You stoop to their level and you are no better than they are…

The line in the title of this article was used by an RNC Blog member who disagreed with my approach to recapturing control of the United States Congress. It is used often when strong actions of any kind are either taken or even suggested. Something similar, i.e. “If we do that we will be just like them …”

Why did I decided to write this piece? I logged onto the Facebook GOP/RNC site forum. That was my first mistake. I had imagined that I would find Republicans who were ready to do anything legal to win back the Congress and the Senate. I expected to see rational people questioning the RNC, and asking why their responses to ObamaCare, TARP, Stimulus, Cap and Trade, The UN “One World “ conference, Tax increases, etc have either been tepid or non-existent. I expected a fired up electorate who wanted change – not BO’s change, but real change back to small government, constitutional themes, concerns about the second amendment, the Trillions of dollars in debt that we now owe, the weakened, and soon to be even weaker dollar, The takeover of GM, Chrysler and the banks. Not a word.

I expected to see some support for the tea parties, for the millions who have lost their jobs, often through no fault of their own. I expected to see outrage over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and calls the trial and imprisonment of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. There was no mention of these criminals, or the lives that they have impacted.

I suggested that the Republican Party had forgotten how to fight, and that they needed to take a few pages from the Democrats vis-à-vis learning more street fighter tactics to counter those of the Rahm Emanuals of the world. I suggested that we needed more of a “Go for the Jugular” attitude, so that we can WIN. I suggested that we be more like THEM.

Not a person agreed. I was accused of being a Democrat, or one who should be. It was said I was one of those people who gave Republicans a bad name. Actually I am a Conservative who belongs to the Republican Party. I am also frustrated that we seem to have grown another generation of country club Republicans. Republicans who actually believe that nothing more than talk, currying favor, keeping quiet, and ignoring the real issues because they may require getting “down and dirty” is the way to get the job done.

Most of what America has suffered at the hands of the Obama Administration in the last 10 months is Obama’s fault. Much is also the fault of Republicans who are in collusion with him. Republicans like those in the RNC.

Often, exploring what person or group of persons responds to something with this comment I find that, more often than not it is a Liberal, a moderate Republican or someone who actually believes that peace can be achieved by apologizing – like President Obama.

The idea that “being just like them” or “stooping to their level”, or anything similar is necessarily bad is an assumption that may not be warranted. The “them” that is discussed is seldom identifies in detail. The things that “them” do, is also many times disregarded.

Let’s start by looking at the current baseball playoff between the LA Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies. The Dodgers lost. I imagine that if the Dodgers said “we must be just like them. We must execute better, we must win, and next year we must change how we play this game. We must play like them”. This is not seen as anything but good, clean competition.

What about when a pitcher on one team purposely throws a ball at an opposing pitcher’s head, and the next inning the other pitcher does the same. As a baseball player (in my youth) and a fan now, I have seen this done on a number of occasions, but never have I heard anyone say, “ Now we are just like ‘them’”. Why not? In baseball the second pitcher was sending a message, and that message was if you do this so will we, and we can do it better.

In the 1920’s, through the 70’s the underworld spent a great deal of time eluding the police and law enforcement in general. One reason is that the law enforcement then was very different than now. Police were not loath to “bust a few heads” to solve a crime. They did this for many reasons, but one was to be more like them – the criminals. Anyone who has seen photos of shootouts between police and the underworld saw that force was the rule. The police simply used the same tactics as the criminals, but did it better. They became “Just like them”. Unfortunately activists came along and said we cannot just shoot the bad guys, they need lawyers. What if one was innocent, or not as guilty? He or she needed to be protected from the police. That was necessary because some of the police, in the opinion of the ACLU types.

The police are first responders, and so are our military. They now respond not to nationally recognized force, but to insurgents, Al Qaeda, the Taliban etc. The latter in turn fight us in many ways including mass murder, de-capitation, rape, firing squads, plus the ever present IED’s. We are often at a loss as we try to figure out how to win a war without hurting anyone. We were not always like that. War was seen for what it was – War. The major objective was to kill more of the enemy than they killed of you. It was simple and effective, and usually saved lives in the long run.

The Second World War, and what the Germans did to England is a case in point. They bombed England mercilessly. We eventually bombed Germany quite thoroughly. We did what they did, but better. Anzio was similar. After taking casualties far bar beyond the norm, we simply decide that the best thing to do would be to annihilate the Germans. No quarter was asked, none was taken, Ditto for the entire campaign from Sicily to Rome. We won – they lost. We became like THEM, and we ended that part of the war, by killing more Germans than they did Allied soldiers.

But somehow that did not resonate for long. We fought to a stalemate in Korea, we actually won in Viet Nam, but let Walter Cronkite announce our loss, and Johnson believe him. The entire American government became like them – the media.

Fast Forward. So we now enter the 8th year of a war or two that could have been won in 1 to 2 years. Our forces have fought gallantly, but are hamstrung by lawyers and do-gooders who would see a rabid dog as a mistreated animal who simply need his or her ears scratched. So many atrocities have been perpetrated against our military, and yet we are told, be nice, no strong action, no shooting until you are certain the man with the AK-47 is an enemy, and for sure no torture, no matter what. We don’t want to be like them. Why not? Being like them may have shortened the war, and more importantly saved American lives.

Now all that philosophy is part and parcel of our entire political gestalt.

We will never be able to save a continent again, because we cannot save ourselves from those who have made us but a shadow of the country who set nations free.


I leave with Dante’s great line “Abandon all Hope ye who enter here…”

Tilting @ Windmills…

I have puzzled over the inordinate number of mind boggling, ineffective, time wasting and naïve activities that are used by folks world wide as they deal with some of the issues facing humankind today

This article represents an exploration of the actions of people when faced with difficult, if not intractable problems. Rather than study the problem, determine its significance, and develop a plan to deal with it until solved, we submit that people do what is easiest, rather than what is best or effective. Faced with real and often horrid worldwide problems, people feel the need to do something even if that something is irrelevant. Thus, for instance, they ride bicycles not for exercise, but to do their part to save the planet. They know not how to save the planet, and feel inadequate to do so. Riding their bikes represents, in their minds, a contributed solution regardless of the fact that no planet will be saved by a cadre of well meaning bicycle riders. I submit that they know this, but do not have the ability, or courage, to participate in real solutions.

Let’s explore a number of examples: The major problems we all face include, but are not limited to, global warming, environmental protection acts, a nuclear Iran, an Arabic Israel, race relations, illegal immigration, sexual orientation, gay marriage, the Taliban, Al Qaeda, terrorism in general, racism, socialists in the White House, the First Amendment to the US Constitution, the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, The Constitution itself, obesity, diabetes, trans-fats, energy, energy independence, a free press, the Fairness Doctrine, a country now trillions in debt, health care services, ACORN, CAIR, and so on and so forth.

Watching many of my fellow citizen deal with any of the above is a bit puzzling. The issues are not puzzling. What is puzzling is the unwillingness to do any small amount of research into the problems prior to taking some sort of action. They ignore the effect, if any, that their actions may have on the alleged problem, to wit none.

It is important to explore why people do what they do when faced with a problem. Some people simply deny there is a problem. Others fixate on the problem and obsess on that problem, but never on a solution. Still others, and I believe these are the majority of people, choose a course of action that makes them feel good, but that does not necessarily address any part of the actual problem. What they do simply makes them feel good, and that’s enough. If they actually understood the severity of the problem, depression, angst, anxiety and a farrago of related actions would ensue. Some would suffer panic attacks.

Let’s explore one ongoing worldwide problem: Iran and the potential that Iran either has or will have a nuclear weapon capability in the near future. Most folks never think about Iran, the “bomb”, or the potential of Iran using the bomb to annihilate one or more of its neighbors. Why not? That’s simple. This group of people believes that there is nothing they can do about Iran, and if anything is to be done, the government, or some government will do it. This is a form of denial not terribly different from what the Germans, French, and Americans did when faced with the fact that the Nazis intended to kill all Jews, Gypsies, and any non-Aryan chosen to be inferior.

Recently tens of thousands, even millions of people participated in a massive Twitter “attack” on Iran. Why Twitter? It was safe, it was easy, it was quick and it allowed many to send militant messages to the Ayatollahs, the Republican Guard, and the police that said, in effect, “Take that”. Having done that, these people inflated their chests, and said “I did my part for the Iranian People. “

Did this have any impact on the government of Iran? No. Did it have any impact on the Obama Administration’s response to the terror in Iran? No. All the millions of messages - “Twitterese” – and comments were nothing more than feel-good moments.

How about an issue closer to home, i.e. environment extremism? We have been told that we are polluting the planet, that all garbage, excuse me, trash, is bad, and that all trash can or would kill something if not encapsulated. So what do we do? We sort, we use numerous different trash vessels, we never throw anything where it should not be thrown. Why not? That is easy to explain. None of us are able to actually impact our planet. The concept of planetary “trash-less-ness” is too big to get our brains around, and is untenable anyway.

Part of that problem may be that except for a few places in the USA, like Harlem in New York, parts of Los Angeles, Detroit, etc. none of us see any devastation, any rot, akin to the extreme pollution we are told exists everywhere. By the same token, few study the issue, or take the time to see if what is detailed in the news about pollution is actually true. Few question the motives of environmental extremists. It is easier to simply sort our trash, recycle, and feel that we are doing our part for the globe. We walk around and tell ourselves that if it were not for our re-cycling, the planet would be going to hell in a bucket! Actually, if none of us ever re-cycled, not a damn thing would happen to the earth.

Many studies have shown that re-cycling actually uses more energy than simply tossing the articles in a land fill. So while John and Mary Recycle throw fewer plastic things in the trash, they increase global warming related to energy consumption. Of course that assumes that we humans actually have any impact on global warming. We do not. (See scientific literature on this subject.)

Regardless of our inaction, of our willingness to accept nonsense from all the prophets of doom, gloom, planetary disaster, human responsibility for everything, we are not doing anything that affects anything. By never questioning authority and never saying the equal of “The emperor has no cloths” we are not different than the person who is an enabler of an alcoholic or a drug abuser. We silently watch and take the easy way out. We recycle, rather than address the issue; we buy silly cars like the Prius rather than question the real issues behind energy, and energy independence. We never wonder why every President since Jimmy Carter has proclaimed energy independence a goal, but none have moved even an inch toward that goal. If we do wonder we never demand an answer. To hedge our bets some still buy a Prius just in case…

We never attack a problem directly because Americans more often than not take the easy way out – there’s that concept again! Rather than ask tough questions, we became politically correct. Rather than challenge activists groups who believe the constitution is an arcane piece of patter that need not be heeded, we gave in, and in the process give up.

When a gay person first said I have the same rights as a heterosexual person relative to marriage, we never said “No you do not.” When the Black Panthers intimidated voters, in Pennsylvania, we never said, “Stop or you will be arrested and thrown in jail.” When Environmentalists in California said the nonexistent Kit Fox is more important than building homes and businesses for citizens, we did not say “No it is not”. When Code Pink said, the Iraq war is illegal; we never said “No it is not.” We never had the courage to tell them that their peace activisms, and the peace activism of others before them, have killed more people than would have been killed in any war. We never told them that in the history of the world, there has never been a lasting peace without a war. We never told them: Deal with it!

When the Obama administration said we must apologize to the world, we never said “No we do not’. In fact, the world should be apologizing to us. When we see Socialism as a Presidential agenda, we never say “Mr. President, this is America. We are a Representative Republic, and prefer to stay that way.” Ditto to all of our representatives who close their eyes to the shenanigans of the Socialist-Communist-Liberal cabal now in power.

Americans do the things they do because they are powerless, or at least feel powerless to do anything meaningful. So they sort trash, add bumper stickers to their cars, never read the news because it is upsetting, and never complain publically because we do not want to be seen as troublemakers.

Sadly, we need millions of troublemakers to save the United States of America, and even more sadly, it may be too late to find them. They have all been labeled Domestic Terrorists, and are in hiding.

ObamaCare - Response to a Liberal

This article represents the response of Stan C., our guest author, to a Liberal acquaintance – The latter a man who has turned so many corners that he has ended up where he began – confused.

Nick, how could you possibly not agree that the process is awful? For openers, the democrats in both the House and the Senate have voted NOT to produce the final legislation on the internet 72 hours before hearing it. What are they afraid of? I hope you remember that Obama categorically stated that he would do this in the name of transparency, and Nancy Pelosi agreed. They have not followed through on this promise on any of the bills they have passed. Max Baucus stated that it would take him 2 weeks to get the bill on line, therefore he voted against doing so. Let him give me the bill and I will have it on line within 24 hours. What a bunch of bullshit! Do you want people who are either lying or have no ability whatsoever to be creating legislation that affects your health?

Have you forgotten how the stimulus package was approved without the legislators having read it? Can you name a major bill passed this year that was published on the web and that citizens as well as members of the House and Senate had an opportunity to read?

Of course just about everyone agrees that some type of reform is needed, but we don't need a government takeover of health insurance. Do you think the government run post office is more efficient than UPS or FEDEX? How long do you think it would take the federal government to bankrupt the 1/6 of our economy represented by health care? Are you not aware of the looming bankruptcy of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security? Can you name a single government owned industry that runs efficiently and in the black? I can't! Why in the world would you want to turn any industry over to the government?

Do you really believe that Obama can cut $500 billion out of Medicare? If so, what is he waiting for? A legislative bill is not required to correct the fraud to which he refers. Why should those of us on Medicare be penalized and have $500 billion in cuts affect our quality of medical insurance? Are you foolish enough to believe that one-half a trillion dollars can be cut from Medicare, and that somewhere between 30,000,000 and 50,000,000 people are added to the health care rolls without any reduction in medical benefits? If so, perhaps you and I should talk about your buying Hubbard Park ( A park in Nick & Stan’s home town) from me for an agreed upon price!

Do you not think the already projected debt of $ 10 trillion dollars over the next 10 years isn't enough? How many more bonds are you willing to sell to China? How much more devalued are you willing to allow the dollar to become, before you say enough?

Thanks to those who voted for Obama and democrats in the House and Senate, the federal government now controls the banking industry, most of the insurance industry, and most of the automobile industry. They are now telling companies how much money their employees can earn? Do you wish to do the same for the health industry?

Do you think the present administration understands economics? Has it passed, or even recommended any legislation that would help the economy? I haven't seen any such legislation! What happened to "You must immediately approve the stimulus package in order to avoid Armageddon, and if you do we promise unemployment will not rise beyond 8%." Have you checked the unemployment numbers lately? And of course, Cap & Trade is a great example of legislation that has the potential to wreck havoc with our economy and cause a significant increase in energy costs? Do you think the energy providers are going to eat the additional costs? You know that they are going to pass them on to the consumers. As of this date it is estimated that at the least, Cap and Trade will add a dollar to each gallon of gasoline purchased by the American consumer. Am I to assume that is just fine with you and your Liberal friends?

Let me get back to health care legislation. Do you think it is fair for that those who have worked hard and have high incomes should be required to pay for others? Is there no limit to how much the government should be allowed to tax?

Obama's statement that the existing legislation does not represent a takeover of health care by the government is a flat out lie. I haven't read the most recent legislation because those that have created it refuse to make it available; but I have read previous versions. Please trust me when I say -- IT IS A TOTAL TAKEOVER OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE INDUSTRY -- private companies will not be allowed to make a move without government approval. The government will determine what kind of procedures is appropriate and how much doctors and hospitals can charge for them.

Speaking of lies, have you noticed how the number of uninsured miraculously dropped from 50,000,000 to 30,000,000 during Obama's prime time speech. Can you explain that? I can! Even the 30,000,000 is inflated. It includes at least 6,000,000 immigrants (mostly illegal). It also includes about 10,000,000 people (mostly young and feeling immortal--Do you remember those days?) who are uninsured by choice. There are millions more who qualify for already existing programs. The real number of uninsured is probably 15,000,000 or less when one considers that many of these are eligible to be treated by existing Medicare and Medicaid programs.. Do we need to destroy the best system in the world to cover them? NO! NO! NO! Just about everyone agrees, so let's simply provide government subsidies for these people to purchase private insurance plans. We don't need a government run plan.

Congress should pass legislation that allows insurance companies to cross state lines. That would create competition. Companies should be required to offer a variety of plans. Insurers are allowed to sell automobile insurance across state lines, why shouldn't they be allowed to do the same with health insurance. With automobile policies one can purchase $500 deductible, $1,000 deductible, etc. One can choose the limits for liability and for collision. Why shouldn't an individual be given the choice of a policy only for catastrophic health problems? Must every health insurance policy cover every doctor's visit? Let the individual choose what is best for that person or family. Requiring health insurance policies to cover doctor's visits and all medications is comparable to having automobile insurance cover oil changes, and battery replacements.

Insurance companies should be required to create a pool for those with pre-existing conditions. Let all companies share the costs of such patients.

Individual citizens should be allowed to purchase insurance plans at the same cost as large corporations. Congress should do what it can to make individuals responsible for their own health care plans. Too many don't care about the costs because they never see them. The return to non-taxable medical accounts would help to stimulate this.

Portability should be required in all plans. Someone who is released from a job should be able to stay with the same plan while searching for a new job. Perhaps the company should be required to provide the same coverage for the released worker that is provided for other employees. This is a point where the government could reimburse the company for added expenses.

Nick, as you can see, I could go on for quite some time, but suffice repeat the some reform is needed, but we don't need to destroy the best medical system in the world, and we certainly don't need to add one more component to "government run."

One point I have not mentioned is the issue of including illegal immigrants in the health care plan. This is really a moot point. There is no doubt in my mind that the administration supported by the House and the Senate will pass an Immigration "Reform" Bill this year or next, and that it will provide a wide open door for moving illegal immigrants to citizenship, and do so in a very expedited way. Therefore more than 12,000,000 additional people will be added to the coverage. What will this do to an already overburdened, government run, inefficient system? The first thought that comes to mind, and it should come to yours also, is that it will make matters worse, and ultimately deny care to millions of people, especially those who are actually citizens.

Finally, if the proposed plan is so good, why has the president required that it not go into effect until 2013—a year AFTER his re-election bid? And if it is so good why have both the House and the Senate chosen to exempt themselves from the requirements of the bill?

I must say that although I appreciate your wanting to view all sides of an issue, I am quite surprised and disappointed that you would take any issue whatsoever with my statement that the present administration is following an awful process and that this is terrible legislation.