A friend sent me a list of questions that was originally posted on GlennBeck.com. The list was well done, well thought out, and quite thought provoking…
    But I absolutely hated the way it was organized! It was written ALL IN CAPS, was filled with typos, and some of the questions were a little confusing in their structure.

    So I decided to play editor and this is what I came up with! For the most part the credit totally belongs to Mr. Beck. I have added a few things, because as I was reading, it got me thinking. And I think I’ve come up with a great idea to counter the OWS’ idea of our own American Spring.
    So read on! Or if you’ve already read the list of questions, please click here to check out my concluding thoughts about my own take on the American Spring, and the word that should come next.
    Let’s get to it!

Questions for Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street
   - Who is the Father of OWS?
   - How did this movement start?
   - Who planned this event?
   - Who is paying for the Madison Avenue marketing firm? The color-printed newspapers (e.g. The Occupy Wall Street Journal)? The flyers?
   - What role did SEIU & The Working Families Party play in the planning of this event?
   - Who is Stephen Lerner?
   - Who is Van Jones?
   - What is the Center for American Progress?
   - Who is George Soros?
   - What is his relationship to the Center for American Progress? To OWS?
   - Is he a crony capitalist?
   - Does Soros pay his “fair share”?
   - Is Soros getting rich off of the corrupt system of Wall Street speculation?
   - How does Soros make his money?
   - What do George Soros and the economies of the United Kingdom & Thailand have in common?
   - Soros made $7 billion dollars last year personally through his hedge fund and various investments – is that okay? If yes, why? If no, why?

Our Government
   - What system of government do we currently have?
   - In what ways does our current system of government differ from when it was originally founded?
   - What system of government would you prefer?
   - Can you name other nations throughout history which have used your preferred system of government?
   - What happened to those countries?
   - What can we learn from the experiences of those nations?

The Economy
   Name the specific time in history in which the global economy collapsed (as it seems to be shaping up to do now.)
   - If you cannot, please explain why not?
   - If you were to plan a global economic collapse, how long would it take for this system to be dismantled and the new, “fairer” system to be created?
   - Would there be unintended consequences? Can you detail any potential unintended consequences that could occur?
   - Could people die?
   - If not, why?
   - If yes, estimate how many. How do you justify those deaths?
   - By collapsing the system (Wall Street), and causing economic chaos, how does that make you any different than one of the corporations you are protesting? Wouldn’t destroying the system outright – as opposed to thoughtfully reforming it – cause just as much human pain and suffering?

Fair Share & Corporations
It’s a pretty universally agreed point: people should pay their fair share in taxes. That said, please answer the following:
   - What is that specific number? Please quantify what, exactly, is “fair”. Not just for the wealthy, but for everyone.
   - If it’s not zero, please explain GE – another major corporation – evading so many of their taxes, getting excessive tax breaks, etc.
   - Why wasn’t GE’s CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, on the protest tour of wealthy billionaires’ homes? Are you planning any protests at his home in the future?
   - Do you even know who he is?
   - What about George Soros?
   - Russel Simmons? Who happens, by the way, to be the owner of a debit card company, in addition to other various Wall Street-related enterprises.
   - Kanye West?
   - Are they Wall Street criminals? Are they not involved in evil corporations which are in bed with the government?
   - Can there be good people in an evil corporation? If so, how do you judge good from bad?
   - GE – led by Jeffrey Immelt – pays no income tax. Immelt, their CEO, is on President Obama’s Economic Council. Why not protest GE?
   - Do you object to the ways in which this President has intertwined himself with so many leaders of large business, like GE?
   - Explain any potential conflicts of interest between President Obama, Jeffrey Immelt, and NBC’s ‘Green Week’ initiatives.
   - If there are conflicts in any way, why? And do you object?
   - If President Obama is in bed with, and/or excuses the bad behavior of, large multinational corporations within the system that you believe should be collapsed, shouldn’t President Obama be deemed guilty as well?
   - If no, explain why.
   - If yes, explain why.
   - If yes, compare GE Green Week answer above.

“Capitalism is Destroying America”
Rockefeller, Astor Mellon, and Carnegie are known as “Robber Barons” and would probably be targets of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Given that, answer the following.
   - Who built the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts?
   - Who built MoMA?
   - The New York Public Library?
   - Carnegie Hall?
   - Carnegie Mellon University?
   - The National Gallery of Art?
   - Who began the Smithsonian? Who funds the vast majority of its exhibits?
   - What is the relationship between Rockefeller Center and Columbia University?
   - Does this mean Capitalism helped Columbia University?
   - How did Capitalism help Columbia?
   - Does Capitalism help or hurt Columbia today?
   - If not, how does it continue to operate? How does it even exist at all?
   - If yes, doesn’t that make the majority of their political teachings a teensy bit hypocritical?

The Obama Administration
   - Does your University support this administration and its policies?
   - Did you or those you are with vote or campaign for this President in the past?
   - Are you campaigning for him now?
   - If so, are you betraying your ideals by helping someone who has compromised on important anti-corruption principles and policies?
   - If he has not done all that he promised to do, and in fact betrayed the “hope” and “change” he promised, what stood in his way? Especially during the first two years of his presidency.
   - Could you name specific examples? Specific legislative attempts that were in some way blocked? Again, especially during the first two years, when he had the most power and the most political clout.
   - If Obama truly believed the same things you did, that a collapse was imminent and there were villains on Wall Street about to do those in this country grave harm, why wasn’t Wall Street reform the very first thing on his agenda?
   - Who has received more donations than any other politician in history from large banks & Wall Street firms?
   - Obama claims that he is not in bed with bankers and big corporations. Is he lying?
   - Is Obama justified in not telling the truth if it furthers his or your agenda?
   - What are the conditions under which a leader can lie to you and it be justified or morally acceptable?

Investigations, Justice & Protests
   - Why has the Obama administration not initiated or conducted investigations into the banks, major corporations, Wall Street firms, or individual bankers?
   - Why hasn’t this administration initiated an investigation into the actions of the Federal Reserve?
   - Why hasn’t this administration initiated investigations into Freddie, Fannie, or Sally Mac?
   - Why has no one except Bernie Madoff gone to prison under this or the last administration?
   - Wasn’t the Hope we were looking for – and promised – supposed to come from a President that was different? That was beyond politics? Beyond race, creed, color, or class?
   - Wasn’t the Change that America was looking for an end to Crony Capitalism? An end to the marriage of Big Business and Big Government?
   - Were you wrong about this President during the last election?
   - How are you sure this time?
   - If yes, and if none of the GOP candidates are for whatever reason acceptable to you, wouldn’t it be important for the future of this nation to push for a primary challenger against Obama?
   - Did America learn from its mistake of not demanding a clear declaration of what Hope & Change really meant?
   - Should there have been a clear plan to ensure that this new President remained on course to deliver the “Change” he promised? Should more details have been demanded regarding how he would fulfill your “Hope” for an end of corruption and cronyism?
   - If you do not primary Obama, why not demand such detailed plans now before you agree to give him your vote? Before your campaign for him, if you’re currently doing so?
   - What is Solyndra? What is Light Squared?
   - Do you think those who have designed this event (collapse Wall Street) should have a clear plan to ensure that after the collapse, they will deliver the change you hope for, of an end to corruption and cronyism? Shouldn’t we expect more details before we initiate such a potentially dangerous and catastrophic collapse?
   - Did it discredit the Tea Party movement that it was said to be funded, organized and/or co-opted by those who had direct ties and interests in the Republican Party?
   - Would it taint or hurt Occupy Wall Street if that were the case here, but with those involved in the Democrat Party?
   - If not, why not? What’s the difference?

Social Justice vs. Equal Justice
   - Can Social Justice co-exist with Equal Justice?
   - Is everyone on Wall Street guilty?
   - If not, should everyone on Wall Street be punished for the crimes of the guilty?
   - If not, are your actions to collapse Wall Street punishing those who are innocent?
   - If yes, is that Equal Justice, considering you would be punishing the innocent for the sake of Social Justice?
   - Do you believe in fair trials? A jury of your peers? A chance to face your accusers? Innocent until proven guilty?
   - Should Wall Street bankers:
      - A) Lose their jobs?
      - B) Have all of their wealth taken?
      - C) Go to jail? If yes, how long? If you wish for a judge and jury to decide, why? (If yes, see your previous answer regarding Social Justice vs. Equal Justice.)

Lynch Mobs, Then & Now
   - Do you believe the lynch mobs of the civil rights era were wrong? If yes, why?
   - What is the difference between a lynch mob and what you are being encouraged to do now? (e.g. Congressman Lewis, going to the homes of the wealthy even if children are inside, going against the principle of innocent until proven guilty, using tactics of intimidation, shouting down those with whom you disagree, etc.)

The Police & Criminal Justice
   - Are cops good or bad?
   - Are there good cops and bad cops?
   - If there are both good and bad cops, how do you tell the difference?
   - If you were a good, honest cop, what would you do while performing your duties right now in this situation on Wall Street?
   - If you walked away, as a cop, and allowed the crowd absolute freed to do as it wished no matter what, would you be a hero or a coward?
   - Would damage to private and public property be done if the police should choose to leave? Does that matter?
   - Could innocent people be hurt? Does that matter?
   - If you or anyone in your group answered there are no innocent here, does that matter?
   - If no on above, please check answer for consistency on lynch mobs and jury trials.
   - Define ‘Mob Rule’. Is this good or bad?
   - There are many prisoners that have been wrongfully accused and convicted. It happens the world over, but according to OWS, especially it seems in America. The recent execution in Georgia is merely one example cited by many involved in OWS. In light of this and knowing what we know, what should be done with those who are currently incarcerated?
   - How would you determine who is innocent and who is guilty?
   - Would it matter if a truly guilty prisoner were released?
   - If the criminal justice system is corrupt, how will you assess and fix it?
   - Is it fair to leave the possibly innocent behind bars while that process is going on? (Again, consider your previous answer regarding the truly guilty being released.)

Higher Education
Many of the signs at Occupy Wall Street complain about student loans. Many Americans outside OWS agree that:
    A) Many have stolen from us.
    B) No one should pay such astronomically high costs for a higher education.
Given that, answer the following.
   - Who is responsible for setting the tuition rates for a college education?
   - Who is responsible for the price of that college education rising 8% just last year?
   - How much money is in your University’s endowment fund?
   - Does your University have private savings and/or investments?
   - What are those savings and/or investments used for?
   - Is there nothing that your University can do to lower tuition costs?

Mom & Dad
   - Are you sincerely worried about your parents and what they face as well as what the future holds for you?
   - Have your parents worked hard for their home and what little money they have saved during their lifetime?
   - If you succeed in collapsing Wall Street, who is hurt? Who would be hurt the most?
   - Would your parents be hurt? Your friends’ parents?
   - Union pensions are invested in Wall Street. As is your University endowment. The average American’s retirement is invested in Wall Street (e.g. 401k.) What would happen to those in the event of a collapse of Wall Street?
   - What happens to the lifetime of work by your parents if your actions cause a collapse of the system?
   - Is an absolute collapse worth that much human suffering?
   - Is there perhaps another way that would be less costly and harmful?

Foreign Governments & Outside Influence
   - Do you believe that any government abroad would take advantage of an economic collapse of the United States/?
   - Could such actions by foreign governments have a negative impact on your freedoms?
   - What about your plans to build a new system in its place? Could any actions by foreign governments impact such plans?
   - Do you believe that US troops should be called home?
   - Do you believe our troops are baby killers? Or people like you who were either misguided or used?
   - What happens to those troops overseas if there were an economic collapse?
   - If you don’t pull the troops out before a collapse, would there be a greater or lesser chance of more killing?
   - Do you believe that forces on either side could or would use an economic collapse as an excuse for more killing?
   - Would you have played any role in that possible killing based on your actions here to collapse Wall Street? Would you bear any responsibility?
   - If no, do the ends justify the means?
   - If yes, if the ends justify the means, does that include the death of innocents?
   - If not, why?
   - If yes, explain what makes you different than George W. Bush, who also thought he was right.

Egypt & The Arab Spring
   - How did the Egyptian Revolution turn out?
   - Is it better than what they had?
   - Free, fair and democratic elections were promised to be held by August of this year. What date were they actually held?
   - Who is currently in charge of Egypt?
   - Do you believe in Military Rule?
   - Would you want to live under it here?
   - What would be the difference between the military rule here and in Egypt?
   - The media claims you are the same and are striving for the same ideals as the youth that overturned their oppressive and corrupt system in Egypt. Is that true?
   - If yes, if you wouldn’t want to live under military rule, what responsibility do you have to correct the injustice of their system?
   - If you answer that you do have a responsibility, please explain why.
   - Wasn’t American insertion into global politics what caused the hatred for the West?
   - How do you know that you are fighting on the side of right and not helping those who will develop a repressive regime after the chaos of a collapse?
   - Is Iran a repressive regime?
   - If you answered no to the previous question, please describe what happens to homosexuals in Iran.
   - How are homosexuals & women treated in other Arab nations? Specifically, how does Hamas & the PLO perceive homosexuality & what would they do if they had absolute power?

After the Revolution
   - If those who take power, after the successful Occupy Wall Street collapse, betrayed the revolution and the people by not following the plan (that has not yet been developed), what should the people do?
   - Could they do anything?
   - Would those new leaders step down or would an event like this need to be staged again to force them out?
   - If they didn’t voluntarily step down would you seek to have them arrested?
   - Is violence an option to achieve the goals of revolution?
   - Can you solve violence with violence?
   - Should the people be allowed to have a gun in case those in charge did betray the revolution?
   - If yes, why.
If no, who authorizes the use of force and what force is allowed?
   - Who protects the idea or yet to be formed ideas of the new revolutionary democracy?
   - Who would arrest those who betrayed the revolution if the system has collapsed and the cops were all either fired or jailed?
   - Are jails needed?
   - If yes, who runs the new democratic jails formally known as the prison industrial complex?
   - Assuming there was an immediate citizens police force enacted to replace the corrupt system that we currently have, what system of trial would you engage?
   - Che said, “We don’t need a trial to convict the guilty.” Do you agree?
   - If no, would there be a jury?
   - Who would be the judge?
   - What rules of evidence would there be?
   - Will the people have rights?
   - What are they?
   - Have they been written down anywhere?
   - If no, because you were planning on doing that after the collapse, if the above scenario played out and either your leader betrayed the revolution or an outside force took advantage of the chaos, would you regret that decision?
   - If yes, what are the rights based on?
   - Where do man’s rights come from?
   - If they come from a committee or a specific leader, what’s to stop those leaders from changing your rights and declaring you a traitor to the revolution?
   - Has this ever happened in history?
   - If yes, where?
   - What were the conditions?
   - Were there warning signs?
   - Do any of those signs exist now?

Energy in the New Order
   - Now that the economy has collapsed in America, but has not somehow affected the rest of the world, how can we afford oil? Gasoline? Plastic products?

If you say we cannot afford gasoline and that’s a good thing for the environment, let’s for the sake of argument, agree on that point. Now answer the following.
   - How do we fuel tractors for farming on the scale needed to feed the citizens of the new revolutionary United States and elsewhere?
   - How is said food trucked to stores here in New York if truckers can’t afford fuel?
   - How do your parents get food from the store to their home?
   - Now that the police force has been replaced with a citizen patrol, are your parents safe walking the streets with food in an area after the currency has just collapsed?
   - If one of them were hurt or killed due to a scenario like this, would you be in any way responsible?
   - If they were hurt and couldn’t receive medical treatment in time because the EMS couldn’t afford gas for the ambulance, would you be in any way responsible?
   - How would the hospitals pay doctors and EMS without a currency?
   - Why would doctors and nurses come to work?
   - To ensure they did go to work, who would protect and feed their families while they were at work?
   - How do the doctors afford gas to go to work?
   - What system of electricity is running the hospitals?
   - If oil is no longer affordable, how do we manufacture the plastics products that make modern medicine possible and keep infection rates so low?

Leadership
If you are not planning on your group holding on to power, please answer the following:
   - Who will be in charge? Will it be you? Or the leaders you have not yet chosen?
   - How will you ensure that those who do take power are not currently part of the problem?
   - Who will fund the Universities, health care, K-12 education, the homeless & poor, while a new system is designed to stabilize the population, replace the corrupt system of corporatism, big medicine, big oil, and big farms?
   - Who is in charge of the military and the military industrial complex during this time?

Crony Capitalism
   - Please define crony capitalism.
   - When the government took over General Motors, gave all the banks TARP money, and allowed companies like GE to pay no taxes while making billions & shipping jobs overseas, is that Crony Socialism, Crony Capitalism, or Crony Statism?
   - Is there a difference?
- In all three aforementioned scenarios or titles, what is the problem: the system or the cronyism?
   - What is the best way to end cronyism?
   - Has your approach of collapse and revolution been tried before?
   - If yes, list all examples of attempts, both failed and successful. Or at least list as many as you can.
   - Why did they fail?
   - How did those that failed begin?
   - Who led the way on those failed attempts?
   - How did those who began the revolution fair in the new systems?
   - Who is Thomas Paine?
   - What was his role in the French Revolution?
   - What happened to him?
   - What did he learn about revolutions?
   - How did the French Revolution end?
   - Once the New Order was established, who took power in France?
   - Was that good or bad for the people of France?
   - What does this tell us about the current situation we find ourselves in, here in America?
   - What were the main differences between the French & American revolutions?
   - Why do you think the two turned out so differently?
   - Do you have hostile feelings about these questions? Why?

If you are reading in a group of like-minded, open-minded and educated people – take note – have they provoked any serious discussion? If not, why?
   - If so, did you do everything in your power to get those in Washington to investigate and arrest those who will not “change” and begin to do business in a legal and non-corrupt way?
   - Why didn’t that work?

The Importance of Answers
Please consider all of your answers carefully. After all, if OWS is successful, these questions won’t just be an interesting, thought-provoking thought experiment.
It will be real life, with real consequences, and real lives on the line.
Are you really willing to risk everything in this world without having all the answers yet?

My Concluding Thoughts & Where To Go From Here

    Thank you for reading all of that. After investing all that time & hard work, you’ve earned yourself a reward…

    A delicious cookie!

    Now head out to your nearest privately-owned business, where you will willingly part with currency – a symbol of your time and productivity – in exchange for something you would much rather have. Like a sweet, delicious chocolate chip cookie, created by someone else’s hard work and time so you didn’t have to! You will participate in a willing transaction between yourself and the nice cookie vendor, who happens to be quite skilled at baking cookies and does so in exchange for your currency.

    The nice cookie vendor man provides you a service you willingly pay him for. Something that makes your life easier and your taste buds happy. No one is forced to buy cookies, no one is forced to make them. And if the nice cookie vendor man sucks at making cookies, you’ll eventually willingly decide to go to the other nicer cookie vendor down the street. Time, talent, and materials are allocated to where they’ll be most productive, most valuable, and most desired.
    Thus the world goes round and round according to the decisions of millions upon millions of free individuals, choosing with their own hearts and minds to spend their money – their symbols of time, effort & productivity – as they see fit.
    To buy yummy, yummy cookies.

    That is the beauty of capitalism.

    That is, when it’s not infested with a bunch of nepotism and cronyism.

    So rather than scrapping the whole system with our own version of the Arab Spring, why don’t we focus on a different spring tradition?

We can call it American Spring… Cleaning!

    Let’s call our friendly pest control expert to smoke out the infestation of nepotism and cronyism! Let’s put on our gloves & pull out that feather duster to clean out all the cobwebs of our convoluted tax system! Grab your vacuum to suck up all the decades of old, conflicting, confusing regulations that are hindering our economic growth!
    Pull out that dust mop so we can clean up all the dust bunnies that are hiding under our nation’s proverbial couch (otherwise known as the House & the Senate!) Maybe we could even set up regular cleaning schedules – just for funsies, let’s call ‘em “term limits” – to make sure that no dust bunny stays down there so long that it starts to develop its own ecosystem of corruption and special deals.
You bring the cleaning supplies, I’ll wear the maid costume! Let’s get down and dirty scrubbing out every nook and cranny of our Constitutional Republic!

    Spring Cleaning isn’t about just throwing out the old and bringing in the new, no matter what “new” might be. It’s about cleaning, making fresh what we already have. With all this cleaning, there’s no need to chuck the good out with the bad! Let’s keep the original foundation – our family homestead – intact in its original condition.
    You know, it’s like that whole renew, reuse, recycle thing? New isn’t always better, especially when you don’t even know for sure what “new” is.

    So let’s not be wasteful! There’s no need to throw away the system that made us the Land of Opportunity in the first place.
    Instead, let’s get to work and say hello to our American Spring Cleaning!

Here’s why:

A-to-the-freaking-men.

Now let’s repeal that damn bill.

And yes, I’m serious, I’d love to be able to say “President McCotter” one day. That man is unbelievably awesome.
Not to mention, freakishly funny.

Click here for more of what Thad has to say.

P.s. Hmm, who should be Thad’s VP? Maybe Andrew Klavan? It’d be the shiniest White House ever! Hehe.

I want to take a moment to apologize for up and disappearing on all of you several months ago. I’m afraid that shortly before the Christmas holidays, things got kind of crazy around my house. I found myself having some health problems, and in the midst of doctors and tests and things, I just couldn’t handle politics.

I kept meaning to come on here and write a post, explaining where I was and that I’d be taking a short break. But honestly, I was so mentally loopy from all the pain medication and just being under the weather, that I literally just forgot!! I’m so sorry!

I feel especially bad about all my friends who were concerned about me. I’m so sorry to make you all worry! But thank you to everyone who sent me concerned emails, checking in on me to make sure I wasn’t dead, hehe. Don’t worry, I’m still here!

Despite taking my little siesta from politics, I was kind of snapped back into it with all the drama surrounding the special election in Massachusetts for the late Ted Kennedy’s seat. I’m sure like many of you, I was glued to the news Tuesday night, waiting to see which way the voters of Massachusetts would go.

Let me just say, holy crap, was I ever shocked!! I mean, obviously I had hoped that the tides would turn and people would start to wake up to what the progressives have been doing within the Democratic party, and the effect their policies have been having on our nation after only one year of the Obama administration. But I seriously didn’t think that enough people had woken up yet to really sway an election away from the Democrats in Massachusetts!! It’s Massa-freaking-chusetts!!

But wow, I seriously couldn’t be more proud of my fellow Independents in Massachusetts! I’m not excited about this election because of Scott Brown, or because he’s a Republican – I refuse to put hope in a single candidate, or even a single party.

Rather, I’m thrilled with the outcome of this election because of the Independents of Massachusetts, taking a stand against monarchistic politics, rising up and declaring their independence from anyone’s political machine. Way. To. Go! The news kept making a big deal about how Democrats out-number Republicans something like 3-to-1 in Massachusetts, but what most people need to realize, they’re ALL out-numbered by Independents like me. And that’s what made the difference: independence.

I wish more people in this country would wake up and realize that loyalty to a single party or a single candidate isn’t the answer. Any one person can – and most likely will – let you down. And worse, party loyalty I think is just a tool to drive us apart.

Rather, I think the answer should be loyalty to principles. Loyalty to standards, beliefs, convictions; loyalty to our country, to what it stands for, its history, and how very bright its future could be if we stand by the principles we were founded on and the principles so many of us still believe in today.

But that can’t happen until more of us wake up and realize that our history has been skewed by far too many people with far too many agendas. We need to wake up, we need to familiarize ourselves once again with our own true shared history, and realize the legacy that we’re risking because of our complacency. We simply cannot be the generation that ends the dream of Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison, Jay, Adams, Paine, and all the other brave men and women who risked their lives, honor, and sacred fortunes to give us all freedom, liberty, and the prosperity we have all enjoyed for so very long.

So let’s keep it up! Let’s keep learning, keep educating others, keep rediscovering our principles, and keep fightin’ peacefully – but purposefully – for what we believe in. Massachusetts is just the beginning. We simply cannot stop now!!

I have so much more to say over the coming days. During my little siesta I had lots of time to think and I have a lot of thoughts I’d like to share with you. Particularly some thoughts I had recently about the other side of Alinsky’s influence on Progressives and the Democrat party. After having what I thought was just a friendly political discussion with a liberal friend – which he interpreted to be an argument – I was struck with an interesting thought about the other side of Alinsky’s tactics that I don’t think many people notice. Or at least, they don’t seem to talk about. Meaning, the effect those tactics have on Democrats, on liberals; what it means to them.

But I shall save that for another day, since this is long enough and I have to get some sleep! Congratulations to Scott Brown, but you should know, sir, we’re gonna watch you like a hawk!

But most importantly, congratulations to the people of Massachusetts! Congratulations on your hard-fought, hard-won independence!!

What price is Obama willing to pay for the sake of appeasing the “international community”?

Your freedom of speech, apparently.

Click here to check it out.

Methinks he’s forgetting that the only real way to gain someone’s respect – real respect – is not to cower in front of a bully who will merely abuse you, but rather stand up to them, show real strength of conviction, and stand independent and free. No one will ever truly respect you when they know they can walk all over you. It’s the first thing any woman learns when they finally, truly understand what it means to be in a healthy relationship. You know what? It applies just as much to international relations as it does romantic relations.

The capitulation of our freedoms will never get the “international community” to “like us more” or “respect us more”. It’ll merely give our enemies the tools they need to win the ideological world war we’re currently embroiled in between Islamic extremist dictators and the free world. When someone considers you an Infidel who is absolutely deserving of death, there’s absolutely no way to gain their respect, besides just kneeling and offering them your neck. But that’s hardly a form of respect I think we should be aiming for, do you?

You want to know the real reason why the people – the people – of the Middle East don’t respect America right now? This is a perfect example: we’re partnering with EGYPT to curtail freedom of speech. When you get in bed with dictators, the world doesn’t look at you the same way in the morning. And it’s not good.

This just churns my stomach. On September 8th, for the first time in history (correction: see below), a sitting President is going to deliver a speech to all students in the nation, from pre-K straight through to 12th grade. The White House isn’t giving any details on what exactly Mr. Obama’s speech will involve (see below), but we can at least take a guess based on the teaching guide that was sent out to principals and teachers. Here are a few sample questions that the children are supposed to think about while listening to Barry:

• What is the President trying to tell me?
• What is the President asking me to do?
• What new ideas and actions is the President challenging me to think about?

After the speech, teachers are going to ask students to answer even more questions, such as:

• What do you think the President wants us to do?
• Does the speech make you want to do anything?
• Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us?

Call me crazy, (oh, and I can think of several liberals who will) but I don’t exactly want the Dear Leader asking my children to do anything for him personally. Hey, I have an idea! How about we just keep politics outside of the classroom? Like I always say, I think it’s slightly more important that kids learn to read before they’re schooled in political agendas. But then again, that’s just me.

And of course, I’m getting awfully tired of seeing situations where this sentiment keeps cropping up in my mind, but it’s worth repeating yet again: can you imagine the uproar if President Bush had done something like this? If he’d announced it so suddenly, less than a week before it would happen, and given so few details about the contents of the speech? We all know the furious screams from the left would have dominated every single news broadcast until the White House relented. And you know what? They’d be right!
But where are they now? Yet again, their silence is deafening.

I was looking for a good synopsis of this story, since I heard about this on the news as well. I’ve really got to get some sleep, so I didn’t have much time to search. But it seems Michelle Malkin’s done a pretty good job of summing it up.
Click here to check out ‘No Junior Lobbyist Left Behind’.

It looks like lots of people are planning on conveniently calling their kid in “sick” that day. If I had kids, that’s what I’d do. I’d like to encourage you to do the same. Heck, let’s make a party out of it! Keep ‘em home, talk about freedom, get the family together to read the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, maybe even some of the writings of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and other founding fathers. Sing some patriotic songs, watch ‘1776′, eat a hot dog! If it’s legal in your state, set off some fireworks! Or hey, maybe even do a little service project for our service men and women – let me tell you, they sure love to receive cards and letters of thanks from kids back home. Make it a day of American patriotism they’ll remember!
And maybe, just maybe, if we all do this together, there’ll be record number of sick kids that day. At least, we sure can hope.

09-06-09 – Update & Correction: I wanted to let you all know that I need to issue a correction to a tidbit of information included in this post, and also there’s a bit of an update on this issue.
So, first off, I want to apologize for getting a fact wrong on this issue! I have since found out that two prior presidents have delivered speeches to school children while in office; the first was Ronald Reagan, the second was George H. W. Bush. Apologies for that!! The very first news blurb I saw on this issue didn’t mention that fact, and as I said, when I first posted this I didn’t have much time to do more searching. Shame on me for posting so quickly without doing a thorough enough job vetting the info! I promise to try harder next time.
Now for the updates! The Department of Education has reworded one of the offending questions in the lesson plan having to do with how children can “help the President.” I thought I’d included that in this post, but apparently I neglected to include it. So all’s well there. Although I still think some of the other questions are bothersome as well, and as far as I’ve heard, haven’t been amended.
Lastly, President Obama has finally relented with regard to releasing the content of his speech prior to delivering it to the school kids. I believe it will be released tomorrow. Once I find a link for it, I’ll post it here.
Thanks! And once again, apologies for getting that fact wrong! What can I say? I’m human, and alas, make mistakes. I can promise you, though, that I will try harder in the future!

09-07-09 – Update: Obama released the speech today. Click here to check it out in pdf format. In my opinion, if the White House had simply released this speech in the beginning, without any of the quasi-political lesson plans, there would have been no major controversy at all. Chalk this one up to unbelievably bad planning by the administration and officials at the Department of Education who, frankly, should have known better that releasing lesson plans at all was in violation of the department’s own charter.
Lastly, the folks over at HotAir have some interesting insight into the contents of the speech. Check it out. (Also, if you’d rather not have to deal with a pdf version of the speech, HotAir provides it at that link as well.)

The White House was caught with its hand in the proverbial cookie jar when a brave artist dared to record what was thought to be a private phone conference between devoted Obama followers who had been instrumental in securing Obama’s campaign for the presidency.

Patrick Courrielche, an artist, producer, and contributer to Breitbart’s Big Hollywood, received a series of emails in early August from the National Endowment for the Arts, inviting him to participating in a “brand new discussion” between the NEA, the White House, several political organizations, and several select artists, producers, writers, actors, poets, gallery owners, influential individuals, and “cool people”, to discuss how the art community can best come together in order to “push the President, his administration, and his agenda.”

Yes, you read that right. The White House has directed the National Endowment for the Arts to bring together a coalition of artists and culturally influential individuals in order to produce creative works that will help push the President’s agenda.
I believe the dictionary would define such state-initiated works as “propaganda”.

But it didn’t stop there. Indeed, during the conversation, both the officials from the NEA and the White House specifically requested that the artists focus on several of Obama’s key platform issues, including health care, energy, and the environment. And just in case there’s any question as to the ideology they hoped this artwork would reflect, they specifically mentioned Shepard Fairey’s iconic ‘Hope’ poster and will.i.am’s “Yes We Can” song as examples of what they were hoping the artists could achieve. Yeah, they weren’t exactly hoping for bipartisan messages of patriotism.

Thankfully, when Mr. Courrielche received these emails, something didn’t feel quite right about this whole prospect. So when he joined in on the phone conference, he had his iPhone ready to record the entire conversation. If it hadn’t been for his bravery, this likely would have remained buried.
But the funniest part is, despite having an absolute record of each email and a complete audio recording of the entire conversation, the lead official from the NEA in this project, Yosi Sergant, is actually daring to deny any involvement in the project. But he doesn’t stop there; indeed, he’s trying to deny the project’s very existence. That’s a bit of a stretch, considering the fact that Mr. Sergant’s voice is heard throughout the entire recording, with him going so far as to even voice caution to the participants about being careful with their language, as they’re still ironing out certain legalities. Meaning, they know full well what they’re doing is crossing not only ethical boundaries, but legal ones as well.
Good luck denying all that, Mr. Sergant. You’re gonna need it.

I don’t have much time, as I’m trying to publish three quick posts here before heading off to bed, so I don’t have the best links and resources available for you yet. So please bear with me. But I simply had to post information about this for those of you who may have missed all the hubbub about this today. When I told a friend about this, their first response was, “What? You’ve got to be kidding, this has to be some sort of YouTube hoax, right?” That convinced me I couldn’t wait to post this.

Anyway, the best place to start is probably Mr. Courrielche blog entry that started it all. It’s a bit long, and unfortunately he doesn’t have the audio posted with it, but it’s well worth a read.
Click here to check it out.

As I said, unfortunately Mr. Courrielche hasn’t posted the recording on his blog yet, at least not as far as I’ve been able to find. I did manage to find a YouTube clip of an interview Mr. Courrielche gave to the Glenn Beck program. I know, I’m sorry I’m posting a link to Glenn Beck, I’m sure that will probably offend or upset some of my more moderate readers. Please, put aside your feelings about Mr. Beck, because Mr. Courrielche does a brilliant job of explaining the situation quite concisely. But most importantly, it features audio clips of the actual conversation.

I know there are more audio clips out there from the original recording, since I heard several on the news program where I first heard about this. Again, apologies for not having those ready, I’ve really got to get some sleep. I’ll do some more searching on this tomorrow and post more links as soon as I can.

Word surfaced over this past weekend about a book that’s recently been added to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ list of publications to be distributed to veterans, despite the fact it was deliberately removed several years ago due to material that the leaders of the VA deemed objectionable. Now that we have a new administration in town, apparently even though they haven’t seen fit to fill more than half of the vacant presidential appointments, someone thought it urgent that this book be reinstated. Someone has great priorities.
If you haven’t yet seen the book, you need to read it. Then you might understand why I’m a bit miffed about this.

The book is called ‘Your Life, Your Choices’ – a title which seems strangely apt given the recent debate over government-run health care. While normally such a title should be appealing to me, the content is absolutely disgusting, in my opinion. The reason for my disgust?
It’s an end of life planning counseling book written by Dr. Robert Pearlman, a major proponent of assisted suicide. In fact, Dr. Pearlman has testified repeatedly in multiple court cases wherein he advocated for physician-assisted suicide.
Brilliant. Just who I’d want to get compassionate, sensitive, and humane guidance from about how to make the most out of my life and maintain my dignity, no matter what physical condition I might find myself in.

I have to admit, I was not able to read the entire book. It was just too emotional for me, and I’ll explain why in a minute. But first, I want to give you a sampling of what the book has to offer: a checklist of ways to tell if your life has devolved to the point where you might want to consider that maybe it’s just not worth living anymore. At least, according to Dr. Pearlman.

Click to enlarge

You know what I noticed first? The options. Nowhere is there an option where you can provide an answer that life is more than just “difficult, but acceptable”, but actually valid, enjoyable, dignified, engaging, and valued. That tells you a helluva lot, doesn’t it? What do you think that says to the veteran who’s reading it?

Let me tell you the second thing I noticed. Out of the 18 direct questions, I qualify for at least 11 of them, maybe 12. According to this book, I’d be a more than valid candidate for assisted-suicide. According to them, my life – at best – is “difficult, but acceptable”.

I’m only 24 years old.

Does that mean my life isn’t worth living? Does that mean my life isn’t dignified? Does that mean my life is “difficult, but acceptable”, or “worth living, but just barely”? Does that mean as a human being, I’m not to be valued as much as someone with an able body? Does that mean that I should just roll over and die because life didn’t turn out the way I thought it would?

I’m sorry, but I refuse to see if that way. I find it disgusting and so incredibly offensive that this book doesn’t even begin to recognize the value of every life, able, disabled, or otherwise. I’ve been seriously ill for over half of my life, and yet I’ve been able to contribute in ways most able-bodied people never do. Yet according to the words of this booklet, handed out to veterans by the VA, I rate just barely beyond “acceptable”.

I find this so far beyond deplorable that I don’t have words adequate enough to express my outrage. Some are calling this a “death book.” I certainly wouldn’t go that far or be that trite about it. But I would call it an absolutely appalling example of outright prejudice against the disabled. To devalue any human being should be outrageous to all of us. Because the minute we can devalue someone is the minute we can devalue anyone.

Veterans don’t need to be told that their lives are only barely acceptable if they’ve been injured or suddenly find themselves severely ill. They need to be encouraged, uplifted, loved, and reminded that they can overcome the challenges and obstacles they face, ultimately becoming stronger in ways they may not have previously imagined. I know I have. Sure, life isn’t always easy, but is it ever easy for anyone? Sure, I’ve had to deal with a lot of pain. But I’ve learned and grown as a person because of it. Those veterans can too.
But they won’t, if they’re told by our government that they can’t, that their lives are now worthless, and that they might as well just give up. We can’t devalue them this way, we can’t disrespect their humanity, we can’t just dismiss them. Just like we shouldn’t dismiss anyone with a disability, whether seen or unseen. We’re all human, we’re all born with different abilities, and throughout our lives, those abilities will surely change and transform. But we are all still human and we are all still deserving of the same rights, respect, and validation. How dare the VA even begin to say otherwise.

One final thought; this is how our government is treating our veterans’, how they’re influencing their health care decisions. If that’s how the heroes among us are treated, how would they treat the rest of us if they were in charge of our health care decisions? How much do you want to bet we’d all be reading a book like this one?
Are you willing to bet your life? It is, after all, your life, and your choice. At least, it is for now. I, for one, would like to keep it that way.

If you’d like to download and read the entire booklet, you can read it here on the official Department of Veterans Affairs website. Yup, even though the VA is saying it’s not an official VA document, it’s still available on their website, and the website says otherwise. It says it was created specifically for the VA via a generous grant of your tax dollars. Although it is allegedly under revision, it’s still being handed out in print in its current form to veterans.
And just in case it suddenly disappears, I’ve archived a copy here.

Sitting here in my bed, late at night, checking my email one last time on my laptop before going off to sleep, I was hit by quite a thought.
Remember back during the election, when people started bringing up concerns about Barack Obama’s ties to former Weather Underground leader, Bill Ayers? Remember how they told us we were all terribly silly for calling Bill Ayers a terrorist, despite the fact that he bombed the Pentagon & several police buildings, incited violence across the country, and was responsible for the deaths of multiple innocent people? Remember that?

Oh no, he’s not a terrorist at all! Besides, those activities were years and years ago, practically eons ago! We’re sure in his heart of hearts he’s grown as an individual since then and has fully repented! (Never mind, of course, the fact that he said otherwise, but what would he know? We’re sure he just had a difficult childhood, so it’s not his fault anyway even if he did do those things, right?)

So according to the people who said such things, we were utterly silly fear-mongers for daring to call Bill Ayers a terrorist. But now these same people think they can get away with calling average Americans terrorists, thugs & mobsters, comparing them to Timothy McVeigh, and accusing them of dealing in Nazi paraphernalia, purely because they dare to show up to Town Hall meetings, to ask tough questions of their representatives, and finally voice their passionate frustrations about proposed health care reform and the out of control deficit spending going on in Washington?

Yeah, that’s fair.

Of course, not that we should be surprised anymore by the irony and outright hypocrisy of partisan politics these days, especially when it concerns the likes of Nancy Pelosi.

I saw this on the news last night and just about popped a cork:

Disgusting isn’t it?

As a point of comparison, consider this: the folks over at TheConservatives.com have put together a brilliant post illustrating the many varied differences between the Bush & Obama administrations’ reactions to dissent. Naturally, I’m no fan of President Bush, but the differences in approach are quite illuminating, if a bit disgusting. Click here to check it out.

I have to say, I’m absolutely disgusted with the way the White House, certain members of Congress, and the DNC have been handling the rather raucous reactions certain lawmakers have been getting at town hall meetings back in their districts, especially with regard to health care reform. Rather than react like adults and acknowledge the rights of free speech that make this country great – even if those who are exercising those rights disagree with you – they’re behaving more like spoiled children. Anyone who disagrees with them is met with dirty looks, accusations, and a fair bit of pouting. Obama certainly did bring change to the White House. Unfortunately it’s change in the wrong direction, toward an absolute contempt for dissent. I dare say, I doubt that’s the sort of change most voters were expecting.

But really, shouldn’t most people have known better? After all, Obama was the one who gave this edict to his supporters regarding how they should react should they ever meet someone who dares oppose the Dear Leader: “I want you to talk to ‘em whether they’re independent or they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face!”
Yeah, that’s how an adult calmly carries out a “thoughtful discussion”, the like Robert Gibbs said the orchestrated astroturf protesters were disrupting. But then again, I guess it takes one to know one when it comes to astroturfing. I suppose if you’re a Community Organizer who’s surrounded by fake, generated populist hysteria, you just don’t know how to react when someone’s actually genuine with their concerns about government overstepping its bounds. When everything you do is carefully orchestrated, when every person who asks questions at campaign stops is carefully pre-screened, perhaps you think everyone engages in the same sort of manipulation.

Surprise, surprise. Some of us out here in America actually do care enough about our country to stand up for our beliefs, even if someone isn’t paying us to do so. Myself included. I’m not getting paid a single cent to operate this blog. I don’t even accept ad revenue. And yet here I am, continuing to dedicate my time to voicing my opinions, and spending my own money to do so. And rest assured, if my health would permit me to attend a town hall or two, I’d be there giving a polite earful to my representatives as well.

In short, Mr. Obama, I’m an actual American who doesn’t need a Community Organizer to tell me what to do, what to say, and how to say it. Disagree with me all you like, but don’t you dare dismiss me, insult me, or devalue my right to voice my own opinions.

To the rest of you who are able to attend town halls with your representatives, please remember to be cordial, respectful, and polite, while of course being forceful, sincere, and honest. I realize these issues are important to us, I realize things are getting heated, but we don’t need to shout, we don’t need to scream, and we don’t need to behave like an angry mob. Leave those tactics to Acorn, because quite frankly, such tactics are beneath us. Let’s act like the adults that we are, not like the sniveling spoiled children in Washington.

I think I’m going to start some kind of new theme on this site with videos that I’ll tag as “Watch & Share”. These videos will in some way perfectly encapsulate a specific aspect of the healthcare “reform” debate and do so in an efficient, concise, and engaging way. My hope is that these videos will both educate and inspire you, so that you can then forward them to your friends and family, thereby educating as many people as possible about the true nature of the “reforms” Obama & the Democrats are currently trying to rush through Congress.

The first such video comes from VerumSerum.com, and I first heard about it thanks to the folks at No Sheeples Here (love the blog name!). It does a brilliant job of using the words of Obama himself, along with Democrat Representative Jan Schakowsky and Yale professor Dr. Jacob Hacker, to explain exactly what their proposed “public option” would really do to the health insurance market. Meaning – in their own words, mind you – it’s merely a trojan-horse system that will ultimately lead to single-payer government-run health insurance. Don’t want to take it from me? Take it from them.

Please, watch this video and share it with everyone you know. We need to find out what’s really inside this trojan horse of a plan, before we open up the doors and bring it into our lives. As every country that currently employs single-payer health coverage will tell you, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of once it’s implemented. Yeah, you heard me right: nearly every nation with a single-payer government-run system has – and still is – trying to get rid of it, but to no avail. Yup, even Sweden & the UK! The last time I was in the UK there was a huge effort in Parliament to get rid of the National Health Service. But of course, it failed, since the NHS is the largest employer in the nation, and as such, provides a massive voting bloc.
Do we really want to let this trojan horse into our lives without really understanding the true intentions behind it? Listen to the words of the Democrats themselves, the words they uttered when they thought only their allies were listening. Only then will you be able to hear their true intentions, and only then will you understand precisely what they mean by “reform”.

Please keep an eye out for future ‘Watch & Share’ videos. I’ll post them here, on Twitter, and I’ll add them to a special ‘Watch & Share’ playlist on my YouTube account. And of course, if you’d like to recommend any videos, please feel free to post a comment on the blog or email them to me at NoWayNObama AT gmail DOT com (just replace the “AT” and the “DOT” with the appropriate symbol and punctuation, thanks!)
Rest assured, we can still stop the government from taking over our right to make our own healthcare decisions. We’ve delivered crushing blows to the Democrats’ attempts already, by forcing them to delay votes past the August recess. But the fight is far from over. There’s still so much to do and there are still so many people left to educate, we simply can’t stop now.