charrisGOP

University of Alabama Crimson Tide gymnastics anigif 1

University of Alabama Gymnastics
2012 University of Alabama vs University of Florida Meet
2012 University of Alabama vs Auburn University Meet
2012 University of Alabama vs Penn State University Meet
2012 University of Alabama vs University of Georgia Meet
2012 University of Alabama Gymnastics: The Penn State University Road Trip

--University of Alabama Crimson Tide Gymnastics Coach Sarah Patterson--

University of Alabama Crimson Tide Gymnastics Founded: 1975

'BAMA Gymnastics National Championships 5 1988, 1991, 1996, 2002, 2011
Super Six Appearances 27 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
NCAA Regional Champions 26 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
NCAA Tournament Appearances 29 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Conference Champions 7 1988, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2009, 2011
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SARAH * PALIN
Full Speech: Sarah Palin at CPAC 2012
The GOP Insiders, to their everlasting guilt and shame, let this woman practically stand alone against BHO the last few years, letting the media smear her and letting her family deal with threats from the crazies in the population.
Sarah Palin should have been our nominee.
Conservatives Praise Palin's CPAC Speech On Twitter
CPAC 2012: Sarah Palin cleans out the Washington hot tub
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--Margaret Thatcher--
Margaret Thatcher, Britain's Iron Lady
Like President Ronald Reagan, her political soulmate, Margaret Thatcher came to power at a desperate time in her country's history, when real leadership and bold ideas were most needed. And by applying conservative principles to the challenges she faced, she was able to achieve real and lasting success. Then, as today, she faced an extraordinary set of challenges and a chorus of voices saying her country's best days were behind it. Thatcher's successes are a comforting reminder of the power of a bold, conservative vision at work.

--Ayn Rand--
Ayn Rand - The Nature Of Rights
Ayn Rand & the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged - Documentary Movie Trailer
Ayn Rand & the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged
"When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing; when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favors; when you see that men get rich more easily by graft then by work, and your laws no longer protect you against them but protect them against you... you may know that your society is doomed" --Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
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--Fundamentally Transforming America--
Description of how Obama is going about "Fundamentally Transforming" America: "He means to dismantle it and recreate it beyond the will of the people."
How far does the "Will of the people" extend? Only to ELECTED officials... not one step further.
The old expression "You can’t fight City Hall" isn’t quite accurate. You CAN fight the ELECTED officials of City Hall... it’s the faceless, nameless and nearly infinite minions of "City Hall" that you can’t fight.
So if you want to "Fundamentally transform the United States of America" in a way that prevents the will of the people from changing it back, you do it with unelected officials, bureaucratic hirelings, and with unaccountable appointees.
Let the little people have their elections and pretend to be in control of their government. We're certainly AT the tipping point... depending on who wins the Nov. 2012 election we will either tip over... or have a chance to pull back.
Obama and the Left offer us SOFT tyranny... which will assuredly become HARSH tyranny once we are fully disarmed and fully pacified.
All those other times in our country's past lacked TWO key things that make this time different:
[1] We have a populace, primarilly the youth, that have been conditioned to accept and even embrace an "Administrator."
[2] Technology. Technology capable of monitoring and enforcing administrative dictates like never before.
We have a dependent class of people [47%] suckling at the bosom of Big Brother, who are not about to give that up. Other than soc sec, there were no other major great society programs during FDR’s reign that have since become entrenched.
The soon to be "legalized" Democrat voting block whose culture and mindset is made to order for the nanny state to exploit.
The entrenched educational monopoly that has effectively brainwashed the last half century of tabula rosas, to accept this state of affairs unquestioningly.
The entrenched media monopoly that has effectively brainwashed the last half century of tabula rosas, to accept this state of affairs unquestioningly. The media won’t challenge Obama. He knows he can act with impunity and he does.
Thus a large part of the populace will not resist... and those who do can more easily be identified and "controlled."
Make no mistake... THIS time IS different, and if we lose this time then we’ve lost... period.
As to how we have remained free... up until now even our most misguided and/or ineffective President did not have as their STATED GOAL the "Fundamental Transformation of the United States."
The enemy isn’t AT the gates... he’s inside. THAT is the difference... as foretold by Lincoln.

--Freedoms Walk--

'Who sees with equal eye, as God of all, A hero perish, or a sparrow fall....
~~*~~

--LEGALIZE LIBERTY--
Libertarianism
What is Libertarianism?
AN ANIMATED INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF LIBERTY
WHAT IS LIBERTY? It is "peaceful, willing coexistence and its concomitant: beneficially cooperative behavior." --John Stuart Mill
That, simply stated, is liberty or something as close to it as can be found on Earth. It encompasses the Founders’ three desiderata "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness" thusly:
Liberty is impossible without life, or where one lives in constant fear of one’s life.
Liberty therefore requires peaceful coexistence with one’s fellows, even if it must be ensured by force of arms.
Liberty is meaningless unless all are able to pursue happiness, that is, to cooperate [as they will] in mutually beneficial undertakings.
Liberty, because it is a social phenomenon and not an innate condition of humanity, must be won and preserved by an unflinching defense of a polity that fosters liberty through its norms, and the swift and certain administration of justice within that polity.
The words "liberal," "progressive," and their variants are in quotation marks because they refer to persons and movements whose statist policies are, in fact, destructive of liberty and progress. [I include big-government and national-greatness "conservatives" in that indictment, they are nothing but liberals with a different agenda.]
A true libertarian will eschew the temptation to prescribe the details of social conduct. He will, instead, take the following positions:
-- The role of the state is to protect individuals from deceit, coercion, and force.
-- The rules of social conduct are adopted voluntarily within that framework are legitimate and libertarian.
True liberty must be "ordered liberty," in that it cannot arise from license or anarchy, as prescribed by Mill or his more radical progeny [e.g. Murray Rothbard.] Nor can liberty arise from modern liberalism, which has been diagnosed, quite rightly, as a superficially benign kind of fascism.
"Whatever crushes individuality is despotism, by whatever name it may be called." --On Liberty, John Stuart Mill
There is a high price to be paid for the blind rejection of long-standing social norms, whether by individuals, organized groups, legislatures, or courts wishing to "do their own thing," exact "social justice," make life "fair," or just "shake things up" for the sake of doing so. The price is liberty.
Libertarians and conservatives, despite their differences, have a common political enemy: the over-reaching state. Libertarians who are tempted to make cause with "liberals" because they happen to agree with "liberals" about the permissibility of certain kinds of behavior should resist the temptation. Giving aid and comfort to statists cannot conduce to liberty. An alliance with conservatives can conduce to liberty because it is more likely to cause the state to shrink, even if it does not wither away.
The governments of the United States and most States have long since ceased to foster liberty, but Americans are hostage in their own land and have no choice but to strive for the restoration of liberty, or something closer to it.
WHAT LIBERTY IS:
"A man at liberty is a person neither in chains, under confinement, nor intimidated like a slave by the fear of punishment... To consider inability of soaring to the clouds like the eagle, of living under the water like the whale, of making ourselves king or pope, as a want of liberty, would be ridiculous." --Claude Adrien Helvétius, Essays on the Mind and Its Several Faculties

I love what our nation is, and what it represents. I wouldn't want to live my time on earth, in any other place!
In Liberty,
charrisGOP
~~*~~

--Where is libertarianism to be found? In conservatism, of all places, because it is a reality-based political philosophy.--
But what does conservatism have to do with libertarianism? I refer you to John Kekes, who toward the end of "What Is Conservatism?" says this:
The traditionalism of conservatives excludes both the view that political arrangements that foster individual autonomy should take precedence over those that foster social authority and the reverse view that favors arrangements that promote social authority at the expense of individual autonomy. Traditionalists acknowledge the importance of both autonomy and authority, but they regard them as inseparable, interdependent, and equally necessary. The legitimate claims of both may be satisfied by the participation of individuals in the various traditions of their society. Good political arrangements protect these traditions and the freedom to participate in them by limiting the government’s authority to interfere with either.
Therein lies true libertarianism--true because it is attainable.
--

Ronald Reagan Speech--1964 Republican National Convention
"If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals–if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is. Now, I can’t say that I will agree with all the things that the present group who call themselves Libertarians in the sense of a party say, because I think that like in any political movement there are shades, and there are libertarians who are almost over at the point of wanting no government at all or anarchy. I believe there are legitimate government functions. There is a legitimate need in an orderly society for some government to maintain freedom or we will have tyranny by individuals. The strongest man on the block will run the neighborhood. We have government to insure that we don’t each one of us have to carry a club to defend ourselves. But again, I stand on my statement that I think that libertarianism and conservatism are travelling the same path." --Ronald Reagan

--American Libertarianism--
My focus is on American libertarianism because the Constitution of the United States of America holds the promise of liberty. Building on that promise, Americans can strive to perfect liberty in the United States. But the rest of the world isn't bound by our Constitution, and it is foolish to think that the rest of the world prizes America's liberty...
Libertarianism is a political philosophy which advocates individual rights and a limited government. Libertarians believe that individuals should be free to do anything they want, so long as they do not infringe upon what they believe to be the equal rights of others. In this respect they agree with many other modern political ideologies. The difference arises from the definition of "rights." Libertarians further believe that the only legitimate use of force, whether public or private, is to protect these rights...
-- Equality before the law is a noble ideal, as long as the law serves everyone's liberty.
-- Liberty is indivisible; to restrict economic liberty is to restrict social and political liberty.
-- Prosperity is a concomitant of liberty, not its enemy.
-- Prosperity isn't a zero-sum game. Absent corporate welfare and protective regulation [both of which are anti-libertarian,] the wealthy get that way not by robbing others but by providing jobs, products, and services for them.
-- Liberty comes from the people--or the liberty-minded among them--not from the state. Yet, the state--properly governed by the people's representatives--can serve as a bulwark of liberty.
-- The American state's first and foremost obligation is to protect the lives and liberty of American citizens; the Constitution is not a suicide pact.
Finally, there are many paths to libertarianism. What matters, in the end, is whether you believe that life would be better with a much smaller, far less intrusive, and far less costly government--one that's focused on defending your liberty--and whether you act accordingly.
Some libertarians do not attempt to justify their beliefs in any external sense; they support libertarianism because they desire the maximum degree of liberty possible within their own lives, and see libertarianism as the most effective political philosophy towards this end.
But remember that your liberty is only as secure as the liberty of your neighbors. If you use the law to advance your interests at your neighbors' expense, your neighbors can do the same thing to you.
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--Free·think·er--
A person who forms opinions on the basis of reason, independent of authority or tradition, especially a person whose religious opinions differ from established belief.
Can a Theist be a Free.think.er?
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"IF YOU PLAN ON BEING ANY- THING LESS THAN YOU ARE CAPABLE OF BEING, YOU WILL PROBABLY BE UNHAPPY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE." --ABRAHAM MASLOW
'Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a man who is perverse in speech and is a fool.' Proverbs 19.1

Laughing in the face of a liberal is the very best rebuttal to their absurd statements. Not a gentle polite laugh but an uproariously strong belly laugh that last several seconds or more. Gets them every time, and they know exactly what you think of them and their ideas. It's like Ronald Reagan saying "now there you go again" only it's much more effective.
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--Obama’s Socialist Demagoguery & Class Warfare--
The liberals have been working on destroying this country since 1912. It took them 96 years to finally put all the pieces together. The Occupier Obama was elected to destroy capitalism and faith. He has done his job well.
Obama’s demagoguery & class warfare hasn’t helped Obama one bit. In fact, I think he’s making himself look more bitter & shrill as he shrinks before our eyes. The real Obama will make his face known when the total facade shatters. He is full of rage & hatred for America & more people are realizing it.
After he loses in 2012, they will have until Jan 17 for him and the Dem senate to do as much damage as they can possibly do. We are facing the most dangerous time in our history. The question is, How long will it take to unravel all the tenticles they have created?
If you do read might I suggest you read the US Constitution or maybe the Declaration of Independence. If you want to live in a socialist country under tyranny there are plenty in the world from which to choose. The United States was the most successful, unique Republic in the history of the world. Maybe if you knew a little more about the unique miracle that is the United States you would never be supporting that destructive socialist for President.
The Constitution is for "we the people," not "they the politicians."
Great Read: Why we will sweep the elections in 2012. People know when they are not working, and when their neighbors are not working. Many who voted for obama in 2008 now know him to be a liar. I think these people will be well-represented in the 2012 elections.
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--Fast and Furious - Late Friday Information Dump--
Something that has been flying under the radar [even on conservative sites] was the late Friday information dump on Fast and Furious in which DOJ officials admitted making false denials.
Fortunately the Washington Times obtained a ton of information about BP Agent Brian Terry’s murder investigation before the DOJ had them sealed. Supposedly Mexical criminals were hunting BP agents the day Terry was murdered.
We have two important anniversaries in the next two weeks: -- December 7: 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. -- December 14: First anniversary of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s murder. Hopefully, the GOP is smart enough to capitalize on the anniversary of his murder, but I realize that is wishful thinking.
Fast and Furious illustrates how much power the media has. Fast and Furious is much more serious than Watergate, which was a simple break-in; no one was murdered. The media appears to be doing everything possible to keep Fast and Furious under wraps, although it should be one of the biggest stories today, just as Watergate was in 1973-74.
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"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." --George Washington
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--Obama Economy & Fuzzy Math--
The "official" unemployment rate fell to 8.6% this month. Good news? Not if you are one of the "Disappeared Ones."
Unlike Argentina in the period between 1976 and 1983 when tens of thousands of people literally "disappeared" into Government internment camps [we’re not there... yet,] our "disappeared" just stop being considered in the unemployment numbers.
Thus, despite the ACTUAL number of people who are [a] of working age and [b] not disabled GROWS each month, our government SHRINKS the "official" number each month they consider in the "job pool." If you run a private enterprise manipulating numbers like this is called "Fraud"... if you run the Department of Labor this is called "Statistics."
Note the people no longer IN the "job pool" ...these people are not considered "employable."
In July 2008 the "Covered Employment" number was 133,690,617. In other words, the total labor force was almost 134 million. How about June 2011? EIGHT MILLION FEWER – 125,572,661. WHERE THE HELL DID THOSE 8 MILLION PEOPLE GO?
From Bizzyblog: labor force participation rate "percentage wise this was a drop from 64.2% to 64.0%: the lowest since back in 1983." That’s why the Labor Pool now fits in the average backyard. Not a bad effort... but he could do better [he’s not counting the increase in population in his video.]
Don’t you find it interesting [non "unexpected" to use the media’s favorite term] that the media doesn’t question the unemployment figures?
You can bet than come next October the "official" unemployment figure will be 8% or lower and no one in the media will question it.
Oh, and speaking of "fuzzy math" ...excellent article at Powerline on the Democrats "Payroll Tax surcharge" nonsense. Key section:
"... the cost of the Democrats' payroll-tax reduction is $265 billion. Will that really be paid for by a 3.25 percent surtax on adjusted gross incomes over $1 million?
According to the Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute/Brookings Institute, approximately 388,000 households have income above $1 million in any given year; the average income of such households is about $2.7 million. The surtax would be levied on the increment above $1 million. So the arithmetic is simple on a static analysis: 388,000 *$1.7 million *3.25% = $21.437 billion."
So the Dems add $265 BILLION to the deficit and "pay" for it with $21 billion [and change] from the "1%." Leaving a shortfall of $244 BILLION. Fuzzy math indeed! Our children, and grand-children can pay for THAT too!
--
12/31/2008 Population 233,788,000 Labor Force 154,287,000 Employed 145,362,000 Unemployed 8,924,000 Not in Labor Force 79,501,000
6/30/2011 Population 239,489,000 Labor Force 153,421,000 Employed 139,334,000 Unemployed 14,087,000 Not in Labor Force 86,069,000
When we finally get around to slashing the numbers of federal employees... might I suggest that the folks over at the Dept of Labor who are cooking the numbers for Obama be the first to be fired.
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--Education Reform & Learning Standards--
A horse will never be a tractor. If you want tractor results, you have to stop using the horse. What is the horse in education? One-size-fits-all, lock-step, subject-based, teacher-centered classroom instruction. The system is producing the best results it can, and no amount of tinkering is going to dramatically improve outcomes. Moreover, the cost of the tinkering far exceeds the cost of creating schools for The 21st Century Student. So, why aren't these schools being created? It's simply not in the interests of educators to create them, anymore than it was in the interests of blacksmiths to promote a change to tractors. Yet, without tractors, half the world would be starving and food would cost way more than it does. In education, every student is starving because none are getting the high quality education we could be providing, and we are paying far more for an inferior product than we would if we made the switch.
We could eliminate one-size-fits-all, lock-step, subject-based, teacher-centered classroom instruction for 1 year in school AND provide it for free to all students and citizens in the US. We could even help educate every child in the world at minimum cost. That's a foreign policy that would win us friends worldwide. But NOOOOOOOOOO! We keep screwing around with an 18th century instructional model as if it were a gift from God. Where are the Steve Jobs of education?
The system is not about to denigrate itself. It needs political support. So, it will lie, cheat, steal, beg, borrow, manipulate, cajole and do everything it needs to do to make the public believe that public education is doing a great job. The failure of our education system to dramatically improve is a direct result of policy decisions preventing the private sector from profiting from public education.
It's the system of lock-step, one-size-fits-all instruction that is causing the failure. If you are not willing to change the system and eliminate classroom instruction to the greatest extent possible, then you are dooming another generation of students to an inadequate education. The system turns intelligent people into idiots because they have to accommodate the system rather than do what's best for students. It's an outrage.
And do you know what doing what's best for students means? It means they won't all be at the same place at the same time and score at the same levels on state exams! For those who think they should or must, it's ANOTHER outrage!
Anything based on the classroom instructional model cannot possibly produce dramatic improvements in learning. How many times do we have to watch this movie?
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--Who is Barack Obama?--
Isn’t it amazing that, within only one week of Tiger Woods crashing his Escalade, the press found every woman with whom Tiger has had an affair during the last few years?
And, they even uncovered photos, text messages, recorded phone calls, etc.
Furthermore, they not only know the cause of the family fight, but they even know it was a wedge from his golf bag that his wife used to break out the windows in the Escalade. Not only that, they know which wedge!
And, each & every day, they were able to continue to provide America with updates on Tiger’s sex rehab stay, his wife’s plans for divorce, as well as the dates & tournaments in which he will play.
Now, Barack Obama has been in office for almost three years, yet this very same press:
-- Cannot find any of his childhood friends or neighbors; -- Or find any of Obama’s high school or college classmates; -- Or locate any of his college papers or grades; -- Or determine how he paid for both a Columbia & a Harvard education; -- Or discover which country issued his visa to travel to Pakistan in the 1980's; -- Or even find Michelle Obama’s Princeton thesis on racism.
They just can’t seem to uncover any of this. Yet, the public still trusts that same press to give them the whole truth!
The media couldn’t be bothered to connect ANY of the dots regarding Obama’s past during the 2008 election. And any time they even thought about trying to connect a couple dots, they would quickly fall for the same old Jedi mind-trick: "These are not the dots you are looking for..."
One great BIG dot that the media refused to connect to Obama was William Ayers. The photo of William Ayers, unrepentant terrorist, trampling the American flag in a trash-filled alley still makes my stomach turn. Yet the media ran away from the photo and the story, believing the Obama spin that "Ayers was just a casual acquaintance with an arm’s length relationship"... and thus no big deal.
"These are not the dots you are looking for..."
Then it was claimed that not only did Ayers and Obama sit on several Boards together [one of which Ayers hand-selected Obama for… giving Obama $50 million to "distribute" in Chicago]… Ayers held the FIRST fundraiser for Obama as he ran for the Illinois State Senate. And Ayers held that fundraiser in Ayers’ LIVING ROOM!
The Obama campaign denied the event took place... and accused the McCain campaign of fabricating the story. The media ran away, blaming McCain. Then this week… Ayers brags about fundraiser he held for Obama.
The video also shows how hard MSLSD’s Chris Mathews tried to laugh it off in 2008... and keep his leg tingling.
So why does Ayers matter? Because he was a key molder of Obama’s philosophy, a key ally in his political fights, and a man who also believes we need to "Fundamentally transform the United States of America." Transform it how?
Larry Grathwohl was an FBI informant who infiltrated the Weather Underground in the 1960s. While undercover in the organization he attended several meetings where Ayers stated EXACTLY how he intended to "Fundamentally transform" America: Ayers wanted to overthrow the United States government. Grathwohl recalled: "The most bone chilling thing Bill Ayers said to me was that after the revolution succeeded and the government was overthrown, they believed they would have to eliminate 25 million Americans who would not conform to the new order."
THAT is William Ayers, political and philosophical ally and mentor of Barack Obama. And THAT is why the dots need to be connected. And there are other "dots:" Jeremiah Wright, Frank Marshall Davis, Tony Rezko, Saul Alinsky… They ALL need connecting! Because this election is NOT about Newt’s past, or Mitt’s flip-flops… this election is about BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA, and what he truly intends for us! Ayers in all his "glory" and more about the President of the United States: Who is Barack Obama?
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--Free People with a Free Market--
It is not a good sign that the super committee couldn't reach an agreement to shave $1.2 trillion over ten years, when our ANNUAL deficit is more than $1.3 trillion! The strength of the economy should not be a partisan issue. We need to change the way Washington works but that won’t happen until we send the right people in to do the job.
Last week the national debt hit a mind-blowing $15 trillion. We cannot afford to spend another penny, yet President Obama and Harry Reid and the Democrats continue to do just that. The Democrats would not agree to cut one dollar of spending unless taxes went up. Not one dollar. We cannot allow the Democrats to burden future generations by refusing to make budget cuts today.
Time is running out. Unless we stop spending and start cutting, we will face an economic crisis unlike anything we’ve seen. We should refuse to sit by and watch liberal big-spending Democrat politicians insist that we continue to spend money we don’t have.
This election in 2012 is the most important election in our generation. We are in a completely unsustainable path, that is not the American idea. That's not "free market" democracy that's not economic freedom. Who do we want to be? What kind of a country do we want to be? We can turn this thing around. You wont people in government that are sincere, honest, who are smart. Who don't loose themselves or loose their principles. We need a economic, fiscal, conservative, who is against all of the pork. A person who will fight all the earmarking, a person who will fight that culture. It can sometimes be lonely, but being a lonely leader doing the right thing at the right time. That is the kind of a person that you want to represent you.
We cannot afford to allow the big-spending Democrats to control America's economy. America’s future prosperity demands that we fire Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader by electing a Republican Senate next November.
Under President Obama and Harry Reid spending has continued to spiral out of control, regulations have stifled economic growth, and federal agencies have been given unchecked power. This trifecta of economic-crushing policies have prevented Alabamians and Americans from getting back to work and has made America less competitive.
Which brings the conservative movement the opportunity. The Left has traditionally sermonized that the Right were/are throwbacks. The exact opposite is true. Conservatives need to find those voices to make the case. Somebody out there has the voice and the talent in both areas and needs to speak up.
We live in a world today where much of the wealth generated is based on ideas and less on physical manifestations of things. Those physical objects we do need are increasingly cheaper to produce and easier to utilize because the objects are smarter. Our current institutions are out of touch. Not in the mindset sense, but in a real physical sense.
Also, while I despise the Dem’s ideology and their policies, I don’t despise the people who call themselves Democrats. Mainly, I look at them as undereducated in real life and overdoctrinized in theories of Utopian societies. However, this is not how most liberal leftists look at and talk about Republicans. They demonize the very idea of being a Republican.
Do we wish to accept a cradle-to-grave welfare state, in which more Americans depend on the government than on themselves, or do we want to promote an opportunity society that promotes human flourishing, connecting effort with reward?
We must make the case in a positive way about the benefits of Freedom and respect for individual rights plus a free market system. Based on voluntary action versus the ever deteriating situation of Statist/Interventionist government coersion and confiscation run by a small elite.
To destroy the Liberals and their machine one must tarnish their goals by providing that clear winning alternative--Free People with a Free Market.
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--The Economic Collapse & Crony Capitalism--
I laugh when people say that the economic collapse is a result of the free market economics as prescribed by Ayn Rand.
Or [my favorite] Greenspan’s term as the Fed chairman and his actions were influenced by his previous association with Ayn Rand.
Nothing, and I sincerely mean nothing could be further from the truth.
The basic lie that the financial crisis has permeated through American economic consciousness is that somehow "freedom is bad" and "free markets are dangerous." Did you ever wonder who was the source of that message? Did you ever question the validity of such a statement?
Goldman Sachs is not a result of a free market. Wal-mart is not a result of a free market. They are the result of a tightly controlled and regulated bureaucracy that supports these banks and corporations that have seized control of our government. And, worst of all, they, the very ones who have created this whole mess, blame freedom, a free market and covertly demand more regulation and more safeguards.
Who will benefit from these new regulations? Who will benefit from these new controls? Goldman Sachs and Wal-Mart will, of course.
Freedom is truth. Truth can be applied across all of life—Economics, politics. It has universal application. In a truly free market, Goldman would be bankrupt and Wal-Mart would be kicked out of every small American town they have ravaged.
Success, achievement and competition when lived from the viewpoint of the highest human potential are never done to be better than or to repress or control others. Real achievement and true competition are results of the expression of one’s highest purpose. It is, in my opinion, a spiritual exercise to show our highest beliefs.
Ayn Rand - Liberty vs Socialism [mirror]
Ayn Rand shares a lesson from her youth
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--Freedom in education - it’s an idea whose time has finally come--
Sometimes an idea’s time has come, and sometimes not. The monopoly misnamed public education isn’t really the best thing for education and for the country. A government-run education system can’t be a one-size-fits-all institution in a pluralistic society because it could never really be unbiased on beliefs and values.
Education had been stuck in a 19th Century model for decades, producing results that hadn’t kept up with our fast-paced world. That’s why privatizing the educational establishment with school choice, to provide a variety of learning opportunities for students and to offer competition to public schools. No less than 18 voucher, tax credit and education savings account programs have been adopted since January by state legislatures, Congress and one local school board.
Among the new or expanded programs are:
-- Vouchers: Indiana passed the nation’s most extensive voucher program this spring, offering vouchers to middle-class families. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed an expansion of the Milwaukee voucher program this summer. Ohio quadrupled the number of vouchers available to students stuck in failing schools by 2013. Arizona adopted Education Savings Accounts, a voucher-type program. And Congress reinstated a popular voucher program for low-income families in the District of Columbia.
-- Tax Credits: Corporations or individuals may donate to scholarship-granting organizations to gain a credit on taxes due in their state. These scholarships help children attend private schools. This year a new tax credit program was enacted in Oklahoma while existing ones were expanded in Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Iowa.
-- In Louisiana, parents who send their children to private schools will be able to write up to $5,000 of tuition per child off their state income taxes, thanks to legislation passed this summer. In Indiana, parents who do the same or spend money home schooling their children will be able to write off up to $1,000 of any educational expenses off their taxes. North Carolina parents of special needs students will earn a tax credit up to $6,000 for educational expenses for their children. All this to encourage more educational options for families.
The explosion of new and expanded school choice programs shows that mounting frustration with monopolies. Government’s having a centrally controlled monopoly on education is an anomaly in a free nation that has produced the most advanced and prosperous society in history.
The people who benefit the most from government-run education are the central planners, the control freaks, whose latest agenda is using schools to make fat kids thin. Nineteenth-century British philosopher John Stuart Mill warned about this undemocratic tendency in his essay, "On Liberty." "A general state education," he writes, "is a mere contrivance for molding people to be exactly like one another: and as the mold in which it casts them is that which pleases the predominant power... it establishes a despotism over the mind, leading by natural tendency to one over the body."
Military personnel give their lives for less than one-half of the salaries of about one-third of U.S. teachers. This is an insult. Many occupations have suffered massive layoffs and reductions in salaries and benefits exceeding 20%. Public employees, in general, have given practically nothing by comparison.
Public schools aren't "accountable to parents and taxpayers," they're "accountable" to elected school boards, whose members are usually co-opted by public-school administrators. Public schools are not accountable to taxpayers, who must cough up their taxes regardless of the quality of "their" public schools. Most taxpayers take no interest in the quality of public education because they are childless or their children aren't in school.
Private schools, on the other hand, have what the AEA [Alabama Education Association] sneeringly calls "clients" -- that is, parents -- who have a direct interest in the quality of their children's education and who can vote with their checkbooks if they're dissatisfied with the education they're paying for. That's accountability.
But accountability is the last thing the AEA wants for its members, who pay their dues to be protected from true accountability, which they would experience when vouchers become widely available. Public schools aren't "free" and they do "charge for their services" -- they just seem free to the naïve among us because they collect their fees in the form of taxes.
With vouchers, parents can select their children's schools on the basis of religious or academic or family or personal characteristics. There's nothing wrong with that, unless you believe that Johnny should be forced to go to school with a bunch of louts just because they live in his public-school district. It's no wonder that more and more parents are willing to give of their own time [and some amount of money] to home-school their children. Teachers' unions care first and foremost about protecting teachers' jobs. If teachers' unions really cared about the education of children, they'd go out of business.
Public schools would need fewer "precious tax dollars" if there were fewer students in public schools. Public school systems would probably become even more top-heavy with administrators as the number of public-school students dwindled. Then we'd see just how much they are "accountable to parents and taxpayers."
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Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Public Schools
This was apparently first given a bit more than a year ago, but it is well worth listening to.
She just owned that speech! This it NOT what you would expect from a traditional valedictorian speech. But she's thinking--she understands that what was spoon fed to her in the public schools is not all there is. It is amazing that someone who we through the whole grind to become valedictorian--and yet retain originality of thought.
Hopefully people, especially young people, are starting to wake up to just how corrupt and broken at its core, the US educational system is. She sees through the scam.
The youth of America have lots of problems and a gigantic burden we adults have laid upon them. But they are not lifeless, the young ...there is spirit there and a willingness to challenge and demand better.
--How public education cripples our kids, and why--
Prologue:
Bianca, You Animal, Shut Up!
I Quit, I Think
The New Individualism
School As Religion

He Was Square Inside And Brown
The New Dumbness
Putting Pedagogy To The Question
Author’s Note
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I would offer that you begin with a book written by Andrew J. Coulson called Market Education The Unknown History. This book of almost 400 pages looks into educational problems that have been facing mankind for centuries and then offers ways to overcome those problems. Mr. Coulson also demonstrates in his book that there have been countless attempts to fix government schools which have met with little success. He finally demonstrates that the problems we face today are the same or similar to those encountered in the first century. Mr. Coulson is not philosophically sound, but he does give the reader a history of education and how a person might get more, much more from a free market.
Another good book, that is not totally about education, is called Dependent on D.C. The Rise Of Federal Control Over The Lives of Ordinary Americans which was written by Charlotte A. Twight. For 52 pages Charlotte Twight takes on government education in the chapter titled "Public Education: Imprinting the Next Generation."
I would also offer that you might read John Stossel's book called Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity Get Out the Shovel-Why Everything you Know Is Wrong. In two different chapters you can take a look at government abuse and public education. The first chapter is titled "Monster Government" and the next chapter is titled "Stupid Schools" of which both can give you a glimpse into government intervention into education.
Although none of these three authors are fully integrated, they do give tons of information that should allow you to come to a rational conclusion on public schools.
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--The Lemon Dance--
Stand up for ending "The Lemon Dance!" A term used by education insiders. Every public school has bad [lemon] teachers. The teachers unions make it almost impossible to fire them. A frustrated principal, once a year, can send his lemon to another school. Hopefully, the new lemon another frustrated principal dumps on him will be a little better than what he had. Thus, The Lemon Dance
The Lemon Dance describes dealing with worthless tenured teachers who are protected by their unions like trading lemons. Instead of being able to fire these teachers all the principals in the district get together and do the "Lemon Dance." In the Lemon Dance, all the principals get together after they have identified their lowest performing tenured teachers, and trade them with other principles lowest performing Lemons with the hope that these teachers turn around and become better teachers in their new surroundings.
In most cases this trading partners in the lemon dance amounts to trading one lemon for another and the swapped teacher sour in their new surroundings. And of coarse, the big losers are the other teaching professionals who have to endure them, the students who have to attend their classes, and the parents who have to interact with them.
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Rand-O-Rama: The Long Shelf Life of Ayn Rand's Legacy
Is The Tea Party Devoted to "a Philandering, Russian Atheist" [Ayn Rand] and, If So, Is that a Bad Thing?
Read the whole story here:
Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and Rev. Jim Wallis, a spiritual adviser to President Barack Obama and president and CEO of the "justice and peace" organization Sojourners, discussed an array of issues including the need for immigration reform, the irrelevance of GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith and the virtues of foreign aid.
Land digs the Tea Party, of which he says he is not a part. And of which he says libertarians [those annoying small-government, stop-the-spending, smoke-the-doobage zealots!] comprise a tiny bit too:
"The tea party is overwhelmingly socially conservative," Land said explaining the tea party is actually made up of a great number of people of faith. “They are in the 85 percent range in terms of people that are pro-life. The libertarian wing of the tea party is very small. They are by and large previously unactivated parts of social conservatives in America — Catholic and Evangelical."
As it happens, Land is wrong about the makeup of the Tea Party. In the last Reason-Rupe survey [released on September 1,] Emily Ekins found that 41 percent of Tea Partiers are "libertarian-leaning" while 59 percent were "social conservatives." That characterization is based on respondents' answer to the question of whether government "should not favor any particular set of values." And I should note too that very religious social conservatives can be both conservative and libertarian to the extent they don't think the government should be an instrument of involuntary moral coercion. Land is mistaken to oppose the categories of libertarian and conservative.
For his part, Wallis announced displeasure with a Tea Party that is, in his view, fully Randian in its total bastardacity [not a word, but should be:]
"I distrust a movement that lifts up a philandering Russian atheist who said she hated Jesus — Ayn Rand — as their philosophical guide," he said.
In Wallis' view, Rand's libertarian principles are in direct conflict with the tenets of Christianity.
"I think extreme libertarian politics may be, in my mind, the least Christian option out there. 'Just leave me alone I don’t care about anybody else,' is not a Christian way of life,” he said. “We are our brother’s keeper and that is how we are."
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Faith-Tea Divide? Don't Mix Ayn Rand and the Tea Party in Minnesota
Ayn Rand’s Atheists are Crashing the Tea Party
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If Nancy Pelosi [D] California didn’t exist, I don’t think it would be possible to make her up. Nancy Pelosi [D] California confirming we are living "Atlas Shrugged!" When asked should the government force Boeing to shut down its plant in South Carolina if it won’t force a Union [on the workers who already voted the union OUT.] H/T RedState
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's wealth grows 62% to $35.2M
Crony Capitalism: $737 Million Green Jobs Loan Given to Nancy Pelosi's Brother-In-Law
Democrat Representative Nancy Pelosi's Waiver-Gate - YouTube
Nearly 20 percent of new Obamacare waivers are gourmet restaurants, nightclubs, fancy hotels in Nancy Pelosi’s district

On Drudge. Obama campaigning like its 1936 and he’s proto-FDR II.
Hate to break it too him but most of the country thinks he is Hoover. [And not the vacuum cleaner.] Yep!
When is Holder going to be forced out? When is Obama going to be impeached? :-)

Obama was put into office by Goldman Sachs.
Top Contributors to Obama 2008 / opensecrets
University of California $1,648,685 Goldman Sachs $1,013,091 Harvard University $864,654 Microsoft Corp $852,167 Google Inc $814,540 JPMorgan Chase & Co $808,799 Citigroup Inc $736,771 Time Warner $624,618 Sidley Austin LLP $600,298 Stanford University $595,716 National Amusements Inc $563,798 Wilmerhale Llp $550,168 Skadden, Arps et al $543,539 Columbia University $541,002 UBS AG $532,674 IBM Corp $532,372 General Electric $529,855 US Government $517,908 Morgan Stanley $512,232 Latham & Watkins $503,295
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A Democrat? Taking something that wasn’t hers? Get right outta town! Bet the first words out of her mouth were — "You know who I am?"
She says that she was planning to pay for the items but stepped outside to take a phone call. The thing that makes her story implausible is the fact that she is an assemblywoman, and her hubby is a low-level judge. Both relatively mid-level public employees. But in the midst of a wicked recession, she is in NM dropping $3000 [after CA sales tax] on one pair of leather pants, one skirt and one blouse. I’m sorry, guessing they have household income in the $250k range--good money for sure, but that’s not in the income ballpark of the $1k per garment crowd. She is a thief--plain and simple. I bet her closet is loaded with stolen merchandise.
Once she identified herself as a Democrat she should have been released with an apology. Geez... what’s this country coming to if we’re going to start holding Democrats to ANY legal or moral standards?
Weren’t there any Republicans around they could blame it on? Oh wait... this took place in Sacramento. Never mind.
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Anybody else hear about this?
"Was agent Brian Terry left to die in the desolate Peck Canyon region of Arizona because government officials decided to airlift out the injured illegal alien first on the only Medivac helicopter available?"
The BP and other government agencies are scared sh!tless of the Mexican consulate. I wouldn’t be at all suprised if they gave priority to an illegal immigrant over a dying BP agent.
Crime, Inc. is running the USA.
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--Schools For The 21st Century Student--
Where every student will:
-- Have 24-hour-a-day, year-round access to high quality, personalized instruction.
-- Begin each day's learning exactly where s/he left off the day before.
-- Move forward at a pace that ensures mastery of each lesson, being neither rushed nor held back by other students' progress.
-- Take no state exam before s/he has successfully completed all the requisite materials.
-- Be rewarded for hard work and ambition with the opportunity to complete as much vocational, technical or college instruction as possible before graduating.
-- With the guidance of teachers, customize learning to include the skills and knowledge s/he finds most stimulating and useful.
-- Have education enriched with courses like financial, investment and credit management, conflict resolution, systems thinking, marketing, media literacy and business and science ethics.
- - - - -
A vision of the tomorrow that should be today. The human mind is changing, if not evolving. I'm confident that the brains of today's children are "wired" differently from those of children living in agrarian cultures. The inputs and stimuli are fundamentally different. In my opinion, no educator can look at the two "minds" and declare that nothing pedagogically need change. Not only is the structure likely different in important ways, but so is the content--the basic fears, motivators, beliefs, and more. In fact, not being "plugged into something" can have important consequences for learning, the willingness to learn and the ability to stay focused.
SAT Reading, Writing Scores Hit Low. So, what are we going to do about this? Teachers are in competition with iPods and Facebook and movies like Thor, X-men and Captain America. I don't care how much you train teachers and how much you pay them, they cannot compete with social and entertainment media.
We need to stop reinventing the wheel and start accumulating sophistication by producing thousands of high-quality, interactive, multimedia, learning-style-specific, Internet-delivered, parent-monitored, student-selected lessons with instant feedback, online professional support and software applications to monitor each student's progress on every lesson. Student assessments must be done continually, without any student awareness, by artificial intelligence software and bio-feedback systems. These systems can provide instantaneous feedback and corrective instruction in less than the amount of time it takes a teacher to pick up a test to grade it. The only appropriate class size is a classroom of 1. Education needs to become far more complex and flexible while teachers' jobs are simplified. While classroom instruction must be maintained for the courses where it makes sense and for the students who thrive by it.
That's the battle cry of the Education War of the 21st Century. It should ring throughout the lands like "Taxation without representation is tyranny!" and other battle cries. It will strike groundless fear in the hearts of teachers. Their jobs aren't going away but they will be dramatically reformed with only a relatively few specialized in classroom instruction.
You simply cannot deliver a high quality education to every student in the country unless technology, not teachers, is doing the delivery. Every attempt to improve the current system of classroom instruction is doomed to produce little improvement at best. We need schools designed for The 21st Century Student, with an effective class size of 1. We don't need more teachers, or higher salaries, or more tests or better evaluations. None of it. It's a waste of money. We need to get out of the horse and buggy era and into the technological revolution.
It's the system of lock-step, one-size-fits-all instruction that is causing the failure. The system turns intelligent people into idiots because they have to accommodate the system rather than do what's best for students. It's an outrage. If you are not willing to change the system and eliminate classroom instruction to the greatest extent possible, then you are dooming another generation of students to an inadequate education. More than a decade of standards and testing and this is what we get. Why do people keep supporting a system that simply cannot produce what we need?
And do you know what doing what's best for students means? It means they won't all be at the same place at the same time and score at the same levels on state exams! For those who think they should or must, it's ANOTHER outrage! Idiots.
No other approach can take each student from exactly where s/he is and move h/him forward at exactly the best pace without interfering with the learning of any other student. Who wouldn't want to do that? We don't need safe, undisrupted classrooms. For most students in most courses 3rd grade and up, we need to abolish classrooms. The classroom is wherever the student's mind and learning platform are-in anyplace, at any time.
Impoverished school districts will have EXACTLY THE SAME instruction by unsurpassed pedagogy as the best school districts. You simply cannot achieve equality in opportunity by tinkering with salary schedules no matter how much you pay. It's a false hope pushed by teachers looking to put more in their paychecks. It has to stop.
Have you ever wondered what distinguishes a chemical chain reaction going fzzz-boom from one that takes a long time? Likely you haven’t. It’s a parable about more than chemistry, however. The key difference lies in the rate limiting factor: the chain reaction can go no faster than the slowest process within it. Do you know what the rate limiting factor of public education is? It's the classroom instructional model.
School superintendents are the Professor Harold Hills of education--constantly selling optimism for failure. "We did this, but it didn't work. So we'll do that and be optimistic about it, never mind the research and books hiding behind the curtain that says, 'It won't make a difference.'" Somebody send him a FOIL for all the research and documents used in developing the plan. You'll likely find that the core process used was chit chat and the second one used was copying what other local schools are doing. Not innovating, but copying.
If you want to dramatically improve education, you MUST make learning more like a compelling adventure or a collage of enticing relationships that students simply can't pull themselves away from. You MUST abandon the classroom instructional model and create real-life simulations that integrate knowledge and skills in a goal-oriented story. You can only do that with computers in schools designed for The 21st Century Student. STOP WASTING OUR MONEY WITH TEACHER-CENTERED REFORMS AND START CREATING WHAT STUDENTS NEED.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills Nearly six years ago, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills released its signature toolkit, the MILE Guide for 21st Century Skills: Milestones for Improving Learning and Education. Today, this toolkit has been revised and updated [pdf] to reflect new realities and the P21 Framework for Education.
Education reform has not yet begun. The current model of education delivery today in most public schools still looks a lot more like the late 19th century model than the 21st century model. The teacher-at-the-head-of-the-class, teacher-as-primary-instructor, lock-step movement of the entire class through the curriculum, uniform texts and readings, classification of students by levels of learning ability and standardized test results, A to F report cards, grading, teacher-dependent learning rather independent learning, uniform breaks and vacations, 180-day teacher work-year, equalization of students by having them end 13 years with essentially the same amount of education, are all in their last days.
You don't have to worry about local school teacher incentives when the core learning adventure is being served up virtually in a rigorously tested, scientifically verified, evolving platform of a passion consuming lust for learning. No teacher can match what we can do with technology.
Who needs subs? The Internet never sleeps.
Every student begins each day from precisely the place where s/he left off. There are no arbitrary classifications in 21st century schools, just seamless progress.
It is "classroom realities" that must be banished to the 20th century. Educators that insist on perpetuating classroom realities are the problem. They would have our students continue learning in a world of black and white silent films. That's what classroom instruction is compared to 3D learning adventures that respond and adapt to student input.
The public school system is a relic. It's not holding our democracy together; it's holding our democracy back.
As for cost, 21st century schools can be run for much less than current schools, but I doubt that the professionals will let that happen. They will insist on jobs that provide very little improvement to students' lifetime opportunities. And the politicians, needing union votes, will oblige for one feigned reason after another. But 21st century schools needn't cost more and the knowledge and skills they teach can be given to every person with computer access who needs or wants it for free, if done right. Why would anyone in their right mind want to perpetuate our current system of instruction?
Is there an educator out there who understands that the best online instruction does not imitate classroom instruction? The best online teaching is a story-based, multi-disciplined, interactive, fast-paced simulation of life. It is not lecture and PowerPoint's. It cannot be replicated in the classroom and it is far superior to the classroom. Yes, students still need personal contact in the form of small group seminars, projects and career development-all of which teachers will supervise or provide. However, except for the students who need it, classroom delivery of core materials needs to DIE, DIE, DIE. It's past time to retool the role of teacher. This is a national security issue. It's a quality of life issue. We need schools for The 21st Century Student. Are you up for the challenge, Alabama Department of Education?
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--Record-Low 26% in U.S. Favor Handgun Ban--
Prerevolutionary: according to Patrick [Pat] Caddell. Pat is perhaps the world’s most honest liberal. Pat is one of the best liberal commentators at Fox News. Well here is a little factoid that tends to reinforce the idea...
Here’s the question:

PRINCETON, NJ — A record--low 26% of Americans favor a legal ban on the possession of handguns in the United States other than by police and other authorized people. When Gallup first asked Americans this question in 1959, 60% favored banning handguns. But since 1975, the majority of Americans have opposed such a measure, with opposition around 70% in recent years.
Source: GALLUP
It indicates a shift. Couple this poll with the rising defense of the 2nd Amendment in recent years and one must come away with the unmistakable conclusion that more and more Americans are coming to the realization that the government is taking away their rights. Their lone deterrent maybe the ability to take up arms and take it back.

Dr. Suzanna Hupp Testimony [Better Quality] to Congress on the Second Amendment. The lady was ahead of her time.
I think this speaks volumes about the direction our country has gone. In 1959 relatively few people in the U.S. owned hand guns because they didn’t feel the need to own one. The riots of the 1960s, Charles Manson, etc. changed all that in the 1960s.
I have listened to that splendid woman’s testimony multiple times over the years... and it ALWAYS gives me chills! And I ALWAYS cheer at the end, when she points out that the 2nd Amendment "isn’t about duck hunting - it’s so all of US can protest ourselves from all of YOU." [pointing at the politicians] Amen!
Yes our 2nd amendment rights are so that we may protect ourselves against that panel of idiots
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Milton Friedman -- Greed
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--A Moralist's Moral Blindness--

Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell puts it this way: One of the things intellectuals [his Rationalists] have been doing for a long time is loosening the bonds that hold a society [or a nation] together. They have sought to replace the groups into which people have sorted themselves with groupings created and imposed by the intelligentsia. Ties of family, religion, and patriotism, for example, have long been treated as suspect or detrimental by the intelligentsia...
Under the influence of the intelligentsia, we have become a society that rewards people with admiration for violating its own norms and for fragmenting that society into jarring segments. In addition to explicit denigrations of their own society for its history or current shortcomings, intellectuals often set up standards for their society which no society has ever met or is likely to meet.
Calling those standards "social justice" enables intellectuals to engage in endless complaints about the particular ways in which society fails to meet their arbitrary criteria, along with a parade of groups entitled to a sense of grievance, exemplified in the "race, class and gender" formula... [Intellectuals and Society, pp. 303, 305]
Sowell’s attack is aimed at left-wing intellectuals.
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The veil once and for all ripped off the faces for all the world to see..
Leftists who proclaim themselves to be more intelligent than persons of the right do so, in my observation, as a way of reassuring themselves of the superiority of their views. They have no legitimate basis for claiming that the ranks of highly intelligent persons are dominated by the left. Leftist "intellectuals" in academia, journalism, the "arts," and other traditional haunts of leftism are prominent because they are vocal. But they comprise a small minority of the population and should not be mistaken for typical leftists, who seem mainly to populate the ranks of the civil service, labor unions, the teaching "profession," and the unemployed. [It is worth noting that public-school teachers, on the whole, are notoriously dumber than most other college graduates.]
Again, I am talking about general relationships, to which there are many exceptions. If you happen to be an exception, don’t take this post personally. You’re probably an exceptional person.
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QUOTE: "Anyone can become angry. That is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way... that is not easy." --[Aristotle]
"Every man is free to rise as far as he's able or willing, but it's only the degree to which he thinks that determines the degree to which he'll rise." --Ayn Rand [Atlas Shrugged]

Alabama immigration law decried, applauded as some flee state
Experiment: Step 1 – Leave a bowl of sugar out in a field. Step 2 – Observe how ants quickly swarm the bowl of sugar. Step 3 – Put a small fence around the bowl. Step 4 – Observe the ants climbing the fence and STILL swarming to the bowl of sugar. Step 5 – "Deport" 1 ant in 10 beyond your fence... observe the lack of concern by the other 90% as they CONTINUE to swarm the bowl of sugar. Step 6 – REMOVE THE BOWL OF SUGAR. Step 7 – Observe the ants LEAVING the area in search of other sustinence.
Conclusion: The lack of "sugar" in Arizona and Alabama will result in lots of "ants" swarming to the "sugar bowls" in California, Texas...
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This quote appears on the first page of Ayn Rand Answers, and is her answer to the question of what she thinks will happen when she dies. Her answer is at once a dismissal of mysticism, and a statement of what is of lasting significance about her life. Her last sentence is one I find myself thinking of quite a lot lately. Indeed, history has already shown it to be true.
"I assume I'll be buried. I don't believe in mysticism or life after death. This doesn't mean I believe man's mind is necessarily materialistic; but neither is it mystical. We know that we have a mind and a body, and that neither can exist without the other. Therefore, when I die, that will be the end of me.
I don't think it will be the end of my philosophy."
~~*~~
S A R A H * P A L I N

~Queen of Hearts~

Sarah Palin will continue to climb
SarahPAC - Sarah Palin's Official PAC
Sarah Palin | Facebook
Sarah Palin - Twitter
--Palin On Politicians And Crony Capitalism: "I'm Not For $ale"--
Real Clear Politics has a link to Gov. Sarah Palins' speech today as well as several quotes--this is the most important part:
...On crony capitalism: "So many of them, they arrive in Washington, DC of modest means and then miraculously throughout the years they end up becoming very, very wealthy. Well, it's because they derive power and their wealth from their access to our money, to taxpayer dollars."
"They use it to bail out their friends on Wall Street. And their corporate cronies. And to reward contributors. And to buy votes via earmarks. There is so much waste. And there is a name for this. It's called 'corporate crony capitalism,'" she said.
"Like you, I’m not for sale. I believe in the free market and that is why I detest crony capitalism. And Barack Obama has shown us cronyism on steroids. It will lead to our downfall if we don’t stop it now."...
--
She gets it--whether by insight or careful study, she understands the basis of what is wrong ...we've got a self-perpetuating Ruling Class which has fastened itself upon American society. They are like colonial overlords, or a visitation ...they are not organically connected to us, but they rule us and bleed us dry so they and their hangers-on can prosper. Unless and until we get rid of them, we won't be able to restore America. Sarah is strong and her conservative message of limited government and lower taxes is resonating.
The people who run our system of government and economics will always stand in the way of reform for the simple reason that any reform will eject them from power. There is no way that those who leech off the American people will voluntarily give up their place at the trough. They will have to be forced out--hopefully by peaceful, political means, but by whatever just means prove necessary in the end. Sarah Palin understands this. But Palin has the national name recognition and the instant ability to raise hundreds of millions of dollars as well as mobilize an army of volunteers.
Until Washington, DC makes real reforms to balance the budget and rein in spending, we’ll simply plow, full steam ahead, into a dark financial hole. One thing is clear: We've got to remove the Democrats from power if we want to turn the economy around. President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Senate are holding us back, preventing us from cutting spending and balancing the budget.
The Teleprompter: The Hardest-Working Member of Obama's Administration. President Obama required two heavy-duty teleprompters during a three-minute speech in which he nominated Alan Krueger to serve as chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers. It's a bit simplistic, but in light of the MSM's perennial Republicans-are-stupid meme--click link--grassroots conservatives are more than justified in doubting the much-hyped intellect and brainpower of the president. And the lefty MSM wants us to believe he's the smartest man who has ever lived. The current president whose superior intellect was, and is, taken as a given by an incurious press. We still haven't seen his college transcripts. Do you think that if he earned stellar grades those records wouldn't be on display for all to see?
Next week his Supreme Awesomeness will hold us all, um, "spellbound" as he whines yet again about his "inheritance." To NOT be “spellbound” during his dramatic Teleprompter reading would be, of course, "Racist!"
Zero Jobs--absolutely priceless! All these businesses that are refusing to hire people are clearly Raaaacist! Even NOTICING that ZERO jobs were added is Racist. Sorry ...I must now be flogged!
In fact, everyone knows that it is patently Racist to suggest, or even subtly hint at a solution that doesn’t involve printing money, increased regulation, and government sponsored union handouts.
Tell me this can’t be true. Aren’t we supposed to look toward the federal government for all our needs? After all, it saves us the trouble of thinking for ourselves. It’s so much easier letting bureaucrats run our lives. We don’t have to work. The rich and big companies like GE will support us.
Oops, I forgot. GE doesn’t pay taxes. Pass the Kool Aid. I’m running low.
Also, reported, the Rasmussen Employment Index just hit its low for 2011. 17% say their companies are likely to hire new employees; 24% say their employer is likely to have layoffs.
This administration is in a real pickle. They are on voter imposed credit card probation, and their big spend big tax big gov. solutions have crashed and burned in plain sight. More of the same would make it worse, not better, and the only viable options for spurring economic growth [cut the corporate tax rate, slash regulation, repeal PPACA] would generate pitchforks and torches from their progressive base. This is not a good situation for ZERO.
Things are lousy, our country is broken and our leadership incompetent when it isn't corrupt. That is why there is a TEA Party--patriotic Americans who want to rescue the nation. And no matter how much slander and filth is heaped upon it by the DNC/MSM smear machine, it will just keep rolling on. And this is just a curtain-raiser ...in 2012 it will just stride from strength to strength as the people mobilize for a change in our government. Hit and hit and hit again ...the Ruling Class and it's Big Government are on the ropes ...time to go in for the kill.
Yes sir, the change the people wanted is here and it's getting worse. And Obama says, we are not done yet!
~~*~~
So now we know... "CHANGE" = MORE Debt MORE Taxes MORE Welfare MORE Regulation MORE Goverment MORE Wasteful spending MORE CORRUPTION Thanks Mr. President
_______ _______ _______ _______
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--Fast & Furious--
Excellent round up of F&F.
One additional observation on the LI details. If the purpose of F&F was to ensnare the cartels in gun use then why not do it as a sting operation? Setting up a store front to do the sales would have given the task team greater operational control with none of the entanglements with the real store owners. This would also eliminate warrants and subpoenas as the Feds would have possessed all the records.
No. I believe that the Feds fully intended to ensnare the gun shops at some point in the future as part of the push for more gun control.
Oh yeah. CBS Reporter Says WH Screamed at Her Over Fast and Furious. On The Laura Ingraham Show today, CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson tells the story of abuse from the White House.
Victor David Hanson has a piece over at NRO about the ten lessons from Obama. One is that Ivy League educations have lost their glitter [about time the rest of the world caught up with what many of us have known for a very long time.]
Holder is just another affirmative action token who passed his level of competency a long time ago. He knew about Fast and Furious, he also knows the real reason why this administration even pursued this scheme. Holder was unprepared for the inevitable which was getting caught.
He lied. Holder is a racist leading a DOJ that stopped being the legal representative for all Americans the day he was confirmed as AG.
Holder should have been gone after the Black Panther voter intimidation prosecution. If there was any doubt about whether Holder would be the Attorney General of all the people, it went away then.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, was sending a letter to President Obama on Tuesday arguing that Holder cannot investigate himself, and requesting the president instruct the Department of Justice to appoint a special counsel.
Arrogance gets them all in the end. From what I have heard, Holder was so arrogant, he did not even prepare for congressional briefings. He deemed himself untouchable. I hope he goes to prison. He’s got blood on his hands with F & F.
By the way, have you seen this? Eric simply didn’t understand the email. All is forgiven.
To paraphrase Lyndon Johnson, "When you’ve lost the San Francisco Chronicle, you’ve lost the loony left."
It appears that "Fast and Furious" and Attorney General Eric Holder’s knowledge of it can’t even be hidden by the lapdog media any more. But, how long has it taken for the media to become involved? Compare that to media coverage of Watergate, the Contras or the latest nasty rumor about Sarah Palin.
This scandal is worse than Watergate. Nobody died from Watergate. At least two Americans have died because of this and hundreds of Mexicans have or will be killed with these weapons. This is really serious.
We know this is starting to hit home with the Obamanistas, because EVERY article and EVERY "defense" of this includes a "Hey, Bush did something similar!"
EVERY ONE.
Especially hillarious is the new DOJ spin on Holder’s perjury before Congress: "Oh, AG Holder thought they were asking about the BUSH program!"
Issa is correct in his statement that there are exactly TWO explanations for Holder’s testimony:
[1] he LIED under oath [2] he is GROSSLY INCOMPETENT Either one disqualifies him to be AG... though BOTH are true!
The bad karma about the Bush revelations of a F&F is that the those involved got prosecuted. That seems to get buried somewhere along the way to the story being told.
Here’s the other one — If you are sitting in a cubicle planning a F&F when your counterpart 2 cubes over is being brought up on charges for an earlier F&F; would that not tend to give one pause to consider one’s actions? Or are the FBI and ATF so compartmentalized that they can’t smell the burning piece of BS that is wafting through the halls? Talk about incompetence.
It really is amazing given all that has transpired to date with Holder that he still has his job, but I suppose the administration can not just let him go because he’s acting as the firewall on so many fronts for this WH.
But although CBS is doing excellent work in staying on this story, since they are the ONLY major LSM doing so, the Obamanistas are using the "IF it was a big story, THEN someone else would be covering it!" dodge. That is precisely what they SHOUTED at the CBS reporter!
:::::::::::::::::::::::

--Occupy Wall Street Movement--
Hope & Change progressive/liberals protest Obama and make anti-Semitic remarks, so why aren't they called racists? Could it be that nobody calls them racist because nobody gives a crap what they say? People are called names by the juvenile progressive/liberals when all of their standard hogwash has been eliminated with logic and they feel a need to shut down any further discussion before they are conclusively exposed as mindless sheep.
Protesting Obama, and anti-semitism is not a newsworthy item. Unless it’s a alleged Conservative, or Tea Partier doing it. "Occupy Wall Street" folks are 99% White ...and 85%+ male. Diversity, baby!
AlfonZo Rachel of PJTV took a different approach when he went to the OccupyLA protest. He confronted them about being racist, just like the Tea Parties protesting Obama’s policies. The takedown is masterful. President Obama recently held a fundraiser at the House of Blues in California. But the Rockstar-in-Chief was met with furious liberal protesters. Does that mean they are racist? What makes a liberal protest any different than the Tea Party? Alfonzo Rachel investigates in the latest ZoNation.
What an embarrassment. Occupy Wall Street protester greets questioner with anti-Semitic remarks, tells National Review Online he is a "provocateur."
This Wall Street demo stuff is a diversionary attack against America instigated by the Democrat Party and its allied networks. So is its theme alleging American and GOP "racism."
Besides its continuous attacks against the USA through its judicial system, DOJ and certain independent federal agencies, the Democrat Party’s main attack against the USA during election seasons is voter intimidation, voter fraud and voting fraud. Those are the means through which that Party intends to "win" the 2012 national elections.
Everything else so-called Democrats do is diversion to hide that main attack against the country’s voting process. The so-called Democrat Party is a "fifth column" attacking the USA by degrading its elections. The Party is totalitarian, not democratic. Some members of the Party would like it to be democratic and eschew its totalitarian impulses, but they constitute an impotent minority inside the Party at this time. The Left will always embrace Communism and Fascism, albeit under other names.
- - - - -

--A presidential report card--
From the guys at Ace of Spades. It's a ready made campaign poster. Even though I knew most of those facts already, my jaw was still on the floor by the time I finished going through it! This needs to go viral!
- - - - -

From Right pundits blog site:
Obama Creates Solar Jobs, $20 Million Each
By: Andrew Zarowny
"Despite the controversy over the $535 million federal loan guarantee to Solyndra, Barack Obama and the Department of Energy have rushed to distribute another $6.49 Billion to nine other solar energy and green companies. One company, Mesquite Solar, received $737 Million dollars for a solar energy farm project in New Mexico which will only create some 52 to 55 permanent jobs, if any job in the solar industry can be considered permanent. That works out to costing the U.S. taxpayers about $13 Million dollars per job created. All totaled, the cost per job created is about $22.9 million dollars each among all 9 loans. Meanwhile. Energy Department Secretary Steven Chu it has been learned requested the White House for a free hand in awarding federal loans and oversight for companies like Solyndra. Critics of these loans in the Treasury Department and other government agencies were becoming uncomfortable."
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--We The People--
Monolithic thought is a dangerous thing ...dangerous first and foremost to freedom. For all the caterwauling of the Left about the dangers of conservatism, the calls for unity of thought historically come from the Left ...not the Right.
Nazi Germany rose as a LEFTIST State. Most people consider Hitler to be right wing, but he was a socialist. If you read the platform for the National Socialist Party in 1920’s you find these were the "planks" of that platform:
-- anti-big business
-- anti-bourgeois [i.e. "millionaires & billionaires"]
-- anti-capitalist rhetoric [i.e. "we need to spread the wealth"]
-- pro-environmentalism ["nature" was to be worshiped ...and God was downplayed until ultimately denigrated.] In fact, the concept of Lebensraum ["living space"] sprang from this ...conquest for resources elsewhere, so German resources could remain pristine.
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Sound familiar? All of it could come right from today’s DNC.

Monolithic thought provided the "nails" to hold this platform together. Once something was deemed to be so by the ruling elite, it was henceforth "settled" ...period! This culminated in the April 1933 call by the "Main Office for Press and Propaganda of the German Student Association" [Deutsche Studentenschaft] for a nationwide "Action against the Un-German Spirit." May 10, 1933 was set as the day for the "Säuberung" [cleansing] by fire ...the infamous burning of books across Germany. This was the STUDENT association ...and the book burnings were led by students.
Now look at our colleges and universities. Every study over the last decade shows the same results: 75%+ of college professors describe themselves as "Progressive/Liberal" ...and just 15% as Conservative. 10% "declined to state" ...which you can read any way you like.
The recent "Diversity Cupcake Sale" at Berkeley, where cupcake prices were based on race & gender, brought this to light perfectly. For daring to hold this sale, the tiny College Republican group is facing disciplinary action by the University for: "creating a hostile environment." Hostile? Oh ya ...they were providing an alternate viewpoint to the "settled science" of Affirmative Action. Dang right that’s "hostile" ...we can’t have students presented with alternative viewpoints, eh?
Ward Connerly, former University of California Regent and the man who led the fight to end "Affirmative Action" on UC campuses, joined the College Republicans and helped with the bake sale. In a moment of absurdity he was declared to be "Racist" for doing so. Ward Connerly happens to be black.
Monolithic thought and unity of action are the hallmarks of "Progressivism." The job of a Union Boss, a University professor [75%+ of 'em anyway,] and a Community Organizer is to ensure no one strays in their thinking, or acts independently. Herman Cain declared the monolithic and slavish devotion of the Black community to the Democratic Party [despite the utter failure of that Party to improve the condition of Blacks] to be evidence of "brainwashing." He was immediately declared to be: "Racist." I wish I was kidding.
At Berkeley last week the full price of a cupcake was $2.00. Or you could pay less if you claimed one of the "Diversity Discounts" based on race or gender. The first person in line that day was a female Professor who claimed TWO discounts: one for being female, and one based her having some "Native American" blood. She demanded ALL the cupcakes for free based on those discounts ...and declared the students [and Ward Connerly] to be racist for not letting her have them all ...for free!
On that campus, on that day, you could pay full price for a cupcake regardless of your race or gender ...or you could claim a privilege you did not deserve at the expense of someone else.
On that day, $2 was the Price of Freedom.
:::::::::::::::::::::::

--The Age of Obama ...a time when reason and logic were outlawed!--
It’s hard to believe we are less than a year away from the 2012 primary and a little more than that for the general election. In 2012 we will elect a new President ...or perish with the current one. Period. Barack Obama is busy pouring sand in our gas tank, having already jacked up the car and stolen the tires! If the next generations of Americans are going to have the same opportunities to succeed and forge their own dreams, we must win this fight for free markets, less government regulation and an end to wasteful spending.
Now is not the time for the "liberal," "progressive," "socalist" agenda of President Obama and Harry Reid to continue to have control of the Senate. Under Obama and Reid, federal agencies have unchecked power and Congress has continued to allow out-of-control spending - stifling economic growth, and preventing Americans from getting back to work. The US is becoming [or has already become] a second-tier industrial nation ...at best. We need to re-start America’s engine!
As you are aware, Ford was the only Detroit automotive manufacturer not to accept "bailout" money from the federal government. Ford has been running some very effective television ads recently talking about the company’s pride in not accepting "bailout" funds. In addition, the company is now building some really great cars and trucks. Now it appears that the WH is pressuring Ford to drop the "bailout" ads because they are embarrassing to General Motors, Chrysler and Barack Obama.
If they can’t handle the Ford ad, just wait until the anti-Obama campaign ads start flowing in full force. Queue the scene from "Nude Body Scanners." You know who could really get under Obama’s skin? Think "Death Panels" and "All Aboard the Bullet Train to Bankruptcy."
Moo=chelle sporting $42,000 in bracelets at a fundraiser where people paid $35,000 a seat to hear Lord Obama demean TAXPAYERS for not wanting to pay MORE ...is just insane! Think about that. Broken promises, voters investing in hope, disappointment, expectations. We the People, need to fundamentally transform the way our government operates. Americans Distrust Government More than Ever. I would say the revolt of the oppressed is brewing. The Tree of Liberty may soon get a watering. Cutting to the chase. I prefer to take the stallion of gubmint and turn it into a gelded rocking horse.
If Wall Street/BOA Goldman are too big to fail then they are too big and it is time for these entities to be split apart voluntarily with the understanding that the US taxpayer is not going to be a backstop for bad financial decisions. [It is time the US gov’t stop forcing these entities into bad financial decisions.] Same with an industry [GM etc...] The US taxpayer should not be held hostage by any business or industry.
Whoever the GOP nominates has got to drive home the urgent need to re-start our engine ...and yes, that engine will need FUEL! Of all the qualities our next President needs, the ability to unleash America’s commercial and industrial might is essential. That means sound economic policies, a restructured and FAIR tax system, and a resurgence of domestic energy production! Foreign policy? Yes, that’s important ...but as the Empire of Japan discovered: no engine ...no arsenal ...no victory. It’s as simple as that.
--

--ABO. Anybody. But. Obama.--
Margaret Thatcher on Socialism. The GOP is mostly made up of "individuals" who believe in the rights of the individual regardless of race, sex, creed or anything else. It is about the "individual" and he or she rises or falls on his or her own merits. We believe that you are the captain of your destiny.
"Liberals," "progressives," "socalists" are really only interested in control. Control over your lives and your livelihood. Such power is the only thing that will satisfies the "Liberals," "progressives," and "socalists" insatiable power lust.
The left is all based on the "group" and the various tribes that make up the group. Much like the "Borg" from Star Trek, individuals will be assimilated. There is no room for the individual or what he wants. It is a group think with the elite knowing what is best for you.
Obama has failed not because he is black BUT because his ideas just don’t work. History has shown time and time again that socialism [group think] does not work and will not work. The racism card is just an effort to deflect the true reason for failure – "Liberalism [socialism] does not work."
Any society that tries to divert the rights of the individual is doomed to failure.
--

--Obama's Fat Cat Donors--
Although it IS hypocrisy ...none in the MSM dare CALL it "hypocrisy." Barack Obama is on a whirlwind trip to the Left Coast--at taxpayer expense--to attend at least 7 fundraisers where the price to attend is $35,000 apiece. Actual "millionaires & billionaires" are lining up to throw money at Lord Obama. And that's just the "fundraising" the Obama Mob admits to! The really big money is exchanged in more private settings ...and the promises are more explicit.
Why? Solyndra, I guess. It’s the only reason I can think of. These actual "millionaires & billionaires" have seen that in exchange for a few hundred thousand dollars of bundled campaign cash, the Solyndra folks got over half a BILLION DOLLAR taxpayer subsidy. Talk about ROI [Return On Investment.]
Bret Baier had a special on last night dealing with "green jobs." It would seem, by his research, that the Solyndra half a BILLION DOLLAR taxpayer subsidy is only the tip of the iceberg. The numbers around here have "9" zeros. Countless numbers of people employeed within each department/division coordinating the green effort. Congress needs to ask for the e-mails to start the trail.
Obama has been throwing money at an array of green projects, some known like GM’s Volt, and others I never heard of. Obama and his Democrats claim to be for the little guy. Remember, one of the memes for Obama is how we nasty, mean, cruel GOPers are trying to destroy the middle class--on purpose, because we're just so evil. We want everyone to die as long as millionaires and billionaires can get their private jet tax breaks ...so go Democrat talking points. But I ask you, do the 44 "bundlers" from the Securities and Investment industry who have ponied up $7.2 million for Obama represent the middle class?
The bankers are deathly afraid of one thing--a government which won't bail them out. So far, Obama has proven ever willing to screw everyone to bail out the banks. I doubt Obama fully understands how a bail out eventually causes higher food and energy prices for average Americans. But whether Obama understands it or not, the fact is that he has been the bankers best friend since January 20th, 2009. And the amount of money the bankers are lavishing on Obama indicates they believe he'll continue to be their friend if re-elected.
Democrats pander to the wealthy limousine/lear-jet liberals, buy the union vote, cater to the illegals and screw the middle class, they've corrupted the democratic process and stolen our liberty. The middle class really has only one bulwark these days--the TEA Party. Only the TEA Party--being made up mostly of middle class Americans--understands just how bad things are getting out there. The battle of 2012 is a battle of the Ruling Class against the Middle Class, with Obama and his bankers defending the Ruling Class while the TEA Party defends the Middle Class. Look at Boeing [remember it's virtual border fence that cost BILLIONS and didn’t work?] GE, DuPont Aerospace, the list goes on forever.
That's what Obama's $780,000,000,000 "stimulus" package was all about. A huge amount of it went to states under the pretense that teachers, firefighters, cops and other gov't workers would not have to be laid off. But the reality is it went to corruption like this. One-day rehiring nets former Chicago labor leader a $158,000 city pension. I swear you have to be a brain dead robot to keep voting for Democrats unless, of course, you are on the take and the money is being paid to you as a "quid-pro-quo" for your vote. This next $450,000,000,000 is just more of the same--money we don't have--that our kids and grandkids will have to repay, so the Democrats can buy enough votes to keep Obama in office.
Obama took nearly a TRILLION DOLLARS and shoveled it to Unions, "Green" scams, campaign "bundlers," and bling for Michelle Obama! Why do you think companies spend hundreds of millions on lobbying and hire former congressional members like Tom Daschle, Trent Lott and Bob Dole to lobby for them?
As Sarah Palin said in Iowa, it's not just a matter of changing uniforms. Until the government stops doing business as usual, the favors for the well-connected end and the government stops deciding winners and losers, nothing will change.
I would assume that folks these days are demanding pardons in advance, but Obama's surely willing to dole those out too! This White House IS "open for business" ...just not the kind decent law abiding citizens engage in.
Why doesn’t the MSM make a big deal about $70,000 per couple "dinners?" Because the "dinners" are for a [Democrat.] If the eventual GOP nominee hosts a fundraising dinner at a Sizzler, with a price of $22.50 per couple [with coupon,] then we’ll hear all about FAT CAT DONORS!
Remember don’t call it "hypocrisy" ...just call it Crime, Inc.
I would also wonder. Has anyone seen a breakdown of how the TARP money has flowed. Say one pie chart with a break out by industry. Another one with UNION dominated industries and not. Anybody seen anything like that in the MSM?
~~*~~
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--Very Wise Words--
During this political season lets be reminded of these wise words:
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves. --William J. H. Boetcker
--
If anyone is interested in what Obama meant by "Hope & Change," he learned from the best in Chicago & Illinois ...give him another 4 more years and the whole country will soon know first hand what progressive socialists can really do for its citizens.
Illinois ...The land that boasts high corporate taxes, high income taxes, highest gas prices, highest parking meters, high property taxes, soon to be higher tolls, and so forth.
For all you people that want corporations to pay their "fair share"--let's look at who owns the corporations. Pension funds [govt and private] are by far the largest "Owners" of corporation stock. Increase corporate taxes--Decrease dividends. Decrease dividend = lower pension fund payouts to retirees.
Meanwhile back at the ranch feeding trough:
Taxpayer money goes to GM, with the federal government set to lose about $14 billion in the process; GM hires Evercore for $46 million or so, and Evercore’s CEO hosts a top-level fundraiser for Obama, raising about $2.1 million for Obama and the DNC.
Everybody wins! Except you, that is. Classic.

Remember the Solyndra execs who requested a week’s delay in their Congressional testimony, and said if granted that week they would testify freely? Oops. This Friday they will answer every question except "What’s your name?" with "On advice of counsel I invoke the Fifth Amendment..." [or however they word it.]
Hell ...these two guys may not even give their NAMES!
The RNC ad against Obama needs to show these two invoking the Fifth over and over and over...
By the way anybody know what a $16 muffin tastes like?
DADT that’s all folks!
~~*~~
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--Hoffa Expressed Democrat "New Tone"--
In case you didn’t notice, organized labor has become more militant as its ranks continue to shrink [with the exception of public employees unions.] Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa threw gasoline on the fire in Detroit today with some strong rhetoric as one of the speakers preceding President Barack Obama at the traditional union Labor Day celebration in Detroit. The MSM has already scrubbed this ...but it is NOT going away. The head of the Teamsters declared in front of the President that he was ready to "take out" people that opposed him ...and the President said NOTHING! OK ...that’s not fair. The President PRAISED Hoffa! Read more with video.
Chicago politics at its best. Message to Hoffa--there are vastly more of us than there are of you ...and, if you really want a fight, our side is much better armed ...I'm not at all worried about the outcome of a fight between unionized government bureaucrats and the regular folks of the TEA Party ...a huge number of whom are former military, after all.
The 2010 election was a shot across the bow for the left, especially organized labor. Look for them to attempt to regain some of what they lost last November. Unions like the [NEA] National Education Association have increased dues and other member assessments to increase donations for 2012. The setback in Wisconsin also has served as a rallying point for unions, especially union leaders. Look for an all-out war in 2012.
The Tea Party is made up of people who WORK. They just want to keep more of what they worked hard for! Also--the Tea Party is a movement--NOT A PARTY--so they are declaring war on AMERICANS, not politicians. If politicians do side with the movement, it is because they side with the American people who are sick and tired of union a-holes sitting around draining our tax dollars for more and more money while they do less and less work while the ones footing the bill are being squeezed to death to pay for it.
"President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let’s take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong," Hoffa added.
Scary rhetoric coming out of Hoffa. Unions are getting more and more strident in both their actions and words. IMO, it’s because they are looking more and more at extinction, and are fighting back. Expect the 2012 to be the dirtiest campaign in our nation’s history. The left has so much to lose.
This morning I saw some film on workers marching in a Labor Day parade near San Padro, CA. They were all minorities, many having signs referring to "tax the rich." It’s class warfare, plain and simple, that seems to be intensifying under the Dems fanning the flames of blame, rather than cultivating jobs.
Shocker. Obama Declines to Distance Himself From Hoffa’s Violent Rhetoric
The Tea Party Express has called on President Obama to "condemn this inappropriate and uncivil rhetoric," saying it "has no place in the public forum.
"Jimmy Hoffa’s remarks are inexcusable and amount to a call for violence on peaceful tea party members, which include many Teamster members," Tea Party Express chair Amy Kremer said in a written statement.
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For many people they must feel like Alice looking down the rabbit hole. Being a Tea Party member and rank and file union worker are not mutually exclusive. Though the bosses don’t see it that way.
It would make one wonder. Would not the union leaders jump for joy for what Palin said about crony capitalists? Unions have been saying this for years. So much in a label...
:::::::::::::::::::::::

--Will Barack Obama condemn Joe Biden and Jimmy Hoffa for calling Republicans "barbarians" and "son of a bitches?"--
Earlier this year when Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords [D-AZ] was shot and others were shot and killed [including a young girl] both the President and the media were quick to denounce conservatives [particularly Sarah Palin and the Tea Party] for vitriol because of statements they deemed to be overly aggressive.
Within MINUTES of the shooting of Giffords the media had proclaimed [a] that it was a radical Conservative that shot her and [b] that he or they did so because of "violent Tea Party rhetoric."
I watched the [attempted] interview with DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz [Florida] this morning. Debbie SCREECHED for months about Gabbie Giffords ...blaming every non-Democrat EXCEPT the shooter with inciting violence. Today she refuses to talk about someone inciting REAL violence …in front of the President!
Of course NEITHER was true ...but for the next few months that was ALL THE MEDIA SAID! Day after day ...and President Obama beat that same drum. Now the media [with the sole exception of Fox News] is pretending it never happened. They will ignore it or play it off against the "violent Tea Party rhetoric."
[a] The "violent Tea Party rhetoric" does NOT exist ...except from a few stray nutjobs and from INFILTRATORS! [b] Hoffa was PRAISED for his violent rhetoric by the President.
These accusations occurred even though the man who did the shooting was apolitical and there was no evidence whatsoever that he had even accessed Sarah Palin’s Facebook page or the SarahPAC website.
Will the media denounce is the more relevant one! Obama will repudiate these statements ONLY if he is forced to. The underlying problem for Obama is that he is maintaining only a tentative hold on his base, and he can’t afford to even slightly dampen his union stalwart followers. The statements by Hoffa and Biden have the potential of turning off Independents and moderate Democrats, but only if the media puts them front and center, which they won’t. So he will ignore divisive and vile rhetoric that emanates from his base, and will wait for anything slightly combative from the right at which time he will trot out his teleprompter and deliver yet another historic speech on the need for civility.
After the speeches over the weekend the whole civility angle is dead. The trick is, the GOP is going to have to devise an Alt-Media counterforce to the silence of the MSM on the violence rhetoric from the Left. If they don’t then they are pigs for the slaughter. I will give ABC News credit, it is less dishonest than NBC or CBS [primarily because of Jake Tapper.]
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the reporter who asks the question is Tony Harnden, a British political columnist for the Daily Mail:
If anyone needs evidence that the guy in the White House is not the brightest bulb on the tree, let me ask this. Why does he spend time rallying a bunch of union goons when he needs Independents, and a jobs plan that will actually have positive effects? I think another factor is in play. How about Obama’s base even among union members is waning? Considering that the unions got a shellacking in Wisconsin that might be the case. If he has to shore up that union base he is in deep trouble.
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--Charles Krauthammer--
Americas top conservative columnist.

Charles Krauthammer unloaded on Obama tonight after his stale poll-driven speech to the nation. Obama still has no plan. "I thought I was cynical until I heard that speech. It was purely partisan. It was meant as a campaign speech. And I think it was a speech from yesterday."
Krauthammer on Obama’s Address Video:
Don’t hold back, Charles. :-)
--
A visualization of US Dept [credit card bill] stacked in 100 dollar bills
--
Charles Krauthammer does a GREAT job in this piece ...enjoy.
~~*~~
--Burning down the House--

Margaret Thatcher: There is no such thing as public money
Here we go again. An approaching crisis. A looming deadline. Nervous markets. And then, from the miasma of gridlock, rises our president, calling upon those unruly congressional children to quit squabbling, stop kicking the can down the road and get serious about debt.
This from the man who:
FACT: Ignored the debt problem for two years by kicking the can to a commission.
FACT: Promptly ignored the commission's December's 2010 Report.
FACT: Delivered a State of the Union address in January that didn’t even mention the word "debt" until 35 minutes in.
FACT: Delivered in February a budget so embarrassing — it actually increased the deficit — that the Democratic-controlled Senate rejected it 97 to 0.
FACT: Took a budget mulligan with his April 13 Debt Plan speech. Asked in Congress how this new "budget framework" would affect the actual federal budget, Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf replied with a devastating "We don't estimate speeches." You can’t assign numbers to air.
FACT: President Obama assailed the lesser mortals who inhabit Congress for not having seriously dealt with a problem he had not dealt with at all, then scolded Congress for being even less responsible then his own children.
They apparently get their homework done on time.
My compliments.
FACT: But the Republican House did do its homework. It’s called a budget. It passed the House on April 15th…
FACT: The Democratic Senate has produced no budget. Not just this year, but for two years running. As for the schoolmaster in chief, he produced two 2012 budget facsimiles: The first [February] was a farce and the second [April] was empty, dismissed by the CBO as nothing but words untethered to real numbers.
Obama has run disastrous annual deficits of around $1.5 trillion while insisting for months on a "clean" debt-ceiling increase, i.e., with no budget cuts at all. Yet suddenly he now rises to champion major long-term debt reduction, scorning any suggestions of a short-term debt-limit deal as can-kicking.
The flip-flop is transparently political. A short-term deal means another debt-ceiling fight before Election Day, a debate that would put Obama on the defensive and distract from the Mediscare campaign to which the Democrats are clinging to save them in 2012.
:::::::::::::::::::::::
Senator Barack Obama Explaining his 2006 Vote Against Raising the Debt Ceiling...
"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. ...Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better." --Barack Obama
Just a reminder: None of the Senate Democrats Voted to Raise the Debt Ceiling in 2006
--
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The Democrats believe they are fighting the GOP with respect to the debt ceiling. However, that is just a side show. The reality is the Democrats are fighting mathematics. In this battle, I’m putting my money on mathematics. The Dems tried the same BS in the lead-up to November 2010 and look how that turned out for them.
I am personally finding all of this debt ceiling business, and all the politics surrounding it, is both discouraging as well as a cause for steadfastness. IMO, the Dems are showing more than their usual hubris, obfuscation, and downright dishonesty.
The toughest decisions Obama makes are which club to use on the 16th par-5 and, of course, what topping he wants on his pizza.
Congress writes the laws and the President decides to sign or veto. As Obama keeps messing around with negotiations--probably in hopes that the GOP would just get scared and go along with a debt increase without significant spending reform--there is really no need to bring him in to the discussion. Work out a bill which can avoid any problems starting Monday--make it something which can pass the House and Senate regardless of what Reid or Obama might want ...and then just leave it up to them. Reid, as Majority Leader, could refuse to hold a vote ...or Obama can veto the result. In either case, it would be Democrats blocking the necessary action.
Remember what we're up against in Obama and his Democrats: people who's only goal is to retain power for themselves, and that means keeping Big Government alive and ever growing. But the time for that is past--we're broke and we'll default in a few years if we don't start getting our house in order. Fundamental reforms cannot be done while Obama has the ability to obstruct, but we can get something together which bridges the gap between now and January, 2013. At that time it is hoped we'll have a new President and a new Senate Majority Leader ...perhaps even of a type which cares more about America than personal power.
Hey, just checking. How’s "Recovery Summer" treating YOU? Thank you Lord Obama ...may I have another?
--

Introducing "$penditol." Worried about our nation's finances? Take $penditol! Congress' Answer to Everything. Almost every Congress Critter has a medicine cabinet FULL.
~~*~~
most original expression assessing the cause of our president's downward slide: PREMATURE CANONIZATION _______ _______ _______ _______
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--Obama--Man, I suck!--
Obama Is an Unnatural Disaster
"Unlike hurricanes, cyclones, earthquakes, floods and tsunamis, Barack Obama is the one catastrophe that the environmental cuckoos can’t blame on global warming.
Why, as a business owner, would I vote for a guy or a party that wants to raise my taxes, in part to pay the salaries of federal employees, the only segment of the American work force that’s continued growing — 11,000 new jobs in the first quarter of 2011 — in the years since Obama was elected?
So it is that even though the MSM, aka Obama’s propaganda machine, tries to portray him as invincible in 2012, I think they’re whistling past the graveyard. What far too many people have too quickly forgotten is that even before the midterm elections, Republicans, who were essentially running against the president, won major elections in Virginia, New Jersey and even in Massachusetts. Then, for good measure, the GOP picked up 60 seats in the House and a bunch in the Senate, delivering what even the president referred to as a shellacking."
:::::::::::::::::::::::
**EPIC FAIL**

--THE OBAMA LEGACY--
So much has gone wrong, Obama has been so bad, its hard to get your words around it. Obama is falling on his own sword--big time--right now. While he presented that he was adept, it turns out he is nothing but inept.
In addition, the entire Democratic Party is imploding. They are clearly so frustrated with their own failures that they are no longer capable of civilized debate. Their words, absent the dramatic presentation techniques they are increasing employing, ring hollow. They are losing the people of this entire nation due to every single undisputable item in that video.
The Democrats are now desperate. When your message is nothing but fabrications, theatrics, and lies, something is going on. When everything you stood behind was a failure--there are no words that can take that away.
The Democrats are now trying to tell people who are paying $3.75/gal for gas and who have been unemployed for three years that the economy is getting better. They are trying to say that Obamacare is anything but the disaster it really is. The left is making so many absurd assertions that they are ruining their own credibility. I believe the Anthony Weiner scandal will mark the turning point in this debate between regular people with common sense and the Obama left. The Democrats will continue to disintegrate from here on out. Too bad they have done so much damage and wasted so much time.
Remember for the next election, not only are federal, state and local offices important, but lets get rid of the activist judges as well.
:::::::::::::::::::::::
--If you voted for Obama in 2008 to prove you weren't a racist, you'd better vote for someone else in 2012 to prove you're not an idiot!--
~~*~~

Liberalism Continues To Crash And Burn
"The most powerful weapon against an ideology like liberalism is reality. Because reality exposes the leftist mythology for what it is: naive, wishful thinking. And once this becomes exposed, all credibility is destroyed. No sane person will let liberals ever again experiment on Americans as they have recently. Not when the result is the loss of a life’s worth of savings, the loss of value in our homes, the loss of good jobs and careers, the loss of an ever growing standard of living and the loss of confidence in the American dream.
This is what liberalism has wrought, and it will be decades before the memory of these debacles recede enough to give the left another chance."
:::::::::::::::::::::::

--WORST PRESIDENT IMAGINABLE!!! By far--
I think one of the most positive outcomes of an election, is to learn why certain outcomes happened. In the case of Obama, he appears to still believe that it was not the message [his leftist, unpopular agenda,] but rather it was a lack of "communication," on his part. If he continues to be blindsighted, though, by his own denial and bias, then he will do no better in 2012 than he did in the midterms. Much of the country is now awake and on to Obama. Consequently, it will be more difficult for him to mold this country as he wants, from now on.
Obama will continue to try his Marxist, Keynesean, Community Shake Down… err Organizer economic alchemy to have his hopey-changey invisible unicorns poop golden eggs. Obama says "we" can't afford letting people keep more of their own money, as if it's the government's money to begin with. He clearly hasn't learned a thing from "The beatdown" at the polls.
The current state of our nation is no laughing matter. The economy continues to remain stalled and unemployment is nearing all time highs, yet Obama is joking about his failed policies instead of leading our country. And you know what Obama is proposing as the solution? Raising the debt ceiling without a single cut, and pushing us to the brink of our own Greece-like day of reckoning.
Obama’s lack of leadership regarding the economy is dangerous. Until the GOP regain control in Washington, our economic future is uncertain because the Dems will continue to spend us into oblivion. There is something wrong with a government that adds over $4.1 BILLION to its national debt every day. Spending is out of control! Our federal deficit now stands at $1.65 TRILLION. And our national debt is a staggering $14.3 TRILLION.
One thing the GOP has done is explaining the deficit to the American people. It’s this simple: $14.3-TRILLION divided by 310,000,000 people = $46,000 in debt for every man, woman and child in the U.S. That’s $184,000 for the average family of four--more than what most families’ homes are worth. But, since half the families don’t pay taxes, the total debt is $368,000 for every tax-paying family. That’s just on the debt, not on any services going forward. Who can’t understand that? Thank God for Excel! The GOP must maintain the majority in the House and take back control of the U.S. Senate in the 2012 elections.
History will be made this summer. The debt ceiling has been reached, and our nation will go into default on August 2nd, unless the debt ceiling is raised. The liberals want to raise the debt ceiling without serious cuts or reforms. Let's be clear: The GOP must not vote to raise the debt ceiling unless massive spending cuts, enforceable spending caps and real reforms to balance the budget are made.
But the debt ceiling is only the first round in the battle to rein in the federal behemoth. The real question is: Will you settle for nickel-and-dime cuts? OR do you want to see REAL cuts and an END to unconstitutional spending? Without this monumental step, the government will only have two options. Neither option is pretty and both involve harm to you and your family.
The first option is the government will raise the debt ceiling and print even more fake money--a lot more. This sort of reckless printing will drive inflation through the roof, destroying the value of your paycheck and hard-earned savings.
The second option hits home hard by crushing America with massive tax hikes on small businesses, seniors and working folks. I’m sure you can see why business-as-usual is not a desirable course of action.
American's believe America is exceptional and that our founding truths set us apart in this world. Unfortunately, Obama has failed to understand the nature of our role. Now is not the time for America to stand on the sidelines or "lead from behind." Now is the time for principled leadership that only the United States of America can provide.
American foreign policy is at its best when it is built on the principle vision that freedom, human rights, and democracy are the best prospect for peace, prosperity, and security in the world. America is in dire need of leadership, not insolvency! It is only with help of American's committed to taking our country back will we begin to turn the tide.
~~*~~

Hope Isn't Hiring
Today, Americans are worried about their future, and about a government determined to implement policies that just don't work. Public confidence in the government is at new lows, and Obama’s approval rating is at a all time low. Unemployment continues to hover around 9.2%, the housing market is still down, and the dollar is weak. Plus, inflation is beginning to ramp up, as gas and grocery prices skyrocket. Some worry that the inflation rates of the Jimmah Carter era will look mild by comparison with what's coming down the pike. If you are shocked by the increased prices you are paying at the supermarket, you’re not alone. Consumers are finding that most things cost more when they go grocery shopping. Everything is starting to go up... stock up while you can afford it! The economy is in shambles, our 1.65 TRILLION dollar deficit and our 14.3 TRILLION dollar debt. To put those numbers into perspective, each taxpayer in America is responsible for nearly $132,000 in U.S. debt. We must act now to get our fiscal house in order.
America received another wake-up call: Standard and Poor [S&P] has downgraded its outlook on U.S. credit from "stable" to "negative" because of President Obama and Sen. Harry Reid's inability to address the ever-exploding debt and deficit. Obama is merely sitting in office and doing nothing helpful. His energies go only to his own ideological concerns, not towards any of the tragedies or realities of the American people. In business the acronym "WIIFM" is in wide spread use: "What’s In It For Me?" That guides EVERY decision Obama makes. The hardest working man at the WH is the bartender, and the social events planner!
Cutting the budget really isn’t that difficult. Corporations do it all the time. The leadership determines the amount that needs to be trimmed and what is essential and non-essential [advertising and marketing is more important at Procter & Gamble than at Pfizer] and departments with lots of non-essential spending are the hardest hit. Division/department heads are called in and told what dollar amount they need to cut. Non-producers are terminated and unessential spending gets canned. Directors and managers who don’t make the cuts are gone. It’s really a pretty simple process.
Using the corporate cost cutting strategy, funding for things like Public Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts, unessential research and grants would be cut immediately. Why is it so difficult for the government? Possibly because few government leaders have spent a lot of time in the real world.
America’s economic future should not be the partisan issue it has become. Last fall, Americans overwhelmingly voted for fiscal responsibility and smaller government. House Republicans have delivered this, but the President and his allies in the Senate have put up roadblocks at every turn. It took four months for Congress to pass a budget for the remainder of 2011. And that budget simply kicked the can down the road, making the work on the 2012 budget that much more important.
We can’t ignore the facts before us. The President and Democratic Senate have reaffirmed their commitment to continue their reckless spending spree. We can’t allow them to. Now it’s time to fight for fiscal sanity. In the coming battle there will be no soft targets, and only hard choices. One must decide, be thee for Liberty or Servitude for that is the choice.
~~*~~

President Barack Obama's First Ad of 2012
"The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the presidency. It will be easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails us. Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president." --Anonymous
~~*~~

--Marco Rubio--
YouTube - Sen. Marco Rubio's Channel
Marco Rubio's - Facebook
Marco Rubio's - twitter
Photo Gallery: U.S. Senator Marco Rubio - [R] Florida
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio - [R] Florida - Ideas to Reclaim America .pdf:
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio - [R] Florida - on the President's Debt Speech
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio - [R] Florida - CPAC Address
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio [R] Florida - Biography
Highly regarded for his principled, energetic and idea-driven leadership, Marco Rubio was elected to the United States Senate in 2010 to represent the State of Florida.
In 1971, Marco was born in Miami to Cuban-born parents who came to America following Fidel Castro's takeover. When he was eight years old, Rubio and his family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where his father worked as a bartender at the Sams Town Hotel and his mother as a housekeeper at the Imperial Palace Hotel. In 1985, the family returned to Miami where his father continued working as a bartender at the Mayfair House Hotel until 1997. Thereafter he worked as a school crossing guard until his retirement in 2005. His mother worked as a Kmart stock clerk until she retired in 1995.
Rubio attended South Miami Senior High School, graduating in 1989. He attended Tarkio College in Missouri for one year on a football scholarship before transferring to Santa Fe Community College and then graduating in 1993 with a bachelor of science from the University of Florida. He continued his studies at the University of Miami where he earned his juris doctor, cum laude, in 1996.
From 2000-2008, Rubio served in the Florida House of Representatives. During this period, he served as Majority Whip, Majority Leader and Speaker of the House, effectively promoting an agenda of lower taxes, better schools, a leaner and more efficient government and free market empowerment.
During the two years prior to assuming the speakership, Rubio traveled around the state hosting "Idearaisers" to solicit Floridians' input on ways to strengthen Florida. The 100 best ideas were compiled into a book entitled "100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future," which served as the basis for his term. All 100 ideas were passed by the Florida House. Fifty-seven of these ideas ultimately became law, including measures to crack down on gangs and sexual predators, promote energy efficient buildings, appliances and vehicles, and help small businesses obtain affordable health coverage. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich hailed the effort as "a work of genius."
During his legislative career, Rubio also promoted efforts to develop a world-class public school curriculum, increase performance-based accountability, enhance school choice and target the socio-economic factors affecting chronic academic underperformance.
At the end of his tenure as Speaker, Rubio resumed his law practice as a sole practitioner. He has also served as a visiting professor at Florida International University's Metropolitan Center, worked as Florida Chairman of GOPAC and as a political analyst for Univision during the 2008 election cycle.
Rubio and his wife, Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio, have been married since 1998. They are the parents of four children: Amanda, Daniella, Anthony, and Dominick. They currently live in the working class city of West Miami, just four blocks from the home his parents moved the family to in 1985.
Senator Rubio currently serves on the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
~~*~~

--Jeff Flake--
Jeff Flake for U.S. Senate - Arizona
Mr. Flake Takes on Washington
2009 Liberty Index: For the first time in the now 31-year history of the Liberty Index, a member of Congress has scored a perfect 100, 100 on economic liberties component, and a perfect 100 on the personal liberties component. That person is Congressman Jeff Flake of Arizona.

~~*~~

--Bradley Byrne [R] Alabama--
Reform Alabama
AEA Union bosses' Paul Hubbert & Joe Reed foster a "culture of corruption" in Montgomery. They made no secret of being unhappy with former Chancellor Bradley Byrne's successful efforts at cleaning up the "culture of corruption." Ending "double-dipping" no work jobs when he took over the postsecondary system.
Alabama Democrats are like French whores who wear no underwear, so as to facilitate spreading their legs. How do I know of this? By the dandruff on their shoes, of course!
The taxpayers of Alabama will never allow the "forces of darkness" to led us back to AEA's [Alabama Education Association] culture of lies, fraud, and deceit. It's way past time for the curtain to be pulled on Paul Hubbert, Joe Reed and their "corrupt cronies" left in the Alabama legislature!
If you don’t have the money and power to buy legislators off, you have to play by the rules enacted at the behest of the people who do. That’s a lesson that social studies teachers should drill into the heads of their students. The students can decide whether, when they take over, they want to perpetuate this injustice or write ethics laws that prevent it.
Alabama will not forever remain isolated from the other states, clinging to outdated education policies. Given that we frequently rank near the bottom in national education rankings, hopefully state leaders will decide to make upgrades sooner rather than later. The one thing Bradley Byrne has going for him is the enduring power of his ideas.
~~*~~

--Congressman Paul Ryan [R] Wisconsin--
Video at Weekly Standard Link: Congressman Paul Ryan [R] Wisconsin Gets Standing Ovation at Town Hall Meeting.
YouTube - The Path to Prosperity: America's two futures, visualized
A ROADMAP FOR AMERICA’S FUTURE
Paul Ryan - Facebook
Paul Ryan's - twitter
YouTube - Rep. Paul Ryan's Channel
~~*~~

U.S. Rep. Martha Roby, [R] Montgomery, Alabama

Congresswoman Martha Roby speaks to Chamber members during a Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Clarion Hotel.
--Congresswoman Martha Roby [R] Alabama--
Martha Roby Serving Alabama's Second Congressional District. In November 2010, the people of Alabama’s Second Congressional District elected Martha Roby to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she now sits on the prestigious House Armed Services Committee, the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Education and the Workforce Committee.
Prior to her swearing in, Republican leaders selected Roby as one of only four freshman members to serve on the GOP Transition Team, a 22-member panel tasked with reforming House rules to provide greater efficiency, transparency, and accountability in the 112th Congress. On the Committee, Roby was a strong advocate for commonsense reforms. Among other changes, she supported a mandatory 72-hour public review period for legislation prior to House votes, and a restructured House calendar that increases the amount of time members spend in their home districts, where they are accessible by—and accountable to—the people they represent. Many of the Transition Team’s proposed reforms were enacted in recently approved changes to the rules of the House of Representatives.
A native of Montgomery, Alabama, Roby served on the Montgomery City Council representing Council District Seven, the most socially and economically diverse council district in Montgomery. During her tenure on the Montgomery City Council, she routinely opposed tax increases, fought hard in 2008 alone to vote against five proposed tax increases and offered solutions to reduce government spending. Chairing a committee on immigration, she led the efforts for the Montgomery City Council to adopt an ordinance to comply with federal law and prohibit businesses from harboring illegal aliens. Her work has resulted in a local sales tax holiday and tougher measures in Alabama’s landlord-tenant laws.
Roby obtained a Bachelor of Music degree from New York University in 1998 and her law degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 2001. Prior to her entry into public service, she practiced law at Copeland, Franco, Screws & Gill, P.A. and remains a member in good standing with the Alabama and Mississippi bar associations.
Roby is married to Riley Roby and they have two children, Margaret and George. They are members of Trinity Presbyterian Church, where they are involved in various ministries.
Martha Roby’s Web site
Martha Roby’s Facebook Page
Martha Roby’s Twitter Page
Martha Roby’s Flicker Page
Sign up to receive Congressman Martha Roby’s Weekly Column
~~*~~

Bryon, Kristi, Kassidy, Kennedy and Booker Noem
--Congresswoman Kristi Noem [R] South Dakota--
Kristi For Congress
Congresswoman Kristi Noem's [R] South Dakota twitter
Congresswoman Kristi Noem's [R] South Dakota Facebook
Congresswoman Kristi Noem [R] South Dakota Delivers the Weekly Republican Address - YouTube
"America was built by people who longed for freedom, believed in individual responsibility and knew that government should serve the people - not the other way around. It is still true today, that the best government is the government that governs least.
Too many politicians in Washington, DC believe that expanding government is the solution to every problem. The result we are faced with today is that the federal government has become large, intrusive and inefficient. This excessive growth is a direct threat to our liberty and to our values of individual responsibility and free enterprise. I will fight to protect our freedom and turn back the reach of government that is expanding deeper into our lives." --Congresswoman Kristi Noem [R] South Dakota
~~*~~

--Congressman Allen West - [R] Florida--
Congressman Allen West - [R] Florida
Photos: Congressman Allen West
Lieutenant Colonel Allen West [US Army, Retired] was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia and is third of four generations of military servicemen in his family. His parents instilled in him a very basic principle, love of God and Country. In 2004, when it was time to retire from more than twenty years of service in the US Army, he brought his wife and two young daughters to Broward County, Florida, where he taught high school for one year. He then returned to Afghanistan as an advisor to the Afghan army, an assignment he finished in November 2007.
Allen West received his Bachelors degree from University of Tennessee and Masters degree from Kansas State University, both in political science. He also holds a Master of Military Arts and Sciences from the US Army Command and General Staff Officer College in political theory and military operations.
"Education is the great equalizer," he says. "With a good education, any child in America can live his dream."
Allen West knows that for our children to live their dreams, they need to be safe. He has served in several combat zones: in Operation Desert Storm, in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was battalion commander for the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, and in Afghanistan, where he trained Afghan officers to take on the responsibility of securing their own country.
In his Army career, Col. West has been honored many times, including a Bronze Star, three Meritorious Service Medals, three Army Commendation Medals [one with Valor,] and a Valorous Unit Award. He received his valor award as a Captain in Desert Shield/Storm, was the US Army ROTC Instructor of the Year in 1993, and was a Distinguished Honor Graduate III Corps Assault School. He proudly wears the Army Master parachutist badge, Air Assault badge, Navy/Marine Corps parachutist insignia, Italian parachutist wings, and German proficiency badge [Bronze award.]
Allen is an avid distance runner, a PADI Master certified SCUBA diver, motorcyclist, and attends Community Christian Church in Tamarac Florida.
Excellence is a West family tradition. His wife, Angela, holds an MBA and PhD. and works as a financial planner. His oldest daughter, Aubrey, attends Archbishop McCarthy HS and his youngest daughter, Austen, attends Cooper City Christian Academy.
~~*~~

Congressman Tim Scott of South Carolina & Alabama Gov. Bentley

South Carolina Congressman Tim Scott [R], and Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley [R]

--Congressman Tim Scott - [R] South Carolina--
Congressman Tim Scott - [R] South Carolina
Photo Gallery: Congressman Tim Scott - [R] South Carolina
U.S. Representative for South Carolina’s 1st District Tim Scott is recognized both locally and statewide for his consistent efforts to stand up for the rights of all South Carolina taxpayers. He served for 13 years on Charleston County Council. During his 13-year tenure, Tim never voted for a tax increase. Tim is a leader; he was elected Chairman 4 times, Vice-Chairman 4 times and chairman of the Economic Development Committee 5 times. Tim was elected to the SC House of Representatives in 2008 and was elected Chairman of the Freshman Caucus.
The Club for Growth’s Conservative Score Card rated Tim as one of the most conservative members of the House. He earned 1 of only 11 "A" Ratings in the SC House of Representatives. The Club for Growth has endorsed Tim for Congress in the 1st Congressional District among a crowded primary field because of Tim’s fight for lower taxes, decreased spending and individual liberty. He received the "Friend of the Taxpayer" commendation from the SC Association of Tax Payers. Tim voted to eliminate automatic pay increases for county council members while on county council.
Tim has consistently fought to bring high-quality jobs to SC. He was intimately involved in both phases of recruiting Boeing to Charleston [first phase as Chairman of County Council and second phase as a State Representative, Dist. 117.] He has helped attract over 20,122 jobs to SC; Daimler Chrysler [now Mercedes,] Verizon, Force Protection, Global Aeronautica, Vought Alenia and many others. Tim served as Chairman of the Emergency Operations Center 4 times during hurricane evacuations and other emergencies.
He was the owner of Tim Scott Allstate and has been awarded SC Agency Owner of the Year. He served as Co-Chairman of the Financial Services Committee of the Allstate National Advisory Board from 2004/2008. He was also a partner of Pathway Real Estate Group, LLC. Tim graduated from Charleston Southern University in 1988, B.S. in Political Science. Was awarded the Distinguished Service Award and Alumnus of the Year award by CSU.
Past & Present Board Memberships include: CSU Board of Visitors, former member of the Board of South Carolinians for Healthy Family Formation, Midland Park Ministries, The College of Charleston Business School Board of Governors, Roper St. Francis Hospital Foundation [2004/2008,] Board of Trustees for Seacoast Church [2001/2008] and a past board member of Palmetto Family Council [a SC affiliate of Focus on the Family.]
~~*~~

Wow: Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Public Schools
This was apparently first given a bit more than a year ago, but it is well worth listening to.
She just owned that speech! This it NOT what you would expect from a traditional valedictorian speech. But she's thinking--she understands that what was spoon fed to her in the public schools is not all there is. It is amazing that someone who we through the whole grind to become valedictorian--and yet retain originality of thought.
Hopefully people, especially young people, are starting to wake up to just how corrupt and broken at its core, the US educational system is. She sees through the scam.
The youth of America have lots of problems and a gigantic burden we adults have laid upon them. But they are not lifeless, the young ...there is spirit there and a willingness to challenge and demand better.
--
--The Progressive Education Philosophy - vs - The Self-Educated In The Literature of Freedom & Individualism--
Since the early 20th century progressive education has monopolized the education system, from elementary through university. The progressive education philosophy holds that there is no reality, that reason and the mind are impotent, that education per se is bad. The goal of schooling for the progressive is to either help the student express their feelings or to habituate the student to group discussions and decision making without substantive guidance. It's a rare teacher that teaches anymore, that imparts a body of knowledge to her students and a method of thinking about that content. More common are individual projects wherein the student expresses their uninformed thoughts on a topic, group "bull sessions" with teachers simply moderating, or straight up indoctrination on political or environmental topics [e.g. 5 year olds chanting slogans in Earth Day celebrations.]
Progressive education is especially bad in the liberal arts, like history. Any high school or college graduate could probably express to you his sympathy for the plight of the American Indian, but could not tell you the difference between a democracy and a republic, between freedom and statism, between western civilization and primitive savagery.
The smart student who accepts the irrational principles of his progressive education becomes adept at playing their game, adept at twisting the meaning of words, adept at obscuring any topic, adept at finding exceptions to any principled statement. He gets plenty of practice time and has good mentors. Meanwhile the student that rejects the principles of progressivism, that thinks there is a reality, truth and principles, admires the United States, and condemns attacks on civilization goes silent. He has few mentors and little material to feed his curiosity.
The former student eventually becomes a professional, perhaps an intellectual: a journalist, author, teacher, artist. He propagates his progressive liberal ideas. Not so with the other student. Around the late high school or college level, if he's lucky, he starts to read in his own time books that promote reason, civilization, that teach him the history he never learned in "social sciences." He might discover Ayn Rand or free market economists [Hazlitt, Hayek, etc.] perhaps libertarians or conservative writers. He educates himself in economics, history, philosophy, but does not become a professional intellectual. That realm is monopolized by the progressives. He becomes a scientist, stock broker, small businessman, contractor.
And so we reach the situation we are in now. The mainstream media and political establishment, populated by the stars of progressive education is statist, irrationalist, anti-American. The rest of America, self-educated in the literature of freedom is in open rebellion against this media and politics. The internet has been critical in accelerating and broadening this self-education education. What might have taken another 10 years or never arrived in time, now happens over the course of months. Washington makes a mess of housing and we learn about it, despite the attempts of the MSM to blame it on capitalism. Washington bails out the banks and we hear about it, we protest, the Tea Party is born.
Kudos to the internet for making our self-education possible, and kudos to us for spending the time to educate ourselves. But is it sustainable? The key to a long-term future for freedom is better leadership and youth involvement. The key to generating better leadership and youth involvement is eliminating the stranglehold the progressives have on education, which means eliminating state control of education. Ultimately there should be separation of state and education like there is state and religion. We need to support every effort to free education: the right to home school without restriction, voucher systems, privatizing student loans, elimination of teachers unions, elimination of teacher certification, elimination of government grants.
When schools are once again free, as they were for most of a hundred years before, we'll have a chance to patronize schools that promote reason, science and freedom. Those will be the schools that turn out educated patriot leaders and a youth excited about freedom. Until then we'll always be playing catchup to the progressives.
--
"It is not as late as you think. It is merely early -- in the age of the rebirth of individualism." --Ayn Rand
~~*~~

--Mary Frances Berry-- Professor of American Social Thought and History, U. Penn. :
Tainting the tea party movement with the charge of racism is proving to be an effective strategy for Democrats. There is no evidence that tea party adherents are any more racist than other Republicans, and indeed many other Americans. But getting them to spend their time purging their ranks and having candidates distance themselves should help Democrats win in November. Having one’s opponent rebut charges of racism is far better than discussing joblessness.
--
--Liberty, The new civil right--
The Founding Fathers warned of a Federal Government bent on usurping the power, rights, and privacy of its States and citizens. In the last nine years, the Federal Government has expanded the scope of its power at an alarming rate, while blatantly ignoring the Constitution. Whether it’s passing the 315 page Patriot Act without a single member of Congress ever reading the bill, proposing a National ID Card, establishing FISA courts and utilizing warrantless searches, or betraying the medical privacy of ordinary citizens, the Federal Government has overstepped its limited powers as stipulated in the Constitution.
We are undergoing what the Founding Fathers would recognize as a "Great Awakening." People, good people, oftentimes are too busy in their own lives, or just not interested in getting involved personally with the political process until it starts to close in on them. That’s what is happening now. Government is closing in on people, and they are awakening to the fact that they have no choice now, but to get personally out there and fight it.
I personally am tiring of so many racially tainted attacks on the tea party events. It’s as if people are looking for evidence to support their already foregone conclusions that this movement is a malevolent, racially motivated gathering. The constitution-oriented signs, the children, the decent but concerned people attending these functions are all but ignored by the national press, the persecutors and the President, himself. Remember that when the left attacks the tea party activists, they are attacking the foundation of America.
Over and over again I have heard comments from people joining the teas, saying they were never involved in a political movement before now. However, a threshold has now been passed and they are vigorously educating themselves and becoming proactive. It’s better late than never!
“Good” people get angry and become proactive, not because they “want” to, but because they feel they “have” to. If you move a good person to passion, they are a force to be reckoned with--the old “still waters run deep” type of reaction. Democrats, beware of castigating good people, as they will be the first to cast you aside!
To error is human. People are prone to mistakes and bad judgment. Sometimes its due to intelligence, other times it’s because of a lack of maturity, and other times of being purely self-centered and looking out for yourself through the prism of political choices. Whatever it is, that’s what civilizations have faced through the ages.
We are on the cusp of losing our Republic to a totalitarian philosophy. In my view, the times we live in are almost equal to those of the Founders. We have a looming threat to the freedoms set forth in the Declaration of Independence, and we have an oppressive regime forcing us into taxation slavery.
Who will be our patriot heroes? Two hundred years from now, will future generations be able to look back in gratitude on the Washingtons, Franklins, Henrys, and Adams of the 21st century, and say they saved the Republic?
Events of the day are driving us closer to conflict--2010 is a pivotal year. I’m hanging my hat on that time slot, working for an outcome that benefits turning things around. We will know after November what measure of men we are, and whether we are worthy of the freedoms won first by the Founding Fathers...
--
"The reason we hold truth in such respect is because we have so little opportunity to get familiar with it." --Mark Twain
--

A Prayer For Israel [Psalm 83]
~Happy New Year from the Israel Defense Forces~

Alabama Republican Party
--NO TOLERANCE FOR PUBLIC CORRUPTION--
Human nature being what it is, politicians of all parties and persuasions are going to violate laws and be corrupted by power. When Republicans are duly charged with crimes, their fellow Republicans must resist the temptation to circle the wagons around their friends and professional colleagues. We must make it clear that while no party is unblemished by corruption, the ALGOP shall be known as the party that won't tolerate, facilitate or apologize for it once it comes to light.
Nothing showcases the lack of accountability and corruption in state government quite as well as Alabama’s two year college system. It's one gigantic taxpayer funded shell corporation where political favors and "good-ol-boy" patronage are bought, sold, and traded--and a fine "gravy train" for political insiders. Alabama’s two year college system is a perfect illustration of the "cancer of corruption" and "abuse of public trust" plaguing our state government.
The proposed changes to the two year system have, of course, been fought tirelessly by powerful [AEA] union boss Paul Hubbert, Joe Reed and their "double-dipping" cronies in the Alabama legislature. A state legislature dominated by teachers, former teachers, teacher union-backed representatives and funded by teacher-union contributions.
In his book "Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership," James Strock notes that at one point while he was a New York City police commissioner, Roosevelt lamented there was not a single politician or newspaper in the city that supported him. His complaint is of lasting value. We profit by reminding ourselves that leadership is often a lonely endeavor, the fruits of which take years to reap; and in the meantime integrity and principle must be their own reward.
Alabama Republicans should remember this as they fashion an agenda that, while consulting public sentiment, cannot aspire to universal favor and still remain meaningful. Such disagreements, after all, are why we have political parties. And yet these big issues transcend parties. We must hope that in time, they call forth leaders willing to do the same.
~~*~~

--INDIVIDUALISM--
"Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities [and the smallest minority on earth is the individual.] " --Ayn Rand
"Collectivism, as an intellectual power and a moral ideal, is dead. But freedom and individualism, and their political expression, capitalism, have not yet been discovered." --Ayn Rand
"It is not as late as you think. It is merely early -- in the age of the rebirth of individualism." --Ayn Rand
"The right to the pursuit of happiness means man's right to live for himself, to choose what constitutes his own, private, personal happiness and to work for its achievement. Each individual is the sole and final judge in this choice. A man's happiness cannot be prescribed to him by another man or by any number of other men. ...These rights are the unconditional, personal, private, individual possession of every man, granted to him by the fact of his birth and requiring no other sanction. Such was the conception of the founders of our country, who placed individual rights above any and all collective claims." --Ayn Rand
"Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against - then you'll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We're after p o w e r and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only p o w e r any government has is the p o w e r to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.* Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with." --Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
~~*~~

–The lifetime gift TENURE, three years and you have me forever–
Making it easier to dismiss incompetent and ineffective educators ought to be seen as an effort to increase the value of excellent teachers. Merit pay is also an effort to reward excellence. Tenure protection does little to advance the interests of school children.
Tenure is “ridiculous.” You cannot run a school system that way. The three principles that govern our system are lockstep compensation, seniority, and tenure. All three are not right for our children. We’re not talking about a bank or a law firm. We’re talking about a classroom–which is far more important–and your ability to make sure that the right people are teaching there.
These policies were created over the past century to protect the rights of teachers, but they have produced an industrial factory model of education that treats all teachers like interchangeable widgets. If you look at the upper quartile and the lower quartile, you know that those people are not interchangeable.
Tenure should not provide lifetime employment for teachers–especially ineffective ones. In the perverse world of public education, tenure protects incompetence and educators are muzzled, being required speak only the company line, as set forth by the school board.
Don’t you hate being manipulated by politicians and educators?
When it comes to education reform, we should all be "good cops."
--AEA [Alabama Education Association] union--
AEA [Alabama Education Association] union's termination rules can be read here: As described, it sounds like neither a speedy nor efficient process. The teacher's second appeal [which might not even begin until 6 months after the teacher was recommended for termination] can involve subpoenas, discovery, etc.
Canning a teacher is on paper, simple, find cause [say tattooing "Loser" on a poor performer's head,] give notice this is bad, set board hearing 10-20 days later to hear their side then o-u-t. Problem comes in when school's attorney decides its cheaper to continue paying state funded salary than using local funds to fight the aggressive defense AEA [Alabama Education Association] will muster, the reason given for termination is not one of those spelled out, notice not given, etc. Here's link to the Alabama Code on the subject of tenure. Also want to review the Annotated Code at the library to see how the courts have defined what is "good and sufficient cause." School boards should have handy a copy of the standard contract.

--A Parent's Nightmare--
Imagine if a school employee molested your kid. Repeatedly. Audio slide show: A boy's struggles
--
--Sex Abuse & Other Teacher Misconduct--
In Alabama there are allegations and convictions for educator sexual misconduct reported nearly every week. I can't keep up with all the educator sex abuse charges and convictions that come to my attention. Although the percentage of teachers is small, thousands of students are used by public school employees for their own sexual gratification each year.
It starts with a little extra attention and affection, a personalized note on a term paper and chummy after-school banter. Before long it escalates to hugging and explicit text messages. It's called "grooming," small indiscretions that child abuse experts say should alert principals and parents to a developing sexual relationship between a teacher and student.
But sexual misconduct by teachers--from inappropriate touching and downloading pornography on a school computer to full-blown molestation--is a persistent and pervasive problem. It is the No. 1 reason educators in some states are forced to surrender their licenses. And the tools for preventing it haven't evolved much over the years.
Suffice it to say that pervasive educator-student sex is just one more reason why we need schools for The 21st Century Student. By reducing face-to-face student-teacher interactions we can reduce the opportunities educator sexual misconduct. It's the most effective strategy we have for reducing educator sex abuse. Better training isn't going to do anything except, perhaps, make it more difficult than it already is to discover the sexual abuse. What college graduate needs to be trained to know that you don't have sex with your students?
Because schools are responsible for having introduced the child to the teacher in the first place, they, therefore, are responsible for any sexual contact between the teacher and their students. American educators sexually abuse more students each year than Catholic priests did in half of a century. Yet the two institutions have been treated vastly differently on this issue.
One observation: If this cretin had been a "person of the cloth," 1001 attorneys would be lined up to represent the victims. As it is, though, the cretins will be defended by their respective unions at taxpayers expense.
--

--Teacher Sex Abuse--
Although the vast majority of educators do not sexually abuse students, the incidents of child sexual abuse within public schools occur with stunning frequency. It happens in nearly every county of every state. The vast majority of teachers are law abiding. However, what the public doesn't hear often, but what crime investigators know with great certainty, is that adults who are "sexually aroused" by children select careers where they can be around them. Pedophiles tend to seek jobs that put them into close proximity with children. This makes it more likely that child sex abuse will occur more frequently in some occupations than others. But, you never know when one is until [s]he is caught. Teachers need to go to prison, for breaking one of the few taboos left in modern society: that teachers not have sexual relations with their students.
Sex abuse by people in authority in public schools is a big problem. The epidemic of child sexual abuse in the context of public schools is no less severe than in the Catholic Church. In terms of absolute numbers, far more minors are sexually abused by teachers and coaches each year than by Catholic priests. Both schools and churches have obligations to teach morality and set an example for youth. I think it is very interesting the huge amount of pressure put on the Catholic Church versus the inclination to look away from the problem when it occurs in the context of public education.
These kinds of crimes are committed with far greater secrecy than drug dealing. They are committed by people with reputations for doing a lot of good. Moreover, the perpetrators are very good at ensuring the victims make no disclosures. Voluntary consent is not possible between a minor and an adult, especially an adult in a "position of authority." Any "consent" given by students to educators concerning sex acts is necessarily tainted by an imbalance of power between them. It's because these crimes are so difficult to detect in the school context, the maximum penalty is warranted.
Suppose the district doesn't report the matter to law enforcement, childrens' protective services or the education department. Or the allegation could be legitimate and swept under the rug. It happens. These matters are very hush-hush, despite mandatory reporting laws. Students are defenseless against dishonest teachers and administrators. Child abusers just go on teaching or move on to other schools and parents never hear a word because such information is labeled as "hysteria-creating, useless communication."
Most of these cases will never be reported to Child Protective Services or law enforcement and many reports will be delayed until after the abused students leave school. The idea that most sex abusers have a readily discernable aura of evil is completely false. More often they are very slick, educated people with commendable reputations and great people skills. The message for parents is even if school staff sees teacher misconduct that may harm your child, they aren't going to tell you about it.
An important reason why school administrators sometimes put student concerns on the back burner has to do with the power of teachers unions. It's simply easier to keep things quiet and avoid conflict. It's one of the negative consequences of having a unionized profession. Most professionals aren't in unions and that goes a long way in protecting the interests of their clients. It is rare to find a district attorney willing to risk the ill-will of powerful government agencies to discover the truth of misconduct and issue recommendations for action.
A priority of school districts and those who work in them is to protect their public image. Consequently, they act to control, spin and protect damaging information rather to make it public. When educators violate laws, even as serious as failing to report suspicions of sex abuse, they get a free bite at the apple. It doesn't happen for most Americans who find themselves on the wrong side of the law. It takes an independent third party to reveal the truth about public institutions. Democracy depends on an accurately informed public, otherwise it founders.
It's extremely important to tell teens to immediately report crimes without delay. Many victims delay in reporting, or never report sex crimes. It takes a lot of courage to do so. It's time for student needs to trump system needs on this issue. It's time to stop educators from preying in school. Stop coddling tainted teachers.
Good teachers can do bad things. Bad teachers can do good things. A teacher's glowing performance reviews does not mean children are being treated and educated the way they should be. Performance evaluations in education are extremely unreliable because of the unwritten rule to record only accolades and positive observations.
~~*~~
--Betty Peters--

BETTY PETERS [R] ALABAMA STATE
SCHOOL BOARD REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 2
Alabama Education News Write-Up [.pdf 196KB]
This district includes Barbour, Chambers, Clay, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Randolph, Russell, Tallapoosa and a portion of Talladega Counties; and the following colleges: Central Alabama Community College; Chattahoochee Valley Community College; Enterprise-Ozark Community College; Southern Union State Community College; George C. Wallace Community College, Dothan; and Lurleen B. Wallace Community College.
WORDS OF PRAISE FOR BETTY PETERS (R)
ALABAMA STATE SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 2

* WOW * WAY TO GO * SUPER * YOU'RE SPECIAL *

* OUTSTANDING * EXCELLENT * GREAT *

* GOOD * NEAT * WELL DONE * REMARKABLE *

* I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT * FANTASTIC *

* I'M PROUD OF YOU * SUPER STAR * NICE WORK *

* LOOKING GOOD * YOU'RE ON TOP OF IT *

* BEAUTIFUL * NOW YOU'RE FLYING *

* YOU'RE CATCHING ON * NOW YOU'VE GOT IT *

* YOU'RE INCREDIBLE * BRAVO *

* YOU'RE FANTASTIC * HURRAY FOR YOU *

* YOU'RE ON TARGET * YOU'RE ON YOUR WAY *

* HOW NICE * HOW SMART * GOOD JOB *

* THAT'S INCREDIBLE * HOT DOG * DYNAMITE *

* YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL * YOU'RE UNIQUE *

* NOTHING CAN STOP YOU NOW * GOOD FOR YOU *

* I LIKE YOU * YOU'RE A WINNER *

* REMARKABLE JOB * BEAUTIFUL WORK *

* SPECTACULAR * YOU'RE DARLING *

* YOU'RE PRECIOUS * GREAT DISCOVERY *

* YOU'VE DISCOVERED THE SECRET * BINGO *

* ALL RIGHT * YOU FIGURED IT OUT *

* FANTASTIC JOB * MAGNIFICENT *

* HIP HIP HOORAY * MARVELOUS * TERRIFIC *

* YOU'RE IMPORTANT * PHENOMENAL *

* YOU'RE SENSATIONAL * SUPER WORK *

* CREATIVE JOB * SUPER JOB *

* EXCELLENT JOB * EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE *

* YOU'RE A REAL TROOPER *

* YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE * YOU'RE EXCITING *

* YOU LEARNED IT RIGHT *

* WHAT AN IMAGINATION * WHAT A GOOD LISTENER *

* YOU'RE FUN * YOU CARE *

* YOU'RE GROWING UP * YOU TRIED HARD *

* BEAUTIFUL SHARING *

* OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE * YOU'RE A GOOD FRIEND

* I TRUST YOU * YOU'RE IMPORTANT *

* YOU MEAN A LOT TO ME * YOU MAKE ME HAPPY *

* YOU BELONG * YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND *

* YOU MAKE ME LAUGH * YOU BRIGHTEN MY DAY *

* I RESPECT YOU * YOU MEAN THE WORLD TO ME *

* THAT'S CORRECT * YOU'RE A JOY *

* YOU'RE A TREASURE * YOU'RE WONDERFUL *

* YOU'RE AWESOME * A+ JOB *

* YOU'RE A-OK * MY BUDDY * YOU MAKE MY DAY *

Christmas 2009 Cory, Anna, Betty & Charles, Jonathan, was sick the day they made the Christmas photo.

MerryChristmas from Cory Anna Betty Charles-2

Betty Peters Christmas 2008

Tina Glasgow, and her son, Pastor Kenneth Glasgow

My family's close friend, Tina Glasgow--operates a "soup kitchen" in Dothan, Alabama. They serve meals to the less fortunate in our community. Tina's friendship over the years, has meant so much to my family. We love you... Tina!
T.O.P.S. Empowerment Center Evergreen Plaza 805 N. Lena Street Dothan, AL 36303

Sen. Cam Ward with Governors Hailey Barbour & Bob Riley

--Mississippi Governor Hailey Barbour, Alabama State Senator Cam Ward, Alabama Governor Bob Riley--

Alabama State Sen. Cam Ward [R] for District 14 Alabaster, Alabama
Alabama State Senator Cam Ward has been fortunate to have his wife Julie and daughter Riley by his side throughout his career. In addition to having a wonderful family, Cam has always dedicated himself to community service. He has focused his career on public service and worked with various organizations to promote a strong quality of life for our state.
~~*~~

--State Rep. Mike Ball, Madison, Alabama--

Mike Ball, Alabama State Rep. [R] for District 10 Madison, Alabama
Representative Mike Ball was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 2002. He and his wife, Debbie, have three children - Chris, Cara, and Mandy, and a grandson, Jacob. Mike received his A.S. in Criminal Justice from Jefferson State Junior College and his B.S. in Political Science from Athens State University. He is a member of Asbury Methodist United Methodist Church in Madison.
Mike served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1973 to 1977 and was honorably discharged as a Sergeant. In 1978, he became an Alabama State Trooper, and served 8 years in the Highway Patrol Division. In 1986, he was assigned to serve in the Major Crimes Unit of the Alabama Bureau of Investigation. In addition to his investigative duties, Mike also served as a Hostage Negotiator. He retired from the Alabama Department of Public Safety on January 1, 2003. After his retirement from the Department of Public Safety, Mike and his son Chris have operated the family business, Ball Roofing.
Mike also enjoys singing and playing mandolin with The Madison Mountaintop Band. A student of several musical instruments, he particularly enjoys improvisation with other "shade tree" musicians.
~~*~~

--Ronald Reagan--
Ronald Reagan TV Ad: "Its Morning In America Again"
Ronald Reagan Speech - 1964 Republican National Convention
Inside Ronald Reagan: A Reason Interview from July 1975
~*~ "If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals–if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is. Now, I can’t say that I will agree with all the things that the present group who call themselves Libertarians in the sense of a party say, because I think that like in any political movement there are shades, and there are libertarians who are almost over at the point of wanting no government at all or anarchy. I believe there are legitimate government functions. There is a legitimate need in an orderly society for some government to maintain freedom or we will have tyranny by individuals. The strongest man on the block will run the neighborhood. We have government to insure that we don’t each one of us have to carry a club to defend ourselves. But again, I stand on my statement that I think that libertarianism and conservatism are travelling the same path". --Ronald Reagan
"The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." --Ronald Reagan
"Man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts." --Ronald Reagan
"This idea that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power except the sovereign people, is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man. For almost two centuries we have proved man’s capacity for self-government, but today we are told we must choose between a left and right or, as others suggest, a third alternative, a kind of safe middle ground. I suggest to you there is no left or right, only an up or down. Up to the maximum of individual freedom consistent with law and order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism; and regardless of their humanitarian purpose those who would sacrifice freedom for security have, whether they know it or not, chosen this downward path”. --Ronald Reagan
"I had a copy of the Soviet Constitution and I read it with great interest. And I saw all kinds of terms in there that sound just exactly like our own: 'Freedom of assembly' and 'freedom of speech' and so forth. Of course, they don't allow them to have those things, but they're in there in the constitution. But I began to wonder about the other constitutions -- everyone has one -- and our own, and why so much emphasis on ours. And then I found out, and the answer was very simple -- that's why you don't notice it at first. But it is so great that it tells the entire difference. All those other constitutions are documents that say, 'We, the government, allow the people the following rights,' and our Constitution says 'We the People, allow the government the following privileges and rights.' We give our permission to government to do the things that it does. And that's the whole story of the difference--why we're unique in the world and why no matter what our troubles may be, we're going to overcome." --Ronald Reagan
"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it, have never known it again." --Ronald Reagan
~~*~~

--Margaret Thatcher--
"Pennies do not come from heaven. They have to be earned here on earth." --Margaret Thatcher
"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." --Margaret Thatcher
"I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left." --Margaret Thatcher
"There can be no liberty unless there is economic liberty."--Margaret Thatcher
"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." --Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan - The Transatlantic Relationship
Margaret Thatcher: Free Society Speech [1975]
Margaret Thatcher: There is no such thing as public money
~~*~~

--Barry Goldwater--
Barry Goldwater: Conservative and Individualist
"The conscience of the Conservative is pricked by anyone who would debase the dignity of the individual human being. Today, therefore, he is at odds with dictators who rule by terror, and equally with those gentler collectivists who ask our permission to play God with the human race." --Barry Goldwater, Conscience of a Conservative
"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." --Barry Goldwater
"Where is the politician who has not promised to fight to the death for lower taxes- and who has not proceeded to vote for the very spending projects that make tax cuts impossible?" --Barry Goldwater
"The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government." --Barry Goldwater
~~*~~

--Here are some quotes from great Americans--
~~*~~
"When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." --Benjamin Franklin
"Government, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." --George Washington
"He who governs least, governs best." --Thomas Jefferson
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." --Thomas Jefferson
"Let the general government be reduced to foreign concerns only, and let our affairs be disentangled from those of all other nations, except as to commerce, which the merchants will manage the better, the more they are left free to manage for themselves, and our general government may be reduced to a very simple organization, & a very unexpensive one; a few plain duties to be performed by a few servants." --Thomas Jefferson
"If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare, and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands; they may appoint teachers in every State, county and parish and pay them out of their public treasury; they may take into their own hands the education of children, establishing in like manner schools throughout the Union; they may assume the provision of the poor; they may undertake the regulation of all roads other than post-roads; in short, every thing, from the highest object of state legislation down to the most minute object of police, would be thrown under the power of Congress. Were the power of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for, it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature of the limited Government established by the people of America." --James Madison
"No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session." --Mark Twain
"Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery." --Calvin Coolidge
"The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government." --Barry Goldwater
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." --C.S. Lewis
"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." --Thomas Jefferson
"Familiarize yourself with the chains of bondage and you prepare your own limbs to wear them. Accustomed to trample on the rights of others, you have lost the genius of your own independence and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises among you." --Abraham Lincoln
"Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." --John Adams
"A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." --Thomas Jefferson
"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government...lest it come to dominate our lives and interests." --Patrick Henry
"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." --Mark Twain
"A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." --George Bernard Shaw
"Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner." --James Bovard, Civil Libertarian [1994]
"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." --P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian
"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts." --Will Rogers
"If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free." --P.J. O'Rourke
"The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin." --Mark Twain
"The conscience of the Conservative is pricked by anyone who would debase the dignity of the individual human being. Today, therefore, he is at odds with dictators who rule by terror, and equally with those gentler collectivists who ask our permission to play God with the human race." --Barry Goldwater, Conscience of a Conservative
"The prospect of tyranny may not grab the headlines the way vivid stories of gun crime routinely do. But few saw the Third Reich coming until it was too late. The Second Amendment is a doomsday provision, one designed for those exceptionally rare circumstances where all other rights have failed--where the government refuses to stand for reelection and silences those who protest; where courts have lost the courage to oppose, or can find no one to enforce their decrees. However improbable these contingencies may seem today, facing them unprepared is a mistake a free people get to make only once." --Judge Alex Kozinsky
"I think I am better than the people who are trying to reform me." --E.W. Howe
"The kind of man who wants the government to adopt and enforce his ideas is always the kind of man whose ideas are idiotic." --H.L. Mencken
.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:.
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." --Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776
~~*~~
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." --THEODORE ROOSEVELT Paris Sorbonne,1910
~~*~~

TO THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE:
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution, so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."
--Thomas Jefferson--

"Life is tough. It's tougher when you are stupid." --John Wayne

--Milton Friedman--
~The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.~
--Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution--
"Any objective observer can see that the Tenth Amendment is the most widely violated provision of the bill of rights. If it had been enforced, America would be an astonishingly different country. Today’s atmosphere of big government, ever-expanding entitlement programs, and bloated spending threaten to undermine the very basis of American liberty and self-reliance.
To bring about positive social change and to strengthen our most effective and efficient social institutions, we must rein in government, reject calls for expanded entitlement programs, and demand that government intervenes in only very limited ways and only when absolutely necessary.
The greatest advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science and literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government."
~Milton Friedman~
~*~ "There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch! Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government. And that’s close to 40% of our national income."
~Milton Friedman~
~*~
"What most people really object to when they object to a free market is that it is so hard for them to shape it to their own will. The market gives people what the people want instead of what other people think they ought to want. At the bottom of many criticisms of the market economy is really lack of belief in freedom itself. The essence of political freedom is the absence of coercion of one man by his fellow men. The fundamental danger to political freedom is the concentration of power. The existence of a large measure of power in the hands of a relatively few individuals enables them to use it to coerce their fellow men. Preservation of freedom requires either the elimination of power where that is possible, or its dispersal where it cannot be eliminated. It essentially requires a system of checks and balances, like that explicitly incorporated in our Constitution..."
~Milton Friedman~
~*~

My University of Alabama Crimson Tide Football Photo Album

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A FOOTBALL TRADITION

14 National Championships

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Yea, Alabama!

Yea, Alabama!
Drown 'em Tide!
Every 'Bama man's behind you;
Hit your stride!
Go teach the Bulldogs to behave,
Send the Yellow Jackets to a watery grave!
And if a man starts to weaken,
That's his shame!
For 'Bama's pluck and grit
Has writ her name in crimson flame!
Fight on, fight on, fight on, men!
Remember the Rose Bowl we'll win then!
So! Go, roll to victory,
Hit your stride,
You're Dixie's football pride, Crimson Tide!

"In the East Football is a cultural exercise, on the West Coast its a tourist attraction, in Texas its a big get together, in the Midwest its a slugfest, but in the South, Football is a RELIGION"
--Grantland Rice

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--University of Alabama Crimson Tide 2009/2010/*2011 Football Gallery, Cheerleaders, Crimsonettes, and the Million Dollar Band--

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Shout

University of Alabama Crimson Tide Head Football Coach Nick Saban

--Jim Cook--
My personal favorite newspaper reporter is Jim Cook of the Dothan Eagle. Jim covers education for the Dothan Eagle and writes a column on Sundays... Jim also covers state and local politics.
Jim investigated former Rep. Terry Spicer [D] Elba's work logs he was required to keep and they overlapped with times Alabama House records showed that Spicer was on the floor voting. Spicer was a "double-dipper" who was forced by new ethics requirements to leave one tax-payer funded job only to immediately accept another as Elba’s new school superintendent. Spicer’s position as Elba superintendent and as a member of the Education Appropriations committee created a conflict of interests.
Spicer used his place on the Education Appropriations committee to secure the $100,000 a year "no work" job at Enterprise-Ozark Community College. Spicer's job title was assistant to the president for economic and community development. Spicer was defeated in the 2010 election cycle. Jim won a big press award on the Spicer story. Jim took down a very powerful member of the Alabama house of reprensetives. At the time Spicer was AEA union boss's Paul Hubbert & Joe Reed's #1 "sex toy!" We were all proud of Jim...
--

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--What is a Libertarian? An individual who loves freedom, life, and liberty for everyone, and who believes in free markets, personal responsbility, and zero government intrusion into any aspect of your life! It saddens me that many Americans are willing to give the government so much power over us for the sake of "keeping us safe."--
~~*~~
--Libertarian Philosophy--
I believe the libertarian philosophy is attractive. The philosophy transcends party politics. With a country facing imminent collapse, such a radical idea becomes an intriguing option. Have not both parties been responsible for bringing us to the brink of destruction? Why should government increase in size and scope every year? Why must our civil liberties be destroyed? Why not obey the Constitution? Cannot change be affected at the local level most effectively? Does the United States really need to police the world? Would people not be more prosperous if their labor was not taxed by the federal government to pay for boondoggles? Why is our money backed by nothing? Why does the Federal Reserve debase our currency?
These are hard questions to answer. This had led many people to put their faith in themselves, friends, families, free markets, God, and their fellow man. Often misunderstood, libertarians are not simply greedy or lacking compassion. They see the problems that arise from unrestrained government in collusion with big business and honestly consider their philosophy as being the most efficient and intelligent way for restore peace and prosperity for all.
Libertarians understand that the state has made many obligations to its citizens. The only way these obligations could actually be met would be by dramatically decreasing spending, withdrawing troops from around the world, and by living within our means. Eventually it would be great to see these programs phased out at the federal level as people can best be cared for by their communities, but this is not an immediate goal or a pressing concern. Do not be mistaken by propaganda and lies, libertarians do not want to put people out on the streets.
Let us not fear each other. I suggest we all try to put aside our differences, learn from one another, and cooperate to achieve our similar goals. By working together, we can return our country to greatness.
~~*~~

--WHO ARE WE--
We are not anarchists. We are not Far-Right or Far-Left. We are the seventy percent in the middle. We are not Capital “L” libertarians, although we do have sympathies with their platform. We are neither bitter clingers nor conspiracy nuts.
What we are is a group of folks that think we see liberty and freedom eroding in our beloved United States. We see the policies and agendas of the hirelings in Washington D.C. heading toward an abbreviation if not outright abrogation of the Bill of Rights.
We think that the Federal government is grasping to consolidate power using the current crisis, since as Rahm Emmanuel said, it’s a terrible thing to waste. We think the Federal government, not just this administration, is more interested in self-serving personal, political, and party power than it is in actually doing its best to do the least.
This President didn't make it this way. It has been heading along this path since Woodrow Wilson held political prisoners and FDR held four terms as president; since Johnson's Great Society and Nixon took us off the gold standard; since Bush Sr. lied about no new taxes, Clinton desecrated the Oval Office, Bush Jr. rammed through the Patriot Act, and NCLB, and Obama wanted every high school kid to "volunteer."
For almost a hundred years, our country has been heading towards becoming a Socialist, centrally planned, Nanny State where the Federal Government tells it citizens how to conduct business, what they could grow in their own gardens or on their own farms, and now even how much a private citizen is allowed to earn before punitive and illegal taxation takes it away.
Now is the time to make it stop.
~~*~~
WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?
TO SHOW THE ARMADILLO THAT IT CAN BE DONE!
In Liberty,
charrisGOP

"Whatever crushes individuality is despotism, by whatever name it may be called." --On Liberty, John Stuart Mill
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