Joe, OWS and Ghaddafi

I’ve been on a hiatus for the last few months due to being extremely busy trying to ensure that there was food on the table and bills were paid…a situation faced by many readers of this blog and many more Americans across the nation; but also because I tried my hand at Twitter which I found both enjoyable and educational.  Enjoyable because of the thoughts that are passed by thousands of individuals around the world and educational because it forces one to express thoughts concisely.

It’s an interesting time we live in but do bear in mind that to live in interesting times is an old Chinese curse.  Just today I see that VP Joe Biden is telling a reporter who asked him a question about the propriety of Biden’s warning that the GOP ‘s failure to pass Obama’s jobs bill—at least he didn’t try to spell it with three letters this time—“Don’t screw around with me.”  Clearly Biden means what he says about rape and doesn’t want to be on the receiving end.

Actually, Joe is an expert of the subject but as a perpetrator and not a victim.  Perhaps that is why he’s shouting a warning that is clearly meant for Democrats rather than the GOP.  The GOP, after all, is trying it’s best to stop the rape and pillage of our nation by the Regime to which Biden belongs.

I see that the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) crowd has tried to support Joe’s theory of forthcoming violence with a sexual assault being reported in Cleveland and out in Oakland where a reporter was threatened with violence.  You can always count on the Liberals to have their ground troops follow their vocal lead after it is trumpeted by the Left Wing Media. 

As for the OWS urban terrorists being compared with the Tea Party, anyone with common sense can hear, see and smell the difference.  Anyone, of course, except the Left Wing Media and the Obama Regime, both of which are doing all they can to turn the OWS into a real movement of substance instead of a rabble that prefers violent confrontation to working in the system.  If you look at the make-up of the OWS you find pure anarchists, Communists, National Socialists, anti-Jewish racists, SEIU-organized thugs and out-of-control, drug-addled youths frustrated that they aren’t getting Wall Streets money for doing nothing—step children of the Democrat party all.  Together they are doing all they can to insult America and bring the Republic down around our collective heads.  What a wonderful group to be praised by the Democrat leadership, don’t you think! 

Add to this the increasing desire of Obama to govern—no a better word is rule—without the consent of the governed through Congress and you have a clear picture of what the modern Democrat Party has become.  John Kennedy is certainly spinning like a top in his grave. 

So now Ghaddafi is dead.  Did you miss Hillary’s gauche reaction?  While I do take solace in the fact that Justice was done—albeit street justice that bodes ill for the future of Libya—I can’t take such laughing joy at the death of someone even though he was an enemy.  Had he died with a weapon in his hand I would say to the soldiers (rebels?) involved “Well done!” but you saw the video.  Dragged beaten and bleeding through the streets then shot like a dog with a pistol at close range.  There is no pride in such an act.  A trial and hanging would have been more appropriate.  (I would have said “civilized” but nothing about war, and even less about armed revolution, is civilized.)  I’ve heard comparisons between Ghaddafi’s demise and that of Benito Mussolini’s in WWII (Gen X’s can Google the name if you missed that in high school history) but even though Mussolini ended up hung from the heals like meat there aren’t any giggling comments recorded by our leaders of the time.  To the contrary, realizing the hell of a world war and all that it entailed, they let the moment pass and turned their attention to Mussolini’s allies.  But Hillary’s reaction was a sobering moment and shows the complete lack of character of our current leadership.  She epitomized the gangster mentality encouraged by Obama.

It makes me wonder if Obama will put a paper maché copy of Ghaddifi’s head alongside the one of Osama on the White House’s front lawn for Halloween this year.  Or will he save that for October 2012 hoping it will help him in November 2012? 

We should continue to keep the Libyan people in our prayers for the worst is yet to come.  The street justice meted to Ghaddafi, like that of the French Revolution where the Revolutionary courts dispatched countless people besides the King and Marie Antonette to the guillotine and Madame Defarge for something as minor as being Catholic.  That’s what happens when a revolution is taken to its logical conclusion and in the history of the world only one revolution avoided that conclusion: the American one.  That’s something to contemplate especially when you hear a liberal tearing down the country and, like a significant portion of those involved in OWS advocating “revolution.”  I know that the Democrats and Obama are hoping against hope that the rabid coalition of socialists, communists, National Socialists and racists festering on the streets of NYC that they have taken to applauding will morph into the Left-Wing equivalent of the Tea Party, but the chance of that happening is akin to the proverbial chance of a snowball in hell.  The Tea Party followed and follows the ideals of our Founding Fathers.  OWS follows the ideas and tactics of people like Mao, Stalin, Lenin and Castro to name a few.  It’s easy to see where and how their kind of revolution would end. 

Enough for today.  Time for a cigar and a glass of whisky, straight up, of course.  After all, it’s 5:00 PM somewhere. 

Fast, furious and wrong: Obama administration faces outrage over guns in Mexico

Our Founding Fathers included the 2nd Amendment in the Bill of Rights for sound historical reasons as well as to ensure that the God-given, thus unalienable, right of self-defense was clearly protected. Without the Bill of Rights, the Constitution would never have been ratified and our nation would have quickly devolved to tyranny. Despite the protections set forth in that the basis of all our laws, there have been those who disagreed with those protections and who since its ratification have been bent on the destruction of the Constitution as envisioned by the Founders. Through history they have been called by different names and now they use the sobriquet of "Progressive" even though the policies they support are entirely regressive in nature. We must always be watchful of their actions for while their words drip with sweet concern for mankind, the sweetness conceals poisons intended to destroy our liberty.

In this case we have a perfect example of such words. The president speaks of wanting to ensure that criminals in Mexico do not have access to weapons from America but it is not the criminals that are restricted or punished with increased bureaucratic red tape but the law-abiding citizen. That this Regime could see fit to send guns illegally to Mexico then use the fact that those guns were used in crimes in Mexico to justify additional gun control measures to limit the right of Americans to keep and bear arms is an unconscionable assault on our Constitution and our liberty. We must call for the removal, and if necessary the impeachment, of those involved in the act and in the cover-up that is ongoing. 

History shows us that tyranny begins with movements to disarm the citizenry for its own good. We are told time and again that the central government only wants what is best for all and to ensure that all are protected we must surrender our right to self defense and rely on the state for protection. The truth of the matter is that there is no safety in the state. It cannot be relied upon to be there when we are in personal danger for when seconds count, help is truly minutes away. The truth is that only law abiding citizens comply with such laws which gives the criminal class complete freedom to exercise its depredations with impunity. The truth is that the primary distinction between a free man and a slave is the right to bear arms yet there are those who choose slavery thinking that it will make them free.

Follow the title link for more. It won't appear in the NY Times, the Washington Post or the any of the major networks other than Fox because those are the promoters of progressive thought and lapdogs of the political elite currently in power.

Fast and Furious: With 'Gunrunner' Obama Moves Forward on Gun Control

When I first heard about this I asked myself what was the goal of "Fast and Furious?"  Having worked international law enforcement for over a decade I knew that without the other country being "on-board" and cooperating you were just pissing into the wind and were likely to get wet.  It is clear now that the goal was not to arrest the drug lords--Mexico had no idea what was going on and only they can arrest people in Mexico--but to ensure that there were statistics available to fan the outrage in the media as a way of smoothing the path for more onerous gun control laws.  Laws that we know affect only lawful owners and which criminals will ignore just as they ignore the plethora of gun laws on the books today. 

Now we have an announcement that the UN will be meeting this week on the gun control treaty that they plan to use to disarm all but the ruling elite in all countries.  (See: http://bit.ly/jUf6so)  This is the same treaty that Hillary Clinton and Obama have already said that they will support and sign and is clearly part of the "under the radar" moves that Obama let slip during a meeting with gun-control advocates a few weeks ago.  

Late last week Obama's spokesman told us that we can expect an announcement soon on "reasonable measures" to ensure gun safety which in all likelihood will have less to do with gun safety than to impinge on legitimate gun ownership.  It would appear that Obama, et al., are using two-pronged approach to get America looking one way at one hand while they stab us in the back with the other hand.  We must keep our eyes and ears open and ensure that we contact our Senators and Representatives and tell them "No!" when it comes to the UN treaty and Obama's anticipated Executive Order.  

Krauthammer: It's Funny to Hear Liberals Talk About How Awful it is to Delegitimize a President After What They Did to Bush

Krauthammer: It's Funny to Hear Liberals Talk About How Awful it is to Delegitimize a President After What They Did to Bush

Dr. Krauthammer is quite correct and the double standard that is in play is fascinating.  It only proves the oft heard saying from Conservative commentators that if it weren't for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all.  Especially liberals in the media.  The lies that were broadcast and repeated about President George W. Bush were pernicious in that the Left Stream Media repeated them over and over and over clearly following Goebbels theory that a lie, repeated often enough, becomes fact.  Obama is the choice of the Left Stream Media but, like Dan Rather's story on W's National Guard Service, is part of a greater lie repeated over and over and over.

Instead of the deep thinker they promised, we have one who apparently doesn't think and hates making decisions.  Instead of a post-racial president we have one who thrives on racism.  Instead of a president for all the people, we have one that says one thing while doing another.  Instead of a president who tries to help the nation we have one who says "Get used to it" or "You'd better buy a smaller vehicle" when questioned about the price of gasoline.  Instead of a president who is willing to "stand the heat in the kitchen" we have one who is trying to halt political speech in violation of the 1st Amendment because he can't stand criticism or dissent from We the People.

In the case of W it was the Left Stream Media that worked overtime to delegitimize the President.  In the case of Obama, he does it all by himself and Conservatives only point out what he is doing.

Follow the title link for the story.

Obama Regime Begins the Big Lie About Energy

The man who wants America to be a Third World nation.  

Obama Administration Whitewashing Government Inaction Regarding Oil and Natural Gas Leases

Obama hasn't officially announced his run for a 2nd term, and won't until Monday or so, but the recent speech he gave to the students at George Washington University was certainly a typical Obama campaign speech: Long on rhetoric and short on truth.

How soon people forget the facts.  Obama is on record as being in favor of gasoline prices in the $7.00 range.  That has not changed. Obama is on record as wanting to end the use of coal for the production of electricity.  That has not changed.  The truth is that Obama is on record as not being in favor of drilling for oil and contrary to his statements in his speech and his regime has cut, not increased, oil production in the United States.  The truth is that he is for oil exploration and drilling only if George Soros will have a slice of the profits from it as he does in Brazil with Petrobras.  (And possibly if China gets the oil as it does for the first 20 years of the Petrobras deep water well.)

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has taken a swipe at Obama for his duplicitous statements but the Left Stream Media has given Obama a total pass.  Their--the media's--failure to do anything but kiss the feet of Obama (some would say their kisses are actually above and behind the knees) should make them the first ones we run out of town on a rail.  But the truth that they will not tell the public is that Obama wants America to be like socialist Europe at a time when socialist Europe is trying to move solidly to the right and be more like what America once was.  You can check out McConnell's statement at: http://biggovernment.com/capitolconfidential/2011/04/02/mcconnell-swipes-obama-on-domestic-energy-production/

Follow the title link for more.

SANDERS: Class warfare at the gas pump

Obama is not bothered by the rise in fuel costs.  It's part of his plan to subjugate Americans.  

Sol Sanders of the Washington Times offers some interesting thoughts on the growing crises at the gas pumps around the nation and how, by either design or neglect, Obama and his regime are causing that growth.  Sanders is right it is class warfare and that cannot be tolerated by Americans.  It is the middle class and the poor that will be decimated by the higher gas prices because those gas prices will translate into higher cost for essentials like food and energy for the home.

Obama is good at pontificating about taking care of the poor and the middle class but his actions don't match his words.  What his actions say is that he is all about creating a ruling elite, to which he will belong, of course, that cannot be challenged by the lower classes.  In other words, he wants to create a proletariat and that is something that is absolutely necessary to sustain a socialist state.

Follow the link for more.

Ayers affirms he wrote "Dreams from my Father"

Ayers says he wrote it for Obama.  

Ayers affirms he wrote "Dreams from my Father"

This has been suspected for a long time and every time someone would bring up the subject liberal Democrats and their Left Stream Media sycophants would rise up, point their fingers and passionately intone, "Racism."  The phrase "useful idiots" comes to mind.

If the Left Stream Media were honest there would be headlines in the major papers tomorrow and it would be the lead story on all the networks.  But the media is not honest, far from it, and they clearly have a morbid infatuation with Barack Hussein Obama that makes it mandatory that they support him regardless of the damage he is doing to the country and his disregard--disdain might be a better word--for the Constitution.  It also would be wonderful if all corporations would pull their advertising from the networks and the print media until the networks and the media came to their senses.  (Wouldn't it be fun to watch GE trying to take up the slack?  You know that as much in the tank with Obama as GE CEO Jeff Immelt is that they would try.)  Unfortunately, that won't happen either.

So what we are left with here is an affirmation of our previous suspicions as to the authorship of Dreams from my Father.  What we also have is confirmation of Obama's lack of character and basically criminal mind-set. We should not allow it to go unnoticed between now and 2012.  We must make it known to all voters that Obama is a liar pure and simple.  Not a liar in the sense that all politicians are liars, but a liar in the more profound sense that he fraudulently takes credit for writing a book that made him a lot of money.  Ayers is, of course, complicit in this fraud on everyone who bought the book because if it had been written by Bill Ayers, Left-Wing-1970's-Domestic-Terrorist, it wouldn't have sold nearly as well and made so much money.  No, what we have here is a President who knowingly committed a fraud.  We should remember that as we work to remove him from office in 2012.

Ok, I've had my say. Now the useful idiots out there can begin their racist chant.

Follow the link for the story.

Limbaugh: Chicago Politics Targets High Court

"We will punish our enemies."  Barack Obama, 2010  

David Limbaugh is on to something.  The Community-Organizer-in-Chief, Barack Hussein Obama, a prototypical Chicago thug, gets angry when opposed even if the action taken is not actually opposition but merely that of someone following of the Constitution.  Actually, any impediment to his agenda makes him angry and when that happens you can expect crowds of union members in front of your house and on your front yard carrying angry signs.  They will be accompanied, of course, anonymous threats against you and your family.

The Community-Organizer-in-Chief, of course, will not be a part of it as he will have done nothing but show his displeasure at your actions.  And while you're having to deal with all kinds of disruption, picketing, angry, profane shouts and threats of violence, he'll be publicly dining in his residence saying, if asked, with a wan smile, "It's a shame that people became angry over that.  Pity.  Waiter!  More wine, please."

"I keep tellin' yous guys, we know how to handle things in Chicago."  

To be sure, Obama is no Al Capone, but I have a hard time believing that Al wouldn't have approved of the manner in which Obama attacks those he perceives as enemies and the Supreme Court, when it rules against his wishes, is clearly that.  Obama is on record as referring to political opponents as "our enemy" so why does anyone think that he would consider a Supreme Court that opposes his goals a friend?  The answer is, of course, that he doesn't.  They are the enemy to be attacked until he has been able to stuff it with his like-minded appointees and until then, his minions will mount attack after attack in hopes of causing the justices who don't toe the line to hesitate or change course.

That's The Chicago Way.

Follow the title link for David Limbaugh's view.

Obama's Energy Plan: Transforming America into a Third World Country

Obama's vision for the future of America.  A nation made of "Haves" (the political elite) and "Have Nots" (the rest of us).  

This morning I reluctantly filled my car's gas tank.  It was a "have to" fill as it was down to 1/8th of a tank.  I pulled into the gas station, got out, looked at the price on the pump and winced.  It was $3.62 a gallon.  (OK, it was $3.61 and 9/10ths.  And who came up with that marketing idea, anyway?  Talk about a genius!)  In the end it cost an even $60.00 for me to fill the car.  It will last, if I am careful, a week.  I can remember when it cost $40.00 for the same amount of gas for same amount of gas for the same car and I haven't had the car that many years.

I understand the economics of the gas price rise--almost 50 cents in the last few weeks--but I start to steam when I think about the outrageous profits--a national average of 48.1 cents per gallon--being made on each gallon of gas.  This profit is not by the gas companies for they make an average of 3% on each gallon; but by the government.  That means that with the gas I bought this morning the gas company profited only about 10.86 cents per gallon.  Because Virginia is under the national average (the aforementioned 48.1 cents) in gas taxes, the state profited 19.7 cents per gallon and the Federal Government profited 18.4 cents per gallon.

Why, then, do I hear talking heads and politicians complaining about the oil companies?  I do believe that the oil companies would be happy to produce more gasoline if the Federal Government would let them but that won't happen under Obama.  He believes, and has so stated on video in the past, that we should be paying in the area of $7.00 per gallon of gasoline.  And his Regime has taken the steps necessary to ensure we meet that marker.   They've stopped most oil exploration with the Department of Interior unilaterally prohibiting exploration in large swaths of Alaska and they've only issued one (1) drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico in the last year.  Add to that the antipathy of the EPA which has as a goal to eliminate carbon fuels use and it's easy to see just how we will reach that $7.00 gallon marker in the next two years.  With that price rise in fuel we will see a corresponding rise in the price of food, utilities, and other consumer goods.  Those of us on fixed incomes will quickly become total wards of the state.  (We won't be wards long, however, because under Obamacare we'll be at the lower-end of the treatment list.  This is because it just doesn't make economic sense to take care of the elderly as they can't be expected to pay taxes for much longer.)

When that happens we will be forced to live in increasingly urbanized environments as commuting via private vehicle will be prohibitively expensive.  The cost of food, housing and utilities will skyrocket and we will be forced to move into increasingly smaller, more economical apartments until we are living in two or three rooms.  In other words, we will be just like the other Third World countries and slaves to an increasingly powerful Federal Government.  We will be frozen in place, unable to move to another location due to the costs and increasingly dependent on the state for everything we need to live.  The American Dream will be truly dead and Obama will have killed it.

We will no longer be free.

As we move into the run-up for the 2012 elections, keep this in mind.

Follow the link for the Washington Times Editorial.

The Obama Administration’s spineless response to Colonel Gaddafi's reign of terror

Obama:  The Organizer in Chief who has managed to make France look strong and decisive!  

Once again we must rely on the foreign press for a clear look at the Obama Regime because the Left Stream Media in the US is ideologically committed to supporting Obama no matter what and thus is mentally and ethically absent in their reportage.  As the Telegraph points out, Obama took an exceedingly long time to react to the Libyan revolt especially considering that he was issuing statements supporting the Egyptian demonstrators almost immediately.  Considering the fact that Obama refused to condemn the same type of violent suppression of demonstrations in Iran a year or so ago, his reticence in Libya seems to be a pattern:  If you're an America-hating dictator he'll say nothing while you "take care of business" but if you're an America-supporting dictator he'll be happy to help cut your throat.

Odd, don't you think?  Shouldn't the standard be the same in both instances?

Follow the link for more.

James Clapper, DNI: Out of Touch with Reality

Which of these two is out of touch with reality?  

Is he out of touch with reality or is he just ignorant?  That is a valid question after James Clapper's appearance before Congress today.  Most well-read 10-year olds could have given better, and more accurate, testimony after searching the web for an hour than did our nation's Director of National Intelligence.

We mustn't forget that he was selected for the President Obama for some very specific reasons most of which probably center around his ability to follow Obama's orders and skew intelligence to fit Obama's game plan.

Remember when the Left Stream Media accused President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney of cherry-picking intelligence?  Anyone want to bet that they will ignore this one?

Follow the link for more.

No Justice from Justice

That the politicized Department of Justice is unresponsive to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is to be expected considering the partisan atmosphere fostered by Eric Holder and his political appointees.  He is an absolute disgrace and should resign but he won't. His focus is exactly where Obama wants:  Use the institution to diminish the nation that it is supposed to serve.

Follow the link for more.

Maybe Hu Got the Last Laugh

Doug Powers writes an excellent guest blog on Michelle Malkin's site.  My only criticism is the use of the word "Maybe."  There is no doubt in my mind that Hu enjoyed the choice of tunes.  I do wonder, however if Lang Lang, an extremely talented pianist, chose that one particular song or if it was suggested by someone from Obama's White House staff.

Follow the link for more.

Federal Employees: A Cash Cow for the Unions

"What a deal!  I shoulda thought about this scam!  What a deal!  They don't bother to buy judges, they buy politicians!"  

I remember a day when I was young and JFK was President that we had an extended family dinner...a reunion of sorts.  One of my cousins that was at least 20 years older than me was there and he was very happy about President Kennedy issuing an order that allowed for public sector unions in the Federal government.  My father, a farmer and rancher, did not look favorably on unions and always kept his peace rather than say anything that would cause an argument; but my cousin, who was working as a union organizer at the time, was so excited that he didn’t see the sour look on Dad’s face.  But I saw it and wondered why.  It took me several decades to figure out what my father was thinking back then but I finally did.  Essentially, he could see no good coming from allowing unions to get involved in the government.  Actually, my father could see no good in unions at all as when company wasn’t around he commented that unions weren’t good for anything but driving up prices and taking people’s money.  Of course, Dad wasn’t politically correct and he firmly believed that what you got in life you got because you worked hard and did a good job.  In his mind, unions allowed people who didn’t work hard or do a good job to have job security that they didn’t deserve.  

When you look at the history of unions, however, it’s hard to say that unions were always unnecessary (and I’m not saying that they are totally unnecessary now).  To the contrary, unions were very necessary at the beginning of the industrial revolution when the economic class distinctions within the United States and elsewhere in the now developed world were stark.  Unions can rightly be credited with helping destroy the barriers that prevented the movement between economic classes and allowed for the American dream of upward mobility to come to fruition in the modern world.  The key in the early union movement was that they were formed to provide a balance between the workers of a factory who produced the goods and the owners of the factory who wanted to sell the goods while maximizing profits.  It was recognized in those early years that the workers had a valid position in sharing in the profits while ensuring that the factory continued to operate profitably.  In other words, if the union’s demands made production unprofitable the factory would close and there would be no profit for anyone.  Keep that in mind as I move on to the government.

It is now that my support for JFK during those wonderful days of my youth comes back to haunt me.  I was proud--and still am--of his wartime record and his relationship with the members of the military and that he understood the need for Special Forces; but I’m appalled when I think that it was he that opened the door for public sector unions to operate in the Federal Government.  You might ask why and the answer is simple: The Government does not operate with “profit” as an outcome of its operation.  In reality it is quite the opposite.  A Government manager who does not spend 100% of his budget is considered inept and will likely have his budget decreased in the coming fiscal cycle.  The manager who does spend 100% of his budget, and then cries appropriately about what he could have done if he had more funds, has his budget increased.  Such is the nature of government at all levels but especially at the Federal level.  There’s one other thing to consider in this formula, however, and that is that the cost of labor is never a budgeting factor.  Full Time Employee (FTE) positions are authorized and justified by Congress purely on the mission justification of the Federal Agency involved.  To increase the size of your organization you must show that your agency’s ability to complete the mission given it by Congress is suffering and you can only improve that with an increase in FTE positions.  No discussion of a cost-benefit is needed–something that a business would naturally do–but a justification of mission capability enhancement is required.  It is in this environment that public sector unions exist and, oddly enough, thrive.  

All of my government service was, of course, spent in a union-free environment as either a member of the military or in Federal Law Enforcement.  Neither can be unionized under because as ignorant as Congress can sometimes be, they have never been that stupid.  Of course, some professional organizations have sprung up to “represent” individuals in personnel matters, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association or FLEOA, is one such but they are limited to providing access to specialized insurance policies in case the law enforcement officer is sued, and access to an attorney familiar with the Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) rules and regulations.  OPM, you see, is the agency that governs all aspects of Federal employment for all agencies and their rules and regulations codify everything from entering on duty for the first day of work through, and including, retirement.  That includes disciplinary issues, an area that many unions like to trumpet as one of their most important duties:  protecting the employee from wrongful punishment to include termination.  One look at OPM’s regulations governing discipline and you know intuitively that the Federal Government employee is anything if not protected.  

My last years in government service dealt with exactly that area as I handled policy compliance for the Eastern half of the nation for my agency.  It was my job to ensure that all the evidence in a discipline case was collected and then to evaluate that evidence with the appropriate individuals before taking the case and the recommendation of the deciding official to Employee Relations (ER) and the staff attorney for a final review.  Nothing could be done off-the-cuff and everything had to meet the arcane standards of OPM as well as the agency’s guidelines; and, any action recommended had to be balanced with similar issues across the broad spectrum of the agency.  In simple terms that means that the Special Agent in Charge of an office on the East Coast couldn’t fire an individual for a violation that would merit a Letter of Reprimand in all the other offices.  The process was not quick and was rather cumbersome with some issues taking a year or more to resolve, but that was designed that way on purpose.  The multiple layers of review and consultation protected both the agency and the employee from the human factor that can be involved in any disciplinary issue.  It was designed to take personal feelings and put them aside to ensure fairness and it did that extremely well.  It also provided for an appeals process that went up to the agency head before going over to an Administrative Law judge and finally to the Federal District Court.  You should know that this system is in effect for both non-union and unionized Federal employees.  And OPM doesn’t deduct any kind of membership fee from the bi-weekly checks of Federal employees.

Now with all that protection in place for both non-unionized and unionized employees in the Federal Government you might be wondering what does a union do for Federal employees.  That’s a good question.  I always wondered that myself.  

First, an approved union representing Federal employees does do some negotiations on behalf of those employees.  For example, they ensure that the employee is given adequate breaks at an appropriate time during their work day.  (If you’ve ever been in a passport line at a major airport that was suddenly moved to the rear of other passport lines because the Immigration Inspector closed shop after the person just in front of youl was processed, you’ve seen this in action.)  They ensure that the employee is not required to do any work outside their job description.  (If you’ve ever been in a Federal office waiting for someone to return to their desk to help you while watching other Federal employees sit on their hands, you’ve seen this in action, too.)  They ensure that the employees are not abused with having to work unscheduled overtime and that if they are they are paid accordingly.  (If you’ve ever tried to call a Federal office with an urgent question 1 minute after closing and could only get a recording that recited the office hours, you’ve seen this in action.  Don’t these type of things make you wonder where the term “public servant” originated?)  

Now these issues were all a matter of negotiations between the union and the representative of the agency in question.  So what is the driving force behind the negotiations?  Well, for the union it is taking something...anything...back to the employees that justifies their belonging to the union.  For the government negotiator, it is getting it over with as soon as possible with an equitable win-win solution so he can get back to his regular work which is piling-up in his absence.  There is no profit to protect, there is only a desire to keep the workforce happy and, anyway, it’s up to Congress to come up with the tax dollars necessary.  The bottom line is that all the issues are already covered in the OPM personnel manual.  Employees can’t be abused regardless of the union and they do have recourse.  They do get breaks on a regular basis regardless of the union.  And why can’t they answer that phone 1 minute after closing for a 3 minute call if they are truly “public servants.”  With the employee already protected beyond anything in the private sector, why do public employee unions exist?

I’ll let you in on a nasty little secret:  They exist to put public employee money, i.e., tax dollars, in the union bank account on a direct deposit basis every two weeks, month after month, year after year.  They exist to provide the union with a ready and constant source of income for which they do very, very little.  They print up a nice membership card.  They answer the phones and they have their attorneys (the one’s already on staff) pick-up any legal questions that might come up and handle the negotiations which, in reality, aren’t negotiations but bargaining sessions in which one party (the union) has everything to gain and the other party (the government) has nothing to lose.  

It’s the greatest legalized protection racket ever devised.  Every employee is charged dues (depending on the pay grade in some instances but as much as $16.00 per pay period) that are deducted by the government from the paycheck before the employee ever sees it.  The union gets the dues monthly direct from the Federal Government and smiles all the way to the bank.  And come election time, the union bosses spend the money to suit their own interests regardless of the desires of the membership.  If Al Capone were alive today, I guarantee you he’d be the head of a public sector union instead of a bootlegger.  

Now I see that TSA may be organized by March and two different unions are competing for those 40,000 employees.  (See http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/01/24/tsa-screeners-set-choose-union-following-public-sector-trend/)  The why of it is a no-brainer.  The union that successfully organizes TSA will reap a windfall of around $15,000,000 per year in dues for doing very little.  They will tout of course, in their recruiting literature, cases involving multiple AWOLs that they managed to get reduced from removal to a mere 15-day suspension but that happens way too often anyway given the multitude of existing rules and regulations codified by OPM.  (Terminating a Federal employee for anything less than murder really does become the proverbial “Federal Case.”)  The reality of the situation is that the unionization of government agencies is a cash cow for unions.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  And remember, isn’t being done to correct actions by the employer that starves the Federal employee.  It’s allowed to be done by politicians as payback for union support during their successful political campaigns.  That’s why President Barack H. Obama has promoted increased unionization of the Federal workforce at a time when the numbers of workers participating in unions in the private sector is shrinking.  It’s all about payback and using tax dollars to ensure continued union support.  

Like I said before, if Al Capone were alive today, he’d be running a union.  And voting Democrat, no doubt.

Obama recalls Roe v. Wade, backs abortion rights

An unborn baby just 20-weeks after conception.  Look at the hands, the mouth, the nose, the eye the leg then tell me that this is just cellular material.  

Roe v. Wade:  A construct of the Constitution created by liberal minds on the Supreme Court that holds the Constitution provides a woman with the right to kill her baby because it has committed the unfortunate "crime" of being inconvenient.  The same liberal minds that created that fantasy also created the construct that the death penalty for one convicted of murder is unconstitutional because it is cruel and unusual punishment.  The dichotomy between the two positions is ever so stark. Even worse, in this case, is that Obama is on record as being in favor of partial birth abortions.  You know, the kind allegedly practiced by the now infamous Dr. Kermit Gosnell in Philadelphia.  (See:  http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/19/philadelphia-abortion-doctor-charged-counts-murder/ )  The reality of the situation is that in the world of liberals you can be killed for being inconvenient, but not for being a multiple murderer or a treasonous traitor.

To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I find it amazing that the people who are most loudly in favor of abortion are those that have already been born and those who are most in need of protection by the judges and justices, but are denied that protection, are those innocents who can't yet speak in their own behalf.  I can only take heart in the fact that those who approve of and promote this type of infanticide will face judgement in the afterlife.  

I think I'll go find t-shirts for all my children that read:  "I SURVIVED ROE V. WADE!"

Follow the link for the story.

Palin Targeted in Violence-Tinged Tweets Following Arizona Massacre

I had to post this article about how the supporters of President Barack Hussein Obama and the Democrat Party engage in "civil discourse."

I will wait with bated breath for the Left Stream Media (NBC, MSNBC, CBS, CNN and ABC) to report on this and bemoan the violence of the civil discourse from the left.

Follow the link for more.

Blaming the Right for the Giffords Attack Is Pure McCarthyism

George Will is always an excellent read and this one is spot on.

In the wake of the shooting the immediate move of the liberal left was not concern for the victims but positioning for political advantage.  The Democrat leadership and the left-wing blogosphere and the Left Stream Media, aided by the clearly addled Sheriff of Pima County, began an immediate attack on Sarah Palin, the TEA Party, talk radio (obviously conservative talk radio as liberal talk radio has been an abysmal failure) and Fox News.  They attacked Sarah Palin and the TEA Party because they fear her and them.  They attacked talk radio because it airs ideas that oppose their leftist meme.  They attack Fox News because it hasn't fallen in line with the slavish adoration of Barack Obama as best demonstrated by MSNBC.  (There are no more ardent or slavish sycophants of Barack Obama on the airwaves unless, of course, you want to count CNN as a whole.)

The script is now plain for all to see.  They will continue to point fingers at the political right in hopes of at least demonizing them and at best causing them to hesitate or pull punches in their political arguments out of a fantasy-land-fear that their debate has caused an individual to take violent action.  While doing this they will trot out the tried and worn-out arguments for gun control, restrictions on political speech and additional spending for security for the members of Congress.  (That will come in handy at future Town Hall meetings when they want to keep TEA Party members out and have only compliant crowds.)  Their end goal, of course, is domination rather than clear political discourse.

To be sure, the political discourse in America is loud and, at times, raucous.  It is supposed to be because when it is completely controlled by either side the result is not for the good of We the People.  I've often said that the 1st Amendment is a beautiful thing because it helps us to more easily identify who the idiots are and that has never been more true than today.  We have an aged Sheriff, clearly in his dotage, who instead of being the Law Enforcement Officer with 50 years of experience calming the community and assuring them that the evidence is being gathered properly and they are safe, launches into an unsupported, and unsupportable, diatribe against the political right thus shifting the blame from the defendant.

We have a New York Times that just over a year ago when a Muslim Army Officer shouted, "Allah akhbar!" as he began shooting and killing fellow soldiers at Ft. Hood, counseled that we shouldn't jump to conclusions about his motivation but should wait for the facts, now immediately jumping to conclusions in the absence of any supporting facts.  (As did all those on the left, including our dear leader.  Pity they never bothered to say, "Oops, you were right.  He is a Muslim terrorist acting in concert with other terrorists.)

We have Democrat politicians who have yet to shake a medieval mind-set that imparts motive and action to inanimate objects again trotting out tried and failed gun-control policies thinking, I suppose, that We the People are so stupid as to not remember that they just didn't work the last time they were tried and won't work this time.  (Of course, they've always opposed the 2nd Amendment and aren't about to change just because of a little ole' Supreme Court decision.  Remember, these are the same Democrat politicians who urge collective guilt for an individual's crimes because it's society's fault that the individual was forced to kill somebody.)

We have Democrat and liberal-left strategists working feverishly and overtime to fulfill the dictum of Rahm Emanuel that one should "never let a crisis go to waste."

Fortunately, I don't believe the American people are as dumb or sheepish as the liberal-left believes.

Follow the link for an excellent read from George Will.

Journalists urged caution after Ft. Hood, now race to blame Palin after Arizona shootings

The utter hypocrisy of the liberal Left Stream Media.  Is it any wonder that the market share of outlets like CNN and MSNBC are staggeringly low?  They do not adhere to any journalistic standard but instead follow ideological boundaries.  The shooting in Arizona was terrible but the alleged shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, was described by friends as a "liberal, left wing activist."  Yet CNN and MSNBC are going out of their way to blame Sarah Palin and the rhetoric of conservative talk radio.  I don't believe it is possible for them to be more asinine in their spin on the news.  It would be more logical for them to blame The Daily Kos who published a now-removed (so they could attack Palin with clean hands, I suppose) comment that Gifford should die because she wasn't liberal enough.  But that would still be a ridiculous assertion.

The internet ramblings of Loughner point more to a disturbed individual than to a true political/religious ideologue like Major Nidal Hasan of Ft. Hood Massacre fame.  Remember how the same ones who are now pointing fingers urged calm and said we shouldn't rush to judgment about his Islamic jihadist motives?  They were wrong then, too.  Loughner is not a military veteran as some said immediately after the shooting.  (Why do idiots always like to blame the military first?  We've seen violence, true, and it is something we never want to see again.)  There is no evidence that he is a member of any TEA Party group as the left-wing "Let's-take-advantage-of-this" groups have been asserting.  He is most certainly not a Republican or a Conservative with two of his favorite books being listed as Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto both of which promote left-wing ideology.  He may belong to some fringe group but it is one that is not aligned with either of the two main political parties here in the United States in any manner or fashion.

The investigation of Loughner and the shooting is ongoing.  He is in custody.  Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, et al., clearly had nothing to do with it nor did the political rhetoric of the day promote this sick act.  Think about that when you hear a news commentator try to insinuate that opposition to Obama promoted an attempt on the life of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.  Who are really the promoters of violence?

Obama Eyeing Internet ID for Americans

"I know who you are now and what you wrote.  Now I'm gonna show you how we take care of the enemy in Chicago."  

American's have long objected to a Federal Government-controlled centralized data base for firearms because of concerns that an overreaching politician in the not-necessarily-so-far-distant future would use it to confiscate the arms of private citizens in violation of the 2nd Amendment.  Now we have an overreaching politician who is moving to seize control of the internet through innocuous sounding programs like "Net Neutrality" and now "Internet ID."  It's all being proposed by his "Czars" of course and we can count on him to blandly assure us that he won't allow anyone to interfere with our right to communicate our political ideas via the internet.  He may even issue a nice sounding Executive Order forbidding the use of the information to identify his political opposition which he refers to as "the enemy."

We have to ask ourselves:  Are we willing to trust a man who has lied constantly since elected with our 1st Amendment rights?  Well, are we?

I think not.  We're not ready for a Statist Regime that controls every aspect of our lives and tells us what to think and eat.  It's not 1984...and never will be.

Follow the link for the story.

START and the Spirit of Frank Marshall Davis

Why do I have the feeling that isn't a tobacco cigarette?  

I'm reasonably certain that I'll get a disclaimer from the usual source in Hawaii--my guess is that it's probably an avowed liberal Democrat...someone like the Governor even--claiming that Frank Marshall Davis was neither a Communist or an influence on young Barry Soetoro.  Unfortunately the facts just don't support the denial.

Follow the link for more on what was probably Obama's most significant mentor.