The Sky’s The Limit

Well, maybe not.

The Scott Brown win in Massachusetts made him realize what the problem is. Yup, he gleaned from this jaw dropping win by a Republican in the bastion of ‘blueness’ that he wasn’t close enough to the people’s message…and that they crave even more change…and that they’re still reeling from the bad policies of the previous eight years. In remarks made to George Stephanopoulos during an interview for “ABC World News”,  Obama said:

“People are angry and they are frustrated. Not just because of what’s happened in the last year or two years, but what’s happened over the last eight years.”

I’m not kidding you; Obama blames George W. Bush for REPUBLICAN Scott Brown’s stunning election. You simply can’t make this stuff up!

Obama better not toe the waters of tarot card or tea leaf reading once we ‘retire’ him in 2013. It’s readily apparent that he doesn’t have a grasp for even the most painfully obvious — that the election of Scott Brown was a direct repudiation of Obama’s policies and agenda. Sure, Obama enjoys a cachet and certain personal popularity, but the majority of Americans have no stomach for his progressive/socialist policies.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but this incessant carping and grousing about the previous administration is beyond tiring. Insofar as I remember, Obama has been the chief executive for (now) more than a year. Sure, he did inherit a terrible financial situation (but he and the Democrats aren’t absolved as it was almost entirely of their own making), but he has spent trillions of our dollars to attempt to make things better, so his stamp and his mark are now on the economy.

And what he and the majority Democrats have done hasn’t help our country’s situation by any measurable economic metric. So, Obama has had one poorly performing year by any evaluation. Now, let’s look back at the eight year Bush administration…and with the exception of the second half of the last year when the financial institutions melted down, the remaining seven years were typified by low unemployment, an increasing stock market and stable home values and sales. I seem to remember a fairly prosperous stretch of years under George W. Bush.

But now we have a man in office who was smack-sure that he was the answer to our serious problems. He thought he could change our nation by sheer force of personality, and that his policies could bail out the foundering ship USS America. But we’ve lived through a year now of Obama’s vision of the new America, and it appears to frighten a vast number of Americans. His constantly evoking the  “previous failed administration” only serves to diminish his own. It might be red meat to the true believers and the Obama Kool Aid drinkers to cultivate this political fetish, but the rest of us desire a forward looking leader rather than a man staring fixated (with a whopper case of Bush Derangement Syndrome) in the rear view mirror.

It’s all about vision and nothing to do with hindsight. You threw your hat into the ring to lead, so do it!

President Obama, it’s time to fess up and take the hit on this. The Massachusetts senatorial election was a more-than-obvious repudiation of your policies. People are willing to give you, the man, a break and wish you success in future endeavors — as president, your success is OUR success. But in terms of your policies and your big government agenda, we’d rather a more reasonable approach. Like less spending, less restrictions and like being allowed to conduct our business unfettered by the intrusion of the federal government. Simply put, we like the Constitution and would like a government that is willing to obey and adhere to it’s precepts.

The sooner you’re willing to admit this fact to yourself and to the American people, the sooner you can get on the road to recovery and enlightenment.

But I for one won’t hold my breath until this happens…

Yes, this morning a new item that appeared on the White House bill of fare for Barack Obama after the remarkable win by Scott Brown in Massachusetts.

Humble pie.

That’s right, the formerly hubris-soaked POTUS will now have to ramp down his goals now that it’s not a sure bet that his agenda can’t be rammed down our throats any more like feed down the gullet of a pâté goose. If he’s a realist, he’s going to have to eat a heaping helping of humble pie and change his political tack from hard left to more centrist. He can make this adjustment kicking-and-screaming, or he can change for the benefit of the American people. And we all know that ‘change’ is an entrenched word in his lexicon.

If absolute power corrupts absolutely, then the legislative power that Obama let slip through his fingers by his politically-hyperactive agenda must have left him with a god-man syndrome not experienced since the Pharaohs. Oh what a power trip it must have been. But the operative word in that last sentence is ‘must’…because Obama is now assuredly (and essentially) a lame duck as a progressive and he will have to adapt to circumstances beyond his control in order to create or salvage a presidential legacy for himself.

Because it’s all gone for him. Over the span of a mere thirteen hours the voters in the bluest and ‘moonbattiest’ of the United States sent a rejection notice regarding Obama’s agenda, in particular regarding health care, to him and the remainder of the megalomaniac, Democrat-controlled Congress. Even to the most hardened Democrats in Mass., the stench of backroom deals, special interests cave ins and liberty infringements in Washington was just too much. At their core, even the most politically-marbled Democrats are still US citizens with an acute awareness of their Constitutional rights and liberties.

So, here we are at the 1st anniversary of his inauguration. What lesson will Mr. Obama take away from the amazing result of yesterday’s special senatorial election? Will the unexpected and improbable result be the cause of introspection and a re-evaluation of the unpopular policies of the current administration?

My first inclination is NOT LIKELY! The president and his advisers are motivated progressives, and they will be unwilling to let the gold ring of health care “reform” slip from their grasp from this setback, regardless of how the tea leaves read. Does anyone think that the results of a single election will chasten these hard line oligarchs and one-worlders?

However, and there always is a however, these are also craven politicians that we’re talking about. I believe that Obama and his minions enjoy their position and their power, and if they don’t do SOMETHING then they will enjoy a short tenure in their positions. Whether they admit their recognition of the plain and simple truth or not, they do I assure you. The present political zeitgeist is the oxygen in the atmosphere that they inhabit. Without their finger on the pulse of the public they cannot craft an adequate populist stance on issues.

So, if Obama and the Democrats don’t engage in the requisite introspection and contrition after Scott Brown’s victory, then it’s up to us to DEMAND IT. We need to make it abundantly clear that we first and foremost want public servants willing to do our bidding…and not craven politicians who feather their own nests using swag and support from special interests and party politicos. We expect them to learn their lessons from this watershed moment in Massachusetts, and we need to impress upon them that if they don’t, they will be gone on our terms, not theirs.

Because the premiere lesson to be learned from last night’s victory by Senator-elect Brown is that the political positions in the White House and in the Congress don’t belong to them, they belong to us.

And yesterday should have been a shining reminder of that one simple fact…

Okay, the campaign is just about over. Not many hours remain in this fight to be our next U.S. Senator, and the choice couldn’t be clearer.

On the one side, we have the Democrat Martha Coakley who represents the entrenched, corrupt majority party in Washington, DC (and in our home state of Massachusetts). Candidate Coakley has closely aligned herself with the contemptible and unpopular Obama legislative agenda, and she has indicated she will be a reliable 60th vote for all his cockamamie schemes. She is undoubtedly a cog in the powerful Democratic political machine.

On the other hand, we have Republican Scott Brown, an independent-minded statesman who has directly indicated that he will be the 41st vote for a successful Republican filibuster to derail the odious Obamacare legislation that is now being conferenced behind closed doors by the Democrat leaders.

Scott has run a magnificent, positive campaign that has focused on his citizen-centric political philosophy. He understands and has understood that the seat he is running for belongs to US, the people of Massachusetts. He has worked hard, criss-crossing the state –  shaking hands, meeting people and getting his message out there. He wants the job because he wants to REPRESENT us and be a voice for our concerns. And his observation during the last senatorial debate that it “isn’t the Kennedy seat, not the Democrat’s seat — it’s the people’s seat” galvanized even the most skeptical fence-sitting independents (and erstwhile Democrats) who sat on the fence until that time.

So, it’s now time to take action. It’s time to cast our precious votes. It’s time to take back our government and restore sanity and balance to the political circus in Washington. We in Massachusetts have the unique opportunity to loudly reject the far-left policies of the Obama-Reid-Pelosi troika, and to reset the thinking and the political landscape in the nation’s capital. Certainly we can accept and embrace the status quo in government and allow our Constitutional rights to be run over roughshod, or we can act as the first patriots did in our great state and chose the candidate who will act as a brake to the unpopular, socialist plans. And the candidate who will observe unwavering allegiance to the Constitution.

Please join me tomorrow as I cast my vote for Scott Brown for U.S. Senator. Scott has the demonstrated legislative record, temperament and background to be an outstanding United States senator. I believe that he will make us proud of our vote for him, and as a result we will finally get a long-overdue balance of political viewpoint in our senatorial delegation.

Get out tomorrow and vote for Scott.

GO SCOTT, GO!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

A little late, but late is better than never!

The holidays took their toll on me this year…so much to do, so little time. But it’s now time to get back to commenting on a regular basis…with all the treachery and evil political chicanery going on in Washington and elsewhere…and try to make sense of the truly frightening things that are happening to and that are planned for our country.

Stop back because it looks like the “Liberty Clock” is overdue for an adjustment towards it’s inexorable swing towards midnight. I might be a tad delayed in my assessment of the liberty climate in the US, given all the backroom dealings and behind-closed-doors “deliberations” and deal making by our elected leaders. By all indications it appears that the average citizen is just a fifth wheel in the whole political process — we are useful idiots to be milked of our votes when the time is right and then we are faceless, angry miscreants when our ersatz representatives stab us in the front when they ignore our will and do what is perceived to be the best for their political party.

So, I’ll be back to my humble commentary for as long as the powers that be allow me to do so. Because I fear it’s come to that, and we are dangerously close to losing our God-given Constitutional rights in a torrent of “change.”

I hope I’m wrong as Americans are plucky, resilient people and they have a visceral sense of right and wrong, and many if not most cling to their rights because they realize how hard it is to retain them or get them back once they’ve been ceded to the government. The nascent Tea Party movement gives me hope that we still live among patriots, regardless of their treatment by the cruel and feckless mainstream media. (Perhaps 2010 is the perfect opportunity to relegate the ‘lamestream’ media to the ash heap of history. I intend to eschew the use of all mainstream media sources, with the shining exception of Fox News, this year. Frankly, I’m sick of being talked down at and lied to.)

Enough of my cheerfulness. It’s a new year and a new opportunity to put up the good fight. Because that is the ONLY way that we are going to retain our nation in a form that we can recognize from our past experiences.

With a good fight.

Happy New Year and God Bless America!

So, it’s come to this?

The simple act of governance and representation of the American people has become so debased and corrupted that we can now expect (what appear to be at face value) recalcitrant legislators brought into the party line with a combination of bribes, threats and/or other such motivators. Just between former senatorial holdouts Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Ben Nelson (D-NE), there were more monetary promises given to them than the combined yearly operating budgets of the entire republic before 1815! And who knows how many other sweetheart deals and goodies lie hidden, from the countless hours of “negotiations” and outright buy-offs, in the heretofore unseen pages of the senate “reform” bill? But from the two examples that I’ve provided, we know that there are ‘accommodations’ that have been made to secure passage of this measure. Accommodations using our money and increasing the debt that our grandchildren will be forced to repay.

Imagine that?

We are witnessing, first person, the degradation of our once great nation into a banana republic, complete with dispassionate oligarchs willing to place their political party allegiance über alles. So what if a particular issue that is close to the heart of the Democrat party chafes at the sensibilities of the American public at large? Like the health care “reform” being force fed to our society by 60 senators and 205 representatives in the Congress.

But why this bill…and why now?

By all accounts, the senate version of health care reform is a shell of the measure that most or all Democrat legislators want. It is not the “universal” health care goody bag that the departed Ted Kennedy pushed so hard for during his time in the oligarchy. It is rather a cobbled-together framework that turns health insurance into a function for which we do not have an adequate definition in the English language. All national opinion polls indicate that the overwhelming majority of Americans do not favor the present attempt at health care reform, particularly during this time of high financial uncertainty. Because of changes to the legislation in order to achieve compromise, support has even eroded from the left side of the political spectrum — in the form of unions and ‘progressive’ political action groups. The complaint from these groups is that the legislation simply doesn’t go far enough to socialize medicine.

So, why would the Democrats, lemming-like and in lockstep, march towards the precipice of political disaster. Certainly they all know the political risks and baggage that passing an unpopular piece of legislation can bring them. Certainly they understand the contempt that many Americans feel for them based on the glimpses that we have been given into the legislative sausage-making activity. Certainly they know that they desired a top-of-the-line Mercedes and no they must settle for a used Kia with two flat tires. And certainly they know that some of them are ending their political careers (based on the current and not expected to diminish ire of the voting public) based on this single vote — a vote which will be made a major campaign issue in the mid-term elections of 2010 and 2011.

It seems like so much of a fight to get what is essentially pennies on the dollar in political return for these proved craven politicos. So, there must be some other motivation or reward that trumps even individual political careers. But what could it be?

We all know that the Holy Grail of progressive thinkers is the conversion of our nation into a socialist Utopia. Folks of this ilk think we need a ‘living’ Constitution and that in order to achieve an egalitarian Eden here in the US, we all need to buck up and compromise some of our constitutional rights. So, perhaps this legislation is test case for the progressives. It is now a baby step in the direction of that living Constitution so coveted by the socialist progressives. It might mot seem like much on the surface or on a cursory analysis, but forcing citizens to buy insurance may be the “camel’s nose in the tent” test case that emboldens the far-left political thinkers, and will make other future legislation more dangerous (from a rights and liberties standpoint) to the average American citizen.

This is a clarion wake up call for each citizen!

I sure hope that people wake up. I sure hope that the Tea Party movement indicates a ground-swell of realization that the Constitution belongs to each of us, and not to “them.” And by them I mean our president, congressmen, senators and other elected officials. They are our REPRESENTATIVES! They are supposed to act in our best interests and not in theirs. They are supposed to vote based upon our wishes, and not based on what they think is best for us. And most importantly, they are supposed to treat the Constitution with the utmost deference and respect.

However, the handling of the health care reform in the Senate illustrates just how corrupted the process of representative governance has become in our country. We citizen-idiots (or at least that’s how we’re thought of, wholesale, by our betters in Washington, DC) are just supposed to elect representative oligarchs who then are expected to cater to the whims and caprice of political parties and powerful special interests in an effort to further the political ambitions and desires of all involved. But the one thing that gets lost in all this party- and power-centric adulation and aggrandizement is the Constitution, and the fact that the purpose of this noble document is the preservation of a citizen-centric nation.

Amazingly, we are witnessing first-hand that our current crop of elected representatives don’t care a whit about the Constitution and it’s relationship to individuals. Otherwise each and every legislator would be decrying the fact that for the first time in the history of our nation, and in direct contravention of the Constitution, citizens will be mandated to procure a good or service as a basic requirement of citizenship. This is an area where we must expect that our representatives will not compromise under any circumstances…yet one which they abandon with effortlessly in order to achieve political party or individual gain.

So I ask you — Is this “Representation?”

The representatives in the Congress may have been elected under the political system allowed under the Constitution. But their actions have revealed that they do not “represent.” Rather, they rule, govern and mandate — and they do so in high dudgeon. They act as representatives in name only. Unfortunately, the sad part is that they do not try to hide their faux nobility nor do many of them hide their contempt and disdain for the people whom they purport to represent.

It is high time that we American citizens take back our nation. We need to interrupt our busy lives and reclaim our rightful place in the political process — as ever vigilant guardians of our Constitutional rights and liberties. We need to restore the citizen-centricity to the political process…and remove the importance of vocal and wealthy special interests from the political equation. We need to speak with a unified voice on this issue, and we must be heard.

And if no one listens, then it’s high time we threw the bums out! We need to remeber our outrage…and not simmer down where we forgive and forget. Because our passivity and past blind fealty to a political party will only obtain us a formerly unthinkable and (formerly) unconstitutional subservience to an ever-increasing in size and in power government. We need to do this while we are still freeborn men and women with Constitutionally-guaranteed rights (including the right to be outraged and the right to ‘unelect’ a particular representative) and before we are snookered into ceding these rights (and perhaps liberties) to fulfill a hidden progressive agenda.

I say that if the progressives want the form of government that they desire…then they have every right to invade and colonize some unsuspecting third-world nation and get things started. But in the mean time, leave my nation and my Constitution alone…and leave me alone. Because I suspect I’m not alone when I promise that in the future when my rights and liberties are put in jeopardy to satisfy some socialist desire, I will go all Ethan Allen at the ballot box on the perpetrator(s). And I bet that there are countless millions upon millions of other ‘Green Mountain Boys (and Girls)’ out there to join me!

Don’t tread on us!!

The highly “principled” Ben Nelson (D-NE) has shown that he, like Mary Landrieu before him, has a price and he’s not afraid to throw the fates of 300 million Americans under the bus to achieve his pay day. He’s not afraid to place his shameful treachery before the view of the unapproving American public. Once the lone holdout in thwarting the passage of the grotesquely surgically-altered Obamacare legislation in the Senate, after round-the-clock “negotiating” with senate Prince of Darkness Harry Reid (D-NV) over the past two days, Nelson secured ‘generous parting gifts’ for the state of Nebraska in return for his ‘YEA.’ The deal that he is purported to have struck is free Medicaid payments to Nebraska from the federal government in perpetuity!

Such a deal!! The rest of us saddled with the worst part of the deal he has caved in to get to pay for his duplicity. Talk about having your cake and eating it too.

However, lost in all this deal making was the fact that there was very little compromise on Reid’s part to address the “principled” part of Nelson’s initial objection — the coverage of abortion with federal dollars and the need for inclusion of wording like the infamous Stupak amendment in the House bill. So, rather than finding Nelson to be the highly principled patriot that he claimed to be, we see him in the full light of the sun now that the rock he’s been hiding under has been upended. He’s nothing but a cheap vote and goody whore (like the good Senator Landrieu of the “Louisiana Purchase” fame!) He apparently has the ability to drop his closest held principles like a hot potato when “Mr. Green” enters the room. You know Mr. Green — he’s related to the Benjamins and the Grants, if you know what I mean.

So, now we have 60 little Democrats all lined up in a row raring to vote to pass a bill that they were never privy to in hard copy form till now, and raring to vote for it in record time for such sweeping legislation. Just the fact that Reid and Obama want such speedy passage of this legislative Frankenstein’s monster makes me sure that there is political chicanery and outright deception buried in its 2000+ pages — not to mention the 725+ page manager’s amendment drafted by Reid. Honestly, how can 100 senators give proper study and consideration to such a large piece of legislation given the aggressive time frame between which they were provided the bill (in its final form) and the date it is to be voted upon?

Fellow Americans, we sheep are having the wool pulled over our eyes by these craven partisan politicians. Even in our stong opposition to this legislative insanity (all major polls indicate that more than 55% of American oppose this legislation and less than 45% approve of it.) Shouldn’t the citizens in polls, at town meetings, at rallies and at Tea Party evens be heard and given their due deference and consideration?

According to the 60 little Democrats lined in a row the answer is an unequivocal “NO!!”

This Congress had its opportunity to put forth meaningful, bipartisan legislation to fix the key areas that help drive up the cost of health care, like tort reform and inter-state insurance policy availability. But seeing that neither of these plain view, common sense issues are integrated into this naked attempt to take over the medical industry and put it under the purview of government bureaucrats, I guess we see what the true aims and purpose of the Democrat majority in Congress and in the White House.

And they are represented in large part by and now synonymous with the “principled” Mr. Nelson of Nebraska. The man who held out, then sold out his constituents and his country for what amounts to a modern ration of 20 pieces of silver.

Enjoy your “victory” while you can, oh ye 60 Judases…because your actions have unleashed a truly vengeful genie from it’s sleeping place where it had been bottled up for so many years. Because the way I see it, any senator who votes for this flawed piece of legislation will have Hell to pay…and will face the fury of angry constituents with long memories, and they will find themselves in the future with a new, unplanned political career.

UNELECTED!!

The US Congress and our president are engaged in a full court press to achieve their Holy Grail political objective –the control of the US health care system. The president and the Senate leadership in the person of Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) are pulling out all the stops…making promises and giving huge monetary considerations to fence sitting legislators and making not-so-veiled threats to those senators who oppose the legislation as it stands due to the inclusion of abortion funding, etc.

They are oh so close…they can taste victory and they are counting the millions of new and grateful voters that their naked exercise in largess redistribution will acquire. The end game is upon them, and they don’t want a few principled and stubborn senators standing in the way of their supposed celebration.

But these hardened politicians are forgetting two facts in their single-minded quest for perpetual political primacy — the opposition of the American people to their scheme and the questionable constitutionality of the forced acquisition by the government of health insurance for individual citizens. The constitutionality issue will certainly be sorted out by the courts, but this leaves the opposition of Americans to this plan. All major American pollsters show that a majority of Americans are opposed to so-called Obamacare in either of it’s congressional incarnations. In fact, the Rasmussen organization has consistently shown a plurality of Americans opposed to the health care “reform” since late July. The latest poll, done December 12-13 reveals 40% in favor and 56% opposed to Congress’ labors on health care “reform.”

This differential would be coveted by any of the incumbent vote whores as a margin of victory in an election campaign. But as a measure of the will of the American people in opposition to health care reform, they show disdain, defiance and disrespect to our wishes. See, they know what’s best for us…even over our best protestations. But it’s not so much what’s best for us, it’s what’s best for the Democrats and their future political ambitions. This is less an exercise in protecting the uninsured from catastrophic health expenses as it is floorplanning the sub rosa socialist conquest of the USA.

Right now, Obama and the Congressional leadership are willing to lose a few Democratic members in the upcoming mid term election in order to capture the gold ring known as health care reform. Again, it’s not about us, it’s all about them.

I say let them turn a deaf ear to our wishes. Let them live in a political vacuum while eying only the prize at hand. Their actions are completely within their own power and purview — they can do what’s in our interests or in theirs. But I caution them to do so at their own peril. They may think that they can bully the heretofore timid puppy called the American voter because they control the presidency, the House and the Senate. But I assure them that this year will be different: Rather than a timid puppy visiting the polling places this fall they will instead encounter a bared-fang pit bull ready to rip out their political throats!

So, ignore and defy the will of the people, but do so at your own peril. Because I feel that your legislative victory will be short-lived, but at a great cost to the Democratic party and to individuals within it. I suspect that the Republicans will repeal this legislative monstrosity at the first opportunity that they get. And the architects of this whole mess will be left on the outside looking in…wondering in awe about the will of the American people that can, at the right time, surpass petty political ambitions.

The political climate in Washington is the most mean, perverse and polarized as it has ever been in the long history of our nation. At this point in time we have grown men and women, our supposed “representatives,” acting like spoiled and selfish  children in a quest to obtain political primacy over one another. Republicans and Democrats alike act and say things that only serve to benefit the party or the party line. This fact wouldn’t be so galling to me if the reason that these numskulls were in Washington in the first place wasn’t to represent us, the American people in our government, and to act as strict guardians of our constitutional rights.

For you see, there are no provisions for politically polarized parties and affiliations in the Constitution. The way I see it, the Founders wanted our representatives to be ardent proponents of our individual rights. I believe that the Founders never dreamed (or intended) that our legislators would pass law after law that infringes or outright abridges our Constitutional rights. And neither did the Founders anticipate that legislatively lazy elected officials would try at every turn to skirt the Constitution…or create legislation so constitutionally flawed that they simply “throw it out there” and let the Supreme Court settle things. That is not lawmaking…nor is it representation with a strict fealty to the Constitution. It is craven political gainsay that not only borders on criminal behavior, it leaps over the line.

Our elected representatives are supposed to be our insurance policy that the constitutional rights and liberties of the people in the districts which they represent are unassailed, regardless of the noble intent of the lawmaker proposing the legislation. If a well-intentioned law violates my constitutional rights and/or limits my liberties, then it is a bad law. It’s as simple a concept as that!

But making things so very complicated are the intergalactic-sized sums of money necessary to run the bloated government that our elected representatives now use to their personal benefit. Providing for our defense and insuring that we have the adequate tools and infrastructure for vigorous interstate commerce aside, our nation is involved in a spending orgy that would put any nation, past or present, to shame. We, the people, have allowed the legislative process to become a greedy and sinful proposition. We also have allowed political parties, unaccounted for in our Constitution, to ride roughshod over our governmental and legislative processes. As 19^th century English writer and historian Thomas B. Macaulay so presciently put this:

“A democracy cannot survive as a permanent form of government. It can only last until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largess from the public treasury. From that moment on the majority will always cast their ballots for the candidates promising [the] most benefits from the public purse with the result that a democracy always collapses from loose fiscal policies, always followed by a dictatorship.”

Why was this message so clear to Macaulay yet it is so difficult a concept for the modern American citizen to grasp? Perhaps we just don’t care. Perhaps we’re caught up in the 24/7 ‘greed-a-thon’ that government has become. Perhaps we don’t fully understand that WE are the ultimate guardians of our rights and liberties, and that we cannot trust any elected representative to be a faithful custodian of these precious quantities for us. I don’t know, but I believe there is something else afoot. I think that over time we have allowed government to exist for government’s sake, and not for ours. Government is supposed to be our facilitator and servant, and not vice versa. However, by education and practice we have become indoctrinated and inured to an all-powerful government structure dictating what rights and responsibilities we will have. And we have allowed our elected representatives, regardless of their noble intentions when seeking public office, to feed the beast called government when they become elected: Elected and entrenched like a malignant cancer because of the corrupt and contemptible political system.

This corruption of process hasn’t happened overnight. And it wasn’t accomplished by any one set of legislatures or individuals. Rather, it has been a slow, insidious occurrence that has crept into accepted practice on its tiptoes over the past century or so. We now suffer under a system that would be simply revolting to the Founders, yet we call it (and accept it) with an almost fatalistic resignation as “the way things are done.” To our collective shame and denigration, we have allowed those who should represent us with a sense of fear and awe to rule us with an obvious contempt and detachment. The process of governance has become turned upside down…with the emphasis taken away from the rights and the “welfare” of the individual and replaced with a perverse legislative self-aggrandizement and personal enrichment modus operandi by all of our elected representatives. We have allowed ourselves to be replaced on the legislative pinnacle by greedy and power hungry oligarchs.

I often think it might take a theatrical moment from both The Godfather and A Christmas Carol motion pictures to move the present set of Washington lawmakers to a constitutional epiphany — to in essence reset the process. Rather than a severed horse’s head being placed in Moe Green’s bed by the mafiosi in the Corleone crime family, we need parchment-paged copies of the Constitution to be placed on the night stands of each and every one of the almost 500 members of Congress as well as that of the president so that they may be reminded of the precise reason that they get to enjoy the good life in Washington, DC. And to add a theatrical flourish to further drive the point home, those copies of the Constitutional should be placed there accompanied by other-worldly wailing from the ultimate “Ghost of American Patriots Past,” none other than Thomas Jefferson. If each modern-day politician could be given the tongue lashing and vigorous scolding that they richly deserve by the prototypical American legislator then perhaps some, if not all, would awaken from their self-absorbed funk and repent, Scrooge-like — and begin to do the job that we citizens expect and that the Constitution demands.

Otherwise, we are fated to have our individual rights eroded by the very people we entrust with them. And, I’m afraid, that we’re doomed as a nation because as we are fast approaching the tipping point where there are more of our citizens who are dependent upon the Frankenstein monster government and the corrupt and contemptible “representatives” that we elect over and over and over again. And these co-dependent citizens will demand more and more entitlements and goodies, which will be gleefully provided by the vote-seeking politicians. This is a vicious cycle that begs to be broken if we care one whit about our children and heirs.

I can see why the Tea Party movement has gathered such momentum in a rather short period of time. I’m with them…I fully understand the personal consequences we all will be forced to bear if a politically partisan and out of (constitutional) control government is allowed to gain more power from or dictate more behaviors to us. It is time to reset our government to a place that would feel comfortable to the Founders. It will be a painful process…and many people will be expected to now contribute as productive members of our society rather than as politically cultivated parasites. The responsibility that we are told comes with freedom works both ways, not only for the taxpayer and the productive, but also for the recipient and the drain on our nation. It’s time to pay the piper, and the debt is enormous! But this pain we will encounter will be small in comparison to the pain of waking up some day and realizing that our status as freeborn citizens is but a fond memory of the past, and we could have done something to stop this loss.

It’s up to us, the individual citizens, to make up our minds and to demand that we return to strict constitutional fealty in all facets of life as a nation. We can passively accept the inevitable future…or we can get actively involved as modern-day patriots and rekindle the American spirit that our Founders bravely implemented in our young nation over 220 years ago. What these brave men and women colonist patriots accomplished with the spilling of their precious blood all those many years ago, we may accomplished today with our voices and with our votes.

If we are wise enough to do so. If we are dedicated and disciplined enough to put the Constitution before our personal gain. And if we are brave enough to utter a new rallying cry:

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!

The New York  Times and various other organs of the US mainstream media have, in the eyes of many of their critics including yours truly, refused to give adequate reportage and coverage to the ever-expanding, so-called Climategate story. The Times has used several print “journalists” to pooh-pooh the brewing scandal involving scientific corruption at the University of Norwich’s Climate Research Unit (CRU) in East Anglia, UK. But the silence at the NYT regarding this important scandal is deafening, particularly so in light of the now-convened Copenhagen conference.

I won’t bore anyone with the the gory details of the Climategate brouhaha except for this brief chronological summary:

• Approximately 8-10 weeks ago hackers stole 60+MB of e-mails, programs and data from the CRU. The after several attempts elsewhere in the world, the e-mails were posted on a public-access web server in Russia. within days, the e-mails were being reviewed and analyzed by countless global warming skeptics and others in the worldwide scientific and journalistic community.
• Multiple, credible sources have evaluate the e-mails and found them to be damning of the scientific methods and practices in regards to evaluating climatological data collected/warehoused by the CRU. This includes data manipulation to force trends and cherry-picking data to suit preconceived notions. It also revealed that the group of in vogue, esteemed climate scientists are practicing a new, seemingly politically-motivated, brand of the scientific method. In their own words they exclude contrary scientific opinions from the debate and ostracize those they deem dangerous to their orthodoxy.
• Multiple, credible analyses have been performed on the snippets of computer programs pilfered from the CRU. Many contain “fixes, ” “cheats” and “tricks” to cherry-pick data and then plot the results in a biased manner…and always towards global heating owing to the numerical offset coefficients purposely included in the programs.
• The e-mails were authenticated by members of the CRU staff and purportedly have not been altered or edited.
• The Climategate story catches fire on the internet and becomes one of the more popular news stories worldwide in spite of the dearth of coverage in the US mainstream media.

An excellent summary of the entire Climategate affair is available from the SPPI by Lord Christopher Moncton, a notable and articulate skeptic of the global warming movement. You can find it in PDF form HERE. You should notice that not a single mainstream news organization, with the exception of FOX News, has covered Lord Moncton’s scathing recap of Climategate and its implications to the present negotiations in Copenhagen. The New York Times, it seems, is AWOL on this issue. See, they have journalistic principles that won’t allow them to publish the purloined e-mails — it just wouldn’t be fair. This coming from the same “news” organization that had no compunction in printing leaked or stolen memoranda and documents during the years of the Bush administration that would tarnish reputations or otherwise place egg on that administration’s face.

But the global warming alarmists and “scientists” enjoy protected status among the so-called journalists in our mainstream media because they share the same ideological bent as does the editorial and rank-and-file staffs of these so-called news organizations. If you’re a neo-socialist or progressive thinker, you’re embraced with open arms and feted with glowing ‘Page 1, above the fold’ reportage. (Which also might happen if you’re a contrarian thinker or ideological foe who has an embarrassing issue!) How many dire stories have we had to endure about suffering Polar bears and melting glaciers, even when the underlying stories and causations are patently untrue? But I digress…

So, with Climategate, the Times et. al have been provided a red meat news story to cover. It might not fit their established ideological bent, or represent a precious totem of their world-view. But so what, news is news…right? So what do they do? They outright ignore it as though in the internet age that it will just “go away!” The media may well feel smug in the self-absorbed knowledge that if they ignore the story, then it isn’t really a story at all. Or so they think.

It hasn’t gone away…and in fact many news organizations outside of the US, particularly in the UK (just Google Climategate and UK Telegraph, for example!!) have embraced the story as the world-wide scandal that it is. even the über politically correct BBC has picked up on this story and is giving it fair, if meager, coverage. The extra-US media recognize that the potential hoax being perpetrated on the world by the “credible” climate scientists pushing their “established” science that is “settled” and “beyond dispute” renders the conclusions of the UN’s IPCC and the and the US’s EPA regarding global warming and CO2 toxicity utter rubbish (or at least calls them into serious question as they relied heavily on the data provided by the CRU)  now in light of the CRU e-mail revelations.

However, the world media, it seems, recognizes real news when it sees it. And furthermore reports the news as it occurs. News is news, regardless if it chafes against your principles or contradicts your beliefs. By not reporting this important story, which by the way portends to impact the life of every man, woman and child on the planet, the US mainstream media gives it’s consuming public short-shrift and in essence treat us as though we, given all the information available, can’t come to our own conclusions. Perhaps some can’t think for themselves and they prefer that the NYT or some broadcast media outfit does their thinking for them…but fortunately the vast majority of us can — and do think for ourselves and rightly use the news as part of our thinking and decision process.

By ignoring Climategate and eschewing news for political ideology, the US mainstream media has relegated itself into further irrelevance as the place to go to get the real story — the or the unvarnished truth. It’s no wonder that many of the US’s major newspapers are in financial trouble and that the news organizations of the three major broadcast networks suffer viewership and credibility problems. By ignoring the REAL news and substituting their alternative view of what is or isn’t news, these alleged news sources tarnish their credibility with an increasingly news savvy public.

Until these conventional sources of news stop editorializing both in the news stories that they do chose to and by which stories they select to report, they will insure that conventional journalism suffers the same fate as the contemptible pseudo-scientists at the CRU. Because in essence both sets of so-called professionals, scientists and journalists, have done or are doing the same thing — crafting their own versions of reality out of thin air.

And once the people know the truth, we’re just not buying it…

Harry Reid is perhaps the most odious politician who has darkened the halls of the Congress — perhaps in the entire history of our nation. Nothing demonstrates this assertion more than his statement today that comapres the Republican opposition to the health care “reform” presently being debated and the opposition of past legistlators to the abolition of slavery. To say that this was a cheap shot would be a gross understatement. It may be more aptly described as perverse political theater and sad partisan hyperbole.

You can see this lowest of low points in modern American politics HERE.

At best, Reid is a liar and a provocateur. At worst, he is a shameless and craven vote whore who, in complete desperation to save a bloated and contemptible piece of legislation, has resorted to demonizing the political opposition. However, Reid has chosen the wrong enemy to vilify — he overlooks the obvious — as he ignores the rebellious conservative Democrats in his ranks. See, the republicans cannot influence the eventual outcome in the health care debate. They can stall, offer amendments and encourage debate, but they are completely vestigial in this debate if the Democrats circle the wagons to pass this legislation.

But that simple fact is meaningless to a hardened ideologue like Reid…he sees Republican monsters under his bed every night, so why not make political hay even where the field lays fallow. I just wish that Reid has chosen to make some comments on the events of 68 years ago. You know the “day that shall live in infamy” according to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Comments to that point would have been appropriate and well-placed. But it would have required Reid to eschew bare knuckled politics for a few moments in favor of recognizing this American tragedy and trying to rally national pride.

I sure hope the good people of Nevada see fit to term limit this imbecile in his next election cycle. They can do a whole lot better, but I’m convinced they can do no worse!