Well Said

"Meaning of the crowd: An enormous upheaval in the emotions of average Americans is coursing through the country..."

~ Hugh Hewitt

"Seventy percent of Americans know they've been conned" is the telling title of Hugh Hewitt's Washington Examiner August 29 post. It gives a blunt and powerful recounting of the many reasons why 70% of Americans are fed up enough with the federal government to overrun the Washington D.C. mall at Saturday's rally.

Credit: AirPhotosLIVE.com

It's amusing to watch MSM struggling to downplay and belittle the significance of Glenn Beck's event. The sourest of media grapes won't neutralize voter wrath before November 2. It's time for the majority political party to get ready for some real change--that American citizens, not Beltway elites and their media cronies, can believe in.

Election Day Countdown:

64 days to the 2010 mid-term elections

798 days to the 2012 presidential election

The Right to Do Wrong

Most Americans are familiar with the First Amendment. Not all Americans realize that the First Amendment has nothing to do with the proposed mosque at Ground Zero. Some prominent players in the debate are using “freedom of religion” as a straw man argument to demonize all Americans who stand for honor, decency, and respect for the dead, murdered in an act of war.

Common sense, which is increasingly rare, tells me that nothing intrusive or controversial should be built anywhere near the site of Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers once stood. That means no church, no temple, no synagogue—and no mosque. Ground Zero is a sacred site, as worthy of national reverence as the Pearl Harbor or Gettysburg memorials.

In fact, Gettysburg had its own issue with inappropriate construction. A politically neutral observation tower opened in 1974, to provide aerial views of the battlefield. After a long legal fight in which area residents, historians, and many other Americans across the country protested this desecration, the tower was demolished in 2000.

Gettysburg is hallowed ground, a place where ten of thousands of American soldiers died in battle nearly 150 years ago. It is, quite rightly, federally protected land. A mere nine years ago, at the World Trade Center, a murderous enemy that remains openly dedicated to our total destruction slaughtered nearly three thousand innocent civilians. If they could speak, I would not be surprised if the combatants who died at Gettysburg would say that the land at Ground Zero is equally as holy in American history as their own blood-soaked battlefield.

Memo to Imam Rauf and all his endorsers, especially those in media and politics: Just because someone has the right to do something does not mean it is the right thing to do. Most Americans still understand that. It’s beyond pitiful that so many of our so-called “leaders” do not.

KeepAmericaSafe.com: WE REMEMBER

An Intolerable Situation

I didn't know that remains of 9/11 victims are still being recovered in the vicinity of the destroyed World Trade Center. This fact renders me so breathtakingly outraged over the disgusting mosque flap that I'll let Andy McCarthy do the talking for me, in this link.

McCarthy wrote another piece, "The Tolerant Pose," linked here. It's long, but concerned Americans won't notice. It's well worth your time to read every word. Be prepared to be thoroughly disturbed. But knowledge is power, and we need to stay educated about what we as a people are up against--from our government as well as our international enemies.

Election Day countdown:

77 days to the 2010 mid-term elections

811 days to the 2012 presidential election

A Defining Problem

Ol-i-gar-chy\ 1: government by the few 2: a government in which a small group exercises control, esp. for corrupt and selfish purposes; also: a group exercising such control 3: an organization under oligarchic control

~ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (2003)

This is the troubled crossroads the U.S.A. has reached. It's not a pretty sight. Let's take a quick look at the current distressing status:

• We have had "Obamacare" rammed down our collective throats by the president and a left-wing legislature. Over 70% of Missouri voters repudiated mandatory health care this week. When asked what the vote meant, the president's spokesman replied "Nothing."
• The state of Arizona is being sued by the Justice Department for trying to protect its people, a job that representatives of the federal government are sworn to do; but although it is the first duty of a government to protect its citizens, they steadfastly refuse to do it.
• For the second time, judicial activism in California has overruled the majority of voters on the citizen's right to define marriage within the state.
• The Department of Homeland Security has issued memos addressing how to circumvent Congress, and the entire legislative process on which our nation is founded, in order to legalize illegal immigrants.
• New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission cleared the way for construction of a mosque at Ground Zero of the 9/11/01 attacks over the majority opinion of New York voters.

According to the Rasmussen poll, the vast majority of Americans (86%) believe that the powers of the federal government should be restricted. The majority of those governing (54%) feel quite differently. That leaves us overruled, discounted, and working for the people we pay to work for us. They will tell us how it's going to go down, and we will learn to live with it.

This is the bad news. We, the citizens of the United States of America, are now the unwilling subjects of a small, arrogant, and disinterested ruling class. Currently, we as a people are held captive to the whims of these radical tyrants.

Now, a bit of good news. It is doubtful that the overbearing oligarchy that calls itself our government will be efficient or organized enough to actually abolish the right to vote before November 2, 2010. That's just 84 days away. One can only guess how many jet-setting vacations our royal elites will want to schedule with our disappearing tax dollars in that short span of time.

So, fellow citizens, evaluate your candidates and read your ballots with a keen eye, and prepare to vote with some discernment this coming Election Day. If we are not careful this time, it may be one of our last "free" elections.

Oh, one last item:

820 days to the 2012 election!

The Foxhole Question

He may have no faith, but the man certainly has talent. Christopher Hitchens' Vanity Fair piece, "Topic of Cancer," addresses the personal disaster of the disease with articulate description, wry humor, and his incomparable style. Famous as much for his strident atheism as his elegant writing, Hitchens deals with the prospect of a slow, painful death with an impressive practicality and matter-of-fact courage.

As Hitchens faces his own mortality and journeys through his sad illness, the old question springs to mind: Are there any atheists in foxholes? It's a hard question to ask, and an even harder one to answer.

In the end, probably he will be the only one who knows the answer. A foxhole is a lonely place.

The Heart of the Matter

"There is no separating our national security and our economic prosperity — they are interdependent."

~ Andrew C. McCarthy

Almost forgotten in the angst over such political hot potatoes as unemployment, the deficit, illegal immigration, and the healthcare debacle is the root cause of danger to the survival of the United States. What Andrew C. McCarthy calls "civilizational jihad" has been waged against us for 31 years, beginning with the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979.

In his NRO article, "It's About Sharia," McCarthy shines some much-needed light back onto this powerful danger. Just because it's not on the front page of the newspapers anymore doesn't mean the threat has gone away. In fact, it is perhaps a more perilous time now for our country, distracted as we are by the many controversies swirling within our government. Now is not the time to forget we are at war nor to discount the single-minded focus of the enemy.

Andrew C. McCarthy successfully prosecuted the terrorists responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He has rarely changed the subject since. McCarthy understands that, despite all of our current national problems, nothing is more crucial than turning back the Islamists.

Wise Words

"It is tempting to protect yourself from the personal or professional costs of
loss by limiting how much you commit, how much of belief and trust in people,
and how deeply you care. Caution and cynicism are safe, but soldiers don't want
to follow cautious cynics. They follow leaders who believe enough to risk
failure or disappointment for a worthy cause.

If I had it to do over again, I'd do some things in my career differently but not many. I believed in people, and I still believe in them. I trusted and I still trust. I cared and I still care. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Winston Churchill said we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. To the young leaders of today and tomorrow, it's a great life."

~ Gen. Stanley McChrystal

Farewell to the troops

July 2010

An Oscar Well Earned

I used to think that Jeff Bridges was underestimated as an actor, so I was pleased when he won the Academy Award for "Crazy Heart." Now that I've seen the movie, I'm even happier about his well-earned Oscar.

Bridges makes the tragic figure of Bad Blake his own as he journeys through the wreckage of past mistakes and their bitter consequences. Blake is a miserable, washed-up alcoholic singer-songwriter, remarkably talented but so enslaved by his addiction that he's trapped himself in a destructive downward spiral. Once a superstar of country music, he's been reduced to playing gigs at bowling alleys and bars in remote locations.

While country music is not my favorite form, I could listen to the "Crazy Heart" soundtrack every day. In fact, a couple of the movie's songs have found a home in my i-Pod.

Bad Blake's painful struggle to reach the hopefulness and promise of the final scenes is the soul of "Crazy Heart," and Jeff Bridges brings it to vivid life at all stages. Robert Duvall, who liked the book so much he was one of the film's producers, plays a memorable supporting role with his customary star power. Scott Cooper, who wrote the screenplay from Thomas Cobb's novel, directs with heart and grit.

After seeing "Crazy Heart," no one will ever underestimate Jeff Bridges. I love happy endings!

Enough to Ruin Summer

Six Months to Go Until
The Largest Tax Hikes in History

Read more: http://atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest-tax-hikes-a5171##ixzz0tcwgCddr

846 days to the 2012 election!