Big Frick's Blog

New Big Frick

2009-11-30T21:52:00.002-06:00

BigFrick.com is taking a new direction. We will be back with daily postings of the new and improved BigFrick.com starting December 7th.

The Modern Myth Part 3

2009-11-24T19:33:00.004-06:00

Our mythic fable continues.

As the sun rose on that fateful day over the now disassembling Mother Pangaea it was indeed a brave new world. For within the once-inorganic pools that Pangaea held within her bosom the first sign of life began to spring forth.

A single Mother cell, having been animated by the inanimate chemicals and elements of the newly formed earth, began to multiply and divide into more living cells. The unwritten law of natural progression which had forced a single electron to create more electrons was now being fulfilled once again in the creation of life itself. No longer would this barren, inhospitable planet house nothing more than rock and rain, element and gas. Slowly but surely, over perhaps hundreds of millennia the once dead pools of the dying Mother Pangaea began to teem with life.

Some of these life cells fell to the cold dark bottom of the pool while others remained afloat in the warm sunlit waters. Each cell, affected by its chosen environment, began to react in different ways. As the cells multiplied it was as if the spirits of the Alpha Electron, Mother Rock and Mother Pangaea dwelled within their very soul, coaxing and prodding, urging and calling in unison the natural law that had driven their very existence, “Become more” they said “You must become more.” It was this simple instruction that was the genesis of the DNA helix. Each cell needed to adapt to its surroundings, multiply and carry copies of this now-encoded law to further the process of evolution.

As these original life cells died their remains were used to nourish new forming cells. Their life and fate fulfilled their remains, once consumed, now served to further evolve the DNA strands creating yet more new life forms. Life fulfilled, death with purpose. The cells continued to multiply but their altered DNA instructed them to become more. No longer driven to separate they began to form simple multi-cell organisms. Much like Mother Rock had accumulated the atomic debris, these multi-celled organisms began to join together exponentially creating a multitude of life forms filling each pool of the now separating land masses.

Driven by their altered DNA strands some were destined to remain docile while others were driven to become aggressive. It had taken millions of years, but an actual order began to take shape in the primordial ooze of the life giving pools. The aggressive life forms feasted on their passive partners, growing stronger and continuing to evolve. The passive organisms found refuge in the cold dark depths of the pool, keeping them safe from the ravenous feeding frenzy occurring in the warmer waters. These passive life forms accumulated on the rocky bottom. They eventually evolved into plant life and grew to such great numbers that they began to expand up the side walls of the pool toward the water’s edge. Many were lost in the struggle but their population was so vast and the environment so fertile that enough survived to actually begin to populate the rocks above the waterline.

The aggressive organisms evolved as well becoming many forms of aquatic life. The expansion of plants into the sunlight caused some of the famished aquatics to follow, eventually adapting sufficiently that they too could live above water. Driven by the inner call to become more the plants developed wide leaves to catch sunlight and the now land based animals developed teeth to eat the leaves and eventually each other.

The newly created plant life spread through simple expansion, but the aquatics needed to further evolve, first to exchange their gills for oxygen breathing lungs and then to develop a strong skeletal frame to support their growing weight on land. At first they slithered in the mud but the drive to become more was too strong to ignore and eventually legs replaced fins, eyes grew sharp and tiny brains developed to control the movements. No longer tied to simply reflex the evolving animals became superior to the plants.

That superiority allowed the animals to flourish, no longer shackled to the boundaries of the water. As plant life expanded and grew taller, so too the hungry animal life adapted and grew taller along with it. It seemed as though nothing could stop this express train of evolution all driven by an unceasing inner calling to become more.

What had started as a simple static charge in the vast void of space had now turned into a crowded array of living plants, fish, reptiles and eventually mammals. It was as if the earth had been created as a kingdom in search of a king. Who would become the absolute ruler over all this bounty? It would be the species that best followed natures call to become more.

Thick skin, fur and feathers replaced scales and now able to survive the sun’s heat and the evening cool animals found refuge in every conceivable area. As small fur bearing tree dwellers gazed over the fertile plane it was as if they knew that those who could become more and control their own destiny would certainly be the supreme leaders of this evolving food chain. Though now filled with countless varieties of life, the canvas was once again blank waiting for a master painter who could use intellect to create a new picture.

The sun would continue to rise and set hundreds of millions of times, but one dawn was coming that would not be like any other.

For it would be the dawn of man.

Our myth continues tomorrow.

The Modern Myth Part 2

2009-11-23T17:01:00.002-06:00

Our mythic fable continues.

Our newborn earth was a far different place then the one we call home today. On a smaller scale, but similar to the emptiness of pre-atomic space, it was a canvas void of life, hope and god. The molten surface hissed with noxious gasses and ebbed and flowed at the will of the gravitational big brother sun. As it spun on it’s newly created axis it cooled creating a rocky crust, carrying the maternal resemblance given it by Mother Rock.

Gasses continued to be created and released by the still forming planet. Sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen were just some of the byproducts of this raging torrent struggling to survive in its earliest phase of planetary infancy. The heat of the still flowing magma and the cooling of the infant shell caused the hydrogen and oxygen molecules to join, almost as if in tribute to the ancestral electrons trillions of years earlier. Moisture developed in the newly established atmosphere and for the first time in all time water formed and fell on the still smoldering surface in the form of rain. It was as if tears of joy were flowing from the spirit of Mother Rock on her proud descendent planet earth. And flow they did.

Great rivers formed which fed even greater lakes. Lakes grew into oceans and after billions of years of constant torrents the oceans joined together, uniting until much of the young planet was covered with water. Only one rocky crag remained jutting out of the almost all-consuming master ocean known as Panthalassa. For a new mother had survived and risen above this ocean’s caustic waves. The earth had existed some 4 billion years but now witnessed the birth of the mother continent of Pangaea.

Mother Pangaea was stark and desolate, her only inhabitants were her self-made mountains which grew to great heights only to tumble into the sea and increase her rocky shore. While made of rock she remained as unstable as the chaos that created her. Huge scars formed across her barren landscape from massive quakes which broke her apart into movable plates floating on the earth’s molten core. Perhaps it was the hopeless desolation that caused Pangaea to nearly self destruct before she even had a chance to fulfill her destiny. Or perhaps it was the spirit of Mother Rock that dwelled deep within her; guiding her to the eternal truth that only through destruction can we create life.

As Mother Pangaea continued to shift and move pools of caustic rain formed in her deep scars. These pools were heated by the still-escaping gasses trapped deep in the earth’s core. The pools heated to steam and rained back down onto the rocky plane. The heat of day and cool of night caused changes in atmospheric pressure creating winds of mixing gasses. There were great storms and hurricanes which battered Mother Pangaea before they moved out to sea. The pools grew in size and as they did gasses and chemical elements mixed as if in a massive cauldron. But this was no ordinary brew.

Within the pools lay all the elements of life, waiting as if for a cue to reach the exact temperature and mixture to begin their most remarkable transformation. For Mother Pangaea was indeed doomed to the destruction of her moving plates. Soon she would die in childbirth like Mother Rock before her, and become but a memory as each of her offspring traveled in their own direction creating the firmaments we now know as continents.

But before her final quake she surrendered her very soul to the nurturing pools of primordial ooze held within her bosom. For it was her chemical elements and her loving heat that would incubate the inanimate into something other than just another new element. As her pools reached their ideal temperature and the winds of toxic gasses swirled into the atmosphere replaced by an air supply rich in oxygen the elements combined into a single cell. A cell so new, so unique, so infinitely hopeful that Mother Pangaea no longer rued her own demise.

Having faithfully fulfilled her destiny Mother Pangaea willfully drifted into pieces having not only created the seven great continents but also having created the Mother Cell of life itself.

Our modern myth continues tomorrow.

The Modern Myth - Part 1

2009-11-22T17:59:00.002-06:00

In a time of countless repeats and endless sequels who says we don’t have any good stories anymore?

Many consider the ancient Greeks to be the master myth makers, but I must disagree. The Greek mythic fables were designed and created as a form of upper class amusement and peasant pleasure. Ripe with imagery the moral underpinnings were clear even though the stories themselves were often like fantastic dreams. But if you are looking for the true masters of myth manufacture one need look no farther than modern man. For here the myths go beyond entertainment, beyond the boundaries of whimsical imagination and with ever-increasing sincerity are thrust into the public consciousness until they become accepted as truth.

Historically the most memorable myths usually follow a predictable and oft repeated plotline. The myths of modern man follow in those same well worn footprints. The victorious conquest of good over evil, life over death and karma over hopelessness. Add on a liberal dose of unexplainable magic and its all there. The makings of a great modern myth.

Our modern myth begins in space. Referring to space, as gene Roddenberry did, as the final frontier only served to bring it full circle as it was the original frontier as well.

In the dark void of endless space nothingness was surrounded by nothingness. No life, no joy, no hope, no gods, no Starbucks, just the cold emptiness of endless space. But within the blank canvas of everlasting emptiness developed a small static charge, perhaps as a result of nothing rubbing against nothing. From this charge came the infinitesimal power to create a single electron. As this lone electron dashed headlong through the void it created yet more static which not only created more electrons but forced each of them to bend into an ever-tightening tail-chasing concentric path. Each of these brave electrons raced aimlessly in their circular sojourns, eventually being drawn together into groups and, like the tiger that chased Little Sambo around the tree until he turned into butter, formed the nucleus of the first atomic particles. Free from all bondage and restrictions these first atoms grew in strength until they could no longer bear their own weight. It was then these genesis atoms imploded into themselves causing subatomic novas. As faint and infinitely small as they were, for the first time in all time there were flashes of light piercing the blackness as each imploded. And with the birth and death of these oracles of origin came the scattered debris of what had once existed. These spent atomic particles, having lived their lives to the fullest now served their final destiny. From the ashes of their remains rose the Phoenix that would over trillions of years accumulate to become the Mother Rock of our universe. Life fulfilled. Death with purpose.

As Mother Rock grew she too followed the same unwritten law of natural progression eventually becoming so dense that, like her atomic ancestors, she could no longer bear her own atomic weight and for the first time in all time the sound of a massive implosion broke the eternal silence of space. It was of course what we now call the Big Bang. For Mother Rock burst forth, not in death, but in life as her massive implosion caused a nuclear reaction igniting a colossal ball of heat and energy. From the Mother came the Sun. The implosion cast additional offspring populating the four corners of the endless void. The molten fragments of trillions of years of accumulated atomic remains decorated the darkness by reflecting the wondrous light being shown by the sun. The largest chunks formed the planets, several of which began to make orbital circles around this new blazing center-point, almost as if in reverent memory to their ancestral electrons. You see the newly created Sun had developed a strong attracting force that kept eight of its closest brothers and sisters in perpetual concentricity. While each of these siblings were dwarfed by their superior kin they all developed their own levels of force which today we call gravity. Almost as if in an act of juvenile jealousy these subservient siblings held their own smaller underlings in their gravitational grip. We know these today to be the moons.

Each of the eight continued to tumble and spin, becoming rounder and denser as they cooled. Each took their own course around their now radiant brother, never to leave his side again.

And as the dust settled the sky began to lighten, for the first day had dawned on planet earth.

Our myth continues tomorrow.

A Dog's Tale

2009-11-18T15:31:00.002-06:00

Ahhhh, the joy of being a dog.

Did you ever try to point at something you wanted your dog to look at? If your dog is anything like mine what they end up looking at is your pointing hand (at least mine does on those rare occasions when she actually takes a break from her nap and has her eyes open). To the dog your hand is not a symbol for something else or an instructive tool to direct their attention elsewhere. It’s the hand that feeds them, the hand that pets them and in hopefully rare occasions the hand that reprimands them. You put your hand out so they figure you must want them to look at the hand. It’s a pretty simple way to approach life.

We, on the other hand (pun intended), spend so much time looking for hidden meanings and explanations that we often miss the obvious in search of the obscure. We argue and debate just about every issue until every minuscule detail becomes a quantum physics project where all true meaning is lost in the endless theory of the ultimate possibility.

Where Pavlov trained his dog’s subconscious to cause it to salivate at the sound of a bell, Americans have been trained to accept that everything resides in a gray area, where there is no real truth and no distinction between right and wrong. Our lives are controlled by market tested catch phrases and slogans designed to make us feel a certain way regardless of how plausible the reality of the premise. The shibboleths of Hope and Change are a perfect example of how easily we can be misled in a desire to find inner meaning while ignoring the obvious.

Hope and Change can mean just about anything to anybody, for as each person considers its meaning they shade it with their own life experience and innermost wishes. These two catch words bring with them the infinite possibility of happiness and security in the future. It’s kind of like buying a lottery ticket. With each dollar spent comes the hope of a mega-million dollar payday and the change that will have on our lives and those we care about. But while buying a lottery ticket may give us a temporary dream of opulent living it is not a sound long-term financial plan. If you have a dollar to spend on the lottery by all means go for it, but if you are looking to cash in what is left in your 401K and increase your chances by buying as many tickets as that will pay for you will likely be sorely disappointed unless you don’t mind the long line at the soup kitchen.

That ill-conceived draining of already diminished financial resources is exactly what the Senate is considering with the renewed push to pass the ObamaCare healthcare package. We have been programmed by the political left wing and their partners in the major news media to look at the word healthcare as a symbol for something else rather than taking it at face value. When we hear the word healthcare on the six o’clock news it is now inexorably tied in our psyche to the faceless millions that liberals claim are somehow not capable of participating in it. We have lost the simplistic common sense shown by man’s best friend to simply look at healthcare for what it is, healthcare.

We are heading down the dangerous path where every aspect of our lives needs to be tied to some symbol of serving the greater good. As it relates to healthcare, diminishing services to everyone will be to no one’s benefit. The recent government sponsored report recommending a reduction in cancer screening is a perfect example of this. It’s time we started taking things at face value rather than looking for theoretical advancements through reduced expectations.

The success of any good magician in getting his audience to look where he’s pointing and not at his hand. In magic it’s called misdirection; in politics it’s called Hope and Change.

Fearing Sarah

2009-11-17T16:17:00.003-06:00

The fear is palpable.

Having followed politics for many years I can honestly say that I have never witnessed an individual with absolutely no political power that strikes the level of abject terror into the hearts of liberals like Sarah Palin.

Ronald Reagan made liberals jittery so they tried to portray him as a tottering old war monger. But Jimmy Carter had succeeded in running the country’s economy into the ground, had his brother drinking beer and peeing on the flowers in the White House rose garden and made America a laughing stock around the world with his handling of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and the Iran hostage debacle, so much so that by the end of his first term even Attila the Hun would have been seen as an acceptable alternative.

George W Bush certainly raised panic in the liberal community with his successful tax cuts and his firm handling of one of America’s greatest tragedies on 9-11. Every effort was made to detract from his accomplishments through deception and fabrication, all of which was gleefully disseminated by a liberal press anxious to oust him. Try as they might Americans still preferred him to the cardboard John Kerry, which allowed the liberals another four years of Bush is Hitler comparisons.

But these were conservative men wielding great power. Sarah Palin holds no political office. She has no power outside of her own personal comments. She can pass no laws nor can she create any bills. Her only claim to fame is as the ex-Governor of Alaska and as a failed candidate for Vice President. Why then does this political has-been still evoke such a strong sense of terror and trepidation with the mere mention of her name?

As Palin’s book “Going Rouge” makes its way onto store shelves it already holds a place on the New York Times Bestsellers List. Sarah has something to say and Americans are eager to hear it. But it is more than that. You can fact check what Sarah Palin says by the way she lives. Palin is a liberal’s worst nightmare, an honest conservative woman that not only talks the talk but walks the walk. If you want to fact check her dedication to getting rid of corrupt politics, just look at her record and the long list of enemies she made cleaning up politics in Alaska. If you want to fact check her views on conservative financial reform, just look at her record of reform in Alaska and more importantly look at her lifestyle. If you want to fact check her sincerity on her beliefs in the Right to Life you need look no farther than the Downs Syndrome baby in her arms.

Liberals are so desperate to find something, anything, to throw at Sarah Palin that Newsweek’s latest issue cover photo uses an old picture taken for an issue of Runner’s World magazine as an attempt to create a demeaning sexist cheesecake pinup. The Huffington Post is so desperate to slam Palin’s new book that they published a critical review by someone that admits they haven’t even read the book.

If Sarah ever had any hope of garnering even a smattering of support from the liberal feminist sisterhood she has long since abandoned those hopes. Sarah Palin is successful because she is everything the feminists are not and more importantly she is not what they propose women to be. Sarah Palin is not a victim.

That in a nutshell is why Sarah Palin strikes such terror into the beating liberal heart. She does not claim to be a victim and she fights victimization. Her book is part political memoir and part personal autobiography. She does not claim to be a victim of deprived birth by being raised in the wilds of Alaska; in fact she makes it clear she views that as making her stronger. She does not claim to be a victim of genetic defect with the birth of her handicapped son, but rather uses it to show the true meaning of love. Even in the chapters that deal with her frustrations in the handling of the McCain Palin campaign she does not claim to be a victim but rather a fighter that stood up for what she believed, win or lose.

Never in the history of presidential politics has the vice-presidential candidate had so much blame heaped on them for the failure of the ticket. Even ex-vice-presidents that later ran and lost a presidential bid did not receive such glaring culpability. But Palin came through it wiser and stronger. Will she run for office in 2012? Who knows?

But what has liberals worried is not what she does in 2012. It’s what she does between now and then.

Chinese Take-Out

2009-11-16T20:10:00.003-06:00

To say the least, Obama does not have it “Made in China”.

The current trip of Barack Obama to meet with the leaders of China is a perfect illustration of what happens when a man who depends solely on style over substance meets a culture that is not impressed by his panache.

China is the very archetype of the change Barack Obama spent years promising to America. While the change has occurred over the past few decades, the redefinition of China from a minor trading partner to a burgeoning world super power has been sure and steady. And when you consider the size of the country and population and where they are now versus where they were in 1988 the remarkable transformation has actually occurred at near light speed.

In many ways the Chi-Coms and Obama have a lot in common. The changes made in China were imposed by a dictating party that simply refused to allow anything, including human life, to get in the way of its relentless pursuit of change. It wasn’t that the people of China decided they would rather move off their rural farms and become industrial workers living in congested cities. The government came in and told the masses it was what they wanted. There was no concern for individual rights or freedoms. In China you are free to do what the government tells you to do and have the right to agree with their authority. All dissenters meet with a fate almost as bad as a pissed off Nancy Pelosi.

But while the governing communist party has some admiration for the way Obama has shotgunned his socialist agenda through the Halls of Congress, they are far less impressed with him as it relates to their own interest.

The old Obama duende that served him so well in the United States and Europe has failed to woo the Chinese. While Obama came prepared with a steamer trunk full of well honed phrases and ghost written speeches the Chinese were more interested in getting clarification to the rhetoric. As has been the case for his entire political career, all of Barack Obama’s duplicitous though eloquent parol can be stymied by asking the simple question “What does that mean”, for which of course he has no answer.

Instead of finding a submissive partner Barack Obama is now confronted with a force of will that he has not experienced before. Along with holding sizable stakes in other world markets China enjoys a veritable oligopoly in the world market for US Treasury bonds. They do not view the United States so much as a partner as they do an investment and they don’t like what they are seeing in the way this president and his faithful minions in congress are handling their less than hard earned Yuan.

George Bush used every available resource to avoid instituting tariffs and trade restrictions with China, not because he was unaware of some of their unfair trade practices but because he understood that any trade restrictions would be met with equal countermeasures from China on our products. Manufacturing in the United States was kept afloat in the face of the early economic downturn by the increase in exports into Chinese markets. The complete inexperience of Barack Obama in global trade issues coupled with a world view that was bought and paid for by American labor unions leads this community activist president to be clueless as to the ramifications of his misguided actions. He is getting a crash course in it now by a less than friendly audience.

Obama will spend the next few days in China and he will be treated with all the respect due an American president, but make no mistake about it, the Chinese know a patsy when they see one. It will be interesting to see what happens as the old Obama magic fails to bring the tears of joy and hyperventilation so common in other venues.

Barack Obama could end up looking like Kanye West opening for Larry the Cable Guy at a VFW convention.

You gotta know your crowd.

The Audacity of Political Correctness

2009-11-15T18:21:00.004-06:00

By definition, to be frank means to be:
1: marked by free, forthright, and sincere expression or explanation

By definition to be Barney Frank means to be: 1. absolutely none of the above.

Congressman Barney Frank made the news again this past week when it was revealed that he was present at his homosexual lover’s home when police arrived and arrested James Ready for cultivation and possession of marijuana as well as possession of drug paraphernalia. Mr. Ready was not suffering from the adverse side effects of chemotherapy nor does he have glaucoma so his apparent use of the drug was strictly recreational. Congressman Frank admitted he was “surprised and disappointed” by what police found at his intimate friend’s house, which included some sizable pot plants growing in the yard. He also claimed he had no idea his friend was using illegal drugs.

When asked by the local news media how he could claim to have no knowledge when the drugs were being cultivated and grown at the house Barney did what he always does when confronted with indisputable evidence, he went on the offensive and played on the blind faith stupidity of his constituents.

After chiding the inquiring reporter for questioning his sincerity Frank said he is “not a great outdoorsman” and “wouldn’t recognize most plants”.

Really Barney? Are you really expecting Americans to believe that an adult who has served in the United States Congress since 1981 doesn’t know what a pot plant looks like? Most second graders in this country could identify a pot plant.

But Barney Frank learned years ago with the Stephen Gobie incident that the key to defending yourself in situations where you are obviously guilty is to deny, deny, deny. And if the questioning persists, simply claim you are a victim of circumstance and a target because you are homosexual.

In the Gobie scandal Congressman Frank was found to have paid the male prostitute Gobie $80.00 for a sex act. I’m not sure what that act was, but it must have tickled Big Barney’s fancy as he then hired Gobie as an aide and paid him $20,000 in unreported income from his taxpayer supported congressional expense budget. He also gave Gobie use of his car and falsified statements written on his official congressional stationary to fix 33 parking tickets Gobie received using the congressman car. I can only imagine that whatever Gobie did for $80.00, he did a lot more of it for a tax free 20 grand and a free car. The coup de grace for the Gobie affair was when it was discovered that while serving as Frank’s aide Gobie was also running a male whorehouse out of the congressman’s home. Once again Congressman Frank denied all knowledge. I guess he’s not much of an indoorsman either.

The bottom line is that Barney Frank’s complete disregard for the law in associating with people growing drugs and operating a homosexual prostitution ring makes him somebody I wouldn’t want living on my street much less holding the chairmanship to the incredibly powerful House Financial Services Committee. This committee oversees the entire financial services industry, which includes the securities, insurance, banking, and housing industries. Remember it was through this committee that Fannie May and Freddie Mac were congressionally mandated to loan mortgage money to people who had no ability to pay it back, which in turn nearly collapsed the entire world's credit markets.

So how does a recidivist, licentious degenerate like Barney Frank stay in office and more importantly gain power? Through the unbridled use of the same political correctness that allowed a Muslim extremist to remain on post, walk into an Army Soldier Readiness Center and gun down 13 unarmed victims. When confronted Barney Frank will always claim to be a victim of discrimination by homophobes. No Democrat is willing to stand up and take action for fear of being accused of homophobic behavior just like no military officer was willing to risk being called intolerant of a Muslim.

If the people of the Massachusetts 4th Congressional District wish to have Barney Frank as their representative, so be it. But the rest of the country has a say in who controls the US House and Senate and therefore who sits in the chairmanships of this nation’s most important governing committees.

Political correctness will kill this country. Reality always wins.

A Fish Story

2009-11-11T16:19:00.005-06:00

Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. But give a man a 33% stake in a major American automaker and he’ll eat really well for a very long time.

Quietly, almost imperceptibly, the news hit the wires that two more United Auto Workers locals overwhelmingly rejected proposed changes to their labor contracts with Ford. The reports which came out late in October were shuffled way down the priority list of the major news organizations in favor of stories pertaining to the ObamaCare bill making its way through Congress.

The stories of the nationalized healthcare plan have dominated the headlines, but this story of the autoworkers union rejecting needed concessions with the one “Big Three” carmaker that refused to sell its soul to the government is a perfect example of how government intrusion into the workings of private industry can destroy the industry it purports to be saving.

Ford has been seeking to bring its labor contract into parity with the revised labor contracts of its major competitors, the now nationalized General Motors and Chrysler corporations. On October 29th the Associated Press reported a 75 percent no vote by the UAW members at Ford’s Saline, Michigan parts plant and a 90% no vote by its members at Ford’s Dearborn, Michigan research and engineering facility. Ford currently employs 41,000 UAW members in the United States. The votes in Michigan have been mostly negative while votes in other parts of the country, like the Louisville facility, have been much closer. Overall the concessions requested by Ford have been voted down by almost a two to one margin.

The concessions Ford is requesting would freeze entry level wages and require some higher skilled workers to perform more than one job. The union would also have to agree to a no-strike clause on issues relating to wages and benefits but would still be able to strike for other issues. In return Ford has agreed to give each member a $1000.00 bonus if the concessions are approved and guarantees of future work with new product commitments at several facilities. Even the union president has stated that the concessions would save some 7000 union jobs. But the rank and file has been quick to reject any compromise.

And why should they?

When General Motors and Chrysler finally succumb under the weight of years of unrealistic labor contracts the government stepped in and took over. In an unprecedented act of unconstitutional power, Barack Obama fired General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner and developed a settlement that allowed the government to take control of these longtime American icon companies, giving a 33% ownership stake to the unions. Ford CEO Allan Mulally who was all too familiar with government intrusion from his 37 years with Boeing chose to reject government support and saved Ford from a similar fate.

In order to remain competitive Ford must now bring their cost structure in line with its major competitors. But where is the incentive for union workers to come to a realistic agreement if they know that failure to do so will simply allow the government to step in and give them the same stock incentives as GM and Chrysler workers?

With the continued death spiral of new car sales after the completion of the Cash for Clunkers program it doesn’t take a degree in economics to see the peril American carmakers are in. Barack Obama and his incredibly shortsighted and unrealistic view of American business and organized labor has guaranteed failure, first with future union negotiations and finally with the companies themselves.

This scenario of nationalizing industry and redistributing its wealth to the workers may have sounded reasonable coming from a community activist but will prove to be fatal to American business coming from a president with no concept of business or a world marketplace.

Equal Justice

2009-11-10T23:49:00.001-06:00

John Allen Mohammed has been executed and quite frankly I don’t feel any safer.

At the Greensville Correction Facility just outside Richmond Virginia the DC Sniper breathed his last. He was executed after having been convicted of the murder of Dean Meyers, one of the victims in this madman’s killing spree that took ten lives in total. Some of the victim’s family members who witnessed the execution called it surreal, while others claimed it gave them closure.

I have the deepest sympathy for the families that lost their loved ones to this homicidal maniac who rigged his car so he could enter the trunk through the back seat where he laid in wait for his victim and shot through a hole in the trunk. I hope they do indeed find peace and closure in this eye for an eye retribution. But tomorrow morning the sun will rise and each will have to face yet another day without their loved one.

I am not ashamed to admit that I am a conservative who opposes the death penalty. I oppose it for several reasons including the possibility of killing an innocent person as well as the additional expense of executing someone versus simply locking them up for the rest of their life with no possibility for parole and none of the constitutionally mandated appeals that come with a capital punishment sentence. In this case the guilt of Mohammed was unquestionably clear. And while I can’t help but feel we are overstepping our bounds when, in the name of justice, we commit state sanctioned homicide, I do accept that execution is the law of the land and is approved by a wide margin of the population. I also accept that if we are to have such a punishment the brutal murder of ten innocent victims certainly meets the requirements for using it.

At the same time that John Allen Mohammed was being prepared for his final walk in Virginia, President Barack Obama was addressing the grief-stricken families of the 13 victims killed by Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan in Texas. President Obama told the families they could be assured that “...for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice, in this world, and the next." Obama stopped short of calling this heinous mass murder an act of terrorism, but he did say "It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy. But this much we do know: no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts.”

That’s a pretty strong condemnation and equally strong promise coming from the President regarding this mass murder carried out on the grounds of this Texas military base. I am not sure if this crime will be tried by a federal court as an act of terrorism or by a US Army military court. But either way the death penalty is certainly a possibility and seems to me to be the only reasonable sentence if Hasan is found guilty.

If execution was considered justice for the DC Sniper and his ten victims then it most certainly should be the same justice promised to the victim’s families by the President for this killer of thirteen. It will however be interesting to see if equal justice prevails when the guilty party is a practicing Muslim or if that fact will be this Islamic extremists "Get Out Of Death Free" card.

It will also be interesting to see how much political pressure is placed in the court during both the trial and sentencing. If Nidal Malik Hasan is given a life sentence rather than a death sentence simply because he is Muslim, then the death sentence should be abolished for everyone else as well.

Justice in this world and the next? Let’s see if President Obama meant what he said and is willing to send this Islamic jihadist to meet his Ultimate Judge.

Liberal Theory vs. Real Enemies

2009-11-08T10:54:00.003-06:00

It’s the exception that proves the rule.

Lord knows how many times I have heard that idiom. It is used today in almost every imaginable context. Historians credit the Roman philosopher and political theorist/ lawyer Cicero with inventing the proposition. What it was originally meant to infer was that the fact that special exceptions were being made proved a rule existed. We have long since lost that simple definition and in its place installed the belief that somehow exceptions are the rule. Or to put it more clearly, there can be no actual rule because there are always exceptions.

We have lost the ability to draw reasonable conclusions because we are now far too politically correct to use our own eyes and ears and more importantly our own common sense. All the proof in the world makes no difference anymore. We are told we must look beyond the undeniable proof and embrace the liberal dream of exception to every fundamental fact.

A perfect example of this factual mumbo jumbo is occurring in the wake of the despicable deadly acts carried out at Fort Hood by yet another Muslim terrorist.

While shouting the Muslim mantra “God is great” in Arabic, US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan proceeded to slaughter 13 unarmed American military members and wound another 30 using weapons he had purchased off base probably for this premeditated purpose. Pundits and media members are examining every conceivable aspect as to why this American born lifelong Muslim would turn against his fellow Army enlistees. Theories abound as to why this man who received his college and medical degrees thanks to an Army education program that not only allowed him to earn his doctorate but paid him while he was doing so, would turn against the country that gave him everything he had. Why this seemingly pacifist psychiatrist, who didn’t want to be put in a combat situation, would wantonly murder unarmed, unsuspecting, and in one case pregnant, human beings.

I will leave the politically correct proselytizing and motivational theorizing to the talking heads the media always seems to have on call for just such an occurrence. I, on the other hand, will look at the facts to draw my conclusions.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan perpetrated this despicable act solely because he is a Muslim. Was this a terrorist attack? Absolutely. Hasan was successful at carrying out an attack similar to ones planned by other Muslims. Where others planned to shoot military personnel as they exited the base and fortunately were discovered and failed, Hasan had the distinct advantage of having a military ID allowing him on the base. He took full advantage of the benefits the Army had to offer, but when it came to fulfilling his end of the deal he chose the cowards way out. It was a well planned terrorist attack designed to inflict physical, mental and emotional damage on the US military. His goal was to inflict not only harm but terror and last time I checked that is the textbook definition of a terrorist. Hasan said on more than one occasion he is a Muslim first and an American second. If this had been about his objection to being deployed overseas and he was willing to die rather than serve in Iraq or Afghanistan against his Muslim brethren he only needed one bullet and didn’t even have to leave his apartment. Instead this terrorist came prepared with multiple clips and fired over a hundred rounds. While he knew this would likely be a suicide mission he never even attempted to use a round on himself, but as a psychiatrist I am certain Hasan is familiar with suicide by police. The debate as to his motives or possible stress disorders is moot. This was another terrorist act carried out against the United States by a Muslim.

As it relates to all Muslims Hasan may be the exception. But while all Muslims are not the enemy of the United States, all of the major enemies of the United States are Muslim.

We simply can no longer ignore that fact. As politically incorrect or presidentially inconvenient as it may be.

Old News

2009-11-05T15:39:00.003-06:00

Welcome to Washington where everything old is new again.

I was more than a little surprised to see the headlines of an Associated Press report that President Obama had gained support of two critical organizations for his ObamaCare nationalized healthcare bill. I quickly read the story to see who was now throwing their support his way only to find it was AARP and the AMA. My first thought was, had the Associated Press been asleep for the last several months or is this a case of déjà vu all over again.

Reading on a little farther it became clear that neither one of those assessments was correct. It was, in fact, simply a story of a president so desperate for support that he is rekindling old wood.

The “news” that AARP and the AMA have given their support to ObamaCare is not news; it’s actually “olds”. AARP has been a staunch supporter of the Democrat ideals of taxpayer supported healthcare for as long as there has been an AARP. This organization is actually nothing more than a special interest lobbying group that garners support from the aging public by offering a chance for reduced rates on hotel rooms and no medical exam life insurance. They supported the election of candidate Obama and threw their support behind his nationalized healthcare plan before there was even an official plan to support.

The AMA announced their support for ObamaCare over 2 months ago. Since then they have received numerous resignations from the 30% of American doctors who are actual members and are now in the midst of an in-house fight with several members of the board of directors. The immediate past president of the AMA has taken to calling for the resignation or removal of the current president and board on the grounds that the AMA charter forbids this organization from supporting government interference in healthcare or the price fixing that ObamaCare would create for both the medical care and the healthcare insurance.

Nothing the president said was new so why was he so pleased to announce what he was already pleased to announce months ago? The answer is to deflect attention from the Republican gains in the gubernatorial elections held in the Virginia and New Jersey this past week and the surprisingly strong showing of the conservative candidate in New York’s 23rd District special election.

Democrats got a rude wake-up call this past week. While the White House was predictable and quick in distancing the Republican gains as being local issues and having nothing to do with the president, those Democrats dependent on conservative and independent voters in the 2010 midterm elections are anything but satisfied with that assessment.

The reason for the race to a vote on this trillion dollar debacle is that the president can see his magic dwindling before his very eyes and knows that the longer this bill is delayed the less chance he has of wrangling enough support to pass it.

Nancy Pelosi may be able to pull a rabbit out of her hat and get some form of ObamaCare passed in the House within the next few weeks but that passage will be strictly symbolic. Every House member that votes for the bill knows that passage of the Senate’s version, according to Senate leader Harry Reid, will not take place this year. That means that Democrat House members can stay out of Pelosi’s crosshairs and still run for reelection without an ObamaCare package in place. Even if the Senate passes their bill early next year the House will have the opportunity to reject the Senate provisions at least until after the election.

This whole restatement of the previous endorsements is nothing more than Democrat politics as usual with the mainstream lapdog media playing right along. And what hangs in the balance? Only a trillion dollars of taxpayer money and the future of American healthcare and freedom of choice.

The game is the same, but the stakes have gotten substantially higher.

Let's Pretend

2009-11-04T16:16:00.000-06:00

Indulge me for a moment of you will.

Let’s pretend that George W Bush is president and in the first year of his term in office he was visited by the head of the NRA 12 times. Do you think the press would make an issue of exactly what the NRA was doing with such access to the president?

Or let’s say that during the first year of his second term while the war in Iraq was in full swing the president of Halliburton was at the White House 10 times. Do you think the press would try to connect the dots as to what this major supplier to the military was doing so many times meeting with the president?

I don’t know your answer, but I think that major news media organizations would have focused on little else. Their stories and alleged reports would have been jammed with innuendos and suppositions as to what these groups were up to and why they had such unlimited access to the seat of American governmental power.

Now let’s stop pretending and switch to the here and now with the Anointed One, Barack Hussein Obama in the oval office.

The White House released the visitors list recording those who were allowed past the gates at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the first 10 months of the Obama administration. There were representatives from a number of special interest groups and just as many major celebrities on this official record. But the number one name on the list with the most visits inside the White House was the president of the Service Employees International Union, Andy Stern. You don’t get into the White House without first getting some pretty high level clearance. Records show that Mr. Stern was granted access to the White House 22 times in the first 10 months of Obama’s presidency. That is more than twice a month or just about every other week for Obama’s term thus far. And do the major media outlets raise the question as to what in the world this union boss is doing so many times in the White House? Nope. Nary a word. Only a scant few lines simply reporting the fact. With 22 visits in 10 months Andy Stern may well have been in the oval office more than the first lady, but the major press organizations choose to focus instead on the fact that the Michael Jordon and the Jeremiah Wright shown on the list are not the famous ones but instead others with those same names.

The SEIU is the fastest growing organized labor union in the country. They made their claim to fame as the Building Service Employees Union founded in Chicago in the 1920’s representing janitors, elevator operators and window washers and heading the Justice for Janitors campaign. But now as the SEIU their focus is on the healthcare industry attempting to organize nurses, hospital workers, home healthcare workers and nursing home employees.

SEIU was one of the leading supporters to candidate Barack Obama and it is apparent that the old Chicago style quid pro quo is now in full swing. You see along with nationalizing health insurance and healthcare the ObamaCare bills currently being crafted in the halls of both the Senate and the House requires a large portion of healthcare workers to become, you guessed it, union employees. And what union would these tens if not hundreds of thousands of employees join? Why the SEIU of course.

With the stroke of a presidential pen Barack Hussein Obama could effectively double the size of the SEIU currently estimated to be 1.8 million strong. No wonder it was the SEIU that sent hired thugs to beat up and intimidate attendees at local tea party gatherings and ObamaCare protest rallies.

An organized labor union with a penchant for assault and battery carrying out a plan to forcibly stifle free speech and political activism with seemingly unlimited access to the White House and the president they helped put in place. And the major media outlets are too intimidated or too blinded by the liberal charisma of this bought and paid for president to say a word about it.

Be afraid America. This isn’t pretend anymore.

The Real Nightmare

2009-11-03T15:14:00.001-06:00

night·mare
Pronunciation: \ˈnīt-ˌmer\
Function: noun
1 : an evil spirit formerly thought to oppress people during sleep
2 : a frightening dream that usually awakens the sleeper
3 : something (as an experience, situation, or object) having the monstrous character of a nightmare or producing a feeling of anxiety or terror

There it was in black and white. A “report” from the Politico news service claiming anxiety or terror on the part of Republican leaders. The opening line read “In what could be a nightmare scenario for Republican officials, conservative activists are gearing up challenge leading GOP candidates in more than a dozen key House and Senate races in 2010.” A nightmare you say?

To be sure there will be some elected Republicans that might have a few restless nights. My guess is that many of them will already be working on how to spin the actions they took while in office to look less like the spend-crazy Democrat pacifiers they have been. As I have told every Republican organization fundraiser that has called my home for the past few years “when the Republicans quit acting like Democrats, I’ll start supporting them again.”

The nightmare is not in what is happening but in what has happened. The Republican Party is unrecognizable to many of us conservative voters. The media would have us believe that if Republicans are to be successful they must adopt a “big tent” mentality. The reality is that the party I supported for lo those many years folded up their tent long ago and simply annexed onto the Democrats. Oh sure there was talk of conservative principles during the congressional campaigns but after the votes were counted you couldn’t tell a D from an R without a program.

Many have pointed to the rapid decline in conservative principles in the national Republican Party as a reason to form a third party. I disagree. We don’t need a third party, we need to return the Republican Party back to what it once was when results mattered more than rhetoric and principles mattered more than appeasement. A recent poll confirmed that by a margin of over two to one Americans consider themselves conservative over liberal. This includes many who claim to be Democrats. If the Republican Party can align itself with the conservative principles that founded this country and allowed it to become the greatest nation on earth there would be no need to look for another political option.

Much has been made of the recent withdrawal of Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava in the upstate New York Congressional election. Liberals point to this as proof that Republicans cannot elect a moderate. But Dede was anything but moderate and her blatant liberalism was in full view when she endorsed the Democrat over the Conservative Party candidate for the position.

The nightmare is not in conservatives taking back control of the government but in what has happened since conservatism has become a dirty word and conservative voters became silent. The nightmare is a President that plays politics while tens of thousands of brave military men and women battle terrorists in Afghanistan desperate for additional support. The nightmare is in a national debt that has tripled in under 10 months with absolutely no sign of abating in the largest spending spree in the history of mankind. The nightmare is in a deficit that is forecasted to be in excess of 10 trillion dollars in the next ten years. The nightmare is in the government control of our healthcare choices and in the government control of our health insurance. The nightmare is in the government nationalization of the banking industry and allowing the same economic morons that created the problem to cause even greater harm to the recovery. The nightmare is in a President that feels he has the power to dictate what Americans should be paid by private industry. The nightmare is in a President whose number one visitor in the White House, logging 22 visits in just under 10 months, is the president of the SEIU union that sends hired thugs to beat up Americans attending tea party rallies.

There are plenty of nightmares to go around.

Conservatism isn’t one of them.

Just Trying To Help

2009-10-29T15:52:00.005-05:00

Thanks to the Democrats the recession is officially over!

Barack Obama could not have been more pleased to announce the “welcome news” that the latest report from the Commerce Department showed a respectable 3.5% growth in the countries third quarter GDP. Obama gleefully reported that this growth is “an affirmation that this recession is abating and the steps we’ve taken have made a difference.”

To be sure, 3.5% growth, the first growth since the second quarter of 2008, is a welcome change from the previous declines and under most circumstances would be cause for celebration. But a closer look at the numbers reveals just how cooked these books really are.

The GDP gain was mainly driven by an increase in consumer spending. Just about two thirds of the overall growth is attributable to the 3.4% rise in consumer spending versus the nearly 1% drop in the previous quarter. Most of that additional spending is related to the temporary increase in new car sales driven by the Cash for Clunkers program. The core inflation index slid from 2.0% in the previous quarter down to 1.4% indicating otherwise lackluster spending causing downward pricing pressure.

As Cash for Clunkers was a onetime program that added no new jobs and only stimulated a short burst of new spending the celebration currently being enjoyed by Obama and his minions in Congress will be short-lived indeed. That is of course unless the spend-happy Democrats are able to find some other suitable programs to artificially inflate the numbers.

As I am known far and wide as being a helpful kinda guy I have taken it upon myself to come up with some suggestions for the Democrats to consider. How about:

Dollars for Dog Fighting – As Rush Limbaugh will not be allowed to be even a minority owner of an NFL football team because of his conservative views, and as Michael Vick was welcomed back into the NFL after having been convicted of feloniously supporting a hideously cruel dog fighting ring, one can only draw the conclusion that dog fighting is a more acceptable past time than being conservative. As such, the government could get in on the new burgeoning market of allowing two dogs, which have been brutally abused since birth, to fight to the death by supporting the development of new and improved dog fighting techniques.

Funds for Felons – Forget about spending all that money on law enforcement trying to catch criminals after the fact by sending those who are considering major crimes a check before they break the law. Most offenders will be sated, at least until the money runs out, and therefore crime figures will be decreased allowing cities and towns to reduce their police forces. I am certain that this program could be easily sold to the public by showing how it will pay for itself in reduced police expense, overtime for all that nasty paperwork and court costs.

Denaros for Deadbeat Dads – Here is an opportunity to help one of the most misunderstood poverty groups in America. It is obvious that these poor runaway fathers don’t have the funds to support their children. Otherwise they would send their child support checks, right? This money will also help to stimulate the liquor and cheap hotel markets.

Money for Marijuana and Meth – Let’s be honest. No matter what, folks are going to do dope. Just ask any high school guidance counselor. This program, along with Funds for Felons, will help to further reduce crime by giving pot heads the necessary funds to not only buy their dope but also Twinkies, Oreos and in the case of the meth users, much needed dental implants.

Bucks for Big Screens – Seeing as the government obviously views watching television as an inalienable right through the free digital converter box program, would it not also be a right to view it on a big honking plasma screen TV. What’s the sense of having digital transmission if you have to watch it on a little screen? This will not only be a benefit to the big box appliance stores but will also be a direct benefit to Barack Obama as his voting base will be able to see him more clearly during his near-daily infomercials.

Currency for Coffee – Hey, at 4 bucks plus a cup if the government doesn’t step in soon with some support some of the 15 to 20 million barista’s currently pouring coffee in America could be forced to look for new careers.

Tender for Toddlers – No this isn’t a program where people actually sell their babies (although that may become an amendment at some point down the line). This would be a program where the government would begin sending welfare checks to people from the moment they are born. Why wait until they drop out of school and begin to have kids of their own. This way those who are hopelessly trapped in the liberal slavery of welfare can get used to waiting for the mailman for their support as soon as they are able to see out the window.

Cash for Condoms – This program speaks for itself. It is the very definition of a “stimulus” program and will certainly help see us through the hard times.

Well, those are just a few of my ideas. I hope they help.

The Times They Are A'Changing

2009-10-28T16:25:00.002-05:00

My oh my, how times have changed.

It seems like only yesterday that the Democrats and their faithful lapdog counterparts in the news media were lambasting President Bush for inciting the Taliban and Al Qaeda to violence. Almost every move the president made and every word the president uttered was dissected and analyzed for its negative impact on America’s enemies.

If Bush said “Bring it on”, he was described as a cowboy who put our troops on the battlefield in even greater peril by stirring an already very dangerous pot. If he suggested inclusion of former members of Al Qaeda who had not committed violent acts against our troops he was damned for being passive and putting our troops in danger by inciting our enemy through weakness. Democrats stood on the sidelines and played Monday morning quarterback after each and every press conference or directive. The now infamous position John Kerry took during the presidential debates of being against something before he was for it before he was against it became the order of the day for the entire Democrat Party.

It was a much simpler time to be a Democrat when all you had to do was oppose. It was also a much simpler time for the blatantly liberal news media when the only tool they needed to deal with then President Bush was a hammer and the only reporting they needed to provide on Barack Obama was the worldwide Hope and Change he would bring. Flash forward to today and it gets much more complicated.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was noticeable by her absence at the latest summit meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai regarding the recent Afghan elections with its alleged claims of vote fraud and corruption. In her place was US Senator John Kerry representing the United States. Constitutionally a US senator has no authority to represent the entire country in matters of foreign affairs, that is the constitutional task of the Secretary of State under the direction of the president. Barack Obama said he had nothing to do with it. But there stood Kerry with no sign of Clinton. You figure it out.

Now just three hours after Clinton arrives in Pakistan the Taliban blows up over a hundred innocent people. Clinton’s immediate reaction is to call them “cowardly”. A woman who is also an official of the US government, calling Muslim terrorists cowards and the press makes no mention of possible incitement.

October has been the deadliest month in years for our brave troops in Afghanistan. It also just happens to be the month Barack Obama has made a spectacle of his inability to give our troops the desperately needed support requested by General McChrystal. The press remains mum on that point too.

Barack Obama addresses airman at a military base in Florida making a solemn pledge to not send them into harms way without a firm strategy in place. The press gleefully reports on the speech but fails to mention that we already have tens of thousands of America’s finest in harms way who are just waiting for some backup.

At the same time car bombs planted by Al Qaeda in Iraq kill hundreds of innocent shoppers. Does the press even ask if this could have anything to do with the weakness shown by a president more interested in political damage than military of civilian lives? Nope, not a word.

The sad truth is that if the Taliban and Al Qaeda want to get this pacifist president to take action they will have to go to work for Fox News.

Maybe then the mainstream media will give it some coverage.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

2009-10-27T14:55:00.001-05:00

Sometimes it’s better to just let them do my talking for me.

I can talk until I’m blue in the face about the Democrat’s desire to keep their base dependent, and how they truly believe that the voting public is incapable of cognitive thought. I can draw examples and comparisons showing conclusively how the liberal Democrats currently in control of both Houses of Congress and the White House are blatantly driving the country toward socialism and away from the very principles upon which America was founded. But all my efforts, as well prepared and convincing as they may be, pale by comparison to a short news conference with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Speaker Pelosi made it clear that she and her Democrat counterparts are convinced that Americans are so stupid that she can even tell us how they plan to deceive us and we still won’t be able to figure it out.

While making one of the few public statements regarding the closed door Democrat ramrod healthcare proposals Speaker Pelosi said that American families “shouldn’t be left on their own ‘to negotiate with insurance companies”. The only solution for this problem of limited personal mental ability is the inclusion of the “public option” government run health insurance into the ObamaCare healthcare package. However, because the public option is so publicly unpopular Speaker Pelosi said it should be renamed. Not refined, re-explained or reversed, simply renamed. She went on to suggest it now be called the “consumer option”. Well, that certainly clears things up for me. As long as it’s a consumer program and not a public program I’m on board. NOT!

It is important to understand exactly what the Speaker is saying.

First, Americans are incapable of handling their own private family affairs. We are too stupid to make a decision as important as which company we will choose to carry our health insurance and what we are willing to, and more importantly, capable of paying for it. We are not qualified to figure out which plan best suits our needs or which coverage options we should buy for ourselves and our families. We simply cannot be left on our own and therefore we need to become dependent on the government to tell us what we want.

Secondly, because many of us understand the nightmare that government run health insurance would bring and vehemently oppose losing our rights to make our own healthcare choices Democrats are prepared to simply trick us into support by calling the untenable plan by a different name. Plus, Speaker Pelosi made it clear that they think we are so stupid that even after they tell us how they plan to trick us we will still want to go along.

The arrogance of this Speaker to tell Americans that they cannot be left alone to make their own healthcare choices is so profound as to be almost unbelievable. In fact, had this piece of the socialist pie been leaked from one of the many closed door meetings it surely would have been denied.

But thanks to Speaker Pelosi’s pubic admission of her adamant belief in and reliance upon American stupidity no such denial will be plausible. That is not to say that it won’t be tried. Already Democrats fearful of being handed their walking papers in the mid-term elections are trying to spin the Speakers comments into something less offensive. Their success in this endeavor is entirely dependent on whether or not Speaker Pelosi is correct.

Are we in fact really that stupid?

The Fabricated Flu Frenzy

2009-10-26T15:53:00.001-05:00

Welcome to a political opportunity of, well, pandemic proportions.

For those of us lucky enough to have dodged the bullet of “bird flu” a couple of years ago we are now faced with an even bigger plague of national destruction; the H1N1 media flu, I mean the H1N1 swine flu. This runny nosed nuisance is almost custom made for a political party in peril.

Just days after taking the oval office Barack Obama earmarked a billion dollars to fight the onset of what was gleefully forecasted by the media as an illness so profound that it could end life as we know it on the planet. Ten months later we are just beginning to receive the life saving serum specifically designed to thwart the disease.

News outlets are relentless in their daily updates of new case reports and the rising death toll attributed to the epidemic. At last count 1000 deaths have been attributed to the H1N1 virus in America so far this year. That certainly sounds ominous, right?

While the number of deaths may in fact be true, there are some other factoids that have been conveniently omitted from the reports. Like the fact that in that same time period 30,000 people have died of flu that was not the H1N1 strain. And by historic comparatives, those numbers mean we are experiencing a perfectly normal flu season.

What the media is failing to report is that every year in America 40,000 people die of generic influenza. Normally those who succumb to the flu are those particularly vulnerable like the very young, the very old and those with already diminished health. But historic statistics show that every year not all who die from the flu are in those most susceptible categories. Some are perfectly healthy who get the flu so serve that for any number of reasons they die. Tragic, yes. Unusual, unfortunately no.

During the “bird flu” scare a few years ago the country was told by the media medical talking heads to brace for a devastating flu season. Much blame was heaped on then President Bush for not being prepared to deal with this oncoming pandemic. We were told that while we had flu shots, the serum was for the wrong kind of flu strain and would likely not be effective against this budding bird borne blight. Some way, somehow we survived. And without even so much as a blip in the normal flu season mortality rate.

Bush was lax in any attempt to make political hay from this forecasted endemic disaster; Obama will not allow this opportunity to pass him likewise.

More than the billions of dollars in worldwide spending on appropriate antibodies, there is plenty of political capital to be made by averting the forecasted doom. The H1N1 flu has been a political tetherball since it first hit the newswires. Originally called the Mexican Swine Flu the name was changed to just Swine Flu once the Mexican government complained. Further complaints from pork producer’s associations had the named once again politically corrected to the scientific Nam de Plume H1N1.

Much like Nancy Pelosi’s ridiculous supposition that the non-stimulating stimulus passed by Congress is keeping the recession from being worse, the same approach will be taken with this media mania regarding H1N1. The fact that 30 times as many people have died from non-H1N1 related influenza, even before the proper antibodies hit the market, will likely never be mentioned. Only that the Messiah has saved the country a much worse fate than would have otherwise befallen us. There is, of course, no way to prove or disprove the hypothesis of Obamian intervention so it will be ladled out for mass consumption like momma’s chicken soup. The fact that most who do get the H1N1 brand of flu will recover with no extraordinary medical intervention will also be glaringly apparent by its omission from the discussion.

When it comes to the campaign happy Obama administration no opportunity is too small to take credit. Especially when everything else they have done has only made the situation worse.

It really is enough to make you sick.

The Ying And Yang Of Gang

2009-10-25T18:05:00.000-05:00

It’s a tale of two cities.

Well, actually it’s just one city with two examples of what seems to be an unsolvable problem.

In one case, parents of students at the now infamous Fenger High School are planning to boycott the school by keeping their children home to protest what they see as a lack of security against gang violence. In the other, 6 black college students from St. Louis are threatening action against a locally famous bar for refusing to allow them entry because of what they claim is racial discrimination.

At Fenger parents are claiming the Chicago Public School Board and the Chicago Police are not doing enough to keep their children safe. It was outside Fenger that honor roll student Derrion Albert was brutally beaten to death by gang members wielding 2 X 4’s. The fatal beating was caught on video by one of the many witnesses who stood by and watched. A number of Fenger students have been charged with the murder and police are continuing their investigation. This past week 5 more students were arrested for fighting inside Fenger. The brawls are part of the “turf war” between local gang members and those from a nearby housing project.

Chicago’s black community is rife with gang activity. Parents of students who just want an education have every right to be fearful, but what they hope to accomplish by this proposed boycott is unclear. The problem is with the gang bangers not the school. The only possible solution from a police standpoint is to have armed police officers roaming the hallways of the school. This would pull them off their duties outside the high school and would only serve to increase tensions and crime rates on the street. It would also most certainly cause local community activists to portray the police in school as an abuse of power and a violation of the student’s constitutional rights of free assembly. Chicago has already tried to institute action against groups of 2 or more gang members gathering on the street only to have it struck down as unconstitutional by the courts.

The incident at Mother’s bar in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood involved 6 black college students who were not allowed inside by security because of their gang related attire. The 6 wore baggy pants and had their caps on backwards. While this is seen in the suburbs as a fashion statement it is understood in urban areas as a sign of gang affiliation. The manager of the bar was inclined to allow them inside until the 6 backed him into a corner with aggressive behavior and shouting. At that point any hope for resolution was lost and the students were forced to leave. They claim that they traded clothes with some white friends who were allowed entry and are making that their basis for claims of racial discrimination.

So police and private security can do nothing if you associate with gang bangers, dress like a gang banger and even admit to being one. But let gang bangers do what they do and then these same security and police forces are at fault for not doing enough to stop him. How do you win that?

Police can arrest the perpetrators of violence after the fact, but they are legally limited in how much they can proactively do to prevent it. The bulk of that responsibility for action lies within the black community. The community, led by their vocalists (they are far more vocal than active), is quick to complain about too much or too little action being taken, but the only action that will make a meaningful difference must come from within the community.

The greatest threat to a member of the black community is from another member of the black community. Not the police, not security guards and not racism.

Change the attitude in the community, or change the law so police have legal authority to be proactive, or get used to it.

Don't Ask Don't Think

2009-10-21T11:40:00.004-05:00

Before we begin the deluge of e mails accusing me of being a homophobe let me assure you I have no fear, either conscious or subconscious, of homosexuals.

What I fear is a Commander in Chief who believes it is a good idea to increase the ranks of our all volunteer military with homosexual enlistees and to allow those already inducted to display their deviant sexuality publicly.

There have probably been homosexual military patriots in the US military for as long as the US has had a military. Many have served with honor and many have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. I salute every single man and woman, regardless of their sexuality, who has served our country in the military and given of themselves for the greater good of the nation.

The very reason homosexuals have been able to serve and succeed in the rigorous life of the military is in large part because it has not been acceptable for them to publicly display their homosexuality. Not that all would want to. My guess is that even with this proposed presidential game-changer many homosexual’s in the military will continue to remain in the security of leaving their private life private.

But in the spirit of political correctness this community activist qua Supreme Commander has announced his intentions to end the current military policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell”. This misguided idea of equality will likely have a profound impact on the future of our nation’s security forces.

It was no secret that for years the female forces in the military were largely made up of more manly women than feminine flowers. That balance has shifted a bit with the push for female equality and certainly not all women in uniform were attracted to other women. But to deny the sizable portion that were would be to reject the obvious history of our female forces. Most males who have served can also attest to the fact that there were always a few brothers in arms that may have had questionable sexual preference. I’m certain other homosexual’s knew, but as long as acceptance of their, what is absurdly called “alternative lifestyle”, was not forced onto the military population at large it remained for the most part a non-issue.

That is all about to change with the stroke of a presidential pen, when once again Barack Obama inflicts his idea of Change without giving proper weight to the negative effects.

Military service requires sacrifice and dedication, of which both homosexual and heterosexual military personnel are equally capable of giving. But it also requires a close sense of fellowship with those who serve with you. Having openly homosexual members in a military unit will destroy that close bond so necessary for success under the most grueling and dangerous conditions. The long honored celebration of a military homecoming with families gathered to welcome their heroes’ home would be forever changed when you consider the possibility of allowing openly homosexual displays of affection. And what of the families living in base housing units? Shipping off for a tour overseas is hard enough without having to leave your family in base housing with openly homosexual couples. While many homosexual members would not participate in the over the top exhibitions so common at every gay rights rally or gay pride parade, the fact that there would be no way to stop it means that there would be those who would, if for no other reason than to prove they can. Forcing military families to live with openly homosexual couples will do nothing to increase tolerance and if anything cause a rebellious backlash. While the president claims the need to keep qualified homosexuals in the military, this mandate for acceptance of this deviant sexual lifestyle would cause many more heterosexuals to leave.

When it comes to giving our troops on the battlefield In Afghanistan the necessary forces to save lives and succeed at their mission we have a president that can’t make a decision. But when it comes to forcing what for many is an unacceptable breach to their personal and religious moral code we have a president that is all too eager to do so at any cost.

Our military deserves better and so do their families.

Understanding Change

2009-10-19T14:53:00.002-05:00

It’s all just a matter of understanding……or is it?

I have been told on more than one occasion that the reason I am so firm in my conservative beliefs is that I just don’t understand. If I would merely approach things with an open mind I would see the sense in what I currently view as senseless and understand that which now leaves me scratching my head.

I freely admit that there are certainly more things on this planet that I do not understand than things I do. Many of them I enjoy in my daily life without much consternation as to the how and why. For instance, I don’t know how they get a movie onto a DVD or how the player reads it and puts the picture on my TV, or how computer code flies through the air and allows my computer to hook into the World Wide Web without wires, which is not surprising seeing as I didn’t understand how it did it with the wires and that crazy beeping noise either. Even mundane issues like how they get the toilet paper so neatly onto the roll escape me. But my lack of understanding of those and countless other subjects do not keep me awake at night.

There are however, some issues that do.

I don’t understand how only those who get their hands dirty are considered to have worked for a living. Or, according to the Obama administration, how union members are entitled to be given ownership shares of the automaker they work for, with no financial investment and a bank president who has worked the entire year, through the toughest conditions since the 1940’s, is informed that he is entitled to nothing at all for 2009.

I don’t understand how those who found, own or run a business are viewed as just lucky and worthy targets of intensified government scrutiny and penalization through increased taxation, while those who work for them, who have a job solely because somebody else worked to create the business, are somehow victims.

I don’t understand how a Commander in Chief could be so concerned about the rights of our sworn enemies that he signed a decree closing the Guantanamo Bay Detention facility within days of taking office without a clue as to what would be done with the detainees, but when it comes to reinforcing our military people already on the battlefield in Afghanistan it takes weeks and possibly months of politically focused meetings for him to make a decision. This even after his handpicked advisor laid out the military strategies for him and the ramifications of inaction.

I don’t understand how we can spend our way out of debt or how sending senior citizen’s checks for $250 when the cost of living went down is fair to those who will eventually have to foot the bill.

I don’t understand how it could be a good idea to legalize marijuana but yet it remains a criminal offense to sell food cooked in trans fats. Am I to believe that the carcinogenic smoke and mind altering THC in pot is less dangerous than a McDonald’s French fry?

I don’t understand how we continue to claim the need for new oppressive taxes in every conceivable area to institute economic recovery when Asia is leading the world’s economies in recovery with 9% annual growth, without doing the same.

I don’t understand how increasing health insurance costs or burying healthcare providers under reams of government paperwork while reducing their payments will improve healthcare. Nor do I understand how we will get a handle on unrealistic malpractice settlements by removing them from the court system but creating government installed panels in their place.

As I said, I freely admit that there are many things I don’t understand. But I fear that in order for me to understand these illustrations and many more like it from the Obama administration I would have to adapt the Jack Nicholson line from “As Good As It Gets”.

First I think like I do now, then I take away all reason and accountability.

Absence Of Evidence

2009-10-18T10:31:00.003-05:00

And now, Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrre’s Ricky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can hear Doc Severinsen and the boys in the band striking up that familiar theme song now.

Hurricane Rick is stalking off the coast of Mexico and climatologists are dusting off their hurricane preparedness pamphlets for what will likely turn out to be yet another dud. To be sure old Rick is kicking up some serious surf right now as a category 5 hurricane, the strongest storm to hit the Pacific in ten years. But it is also predicted to be a nothing more than a soaking rain storm by the time it reaches the Baja Peninsula area later this week.

As I read the news reports about Hurricane Rick it gave me pause. It seems as this year’s hurricane season draws to a close we have once again missed the destructive doom forecast by the global warming crowd. If the near obliteration of mankind that was so ominously predicted 5 years ago is going to take place in the 10 years it was envisioned, it had better get its devastating butt in gear.

The only real change that has transpired in this countdown to doomsday is a subtle but important name change. What started out as manmade global warming and later simply became global warming is now referred to in the more politically correct phraseology of climate change.

The problem with the whole manmade global warming aka climate change theory took shape as institutes of higher learning began to battle each other for the most portentous forecast of catastrophic destruction in an attempt to garner a greater share of the government grant pie. There was no money to be made in an honest appraisal or in investigating other possibilities for what will continue to be proven as temporary anomalies. Corporations were quickly incorporated and savvy politicians like Al Gore invested huge amounts of face time as well as sizable amounts of their own personal wealth to exploit what would become the greatest hoax since Nero blamed the Christians for the great fire of Rome.

Any scientist who dared to challenge the less than scientific science that was predicting these worrisome results were ostracized from the brotherhood and branded as a tool of big business. The same fate awaited any politician or even private citizen who questioned the veracity of the results. It was of course to the benefit of the big business being set up to capitalize on the global warming scare to make sure that no reasonable facts were ever introduced that would muddy the swirling tempest they were creating. And with the news media soundly in their side, that is exactly what they did.

The reason the urgency for proposed immediate action was so intense was so that legislation could be passed and huge sums of money could be set aside before the lack of death and destruction became an issue. Make no mistake about it; had the billions that were proposed been spent 5 years ago, the lack of devastating hurricanes again this year would have been credited to that spending. Not unlike Nancy Pelosi claiming the near trillion dollar non-stimulating stimulus spending has had an enormously positive impact on an economy that is in much worse shape than the climate.

Climate data for the last 10 years shows conclusively that global warming is not global. Extended data from a longer time period shows that climate change is in fact normal and for the most part cyclical.

As congress begins to wrap up its legislation on the non-crisis in healthcare and take up the non-crisis of global warming with Obama’s cap and tax legislation I wonder just how bad the economy has to get before folks start getting a little more rebellious about their representatives focus.

As for me, I’ll be donning the heavy winter parka I have had to wear since the beginning of October because of near freezing temperatures as I go to stand in the bread line.

$250 Per Vote

2009-10-15T13:32:00.002-05:00

I keep waiting for someone to say “April Fools”.

Unfortunately the fools perpetrating this virulent assault on common sense are not confining themselves to a single month. No, this complete disregard for reality has marched steadily through the halls of Congress for the past 9 months and from all appearances will continue its disastrous trek unabated with guiding support of a president who obviously has no grasp of economic reality.

The latest attempt at redefining ridiculous is the Obama administration’s call for Congress to approve a special $250 payment to all seniors on Social Security. $250 may seem like a paltry sum to get upset about, but when you multiply this 2010 midterm election vote incentive by 50 million Social Security recipients it becomes a much more ominous total at just shy of $13 billion. The insanity driving this madness is so profound that I fear some form of medication may be in order.

By the rules that govern Social Security payments seniors will not be entitled to a cost of living increase this year. AARP CEO A. Barry Rand said, "For nearly 35 years, millions of Americans have counted on an annual increase in their monthly Social Security checks to make ends meet." With idiotic statements like that I can only assume what the A. stands for.

The problem with A. Barry’s statement is that in 2008 seniors received the largest percentage increase in their Social Security COLA since 1982. That 5.8% increase was driven largely by skyrocketing energy prices. Inflation figures this year have turned negative thanks to the equally dramatic reduction in energy costs. By law Social Security payments cannot be decreased, but taking last year’s increase versus this year’s negative inflation into consideration seniors are already money ahead.

Sure it’s nice to get free money and there will be a plethora of camera hungry Democrats and their supporters like AARP’s A. Barry Reid to say that seniors “deserve” this money to help offset other expenses. But the money isn’t free and it isn’t being given to help offset anything but negative poll numbers for the 2010 election.

Democrats know they are in hot water for the $1.4 trillion national debt they have amassed thus far with absolutely no positive impact on the economy. They also know that Republicans will resist this attempt at bestowing yet another stipend of Obama Money and further increasing the already untenable deficit. What better way to attempt to get back into the good graces of 50 million senior citizen voters than to send them more “free money”.

Seniors, for the most part, are only looking at their entitlement and will not look at the overall impact this senseless spending will have. Very few will even attempt to understand the ever tightening choke hold this exponentially expanding debt will place on their grandchildren and great grandchildren and beyond.

This use of the national checkbook to garner favorable results in the midterm elections borders on a criminal abuse of power. While it may prove to be a defining moment, Republicans must expose this sham for what it is and oppose it at all costs.

While the country languishes in the abyss of a near economic depression, NASA spends millions to hit the moon with rocket ships. While the streets of our major cities are strewn with the lifeless victims of gang warfare our government sends hundreds of millions to countries like Ireland to help keep the peace in their streets. And while millions of able bodied Americans continue to struggle to find employment in an economy that is forecast to remain inhospitable for at least the next 12 months our Democrat led Congress and community activist President wants to add even more to the debt by sending bribes to the elderly.

Social Security is scheduled to pay out more this year and next then they will be taking in thanks to the huge increase in unemployment. If the President and Congress truly want to help seniors they need to focus on that issue rather than continuing to inflate the debt and delay the recovery.

I would say that the Democrats are spending like drunken sailors, but drunken sailors spend their own money.

CNBC - Buy The Book

2009-10-14T15:19:00.000-05:00

Just in time for holiday gift giving, a new and improved history.

As someone who tracks the financial markets I have been a fairly faithful watcher of CNBC. While I wouldn’t trust the parent company NBC for the correct time, I have found that CNBC has a pretty good group of correspondents that keep abreast of breaking news. They also have some pretty talented traders and hedge fund managers that can spot trends and make recommendations.

To be sure, most of these learned market gurus missed the credit collapse and the devastating impact it had on all things financial. But when looking at the recent past, everyone, including the Icon from Omaha, Warren Buffet missed the signs of impending doom. CNBC’s madman commentator Jim Cramer unjustly took it in the chin from Barack Obama to the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart and all points in between.

The sad fact is that almost everybody missed the warning signs because the collapse of the worldwide financial markets was as a result of a new set of rules. Congress changed the credit markets when it mandated home mortgages be given to folks who could not pay them back. Wall Street jumped on board with both feet looking to do what Wall Street does, make a buck. But reality has a way of trumping even the best of intentions and trillions of dollars of wealth were lost in a rapid decline of the market and an equally rapid disintegration of available credit.

CNBC’s David Faber was one of the first to publish a book about the collapse in his detailed account of Wall Street’s failings titled “And Then the Roof Caved In”. Faber’s book gives a detailed explanation of the various financial and investment tools developed and used to make money during the galactic expansion of the residential mortgage market. He explains the packaging and repackaging of mortgage backed securities and the devastating impact felt by investors worldwide when their AAA rated securities turned into junk bonds. He was however, extremely careful to absolve the US Congress and then President Bill Clinton of any blame for the genesis of this financial hysteria. I can begrudgingly overlook the blatant partisanship of Faber’s book out of appreciation for the worthy information contained about the financial packages. But history was at least tampered with in his non-factual assessment of responsibility.

But now CNBC’s Charlie Gasparino comes out with his new book “The Sellout”. It’s not new for Gasparino to come out with additional income earning books, this one being his third. But much like Faber, Gasparino’s political leanings are in full view in his less than impartial reasoning. It is also not that I mind CG writing any kind of book he wants and making a few extra bucks, but his liberal leaning is becoming more apparent during his on air discussions in what I can only surmise is an attempt to increase book sales.

During an on air interview Gasparino lit into the upcoming quarterly report of Goldman Sachs. Goldman is expected to announce a hugely profitable quarter and therefore some very hefty bonuses for those responsible for making it happen. Gasparino repeatedly damned the success and planned bonuses at Goldman fallaciously claiming they had just been bailed out by the taxpayers. “I don’t care what anybody says. They got bailed out” he said.

The facts are that Goldman neither wanted nor needed the $10 billion given to them in TARP funds. They resisted at every level until Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke made it clear that everyone had to participate so as not to draw undue attention to those that actually needed the money. He also made it clear that this was NOT a voluntary program. Goldman took the money, held it and returned it as soon as the government would allow them to do so. Those are the facts.

Gasparino began to get into areas like the benefit Goldman experienced from the AIG bailout, which while true, was not done for the purpose of benefitting Goldman but rather to save the few trillion in pension funds AIG managed.

Goldman suggested they may give a portion of their earnings to a charitable organization, but even that was not enough to placate Gasparino. It was remarkably apparent that Charlie was looking to make a point and equally apparent he was looking to sell a few books and rewrite history.

This is an extremely dangerous precedent being set and plays directly into the hands of those that are looking to rewrite history and have us believe that everything Wall Street is evil and we are the poor victims of unbridled greed. I watch CNBC for news and informed commentary, not a political talking point and an infomercial about a new book.

At least I did.

Fox News Business Channel is getting a lot more of my attention.

PS – As I write this Goldman Sachs stock is hitting a new 52 week high. Nice try Charlie.

Rama Jama Limbaugh

2009-10-13T11:34:00.002-05:00

“He has made his wealth appealing to the fears of whites”

With that comment and a bevy of other incendiary statements the good Reverend Jesse Jackson has thrown down the gauntlet in his battle to keep Rush Limbaugh from ownership of an NFL franchise. Jackson is joined in his efforts by the Tweedledum to his Tweedledee, the right Reverend Al Sharpton.

Limbaugh is looking to partner with the St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checkettes to buy the hapless St. Louis Rams football team. Limbaugh has the dough and Checkettes involvement in St. Louis sports should boost fan support by reducing (but certainly not eliminating) the possibility of moving the franchise to another city. Limbaugh is a Missouri native growing up a hundred miles down the road from St. Louis in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He is also a football fanatic and a remarkably successful businessman. Checkettes is a major league sports veteran having been the youngest chief executive in the history of the NBA after he was named president and general manager of the Utah Jazz at the age of 28. Checkettes has served in numerous sports related positions including CEO of Madison Square Garden and owns Sports Capital Worldwide a consulting and investment firm for sports franchises.

Successful businessmen with a passion for sports. Sounds like a great pair of professionals for NFL team ownership, right? Well, not in this seedy world of political correctness at all costs.

Jackson and Sharpton are desperate to regain at least a modicum of significance in the age of Barack Obama. Both of these veteran pot stirrers have been neutered in their efforts to remain in the headlines and, more importantly, in the heads of the black community. Every grab these two publicity hounds have made for front page coverage have fizzled thanks to the historic inauguration of a black president. They don’t matter, and they don’t like it.

Limbaugh steps into this catfight with some baggage of his own, not the least of which is his remark as commentator on ESPN that Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb was overrated and the only reason he received so much attention was that the press was desperate for a black quarterback to succeed. ESPN disavowed any concurrence with that opinion and Limbaugh resigned rather than retract. There was much discussion and accusations of racism after the comment but nobody dared address if it was true. Was it provocative? Yes. Was it true? Absolutely!

But this campaign to thwart Limbaugh’s efforts is not about racism. It’s about giving two tired old show ponies a chance to strut their stuff in front of an audience again instead of shipping them off the glue factory. Limbaugh is outspoken and sometimes brash in his conservative message. But he is never, I repeat, never racist. If anybody has made a living, and a pretty good living at that, by being divisive and pitting one racial group against another it has been the pandemic duo of Jackson and Sharpton. It is their only claim to fame. A fame they both desperately want to rekindle.

The J&A team have been supposedly joined in their efforts by NFL Player Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith. Smith delivered a prepared statement last Sunday, but as is the case with many lawyer’s statements it’s tough to make out exactly what he’s trying to say. "I have asked our players to embrace their roles not only in the game of football but also as players and partners in the business of the NFL," Smith said. "They risk everything to play this game, they understand that risk and they live with that risk and its consequences for the rest of their life. We also know that there is an ugly part of history and we will not risk going backwards, giving up giving in or lying down to it."

I’m not sure I understand what point Mr. Smith is trying to make, but I’m pretty sure Rush Limbaugh would not increase the risk NFL player’s face in the field. And if the NFL Players Association truly want to be partners in the business of football maybe they should ante up the capital to buy the Rams.

As for the ugly part of history, if Mr. Smith is talking about slavery, it was abolished by the Emancipation Proclamation.

And once again by free agency.