New York, DC

John Batchelor is right. In normal times, this would be a race between Democrats and incompetent Republicans. The press is largely at fault for this state of affairs – the inability of Republicans to get their message out, thus always giving Democrats the edge.

But these aren’t normal times. After our electoral mud fest is over, it won’t be ‘anybody but Obama’ anymore (and there’s no reason to believe that it won’t be Obama), it’ll be ‘anybody but Washington’; both parties will have discredited themselves to the point of absolute irrelevance.

The field will have expanded to include outsiders. And Trump, so far, is the only one who fits the bill. Even as a Republican (in name), Trump will have broken the Washington template. He has shown that he’s prepared to go up against not only the Democrat opposition, but also the press - and the people will be out of their minds, cheering.

For the nation to survive, Washington must be entombed in concrete and the capital moved back up to New York. That’s why I endorsed Trump, hoping he runs.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

How Bad Can It Get?

Okay, I get it! Back in 2008, when Bush and Republicans were sent packing, we thought it couldn’t get any worse. We had hit bottom, we were told. We ignored all the signs - the storm clouds gathering in the distance: questions about the birth certificate, grades, allegiances, past associations, past affiliations - all the warnings. We accused those who counseled caution of alarmism or worse. A new day was dawning after all. The new administration would bring the economy back, heal racist divides, solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, fix health care, lower the tides, etc. In fact, the new president was said to be able to walk on water. People would literally swoon in his presence. We referred to him as ‘the messiah'.

It didn’t take long for the veil to slip. We became concerned. We phoned and e-mailed our elected representatives in Washington. No response. We attended town hall events. No response. We marched en masse on Washington, hoping somebody would notice. No response. We voted…

At each juncture we were brimming with hope. Obama would hear us. He would change direction and pull us away from the brink. Instead America’s decline accelerated: jobs lost, inflation (though nobody is willing to admit it), mortgages underwater, ‘for sale’ signs sprouting like mushrooms, 401k’s drying up, dollar down.

Now we’re asking ourselves, “How bad can it get?” Plenty. Just look what’s happening over in Europe, in the Middle East, in S. America, in the Far East. Could all this be in anyway connected? I would have to say yes. All of it started right here at home. Anyone who fails to note the trench warfare aspect of what’s going on in Congress right now has their head buried in the sand. America is slipping.

And we’ve done it to ourselves. We haven’t done our homework. While we’re mindlessly humiliating grandmothers and cripples at our airports, we would never insist that our highest elected official produce all relevant papers.

Folks, we still don’t know who he is. And we’re growing increasingly suspicious. We leave things hanging to fester. Fact: North Korea and South Korea are literally - not technically - at war! China is at war with us. Iran is at war with us. Half the nations in South America are at war with us. The Left is at war with us. All have said so.

Which side is our president on? The answer gets murkier with each passing day. The implications are enormous. It’s the elephant in the room that everybody tries to ignore. It’s like trying to impose peace in the Middle East while one side refuses to recognize the other.

In a way I’m sorry that I shamed the Azulia Restaurant in Chennai into changing their menu that had a map of the Mediterranean region on its cover. It had left out the State of Israel. On my last visit there I noted that they had corrected the oversight. Now I realize it might well have been right in the first place. How much longer will they be printing maps with America on them?

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Parrot Sketch

The Republican Party is dead. There's no longer anything that can save it. It can appear to function - like a Zombie bank - but that illusion of movement is just the buzzards and the maggots. Sure, there's a rich history there, all the way from Lincoln to Reagan. It hurts some of us to let it go just the way we were once determined to hang on to our American brand of car and cigarettes - until we figured out that both were killing us. Eventually, most of us went Japanese and we gave up cigarettes altogether. Now, all we can do is watch the old Bogart movies.

We're all on the same side. I get wary when someone attacks the Republicans without mentioning the Dems - or vis-a-versa. Both parties are no more; deceased; expired – like the ‘Norwegian Blue’ in Monty Python’s ‘Parrot Sketch’. It's no use pretending they’re not dead. The Dems are animated by Marxism; the Republicans are animated by maggots. Time for something new and healthy; something optimistic; something with a vision; something capable enough to inspire; something vigorous enough to sweep all the road kill to the side.

It'll take some time to get organized; to find our sea legs; to become confident enough to draw serious attention. We're already much further along than anyone thought possible. You wouldn't know that from reading most papers and watching TV.

The '9/12 March on Washington' was a watershed moment. All those who attended knew it was that. There will be other such moments - like a Hoffman win in NY's 23rd, like Corzine going down to defeat (eventually), like the anti-Obama vote in Virginia come next Tuesday. Republican wins in NJ and Virginia should not be interpreted to mean that the Republican Party is alive and well. It's a mere stop-gap measure to show that the country is already sick of Obama’s brand of communism. The Republicans are next up to get their clocks cleaned by, let's say, a party of people who embrace (American) principles, values, sanity and common sense.

Boycott the Elections

What a bunch of hogwash! I'd bet this column and the comments, together with Al Gore, account for nearly all the 'global warming' that's said to be occurring on this planet. Anybody who believes that merely voting Republican (or Democrat) in the next election will solve all our problems is delusional. If the responses alone to John's column can be said to prove anything at all, it's that America is no longer prepared to function as a representative democracy in which (theoretically) democratically elected representatives are sent to Washington to run our nation's business.

Our system has become so straight-jacketed that nothing works anymore as it should. It's become top heavy in favor of the government. It no longer matters what directional monikers we ascribe to our government, the result is always the same: more government; less private sector.

Now it just so happens, that government is merely a tool. And a tool can never exceed the function for which it was designed. On the other hand, the private sector is a dynamic, living thing. We are the private sector. It is we who can dream and aspire to ever greater things. It is we who can grow the economy to outpace public debt; it is we who can win wars; it is we who can put men on the moon; build cars; raise families and lift ourselves up to the full potential that defines a productive and dignified existence.

Government can do none of these things. Without popular support, government becomes a prison. All those within it are already dead. Guards and inmates alike are confined by the same walls; all, simply waiting for the stoppage of breath that would release them from what essentially amounts to self-imposed bondage.

At this point it's become senseless to talk about political parties. Whether Democrat or Republican, government is too big; too burdensome; too intrusive. Why should a six-year old be sent to reform school because he proudly brought his Cub Scout cutlery to school for show and tell? Why should any citizen be denied from becoming an owner of a football team if he has the money and is willing to pay? Why are there laws prohibiting smoking outdoors? Why should a beauty queen be condemned for giving an honest answer to a solicited question? Why should a person be fined for choosing not to purchase health care insurance? It goes on and on.

That is why I say, it's already gone too far. A vote for this or that no longer matters. It is mere distraction; a way to cajole us into believing that we can slip our chains.

So many are breathlessly awaiting the next election cycle. Just as so many have waited for the last. So many had thought something good would happen if they just were to gather on the National Mall in great numbers. It’s all but forgotten now. The ‘National Equality March’ last weekend drew less people and received more national coverage. It’s already been released as a milestone to appear in next year’s crop of school books. Go figure. The deck is clearly stacked.

Time to reassess the situation. At this point I would say, boycott the elections. Sure, the Dems would win again – so what? UN observers would have to declare the election null and void – but they won’t. Realistically, what would we gain if Republicans were to win? We would just be endorsing their ‘good cop/bad cop’ scam with our once precious vote. …and the hosing would continue, now with our blessing, until we’re so tired, so disheartened, so suicidal… Kenneth may have a point when citing the birth rate in Russia.

Now Is the Time

There seems to be some confusion about the number of people attending the March on Washington rally this weekend. Press reports have it anywhere from several scores to two million. This tells me that this event in and of itself has not succeeded in piercing the media’s protective Teflon coating around the president. People of differing political persuasions will still be able to cite the source of their choice in order to support their arguments. I personally subscribe to the higher number (and this is not counting all those millions who wanted to, but could not attend).

This just points out that we cannot rest; that we have to continue to find inventive new ways of piercing the media bubble around Obama. Joe Wilson did it – and he was just one man. Glenn Beck and his team of intrepids also managed it – and these were just a handful.

The accompanying video (above) clearly showed that the young reporters were unhinged. They did not expect what was happening (at the 9/12 Washington rally). In order to succeed in bringing some sanity back into our public discourse, we need to get the press to heel. We need to get them to acknowledge that something of seismic proportions is happening here; something that cannot be simply swept under the rug with blanket accusations of ‘racism’.

Our elected representatives too are not stupid. They must by now have recognized the tremendous opportunities that exist simply for the courage of stepping forward and taking up the reigns. They also must see the perils (to themselves) of attempting to maintain the status quo. Who will it be? Who will step into the breach? Will it be Joe Wilson? Thaddeus McCotter?

Every great nation can expect a savior to appear when that nation is in trouble. America is a great nation. She is in trouble. Who will come forward? Now is the time!

We March

We march to overturn past elections. We march for the opportunity to re-fight past wars. We march for the Constitution, now in tatters. We march for capitalism, now discredited. We march for our educational system, now corrupt. We march to demonstrate our reawakening to the political process. We march to reassert what’s left of our political power. We march.

We’ve overslept; we’ve failed to heed the alarms. We look at the clock. We’ve missed our train. Now we march.

The sun is already high over the horizon; we march to put the genie back into the bottle. Common sense tells us it cannot be done. We know we must start again at the beginning. We must start at ground zero. Our enemies have had a head start by about 40 years or so.

We march. We know that in order to save ourselves we must catch up. We must rally our troops. We recognize our disadvantage; the impossibility of what still lies ahead, demanding to be done. Still, we march.

Despite the long odds, we also recognize that we have allies. We have the numbers; we have our tradition; we have the truth on our side. The truth always wins out, they say. This gives us comfort. This alone makes the attempt worthwhile.

No great cause is achieved (or maintained) without sacrifice; without effort. We’ve been lazy – running on fumes; on the sweat and sacrifice of our forefathers. We’ve had to do nothing for a very long time. And nothing is exactly what we did. It’s brought us to this point; it’s brought us Obama; it’s emboldened those who would seek us harm.

They, on the other hand, have not been asleep. They’ve plotted and planned. They’ve taken baby steps that have gathered into miles – steps we have consistently ignored or swept under the proverbial rug. Now we’ve been forced to move – cast out of our own house and into the house of a stranger. The moving van is outside, waiting. The carpet goes too. We roll it up and are forced to confront all the broken things underneath it: the Constitution; our educational system; our foreign policy; our free-market economy; our legal system; our melting pot; our morality; our capacity for ignoring important things.

Now we march. We take the first step. We hope. We pray. God helps those who help themselves, they say. We pray it’s not too late.

God’s speed, marchers!