Jeb Bush For President?

At a recent event honoring the 25th anniversary of his father's Presidency, Jeb Bush spoke about illegal immigration and how the laws broken by people who enter this country illegally are different from other laws.

“A great country ought to know where those folks are and politely ask them to leave,” Bush said, adding later that properly targeting people who overstay visas “would restore people’s confidence” in the nation’s immigration system.

“There are means by which we can control our border better than we have. And there should be penalties for breaking the law,” he added. “But the way I look at this — and I’m going to say this, and it’ll be on tape and so be it. The way I look at this is someone who comes to our country because they couldn’t come legally, they come to our country because their families — the dad who loved their children — was worried that their children didn’t have food on the table. And they wanted to make sure their family was intact, and they crossed the border because they had no other means to work to be able to provide for their family."

"Yes, they broke the law, but it’s not a felony. It’s an act of love. It’s an act of commitment to your family. I honestly think that that is a different kind of crime that there should be a price paid, but it shouldn’t rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families.”

Jeb conveniently overlooked one inconvenient truth. First time illegal entry is treated as a misdemeanor and the person is (or used to be) deported. If they again enter the country illegally it is, in fact, a felony. And it absolutely should rile people up that so many people are entering the country illegally and the Obama administration is doing nothing about it.

I have said this before in other posts but using the "it's for my family" logic, if a man robs a bank because he doesn't have enough money to feed his family and he wants to make a better life for them, he should be excused of his crime. After all - he'd be committing the crime out of love for his family so the law preventing it should be "different." Is that right, Jeb?

Jeb Bush is the most progressive member of the Bush family. His stance on immigration alone should keep conservatives from voting for him. The fact that Karl Rove is pushing him is another good reason not to do it. Rove is a progressive, Republican establishment, good-ol'-boy. Frankly I'm getting tired of seeing him on Fox News denouncing true conservatives.

If Jeb Bush was to be elected President the borders would remain open for another 4 years, at least. Neither his father nor his brother did anything to stop illegal immigration and it's clear that he wouldn't. If progressives remain in leadership positions in this country it won't be long before we no longer have a country. Obama said he was going to "fundamentally change America" and he's working hard to do just that. Jeb Bush would continue the work of the Obama administration in many ways. We don't need another Bush in the White House - just as we don't need another Clinton. Only a true conservative can turn this country around. Need proof? Check out the number of Republican governed states, such as Ohio, Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Louisiana and Wisconsin, who have improved and in many cases recovered economically after electing conservative governors. The facts don't lie.

Jeb Bush for President in 2016? No, thank you.

Despite Washington Denial - Kerry Failed Miserably

Secretary of State John Kerry spent most of last week in the Middle East trying to arrange a cease fire and possibly a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas. It failed miserably. In fact, Israel not only rejected Kerry's deal but said that Kerry, for some reason, was favoring Hamas in the deal - basically giving them everything while Israel got nothing.

Kerry is being lambasted by the Israeli press. On Monday, Israel HaYom, a Sheldon Adelson-owned free daily, published the following from Prof. Ron Breiman on its English-language Web site.

"Like a blind person groping for the ladder to climb down from the roof but instead falling down the chimney, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and the government he represents have not missed an opportunity to step in all the Middle Eastern potholes along their way. Kerry is imbued with good will, but this is not enough. Kerry and U.S. President Barack Obama suffer from a misunderstanding of reality in our region, as well as in other parts of the world."

The Times of Israel, a Web site that boasts of its independent politics, posted the following: "Despite the tendency to criticize US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts, credit should be given where credit is due. Over the weekend, Kerry did manage to facilitate something in the Middle East: unparalleled unanimity."

"Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan were all in agreement that Kerry’s efforts were undermining the attempt to bring about a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as quickly as possible. Moreover, Kerry’s framework and the ideas he presented led to an extraordinary phone call taking place between a senior Palestinian Authority official and an Israeli counterpart, during which the two mocked the senior diplomat’s naivete and his failure to understand the regional reality."

And maybe the most hard-hitting criticism came from columnist Ari Shavit in Monday's Haaretz, Israel's leading liberal newspaper. "In trying to implement the cease-fire over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of State of State John Kerry ruined everything. Very senior officials in Jerusalem described the proposal that Kerry put on the table as a 'strategic terrorist attack.'"

The Obama administration is not sitting quietly while Kerry (and the administration in general) is being criticized. The State Department's Jen Psaki, a piece of work in her own right, said "It's simply not the way partners and allies treat each other." Maybe Ms. Psaki should take a look at the way President Obama has treated that same partner and ally over the last 5-1/2 years.

Obama's Propaganda Minister... uh, National Security Adviser, Susan Rice, said the "U.S. was dismayed by mischaracterizations of Kerry's efforts." I'm guessing it won't be long before she announces that the criticism of Kerry was caused by a video...

On TV last night, Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters (USA-Ret) said there are two problems with John Kerry trying to negotiate a peace deal between Israel and Hamas. First, Peters believes Kerry sees Hamas not as a terrorist organization (as his own State Department has them listed) but as freedom fighters for the Palestinians. And second, when Kerry sits down with all sides to help negotiate a deal, Peters said, "Kerry is not the smartest guy in the room." I think that about sums it up.

Miracle At Exit Number 3 - A Book Review

I recently read "Miracle At Exit Number 3" - an autobiography written by my friend and former co-worker in crime prevention, Thomas Kelly Cooper.

Tom Cooper was a normal kid growing up in Paducah, Kentucky. He went to school, played sports, attended church, played with his brothers and sister, loved his parents... just your average red-blooded American kid growing up in a simple world. He graduated from college and worked for his father's accounting business for a couple of years before relocating to Morehead, Kentucky, to help open a campus ministry at Morehead State University. It was there that he began feeling sick and weak - to the point where he had to return home. As it turned out, Tom's kidneys were failing due to a medication he was given as a baby and his life was about to change.

At age 24, Tom was on dialysis and his only chance at anything resembling a normal life was a kidney transplant. Enter Ed Cooper, Tom's younger brother. Without hesitation, Ed volunteered to give up one of his healthy kidneys to his big brother.

"He was seven years older than I was," said Ed. "He's the one who helped me learn to read and write, throw a baseball, hit a baseball. He has always been my hero. I really don't consider it anything special on my part because I think most people in that situation and with that opportunity would do the same thing."

Today, more than 35 years later, Tom and Ed are two of the longest living organ recipients and organ donors in the country. Tom is here because of God's grace and a brother whose selfless generosity allowed him to give the "gift of life."

Miracle At Exit Number 3 is a poignant story of love, family, faith, tragedy, triumph and thanksgiving. The family's strong faith allowed them to overcome many hardships and maintain a positive, loving outlook on life. Tom's personal faith led him through difficult times to the triumph of a full life and a family of his own.

I wholeheartedly recommend reading Tom's book. I have no doubt everyone who reads it will find something in the story with which to identify - whether it be a life changing event of their own or something as simple as playing baseball with the kids in the neighborhood as a child. Tom's book is a tribute not only to the doctors who performed the surgeries that saved his life but to his brother Ed, who literally gave a piece of himself so Tom could survive.

Illegal Alien - What's In A Word?

The online encyclopedia "Wickipedia" defines liberalism as "a political philosophy or worldview founded on ideas of liberty and equality. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally they support ideas such as free and fair elections, civil rights, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free trade, and private property."

That's an interesting definition considering people who call themselves liberals today don't really believe in all of those. They believe in civil rights (as long as everyone agrees with their beliefs.) They believe in free and fair elections (as long as their liberal candidate wins.) They believe in freedom of the press (as long as the stories reported aren't negative toward their political or social beliefs.) They believe in freedom of religion (as long as religious people don't speak out or disagree with their political or social beliefs.) They believe in fair trade (when it comes to making their own living but don't let anyone make more money than the liberals believe is fair, lest they demand an end to capitalism.They also believe in redistribution of wealth - as long as that wealth belongs to someone else.) And they believe in private property (as long as there is some for everyone, otherwise the government should take it away.)

Progressivism is defined as "the sociopolitical view that embraces 'progress' through such mediums as science, environmentalism and social justice." Progressives are the far left wing of the liberals. They espouse the same beliefs as the liberals, although they are apt to be even more outspoken in favor of wealth redistribution and more government control and entitlements, but against free trade and against religion in general, particularly against Christianity, which often clashes with progressive/socialist beliefs.

Progressives push social justice - "the belief and practice of ensuring that individuals both fulfill their societal roles and receive what is due from society." The ultimate goal of social justice is "to ensure everyone is provided for equally in education, health care, social security, labor rights, as well as a broader system of public services, progressive taxation and regulation of markets, to ensure fair distribution of wealth, equality of opportunity, and no gross inequality of outcome."

Liberals and progressives are the ones who believe it's OK for anyone and everyone to enter the United States, whether through lawful immigration or unlawful (illegal) immigration. "They're simply trying to make a better life for themselves and their families..." they will say. Really? I once knew a bank robber who told me he robbed the bank because he was unemployed and needed money to feed his family. He was "just trying to make a better life for himself and his family" by breaking the law. Guess where I met him? At the United States Penitentiary in Lompoc, California, where he was doing 10 years for bank robbery. Illegal activity is illegal activity and demands punishment.

Liberal progressives demand that we no longer use the term "illegal" when talking about people who are breaking the law by being in the country illegally. "No human being is illegal," they say. They know what the terms "illegal alien" or "illegal immigrant" mean - that they are in the country in violation of federal law. They spin it to make people think the term "illegal" refers to the person himself and not his status in the country. That's what liberal progressives do - they tell half-truths and untruths to further their causes.

Merriam-Webster defines illegal as: contrary to or forbidden by law. They define undocumented as: not having the appropriate legal document (as in a visa or green card, which is the legal way for a non-citizen to be in the country.) And they define alien as: a non-citizen inhabitant of a country. 

If you put them all together, a so called "undocumented alien" is one who does not have the paperwork to be in the country legally, which is a crime, thus making him an "illegal alien."

Immigration is defined as: the movement of people into another country or region to which they are not native in order to settle there, especially as permanent residents or future citizens.

Illegal immigration refers to the migration of people across national borders, or the residence of foreign nationals in a country, in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. These people don't particularly have plans to become citizens. They simply want to take advantage of the opportunities in this country without taking the responsibility to do it the right way. They are criminals. And they should not be rewarded for their illegal actions by being granted amnesty or free services from the government, local, state or federal. 

Remember the guy in federal prison? Should he have been given food stamps, a driver's license, health care, etc., after robbing the bank because he was trying to make a better life for his family? For those who would say "yes" - would you feel the same way if instead of robbing a bank he came to your house and robbed you? And for that matter - what if a family of "undocumented immigrants" moved into your home while you were on vacation. It happens all the time in Arizona. Homes that are empty suddenly become the home of transient illegal aliens. So what are you going to do when you return from your two week vacation and your home is occupied by another family? Call the police? Have them arrested? Why? You invited them to come here!

Illegal immigration is just that - illegal. Call it whatever you choose to soften it but it's still illegal. And I shall call it such when I talk about those who are in this country illegally. Be dishonest with yourself and others if it makes you feel better. I'm an honest man. And honest men don't spin the truth just to feel better about themselves.

More Truth About Israel And The Palestinians

On Friday the International Red Cross brokered a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas. There would be a 24 hour cease fire for humanitarian reasons. It lasted a few hours before Hamas once again began firing rockets into Israel. (This is the second cease fire agreement in a week that has been violated by Hamas.) Israel immediately retaliated and began hitting Hamas targets in the Gaza strip once again. Once that happened, Hamas immediately requested another cease fire. Israel has yet to respond to the new request.

And who can blame them? It seems Hamas wants to play games. They agree to a cease fire then begin firing rockets into Israel after Israel stands down. Some misguided people still want to blame Israel for the conflict and simply turn a blind eye toward who is really the aggressor in the situation.

I saw a video on Facebook this morning created by radio talk show host Dennis Prager. Only 5 minutes long, it is an outstanding narrative about the conflict that stresses the main difference between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel wants to live in peace with the Palestinians. The Palestinians (and most other Islamic states) want Israel destroyed and her people dead. It really is that simple. I've attached the video below. (Those without Facebook accounts may not be able to watch it.)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203252904895990

There it is in a nutshell. The Palestinians, Hamas, and Islam in general do not want a peaceful relationship with Israel. They don't want a relationship with Israel at all. They want Israel gone. Iran has threatened to wipe Israel off the map yet our President continues making ridiculous deals with them that allow Iran to pursue a nuclear weapon. If Iran gets a nuclear weapon it is altogether possible they will attempt to use it on Israel. Unless Israel strikes first - which I have no doubt they will do. Benjamin Netanyahu is no fool and will not allow anyone to destroy his country without a valiant fight.

Israelis train everyone for war. They have to - they've been under attack by Muslims almost continuously since 1947. And now they're under attack again - only this time it's not just Hamas. Another attack comes from their closest ally. Despite what he says in public - behind closed doors President Obama continuously tries to get Israel to cease their actions against Hamas in the Gaza strip. Apparently Obama believes Israel should sit quietly and allow Hamas to fire rockets into Israel unimpeded. He demands that Israel sit quietly and wait while Iran develops nuclear weapons.

The way the United States has treated Israel since Obama took office, I am constantly impressed by the fact that Netanyahu still has anything to do with Obama. The people of the United States are still a friend to Israel, as Israel remains a friend to us. President Obama - not so much. He has been trying to boss Israel around since he first took his oath (something else he ignores) but Netanyahu doesn't cower and do what Obama wants. And I applaud him for it.

Here's a thought...  suppose it turns out that Obama really was born in Kenya, making him the first President of the United States to be foreign born. Maybe we could rewrite that one line of the Constitution making it legal for Benjamin Netanyahu to become President of the United States once he's no longer Israel's Prime Minister. It sure would be great to have a real leader in the White House.

But I'm a dreamer...

Taking The Military Away From God...

You've no doubt heard of the recent push by the federal government to remove God and religion (except Islam, ironically) from our military branches. As the government hires more imams and allows Muslims in the armed forces to wear Islamic headgear with their uniforms, Christian chaplains are discouraged from mentioning Jesus Christ and in some cases are being told they cannot quote scripture, as in the case of the San Diego based VA-DOD Clinical Pastoral Education Center program.

In that case, two Baptist ministers attending classes last year to become chaplains for the Veterans Administration were told they cannot quote the Bible in the class and praying in the name of Jesus was unacceptable. The two chaplain trainees are no longer in the class. One quit due to continued harassment and two weeks later the other was dismissed from the program by the VA. The two chaplains are suing the VA, and former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, for violation of their First Amendment rights.

Earlier this year a request was made by the Military Association of Atheists and Free Thinkers for the U.S. Navy to hire atheist/humanist chaplains. So far the military has refused the ridiculous request citing, among other things, the very definition of the word "chaplain," which is defined by Merriam-Webster as: a religious leader who performs religious services for a military group." Since atheism is not a religion but in actuality the antithesis of religion, and humanism is based on the belief that people, not God, are responsible for what happens and for their own well being, by definition there can be no such thing as a chaplain for these groups. The MAAF has vowed to pursue their request up the ladder.

This background brings us to my topic for today. In the small town of Carthage, Missouri, is a small Baptist church that preaches about God, love of country and love of fellow man. As do many churches, the Bible Baptist Church proudly has an American flag on display in the sanctuary. Every summer the church holds a week-long Vacation Bible School for the children. This year's theme was "God's Rescue Squad."

On Monday, local paramedics attended and shared what they do. On Tuesday it was the Fire Department's turn. They brought a truck and taught the kids about "stop, drop and roll." Wednesday brought the County Sheriff's K-9 Unit and the kids got to see the police dog in action. Then Thursday rolled around...

On Thursday, soldiers from the local National Guard Armory were supposed to come by with a Humvee and give the kids a demonstration. The intention was to honor the military members and instill patriotism in the children. "We were going to thank them for protecting our religious freedoms," said Pastor Kent Hogan. “It was more of a promotion for the military – to show the kids what the military does.”

But the National Guard troops did not come. The church was told that military regulations prohibit military organizations from giving the appearance that they are supporting or promoting a specific religion.

“We were told it was against military policy for National Guard troops to participate in Vacation Bible School,” Pastor Hogan said. “They said if the National Guard had assets on church property it would look like the National Guard is sponsoring the Baptist religion.”

Apparently the Army, or at least the commander of that particular National Guard unit in Carthage, MO, believes that parking a Humvee at a church while soldiers speak to the children somehow gives the appearance that the Army is promoting the Baptist faith.

The actual regulation quoted says: “Army participation must not selectively benefit (or appear to benefit) any person, group, or corporation (whether profit or nonprofit); religion, sect, religious or sectarian group, or quasi-religious or ideological movement.” It further states that soldiers are to "avoid any activities that might involve or appear to involve the promotion, endorsement, or sponsorship of any religious or sectarian movement."

One cannot help but wonder, given the regulation and the explanation, if a group of soldiers park their Humvee at a 7-11 while they hit the bathrooms and buy soft drinks does it give the appearance that the Army is promoting 7-11 over the Exxon gas station across the street? It seems to me that's pretty much the same logic.

As the title says - in this example it's not someone removing God from the military but removing the military from God. I wonder - will the military next disallow honor guards from participating in military funerals if said funerals are held in churches? Will chapels be removed from military bases altogether? Honestly - as much as the thought saddens me - I wouldn't be surprised.

The President Thinks We're Stupid...

President Obama attended a...  wait for it... fundraiser in Los Angeles the other day. Obama addressed Democrat donors at the LA home of Shonda Rhimes, famed creator of TV's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal."

As usual, President Obama detoured from his own failures the Republican Party, intimating that its members are focused on the wrong issues and frequently “obfuscate and they bamboozle and sometimes don’t say what's true."

Really, Mr. President? As the old saying goes - "It takes one to know one."

Given that Mr. Obama won the award for "Lie of the Year" in 2013, I guess he knows a thing or two about not telling the truth. I guess that's why he is so quick to point out that others are lying - to take some heat off himself.

The President went on, explaining why Americans just don't understand, and maybe don't want to understand, what's going on in the country and the world. Apparently we don't have the adequate thought process to fully understand the intricacies of it all.

“Over time, they start thinking, ‘you know what, all politicians are the same.’ And most folks don’t have the time to sort out all the intricacies of Obamacare or Benghazi, or this or that. They don’t have time for that,” he said. “All they know is it’s not working for them. And so people then pull out and they drop out, and they don’t work. And that further entrenches those who are protecting an unjust status quo.”

It's not that his policies are failing and at least 61% of Americans believe Obama is a liar. It's that they just don't understand, don't want to understand, and that they simply stop caring about it. And we're not intelligent enough (like him) to understand what really happened in Benghazi. After all - we didn't believe the video story - that the eventually had to admit wasn't true in the first place. Stupid us.

Sadly, in the case of low information voters, the President has it right. If the problems in the country and the world don't effect them directly they don't much care about them. They believe whatever they're told by President Obama and will vote to keep him and their other political benefactors in office. And that's a major part of what's wrong with the country today.

Obama Sending "Experts" To Southern Border

After months of mostly invisible border security in the Rio Grande valley in Texas, President Obama is finally acknowledging there may be a possible problem that he might have to address... eventually. The Pentagon and the Department of Health and Human Services sent a team of "experts" to the Southern border to "assess the Border Patrol's efforts" in controlling the massive influx of illegals entering the region in the last six months.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has requested National Guard troops be dispatched to assist with border security in the areas where the Border Patrol is being overrun. Perry has vowed to use Texas Guard troops in lieu of federal if the President won't act. According to the governor, over 203,000 illegals have been booked into city and county jails in Texas since 2008. There have been 3000 murders and over 8000 sexual assaults attributed to illegals in Texas in those 5 years.

"The price of inaction is too high for Texas to pay," Perry said.

Up to now the Obama administration seems to have been ignoring the problem at the Southern border, refusing to do anything to secure it and asking for money to care for the thousands of illegals coming into the country daily but asking for no funds to increase border security. The Border Patrol is mostly staging about 45 miles inside the border and is dealing with the thousands who are turning themselves in. How many people are getting through who are not turning themselves in is unknown.

Among those entering the country illegally are members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, better known as MS-13. These young men are known for extreme violence and murder - and they're coming in unabated. Younger ones, under the age of 16, have turned themselves in knowing they will be protected not only by the 2008 law that allows Central American immigrant children to stay in the United States until they receive a hearing but also believing they will be protected by Obama's Dream Act, which allows children under the age of 16 who are in the country illegally to stay. These two acts combined are the main reason so many children are flocking to the United States illegally.

The problem with Obama sending "experts" to the border is that it's still a passive action that simply delays any real action. We need security on the border, not government bureaucrats. Bureaucrats take time, create red tape and often refer their findings to another group of "experts" who will then advise the President on what they believe he should do - thus delaying any real action even longer.

Meanwhile, thousands of people cross the border illegally every day. Inaction by our government means they enter unimpeded.

It's interesting how the President and the Democrats say they want to end poverty in the United States yet poverty in this country grows every day that the borders aren't secure. These people entering the country illegally certainly aren't bringing college degrees and high tech employment skills with them. They will end up living off the taxpayers and/or working for money under the table while collecting federal benefits. They will put more burden on an already hurting economy and dwindling workforce. And still they come.

President Obama has known about this pending crisis as far back as 2002 and did nothing to prepare for it or prevent it, except to have people begin exploring potential housing locations for them. That knowledge is just one more example that makes me wonder what kind of President we have. His inaction threatens our sovereignty, just as his continued funding of Islamic extremists threatens Western civilization as we know it. Even some Democrats are beginning to wonder what Obama is doing. It's time for all of our elected officials, both Democrat and Republican, to impeach Obama before he can do any more damage to the USA and the world. 

Main Stream Media... Keeping America Informed?

Yesterday my wife had lunch with a small group of her co-workers. Most in the group are liberals and full fledged Obama supporters. My wife and one of her friends were the only conservatives in the group. She tries hard to stay away from political discussions as it has led to hard feelings and even disassociation from friends at work (on their part, not hers.) It's truly sad the country has become so divided over politics that some people can no longer have political disagreements without risking friendships.

The luncheon went along well until one of the people present eventually said "Israel needs to stop attacking the Palestinians." Arden was quiet. She didn't want to have the discussion because for her it usually was a lose/lose situation. Her conservative friend, however, spoke up and said "Israel is defending itself against non-stop rocket attacks conducted by Hamas from inside the Gaza Strip."

The first woman looked at her like she didn't understand.

Arden's friend continued. "Hamas has been firing rockets into Israel non-stop for three weeks. Israel has the right to defend itself against such aggression."

Again, blank looks from around the table.

Someone else said "Israel is killing Palestinian women and children."

By this time Arden felt the need to speak up. "Hamas is a terrorist organization that recently signed an agreement with the Palestinian Authority to co-govern with the current Palestinian government. Hamas has vowed to destroy Israel and has been attacking them with rockets and attempted encroachments for three weeks. They place their weapons inside schools and hospitals in an attempt to shield the weapons from the Israelis, who are merely trying to destroy the weapons. Hamas has told the Palestinian people not to leave the area but to stay, taking full advantage on the world stage of any carnage that occurs. Hamas places children in harm's way then posts pictures of the dead ones to blame Israel for what happens."

"I have a friend there who told me that they have to run to bomb shelters on a regular basis, every day, due to the rocket attacks by Hamas," Arden told them.

Again she was met with blank looks - like they had no idea what she was talking about. Sadly, if they get their news from the main stream media there is a good possibility they don't know what's really going on. The main stream media doesn't report things they don't want people to know, such as negative information about President Obama or negative information about the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. The main stream media supports the Palestinians, looking at them as "victims of Israeli aggression" rather than squatters who are in cahoots with a dangerous terrorist organization.

Israel has lived peaceably with the Palestinians in Gaza unless they were attacked - which happens on a regular basis. In 2005, then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pulled all Israelis out of the Gaza Strip - realizing the Israeli occupation of the area was no longer in Israel's best interest. The Palestinian Authority formed and was rapidly infiltrated by Hamas - a group labeled as a terrorist organization by our own government. Hamas is part of an international Islamist movement that does not believe Israel has the right to exist and since their founding in 1987 they have attacked Israel by suicide bombings, rocket and mortar attacks. They attack Israel on a regular basis based on their belief that Israel has no right to exist. Yet some people want to pretend they are the victims in this conflict.

There are other terrorist groups in Gaza, most notably the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said to be even more radical and violent than Hamas.

A cease fire was called last week - which was honored by Hamas for about three hours before they began attacking Israel again. Israel's goal in this conflict is to destroy the capability of Hamas to attack them. They are being as careful as they can but war is war.

I read something yesterday that someone posted that said "If you're attacked and you meet the aggression with more force than was used against you are taking unfair advantage of the situation," or something like that. How stupid is that? In war, the country who has the strongest weapons and the strongest armies wins. That's just the way it works.

Bloomberg Businessweek's Peter Coy recently wrote that Israel's Iron Dome defense shield is an unfair advantage and that it could be defeated if one of Israel's enemies get "cruise missiles that can twist and turn in flight to evade interceptors." It sounds to me like that's what he'd like to see - a terrorist organization with cruise missiles. What an idiot. (He might want to be careful since his boss, crazy Michael Bloomberg, is on Israel's side in this.)

The bottom line is that Israel is under attack by terrorists and is defending itself. If the USA had 70% of its territory under attack we would be fighting back as well. (At least - I hope we would. There's no telling what our current administration would do.)

The main stream media doesn't report the news as is so people who watch it are mostly uninformed about the world's realities. The President says he finds out about various occurrences on the news. I can't help but wonder what channel he watches. I'm sure he has someone assigned to watch Fox though. Otherwise he wouldn't find out about most of the problems in the world...

Frivolous Lawsuits, Funding Terrorism and Cultural Appropriation

I decided to write about these three things today but didn't think it would be right to just mention one of them in the title. I heard about each of these things last night from the television and since none of them require a full page I figured I'd just include them all, in order, in one post.

There is a Portland, Oregon man who was convicted of beating a man to a bloody pulp and received a 100 year sentence. The man was/is a pimp and assaulted a customer who refused to pay for the services of one of the working girls. One can almost assuredly assume the man has a long criminal record since a 100 year sentence is normally given in the victim dies. The report I heard did not mention that the victim died so I'm guessing the harsh sentence is because of the assailant's history. Either that or the judge found the crime particularly heinous.

This fine, upstanding purveyor of adult companionship beat his victim and then kicked the man over and over with his Nike shoes, leaving the man badly injured. (Of course, you can bet that there are those who will say justice was served since he didn't pay his tab but that's another story for another day.

Anyway - the pimp serving the 100 year sentence is now suing the Nike Corporation because he says he was "not warned that the Nike shoes could be used as weapons." He's asking for $100 million in damages. According to the inmate/plaintiff: "under product liability there is a certain standard of care that is required to be up-held by potentially dangerous product...  due to the fact that these defendants named in this Tort claim failed to warn of risk or to provide an adequate warning or instruction it has caused personal injury in the likes of mental suffering."

In other words - "I didn't assault that man. My Nike shoes did it!" It's one of the most blatant examples of a time-wasting, frivolous lawsuit I've ever seen. And I spent my career working in federal prisons - I know about frivolous lawsuits. "My shoes assaulted that man" is just as ridiculous as "I didn't shoot that man - my gun did," which anti-gun zealots want people to believe. I wonder how they now feel about Nike shoes...?


President Obama recently approved $47 million in "humanitarian aid" to the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian government that recently formed an alliance to co-govern with the terrorist group Hamas. It's not the first monetary aid he has given to the Palestinians but it's the first since Hamas began a war on Israel, our closest ally in the region. Certainly there are casualties in Gaza, as well as refugees fleeing the fighting. But the UN and the Red Cross and other organizations are out there to help them without the United States giving millions of dollars to Israel's enemies. What kind of alliance is that? What kind of friend are you if you give monetary support to the enemies of your friends? You can bet Hamas will be helping themselves to at least part of the $47 million. After all - they have to fund their war somehow.


Finally, with the controversy about the Washington Redskins' name and logo becoming a big story in the last several months, I want to bring another such atrocity to your attention. I learned last evening of a minor league baseball team that belongs to the New York Mets. They are based in Las Vegas and the team name is "Las Vegas Area 51s. They use the logo... you're not going to believe how bigoted they are... they use a drawing of a space alien as their logo! I kid you not!

Can you believe it? Just look at those images! Not only are they stereotyping other life forms strange to us but the team is using their image without their permission. And who is to say that this particular image is representative of all extra-terrestrials? It's certainly not a lifelike image so it's obviously degrading to the aliens. And the aliens didn't even have a say. Shame on you Las Vegas 51s - and shame on you too, New York Mets. You should know better.

Personally, I'm thinking of hiring a civil rights attorney to file a lawsuit on behalf of the aliens, in their absence. Someone needs to speak out for them. They're not properly represented here on Earth - as is evident by the gross misuse of their image for a baseball team. You can bet that it won't be long until someone decides to use Martians for a logo. Because Americans have proved themselves over and over to be bigots and cultural appropriators. And now it's even spreading to outer space...!

Rule Number 1: Liberals Lie

Rule number 2: See rule number 1.

Never, since the beginning of liberalism/progressivism, has it been more evident that liberals/progressives will say or do anything to promote their agenda. From President Obama to Eric Holder, from Hillary Clinton to Jay Carney, from Elizabeth Warren to Lois Lerner and the IRS, from Josh Earnest to the main stream media - the lies and cover-ups are endless. Let's take a quick look at a few examples.

President Obama lied repeatedly about the new health care law, knowing full well if he told the truth about it it would never be accepted by the American people. "If you like your plan you can keep your plan. Period," he said over and over. "If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor. Period." Obama knew full well that the new law would change insurance policy standards and would force insurance companies to drop certain plans that did not live up to the new federal mandates. Of course, he and his supporters blame the "greedy insurance companies" whether or not the people being cancelled were pleased with the coverage they had. It was planned from the beginning to force people to enroll in the new Obamacare system.

President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Jay Carney and Susan Rice all lied repeatedly about the murders of four Americans by terrorists in Libya. They made up a ridiculous story about a video that has been proved to be a fabrication. Yet they told the lies over and over. The President even told the lie to the UN.

Eric Holder has lied about nearly everything while he's been in office, from Fast and Furious to the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation to the warrant to monitor Fox New's James Rosen's personal e-mails and phone calls.

Lois Lerner went before Congress and said "I've done nothing wrong," then exercised her 5th Amendment rights and refused to answer any more questions. E-mails discovered since then show that Lerner lied about doing nothing wrong and attempted to warn other IRS employees to be very careful what they say because of Congressional scrutiny. The IRS, in turn, had a disproportionate number of computer hard-drive problems that coincidentally disabled and/or destroyed all of the specific information subpoenaed by Congress. What are the odd of that? (Actually, in this administration they're pretty good since the Environmental Protection Agency and now the Federal Elections Committee have also experience hard-drive crashes of computers that were subpoenaed by Congress. Imagine.

Let's move on to Elizabeth Warren. Not only did she lie about being a Native American but after the Supreme Court's decision in the Hobby Lobby case she went to the Senate floor and on national TV and began saying that the court was taking away women's reproductive rights and their access to health care. Nothing could be further from the truth but she's out there saying it - and helping to push a bill that will "overturn the Supreme Court's decision." I'm not sure how she thinks the Senate has the authority to do that but we'll wait and see.

Josh Earnest falls into a category with people like Jay Carney, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. If they're speaking, they're lying. That's why I didn't list the latter two in my opening paragraph. It would be easier to write and article about the few times Pelosi and Reid have actually told the truth. But it would be a short article.

Today's post was inspired by what I read about Politico.com's Roger Simon, who bills himself as "Chief Political Columnist for Politico." Simon posted a tweet on his Politico.com Twitter page that says "Rick Perry sending 1,000 National Guard troops to border to shoot small children. Could make good headlines -- in Russia."

Not only is that statement ridiculous but it's irresponsible and incendiary. There are enough crazy people out there who will believe what Simon said, which could lead to violence on the part of the crazies. Not to mention the fact that misleading Americans about Governor Perry's purpose only supports the Obama administration doing absolutely nothing about the problems at the border.

So now Politico.com joins the list of liberal/progressive liars. It's despicable to lie about Governor Perry ordering children to be shot by Texas Guard troops but that's what Roger Simon did. I would say he should be ashamed but his Twitter post shows shame is not something of which he is in possession.

One would think that eventually the majority of people would come around to the fact that liberals in general tell lies to get what they want. And if the lies don't work they attack personally, eventually ending up calling their opposition "racists." But maybe some of them finally are waking up. Obama's approval rating is at 37% these days and the latest polls show at least 61% of American voters now believe he lies all the time.

Things are looking up. But I'm still having difficulties understanding those other 37%...

The World Is Going To Hell....

...and the United States of America is helping it go.

Where do I start on this Monday morning? Israel is still waging a precise and measured (and fully justified) attack against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hamas just can't seem to stop attacking Israel with rockets and blaming Israel for the destruction and loss of life caused by Israel's response. The Egyptians brokered a peace agreement last week to which both sides agreed. Hamas honored their agreement for about three hours before beginning to fire mortars into Israel again. They (Hamas) has vowed to destroy Israel yet most of the Islamic world and many liberals right here in the United States are calling Israel the bad guys.

From the beginning of the recent conflict President Obama has called in Israel to "use restraint" in the face of the constant attacks on its citizens. I'm not sure what that meant other than "Do nothing and allow Hamas to attack you," but President Obama has backed off his rhetoric after Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, asked publicly what President Obama would do if every one of its cities between Washington DC and Denver were under attack by terrorists with rockets and mortars. That seemed to get Obama's attention because he now says Israel has a right to defend itself against attack. (The way Obama seems to dislike America I'd be curious what his answer to Netayahu's question is - but I'm not sure I really want to find out.)

As far as I know, President Obama is still sending millions of dollars to the Palestinians despite their recent announcement of a joint government with Hamas. So is Obama funding the terrorist attack on our ally? It would seem so. After all - he gave weapons to ISIS.

Obama has now dispatched Secretary of State John Kerry to the Middle East to attempt reaching a cease-fire agreement between Israel and the terrorists. That's such a great plan because Kerry has been so successful in brokering a peace agreement in Ukraine and so successful in brokering a deal to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. (Of course, he says he has "slowed them down" but only he really knows what that means.) John Kerry is as big a failure as Secretary of State as Hillary was.

Vladimir Putin quite possibly is responsible for the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over the Ukraine/Russia border last week. The weapon necessary to bring down a plane from 33,000 feet can only be found in the USA, China and Russia. China has no reason to shoot down a place like that. Of course, there are conspiracy theorists out there who believe the Obama administration did it to distract from the border. But that's just plain stupid. Obama may do things to distract from his failures but shooting down a plane on the other side of the world would be traceable. If we can trace what happened so can Russia and China. Conspiracy theorists are mostly crazy.

That leaves Russia - the only other country with the weaponry to do it. Of course, Putin himself didn't order it. But his military supplied the weapon and most likely the men to aim and fire it. It's too sophisticated to simply hand it to the rebels and say "Give it back when you're done." It takes long term training to be able to use it properly.

President Obama's initial response to the crashed plane and the loss of 297 lives was "This looks like it may be a terrible tragedy." Really? Geez, in my world when a plane crashes and kills hundreds of people, be it from pilot error, mechanical failure or bad weather, it IS a terrible tragedy. When a plane full of innocent people is knocked out of the sky by a missile it's not a tragedy but a horrific case of murder. One cannot help but wonder how Mr. Teleprompter got that one wrong.

"I don't have all the facts but it seems the plane acted stupidly."

Perhaps the President was in such a hurry to get to his afternoon fundraiser he just didn't have time to study the teleprompter....?

And finally - Marvel Comics has announced that the Norse hero "Thor" will suddenly be a female in upcoming comic books. Not that it effects me in any way since I don't read or buy comic books, but I can't help but wonder why the son of Odin now must become the daughter of Odin. Marvel spokespeople will say only "no longer is the classic male hero able to hold the mighty hammer."

I can't help but wonder if Marvel is doing this for some un-divulged politically correct reason or if their sales of "Thor" comics are decreasing and this is an effort to boost their distribution. Whichever it is it seems really stupid to me. Why not create a new character rather than one day change him to a her?

In reading about the change it seems to be a political correctness move to get away from "stereotypical white males" dominating the Superhero realm. I'm pretty sure that Superheroes being white males was not a racist thing back when they first began creating them. I'm pretty sure it wasn't even a thought in anyone's mind. But in this day and age of "everything must be politically correct, including thoughts" - it's not surprising that it's become an issue. I can only imagine what the next new Superhero's traits will be...

Obama In Proxy War Against Netanyahu...?

We've all been watching the developments in Israel during the ongoing and escalating conflict between the Israelis and the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza. Hamas refuses to stop firing rockets and mortars into Israel so Israel is raising the stakes - going from air and sea strikes against Hamas to a ground invasion with the intent to take out Hamas and their weapons.

President Obama, for whatever reason, has apparently sided against our strongest ally in the Middle East and has repeatedly asked Israel to "use restraint" when dealing with Hamas. It seems our President believes Israel should simply allow Hamas to continue raining rockets down on the citizens of Israel. I have yet to hear the President demand that Hamas stop attacking Israel.

Worse yet - the Obama administration still regularly sends millions of dollars to the Palestinian Authority, which recently formed a new "government of national unity" which includes Hamas. So basically, if you look at it from a logical perspective, President Obama is not only helping to fund a terrorist organization but is funding a terrorist organization who is attacking Israel. He's fighting a proxy war against a nation who is considered one of our strongest, if not our strongest ally. Who's side is the American President on?

The White House reports that President Obama spoke recently with Prime Minister Netanyahu and "reiterated U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas rockets being fired from Gaza." Obama certainly hasn't said that out loud very often.

Netanyahu is a brilliant man and a true leader. Even though he hasn't said so publicly, I'm guessing his friendship and alliance with Obama is waning. I have no doubt Israel is a friend and ally to the United States just as most Americans are a friend to Israel. I'm just skeptical of Obama's loyalties and I'm sure Netanyahu is as well. If I was Netanyahu I would only trust Obama when I was looking him in the eye. And I wouldn't turn my back on him for a minute.

Netanyahu should demand that Obama stop sending money to the friend and new ally of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority. But why would Obama do that when he helped arm ISIS in Syria? Once you begin assisting Islamic terrorists is it possible to stop - particularly if its what you really want to do?

I must ask again - who's side is Obama on? He befriends and defends (and apparently assists) our enemies, even though it hasn't helped us in the least, and he shuns our allies. You know the old saying: "With friends like that..."

It's A Good Thing We Have Fox News...

...otherwise the Obama administration wouldn't know what was going on anywhere in the world.

President Obama has said numerous times that he learned about various scandals and other occurrences on the TV news. He learned about Fast and Furious on the news. He learned about the IRS scandal on the news. He learned about the problems with the VA from the news. In fact, it seems every time something major happens anywhere in the world our President learns about it from the TV news instead of from his own intelligence and security personnel. Isn't that amazing?

Several days ago a Justice Department official was asked how and when the Justice Department learned that Lois Lerner's computer had crashed and that her e-mails for the time under investigation were lost and unrecoverable. The answer from the Justice Department? "We learned about it from the TV news."

Hmmmm

During the first time Lois Lerner was refusing to testify before Congress - you remember... right after she said "I've done nothing wrong" - she was meeting privately with Justice Department officials. Not only do we not know what was going on there but it seems rather unethical for the Justice Department to be interviewing her during a time when she was part of a Congressional investigation and was invoking her 5th Amendment rights. I have no doubt she spilled the beans to Holder after refusing to testify before Congress - most likely so Holder could prepare to run interference for his boss if necessary.

Obviously someone in the Obama administration watches Fox News. I say that because the main stream, state controlled media outlets don't report on things such as Fast and Furious, the IRS and the VA. They ignore the big stories that make the President, their hero, look bad. So IF the Obama administration learns about all these things from the news then someone is watching Fox. And I know it's not the President because he'd be throwing things at his TV every time a Fox reporter mentions something else Obama did wrong.

IF the Obama administration learns about national and world events from the TV news (which only his most blind, Koolaide drinking followers believe) - what do his intelligence and security staff do? What does Valerie Jarrett do (except pull Obama's strings?) Why do we pay members of his administration big bucks if they don't do anything worthwhile? The President of the United States should be the most up-to-date, informed person in the world with intelligence briefings daily. Of course, he'd actually have to attend those briefings to learn what's going on and President Obama has admitted he doesn't regularly do that.

It seems, particularly in this his second term, that Obama wants all of the power and prestige his position brings without really wanting to do the job. He has his particular agenda - such as destroying American sovereignty and pushing LGBT issues worldwide, but he doesn't seem to be connected to the rest of the world and its issues. He's too busy fundraising to worry about a passenger plane being shot down or our strongest ally in the Middle East waging a war. Geez, I hate it when sworn duties interfere with fun, don't you?

Mr. President - might I suggest if you're tired of being President and would rather goof around at fundraisers and play golf - why don't you switch positions with Vice President Biden. He never really seems to have any real responsibilities and his job seems to be more fun than yours. And I'm convinced he can't be any worse at the job than you are. At least his speeches would be entertaining.

Fundraiser In Chief...?

On September 11, 2012, the United States consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked by terrorists. Thoe attack killed four Americans including Christopher Stevens, our ambassador to Libya. The next day President Obama made a short speech in the Rose Garden (where he lied about what happened) then flew to Las Vegas for a fundraising event.

In early May of this year, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, invaded the Crimea region of Ukraine. As that was happening, President Obama was declaring "Happy Hour" at a Democrat National Convention fundraiser.

On July 8th, just 10 days ago, our strongest ally in the Middle East, Israel, finally fed up with the hundreds of Hamas rocket attacks on their cities, began an air and sea campaign against Hamas. President Obama went on a fundraising trip to Denver.

The next day, July 9th, Texas Governor Rick Perry invited Obama to tour the Southern border to see for himself the crisis at hand with the illegal immigrants pouring over the border into Texas. The President declined and instead went to a fundraiser in Dallas.

Yesterday a Malaysian Airlines commercial jet was shot down over the Ukraine/Russia border, killing all 295 people on board including at least one American. (22 passengers held American passports according to the manifest.) The President spoke about it for about 40 seconds saying, among other things, "This looks like it may be a terrible tragedy." Wow. More profound words were never spoken....

The President wrapped up his remarks then flew to New York City, where he was the headliner for... you guessed it... a Democratic Party fundraiser Thursday evening. Tickets for the cozy event sold for as much as $32,400. He sure knows what it's like to relate to the average American.

To date, President Obama has attended 395 fundraisers in his 5-1/2 years in office. That's more than George W. Bush attended in two full terms. (Bush attended 334 total in 8 years.) Since the beginning of his second term in January, President Obama has attended 46 fundraisers. That's an average of one fundraiser every four days. 

Part of me wishes he'd stop all the fundraising and spend more time being the full time leader of the free world. But I've seen the results of his weak, disastrous foreign policies. I'm more inclined to want him to be the Fundraiser-in-Chief rather than Commander-in-Chief. He'll do less damage worldwide - and here at home.

Obama Calls Putin After Plane Is Shot Down

Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was on a routine flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it suddenly fell from the sky near the Ukraine/Russia border, killing all 295 souls on board. Although Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, blames the Ukranians for the action, most who have weighed in on it blame pro-Russia rebels in Ukraine, who are being armed with sophisticated weapons by the Russian government.

It was reported that President Obama called President Putin yesterday to discuss the airliner. The conversation probably went something like this:

Putin: "привет"  (Hello)

Obama: "Vladimir - It's Barack."

Putin: "Who is this?"

Obama: "Barack. Barack Obama - the President of the United States."

Putin: "Do I know you? How did you get this number?"

Obama: "C'mon, Vlad. It's me. You remember."

Putin: "Of course I remember, BO. I'm just... how you say... pulling your arm."

Obama "Leg."

Putin: "What leg?"

Obama: "Pulling your leg. That's the expression. Pulling your leg."

Putin: "Why would I want to pull your leg? In the United States is that like pulling my finger?"

Obama: "No, no. Forget it. Look - the reason I'm calling is about the Malaysian airliner that was shot down. 295 people died. Did you have anything to do with that?"

Putin: "I heard about that. Such a tragedy. Those Ukranians are bad people."

Obama: "Vlad - we know the Ukranians don't have the weaponry to shoot down a plane at that altitude. Did you have anything to do with it?"

Putin: "Why would I do something like that? Shooting down a civilian air liner is the act of a bully."

Obama: "Vlad - there are only three countries in the world who have the weaponry to shoot down a plane like that from the ground. The USA, China and Russia. We certainly didn't do it. China has no reason to do it. So that leaves you. I know you didn't do it yourself but we're pretty sure those Russian rebels in Ukraine did it. They boasted about shooting down a plane on Twitter, then deleted their post once it was learned it was a civilian airliner."

Putin: "BO - you're getting too clever. Yes, the Russian rebels shot the plane down. They got a little carried away. But I've told them to be more careful from now on. However, we are still going to deny any knowledge of it and you are going to cover for us. The Ukranians shot the plane down. Do you understand?"

Obama: "I can't tell the American people that the Ukranians shot the plane down. The Ukranians don't have the means to do it. My people will never believe me."

Putin: "They believed "hope and change." They believed the "video" story - at least for a while. You need to get more control over Fox News, BO. The only good news agency is a state controlled news agency. How many times must I tell you that?"

Obama: "Damn Fox News. I hate them! Anyway - back to the Malaysian plane. I can't tell another lie to the American people. They're catching on. Sixty percent of them already don't believe a word I say."

Putin: "So what? Just tell them what I told you - that Russia had nothing to do with it and it was the Ukranian government who shot down the plane. That's all you have to do."

Obama: "I can't do that, Vladimir. I'll look like a fool."

Putin: "What difference, at this point, does it make?  Ha ha ha ha! Sorry BO - I couldn't help myself! That's such a great line! Just tell them what I said. Don't make me force the issue by launching another attack on Ukraine or posting some more pictures of myself riding a bear while shirtless. Do what I said, girly man, or I'll have to spank you."

Obama: "OK, Vlad. I'll do it. But please keep your rebels under control. There were 23 Americans on that plane. My people will expect me to care about that. It's hard to maintain appearances when I really couldn't care less. I'm more interested in releasing terrorists for American deserters than I am about some stupid Americans being killed in another part of the world where they don't belong. Did you see Bergdahl's mom? Wow - was she hot. Michelle almost killed me after that press conference. I couldn't keep my hands off of her!"

Putin: "I saw her. You're a lucky dog, BO. She was one hot mama. And I saw you flirting with that hot Danish Prime Minister at Mandella's funeral. I don't understand how a guy who wears mom jeans can get hot women like that. They're all hot - unlike Michelle. No offense."

Obama: "None taken. Michelle is like our Constitution - they both get in the way of what I want to do. And you know what they say. Once you go black..."

Putin: "What do they say?"

Obama: "Once you go black you never go back."

Putin: "Who says that?"

Obama: "Many Americans - particularly black Americans."

Putin: "I've never heard that before. Interesting."

Obama: "Maybe it's because you don't have any black people in your country."

Putin: "We have black people in my country. What - you never heard of a black Russian?"

Obama: "I've heard of a Black Russian but..."

Putin: "There you go. We have black people. But not very many."

Obama: There are black people everywhere, I guess. Things are changing."

Putin: "I hear you, BO. I hear you. I have to go now. I have to wrestle an alligator for a photo op. My people love me. And those who don't are persuaded to love me or they disappear. It's simple. By the way - are you wearing your mom jeans right now?"

Obama: "As a matter of fact, I am. They're comfortable."

Putin: "Just as I thought. One of these days you need to do something manly and have some pictures taken. Playing pool and drinking beer is a good start but not really very adventuresome. Go fishing or hunting. Wait - no hunting. I've seen the pictures of you shooting. Sarah Palin looks more manly than you do with a gun. Sarah Palin - I wish I could see her house from the Kremlin. She's hot too.

Obama: "Yeah, I guess Palin is hot - if you like pale, skinny, white women."

Putin: "But you do like pale, skinny, white women, BO. What about Bergdahl's mom and Prime Minister Thorning-Schmidt?"

Obama: "Well - they're different. They're not Republicans."

Putin: "I'm laughing out loud, BO! You Americans and your political parties. In Russia we have one party. Me. You should drink some vodka, BO. It will put hair on  your chest."

Obama: "But Vlad - you don't have hair on your chest."

Putin: "That's a long story and none of your business. Good-bye, BO. Wuss."

Obama: "So long, V..(click)

Chik-fil-A: Making Liberals' Heads Spin One Sandwich At A Time

According to Janney Capital Markets, Chik-fil-A restaurants, you know - the Christian oriented restaurant that liberals and the LGBT community love to hate because CEO Dan Cathy actually had the gall to say he believes in traditional marriage between a man and a woman - is one of the most quickly growing fast food restaurants in the United States and could one day challenge McDonald's for the number one slot in the country.

Not that it will happen right away - they are still in 9th place, well behind McDonald's, Subway, Starbucks, Wendy's, Burger King, Taco Bell, Dunkin' Donuts and Pizza Hut. But they are moving up rapidly in the total sales category - quite rapidly, in fact, considering there are far fewer restaurants than the other big names, the fact that they're not open for business on Sunday like the others and taking into consideration the controversy and attempted boycott last year

Janney Capital Markets is a branch of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, a U.S. broker-dealer registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a member of the New York Stock Exchange, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities Investor Protection Corp. They have a pretty good reputation for knowing their stuff.

Let's look at numbers for a minute. Chik-fil-A is going nationwide but in these select states here is a numerical breakdown (according to Janney) of the number of current Chik-fil-A restaurants compared to McDonald's:

Colorado   37
Illinois    31
Indiana   31
Massachusetts   3
Michigan   1
Minnesota   7
New Jersey   28
New York (state)   31
Ohio   40
Wisconsin   1

Each of these same states has at least 200+ McDonald's restaurants in them with Michigan having 400, Ohio and Illinois having 500 and New York state a whopping 600+. (I wonder how Michael Bloomberg ever allowed that...?)

Much to the liberals' chagrin, in America it seems if you provide a good product to your customers with good service and a good attitude - people come back. Did you read about the Chik-fil-A franchise owner in Alabama last year during the big snowstorm who kept his restaurant open just so he could hand out meals to as many stranded motorists as possible (for free) and give shelter inside his restaurant to anyone who needed it? Even though it was only one restaurant owner - I didn't hear any reports of McDonald's or any other fast food restaurant doing that.

Like Hobby Lobby, the Chik-fil-A corporation is founded and operated on Christian principles. They do not discriminate against people for what those people believe but stand for their own beliefs and defend them... not that they should have to defend them. They treat people fairly and treat customers well. It shows.

I can only imagine the increase in hatred growing as Chik-fil-A continues to succeed as other restaurants begin losing in the numbers game. I can see heads spinning already as they hear the news. Despite what President Obama might say - America is still a mostly Christian nation. And the Chik-fil-A numbers seem to indicate that's true.

Harry Reid: "The Borders Are Secure"

That's what he said in a press conference yesterday.  "The border is secure. [Sen.] Martin Heinrich talked to the caucus today. He’s a border state senator. He said he can say without any equivocation the border is secure," Reid told reporters.

Really? In what world, Senator?

Let's look at the definition of the word "secure."  Merriam-Webster defines it as "free from or not exposed to danger or harm; safe. 2. dependable; firm; not liable to fail, yield, or become displaced."

I guess if you pick and choose the words you use to define "secure" you can almost say Reid is telling the truth. The border itself is not exposed to danger or harm. You can't really harm an imaginary line. And as of yet that imaginary line hasn't been displaced. It has simply been erased to the point where people from outside the country can easily step over it without much consequence.

If you look at the rest of the words in the definition: "safe, dependable, firm, not liable to fail, yield or become displaced," then it's easy to see that Harry Reid is probably out of his mind. Kids are dying during their efforts to get across the river into the USA. With hundreds of thousands of people crossing illegally into the country every year it's certainly not dependable or firm. In fact it is yielding to the illegals daily - which means total failure.

But then - Harry's not the first Democrat to declare the borders secure. Last week Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) told reporters that "Everything is under control at the border." Apparently Congresswoman Lee lives in the same fairytale world as Harry.

Remember when former DHS Secretary Janet (Big Sis) Napolitano declared "The borders are safer than ever," right after she had the Bureau of Land Management erect signs in Southern Arizona warning Americans not to venture within 100 miles of the borders for fear of their safety? The signs warned of “active drug and human smuggling area” and they may encounter ““armed criminals and smuggling vehicles traveling at high rates of speed.” The signs told American citizens in their own country to “use public lands north of Interstate 8” and to call 911 if they “see suspicious activity.”

Certainly the borders are safer - safer for the drug cartels and the human traffickers. All thanks to the Obama administration.

The President, other Democrats, and even liberal "news" agencies are lying to the American people daily about the border and about the long term effects of so many people entering the country illegally. The New York Times said Sunday that the "crisis on the border is a myth." Of course - the Democrats see huge numbers of illegals given amnesty in the future thus increasing the dependent Democrat voting base. What reason the New York Times has for lying about the borders only they know. But one thing is certain - they and other liberal media outlets are assisting the Obama administration in pushing us toward a totalitarian government.

NY Times: "Besieged Border A Myth"

In an editorial over the weekend, the New York Times said that President Obama is "getting it mostly right" and that Republicans are "throwing up roadblocks" by means of "dangerous overreaction."

"The besieged border is a myth, and the arrival of a few thousand weary refugee children on buses does not make the myth true," the Times wrote. "Republicans are feeding the cycle, stoking panic about a border under assault, even to the point of demanding that Mr. Obama call out the National Guard. Nativist protesters are blocking buses of migrants in places like Murrieta, Calif."

Either the New York Times editorial staff believe what they write without looking at the actual situation (of nearly 58,000 unaccompanied minor children crossing the border since October of last year (not counting the hundreds of thousands of adults who have crossed) or they are deliberately lying to their readers to cover for the President. 

Neither is unimaginable when it comes to the NY Times. At one time they were a legitimate, journalistic newspaper. Today they are shills for the President and the Democrats. Any news agency that says the crisis on the border, both from the immigration side and the humanitarian side, is a myth is either completely ignorant of what's going on or a liar. And given that the New York Times has hundreds of viable sources of information one can really only conclude that the paper, or at least that editor, is a liar.

The Times praised President Obama for asking for $3.7 billion in aid to deal with the crisis they have labeled "a myth." If the crisis is a myth then why praise Obama for asking for money for something that doesn't exist? That sounds wasteful to me. Just another example of the Times shilling for the President.

While I don't believe the President feels the situation at the border is a crisis (mostly because he is allowing it to happen), 3.7 billion dollars is a lot of money, even for a Democrat, to deal with "the arrival of a few thousand weary refugee children." Do you not think so, NYT?

The New York Times should go back to reporting accurate news rather than being a mouthpiece for the President and the Democrats. They could possibly become a respected newspaper again one day.

Yet Another Crashed Hard Drive...!

What is it going to take before people understand just how deceptive and destructive the Obama administration is? It seems they now have a rallying cry when there is a Congressional investigation into possible illegal activities within his administration.

"My hard drive crashed!"

In the spring of this year, Federal Elections Commission employee, April Sands, resigned her position after admitting to violating the Hatch Act - the law that puts restrictions on the ability of government officials to conduct political activities while on the job, or from government offices.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa made a formal request to the FEC for information from Ms. Sands' computer to determine if criminal charges should be brought against her. In a shockingly non-surprising coincidence, the FEC reported back to Mr. Issa that Ms. Sands' hard drive had crashed and the information he sought was unavailable. Imagine that. What are the odds?

Since the beginning of the year Congressional investigators have subpoenaed the IRS, the EPA, and now the FEC for information on computers of various employees and former employees who are the subjects of investigations. In the case of the IRS, seven different employees apparently suffered hard drive crashes just before the House Oversight Committee requested information. Again I ask - what are the odds that of all the individuals subpoenaed by Congress in the IRS investigation - seven out of seven suffered hard drive malfunctions with complete loss of information. Really? 

What's also interesting (and just as unbelievable) is that the agencies say because of the hard drive crashes none of the information is recoverable. E-mails are never supposed to disappear completely and yet in the federal government, which is notorious for replication of paperwork and information, when a hard drive crashes the information is supposedly just gone and the hard drive itself is recycled. And they have only temporary backup systems according to IRS officials. (Of course they discontinued their contract backup arrangement soon after learning they were under investigation. Nothing suspicious there, either.)

Having worked in federal law enforcement I can tell you this would be completely unacceptable in my agency. Every bit of information generated was treated as if it would one day end up in court. It was duplicated, backed up, printed and stored... I simply cannot believe that the IRS, which requires each of us to maintain at least 7 years of tax files on hand, only saves computer information for six months. And anyone who does believe it should really consider it logically.

Yes - the new answer to a Congressional investigation is "My hard drive crashed. Sorry." Amazingly, some people find this to be acceptable and not suspicious. 

Even with the IRS' attempts to hide facts from Congress there is now enough information against Lois Lerner that the House Sergeant at Arms has been instructed to arrest her. Of course, they'll probably never see her again without some kind of deal finally being made. And maybe it's time. Maybe she should receive immunity in return for her honest, open testimony concerning who is involved and who gave the orders. 

If and when Representative Trey Gowdy gets close to getting answers concerning what really happened in Benghazi I expect the Defense Department, the State Department and the White House to suddenly announce they all had hard drive failures in the last few months and none of the information Mr. Gowdy has requested is available. After the failure of the "video" story and the information that was released by the Hillary camp saying she objected to Obama's decision to use that story, all agencies involved will have to figure out how to avoid the real information being discovered.

"Congressman - all of the computers from which you have subpoenaed information suffered crashes of their hard drives about six months ago. We simply forgot to tell you until you pressed us on it. So what difference, at this point, does it make?"

Dear President Obama....

I realize that since I'm an American citizen with conservative political views writing a letter to you is a complete waste of time. But I'm going to do it anyway even if it's only to make myself feel better.

I realize I'll probably be labeled either a hate filled, right-wing zealot or a racist by you and your blind, mindless followers but that's OK - I can live with it. That will be your ignorant, misguided opinion rather that the truth. The truth is I'm an American veteran and retired federal employee who is completely fed up with what you're doing to the country I love - the country I personally served for 30 years.

Why am I so upset? I can give you a list. Of course - you like to pretend these things are all "phony scandals" - as if they either didn't happen or they aren't important. But in the "most transparent administration in history" (your words, not mine) they are important. Because, as recent polls show, most of us are tired of being lied to by the President of the United States.

For the second time in my life I'm ashamed of my government. I'm not ashamed of my country - as your wife apparently was until you were elected President. I'm ashamed of my government - your administration. The first time was when Jimmy Carter was President. Enough said?

Let's start the list (and mind you - this is only a partial list):

Fast and Furious - Border Patrol agent Brian Terry worked for you. He was killed with a weapon that was purchased in the United States and was smuggled to Mexico in an operation planned and implemented by your Justice Department. Even though Attorney General Eric Holder denies knowledge of it prior to Officer Terry being murdered, (a very common occurrence in your administration - it seems no one knows anything until after the fact) I'm pretty sure not too many Americans believe it - except your blind faith, lap dog followers.

IRS Targeting Conservative Groups - As much as you'd love to convince people this is one of those "phony scandals", the evidence is piling up. It has now been discovered that your steadfast servant, Lois Lerner, sent out a warning to her fellow conspirators to be careful what they say in e-mails because Congress might be monitoring them. Before Congress she said she had done nothing wrong - just before invoking her 5th Amendment right not to incriminate herself. It's pretty easy to guess that someone in your administration had something to do with this incident of targeting your opponents. And things are not looking good for Elijah Cummings. Yet you still try to deny that it even happened.

Benghazi - Four American citizens, who worked for you, murdered in what we all know was a planned terrorist attack. You and your cronies flat out lied to the American people about what happened. Worse yet - you lied to the relatives who were there to receive the bodies. You lied mostly because you were afraid the truth might hurt you in the 2012 election. For that you should all be deeply ashamed. But instead you not only don't care, you're still trying to play the charade. And many in the main stream media are still trying to help you do it.

The AP/James Rosen scandals - Again you deny any wrongdoing but your Attorney General targeted the media and a Fox reporter because you/he they were reporting information leaked from your administration. Rather than seek the source of the leak you targeted those who were reporting the information, in direct violation of the Constitution.

Oh - and your Attorney General told Congress he had never been associated with “potential prosecution” of a journalist for perjury when in fact he signed the affidavit that termed Rosen a potential criminal. So does he regularly sign things without knowing what they say or did he commit perjury? Only you and he know for sure.

Kathleen Sebelius - Your former Health and Human Services Secretary violated the Hatch Act by soliciting funds from companies that HHS might regulate. She also made campaign remarks for a Democrat candidate for the governorship in North Carolina during an official speech. Not that you are personally responsible for what she did but you remained completely silent on the matter and took no action to correct her.

Solyndra - Your administration gave millions of dollars to an already failing green energy company and gave millions more to other green energy companies that went bankrupt. The money was completely wasted and was never recovered. Your administration conspired to prevent Solyndra from announcing its bankruptcy and layoffs until after the 2010 election.

Upholding your oath of office - You pick and choose the laws you will uphold. You instructed the Border Patrol to stop doing their jobs effectively and gave blanket amnesty to any child under 16 years of age who is in the country illegally. (It's the main reason so many kids are coming here illegally now.) You pick and choose what parts of your signature health care law you will enforce - also based on elections. And you lie to the people about it on a regular basis.

Affordable Care Act - Speaking of the health care law - no matter what lies you tell about how great it is, those of us with logical minds understand that it's really about government control of the health care industry. You don't care that honest, hard-working people are losing their currently affordable health care plans because your new law is causing insurance companies to cancel that you decided weren't good enough. In fact - you lied to the nation and told everyone if they liked their plans and their doctors they could keep them - knowing full well what was coming. Of course, your blind followers blame the insurance companies because that's the liberal way - blame the corporations. They do that because they simply can't admit to themselves that you're screwing people under the guise of helping them out.

Israel and the Muslim Brotherhood - You helped force Hosni Mubarek out of office in Egypt in favor of a Muslim Brotherhood leader. The people of Egypt objected and they ousted the new leader. The problem is that you support the Muslim Brotherhood, who is not a friend of the United States. Your Muslim upbringing and your placement of Muslims into your administration, in my opinion (and the opinion of millions of other Americans) is a danger to the United States.

You have completely failed our strongest ally in the Middle East, Israel, by not publicly covering their back and by calling for them to "use restraint" in their struggle with Hamas in Gaza. Hamas has fired nearly 1000 rockets into Israel in the last few weeks, even targeting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. And rather than show support for Netanyahu, something you like to say you will always do, you tell him to use restraint when 70% of his country is in the danger zone. Are you out of you mind or do you simply hate Israel that much? I have my own opinion on that based on your actions (and your inactions.) Even Egypt, a sworn enemy of Israel (thanks to your Muslim Brotherhood buddies) is supporting Israel in its military actions against Hamas.

Benjamin Netanyahu is too much of a gentleman and a real leader to say to you what he probably truly feels but I can say it for him. You are a snake and not a friend to Israel at all. You turn your back on non-Muslim allies and support Muslims every chance you get. You're still giving money to the Palestinians and Hamas - in direct contradiction to your "continued support of Israel."

Border Security and Illegal Immigration - You are giving away the sovereignty of the United States of America. The tens of thousands of people entering our Southern border are coming here because of you and your complete failure to enforce our immigration laws. You like to pretend you're deporting "more illegals than any other President" but the truth is that you count those that were being turned around at the border before ever getting into the United States. And now you don't even do that. The Southern border is wide open and what duties the Border Patrol was still allowed to perform are no longer being done. Instead they're in the diaper changing business and are being forced, against their will, to transport illegal aliens around the country in your effort to house (and hide) them. You are not only ignoring the current immigration laws but in reality you're in the human trafficking business at the present time. And for what purpose? To pad the Democrat voting base with people who will be given amnesty and government assistance, and who will become life long Democrat voters.

Lastly - your new military commanders are handing out pink slips to our soldiers on the front lines of battle in Afghanistan. Really? Men and women are over there fighting (a war that you endorsed) and you're telling them as soon as they're done they're fired? And you're coddling a deserter for whom you traded five of the top Taliban leaders to get back? That was either the stupidest or the most traitorous action you've committed during your Presidency. Again - I have my own opinion on which it was.

Mr. President - as much as it scares me to think about Joe Biden being next in line for the Presidency - will you please resign? I know my request is ridiculous since a narcissist like you cannot imagine being the failure that you are. But seriously - you suck at being President. You might be very good at what you're trying to do in destroying the America most of us know and love - but as a leader you are at the bottom of the barrel. I would prefer Jimmy Carter's failures over yours. At least President Carter, misguided as he is, has a deep love for this country. You, on the other hand, love yourself over everything and your disdain for America as she has always been is obvious.

It has nothing to do with your race or skin color. You are a disgrace to freedom loving Americans nationwide. We need a leader who actually loves America and our military. Please step down now.

A Case Of Poetic Justice...

A woman in Atlanta, Georgia, was getting into her car in May when a man walked up, pointed a gun at her and made her let him into the car in the driver's seat. His intention was to steal the car with her still in it.

The suspect apparently did not know how to operate a vehicle with a manual transmission. While he was fumbling with the stick shift the woman was able to grab the gun away from him. She then attempted to flee the vehicle. The suspect grabbed her and police say he bit her twice in an attempt to subdue her. That's when the woman shot the suspect with his own gun.

Comments from the local police station's Facebook page range from "That's hilarious...in the words of Fred G. Sanford...ya big dummy..lol..awesome for her!!" to "Proof that you don't need a gun...you just need a stick shift! LOL And people can't understand why I drive one!"

And while the last comment was intended to be funny, I'm sure there are those who would say it in all earnestness. Anti-gun zealots somehow don't understand that taking guns away from law abiding citizens isn't the answer to gun violence. Taking the gun away from the bad guy, as in this case, is the answer. Although I don't recommend trying it unless absolutely necessary.

“In this case, she did see an opening and she took it and it worked out for her and we were able to get the suspect into custody,” Atlanta police Officer John Chafee.

In other news, an organization called Bay Area Quest Hunt in the city of Oakland, California, is trying to hold a scavenger hunt for residents with valid California IDs and valid medical marijuana cards. The prize - various forms of marijuana. Participants in the game would follow clues hidden around the city which would lead them to cards that can be cashed in for cannabis. Prizes would include pre-rolled joints, pot edibles, eighth-ounce bags of weed and THC concentrates.

Medical marijuana is legal in California however, recreational use is not legal as of yet. I'm sure that's only a matter of time.

The Oakland Police Department apparently isn't ready to allow such an event. Organizers received a letter from the OPD that said they (Bay Area Quest Hunt) are not licensed to have a medical marijuana business in the city and don't have the proper permits for this event.

Apparently if you're going to hand out free marijuana you have to have a license. Imagine.

"We had verified medical marijuana recommendations for EVERY individual who registered," a spokesperson told The Huffington Post by email."As far as we were concerned, we were doing more than most dispensaries when it came to verifying medical marijuana recommendations. Plus, we were not selling marijuana. Registering for the event did not guarantee that you will receive marijuana. We only guaranteed clues."

It seems the organizers don't understand the concept of "legal dispensing of a controlled substance."

A Different Take On ISIS and Iraq

Retired General Thomas McInerney is a frequent guest on Fox News shows these days. The Fox team likes to hear his opinions on the conflict in Iraq with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and its ongoing conquest of Iraq and parts of Syria.

General McInerney has said from the beginning that we should stay out of it. I wasn't sure I agreed with him until last night. I was in favor of the US maybe targeting ISIS with air strikes because of the atrocities they are committing daily against anyone who isn't on their side. 

I'm not alone in those feelings. There are many who feel the same way. But General McInerney changed my mind last night when he spoke of what ISIS is currently doing.

ISIS has begun destroying Shia mosques, churches and shrines - anything that does not apply to their radical Sunni beliefs. 

According to Yvonne Haddad, a professor at Georgetown University who specializes in the history of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations, “They (ISIS) see themselves as the last defenders of Islamic civilization and want to eradicate anything that they see as the enemy of Islam, and any Muslim they perceive as compromising with the West.”

ISIS is now in the process of eradicating Shias, Christians and any other people who do not hold their radical beliefs. They have shot and/or beheaded thousands in the last few weeks. And it seems now they have set their sights on taking over Mecca, the most holy Islamic site in the world.

"By Allah's leave our sheikh al-Baghdadi led Mecca stone for those who worship (pilgrims) will kill you and God ' I will tear down the Ka'ba, the place of worship,” an alleged ISIS militant said on the social media site Twitter.

Mecca is a city in the Hejaz and the capital of Makkah Province in Saudi Arabia and the birthplace of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It is home to Islam's most sacred mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram, and its famed Kaaba, a cube-shaped, granite and marble building adorned with Koranic inscriptions and priceless relics like the golden rain spout, a purported footprint of Abraham and the black cornerstone believed to have been placed by Muhammad.

General McInerney said last night that he believes if ISIS continues to destroy Shia mosques, shrines and relics and attempts to make good on their threat against Mecca the Islamic community as a whole will rise up against the approximately 15,000 ISIS members. And I personally don't believe Saudi Arabia will allow ISIS to march into their country and take anything, particularly Mecca.

“Even in the region they don’t have support, despite their alleged thousands of fighters,” said Muhamad Ali, a religious studies professor at the University of California Riverside. "Other Sunni and Shia Muslim leaders do not voice any slight support for their anti-nationalist ideology and destructive techniques. A caliph has to be proclaimed by the entire Muslim world -- an impossibility today when the Muslim world is divided into nations and political orientations.”

The problem is that they are basically unopposed at the present time. These two Islamic factions have been fighting each other for 1400 years so given all information, waiting it out is definitely worthwhile right now. I do believe if ISIS continues to gain strength they will eventually be a threat to the entire region and to the rest of the world. They have intimidated the Iraqi army to the point that they (the Iraqis) have turned tail and run. Barbaric ruthlessness does have the power to intimidate. They are definitely a force to be reckoned with and must be watched carefully by all.