was back in front of the press microphones speaking with the same virulent, venomous hostility that he became infamous for during the campaign. This man who Obama staunchly defended and described as his spiritual advisor and one of his closest personal friends. This man that Obama refused to renounce saying he could no more disown him than he could his own grandmother. This man who Obama chose to officiate his marriage vows and christen his children. This man who refers to Obama as his son. This man who when asked today if he had spoken with Obama since he became president replied "Them Jews aren't going to let him talk to me.” He went on to say "They will not let him to talk to somebody who calls a spade what it is. ... I said from the beginning: He's a politician; I'm a pastor. He's got to do what politicians do."

The “them Jews” of which Reverend Wright speaks are the Zionist aggressors that the good reverend has been warning Barack about for lo these past 20 years. I’m guessing if he could find a way to connect the dots he would blame the Jews for coercing the CIA into bringing the AIDS virus and heroin into the poor black community.

The good reverend took the opportunity to speak to the press while attending the 95th Annual Minister’s Conference, being held this week at Hampton University. Wright mentioned his disappointment with Obama for not sending a delegation to the World Conference on Racism held recently in Geneva, Switzerland. Wright said it was because Obama was counseled to avoid the conference out of fear of offending Jews. "Ethnic cleansing is going on in Gaza. Ethnic cleansing (by) the Zionist is a sin and a crime against humanity, and they don't want Barack talking like that because that's anti-Israel," said Wright.

But why does it matter? Why does it matter after the campaign is over and folks have already put Reverend Wright and his insane rants and anti-Semitic teachings out of sight and out of mind? Why does it matter now that Barack Hussein Obama is in the Oval Office having carried a wide majority of Jewish votes in the election? Why does it matter now that Obama is President and no longer under Wright’s tutelage?

It matters because the President of the United States was a devoted pupil of Reverend Wright for 20 years. It matters because the leader of the free world listened and learned from the parol teachings of this unregenerate paladin of ad hominem hatred. It matters because what this President of Hope and Change learned and accepted as truth from Reverend Wright is now shaping our national foreign policy.

It matters because if you listen to the recent speeches of Barack Obama on the Middle East you can hear Jeremiah Wright’s Anti-Semitic furor.

You can hear it when Obama says that no nation has the right to deny Iran a nuclear program, even though the stated purpose of that country’s Jihadist regime is the total annihilation of Israel.

You can hear it when Obama talks about the important role the violent terrorist organization Hamas can play in the future of the Palestinian government. The same Hamas that recruits mentally handicapped teens, straps them with explosives and sends them into a marketplace to kill Jews.

You can hear it in Obama’s flagitious assessments of greed and corruption in the banking community. For he is not the first national leader to put the blame for all his country’s woes on the backs of the money lenders.

Listen carefully to the student and you will hear the teacher.

That’s why it still matters.

Constitutional Life Experience

Life experience is an invaluable benefit in many areas, but then is it not also true that life experience can be a detriment in many areas as well?

That is the quandary I find myself pondering.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to begin formal consideration of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court right after Congress returns from the Fourth of July holiday. Hearings are slated to begin on July 13, although from all indications most of the considering has already been done.

The Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) said "There is no reason to unduly delay consideration of this well-qualified nominee. Indeed, given the attacks on her character, there are compelling reasons to proceed even ahead of this schedule. She deserves the earliest opportunity to respond to those attacks." It certainly doesn’t sound from the chairman that there is much that has not already been decided.

A surprisingly histrionic departure for the normally punctilio Senator Leahy, particularly after his unabated attempts at obstructionism in just about all the confirmation hearings during the Bush administration. Senator Leahy sat on the committee for the confirmation circus of Justice Clarence Thomas and was one of chief executioner Ted Kennedy’s henchmen for the political disemboweling of the eminently qualified prospective Justice Robert Bork.

To depict the resistance being formed against Judge Sotomayor as attacks on her character may make for a good sound bite, but is lacking in anything even close to resembling the truth and pale in comparison to the chairman’s past actions with the two previously mentioned candidates.

It is not Judge Sotomayor’s character that is being questioned, but her stated belief that her life experience as a Latina makes her more qualified to sit in judgment of constitutional issues and interpretations than a white man.

When Judge Sotomayor’s quote of her qualifications by heritage and chromosome composition was initially brought into the public debate, Barack Obama and his faithful minions passed it off by saying “Her words could have been more carefully chosen.” This may have sufficed if the judge had only made the remark in passing. But it has now come to light that Judge Sotomayor said the exact same thing in the exact same way on eight separate occasions. That level of repetition can only lead one to believe that she knew exactly what she was saying and meant every poorly-chosen word. I truly cannot imagine the public outcry if Republicans disputed her claim by saying that a white man needs to be confirmed because of his race and gender. “Hell, everybody knows a white man makes a better judge”.

But as inflammatory as her repeated comment is my question remains, is it true? Is it possible that a female of Hispanic heritage has a more developed sense of insight into the United States Constitution, a document written by older white men, than an older white man would have? There are certainly some areas where a Hispanic woman would have an advantage. Making tamales immediately comes to mind, but I am certain there are others. But is one of them constitutional law?

Or is it possible that a life filled with the trials and tribulations of being a Hispanic female would make this Latina less qualified. There are certainly some areas where being a Hispanic female would be at a distinct disadvantage. Like getting recognition for an accomplishment in a family that also has boys immediately comes to mind, but I’m certain there are others.

For those that don’t understand the importance of this selection, Barack Obama thinks his life experience makes him qualified to be president. So far aside from amassing a $12 trillion debt, his life experience has not proven to be that beneficial. But regardless of how bad it gets, he is still only president for four years. This job for which Latina Judge Sotomayor is being considered is for life. And let’s be honest, unless they are done in by their drunken husband Latina’s can live a long time.

I just can’t agree that being a Hispanic woman makes her more qualified to wear the judge’s robe. Now, had she said more qualified to sew the judge’s robe…………………………

Just Say Anything

A nod is as good as wink to the blind media.

Perhaps it is that they are so completely worn out after having investigated every word or nuance uttered by President Bush that the investigative reporters in the White House press corps have lost all desire to…………….well, investigate.

Or perhaps it is that many in the national and international news media feel the same way about Barack Obama as the owner of the small French restaurant where he and his party dined on his recent visit to France. In an interview with restaurateur Jacques Boudon of the zero-star bistro La Fontaine de Mars, he said of Obama’s presence in his establishment “I saw God before me.”
The news media dutifully reported that the president’s table was served water, Coke and table wine as well as the entire list of menu items ordered and eaten. Every detail from what they were wearing to the length of their stay after dinner was reported like a Paris Hilton meets Brittany Spears luncheon on Rodeo Drive.

Regardless of the reason, this “say anything” president can in fact say anything with complete impunity as not many in the press room are going to question either his words or ask for factual backup to his contentions. And those few that do are given a name to contact for the details.

Take for example Obama’s recent assertion that his alleged stimulus package has already created or saved 150,000 jobs. At first I thought it might be just another gaffe from his VP Joe Footinmouth, but eventually several other members of the Obama administration began touting the same number until the Chosen One himself said it as well. My guess is that they intentionally gave it to VP Footinmouth to test the waters and when the press swooned instead of questioned they all began to run with it.

It is of course impossible to actually account for job creation or jobs saved due to the few million dollars already spent. And because it is impossible to definitively account for the jobs it is also impossible to definitively deny the number. The one possible exception being California, where they may have already hired someone to operate the tattoo removal machine bought with stimulus money.

Riding high from the initial foray into mumbo jumbo job numbers, the Obama administration is going to take a second stab at it. Today Obama announced that he would step up the spending of the $787 billion in stimulus dollars to create or save an additional 600,000 jobs this summer. My question is, why just 600,000? Why not 800,000 or a million, or 1.6 million?

When the numbers mean nothing and there is no way to check or verify any of this why sell yourself short on only 600,000?

Republicans like Tony Fratto, an economic spokesman in the Bush administration, said the Obama White House is being misleading. "The jobs estimates by this White House are a joke, and they know it," Mr. Fratto said. "They can't even tell you how many Americans are working today, let alone three months from now."

Obama responded by saying the economy would have gone into a "tailspin" without the stimulus. "I would suggest to them that they talk to the companies who, because of this plan, scrapped the idea of laying off employees and, in fact, decided to hire employees," he said.

Okay, I’m asking. Who are these companies? Please Mr. President, just a name. Name one big one or a few small ones. Who are they?

I guess we will never know, because nobody in the press room is going to ask.

But while we will never know the identity of these important mystery companies whose jobs were saved by the stimulus package the press has been diligent enough to inform us that the Obama party dined on foie gras, lamb and steak with shallots.

I never knew God was a fan of foie gras.

Marxism From Someone Who Knows

Greetings Comrades!

Having been one to sound the alarm of the ever expanding Marxism into our society I found it most interesting to read the following editorial from the Russian newspaper Pravda. It is obvious that it is with the mixed emotions of jealousy and sadness the writer finds the US has fallen head first into the abyss that most Russians know all too well.

I supply the following unedited piece from the April 27th edition of Pravda. If you want to know what the rest of the world thinks of us, this should be interesting:
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It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American descent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.

True, the situation has been well prepared on and off for the past century, especially the past twenty years. The initial testing ground was conducted upon our Holy Russia and a bloody test it was. But we Russians would not just roll over and give up our freedoms and our souls, no matter how much money Wall Street poured into the fists of the Marxists.

Those lessons were taken and used to properly prepare the American populace for the surrender of their freedoms and souls, to the whims of their elites and betters.

First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather than the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonald’s burger or a Burger King burger than for their constitutional rights. Then they turn around and lecture us about our rights and about our "democracy". Pride blinds the foolish.

Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different "branches and denominations" were for the most part little more than Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more than happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the "winning" side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the "winning" side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches are scandalously liberalized in America.

The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more than another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe.

These past two weeks have been the most breath taking of all. First came the announcement of a planned redesign of the American Byzantine tax system, by the very thieves who used it to bankroll their thefts, loses and swindles of hundreds of billions of dollars. These make our Russian oligarchs look little more than ordinary street thugs, in comparison. Yes, the Americans have beat our own thieves in the shear volumes. Should we congratulate them?

These men, of course, are not an elected panel but made up of appointees picked from the very financial oligarchs and their henchmen who are now gorging themselves on trillions of American dollars, in one bailout after another. They are also usurping the rights, duties and powers of the American congress (parliament). Again, congress has put up little more than a whimper to their masters.

Then came Barack Obama's command that GM's (General Motor) president step down from leadership of his company. That is correct, dear reader, in the land of "pure" free markets, the American president now has the power, the self given power, to fire CEOs and we can assume other employees of private companies, at will. Come hither, go dither, the centurion commands his minions.

So it should be no surprise that the American president has followed this up with a "bold" move of declaring that he and another group of unelected, chosen stooges will now redesign the entire automotive industry and will even be the guarantee of automobile policies. I am sure that if given the chance, they would happily try and redesign it for the whole of the world, too. Prime Minister Putin, less than two months ago, warned Obama and UK's Blair, not to follow the path to Marxism, it only leads to disaster. Apparently, even though we suffered 70 years of this Western sponsored horror show, we know nothing, as foolish, drunken Russians, so let our "wise" Anglo-Saxon fools find out the folly of their own pride.

Again, the American public has taken this with barely a whimper...but a "freeman" whimper.

So, should it be any surprise to discover that the Democratically controlled Congress of America is working on passing a new regulation that would give the American Treasury department the power to set "fair" maximum salaries, evaluate performance and control how private companies give out pay raises and bonuses? Senator Barney Franks, a social pervert basking in his homosexuality (of course, amongst the modern, enlightened American societal norm, as well as that of the general West, homosexuality is not only not a looked down upon life choice, but is often praised as a virtue) and his Marxist enlightenment, has led this effort. He stresses that this only affects companies that receive government monies, but it is retroactive and taken to a logical extreme, this would include any company or industry that has ever received a tax break or incentive.

The Russian owners of American companies and industries should look thoughtfully at this and the option of closing their facilities down and fleeing the land of the Red as fast as possible. In other words, divest while there is still value left.

The proud American will go down into his slavery without a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world, how free he really is. The world will only snicker.

Tragedy Has No Common Ground

We need to find some common ground in the murder of Dr. George Tiller.

One guy thought it would be better if the doctor was dead and some others thought it would be better if he stayed alive. Where can we meet in the middle on this one?

Allow me to be the first to say that the above statement is ridiculous, absurd and insulting to anyone who holds life dear. But it is actually the exact same premise upon which the president is calling for abortion foes and supporters to find common ground in the killing of the unborn.

Dr. Tiller was one of the few doctors in the country that held unwavering support for the hideous, heinous procedure innocuously referred to as a late term abortion. He ran one of only three clinics in the entire country that performs this ghastly practice. In this procedure a baby that is almost full term is delivered feet first so only the head remains in the birth canal at which point a shaft is inserted into the baby’s skull and the brain is scrambled like an egg. Even after the doctors death I have no problem saying what he did in these atrocious “medical procedures” was unthinkably savage and wrong in every possible sense. But regardless of his actions, no one had the right to shoot him dead. His life, as misguided as his beliefs were, was also sacred.

I don’t believe, as the media is reporting, that the tragic death of Dr. Tiller at the hands of a militant abortion opponent will truly set back discussions to find this elusive common ground as there truly is no common ground to be found outside of political rhetoric theory. To be sure this murder will be used by those who will exploit Dr. Tiller’s death to try to make him some sort of martyr to further their cause. Folks like Cristina Page, a New York City author and abortion rights advocate who said this will be a "massive setback" in the search for common ground. Ms. Page went on to say "It's sort of like having a family member murdered and then being asked to make nice with the assassin's family. It's unnatural."

I am hopeful that anyone with the IQ above that of a houseplant will see the complete idiocy in that statement.

The terribly confused logic that allowed the killer of Dr. Tiller to carry out this assassination is not shared by those of us that believe life is a gift. I mourn Dr. Tiller’s death in the same way that I grieve for every baby he subjected to his gruesome procedure. I mourn the loss of their life and the loss of their potential. Even Dr. Tiller had the possibility at some point to have an epiphany that would have brought him clarity as to the repugnance of this abhorrent form of infanticide.

But when all is said and done, another doctor will take Dr. Tiller’s place and the national tragedy of the killing of the unborn will continue. Early term babies will continue to be treated like tumors and late term babies will have their lives snuffed out by doctors who have rewritten or disregarded their Hippocratic Oath.

The struggle will continue because there is no common ground to reach between life and death. It is bigger than the politics that are driving the president’s feigned centrist mantra.

Melody Barnes, head of Obama's Domestic Policy Council and a former board member of Emily’s List, a group which supports women candidates who favor legal abortion, stated at a recent meeting with abortion foes that it was absolutely not the Obama administration’s goal to reduce the number of abortions.

In his recent speech at Notre Dame, Obama candidly admitted that his words are carefully crafted to obfuscate his real intent. Such was the case he cited on his campaign website and such is the case with his purely political rhetoric of striving for indefinable common ground.

The murder of Dr. Tiller is a tragedy. But we have had in excess of 50,000,000 babies murdered in this country since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The loss of each and every one of their lives is equally tragic.

Happy Birthday To Me

Dateline: June 2nd, 1954. A day that will live in infamy.

At Our Lady of Perpetual Penance Hospital and Bingo Hall in Fort Wayne, Indiana, BigFrick was born between 11:30 AM and 1:25 PM. That is not an estimation, nor is it the length of the labor. I was born measuring 5’ 8” long and weighing in at 197 pounds and it took just under two hours for me to pop out from head to toe. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Needless to say mom was a bit spent after the ordeal. I recall that for several years after my arrival mom had to be moved indoors on breezy days for fear she might actually inflate and fly away. Her condition did however come in handy a little later on when she was able to get a part-time job as a wind sock at the local airport.

Early childhood passed quickly as we moved a lot so my father could stay one step ahead of the law. Dad always a little problem with booze and women and paying taxes and grand larceny, but otherwise he was a pretty lovable guy. He always seemed to find some way to provide for my sister and me. I remember the birthday party he had for me on my sixth birthday. It’s not every kid that gets a four tiered decorated birthday cake saying “Mazal Tov Sheila and Myron”. Ahhh, good times!

Grade school helped to form my young mind and set some of the principles I carry with me to this day. As the only six foot 240 pound first grader I had a tendency to draw a lot of attention. My grades were average although most of my report cards contained teacher’s comments that ranged from “Does not apply himself” to “Satan’s Spawn”. As I went to a parochial elementary school it was usually the latter. I attended Queen of Thoughtless Children Conceived in Sin for the entire 8 years of my grade school education. All of the nuns that taught there viewed my attendance as a form of earthly punishment assuring them a high place in heaven. My mother was such a regular in the principal’s office that they offered her a job, which was convenient as the airport had closed by that time.

I continued in my formal education through high school and beyond and viewed school work with the same attraction as a Vegan at a barbeque. It was suggested on more than one occasion that I might want to tailor my class-load toward something more in tune with my life’s calling to be king of all mankind. But I persisted and eventually entered the workforce.

I have enjoyed a successful career in the steel and steel tube industry for the past 30 plus years. I recall in the 80’s friends telling me of the great growth possibilities in some of the high tech market areas, but I knew that if I just stayed the course all would be fine. I mean what could happen to our steel industry? It’s not like the 30 or so American steel mills are going to go bankrupt and then end up being consolidated into a few mega-companies that will control the entire market, right? As an old business associate used to say “Stick with steel, it’s safe as houses”. And judging from both the recent steel and housing markets his words were more prophetic then he could have known.

But as I stare into the face of that last column in the personal profile questions, the one that says “D. 55 and over” I realize that I have far more to be grateful for than I do to complain about.

So what if I have to walk around with a basket just to pick up the pieces that are falling off. So what if the old expression “Had I known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself” is now too true to be funny. So what if I have to buy special stuff to put the white back on my teeth and other stuff to take it out of my hair. So what if my food choices now involve fiber content and my drug of choice is Advil.

I have far more people in my life that love me than I deserve and I have true friends that actually enjoy my company. The kids are all grown and doing well and the grandkids are all beautiful and eminently spoilable. I know what I believe and why I believe it and I have no problem differing between right and wrong, even if I have a tough time on occasion choosing between the two. Work is what I do, it is no longer who I am. And I don’t feel the least bit emasculated hitting from the white tees.

Life is good.

Old Offensive Glory

O! say does that star spangled banner yet wave? O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Apparently there are a few folks in Mansfield, Texas that would just as soon it didn’t.

Texas is a place of God and country. It’s the Lone Star State and home of the once, and some would argue, still wild west. Ten gallon hats and snake skin cowboy boots. Rolling plains and rugged prairies. The dessert of the Big Bend and a river named the Rio Grande. Hard work, hard play, hard liquor and slow southern drawls. It’s “Remember the Alamo” and “Everything’s bigger in Texas”. It’s “Hook’em Horns”, the Texas A&M Aggies and high school football under the Friday night lights. And flags, lots and lots of flags. Some are the stars and bars of the confederacy on the rear windows of pickup trucks and some are Lone Star state flags on just about every item imaginable. But a whole bunch are Old Glory, the Stars and Stripes, that star spangled banner, good old red, white and blue American flag.

That’s why this stunning story out of Mansfield, Texas is, quite frankly, one for the books.

Debbie McLucas is a supervisor at the Kindred Hospital in Mansfield, Texas. Debbie is your typical patriotic Texan whose husband and two son’s proudly served in the U.S. military. Her daughter is currently in the military and deployed in Iraq for her second tour of duty as a combat medic. In preparation for Memorial Day, Debbie hung a 3’ X 5’ American flag in the office she shares with three other supervisors. But when Debbie arrived for work on the Friday before Memorial Day she was told by her boss that there had been multiple complaints and that some people found the flag to be “offensive” and therefore it must be removed immediately.

When Debbie got to her office she found the flag had already been taken down and was wrapped around its pole and sitting on the floor. Debbie said “I was speechless….I was told that as long as my flag offended one person, it would be taken down.”

Ms. McLucas explained that it was one of her coworkers, an immigrant from Africa who came to this country 14 years ago, that went to upper management and complained about Debbie’s “offensive” American flag. The hospital took the otiose position of tenebrous political correctness and decided to take it down.

The hospital explained to Debbie that they had a flag flying outside. "I was told, ‘There is a flag hanging out front, everyone can see that one. Is that not enough?’" said McLucas. “No”, she said, “that wasn't enough”. "It is more than I can even fathom, that you would find the American flag offensive, in America," McLucas said.

Well, fathomable or not, we live in a time when some folks are just aching for something to offend them. I wonder if it is only by coincidence that this American flag was found offensive at the same time we have a president who refused to wear one on his lapel and a cable news outlet banning the same pins on the lapels of their anchors and reporters.

That aside, Americans have suffered the ravages of political correctness and bowed to the majority of one for too long. In this case the hospital’s spokesperson refused comment and the hospital issued a press release that stated in part “This was an isolated incident between two employees that we are working to resolve amicably”. Amicably? You took the flag down and put it on the floor! Even a second grader knows better than to treat an American flag like that.

The amicability aspect only dawned on these sententious administrators when news of their thoughtless actions and mendacious excuses hit the Texas and national news wires. They now admit it wasn’t multiple complaints by multiple people.

I am almost grateful this incident occurred. Maybe this will be the wakeup call we needed to see just how far we as a country have digressed in order to appease the never-ending thirst for political correctness.

The American flag being designated offensive? Not in my lifetime.

Remember the Alamo.