Monday, March 11, 2013

Condi Rice has got this so right

The Patriot Movement

by Bob Livingston / Personal Liberty Digest

There is and has been for some time a propaganda war designed to marginalize and demonize the liberty movement and those who advocate for a government that is limited by the Constitution and rule of law.

Last week, that war hit high gear, as it became apparent that rational discussion about the role of government is no longer possible — in Washington or elsewhere.

The hate group I call the Southern Preposterous Lie Center (read about it here, here and here) fired its salvo with its spring non-Intelligence Report, “The Year in Hate & Extremism.” The magazine is yet another regurgitation of the SPLC’s regular quarterly vomit used to divest widows, simpletons and progressives of their wealth so Morris Dees and his socialist partners can live the high life and work from swanky office space in downtown Montgomery, Ala.

In the report, the lie center equates liberty-minded, pro-Constitution conservative and libertarian Americans with the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi skinheads, but it draws no real nexus beyond the bogies inside Mark Potok’s collectivist brain. Potok and the lie center have created a “hate group” designation for these people: Patriots.

He begins one section, under the heading “Once Again, Gun Control Spurs the ‘Patriots,’” with this screed:

Twenty years ago, the passage of the Brady gun control bill helped ignite the first wave of the “Patriot” movement, a combustible mix of gun-toting militias and baseless conspiracy theories about government perfidy that culminated in the 1995 mass murder of 168 people in an Oklahoma City federal building.

One may recall that these “baseless conspiracy theories about government perfidy” include the Federal government’s murder by gunfire and incineration of 83 people — including women and children — living by their own choice in a compound in Waco, Texas; the cold-blooded murder of 14-year-old Sammy Weaver (who was shot in the back by U.S. Marshal Bill Degan and/or other Federal agents) and Vicki Weaver as she held her 10-month-old baby (shot in the head by the criminal FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi, who received a commendation rather than a deserved murder charge); the passage by Congress of the 2^nd Amendment-shredding Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 1994, which outlawed semi-automatic weapons based on cosmetic features alone; and the 1993 attempt to force Americans into a socialist healthcare (deathcare) system dubbed Hillarycare.

Potok then makes a leap to tie displeasure over these instances of true “government perfidy” to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Okla., with strings that have not been proven and that likely do not exist. However, while it is certain that the “government perfidy” did lead to a growth in the number of people who realized that government was getting out of control, it is more than likely that the Oklahoma City bombing was a false flag attack designed to bolster Bill Clinton’s failing Presidency, which was at its lowest point of his two terms. I explained that here. (And there is much more evidence available for those who wish to see it.)

This explanation, which I wrote in 2010, came after Clinton joined a chorus of Democrat progressives and statists and media talking heads (apologies for the redundancy) in comparing supporters of the then-burgeoning Tea Party movement with convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh (and Branch Davidians and Randy Weaver). So you see that Potok is just reviving a tired — but somewhat successful, thanks to the mainstream media government propaganda agents, many of whom turn to the lie center for “news” — message.

And just who does Potok and the lie center name as leaders of this “radical” right “Patriot” movement made up of “racists” and “extremists?” Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.); Representative Trey Radel (R-Fla.), who has said Obama could be impeached for executive actions on gun control; Sheriff Richard Mack; The Oath Keepers (current and former military and law enforcement who have vowed to uphold the oath they swore to the Constitution); former Constitution Party Presidential candidate Chuck Baldwin; Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel Action; Tony Adkins of Conservative-daily.com; Larry Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch and FreedomWatch; the Family Research Council; Joseph Farah of WND.com; Donald Trump; and unnamed lawmakers (but you know who you are) in Arizona, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee who proposed laws that sought to prevent Federal gun control from applying to their States.

On Thursday, Senator John McCain (Senile old fool and supporter of perpetual war-Ariz.) and his trained monkey, Senator Lindsey Graham (Fascist and Liar-S.C.), denigrated Paul and also some of Paul’s allies — with fallacious and specious arguments — over his almost 13-hour filibuster in which he sought a straight answer from President Barack Obama and/or Attorney General Eric Holder about the use of drones to kill Americans. But McCain didn’t stop there. He also took to the Senate floor to take swipes at libertarians and the liberty movement with yet more logical fallacies.

But McCain and Graham are not the first of the establishment Republicans to attempt to marginalize supporters of the Constitution and small government with ad hominems and logical fallacies. Nor is it just the establishment elected class and its propagandists who casually throw around the term “extremist” when talking about the honest, hardworking American business owners; blue- and white-collar workers; veterans; retirees and students who are linked to the liberty movement through the original grassroots local Tea Party groups and libertarian-oriented “Ron Paulites.” Notice that in the comments below articles on this site and others there are those who attempt to smear the Tea Party with baseless ad hominems and comparisons to the Taliban.

Recall that during the 2000 election, then-candidate George W. Bush ran on a platform of “compassionate conservatism.” Compassionate conservatism was, as I said at the time, doublespeak for national socialism or fascism. It was used to imply that conservative principles were somehow not compassionate and that Bush was somehow more high-minded, thinking and compassionate than those who opposed him in the primary.

That Bush was more high-minded, thinking and compassionate was not borne out by history. Bush policies are what accelerated the journey to where we now find ourselves: living in a police state engaged in perpetual war with a bloated, deficit-riddled, ever-growing government and in a time where Senators and Americans who oppose those policies are branded as extremists or potential terrorists. It was opposition to Bush policies at the end of his term that sparked the growth of the Tea Party in the first place.

It’s a sad day indeed when there is a necessity to ask whether our government feels it can label us as terrorists and disregard the Constitution and kill us without due process and when just asking the question gets you branded as an extremist or, worse, a libertarian, a terrorist or a Patriot.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Thomas Payne, John Hancock, John Adams, James Madison, James Monroe, Alexander Hamilton and a host of others were our first patriots. If their idea of government is extreme in the eyes of the SPLC, McCain and Graham, then I’m a part of the “Patriot” movement, too.

I suppose that makes the lie center, McCain, Graham and others of their ilk enemies of freedom and, therefore, extremist enemies of America. Maybe they’ll be featured in the SPLC’s next issue.

Congress blocked Kerry from giving even more jizya to Egypt

From Jihad Watch / Posted by Robert Spencer

The American economy is in the tank, but at least the Obama Administration has its priorities straight: the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt must be shored up at all costs. "Congress blocked Kerry from offering more aid to Egypt," by Julian Pecquet for The Hill, March 9 (thanks to Jerk Chicken):

Secretary of State John Kerry had hoped to offer considerably more aid to Egypt than the $250 million he announced during his trip to Cairo but was blocked by Congress, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said.

“This is not the aid package that the administration wanted to announce,” Royce told The Hill. The administration wanted to release a “larger sum,” but bowed to the wishes of Royce's committee as well as congressional appropriators, he said.

Royce wouldn't say how much Kerry had hoped to announce, but the State Department has been pressing Congress to greenlight $450 million in direct aid since last fall.

“Our approach is not the full-throttle administration approach of delivering all the aid that they wanted to deliver, but rather a measured approach of tying tranches to results as it pertains to the peace treaty with Israel, to cooperation with respect to smuggling [into Gaza] and with respect to economic reforms to guarantee civil rights and the rule of law within Egypt,” he said. “That's the pressure that we're applying.”

Kerry announced the new aid package last Sunday during a stop in Cairo as part of his first trip overseas. The money includes $190 million in budgetary support that's part of the $1 billion in debt relief President Obama pledged in 2011, along with $60 million for an enterprise fund.

The aid, Kerry said, was a “good-faith effort to spur reform and help the Egyptian people at this difficult time.”

The $190 million comes from the $450 million cash transfer the administration proposed last year to give to Egypt to shore up an economy hammered by the Arab Spring. That money would be culled from funds left over from past Egypt appropriations going back to 2006 (the country gets $1.3 billion in military aid and another $250 million in economic aid every year under the terms of the 1978 Camp David accords leading to peace with Israel).

The forme chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), and the chairwoman of the appropriations subpanel on foreign aid, Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), placed a hold on the money out of concern over the Muslim Brotherhood government's democratic credentials and pro-U.S. stance. A Granger staffer said the chairwoman has been in continuous contact with the State Department over the funds and acquiesced to lifting her hold on the $190 million slice that Kerry announced.

Ros-Lehtinen lost her ability to hold the money when Royce succeeded her as chairman in January. She bristled when asked about Kerry's trip this past week.

“I’m glad he’s wrapping up this trip,” she told The Hill, “because every stop he makes he makes more of a promise of financial aid to our so-called allies. And if he doesn’t wrap up this tour soon, we’ll be further bankrupt.”

At the time he offered the aid, Kerry hinted that more money could be coming if Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's government can win Congress over.

“The United States can and wants to do more,” he said. “When Egypt takes the difficult steps to strengthen its economy and build political unity and justice, we will work with our Congress at home on additional support.”

Obama can stick it!

Obama to Jewish Leaders: Stop 'Chest-Beating' over Iran

Newsmax

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President Barack Obama promised a group of Jewish leaders that he would stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons but said he’s refraining from “extra chest-beating” as he pursues a diplomatic solution.

The hour-long meeting with some two dozen American Jewish leaders Thursday was closed to the press, but the Israeli daily Haaretz managed to nevertheless get comments from those who met with the president in advance of his upcoming trip to the Jewish state.

Israel and the United States share the same intelligence on Iran and therefore have a good understanding of how close the Islamic Republic is to having a functioning nuclear weapon, Obama told the leaders. Still, the allies are divided over where to draw the “red line” from which there is no choice but to attack Iran, Obama reportedly said.

Obama also reportedly quoted a Chinese saying attributed to military strategist Sun Tzu, according to Haaretz: “Build a golden bridge for your opponent to retreat upon.”

When one leader told him that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israelis said they wanted more “clarity” concerning the U.S. position on Iran, Obama replied: “But that isn’t because we haven’t been clear,” Haaretz stated.

The president also was adamant in that he was not bringing any kind of a peace plan to unveil on his trip. There would be no surprise policy announcements, White House officials told Haaretz on background. Instead, there will be a wide-ranging discussion on a wide variety of issues: Iran, Syria, the situation in the region, and the Palestinian peace process.”

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Major American Jewish Organizations, told Haaretz the meeting with Obama was a positive one and that he believes the president will have an excellent visit in Israel.

In addition to his meetings with Netanyahu, Obama will hold talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He told the Jewish leaders Thursday that he would emphasize to Abbas that peace remains possible, though very difficult given the current climate in the region.

Pursuing sweeping peace talks now would be premature, given that Israel is still working to form a new government, Obama said. But he added that doesn't preclude him from launching a peace effort in six months or a year, according to the person in attendance, who was not authorized to discuss the gathering publicly and requested anonymity.

The White House has not announced the dates for the president's trip, although Israeli news media have reported he will arrive on March 20. Obama will also make stops in the West Bank town of Ramallah, and Jordan.

The president sought to restart peace talks in 2011, but the effort collapsed within weeks. Palestinians refuse to resume negotiations unless Israel stops building settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Netanyahu says talks should resume without any preconditions, and he has allowed stepped-up construction in the territories since the United Nations moved to recognize a de facto state of Palestine in November.

The White House did not put the meeting with Jewish leaders on the president's public schedule. A White House official later said Obama sought input from the leaders on his trip and underscored that it would be an opportunity for him to speak directly to the Israeli people.

Marc Stanley, chairman of the National Jewish Democratic Council, was among those who attended Thursday's meeting. He said Obama reiterated his "unshakeable support for Israel and explained that his upcoming trip will be focused on discussing with his Israeli counterparts the critical issues facing the Jewish state, including Iran, the peace process and Syria."

While in Israel, Obama is also expected to note that Israelis live in an increasingly dangerous region, given the instability in Syria and the potential nuclear threat from Iran. He'll likely reiterate that all options, including military force, remain on the table for the U.S. when it comes to dealing with Iran, while also touting the impact of strict economic sanctions.

Material from the Associated Press was also used in this story.

Florida Stadium refuses to fly a POW/MIA flag

I was sent this message from a friend...

ROGER DEAN STADIUM refused a POW/MIA flag to be dedicated and flown at the stadium. Tell the individual who is responsible for this tragedy what you think.

And so I did. See my letter below.

To Roger Deam Stadium Management,

There are somethings that should be honored without saying...God, country, family..and our troops, veterans and POW/MIAs.

I have recently heard that your organization has denied a POW/MIA flag to be dedicated and flown at your stadium, a decision that is wrong on so many levels, primary of which is that we in this country enjoy the honor of freedom because of the sacrifices our brave men and women in uniform make to keep us safe and free at home.

A POW/MIA flag is but one small gesture we here at home can do NOT only to remember those lost in action, but also to bring attention to those held in enemy hands. And America still has a prisoner of war in enemy hands that has been held AGAINST HIS WILL since 2009.

Bowe Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban in 2009, and we need to bring attention to his plight so we can get him home, and one small way is by flying the POW/MIA flag at as many venues and places as possible. To be asked to do this one small gesture and have it denied is a slap in the face NOT only to Bowe and his family, but to the families of all those who have lost loved ones fighting for the freedoms we all enjoy.

The decision made by whomever NOT to dedicate and fly this most revered of flags is disgraceful at best, dishonorable to America's true heroes (our men and women in uniform) at worst. I truly hope the management will reconsider its decision and help us NOT only bring Bowe home, but honor those who will NEVER return home by dedicating and flying the POW/MIA flag at your stadium.

Thank you for your consideration,
Diane Sori

Javier Manjarres Launches HISPOLITICA: Join the Conversation

BY: JORGE BONILLA

The Shark Tank is proud to invite you to Hispolitica. Javier envisioned Hispolitica as a place where a legitimate conversation about Hispanics in America can happen…without the narrative filters imposed by mainstream or Hispanic media.

Given how badly both major political parties suck at Hispanic engagement, and the fact that immigration will not always be on the table, now is an opportune time to get the conversation going. Feel free to jump in.

Hi, I’m Javier Manjarres.
I’m proud to announce the re-launch of Hispolitica. Hispolitica brings a balanced journalistic approach to the issues and concerns of Hispanics in light of their increasing influence in the American political process. Hispolitica will provide equal time and space to political personalities across the spectrum whose viewpoints are of interest to Hispanics across the country.

The Hispanic electorate continues to grow, and most political observers believe that this coveted vote is in a state of flux and very much in play for Republicans and Democrats moving forward. Although the immigration reform issue is at the forefront of today’s political debate, trends show that Hispanics assign greater importance to a number of issues other than immigration.

Before we can more effectively engage the Hispanic community, we must understand that first and foremost, Hispanics are primarily concerned with their own economic prosperity and prospects for advancement in our society based on their own efforts, merits and accomplishments.

Unfortunately, both of the major political parties have major short comings as they approach the Hispanic voting bloc. Their actions- or in some instances their inaction- shows that they are both incapable of messaging and winning the trust of the Hispanic community.

On the one hand, we have a political party that refuses to make the distinction between legal and illegal immigration, and actively seeks to bribe hispanics with the prize of U.S citizenship. On the other hand, we have a party that has proven itself of having ineffective messaging and lacks in its efforts to reach out to immigrants.

The diversity of the Hispanic community goes well beyond the stereotypical depiction in the media, specifically by Spanish-language TV networks that cater to a subset of the Hispanic demographic while passing themselves off as representatives of ‘all’ Hispanics. These networks have refused to criticize race-baiting special-interest groups whose agenda is divisive and does not serve the best interests of Hispanics at large.

Earlier generations of Hispanic immigrants were very socially and fiscally conservative in their beliefs, regardless of their political affiliation. Hispanics have always been a people of faith, and have articulated a strong belief in God. Their strong family values are directly correlated to their unwavering dedication to their religious faith.

Hispolitica seeks to provide an alternative viewpoint to those expressed in the mainstream and Hispanic media. We’re looking forward to having this conversation, and thank you for joining us.

Que dios los bendiga

See the video here: http://shark-tank.net/2013/03/10/javier-manjarres-launches-hispolitica-join-the-conversation/

Twitter: @HISPOLITICA #HISPOLITICA Facebook: Hispolitica

Liberal Lies of Inequality, Redistribution, and Class Warfare

By: Daniel J. Mitchell / Townhall Columnist

I’ve spent a lot of time debunking class-warfare tax policy, and I’ve certainly explained ’til I’m blue in the face that big government facilitates a pernicious form of corruption that enriches powerful and well-connected insiders.

But I haven’t spent much time addressing the topic of income inequality, which is connected to those two other issues.

U.S. News & World Report just weighed in on this issue, citing a leftist video designed to build support for redistributionist policies.

Occupy is by now forgotten (if not gone), but the top 1 percent came roaring back into view this week with a viral video that has been seemingly inescapable for anyone on Facebook or Twitter. The slick, graph-heavy animation shows the results of a 2011 study that found not only that Americans vastly underestimate wealth inequality in the U.S. but that current inequality is very far from what most Americans see as ideal.

I contribute to the discussion, making the point that people should focus on the source of inequality.

…some would argue that not all inequality is created equal. According to one expert, the problem is far worse when it’s a function of bad government than when it’s a function of private industry growth. “If you’re a very corrupt, cronyist type economy like Argentina or Mexico, you have a huge degree of income inequality and it’s driven by the fact that the elites control the levers of power,” says Dan Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. Meanwhile, a less-corrupt, high-inequality, but fast-growing economy–Mitchell uses the example of Hong Kong–might be healthier, more stable, and more likely to have a rising tide of growth lifting all boats, even if it’s lifting some boats more than others.

In other words, as long as everyone is benefiting, albeit to different degrees, he says, that’s one key test of whether inequality is “good” or “bad.” …As for the question of where U.S. inequality is coming from, Mitchell says he fears that corporate influence in Washington may be creating inequality of what he might call the Mexican or Argentinian type. That is, he believes that big banks and healthcare companies are skewing the system in their own favor via legislation like Dodd-Frank and healthcare reform.

To get an idea of what I’m talking about, check out this chart comparing economic performance in a nation with capitalism, a nation with cronyism, and a nation with statism.

And since I specifically cited Hong Kong, check out this chart.

And click here to see how Argentina has fared with a system where government picks winners and losers.

The article then follows with a sentence that may be true as a political prediction, but completely misreads the point I was trying to make.

If that’s true–that those at the top are able to entrench their places at the top, at the expense of others–it is reason to angrily hit the share button.

NO!!! What I’m pointing out is that we should repeal laws such as Obamacare that promote cronyism and corruption.

But that’s not the only argument against the leftist argument for redistribution. My former grad school colleague, Steve Horwitz, makes the key argument that it is shoddy to compare changes over time for income quintiles without also measuring income mobility.

And you can click this link to hear what one of my professors from grad school, Don Boudreaux, had to say about the notion that wages have stagnated.

If you want even more, here’s something I wrote on income inequality and here’s a debate I did on income mobility. Even better, here’s what Margaret Thatcher said about these topics.

Op-ed:

Theater of the Absurd...Venezuelan Style

By: Diane Sori

No other way to start off but to cut to the chase...Jesse Jackson is a traitor to America who should have been arrested the moment he stepped off the plane on returning from the freak show of a funeral for Venezuela dictator Hugo Chavez.

Jackson, and I will NOT call him Reverend as he is a disgrace to 'the cloth,' had the audacity to portray one of the most brutal dictators in recent history as 'a hero of the poor, while pushing for the nation’s rapprochement with the United States.'

"How do we measure a great leader? By how he treats the least of these," Jackson said in his eulogy, "Hugo fed the hungry. He lifted the poor. He raised their hopes. He helped them realize their dreams."

I so beg to differ as Hugo Chavez was a narcissistic monster who destroyed a once great nation and her people...whose 14-year socialist rule kind of sounds like what someone else we know wants...but I digress...

Is Jackson totally delusional or what...the man who called President George W. Bush 'El Diablo' (the Devil)...Hugo Chavez is who Jackson feels is a great leader...this strongman who murdered his own people...this is who he is honoring...somebody please arrest this man for shear stupidity and asinine remarks alone if for nothing else.

Also, actor Sean Penn (we need to boycott any and all movies of his), an advocate of Chavez’s administration went to the funeral. And Penn's words, that "...the people of the United States lost a friend it never knew it had. And poor people around the world lost a champion" are truly the words of a delusional traitor NO different than Jesse Jackson.

And the funeral itself was a showcase of the world's most evil people paying homage to a man who needed a six-mile funeral procession, after which his body was placed in the military academy, where it will remain for a week before it’s put on permanent display at The Museum of the Revolution. Hugo Chavez's body will be put on 'display'...does that make you want to gag or what. A brutal dictator, who the nutcase Ahmadinejad (who kissed Chavez's coffin saying 'he will always be part of our hearts'...gag) compared to Jesus is NOT going to be interred like normal people but instead the body will be embalmed, placed in a glass coffin, and displayed in perpetuity...like his fellow communists Lenin, Stalin, and Mao...'displayed' in perpetuity for all to see, revere, and bow down to...I think I'm going to be sick.

And making this totally absurd is that Barack HUSSEIN Obama, who knew better than to attend the funeral himself, still had the audacity to send an official US delegation led by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY who Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ran a story detailing Rep. Meeks's 'longstanding ties to the financier and convicted felon R. Allen Stanford, for whom he allegedly asked a favor from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez'), former Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA), and US Charge d'Affaires James Derham to the funeral.

Simply and without question NO...I repeat NO...US delegation in any official capacity or otherwise had any business being at the funeral of a man who hated everything about America and all we stand for...they had NO business being at the funeral of a man who continuously railed against America, calling the US 'a great global evil'...even as he sold us billions of dollars in oil each year...oil we should NOT have bought as long as Chavez was leading the country.

And least we forget who paid for this little excursion...the flight, the food, the hotels, and I'm sure the huge floral arrangement from Obama and Michele...'We the People' paid for all this so Obama could 'surrogately' pay his respects to a brutal socialist dictator and good buddy...totally sickening isn't it. And worse...where was Obama, Jackson, Penn, and the others when a true American hero, Chris Kyle, was laid to rest...NOWHERE to be found and NOT a peep of condolences out of any of them...but for Chavez there is NOTHING but praise.

And it must NOT be forgotten that a great leader Hugo Chavez was NOT no matter what the likes of Jesse Jackson and Sean Penn say for Hugo Chavez left Venezuela with an annual inflation rate of more than 20% and public debt that quadrupled to more than $100 billion. Also, crime is out of control (especially the murder rate) and Chavez's chaotic management style is the cause of infrastructure breakdowns, particularly in the key oil industry. In fact, under Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's oil wealth underwrote the Castro brothers' communist rule in Cuba, while he repeatedly baited for a confrontation with Washington by sucking up to Russia, Syria, and Iran.

This is the man Barack HUSSEIN Obama sent a US delegation to honor on our nation's behalf...a man who gave new meaning to the words class warfare and redistribution of wealth... a man who NEVER intended to surrender the reigns of power NO matter how many elections were held...this man who made people 'disappear' and who named buildings and roads after himself...this narcissistic individual is who Obama honored with a US presence at the funeral freak show, and he sent them there on our taxpayer dime...grrrrr................

A socialist found a way to honor a fellow socialist and like all his other cover-ups, lies, and deceits, Barack HUSSEIN Obama did it by using others while sitting back in Oval Office with a big stupid 'Up Yours America' smirk on his face...is it too soon to say hurry up 2016...