The Radical Hobson Twins

It’s been apparent for some time now that the only thing the Democrats and their mouthpiece media care about is getting Democrats elected. It became nauseatingly apparent during the Bush administration when they celebrated every fallen American soldier in Iraq with moments of silent laughter at the end of daily newscasts. Clearly, they wanted to show the war lost to make Bush (and Republicans) look bad. The economy too was reported to be worse than it was. Revisions upward never received due attention.

The strategy is now being continued. Clearly, every Republican idea for saving the economy, social security and Medicare is demonized by the Left - this, while these same people refuse to propose any remedies of their own. What seems obvious to most of us is that if nothing is done, these programs will default. By opposing every fix, Democrats are inviting bankruptcy on a national scale. Their answer is always ‘tax the rich’ which continues to have a certain popular appeal – never mind that, by raising taxes ever higher, talent and capital will flee off-shore, accelerating our march to fiscal Armageddon – never mind that our nation is already broke, and being kept afloat by smoke on mirrors and by every infinity we can find to define.

The thinking among Democrats continues to be that the end-all is simply to keep getting elected as to afford them a chance to continue feasting at the public troth. Most are unable to see beyond their elections. They don’t understand that, once in office, their job should just be beginning: to represent the people(’s will) and protect our nation.

Republicans - perennial losers - stand green with envy and awe of what the Dems are consistently able to do in their own behalf. Like hungry beggars, they slaver over the crumbs that the Dems leave out for the ones most likely to whore themselves out to traitorous causes.

Senators and Congressmen who get up and grandstand about cutting foreign aid and assistance to the poor are doing so simply to divert attention from their own excesses. The gravy train keeps rolling – certainly not for the genuine poor (who will always be exactly where they are, and who will always be poor; but) – to feather their own political nests.

Don’t look to fancy constructs of conspiracy. Don’t look to various ‘isms’ to explain it. Simply put, we are eating our own. NY-26 has introduced yet another arrow into the Democrat Party quiver. Democrats have discovered that the tea party now is their best friend. By injecting some fake, phony ‘tea party’ member into any election mix, their reservation at the beggar’s banquet is virtually guaranteed.

Reminds of all those so-called ‘democracy’ movements in the Middle East that are being hijacked by the MB. It looks like we’re down to choosing between identical Hobson twins.

Between radical ideology and radical greed, which one would you choose? For my money, I’d be content just to stay home and read about it in the paper the next morning.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

The Cat's Meow

We have lost the language. We no longer listen to each other, we only speak. As such, we do not hear what anyone else is saying. It’s become a problem worldwide. Arab hatred for Jews is based on a lie. The idea of ‘global warming’ was based on a lie. Democrats painting Republicans as racist is a convenient lie, as is the current campaign against ‘the rich’.

The templates are set. There is no escaping. We, on the right, have hardened our templates as well in response to the Left’s aggression. We ourselves have countered with lies. In this climate, how can mere words be anything but partisan? Our alienation from each other goes much deeper than words. It can no longer be solved by simply inventing new words and casting new templates.

Words and templates seem flimsy when seen alongside powerhouse emotion. Palestinians hate Jews. Democrats hate Republicans. Communists hate capitalism. The poor hate the rich. Words are the kindling. Once the fire is started, it can no longer be contained. More kindling will not douse it. We are already into the next phase: power.

As Tom rightly points out, the Left has been meticulously organizing since the 60’s. They’ve done so incrementally, taking tiny steps: at first it was casual Fridays. Now, they also have the power. They control the narrative. All we on the Right can do is counter with kindling. Truth has long since become irrelevant - economic theory, for instance.

The only way out is to ‘reset’ (sorry Hillary!). Something of such significance must happen as to be capable of blowing all previous assumptions away - bringing people back to basics; getting them to actually face each other again, and begin responding to others’ basic needs.

In the past, the only human instrument capable of bringing this about has been war. In war, ideologies are not of much use. All such armchair posturing is subjugated by the need to survive. Soldiers may even encounter situations in which they must depend (in one way or another) on the enemy for their survival. (Note: leaders seldom face this dilemma.) Life hangs in the balance, but at least you’re looking at the whites of someone’s eyes who is not you, and you’re almost bound to find that common thread (good or bad) that defines a human trait.

I hold that when it gets down to brass nuts, men will behave like men – with kindness and good will. It may take something calamitous to get us back to there.

NY-26 is an example of localized political pantomime. We’re seeing lips move, but we’re not actually there. It would be a mistake to characterize these (or any) voters as dumb (or easily led.) There is a reason for why things happen the way they do.

From this distance, it looks like the partisan shtick all over again with a twist: It seems to me that Republicans are even more hated than Democrats. Republicans are hated for being weak and not standing up to Democrats. They’re hated for reaching across the aisle; they’re hated for compromising. They’re hated for getting up and smiling broadly under the TV lights after having just betrayed some important principle, thinking themselves the cat’s meow.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Outside The Gulag

The principal difference between the Left and Right as pertains to fiscal policy is to strip money of the concept of ‘value’ and replace it with the concept of ‘rights’. The whole movement is animated by the Utopian vision of ‘collective salvation’. In most countries of the world they wouldn’t give you a plug nickel for a beggar’s carcass - dead or alive. You would nevertheless have to pay a certain sum for a freshly killed chicken. A chicken has value in that it can be eaten.

There are, of course, excesses on all sides of the argument. Why should some people be living in the lap of luxury while others are starving? And, what happens when ‘rights’ are extended to animals as some purists demand?

The logic, as always, breaks down on its fringes. The ‘rights’ advocates already find themselves on shaky ground in that what they advocate does not and has never existed (successfully). Their vision boils down to pure rhetoric. The ‘values’ people are constantly on the defensive having let the gulf between excess and need get out of hand.

The recurring question (and problem) concerning the latter is: Who would administer the standard to which we could all agree? Clearly, none of us are the same. We have different talents and are burdened with different vices. Some are creative; others are drones. Some sound compelling on the radio; some do not. Some can play basketball better than others. Should each one be treated the same – as is appropriate under the law – in fiscal matters as well?

The Leftists would concur that this is indeed their goal. It is the sum total of their Utopian vision. All they would need to implement it is the mandate and power to overturn the present system.

Even Leftist would abandon their vision if they could grasp the consequences of their quest. Their vision assumes that by exchanging a (perhaps) relatively minor part of a car’s engine, all the other parts would continue working just the same.

When Jaguar rolled out its E-Type in 1961, several publications ranked it as the most beautiful car of all time. And that it was. I remember coming out of a Chinese restaurant in New York City one night and seeing one for the first time. A sizable crowd had gathered around it. I was mesmerized.

Almost immediately, owners started complaining about the car’s Lucas (British) electrical system. Later, this issue was said to have been solved by swapping out Lucas for Bosch (German). In this case, the swap turned out for the best.

When talking economics, however, the swapping out ‘value’ for ‘rights’ does not augur well. It would likely mimic a body rejecting a transplant. ‘Value’ will always be a key component as long as human beings are allowed to make choices. ‘Rights’ can only extend to the degree that choices exist. The very logic that the Left is asking us to accept is incompatible with human experience outside of the gulag.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Short Bits: Killing Osama

I seem to remember a soldier being court-martialed for giving a captured terrorist, a fat lip. Now I could be wrong; I never heard anything about it again. I understand, the rules of engagement are really quite stringent – unless, of course, they are overruled by the Commander-in-Chief.

A police officer who has killed in the course of duty often requires many hours of counseling. Now that Obama has a targeted kill under his belt, he cannot help being a changed man. (Somebody must have given the order to ‘kill on sight’.) He can now go one of two ways. Either he will grow hesitant and indecisive, or he will take on the role of mob boss with renewed gusto.

Killing has always been the ultimate wet dream of the Left. I remember people incessantly toying with the idea while Bush was still in office. And just this week liberal talk show host, Mike Malloy, proposed on air that the Navy Seals kill “mass-murderer” George W. Bush.

Despite the apparent applause from all virtually quarters, I cannot shake a distinct sense of unease.
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Now for a different view by Corlyss D, Guest Contributer, responding to John Batchelor's question, "Why not capture him (OBL)?"

Hypothesize me no hypotheticals. They are frankly less than worthless. Reality demands response. You can sit and think and think all day long about "what ifs."

I say good on SEAL Team 6! We need more of that kind of covert assassination rather than a moralizing epitaph for the dead. A writer who fancies himself a historian and moralist declared a couple of years ago that the only "winners" of WW2 were the European Jews because most of them died and, in so doing, aquired a sort of beatification of the defenseless. The writer implied that was a state that all peoples should aspire to if they want their reputations to survive conflict. Bugger that.

"Why not capture him?" (John Batchelor asks.) "Infamous war criminals make for epochal landmark war crimes prosecution (the delusional, deprraved, stupid Martin Borman: and surely the Nuremberg gang was far more frightening the Bin Laden)."

Why capture him? The Nuremberg trials might have been epochal, but they were a huge political mistake. They gave the illusion of state action without a legitmate state. They polluted the judicial process with a star chamber whose outcome was never in doubt. They wasted a lot of money creating the impression that there was such a thing as consensus in an international community that was hardly more developed than the Libyan resistence is today. Churchill was right: the trials have indeed come back to haunt the hell out of us, establishing a precedent that lives in the feckless ICC and the misguided internationalist blather that motivates many policy makers in the EU and other trend-setters seeking legitimacy for an international community incapable of doing anything but relief work by consensus. Quasi-states are impotent in so many categories of critical civil society functions that to bestow on them serious state functions like law enforcement and war-making capability is simply delusional.
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Final thought: I guess what has me upset is that this Osama killing accrues to Obama. It’s just one more way for Obama to maintain the illusion that he is an ‘American’. He is not. Everything he’s done has been detrimental to our nation. I say it’s deliberate. Read Kimberly A. Strassel’s opinion piece entitled “Obama’s ‘Gangster Politics’” in today’s WSJ; and then go on to read Gerald P. O’Driscoll, Jr.’s “Barney Frank’s Latest Bad Idea”. Then turn the page and read Michael B. Mukasey’s “The Waterboarding Trail to bin Laden”. And that’s just today! Every day brings a fresh outrage or more. And now we’re supposed to forget it all and say he’s the best thing since sliced bread? Not me, brother!

Perhaps Cicero said it best:

“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.”

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Clouds Gathering

Things are starting to come into focus. Let’s stipulate for a moment that all we’ve been hearing is true; that Obama is actually native born, and that he succeeded in finding and killing Osama; that Osama hasn’t really been dead for years and that it’s not only just now that Obama is taking credit for his corpse. Let’s even say that Pakistan was involved in the ruse (which now seems likely) and that the whole thing hinged on a deal by which Obama get’s Osama and Pakistan gets Afghanistan. How does this help Obama?

Well, for one thing, judging from the reaction of both the left and right media, Obama is counting on his poll numbers to go up – and stay up. He’ll be able to say to the American public that the war in Afghanistan is now over and we can withdraw our troops. Americans would view this as welcome news and give full credit to our heroic and victorious president - and reelect him to a second term.

The problem is that the world has changed since 9/11. What has changed is that the Left and the Islamists are now united and are working in consort for a common goal. The movement that started with bin Laden is no longer strictly Arab based. It is based on the far broader idea of ending western capitalism. There are strong indications that Obama is quite on board with that. This would make POTUS our very own home-grown “Jihad Johnny” (Walker, a.k.a. ‘The American Taliban’).

The fly in the ointment is the Islamic inviolable desire to push Israel into the sea and that this must occur before anything else happens. POTUS has already shown himself as being no particular friend of Israel. Yet, he still depends heavily on (liberal) Jewish support. This would require him to play a double game. He must seem to please both the Arabs as well as the Jews.

The best way for him to proceed would be to work against Israel in a stealth manner. We note that every maneuver of his is designed to weaken Israel and strengthen her adversaries. It is my belief that he intends for Israel to fall while keeping his own hands clean. I do not believe this strategy will work. When push comes to shove, Israel will either successfully defend herself or receive help from an unexpected source. (China?)

At this point, the Left-Islamic coalition will come off the rails and the game will be exposed. The West will turn on a dime and fight back. None of this will be pretty to watch; but in the end all will turn out alright. The cleanup will be tremendous though. Economies will be in ruins and there will be plenty of blood. Islamists will meet up with their sainted martyrdom and the Left will be pursued to the ends of the earth.

We are reminded of the start of the Second World War. It’s difficult to imagine such a war without the U.S. being on the side of the good guys. But Germany turned out alright in the end, after everything was said and done. It’s just a shame that we will have to go through the whole mess all over again.

You might want to re-read my article entitled “The Tables Are Turning”, posted June 4th, 2010 for some background re elitism and how Israel fits into the overall picture.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Cinderella's Bloody Glass Slipper

Since I had to carry a gun for my work, I needed to qualify every six months. Missing the target was not an option. It never is.

This morning I went downstairs for breakfast. I turned on the radio. And there it was: The obligatory jabs at both Trump and Palin – and all this by a New York local radio host who’s considered ‘conservative’. It seems we’ve all been down this road before. We just never learn. Back then, our fav piñata was Bush. What we wouldn’t give to have him back again!

Obama remains untouched. Every word of his is routinely afforded the gravitas it no longer deserves. We try so hard to fit this wicked stepsister’s foot into Cinderella’s glass slipper. It must be the slipper’s fault. And yet, midnight is fast approaching when everything turns to pumpkins.

The Left has no compunction in slicing off toes. In fact, they have the surgeons constantly standing at the ready. Never mind the spectacle of blood, smear and dishonesty which disgusts and, at the same time, fascinates. They work in tandem with the media, like a well oiled machine. Slice here and dice there, and the shoe is made to fit despite the corns.

There, on the front page of the WSJ, the headline reads, “Karzai Told to Dump U.S” – by Pakistan no less. Inside, there’s a story about the trial and conviction of ‘Big Fish’ Lee Farkas, former chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage. Only, it turns out, that Farkas wasn’t such a ‘Big Fish’ after all; that our government was behind it all (in the form of Fannie and Freddie Mac).

It’s just that the government has now assumed the status of ‘sacred cow’ and can never be touched. Instead we send up thousands to atone for the government’s sins. As Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. – author of “A Mortgage ‘Big Fish’ Disappoints” – laments, the whole thing “fails to confirm the media intuition that the housing boom and bust were brought on by the criminality by mortgage CEOs.”

Same with the spike in gas prices at the pump. It couldn’t possibly be due to Obama’s policies (even though he explicitly told us that he wants us to pay more for gas). It couldn’t possibly be due to the collapse of the dollar due to the government policy of printing images on paper and pretending it’s real money.

Overseas hangs the giant Libyan question mark – and Egypt, Iran, Syria and the entire Middle East. Then, there’s Russia and China; South America. What is it this president believes?

Bolton says there’s no rhyme or reason to Obama’s foreign policy. Really? Everywhere we look we lose. Sounds suspiciously like a plan.

At the very least, Kaddafi knows what he wants and he’s willing to go for it, even if it kills him. Anyone who can articulate what he wants, short of sh*t-canning their own nation has a leg up on Obama at this point. I’m not saying that Obama isn’t smart or doesn’t have goals. …and isn’t it remarkable how Obama just managed to get us to sh*t-can our own just by the ruse of releasing his birth certificate?

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Respect

For those who would be tempted to view our times within the context of the American Civil War, the BP Gulf oil spill would represent Fort Sumter. We currently find ourselves somewhere between Fort Sumter and Gettysburg. The oil spill was the first clear shot across the bow of America. It gave our president his first opportunity to clamp down on America’s jugular. Since then, the Left has managed to rack up an impressive string of victories. Even counting a significant number of electoral setbacks (during midterms), this seems to have had zero effect on the Left’s forward momentum. The economy is still in trouble and our position globally has become increasingly tenuous. It is clear that the American Left is hard at work toward seeing that America slips to second or third rung status among nations. So far, they are succeeding.

I have long predicted that something will happen that will forestall the 2012 elections and that Obama would remain in office. If this is correct, it would suggest the timeframe within which to expect Gettysburg. Gettysburg could be anything, foreign or domestic. Too many fuses are already lit; too much ordinance likely to detonate. When it does, there will either be chaos or the system will collapse into a shadow structure (already built and in place).

No one is willing to fully accept that any of this can happen – not in America. Those raising alarms are systematically silenced, crushed by ignorance, and by a general unwillingness to connect the dots and follow trend lines to their logical conclusion. Others, only semi-aware, place their hopes on 2012, our next chance to replace the leadership in Washington. They do not consider the possibility that we might never get there.

How to prepare? First off, know what you stand for. If you stand for liberty and the spirit of America, say so outright and without hesitation. Your worst move is to succumb to the bullying tactics of the Left, or to retaliate in kind. If you happen to be on the left, come out of hiding and state your intent plainly. Stealth will no longer serve you. Everybody must have a voice in determining where we want to end up. For the exercise to succeed, all cards must be put face-up on the table. Winner takes all.

Recognize too that your money is gone. It is being used as a weapon against you - to get you to do things you wouldn’t ordinarily consider doing. Write it off; start fresh. Hunger is another matter. But even hunger can be used as a weapon for a righteous cause. Anna Hazare moved the world recently by going on a hunger strike – so did Gandhi.

Know where you stand and adjust to doing without creature comforts. Obama’s threat to raise a billion dollars for his reelection campaign is meaningless. The money he intends on using has no value – and he knows it. It is a bluff to fend off adversaries. Doing without money will be easier than it seems. For one thing, you can no longer be bribed or corrupted by it. You will be free to pursue what’s right and true. And your reward will be far greater than anything money can ever hope to buy, among these: self-respect.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Spitting In the Wind

As POTUS struggles politically, his biggest enemy is rewind. There is now plenty of video of POTUS’ previous speeches and pronouncements. Polls indicate that the ‘hope and change’ thing no longer connects. We’ve heard it all before and the past two and a half years have done nothing to bolster Obama’s credibility for the broad range of American voters.

We’ve also heard the loyal opposition. It too has been discredited to the point imparting a general sense of hopeless acceptance of its inability to make even so much as a dent in the now widespread notion that things will get worse (‘before they get better’ is at this point not even on the horizon).

The notion that gasoline prices will determine the fate of POTUS in 2012 is absurd. It is now apparent that the media will not make it an issue that can be tied to the president. If not an issue, it will have no effect except dragging down the economy still further - which too will not be an issue by virtue of the media basically ignoring the metrics. In fact, there is now the widespread perception that Obama actually wants $5 to $7 dollar gas - and that this would be a good thing - that it would suit his ideological objectives with regard to greenhouse emissions, depopulating the suburbs (and thereby revitalizing urban centers), achieving energy independence, and redistributing what‘s left of America‘s wealth. Add to this the overall perception that Obama is pursuing a course that is essentially anti-American.

This last point can be argued depending on where one stands. The 13% of committed socialists that now seem to have exclusive rights to the president’s ear would submit that things are going just swimmingly, while the rest of us are still hedging our bets.

Obama is playing to both camps. He is hoping to placate the majority with vague ‘hope and change’ rhetoric while reinforcing his credibility with his left-wing base. It’s a tricky maneuver to be sure, but made very much easier given the way major media slants things to favor the Left.

Does Obama have a chance in 2012? I think so. As I wrote in my brief entitled, “In Quest of the Prize Pig”, I feel he has a better than even chance of even winning the political battle.

Where does that leave us? For one thing, we’ll be left to battle the historical tide as random pieces of flotsam in an ocean as big as the world. And, as the use of mirrors will likely be banned, we’ll be unable to see the likely result of spitting in the wind.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

A Cautionary Tale

Today it is raining. As is quite usual for us, when it rains, our morning newspaper – though double bagged – gets soaked through and through. I threw it in the garbage and called 1-888–JOURNAL to complain. Their automated system gave us a credit. That did not really solve it.

Then, curiosity got the better of me. I retrieved the paper and struggled on to the opinion pages. I was glad I did. There was an article by Takis Michas entitled “Athens Descends Into Anarchy”. It began thus:

“Greece’s public debt may reach 150% of GDP this year… But in the final analysis, the major issue confronting Greece may not be its solvency, but its governance.”

It goes on, “The country is at the mercy of militant activists who are inspired by various factions of the hard left.” Then it goes on to list some of them: Greece’s Communist Party, the anarcho-Stalinist Coalition and the International Workers’ Left among these. “…their followers have taken to harassing citizens and destroying public property – even taking over whole villages.”

Mr. Michas goes on, “What stand out in all these incidents is the authorities' inability or unwillingness to enforce the law…

“Many argue that Greece’s disintegration is the unavoidable consequence of the government’s attempt to enforce fiscal austerity.” Michas disagrees. “This meltdown can be seen,” he says, “as the product of the authoritarian left’s open attempts to exploit the economic crisis and destroy Greece’s existing democratic and economic institutions. What we are witnessing is not a descent into chaos, but… into organized lawlessness; sowing pandemonium and forcing Greece to default…”

Michas states that according to polls, the Left only enjoys the support of 13% of the population. He concludes by saying, “The problem… lies with the political and ideological passivity of the parties that do represent Greece’s broader middle classes. The tolerance these democrats have shown toward their totalitarian counterparts has allowed the latter to play a leading role in shaping Greek public discourse.” Michas asks, “Do they imagine that the favor would be returned if the… Left were in charge?”

As such, this is a cautionary tale for us as well. What the people of America still fail to understand is that the ideological Left will not be content to rule over a capitalist/democratic system. They fully intend to change it and make it into their own.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Political Pornography

In our nation, where everything to the right of extreme is labeled ‘extreme’, everything I have written on these pages is considered ‘extreme’. Simply stating a point of fact – that we are going broke – is now ‘extreme’. Stating that we are now providing air cover for AQ in Libya is ‘extreme’ as is criticizing our active support of terrorist Palestinian groups.

As such, any middle ground with regard to any issue has effectively given way. ‘It’s my way or the highway’ appears to be the rallying cry of the hard Left. They will not be satisfied until every one of their demands has been met. No wonder that they have found allies among Islamists whose uncompromising methods closely mirror their own.

I have tried to go beyond surface talking points which, taken individually, are often misleading. I have tried to project the extreme positions which we are asked to accept into what is likely to come after. Not many yet realize fully what a wholesale shift in values would actually entail; how it would affect the lives of individuals; that a fundamental emphasis away from honest work to protection would degrade our nation to the lowest common denominator.

A coalition of (albeit fickle) malcontents seems to have assumed a majority. Whether the numbers are real or not, the perception of this phantom majority nevertheless holds sway as exhibited by our leadership which appears not inclined to change course. If, as polls now indicate, a true majority has indeed had a belly full and changed its positions, it has had no impact on governance in general. The present administration has displayed no willingness to address a growing chorus of concerns. To some, this has brought the Obama administration to the brink of (il)legitimacy.

Yet, there appears to be no one to turn to. We see ourselves as locked into four-year cycles. With the flagrant politicization of virtually every official and non-official institution - primarily media and justice - our hands are tied.

I note that inside virtually every publicly accessible establishment in our New York Metropolitan area that boasts of having TV screens – hospitals, airports, bars, restaurants and the like – these are invariably tuned to CNN or MSNBC. I have yet to see one of these tuned to the FOX channel. There seems to be a common understanding that FOX is somehow biased and ‘extreme’ – even dirty or uncivilized – and offensive to the public at large, almost like pornography. Michael Savage’s intro to his radio program contains the phrase ‘psychological nudity’. He’s doing it tongue-in-cheek, no doubt. But the libs use it as a springboard.

Also of note is that station breaks for what is commonly referred to as right-wing radio are richly peppered with sex-aid advertising. (Such ads, by the way, are inserted by the networks and not by the host of these programs.) It all works to create the overall impression that right-wing talk is not exactly wholesome.

While the ratings would suggest overwhelming interest, if not outright support for politically conservative programming, the stigma attached is clearly working to delegitimize its impact.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

They All Were Despised

Pawlenty, Shmawlenty! This is the first time I’ve heard of this man. We know nothing about him except that he can talk and say all the right things in a campaign commercial while a rousing dirge plays in the background. Where has this man been for the past two years? He should have been shouting ‘Fire!’ in this crowded American theater all along – along with everybody else. Now it may already be too late. Reminds of that sorry-looking fish he’s holding on the cover of TIME. (What is that? Buckshot?)

Pawlenty is portrayed as a loser with close similarities to McCain. He even lost to Palin when it came time for McCain to pick a running mate. No, I’ve actually been reduced to looking at Kucinich for leadership. At least he had the guts to call for Obama’s impeachment. Wouldn’t it be delicious irony if Obama’s greatest threat came from the left?

Maybe it is right what Islamists say about us; that our days are numbered; that we have lost our way; our will; our resolve to fight and prevail while dancing pointless pirouettes on White House parkette, just marking time before the barbarians arrive and knock down the gates. Perhaps it’s already happened and we’ve got our heads so far up..., we can’t even see what’s being done to us. And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? - our precious, gilded as*es, making believe our sh*t doesn’t stink.

That’s how they see us – our enemies: faded prima donnas in drag. There won’t be much to sweep away after it’s all over; our egos lying shattered on the ballroom floor. It shouldn’t take much to clean up the mess. Hell, we could do it ourselves – but we won’t. There are certain jobs Americans just will no longer do.

Right now our enemies are doing a pretty fair job of cleaning our clocks. One janitor is as good as the next. Maybe we’ve cried ‘wolf’ too many times: We can no longer tell the difference between them. Clinton, Bush, Obama (actually it started in earnest with Reagan). They all were despised.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Burning Down Through the Core

For the Left, recent and ongoing disasters as we are currently witnessing in Japan, America’s economic meltdown, ever increasing turmoil in the Middle East - all are proof positive (to paraphrase the now famous words of the Right Rev. Wright and others) that the chickens are coming home to roost.

The White House is caught up in a fever of partying; at the State Department, they are busy toasting each other while barely suppressing smiles; the greens are celebrating the death of the nuclear power industry; and in Ramallah, they’re handing out sweets.

As long as I can remember, I’ve had no facility with numbers. If you were to ask me to give you our town’s exit number (on Rt. 78) - even after having lived here more than 50 years - I would first have to consult a map. Only (the) names (of towns) make sense to me. Similarly, all the dates JB tries so hard to familiarize us with in his quest to imbue us with some level of historical perspective mean nothing to me. As such, I have only a rudimentary concept of time. I have to make do simply with past, present and future. As such, time’s metrics are of no use in my own calculations - and neither are Kudlow’s numbers.

I can close both eyes; I can close my right while keeping my left one open, but I can’t close my left eye alone. There’s simply nothing there to do it with. I do not consider myself ‘retarded’. It’s rather that I’ve had to accept the fact that I am missing a faculty that most others take for granted, much like sight or hearing, etc.; senses, that often are said not to enhance, but to limit our perception. We are doomed to see only a narrow band of light. With sound it’s pretty much the same. Anything outside the narrow frame that constitutes our reality, though it exists, we cannot perceive and often will not acknowledge.

Such blind spots and many others - such as a failure to recognize God - are common.

The Left’s failure to recognize the difference between good and evil is nonetheless astounding to me. They’ve managed to blur the line so much as to put both on equal footing. A crisis, such as the one currently unfolding in Japan (admittedly still in its early stages); the crashing of the dollar; rising food and fuel prices; etc. seem not to be regarded as tragedy but rather as an opportunity to advance ideological agendas. Any crisis can be used as an interlude in which to decide which way the dust will settle and then to side with the most likely outcome - and declare victory. Therefore, the end game is always the same: “revolution” (without principle or morality).

This, it seems to me, is where we are today. I think the word for it is ‘opportunism’. It is rank fecklessness and seems to guarantee success in reaching the lowest level (at which water collects and then stagnates). The lowest level is always easiest to ‘achieve', even if it were to involve the seldom perceived extreme of burning down through to the core.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Romney: Didn't We...

When people are taken hostage they are customarily bound and gagged: bound, as to prevent escape; gagged as to prevent them from speaking.

Though I have no proof, I believe that years ago the Catholic Church was deliberately infiltrated by elements that were intent on sowing mischief. There was much to be gained by the diminution of the Church’s credibility and power. Offshoots and lesser Christian denominations were targeted as well, but there the approach was more directly ideological. These would essentially evolve into politically-driven social clubs.

In politics, a similar strategy has now become apparent. The Democrat Party - the weaker of the two American political parties, weakened primarily by the indiscretions of Bill Clinton - became a cesspool for leftist tripe. The Republican Party also would not remain immune to anti-American trends.

In our last presidential election it was interesting to note just how the strategy works. The people were presented essentially with a Hobson’s choice. On one hand, a known entity, saddled with all of the trumped-up failures of the past; a war hero, who quite appropriately wrapped himself in the American flag, but was a ‘progressive’ (new word for ‘socialist') nonetheless. On the other, an unknown. “Let’s try something different,” became the excuse of the duped who thought themselves as modern and, above all, (oh so) tolerant. (The Islamization of America had not yet entered the frame.) The office at stake was not that important after all. We’d been attacking it, belittling it, mocking it for eight years without seeing much of a difference.

As the table is now being set for the 2012 election cycle, we see more of the same. No doubt, Obama’s record constitutes a serious drag for Democrats as Republicans continue to poll well. But far from taking the opportunity to change course, we’re merely changing masks and party labels. Romney should be out by virtue of his health care blunder in Massachusetts alone. The real standard bearers of conservatism continue to be demonized by both the Left and the Right. ‘Centrist’ and ‘no labels’ are exalted, but stand firmly for the status quo: a sometimes rapid, sometimes slow descent. When what we really need to do is tear up the tracks going forward and turn this train around.

As I’ve said previously, Obama’s election was no accident. All was in place to bring it about. I maintain, that under McCain it would now be no different. In some ways it might even be worse.

I am simply amazed how many who claim to be on our side are perfectly willing to denounce Palin; how many laugh and nod their heads knowingly when someone outrageously and publicly claims she is no more than masturbatory material.

Romney looks good on the golf course. I may be mistaken, but didn’t we just try that?

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Sheep

I can envision several scenarios by which our current president could secure for himself a second term.

1. From our recent experience in Egypt, we have learned that the most organized party usually wins. The Left (or Democrats) are organized to the hilt. The in-fighting among Republicans has already begun.

2. A third-party candidate (like Trump) could enter the race and split the Republican Party. Result: Obama is president for another four years.

3. Things between then and now could become so chaotic, we might decide to postpone elections indefinitely.

4. Or, the media could re-cast Obama as the prodigal son, now embracing all the ‘right’ policies while, at the same time, demonizing Republicans and painting them as dangerously cruel and ‘extreme‘. Obama himself could help his cause by tracking to the right in public pronouncements, and promises which he obviously never intends to keep. You and I know that, but the drones will go for it in droves. Besides, we’re constantly hearing what a super guy Obama is; that it’s only his policies that are misguided.

There are probably several other ways Obama could get himself ‘re-elected’, ways that I haven’t even yet thought of. Outright election fraud comes immediately to mind. It could even be a combination of some or all of the above. I wouldn’t be surprised if the strategy has been already scripted (like the last election was) and is sitting in some lib bureaucrat’s bottom drawer somewhere. What we can be sure of that it’s there, just waiting to be implemented (if it hasn’t been already).

Remind, there were people in our country who applauded after the World Trade Center was hit. Those same people have exponentially increased in numbers. They see themselves as having momentum (they won’t let go), while the rest of us are becoming more and more marginalized.

Obama’s election wasn’t a fluke. Everything that brought it about is still in play. There has been no epiphany among the great unwashed (sheep).

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Even the Trees Know

For people to the left of (and including) ‘liberal’ along the political spectrum, money has no meaning; work has no meaning; the individual has no meaning; words have no meaning; integrity has no meaning; history has no meaning; hope has no meaning; truth has no meaning; life has no meaning; nothing has meaning.

As such, the Left does not exist.

It happily (and cleverly) mimics the Right in word and sentiment in order to gain entrance. Once inside, it metastasizes and seeks to destroy the host.

It is up to the host to fight its disease. It must keep itself strong and resistant to the leaching void. Knowledge is key. The Left always attacks knowledge first. It uses words to turn truth on its head. It sweetens the pot with empty promises. It adds the salt of hatred. It borrows the tears of personal misfortune. It wallows in the blood of heroes. It pretends to be more alive than the living.

Witnessing the descent of America, I know I am right. “To be or not to be”; I am. “I think, therefore I am”; I am, and will be. I know the Left is fighting a losing battle. Life will always win out over death. And though death is always with us, it is just an illusion that serves to give meaning to life.

As we watch people fighting overseas, freely offering their bodies up for a cause, we are reminded that pain equals healing; that it is we who are in danger of forgetting the nature and purpose of pain - a comfortably numb generation, stumbling about in the dark, no longer knowing which is up, while even the trees know which way to turn.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

America: Not For Profit

There have been calls for revolution right here in America. Most prominently such calls have recently been heard at the protests in Wisconsin‘s state capital. Neither did the oft stated comparison to Egypt’s revolution escape public notice.

As in a series of strokes, first symptoms are seldom recognized as dangerous. Our first rattling of the cage came with the election of Barack Hussein Obama. We’ve been in revolution mode ever since. It’s reached a point where a counter-revolution is now building: the Tea Parties.

When Americans speak of revolution as pertains to their own country, it is difficult to determine what exactly they are talking about. ‘Revolution’ has become a sort of shorthand for ‘change’ popularized in 2008 during Obama’s election bid. Back then, it essentially meant nothing. Change would happen no matter which candidate were to be chosen. Bush was no longer on the ballot after all.

Perhaps, revolution can be identified as ‘accelerated change'. No doubt, this is what we got with Obama. Few would have envisioned how much this administration would be able to accomplish in just two short years. In the process, it has managed to bludgeon any number of sacred cows. (We’ve already gone through the list dozens of times.) These are now screaming to high heaven.

What we are seeing now can perhaps more properly be termed ‘civil war’. Revolution always comes first. With Obama’s election in the history books, the revolution is effectively behind us. Conventional wisdom has it that those best organized tend to come out on top (in a revolution). The American Left was far better organized than the Right, evidenced by the Left winning hands down.

Conservatives may be late to the dance, but they are organizing. There are other factors, of course, that will determine the ultimate result. Of these, enthusiasm may be the most potent. It can gather itself into real momentum. Momentum can only be temporarily halted by ‘organized’ force.

And this is where we find ourselves today. With the media being on the lam, it’s hard to tell at the moment which side will ultimately prevail. Libya is far easier to predict. Kaddafi will use all he has to quell the uprising. Unlike other Middle Eastern tyrants, he must have been planning for this eventuality all along. It won’t be pretty.

Any outside help offered to his regime will be handsomely rewarded. No doubt Russia and others are considering it. We have already stated publicly that we will not make any move that could be construed as an attempt to profit. This makes us unique among nations; and is yet another indication of the direction in which our own revolution is headed.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Raise High the Roof-Beam, Carpenters

The only thing that the Left and the Right actually agree on is that growth alone will fix the economy. From there on, however, their approaches differ. Whereas the Left favors opening wide the back doors of the armored truck and heaving fistfuls of dollars out into the street, the Right says it’s time to keep the trucks locked up at the depot. This fundamental difference also colors our approach to foreign policy. As liberals are presently in charge of nearly everything, consider the following likely conversation between our State Department and the PA regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

U.S. State Department: “We want you to reach a peace agreement with Israel during this term of the Obama administration. What would it take for you to accomplish this?”

PA: “Impossible. We do not recognize the existence of the Jewish State.”

U.S.: “We will give you money - as much as you want. And we will give you more afterwards to help make you into the most prosperous nation on earth.”

PA: “We will take your money, but we will only buy guns and knives so we can slit the throats of the Israeli Jews.”

U.S.: “So you see, we’re making progress. You now recognize that there actually are Israeli Jews. We will give you an initial down payment and much more after you agree to come back to the table for further negotiations.”
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Or, imagine our conversation with the King of Saudi Arabia:

U.S.: “We will give you money so that you will keep the oil flowing to Europe and America.”

SA: “We have more than enough money. Money means nothing to us. Another Rolls Royce or two will not make a difference. We already have plenty. These only serve to remind us that we are nothing. We do not produce Rolls Royces. It does not improve our self-esteem to drive them. It is you who should feel proud for having produced what is arguably the finest land vehicle the world has ever known. We, on the other hand, simply use them as we would toilet paper.

“We produce nothing. We have no skills, no imagination - only resources. It is these resources - our resources - with which you spin your magic: building great industries and communication networks, creating timeless art and philosophies, etc. We simply allow you to pump oil out of our wells. Although you pay us handsomely, it’s only money, which is essentially worthless to us because we do nothing to earn it.”

U.S.: “But we’re prepared to pay you even more.”

SA: “Save it. It will help neither us nor you. You have done more than enough to inflict us with a fatal case of ‘Dutch disease’ (as defined by your own economists). The only way we will be helped is for us to destroy you. Because every day you continue to exist on this, our shared, planet reminds us of our humiliation before God.

“We have therefore decided to pronounce everything you do as evil. And thus we have discovered our power over you. We are now in the position to drain the very blood from your veins. And only this (by the grace of Allah) will restore our self-esteem and bring us back to some semblance of life. In other words, we must kill you.”

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Lessons Unlearned

The next time you’re tempted to disparage somebody, Kaddafi, Mubarak, any nation, bedbugs, fleas - anything - make sure you know what you’re doing and why. (I’d be interested in knowing just how many of you still get a chance to listen to Glenn Beck since he’s been dropped from several major radio markets including mine. It’s still possible to hear his radio show on the internet. The connection is often tenuous, but it does appear to run in a continuous if erratic loop on Mercury Radio Arts.)

Anyway, today he gave one of his more lucid rants. Without necessarily meaning to, he described precisely how we got Obama. It started with Bush. Hatred for Bush and anything Republican was whipped up into a frenzy. It came to be known as ‘Bush Derangement Syndrome’. Everyone was invited to join in - and everyone did. By the time the 2008 elections rolled around anyone who was neither Bush or Republican could have been elected, no contest. And ‘anyone’ was. To this day most of us still don’t have no clue just who our man in the White House actually is.

I dare say, we no longer remember exactly why it was we hated Bush so much. Nobody has much scar tissue to show from when Bush was in office. We just hated him, for no particular reason. We hated him just to give expression to our hatred. It was cool to hate; it was the ‘in’ thing to do. The media drove it; Hollywood drove it; universities drove it - and we all went along for the ride.

In our mass-induced hypnotic state, nothing we could foresee could have been worse than Bush. We all fell for it. ‘Anybody’ would save us and cleanse us of the dirt in which we wallowed.

It was perfect. It was like using a saw to cut wood. Two separate pieces. It works every time. We never once asked ourselves who started it and why. Who stood to gain by Obama coming to power? Who supported him? Who also hated Bush so much that they were prepared to cut off their noses to spite our faces? As such we stood with the Left, we stood with Rev. Wright and his liberation theology; we stood with Ahmadinejad, we stood with Chavez and Castro. We stood with the socialists, with the jihadist. We stood with every one of America’s enemies.

What did we expect to happen? Not one of us said, “Hey! Wait a minute. What exactly is going on here?” Instead, we’re still trying to make the wicked step-sister’s foot fit into Cinderella's glass slipper.

It’s a lesson that remains unlearned. To this day we are spurred on to hate our own: Rush, Beck, Savage, Palin and anyone else who might have even a smidgeon of conservative credentials. Tea Parties in the crosshairs; Michelle Bachman, John Bolton, Clarence Thomas, Carl Rove - all strategically lined up for target practice. And shoot we will, as long as we’re served the rhetorical bullets on a silver platter by the media.

If you notice, Obama remains curiously absent the sniper’s target. No one would dare say a thing outright against him. He remains a victim - a victim of the targets he himself has set up. …and victims can never do wrong.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Mitch Daniels Misspeaks

‘Error code’ for what? I must have missed this. But I’m sure he must have said something to offend either the Right or the Left. If it’s the Right, redemption is still possible. If it’s the Left, he’s cooked. The very gates of hell will open up out of that shoe box (with the pot in it) of his.

It troubles me that Mitch Daniels felt compelled to walk anything back. It shows that his primary aim is to appeal to voters. Haven’t we had enough of that: politicians speaking out of both sides of their mouths, saying one thing to one audience and another thing to another; and walking it back both times. Who really knows what they intend?

I, for one, would have more respect for Obama if he were to come right out and say it; that his plan is to topple representative governance along with capitalism and impose shariah on the American people; and that, in addition, he wants to push Israel into the sea and murder every Jew on the face of the earth, instead of comparing himself to every past American president who happens to have - at one time or other - caught America’s imagination.

I would equally welcome any politician who would step forward (now) and declare his or her intention to stop Obama in his tracks. It’s not just about overturning Obamacare, reducing taxes, or soothing any other single-issue voters’ concern. It’s the whole ball of wax: energy, education, the economy, race relations, foreign policy, etc. - all of which feed into the mix of anti-Americanism in one way or another.

At least, this way we would know where we stand and we would not waste 99% of our time and energy debating each point separately to no conclusion.

Right now, I personally see no solution other than letting Obama have exactly what he wants - reduce our nation to the likes of Zimbabwe or North Korea - and watch if our population will not at some point rise up and hold the whole bunch of them responsible. Let them throw us in prisons; let them place an imam on every street corner, armed with a knife to slit our throats; let them take our children and keep them hostage in their madrassas; let them hold public hangings, floggings, stoning, and amputations; and make attendance mandatory. Let them demand our money and property and make them communal. Let them rape and defile our women. Let them do all these things and more and watch for the point at which the NYT and all the alphabet broadcasters decide to turn against them so that we can finally stand united against the onslaught that continues to rage against us. Change always comes from within.

Am hoping for the day when we will once again can see patriotic movies being made and hear patriotic songs sung. How much will it take to turn us around?

As long as we listen to guys the likes of Daniels and Gingrich with maple-flavored oatmeal dripping from their lips as they speak; I’d say, we still have a long way to go.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

Gettysburg (redux)

Maybe we should exorcise the words ‘wrong’ and ‘right’ from our dictionaries. When pundits say that Obama, Kaddafi, Ahmadinejad, Mugabe, Chavez (or whoever) are on the ‘wrong’ side of history while Scott Walker, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck proclaim themselves to be on the ‘right’ side, it betrays a bias. There are only sides. ‘Wrong’ or ‘right’ are relative to the side one happens to be on. Let us then just say, “There is their side and there is our side.”

We have now established that there are indeed sides. Provided we feel strongly enough to identify our preference, we must then support our side with all we’ve got.

We’re in the midst of a global battle we must win. We can no longer be bystanders because the outcome of this battle will determine our future and the future of our children. It has become pointless to argue about ‘wrong’ and ‘right’. Each side thinks it’s right and that the others are ‘wrong’.

Similarly, ‘left’ and ‘right’ on the political scale has become solely diversion and used by both sides to confuse and obfuscate. You either believe that America has been ‘wrong’ throughout its history or you don’t. You either want to see it torn down, destroyed, to let the phoenix rise from its ashes; or you want to preserve what has already been built.

There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer. All that remains for us is to fight impeccably for whichever side we choose.

The winner of this battle will have the right to carry the banner of America. It will be either a ‘new and improved’ America or it will be America as it once was.

After the war has been settled, someone from the winning side will echo some version of President Abraham Lincoln’s stirring ‘Gettysburg Address’ in addressing the nation. It may not be at a cemetery, for (I should hope) we no longer fight our internal wars with guns and bullets. But we will have fought nevertheless. And the spoils will have gone to the victor.
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On the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the ’Soldiers’ National Cemetery’ in Gettysburg, PA, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at Gettysburg, President Lincoln delivered what has come to be known as ‘The Gettysburg Address‘:

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

“But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Pray to God it will be someone from our side.

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