Keeping Focused

Last night I spent thirty minutes in misery when one of my contact lenses slipped and wedged itself in a place under the eyeball where it did not belong. Why thirty minutes? Because I was stuck riding shotgun in an old pickup truck bouncing along an isolated road during a rain storm with nowhere well lit to stop. It was a good thing I was not driving, because double vision does not begin to explain how bad my ability to focus was.

One of the problems facing any fledgling political movement is failing to maintain a tight focus on the message they wish to send. All too often, causes expand to cover too many things and large fractures become inevitable within the group once that occurs. I watched that happen with the Reform Party back in the 1990’s.

So it was interesting to hear what was going on with one of the local Tea Party chapters down in Decorah, Iowa. My father asked to distribute some FairTax information at their meeting last night and so off we trundled to it. They are aligned with the Tea Party Patriots organization and the gist of the message was about staying focused on smaller government and fiscal responsibility. That was nice to hear, since all too often intensity and resources get frittered away by expansion of unnecessary issues.

At the meeting was a Republican candidate for Iowa House District 55, Michael Klimesh. He’s a former mayor from Spillville and had run in the old district in 2010. The focus of his message was smaller government and encouraging small business development. Being at loggerheads with the state party should make things interesting for his race.

Unexpectedly, my dad got a chance to speak on the FairTax and that went very well. Six of nine people still at the meeting had heard of it, which is a lot better than I have seen before. The questions were all good ones too.

Something fascinating thing to me was the beginnings of Occupiers and Tea Partiers working together in Northeast Iowa. I had quite a cordial discussion with one attendee who has come over from the OWS movement to also participate in Tea Party activities. Some of the Occupiers have discovered there is common ground in regards to government corruption and have begun exploring what we have to say.

I suspect that more liberals have become disenchanted and disillusioned with their champions since Obama took office. While we on the political right are used to distrusting and disparaging our own leaders, there has been more blind faith on the other side. With rampant corruption becoming more obvious, some eyes are opening and questions being asked.

Where it all will end up, I do not know, but I find it quite intriguing. The people have begun to lose faith in our government in larger numbers and that should worry Washington, D.C. a great deal, but they are awfully insulated in the Beltway.

I am happy to report that Mabe’s Pizza still makes great pizza. My family spent a lot of time there back in the 70’s, so I have a lot of fond memories.

An old friend of Don Flatten’s was there, so that added a another nostalgic moment to the night. I can tell I am getting old from all the reminiscing about people who have passed away. It was nice to get out and talk to people again, the last two weeks of being ill has been more than a little annoying. If I only had the health to match my spirit!

Oh and that contact lens? It fell out of my eye as soon as I walked in a convenience store and into my hand. I was able to get it back in and finally focus again.

The Violent Hypocrisy of the American Left

In the fall out of the shooting of Rep. Giffords and others at her public meeting in Arizona, the politics of demonization of the political right has been quick and ruthless by the political left. Their puppets in the news media have been quick to try to pin blame on the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Republicans. Claims that violent rhetoric from Republicans inspired this has become a chanting point. while the real facts that keep trickling out show that the shooter, Jarod Loughner, was a pot smoking, anti-religion, anti-war left winger with an obsession with Giffords dating back to 2007.

Definition:

1. feigned high principles: the false claim to or pretense of having admirable principles, beliefs, or feelings
It would be sheer hypocrisy for them to turn around and do what they criticize in others.

Warning: NSFW in some cases -- Michelle Malkin has an astounding and very long list of the violence called for and perpetrated by the left in the past ten years.  Read through it and the definition of hypocrisy above is well proven, I think.  As I mentioned, beware foul language and crude imagery at the link.

The desire to vilify the right has trumped anything approaching fairness or rationality on the left. Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit fame has an editorial at the Wall Street Journal that further points out the hypocrisy going on.  I will quote him:

To be clear, if you're using this event to criticize the "rhetoric" of Mrs. Palin or others with whom you disagree, then you're either: (a) asserting a connection between the "rhetoric" and the shooting, which based on evidence to date would be what we call a vicious lie; or (b) you're not, in which case you're just seizing on a tragedy to try to score unrelated political points, which is contemptible. Which is it?

Frankly, I don’t expect an honest answer from the left on that one. But I don’t expect honest answers from them on anything these days.

This rant by krakatoa at Ace of Spades pretty sums up how fed up we are with this.  It is horrible that the acts of an extremely mentally ill young man are being used for attempted political gain by the left.  Appalling barely begins to describe it.

I used to defend people on the left as being well intentioned if misguided.  The events of the last several years have taught me otherwise.  Dishonesty, intolerance, and hate is all I’m seeing out of them and it is getting worse.  This trend cannot be good for the country and will lead to real conflict down the road.

Congresswoman Shot in Arizona

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/08/arizona-congresswoman-reportedly-shot-public-event/

I was hoping to post something more light hearted than this, but it is big news.  My prayers go out to Rep. Giffords, her family, and the families of all that were shot or killed. Details are very murky, much like the Fort Hood shooting and there has been a rush to blame the Tea Party, Glen Beck, Republicans, and conservatives on left wing blogs. Given her stance on tightening security on the border with Mexico, she was getting a lot of flack from the left of late so I find such accusations to be very presumptuous.

Rumors are flying that the police are looking for a second suspect, but once again things are too confused to know what is really going on. Previous rumors claimed an Afghan war veteran shot her and the others. My worry is that this might be a spillover from narco-terrorism in Northern Mexico, where shooting politicians is getting to be common. Anyway you look at it, this is a very bad day in Arizona and the United States.

The willingness of people on the political left to paint the Tea Party as responsible is extremely disturbing and polarizes the country even further.  People need to sit down, take a breath, and wait for the facts to come out.

UPDATED:

The shooter is a white male, 22, name is Jared Loughner.  Someone may have fired back at him from the crowd. One gun with an extended clip is being reported, which sounds like a 9mm or 5.7mm to me and explains why so many survived. Rep. Giffords is out of surgery and was responding to verbal commands before despite being shot in the temple. A federal judge appointed by President Bush was also wounded. 18, not 19, shot. One more arrested and a third man is being sought by authorities.

This video screed may be by him, if so it shows a lot of signs of serious mental illness and hatred of government.  Also, it looks something like a suicide note.  He looks to be one sick puppy.

UPDATED:

Just viewed his YouTube videos and profile and he’s a left wing anarchist with favorite books including the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf.  One of his videos about being a terrorist includes flag burning as he doesn’t recognize the Old Glory as being constitutional. He also claims the Constitution is brainwashing and has another video on how to be a mind controller.  His hatred of religion comes through very strongly as well. 

He also is very clearly deranged.

The O'Donnell Victory

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/246622/about-last-night-jonah-goldberg

In the above missive, Jonah Goldberg captures most of how I feel about what has happened in Delaware. But I'm going to criticize the mindless viciousness of her supporters because they are turning things into identity politics the way the Democrats do. From the women blindly supporting O'Donnell thinking that she was attacked for daring to be a woman to the ad hominem profanity directed at principled conservatives objecting to a fraud and a liar becoming the candidate (though in truth those descriptions apply to Castle as well), the attitudes remind me of how Obama's camp tore down Hillary Clinton in 2008. There was very little rationality involved and a great deal of emoting due to the desire to get rid of a RINO.

I've got news for people. Just because someone says all the things you want to hear from them doesn't make them the real deal. Anybody who made rent payments from their campaign contributions is not someone you want going to Washington to live off the taxpayer. Opposing a person like that doesn't make you a RINO or a puppet of the Republican establishment. Look deeper into the actions of those who say all the right things before opposing or supporting them. With the Republic itself dangling by a thread, this is not the time to be stupid and start a civil war amongst conservatives.

The consequences could be dire, for with a public sick of the Democratic and Republican parties, hating another party such as the Tea Party will be very easy. All it will take is getting the wrong people in and their screwing up. There is no patience in the electorate right now. As the Democrats have found, the anger that can sweep you into power can just as quickly sweep you out. People advocating a third party will find that it will fare no differently.

As for me, I wish a real conservative had been in the Delaware primary. I consider neither Castle or O'Donnell to be the real deal.

Beware the False Flags at the Tea Parties

UPDATED

One of the most dangerous things that can happen to someone involved in a cause is succumbing to the belief that “the end justifies the means.”  The cause then justifies any kind of dishonest behavior and falsehood.  Having wandered the political spectrum I can say all political persuasions have people vulnerable to the philosophy.  However, the percentages are far higher in those who tilt to the political left.

Case in point is the slander directed at Tea Partiers.  The media can’t resist going profoundly negative in an effort to protect their secular messiah, Obama. But interestingly enough, it isn’t working with 40% of the people having a positive view of the Tea Party movement. Attempts to paint authentic grassroots protesters as racist/white supremacist have failed miserably as polling has shown the cultural breakdown of the groups to be nearly identical to the general population.

So what to do when the lies don’t get traction?  Start a false flag operation to frame Tea Partiers as extremists.

As reprehensible as this is, I suspect it is only the beginning.  So keep an eye out at the Tea Parties for troublemakers.  They aren’t going to be the real deal.

UPDATE

Further evidence of how the left is moving toward extreme behavior including violence.

Over at Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft has two posts up today worth reading.  The first is on the AP lying about racist comments being made by Obamacare protesters.  They’ve escalated to lying about the videos (plural) out there that don’t show any evidence of epithets being flung.  The AP is aiding and abetting the lies being told by the Congressional Black Caucus by claiming it was one video that was presented by conservative and libertarian bloggers.

That’s not the worst of it though.

Violence has always been an inherent aspect of left wing politics, from the bombings in the early 1970’s to the fringe anarchists (their calls for anarchy are just a cover for hating capitalism) attacking Republicans on a bus at the 2008 National Convention. The beating of Kenneth Gladney by SEIU thugs last year got faint media attention.  Now we have this savage beating of a young couple for wearing Sarah Palin pins.

Once again you can hear crickets chirping with the media being silent.  I expect more of this as the public turns against the Democrats.

The Smell of Astroturf

Or the fumes Wafting from the Coffee Party.

Astroturfing in politics is the process of creating a a fake grassroots effort to sway public opinion or sitting politicians. David Axelrod of the Obama administration is a living legend at doing this and it is what has made him politically powerful. Much of it is centered around unions and isn’t anything close to being grassroots.

So it was interesting to see accusations against the Tea Party movement that they were astroturfed and controlled by sinister Republican interests.  Except when they were controlled by the sinister insurance companies. Or when they were controlled by Fox News.  Sorry, the conspiracy theorists/spin doctors never could make up their mind who really controlled the Tea Party rallies.

Sadly, the left are so far divorced from the people of the land that they are incapable of recognizing a true grassroots movement born of frustration with out of control government growth.  Character assassination and ranting about astroturfing have failed to dent the movement simply because it isn’t astroturfed.  That should scare them as big populist movements tend to change things.

So a change in tactics has happened and the left have formed something called the “coffee party.”  Interestingly, instead of having multiple movements with much in common springing up independently (and fighting with each other a good amount) there is one person behind the formation of this group, Annabel Park.

Ms. Park and her new group instantly received a lot of attention from The Washington Post and The New York Times.  To be expected as they are not fans of the Tea Partiers.  She has stated that they are not the opposite of the Tea Party and may have common ground. But wait, what is that smell in the air?  Smells like artificial grass to me.

Turns out that Ms. Park has a history with The New York Times and also was a big organizer for Obama’s presidential campaign. Over at Legal Insurrection, William Jacobson has presented the details on her activities including Twitter messages that are extremely hostile towards the Tea Party.  I agree with his summation that this is just a continuation of “the perpetual Obama campaign.”  I’d add that it is clear the media want something, anything to derail the Tea Party movement.

I wonder if Axelrod is involved?

 

 

del.icio.us Tags: Coffee Party,Annabel Park,Tea Party,astroturf,politics

Weekend Links: The Decline of American Politics?

One of the great myths fostered by the mass media is that Republicans march in lockstep, all with the same set of beliefs, as opposed to the diversity of the Democratic Party. That myth is being expanded to extend to all critics of President Obama and his policies.  That's a foolish move, for it may unite the scattered and bickering factions made up of those who call themselves 'conservatives.'  The last two elections were won on the weaknesses of the political right, rather than the strengths of the political left.  Keep the right divided and the administration will get their way.

But Chicago politics is a brutal and oppressive atmosphere, hence the desire to shut down all criticism of the administration.  This is why Fox News is under attack, as it is one of the last hold outs in a compliant media doing Obama's bidding.

Because We Say So

An attempt was made to block Fox News from a pool interview with the pay czar of the administration.  The other networks quietly stood up against this and the White House backed down.  At first, only Fox News themselves reported on this attempt at black listing.  The only other broadcast television outlet to eventually report on it was CBS, though there was some spin to it.

Meanwhile, at NPR analyst Ken Rudin dared to describe the Obama administration as being "Nixonian."  The desire to control every aspect of reporting has always been there with presidents, but the constant demonizing of Fox News alarmed him.  Until he was sat on and made to issue an apology, that is.  The creeping power to suppress free speech this White House has is something everyone should be frightened of, but if the public never hears about it in the first place it become the proverbial tree in the forest falling. It all reminds me of the monolithic Wesayso corporation that controlled everything in the old TV series Dinosaurs.

So That's What He Was Doing in College

I don't think President Obama respects the Constitution and Bill of Rights one whit.  There is evidence of this as his college years are slowly being uncovered.  His hatred of the free market is also made clear in the paper, which would explain why he is more than happy to destroy the economy. How? By absorbing as much of it as he can into the government.  Yes folks, he is a communist like his parents before him.  No wonder there was a total embargo on his college years in the media during the election.

UPDATE:  Turns out the website linked is a satire site.  Sadly, the satire was all too believable given Obama's extreme left wing approach to the economy and free speech.  He's still a communist in my opinion.

It is interesting how we still don't know much about our current President's college years, that kind of secrecy doesn't happen unless there are things to hide.

Conservative Rebellion in the Air

Meanwhile, the fiscal conservative uprising that is the Tea Party movement has begun to challenge the GOP leadership.   The Tea Parties are about smaller government and people from a wide spectrum of beliefs form the movement.   Being truly grassroots, there isn't a united leadership, but a whole lot of discontent. What they are united on are less government, less taxes, and a hostility toward political parties in general. Attempts to paint the movement as RNC controlled or as astroturfing by the insurance industries are foolish, especially by the left. They may profit from the movement if the Republicans don't listen to the protests.

Calls to vote out all sitting politicians is not uncommon at the rallies.  The GOP leadership are not comfortable or happy with the Tea Parties for this reason and because they are too blue collar.  So there will be challenges like in NY-23 fueled by anger at big government Republicans. That could spell major trouble if the Republican party keeps trying to ignore the movement.  The worst case scenario is a third party challenge, which would hand everything to the Democrats as the right splits its vote.  Hopefully, those in the movement will understand they are more powerful criticizing politicians than they would becoming ones.

Snippets:

An interesting post about how white the most progressive cities in the USA are.  A fascinating article worth reading.

At Reason magazine there is an interesting article/book review about the end of the Cold War.  It is very lengthy but worth the read.

Another False Flag Operation

In Denver, the Democratic Party Headquarters had its windows smashed in and efforts were made to blame Tea Party protesters.  So who actually got arrested?  Someone who had been on the payroll of an SEIU front group.  That vandal is no conservative and the question is being raised over what the local Democratic chair new about this.

Part of the problem the conservatives and libertarians have had understanding the opposition is comprehending that the end justifies the means to the left.  To some degree, they intellectually get that the other side lies and even the relativism involved, but they fail to understand just how far they will go to achieve their goals.  When you suffer from ethical relativism in addition to moral relativism, anything goes to win.  That includes posing as the other side to frame them for bad behavior.

Ironically, it would be a relief if Maurice had a grievance with the Democrats and did this for revenge of some kind, but I doubt that will be the case.  Instead, the political situation in the country continues to deteriorate and I think we'll be seeing a lot more unrest as the far left get frustrated.  Opposition is not something they handle well, much like adolescents.  With generations never growing up and raising following generations to be perpetual teenagers, we'll be seeing a lot more stupid acts such as this one.

Raining Friday Links

Don't know if I'm up to posting a real essay today, as I'm waiting for the rain to stop to mix a mad scientist brew of sand/concrete and Sheetrock plaster to repair the hole in my bedroom ceiling. Finally tore all the plaster down from the water damaged areas and was pleased to find the lath in very good condition, with only some mold. One repaired cheap sprayer and some bleach water later it was left to dry overnight. I suppose I should take photos of it now for the classic before and after shots -- that's assuming my improvised plastering methods work!

While I assume only bots are reading this blog, I'm going to start posting links to things I find interesting on the Net in case any human eyeballs ever find their way here.

First up, a video link to Milton Friedman on Donahue back in 1979. Friedman lays out why only capitalism works very succinctly and to great effect. He also quickly lays out why government isn't the answer.

Bolstering that last point -- the automakers are having to back the "Cash for Clunkers" program. It is a fine example of how the U.S. government runs things that they are having to be bailed out of their own stimulus program. GM being involved makes this even more surreal.

"Peace of Mind. Piece of Happiness." That's the slogan for the Japanese government's new ad campaign to sell their national debt to their populace. The Telegraph rather waggishly asks what slogan the UK could use.

On a more local note, Marty Seifert was in La Crescent as part of his campaign for Governor of Minnesota. I hadn't realized the number declaring to run was in the dozens! On the Republican side, I think he has the edge at the moment, coming off of successfully holding the caucus together in the Minnesota House of Representatives during the last session. Time will tell, of course.

The Rochester Tea Party Patriots will be holding a Health Care Freedom Rally Saturday at Noon in Rochester. Click on the link for details!

Related to Tea Party activities and health care concerns, across the Mississippi Representative Ron Kind D-WI had 800 people to deal with at his townhall in Tomah Thursday. From the article, it sounds like he got an earful. This shows how more intensely opposed the public has become to government expansion of health care. I don't remember this kind of civic involvement back during HillaryCare. Of course, the country wasn't broke back then and didn't have a possible second Great Depression looming.

On a lighter note, I've been watching how people slavishly buy the latest Apple iPod or iPhone when there are usually superior products for much less money out there. What I wasn't aware of is how technologically inferior products on the US market are compared to overseas. Just another sign of America's decay, as the article points out our falling rate of broadband penetration. Don't know if I agree on the "Wal-Mart factor" so much, I think being an 80% service economy might play into this. Or maybe it is that we have so many wide open spaces to play with that we don't need gadgets for entertainment as much as crowded Asia.

As I've gotten older, the less enchanted I've become with intellectual property rights. It seems that instead of coming up with more new and innovative product, individuals and corporations want to keep making money off of old things. With the rise of file sharing then torrenting and piracy of music, movies, television, books, and software this is surely being eroded. While I don't advocate piracy, I do think there needs to be some limits. Now the biggest torrent site, the Pirate Bay, is preparing to go legal. Reading the comments tells me that things have gone past being just college students looting music and there is a rebellion against any regulation of content. How much of it is ideological and how much is just greed is the question.

Last two articles were found on Blue's News, a gaming and tech website that occasionally has interesting oddball items.

Oh Joy, History Repeats Itself

When Hitler decided he wanted to invade Poland, he sent SS troops dressed as Polish soldiers to attack German outposts on the border. With this false flag attack, the Nazi regime had their justification to go to war -- after all, those villainous Poles had attacked the Fatherland! So how does this relate to the title of the post?

I believe history repeats itself as variations of a theme, as composers have done their own takes on other compositions. Much of the tune stays the same, but enough changes to make the new version distinct. Today we have a struggle against an ever encroaching government and those who wish to keep their constitutional rights. The current administration is a product of the Chicago political machine, which means anything is allowed against opponents. Think mafia, because organized crime is a big part of the machine.

So we've seen SEIU goons beat Ken Gladney down and shove a camera in the face of a woman capturing their thuggery. That's the obvious behavior that the ObamaCare supporters had hoped would go the other way for propaganda purposes. Then there is the more sly method of propaganda staging.

Much ado has been made by Nancy Pelosi and others about the swastika's and Hitler pictures at the Tea Parties, with an inference of the protesters being Nazi racists themselves. It has been carefully worded to make that impact, while retaining the core of truth that the signs were depicting Obama and company as the Nazi's. At the Tea Parties I've attended, I haven't seen any and the comparison has been to the communists. That isn't to say there haven't been comparisons or signs elsewhere.

But look at this, we have a bonafide false flag operation being run by Democratic Representative John Dingall's supporters. Having someone carry that around and then hand out lit pieces for Dingall afterward smacks of complete arrogance. Or is it just the security of knowing the media will cover up for you? Still, the purpose is clear, to justify continued verbal demonization of the opposition to the health care bill.

So we have false flag operations going on, as I'm sure this isn't an isolated case, plus we unions being used to pack townhalls to prevent dissent. It may be the Chicago way, but it isn't the American way.

It's like they want a war.

Thugocracy

You know that the ancient Chinese curse of "May you live in interesting times" is true when the unions start rolling out to suppress free speech while claiming protesters are "attacking America." You can't make that kind of idiocy up, though you can satirize the mass media instructions/marching orders given out of Washington. Of course, in the left's view of the 1st Amendment, it is only valid when they protest and when confronted with an opposing view, they are entitled to slap down the opposition. Or just close the doors on anyone who wasn't snuck in the side door in an effort to pack a townhall meeting.

Hey, if someone opposes the Obamacare bill, the White House has asked that people submit their name to a list they are archiving. “These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.”

Nothing intimidating about that!

Then there is the lie about astroturfing (creating fake grassroots, a specialty of the Chicago machine's Axelrod) being spread, with insurance companies, Fox news, or the RNC organizing too well dressed protesters. Which is very silly indeed, as I have been to multiple Tea Party rallies and they are made of a wide political range of people indeed, including Republican haters. Top that off with Republican "insiders" ie: the reigning political class in the party, aka country club Republicans thinking the protests useless and plebian and it becomes clear who is really astroturfing. But don't forget, it is organized mobs causing all the fuss, according to the Democrats.

All of this is like playing with matches in a drought stricken forest. With the ever increasing reach of the federal government into literally all aspects of everyday life, the American people are getting more than uncomfortable. There is a sense that too much control is being taken away from individuals, aggravated by the severe economic downturn that shows no real sign of abatement. That is the motivation for these protests and the people who attend them.

In Discourses, Nico Machiavelli wrote that peoples are "extraordinarily revengeful toward those who have destroyed their liberty." He relates an account of the city of Corcyra in Greece during the Pelopennesian war. Ancient Greece broke between two camps, the Athenians and the Spartans, with the people of Corcyra being torn politically. The upper class nobles wanted an alliance with Sparta while the people wanted freedom and alignment with Athens. Subsequently, the upper class took over and instituted dictatorial rule that lasted until the Athenians were able to render aid to the people of the city.

The populace rose up and imprisoned the nobles in one prison, then set about executing them in cruel ways. Of course, that caused a prison uprising which ended when a crowd of the people marched on the prison. They collapsed its walls and upper story on the nobles to crush them.

Machiavelli concludes, "We thus see how true it is that a liberty which you have actually had taken away is avenged with much greater ferocity than is a liberty which someone has only tried to take away."

At the moment, with cap and trade passed and Obamacare being rushed through, people are waking up to the threat of their freedom to make choices being taken away. That's dangerous enough to cause trouble on its on. Adding in union thugs and a refusal to listen to constituents to the mix takes it from being a threat to an actual denial of liberty. If that threshold of perception is crossed, things can explode.

And one last time for the confused, please click on the difference between grass roots and astroturfers.