Obama and the Sunday Talkies [Benjamin Zycher]

I see that President Obama is going to be featured on four or five (!) of the Sunday talk shows this weekend. It is simply unbelievable to me that none of the political experts in the White House has told or convinced the president that more yakking on his part on health care or anything else would be counterproductive, and that this is the time for him to sit back and be presidential, while the crass politicians in Congress fight things out.

But . . . no. Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, ACORN's gotta engage in fraud, and Obama's gotta talk. It's really that simple; and it is amazing, given how little this guy actually knows about economics, about foreign affairs, about, well, just about anything. This reminds me of a footnote, minor but revealing, from the 2004 Democratic National Convention, at which Obama was the keynote speaker. His rhetoric, as usual, was as empty as a dry well, even as it drew the crowd to its feet time and again. Obama was reported, after the speech and the thunderous reception that it received, to have said to someone, "You know, I can play in this league."

And so there we have it: Obama really believes at his core that empty rhetoric is the same as substance and judgement. I have to believe that it was then that he began to view himself as presidential timber. A small bit of vanity for a man; a giant looming danger for America and the cause of liberty.

— Benjamin Zycher is a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute.

AMERICANS REPUDIATE DEMOCRATS' HATEFUL STRATEGY

September 16, 2009 Posted by John Hinderaker, Powerline

As I've noted several times in recent days, the Democrats' strategy of trying to pass Obamacare by smearing its opponents as "racists" rather than by debating the plan's alleged benefits would be politically inept, even if it were not immoral. Confirmation comes from today's Rasmussen survey, which finds that only 12 percent of Americans agree with the Democrats' claim that "most opponents of President Obama's health care reform plan are racist." Even among Democrats, that absurd view is not widely held.

In that 12 percent, we have identified the hard core of President Obama's support--those who, if the Obama administration said the moon is made of green cheese, would believe it. Or pretend to, anyway. We can call these people the Andrew Sullivan wing of the Democratic Party. Fortunately, that group is very small. Watch for it to dwindle further as the months go by.

CNN Making it up as usual...

September 13, 2009 Posted by Paul at 10:51 AM

(Paul Mirengoff, Powerlineblog.com )

Yesterday, CNN reported that at the Tea Party protest in Washington DC, Nazi imagery and a poster of President Obama as an African witch doctor were popular images. A friend and former law firm colleague who spent hours at the protest says this isn't true. He tells me: "I saw a couple of signs out of thousands that said 'Hitler gave good speeches too' and a few of the Obama zombie like images that have been around the internet." But CNN is "simply making [it] up" when it claims that Nazi imagery and a post of Obama as a witch doctor were popular images at the protest.

Here is the rest of my friend's report:

It was a very civil crowd, and a very large one. We probably talked with 100 people, plus or minus. From all over the country. I recall talking with folks from California, Oregon, Montana, Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Maine, North Carolina, South Carolina, Connecticut, and New Jersey, not to mention assorted "locals" from Virginia, Maryland, and DC.

There were many, many signs, and I'd say that 95% + were hand made. The slogans ran the gamut, but most were on the general theme of spending and government intervention is out of control, we can't afford it, we're scared by where Obama is trying to take the country, and the like. Certainly, there were also signs against abortion, for gun ownership, and assorted signs about support for the military (we didn't fight WW2 for "socialism"), but the proportion on the issue of big government out of control was very high, on the order of 90% or close to it I'd venture.

It was interesting talking with the wide variety of people there. Quite a few came as part of groups, but we encountered more who had come on their own -- driving from California or Michigan or Texas, not to mention closer by. There were no production line signs or masses of folks in identical tee shirts. And we found that the people we met were generally well educated and articulate, and they had been paying attention to the issues. They weren't just there to shout slogans (although if prompted by speakers many of them would from time to time). They cared deeply about what they perceive as a sudden and dramatic lurch to the far left, an across the board and very aggressive move by the administration to seize and centralize more power than ever before in Washington and to make Americans more dependent than ever before on the federal government. It was clear many there had been very concerned about spending under Bush, and were now alarmed all the more.

Quite a few of the signs were about health care, and "reading the bill." Several folks remarked -- and a few signs hit this point -- how incensed they were that their elected representatives had not bothered to read the legislation, and were shown to be flat wrong in their general statements about it when read passages of the actual bill in town hall meetings. These folks were watching, and it's easy to see why so many Senators and Representatives chose to duck instead of engaging the issues with their constituents.

One other phenomenon: Joe Wilson was a hero today. Not I think, that the crowd generally approved of intemperate outbursts (I don't, and Wilson himself said the same in apologizing for his shout), but there is clearly very widespread sentiment to the effect that the President and his administration have not been candid with the public, especially about the health care legislation. So, there were numerous "thank you Joe Wilson" signs.

It should not be necessary to say this, but given a particularly partisan segment I just watched on CNN, I will: There was not a trace of "race" in all of this. It was all about the substantive issues. And, although the race card is now shamefully being played more and more aggressively by many speaking for the administration, it's ludicrous when you think about it. Would people be less concerned if Hillary were in office and moving forcefully to take over the health care industry even before the auto and financial sectors are fully digested? Or, marching on DC to protest if a Michael Steele sort were in the oval office implementing conservative policies? Of course not.

I'm very glad we went. We did not return thinking naively that these "tea parties" will lead to a sea change in the balance of political power, but it is heartening to see that many Americans are watching and willing to say out loud that they do not like what they see. Many remarked that the 2010 elections will be very important. We consistently advised people they had better start working for their candidates right now, and hope that the "ground game" of the opposition will be a lot better than it was in the lackluster McCain campaign. (Also, many signs reflected concern about and disdain for ACORN, which is hardly surprising given this week's news about that organization's characteristics.)

Obama, the Mortal

By Charles Krauthammer

Washington Post, Friday, September 4, 2009

What happened to President Obama? His wax wings having melted, he is the man who fell to earth. What happened to bring his popularity down further than that of any new president in polling history save Gerald Ford (post-Nixon pardon)?

The conventional wisdom is that Obama made a tactical mistake by farming out his agenda to Congress and allowing himself to be pulled left by the doctrinaire liberals of the Democratic congressional leadership. But the idea of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi pulling Obama left is quite ridiculous. Where do you think he came from, this friend of Chávista ex-terrorist William Ayers, of PLO apologist Rashid Khalidi, of racialist inciter Jeremiah Wright?

But forget the character witnesses. Just look at Obama's behavior as president, beginning with his first address to Congress. Unbidden, unforced and unpushed by the congressional leadership, Obama gave his most deeply felt vision of America, delivering the boldest social democratic manifesto ever issued by a U.S. president. In American politics, you can't get more left than that speech and still be on the playing field.

In a center-right country, that was problem enough. Obama then compounded it by vastly misreading his mandate. He assumed it was personal. This, after winning by a mere seven points in a year of true economic catastrophe, of an extraordinarily unpopular Republican incumbent, and of a politically weak and unsteady opponent. Nonetheless, Obama imagined that, as Fouad Ajami so brilliantly observed, he had won the kind of banana-republic plebiscite that grants caudillo-like authority to remake everything in one's own image.

Accordingly, Obama unveiled his plans for a grand makeover of the American system, animating that vision by enacting measure after measure that greatly enlarged state power, government spending and national debt. Not surprisingly, these measures engendered powerful popular skepticism that burst into tea-party town-hall resistance.

Obama's reaction to that resistance made things worse. Obama fancies himself tribune of the people, spokesman for the grass roots, harbinger of a new kind of politics from below that would upset the established lobbyist special-interest order of Washington. Yet faced with protests from a real grass-roots movement, his party and his supporters called it a mob -- misinformed, misled, irrational, angry, unhinged, bordering on racist. All this while the administration was cutting backroom deals with every manner of special interest -- from drug companies to auto unions to doctors -- in which favors worth billions were quietly and opaquely exchanged.

"Get out of the way" and "don't do a lot of talking," the great bipartisan scolded opponents whom he blamed for creating the "mess" from which he is merely trying to save us. If only they could see. So with boundless confidence in his own persuasiveness, Obama undertook a summer campaign to enlighten the masses by addressing substantive objections to his reforms.

Things got worse still. With answers so slippery and implausible and, well, fishy, he began jeopardizing the most fundamental asset of any new president -- trust. You can't say that the system is totally broken and in need of radical reconstruction, but nothing will change for you; that Medicare is bankrupting the country, but $500 billion in cuts will have no effect on care; that you will expand coverage while reducing deficits -- and not inspire incredulity and mistrust. When ordinary citizens understand they are being played for fools, they bristle.

After a disastrous summer -- mistaking his mandate, believing his press, centralizing power, governing left, disdaining citizens for (of all things) organizing -- Obama is in trouble.

Let's be clear: This is a fall, not a collapse. He's not been repudiated or even defeated. He will likely regroup and pass some version of health insurance reform that will restore some of his clout and popularity.

But what has occurred -- irreversibly -- is this: He's become ordinary. The spell is broken. The charismatic conjurer of 2008 has shed his magic. He's regressed to the mean, tellingly expressed in poll numbers hovering at 50 percent.

For a man who only recently bred a cult, ordinariness is a great burden, and for his acolytes, a crushing disappointment. Obama has become a politician like others. And like other flailing presidents, he will try to salvage a cherished reform -- and his own standing -- with yet another prime-time speech.

But for the first time since election night in Grant Park, he will appear in the most unfamiliar of guises -- mere mortal, a treacherous transformation to which a man of Obama's supreme self-regard may never adapt.

Charles Krauthammer

A history lesson.... from Mike Walker

All, Just so we do not lose sight of dynamics that led to this war here is a bit of a contrarian view. On this date seventy years ago approximately 60 Nazi divisions stormed across the border of Poland. They did so with the assurance of the Communist regime in Russia who had signed a non-aggression pact with the Nazi's a few weeks earlier. What has never been consistently reported were secret sections of the pact in which the Nazi's were to be given a free hand in taking western and most of central Poland and the Communist Russians were to be given eastern Poland as well as the three Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Thus on 17 September 1939 about 33 Communist Russian divisions reinforced the 60 Nazi divisions by attacking Poland in the east in accordance with the Nazi-Soviet pact. This Soviet treachery has always been downplayed in West. During the war it was brushed aside as by 1941, the year the United States entered the conflict, the Communists and the Nazis were at war with each other making the Soviets our de facto ally. After the war the truth of the events in the Summer of 1939 were drowned out in Cold War rhetoric. Yet, with both those events now in the past, it can be said with a great degree of certainly that had Communist Russia not allied themselves politically and militarily with the Nazis in 1939, a war in Europe would never have begun seventy years ago today. The point is that Hitler could not have done it on his own contrary to what many believe. He needed the support of Russia before he could engulf the world in war. Perhaps it is tragically just that the two nations responsible for the war in Europe suffered the greatest for their villany. Semper Fi, Mike

John Hinderaker, Powerline

Going on vacation hasn't helped Barack Obama's standing with the American people. Among likely voters, his standing continues to slide: 41 percent strongly disapprove of his job performance, while overall, voters disapprove by a 53-46 percent margin, the worst of Obama's term. This is, obviously, the reason why Democrats have become increasingly shrill.

Here is a fun statistic: a pitiful 29 percent of voters think that Congress knows what it's doing when it comes to the economy. The voters are right; the Democratic majority is astonishingly ignorant, not only of economic theory but of basic realities of our business world. The average citizen could do much better. It's about time to turn the rascals out.

Artwork jitcrunch

From Mike Walker, Col. USMC (retired)

Attorney General Eric Holder is not seeking to prosecute the brave and loyal officers of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), for that gives the process far too much of an air of legitimacy. Attorney General Eric Holder is persecuting them, an act that is both improper and despicable. These are harsh words but are befitting of this harsh act for it reeks of abuse of power and authority at the highest level of government.

This smells from head to toe of a politically driven prosecution, a bribe to the anti-war left. They couldn’t get an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. They failed in their attack to defame our military leaders (Recall the sweetheart deal the NY Times gave these folks to run the “General Petraeus or General betray us?” advertisement). So now they will get their political pound of flesh by wrongfully persecuting hard working CIA officers.

And whom exactly does Eric Holder see as criminals? Well, we actually see quite a wicked weave. On the one hand we see a man obsessed with a manufactured case targeting some of best and most courageous in the CIA. On the other hand we see him as the champion, the legal lion who zealously pursued and obtained a presidential pardon for Marc Rich. And who is Marc Rich? Where to begin?

He is, as his name implies, very rich. Rudolph Giuliani indicted him for criminal business dealings. He illegally traded Iranian oil for huge personal profit. You know Iran, the country that is pursuing nuclear weapons with the help of North Korea, has sworn to wipe Israel off the map, and killed its own citizens protesting a stolen election. Marc Rich also made a lot of money trading with Saddam’s Iraq during the oil-for-food scandal (the largest financial scandal in history) and White Apartheid South Africa. As one Australian news report put it, Marc Rich and his company had a “history of busting UN embargoes to profit from corrupt or despotic regimes.”

As the record shows, Eric Holder is too often the lowest sort of political animal. He will support the worse amongst us in the past and now will make criminals out of decent men and women. Shame on him and shame on all of us if we let him get away with it.

If ever there was a man who has lost his moral compass in a matter of great national importance, that man is Attorney General Eric Holder in his pursuit of a partisan political agenda directed against the CIA. Al Qaeda must be cheering from their tunnels.

Ten for Tark

Follow this link and support Harry Reid's early retirement enabled by Danny Tarkanian...

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/08/024373.php

I personally feel much better after sending my "Ten for Tark". BTW, Tark just recently announced his intention to run for Reid's senate seat and already is leading the polls 49 to 38...

We've Figured Him Out

By Ben Stein

Why is President Barack Obama in such a hurry to get his socialized medicine bill passed?

Because he and his cunning circle realize some basic truths:

The American people in their unimaginable kindness and trust voted for a pig in a poke in 2008. They wanted so much to believe Barack Obama was somehow better and different from other ultra-leftists that they simply took him on faith.

They ignored his anti-white writings in his books. They ignored his quiet acceptance of hysterical anti-American diatribes by his minister, Jeremiah Wright.

They ignored his refusal to explain years at a time of his life as a student. They ignored his ultra-left record as a "community organizer," Illinois state legislator, and Senator.

The American people ignored his total zero of an academic record as a student and teacher, his complete lack of scholarship when he was being touted as a scholar.

Now, the American people are starting to wake up to the truth. Barack Obama is a super likeable super leftist, not a fan of this country, way, way too cozy with the terrorist leaders in the Middle East, way beyond naïveté, all the way into active destruction of our interests and our allies and our future.

The American people have already awakened to the truth that the stimulus bill -- a great idea in theory -- was really an immense bribe to Democrat interest groups, and in no way an effort to help all Americans.

Now, Americans are waking up to the truth that ObamaCare basically means that every time you are sick or injured, you will have a clerk from the Department of Motor Vehicles telling your doctor what he can and cannot do.

The American people already know that Mr. Obama's plan to lower health costs while expanding coverage and bureaucracy is a myth, a promise of something that never was and never will be -- a bureaucracy lowering costs in a free society. Either the costs go up or the free society goe s away.

These are perilous times. Mrs. Hillary Clinton, our Secretary of State, has given Iran the go-ahead to have nuclear weapons, an unqualified betrayal of the nation...

Now, we face a devastating loss of freedom at home in health care. It will be joined by controls on our lives to "protect us" from global warming, itself largely a fraud if believed to be caused by man.

Mr. Obama knows Americans are getting wise and will stop him if he delays at all in taking away our freedoms.

There is his urgency and our opportunity. Once freedom is lost, America is lost. Wake up, beloved America .

( Charles Krauthammer's TownHall Contributions, http://townhall.com/columnists/CharlesKrauthammer/ )

From Jimmie Lentz...

THIS MAKES THE 4th NATIONAL VOICE IN AS MANY DAYS TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST BIG BROTHER "BO." THINK MAYBE, JUST MAYBE THE "SILENT MAJORITY" IS BEGINNING TO AWAKEN~? I WILL cc: COACH

Sat 8/8/09 ahykes2001@yahoo.com wrote: Please, read to the end!!!!

Dr. Krauthammer is a contributer for Fox News . He is an M.D. and he is paralyzed from the neck down. Be forewarned on what is happening. You would do well to read and pass this along to EVERYBODY that loves his country. This is VERY serious for the direction of our country. The ramifications are staggering for us and our children.

Last Monday was a profound evening, hearing Dr. Charles Krauthammer speak to the Center for the American Experiment. He is brilliant intellectual, seasoned and articulate. He is forthright and careful in his analysis, and never resorts to emotions or personal insults. He is NOT a fear monger nor an extremist in his comments and views. He is a fiscal conservative, and has a Pulitzer Prize for writing. He is a frequent contributor to Fox News and writes weekly for the Washington Post . The entire room was held spellbound during his talk. I have shared this with many of you and several have asked me to summarize his comments, as we are living in uncharted waters economically and internationally.

Two Dems at my table agreed with everything he said! If you feel like forwarding this to those who are open minded and have not drunk the Kool-Aid, feel free. Summary of his comments:

1. Mr. Obama is a very intellectual, charming individual. He is not to be underestimated. He is a cool customer who doesn't show his emotions. It's very hard to know what's behind the mask. Taking down the Clinton dynasty from a political neophyte was an amazing accomplishment. The Clintons still do not understand what hit them. Obama was in the perfect place at the perfect time.

2. Obama has political skills comparable to Reagan and Clinton. He has a way of making you think he's on your side, agreeing with your position, while doing the opposite. Pay no attention to what he SAYS; rather, watch what he DOES!

3. Obama has a ruthless quest for power. He did not come to Washington to make something out of himself, but rather to change everything, including dismantling capitalism. He can't be straightforward on his ambitions, as the public would not go along. He has a heavy hand, and wants to level the playing field with income redistribution and punishment to the achievers of society. He would like to model the USA to Great Britainor Canada .

4. His three main goals are to control ENERGY, PUBLIC EDUCATION, AND NATIONAL HEALTH CARE by the Federal government . He doesn't care about the auto or financial services industries, but got them as an early bonus. The cap and trade will add costs to everything and stifle growth. Paying for FREE college education is his goal. Most scary is his healthcare program, because if you make it FREE and add 46,000,000 people to a Medicare-type single-payer system, the costs will go through the roof. The only way to control costs is with massive RATIONING of services, like in Canada. God forbid.

5. He has surrounded himself with mostly far-left academic types. No one around him has ever even run a candy store. But they are going to try and run the auto, financial, banking and other industries. This obviously can't work in the long run. Obama is not a socialist; rather he's a far-left secular progressive bent on nothing short of revolution. He ran as a moderate, but will govern from the hard left. Again, watch what he does, not what he says.

6. Obama doesn't really see himself as President of the United States , but more as a ruler over the world. He sees himself above it all, trying to orchestrate and coordinate various countries and their agendas. He sees moral equivalency in all cultures. His apology tour in Germany and England was a prime example of how he sees America, as an imperialist nation that has been arrogant, rather than a great noble nation that has at times made errors. This is the first President ever who has chastised our allies and appeased our enemies!

7. He is now handing out goodies. He hopes that the bill (and pain) will not come due until after he is re-elected in 2012. He would like to blame all problems on Bush from the past, and hopefully his successor in the future. He has a huge ego, and Mr. Krauthammer believes he is a narcissist.

8. Republicans are in the wilderness for a while, but will emerge strong. We're pining for another Reagan, but there will never be another like him. Krauthammer believes Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Bobby Jindahl (except for his terrible speech in February) are the future of the party. Newt Gingrich is brilliant, but has baggage. Sarah Palin is sincere and intelligent, but needs to really be seriously boning up on facts and info if she is to be a serious candidate in the future. We need to return to the party of lower taxes, smaller government, personal responsibility, strong national defense, and state's rights.

9. The current level of spending is irresponsible and outrageous. We are spending trillions that we don't have. This could lead to hyper-inflation, depression or worse. No country has ever spent themselves into prosperity. The media is giving Obama, Reid and Pelosi a pass because they love their agenda. But eventually the bill will come due and people will realize the huge bail outs didn't work, nor will the stimulus package . These were trillion-dollar payoffs to Obama's allies, unions and the Congress to placate the left, so he can get support for #4 above.

10. The election was over in mid-September when Lehman brothers failed, fear and panic swept in, we had an unpopular President, and the war was grinding on indefinitely without a clear outcome. The people are in pain, and the mantra of change caused people to act emotionally. Any Dem would have won this election; it was surprising it was as close as it was.

11. In 2012, if the unemployment rate is over 10%, Republicans will be swept back into power. If it's under 8%, the Dems continue to roll. If it's between 8-10%, it will be a dogfight. It will all be about the economy. I hope this gets you really thinking about what's happening in Washington and Congress. There is a left-wing revolution going on, according to Krauthammer, and he encourages us to keep the faith and join the loyal resistance. The work will be hard, but we're right on most issues and can reclaim our country, before it's far too late.

Do yourself a long term favor, send this to all who will listen to an intelligent assessment of the big picture. All our futures and children's futures depend on our good understanding of what is really going on in DC!!!! And our action pursuant to that understanding! !! It really IS up to each of us to take individual action!!! Start with educating your friends and neighbors

I think that I misunderstood Obama when he vowed to be transparent... he meant to be hard to pin down.

"Miss Information"* [Jonah Goldberg]

Byron has a good column on Linda Douglass and her new role as White House flack. One point he raises, that has been bugging me since I first saw her "rebuttal" to the YouTube video showing Obama endorsing single payer, is just how non-responsive Douglas' video is. She makes no attempt whatsoever to prove her assertion that Obama's comments were out of context or irrelevant.

And that's what's sort of interesting to me. Her rebuttal technique is truly Obamaesque, in that she does what Obama himself does: Quotes Obama as proof that Obama is always right. As has been noted many times around here, Obama has this tick where he says "As I've said before" or "As I said at the time" or "I've said repeatedly" etc etc. to make a point. Sometimes Obama is being less than truthful when he says he's said X before. And sometimes the fact that he said X before in no way bolsters the case he's actuall trying to make.

Douglass does the same thing. She simply quotes some boilerplate lines from Obama saying you can keep your own health insurance (which is not exactly true) and apparently that's supposed to obliterate any claim that Obama favors single payer, even though there's extensive evidence that he does favor single payer (he said it many times in the past when he wasn't trying to sell this specific health care bill) and there's serious concern that the public plan approach would lead, over time, to single payer. But rather than substantively deal with any of that, Douglass accuses people of "disinformation" and simply invokes the divine authority of Obama to rebut any criticism.

From Mark Steyn... on the President's "snitch-line"

Reporting dissent is the highest form of patriotism! Is your neighbor suspiciously “well-dressed”? Is he mouthing off about cancer-survival rates under socialized-medical systems while wearing a cravat? Give us his name, and we’ll give you his spats! Just go to flag@whitehouse.gov, not to be confused with flagging@whitehouse.gov, which is the e-mail address for reporting President Obama’s latest approval rating. Go to flay@whitehouse.gov if you’d like Speaker Pelosi to walk across your back as a whip-wielding SS dominatrix barking “Vee haff vays of making you tokk less casually, dummkopf!” Go to flange@whitehouse.gov if you need parts for your new government car, or your new government hip replacement. Go to flaunt@whitehouse.gov if you’d like a special preview of President Obama’s latest bare-chested pictorial for Vanity Fair. Go to flatulent@whitehouse.gov if you’d like to report your neighbor’s cow for excessive CO2 emissions.

Time for Courage. A message from a black man in Lubbock, Texas ... About tells it all... Sherman

At the TEA PARTY, a black man, Dr. Donald May, delivered this message from the courthouse steps in Lubbock . He electrified the audience like I haven't seen in a long time. His delivery was masterful. I am sorry you could not see him in action. Anyway, I thought you might enjoy his words. The news media was there, but not one word of this man's appearance ever appeared on TV or in print, even though he completely dominated the scene.

This is A Time For Courage

April 15, 2009 - 11:49 pm

Ladies and gentlemen, This is a Time For Courage.

We are gathered here today on the Plains of West Texas in common purpose. We are here to remind our government that this is our country. We the People are still in charge, and our government is still our servant and not our master.

Our Nation's founding document is The Declaration of Independence .. It tells us that our rights come from God and not from a small group of Elite men and women.

Our Constitution starts with the words "We the People." Our Constitution was written for ordinary Americans like you and me. Our Constitution protects us from our government and from the politicians.

Our President has complained that our Constitution gives ordinary people too much protection. He has ridiculed us for the high value we place on our Bibles, our guns, our personal property, and our Liberty .. He tells us we do not deserve to keep the money we have earned.

We are told freedom has not worked. Personal responsibility, free enterprise, and Libertyhave not been effective. Our government will now make more of our decisions for us.

Other than our military, I can think of not one government agency I have ever found to be helpful.

And speaking of our military, how about those Navy Seals blowing the heads off those three terrorist pirates? Don't you just wish our entire government would function with such efficiency, professionalism, and courage?

We watch in disbelief as our beloved United States is weakened economically, militarily, and morally by a Radical President and his eager accomplices.

What has taken generations to build is systematically destroyed and replaced with the same Socialist Evil that brought poverty, destruction, and despair to untold hundreds of millions.

The problems we face today have occurred because we have not defended our Nation from Socialism. For too long we have allowed the wrong people to make the worst possible decisions.

The Bible warns us of class hatred. The Radical leadership of our government daily fans the evil flames of class envy.

Our European and Canadian friends beg us to not make the same Socialist mistakes they did.

The President of the European Union warned our President that his Socialist economic plans are taking the World down the "road to Hell."

The path to power for Socialists includes taking God and guns from the citizens. Without spiritual and physical protection, people cannot defend themselves and their Liberty . They soon become slaves.

We are angered that our President apologizes for the exceptionalism and heroism of theUnited States of America . We are deeply troubled that he told others the United States is not a Christian nation.

We are angered that we have been called cowards and racists because we oppose Socialism. Socialism is not racial. Socialism is an equal opportunity destroyer.

We are angered that a recent Department of Homeland Security report has singled out our military men and women who are returning home as being radical threats.

The report also characterizes you and me as right-wing extremists and radicals because we favor smaller government and lower taxes.

You and I are average citizens who believe just like most of our fellow Americans. We want our government to leave us alone and to keep its hands off our money, our religion, our guns, our private property, and our lives.

We demand that our government stop spending money it does not have.

Stop confiscating our money and private property.

Stop printing money.

Stop subsidizing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the other failed financial institutions and companies.

Mr. President, stop appointing tax cheats to positions of power and influence.

Mr. President, secure our borders.

Mr. President, do not divert money from our missile defense, F-22 Raptors, and other vital military equipment. This gives encouragement, aid, and comfort to our enemies. Protecting us is your number one job.

Mr. President, do not give voting rights to millions of illegal aliens and felons. You have no more right to create new voters for your benefit than you do to use our money to buy the 2010 and 2012 Elections.

We gather peacefully here today because there is a growing concern for what our government is doing to us and to our future. We fear for the very survival of our Republic.

Yet there is much to make us hopeful and to fill our hearts with optimism and courage. This is still our country!

The Constitution of the Unites States belongs to We the People. Our Constitution still protects us from our government.

Call every possible elected official, including our President, Vice President, and the Speaker of the House.

Demand that they stop stealing our money and giving it to ACORN and their other political supporters in order to buy votes.

Call Senators Cornyn and Hutchison, and Representative Neugebauer. Thank them. Urge them to do much more. Remind them now is a time for action and not for campaigning.

Volunteer to work on our 2010 Census. Confront ACORN. Keep our Census honest. We must not allow our President to take control of our Census for his political advantage.

We must replace as much of our Far Left Congress as possible in 2010. Get involved. Do not let the ACORN control our 2010 Election.

Talk with someone every day who does not understand our nation's history and our great heritage. Tell them why the United States is a good and prosperous nation. It still remains that brightly lit city on the hill. It still is the best hope for all mankind.

Talk with all of the young people you can find. They are our future. Many do not understand what they have and that their future is being destroyed.

Encourage your elected State officials to pass legislation that will protect us from our Federal government. This is a time for strong peaceful action. Let us pray that We the People can quickly return our government to its Constitutional responsibilities.

Our President and Congress were elected to be our servants and not our masters.

May God help our President and Congress to quickly realize the error of their ways and stop their reckless and unwarranted spending, cut our taxes, and reduce the size of our Federal bureaucracy.

If they do not, may God grant us the courage and determination to vote them out of power next year.

May God richly bless and protect each of you, and our Constitution, as together we pursue Liberty !

Delivered at the Lubbock , Texas , TEA Party by Dr. Donald May

Cartoon from Mike Ramirez... Letter from Mike Walker... All, a. North Korea: Clinton+Clinton+Bolton=Pretty accurate view of US policy Hillary Clinton: The release of two US Journalists will not lead to a change in the Nuclear Talks with N Korea-Correct Bill Clinton: If the release of two US Journalists will not lead to a change in the Nuclear Talks with N Korea then getting them freed is a win-Correct John Bolton: The release of two US Journalists will not lead to a change in the Nuclear Talks with N Korea as a regime willing to let its children to starve to death so it can purchase nuclear weapon components rather than food will never give up its nuclear weapons-Correct b. Clunkers for Cash: The glass half full, half empty dilemma The glass half full: The program works, it gets inefficient cars off the streets and helps the struggling auto industry recover at a critical time. The glass half empty: Washington DC underestimated the future cost of Medicare by at least 500%. Washington DC initially underestimated the cost of the "Clunker for Cash" Program by at least 400%. Aren't those good reasons to be worried about how much Washington DC thinks Health Care Reform will cost in the future? Regards, Mike

Something to ponder, are you aware that the White House sent out a directive to develop a list of persons or organizations that disagree with the Health Care Bill? A dissent database, sounds like Hugo Chavez. http://powerlineblog.com/