I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit.
In order to get that paycheck in my case, I am required to pass a random urine test (with which I have no problem).
What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test.
So, here is my Question: Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check, since I have to pass one to earn it for them?
Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their ass - doing drugs, while I work...
Can you imagine how much money each state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?
I guess we could title that program, 'Urine or You're Out'.
If you have not heard by now, Rep. Diane Watson (D, CA) had some very interesting things to say at her town hall meeting last week.
With her most recent statements, Rep. Watson displayed publicly that she is in line with the current Progressive ideal, which currently is making an overt attempt to indoctrinate our citizenry with Marxist and Communist ideals.
Watson began with what sounds like a disrespectful jab at El Rushbo, pronouncing his name "Limbo." Then she went on a diatribe about how Rush wishes for President Obama's failure, still working the tired and out-of-context liberal talking points about how Rush wishes for America's failure. She put forward the typical spin about how "If the Commander-in Chief fails, America fails" which, interestingly enough, did not apply over the last five years of President Bush's tenure. Additionally, it seems someone forgot to remind Rep. Watson that nearly forty years ago, President Richard Nixon literally failed in his Presidency, yet America carried on and, after some healing (and an extremely inept Jimmy Carter held office) grew stronger than ever.
She then went on to the liberal racist rant in which liberals claim that anyone opposing Obama wishes for his failure because of his skin color, stating it's about the fact that he "Looks like me" (in case you aren't aware, Rep. Watson is Black).
She then began to spread the good word of Communism, talking about how she just got back from China, and all the good Chinese people "look at The United States, as a country that has changed it's way and elected someone from Kenya and Africa, I'll put it like that. And they're saying 'We though you would never do that'"
Oh, really, Rep. Watson? Do you really expect me to believe for one second that a nation full of Chinese who are being suppressed by their leadership are that concerned with the skin color of the man who leads The United States? Granted, I was not on your trip, and I have never been to China (on the taxpayer's dime, no less) but I would bet if I could conduct a survey, the actual percentage of Chinese who care that Barack Obama's father came from Kenya would come in at less than half...probably far less, at that.
This wonder of American Representation then went on to talk about how we "Regain our status" based on the success of Barack Obama.
Barack Obama's personal success or failure as President of the United States does not directly affect our status as a "cool country" in the world - and if it does, that should be our last concern. Anyone with a shred of intelligence and decency should understand that what other nations think of us is not what is truly important. What matters most is that America do the right thing, regardless of world opinion. Therefore, I beg to differ with Ms. Watson in a couple of ways that are not mutually exclusive.
First, Barack Obama's success as a President on the domestic front only speaks to how effective he is at manipulating a political system, since that is essentially what has become of the Presidency of The United States. And success on the world stage would indicate that he didn't anger anyone too much, or let his guard down to the point of making America vulnerable. However, failure is not exclusively known by an attack on our homeland or warring nations overseas; failure on the international scene also could be indicated by a loss of the security thus far gained in Iraq, or the spread of Islamic Fundamentalism due to his negligence, or many other indicators which we will know only once his time has past.
Second, real success for America under an Obama Presidency would mean personal failure for Barack Obama as President, as it has become more than evident that he is a partisan with an agenda that does not fit within the mold of what our Constitution intends and our Founding Fathers desired. Barack Obama is clearly a man cut from a Marxist cloth; this is most evident when examining the people with whom he has surrounded himself, as well as the teachings of Black Liberation Theology, the ideals of the church Obama attended for approximately twenty years (although we must remember he never heard any of those taped sermons).
Later in the same town hall meeting, Watson espoused the wonders of the Cuban health care system, and sung the praises of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro and the wonder of the Cuban Revolution.
Here is an audio clip of the meeting:
To be fair, Representative Watson has a stellar career as a member of The House.
According to www.govtrack.us over the course of 8 years she has sponsored a whopping 38 bills since January, 2001. 29 of those never made it out of committee.
The 5 bills that she has seen enacted while living off the taxpayer dime breakout as follows:
3 Post Office name changes
1 bill awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Dorothy Height
1 bill re-authorizing the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy by (I kid you not) "striking `October 1, 2006' and inserting `October 1, 2009'."
Yes you read it right. The only Watson sponsored operating legislation is nothing but a date change to amend legislation already in force. And to top it off, that was back in May 2007 with nothing enacted since.
Ms. Watson, please - since you're so confident in the capabilities of the Cuban health care system, I would like to ask if you would make arrangements to take the Cuban program as yours, and give to me your health care plan. I am quite certain I could find someone in need of good health care to whom I could offer your 'allotment' of services, while you go visit Fidel and Raul in the Communist paradise of which you seem so fond.
H/T to Geoff Caldwell at Examiner.com for the breakdown of Rep. Watson's stats. A map of Watson's district here and a breakdown of her constituents by race and party, as well as their 2000 Presidential election voting record here.
These five items (with which I fully agree) have been laid out by The Glenn Beck Program as values to which our Congressional Representatives must commit.
If you too believe in these five core values, and believe that those representing you in Washington, DC should too, please inform your representatives that if they are not willing to commit to you in writing that they agree with the ideas before them, that they will not be receiving your vote in the upcoming election.
You can copy and paste these directly from this page into an email or the form provided on the government website.
1. I believe in a balanced budget and therefore will vote for a freeze in government spending until that goal is realized.
2. I believe government should not increase the financial burden on its citizenry during a difficult economic times, therefore I will oppose all tax increases until our economy has rebounded.
3. I believe more than four decades of US dependence on foreign oil is a travesty, therefore I will support an energy plan that calls for immediately increasing usage of all domestic resources including nuclear energy, natural gas and coal as necessary.
4. I believe in the sovereignty and security of our country and therefore will support measures to close our borders except for designated immigration points so we will know who is entering and why. I will vehemently oppose any measure giving another country, the United Nations, or any other entity power over US citizens.
5. I believe the United States of America is the greatest country on earth and therefore will no apologize for policies or actions which have served to free more and feed more people around the world than any other nation on the planet.
Please contact your Congressional Representatives in both Houses and demand that they commit to these five basic American values.
I heard this clip on Rush's show today, and was horrified.
This isn't an accusation from Ted Kennedy's political opponents, but a nostalgic remembrance by one of his friends. Ed Klein, former Newsweek editor, tells the Diane Rehm Show:
"I don't know if you know this or not, but one of his favorite topics of humor was indeed Chappaquiddick itself. And he would ask people, have you heard any new jokes about Chappaquiddick?
That is just the most amazing thing. Its not that he didn't feel remorse about the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, but that he still always saw the other side of everything and the ridiculous side of things, too."
Are you kidding me?
This is the man over whom the entire left is in tears, sobbing and wailing, crying about how wonderful it would be to get "Health Care" done "In his honor," and here is a friend of his talking about how Kennedy liked to hear jokes about how a young woman died because he drove off a bridge while (allegedly) extremely intoxicated?
Once he reached shore, Kennedy claims to have made seven or eight attempts to rescue his victim, Mary Jo Kopechne, but could not free her. He then left the scene and didn't tell authorities until the next day, after the car and the body of Kopechne were found by two fishermen. He never did time for this abhorrent act, receiving a suspended two month sentence.
Now I'm as quick as anyone to have a good laugh at my own expense. I can be a real idiot, and I know it and love to help people make fun of me.
However, I can't even begin to imagine the feelings I would have, should I ever be responsible for the death of another human being... let alone have such a horrific event occur in such an irresponsible fashion. And, God forbid something so horrific ever happen in my life, I would never... absolutely never make a joke about that event or wish to hear a joke about that event.
I can only hope that Ed Klein misspoke during this interview.
As I write this, I in no way intend to dance on the grave of Ted Kennedy. I don't agree with much of his politics, but as John McCain said about him, I believe Kennedy was a man with a good heart who wished well for America, and that he was a man who said what he meant and meant what he said.
However, if Kennedy said that he wanted to know if his friends had heard any good Chappaquiddick jokes lately, and he meant that he honestly wanted to hear them, then I would believe I was wrong, because I sincerely believe that nobody with a good heart could ever act in such a disgusting manner.
Novelist Jeffrey Archer in his work 'The Fourth Estate' made the observation:
"In May 1789, Louis XVI summoned to Versailles a full meeting of the 'Estates General'. The First Estate consisted of three hundred clergy. The Second Estate, three hundred nobles. The Third Estate, six hundred commoners.
Some years later, after the French Revolution, Edmund Burke, looking up at the Press Gallery of the House of Commons, said, 'Yonder sits the Fourth Estate, and they are more important than them all.'"
While that may not appear to be true at first glance, a deeper look into the message, money, and power in today's media tells a different story.
Today's "Fourth Estate" consists of major corporations that have many outlets through which they are able to propagate their message. Generally speaking, major media outlets are found on television, radio, print media, and on the internet. Many corporations own a diverse selection from all of these media forms; others focus their efforts in a more specialized manner.
Smaller enterprises with less capital are found primarily on the internet, as it is a less expensive business to operate. The internet also broadcasts worldwide, so a business-savvy person with a good marketing plan can gain "clicks" from around the globe.
Of course the internet is not exclusive to the little guy; a visit to the News category on Alexa.com, considered by many to be the premier internet traffic information company, finds the first twelve listings are major corporations, with lucky number 13 being The Huffington Post.
Arianna Huffington's left-leaning website has become quite a formidable player in the modern media. Recently, Barack Obama even called on Nico Pitney, a reporter from HuffPo who, during the turmoil surrounding the recent Iranian election had a very dedicated and thorough thread running on the site which kept up with great detail and reasonable accuracy.
Ms. Huffington, the daughter of a wealthy Greek journalist and management consultant, is a bit of a political opportunist. She has changed political affiliations twice; in her younger days she was a leftist. She met and married a Republican named Michael Huffington during the Reagan era, while Conservatism was at its peak. During the late 90's she flipped back to liberalism, and has very much been in the media forefront as an anti-Bush Progressive ever since.
On the Conservative side of the aisle one will find The Drudge Report coming in at a respectable number 33.
Matt Drudge gained notoriety by breaking the Monica Lewinski scandal. His is a true rags-to-riches story, as he began his news career sending emails to friends in the early 90's. His early work was primarily celebrity gossip, which evolved into a combination of celebrity and politics much as it is today. These emails were also posted on Usenet newsgroups, until 1996 when he began his web-based site that has become known worldwide for its simple style, diverse selection of information, and flashing light whenever "Breaking News" happens.
While Drudge may not rank quite as high on Alexa, he is a force nonetheless. He took great heat during the 2008 campaign for appearing too Conservative for the taste of many, yet conversely Huffington and other Liberal websites escape criticism for their partisan slant.
Political talk radio tends to offer primarily Conservative points of view, although Liberals certainly have plenty of voices that can be heard, and like any market in The United States of America, a free market offers everyone opportunity.
NPR, while superficially moderate, trends Liberal in its perspective. Describing itself as a "privately supported, not-for-profit membership organization," NPR receives 11% of its funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which is federally funded and 5% from local and state governments. Another Liberal talk radio entity, Air America, has struggled with its business model, and in 2006 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company was eventually bought by Green Family Media, which is owned by two powerful New York City Liberals.
Without a doubt, Rush Limbaugh is the premier voice in Conservative talk radio, as has been the case since the late 1980's when he began broadcasting nationwide.
Limbaugh began his radio career as a music station DJ, then moved to political talk in 1984 in San Fransisco. When Ronald Reagan repealed the "Fairness Doctrine," Rush took talent and opportunity and created a situation that has brought him great success.
Limbaugh was the loudest and most critical voice of dissent during the Clinton years, and was awarded an honorary membership in the 1994 Freshman Congressional caucus.
Print media is a fading concept. Newspapers and magazines are losing readership in massive numbers, which is likely a combination of the massive growth of the internet and the extreme politics of print journalists. As an example, more often than not an article written by an Associated Press journalist will display an (R) next to a name when describing illegal or scandalous events perpetrated by a Republican, but the same will almost never hold true in the case of a Democrat and the display of a (D) to symbolize party affiliation.
Television is a web of corporate interests, woven between public airwaves broadcast and subscription feeds via cable and satellite. Broadcast television news consists of the "big three" networks - ABC, NBC, and CBS. Fox Broadcast network does offer local news broadcasts and will broadcast Presidential or other major national events, but does not have a daily national news broadcast.
CNN is the largest worldwide television news entity, carrying two feeds in America, CNN and "Headline News." CNN is owned by Time Warner Cable, and the U.S. News network is a division division of The Turner Broadcasting System. CNN ranks second in ratings in The U. S. behind Fox News Channel. During prime time in the U.S., CNN offers a moderate host named Campell Brown, followed by unabashedly liberal Larry King and Anderson Cooper.
Fox News Channel is considered by liberals to be biased in favor of Republican politics. The network advertises itself as "Fair and Balanced," and during news broadcasts FNC is as accurate in its reporting as any other media outlet. To be fair, an honest assessment of FNC would show that during opinion broadcasts FNC does trend Conservative. FNC offers radio talkers Glenn Beck, a Libertarian with Conservative fiscal policy beliefs, and Sean Hannity leaning further to the right. Meanwhile Greta Van Susteren and Bill O'Reilly are more moderate, yet generally align Conservative.
ABC News is owned by The Walt Disney Company, which also, under the umbrella of The Disney-ABC Television Group, owns The Disney Channel, ABC Family, and ABC Broadcasting. ABC also has a partnership with Comcast in which it broadcasts on demand a portion of its ABC lineup. Interestingly, Comcast chairman Brian Roberts and his mother Suzanne are ardent supporters of the Democratic Party, and while ABC appears no be fair in its news reporting, the entertainment division of ABC offers very liberally influenced programming.
CBS, owned by Viacom, is almost unabashedly liberal in its news reporting. Historically it has had anchormen Walter Cronkite, an admitted liberal, who during his tenure as anchor did an excellent job of hiding his personal political interests, with the rare exception of his opining about the Vietnam War, about which he said "It is increasingly clear that the only rational way out will be to negotiate, not as victors but as an honorable people who lived up to the pledge to defend democracy."
Dan Rather, Cronkite's successor, is famous for presenting with the help of producer Mary Mapes, a completely fictitious story that depended on documents that have since been discredited about George W. Bush, just 55 days before a very tight 2004 presidential election. In addition to the clearly fictitious documents, Mapes was told before her story went on the air that Bush had volunteered to go to Vietnam - and left this information out of the story.
Rather's replacement Katie Couric has made no secret of her happiness after her erratic interview of Sarah Palin, during which she was condescending and snarky. It is widely believed by Conservatives that Couric manipulated that interview to present Palin in a bad light, while Liberals insist that Palin essentially came into the interview unprepared and the presentation simply highlighted an already unworthy Vice-Presidential Candidate.
Finally, Viacom International Chairman Sumner Redstone and MTV Viacom Chairman Tom Freston are both supporters of the Democratic party.
In addition to their public broadcast news shows, NBC broadcasts on cable under the name MSNBC. NBC Universal is owned by General Electric, and the CEO of GE is a man named Jeffrey Immelt. Since Immelt took the reins at GE in 2000, their stock has plummeted from $39.66 to $14.19, a loss of $25.47 per share, or 64% of its value. Yet somehow, after Barack Obama was elected President in 2008, Immelt was named to an Economic Advisory Board for the President. Additionally, Immelt is a Class B Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
On MSNBC, host Keith Olbermann allowed guest Janine Garofalo to call Americans racists and redneck "teabaggers" because they held rallies known as "Tea Parties" in an effort to speak out against an out of control government in Washington, DC.
In 2008, near the end of the Presidency of George W. Bush, PBS host Bill Moyers pointedly said:
“Democracy without honest information creates the illusion of popular consent while enhancing the power of the state and the privileged interests protected by it.
Democracy without accountability creates the illusion of popular control while offering ordinary Americans cheap tickets to the balcony, too far away to see that the public stage is just a reality TV set.
Nothing more characterizes corporate media today – mainstream and partisan – than disdain towards the fragile nature of modern life and indifference toward the complex social debate required of a free and self-governing people.
This leaves you with a heavy burden – it’s up to you to fight for the freedom that makes all other freedoms possible.”
In my opinion, Given the arrogance of the majority of The Fourth Estate today, the lack of brokers of honest information certainly may be creating the illusion of popular consent for today's powerful and politically elite.
Perhaps it has become the media who are enhancing the power of the state and the privileged interests protected by it - for it is becoming more apparent every day that the privileged are creating a Democracy without accountability.
It is time for Americans to trade up and get out of those cheap seats in the balcony.
This is reality, not a TV set, and we must always remember that in order to supress and defeat the disdain shown towards the fragile nature of modern life and indifference toward the complex social debate - a free and self-governing people are required to fight for the freedom that makes all other freedoms possible.
I'm thinking Opie is a real go-getter. Opie probably loves to play fetch, and loves the reward of hard work. Lots of bones buried in Opie's back yard, I'll bet.
On the other hand, Opie doesn't seem to be interested in the "redistribution" policies of the current administration.
Either that, or he heard about the "red pill, blue pill" metaphor President Obama recently used during one of his "Town Hall Meetings" and is a little skeptical.
I have made no secret of the fact that I support Glenn Beck in his effort to inform the American people with information otherwise not being provided by the media in general. I believe Glenn Beck is today as important a voice as Rush Limbaugh was during the Clinton administration.
Of course Rush is still the most formidable Conservative Pundit bar-none, but right now Glenn is able to go places it seems nobody else has, and is asking questions I've not even heard Rush Limbaugh ask about Barack Obama. Additionally, since Beck is a relatively fresh voice, he's able to attract moderates who may have (sadly) tuned out Rush and won't try tuning in again.
Glenn Beck said tonight on his show:
"Questioning your government is not only a RIGHT or IMPORTANT, it is a REQUIREMENT in a Democratic Republic."
I believe this is true for both sides of the political aisle, always. It is my belief that it is not only responsible to question the party you disagree with, but it is equally or more important to question the party you tend to align with.
I first learned this lesson during the Clinton administration. He was the first president I ever voted for, and I voted for him twice. Full disclosure: I was still relatively young, and MTV's Rock The Vote influenced my decision making then. Back then I absolutely did not seek information like I do today.
George W. Bush's time in office gave me more insight to the fact that both sides can be right and both sides can be wrong. I supported and voted for Bush for his first term, and every day I thank God that AlGore did not win the 2000 election.
However, in '04 I didn't think we had a good choice. I was starting to see things in the Bush administration I didn't like, and I definitely didn't (and still do not) respect John Kerry, so I forfeited possibly the most important right all Americans have and abstained from voting.
There are always ethical and logical questions to be asked of politicians, regardless of party. It is my opinion that anyone who blindly follows a party line doesn't have all the information they need to make an informed decision.
As I commented on Clifton's blog, I watched Monday's show and took so many notes my head was pounding and my wrist was aching. I started to do some Google searching, but I didn't have the energy to put it all together and post something I was comfortable with, and because of the quantity and significance of the issues raised about Van Jones on Monday, I felt anything short of thorough would not be proper.
Anyway... if you haven't ever been to their blogs, please visit them, as well as everyone on my "wisdom of others" list. We all appreciate the traffic and the comments.
