Bias In The Shopping Place

Dan Fuchs said business was just starting to pick up at his kiosk in the Mall at Johnson City, Tennessee. Now it appears Fuchs is out of business at the mall, but mall officials say this decision was not based upon 'political views'.

Friday afternoon, Fuchs was handed a lease termination notice by mall officials and signed by Mall General Manager Tembra Aldridge. The letter states that the option to terminate the lease agreement is effective 11:59 p.m. today and that he must vacate the mall premises and remove his property before then.

Fuchs’ business, the Graphic Edge, printed slogans and pictures on items such as coffee cups, bumper stickers and T-shirts.

Fuchs said he was given no reason for this termination and was shocked and upset. Thursday evening, Fuchs said mall officials met with him and told him to take down the anti-Obama items on display by closing time or face immediate eviction.

Marsha Hammond, the mall’s marketing director, has a different take on the meeting between Fuchs and mall officials. She said that Aldridge and Melinda Davis, the mall’s specialty leasing representative, suggested that Fuchs also display items in support of Obama. The mall had received several complaints from customers regarding the anti-Obama items, she said. Hammond also said that it was Fuchs’ decision to remove the items completely from display.

“That is not true,” Fuchs said. “I was given no choice. I was given, (Thursday) night at about 4:30, the option of taking it down or get out, receive an eviction at closing time.”

“I was upset about it, of course,” he said Friday prior to receiving the notice. “That’s my livelihood.” By Friday morning, Fuchs said these items had been taken down.

Fuchs had been in business at the mall for around two months and hadn’t initially set out to create anti-Obama items. He said one day a customer asked for an anti-Obama shirt to be printed. A few days later, he said, another customer asked for a similar item.

Some of these items were put on display, but most were completed upon customer request, Fuchs said. He said that around 60 percent of items being sold out of the kiosk was anti-Obama merchandise.


This is not the first time such a disputed kiosk closing has taken place. In late July 2009, The Concord Mills mall in Concord, N.C. decided not to renew its contract with Loren Spivack, who fought to stay in business in that shopping center. Spivack says his kiosk, Free Market Warrior, was nudged out of its lease with the mall for purely political reasons.

After a meeting between Spivack and officials from The Concord Mills mall, the mall released a statement which read "Mr. Spivack has not agreed to remove the objectionable merchandise and will be moving out of Concord Mills at the end of his lease."

Spivack told FOXNews.com that mall officials specifically asked that three bumper stickers and a T-shirt believed to be linking President Obama with terrorism be removed from the kiosk, including one that read, "Obama Wins and They Celebrate in Iran, Do You Get It?"

According to Spivack, the hottest sellers at the kiosk before its closing were items that were critical of President Obama.

They include a “Work Harder, Obama Needs the Money” bumper sticker and a T-shirt that lists the top 12 things Obama has been doing as the economy crashes.

Among the other merchandise sold at the kiosk and on its associated Web site are GOP elephant bobblehead dolls, a Republican president jigsaw puzzle and baby bibs that say, “My parents chose life. Thanks Mom and Dad!”

Via: Macedonia International News Agency

Via: Fox News

We Are All Witnesses...

Sunday in Dover, Delaware, Jimmie Johnson reminded everyone why he is the three-time consecutive and reigning champion of NASCAR's senior circuit, the Sprint Cup Series. After winning the pole position on Friday, Johnson led the most laps in winning his fourth race of the 2009 campaign and closing to within of 10 points of current points leader Mark Martin.

What makes this feat remarkable is that Johnson, 34, has never won a race this early in the ten-race Chase format during his three previous championship years. In winning the second of the ten-race Chase, Johnson seems to have set a tone and set a message to the other drivers in the 12-team championship contest.

"I'm pretty sure that dude is Superman," Martin said. "I've seen that dude up close and I see why he's so successful. He works harder at it than anybody else, I think, on the circuit." Martin, who won last week's race at Louden, NH is considered by many to be the most physically dedicated driver in the business. Martin is well known for his physical fitness and workout regimen.

This is not the first time a fellow driver has called Johnson Superman. During the 2007 Chase, after the race in Texas which was won by Johnson, four time champion Jeff Gordon said of Johnson "He's Superman. Nobody is going to stop him this year. He's unbelievable." Johnson went on that year to win the his second consecutive title.

Asked about his win today, Johnson said "As far as sending a message, I hope it does. I hope people talk about it. I hope people are worried. And we'll keep our heads down, we'll keep our blinders on and we'll go to work.

"At the end of the day, all the talk means nothing. We've still got to show up at Kansas and run that race. That's what we do a really good job at, staying focused."

In addition to the greatness shown by Johnson in his win, NASCAR proved what great technological advances they have made in the area of safety. Rookie driver Joey Logano was involved in an amazing crash, during which his car rolled seven times before standing on the driver's window side, then falling back to its wheels. Remarkably, Logan walked away, even commenting on the fact that he didn't feel sore after the crash.

Next Sunday's race is at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Last year Johnson won the race in Kansas on his way to winning his third consecutive championship.

Friday Night Videos

I'm feeling like a laugh tonight, given the week that we've had in this ObamaNation.

We've seen Pittsburgh, PA become a war zone. If you've ever been to Pittsburgh, you know that while it is no island paradise, it certainly does not deserve to be broken down and torn apart by a bunch of lazy thugs who want the hard workers of the world to pay massive taxes, just so they can sit their asses on a couch and play PS3 all day.

We've had psychotic world leaders gather in NYC to tell the world how awful America is - and then when Barack Obama was finished, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad got up and spoke.

We have seen Glenn Beck mocked on SNL, meaning he's really doing the work of a good journalist. Not bad for a guy who constantly has to remind people he is not a journalist, he's just a rodeo clown.

We heard that Sarah Palin spoke overseas, and then we were told that she was the equivalent of The Dixie Chicks, because she dared to question America's current economic policies - as she was speaking to a group of young financial investors who were learning about the American marketplace.

We have now waited almost one full week for Barack Obama to answer the call from his Commander in the region - the one he appointed - for a deployment of more troops, else we suffer greater loss of life and possibly a complete loss of all efforts we have put forth thus far in Afghanistan.

We have learned that Islamic Jihad is alive and well - on American soil. And to that point - where the hell is Barack Obama, and why has he not given a press conference to compliment the local, state, and federal authorities for working in tandem to root out the evil that was ready to do harm to our fellow Americans?

Why has that handsome woman Janet Napolitano, head of the DHS, not spoken out in total support of the system that was created by George W. Bush and Tom Ridge, with the goal of results exactly as we have seen come to fruition this week?

This was one of the trademarks of George W. Bush's Presidency - he was always there with an "atta boy" for the hard working men and women who keep us safe.

Is this the trademark of the Obama Presidency - to bury his head in the sand and pretend that these events never transpired, in an effort to keep the loony leftists in their fantasy land that there is no such thing as evil??

Well.. I'm sure there's an overwhelming amount of other news stories I have not listed, but I came here at this moment to spread some good cheer, and dammit, I'm going to do just that.

Here's a classic for you, I found this the other night. I thought of Dr. Dave over at Feed Your ADHD, a great blog where he, Matt, innominatus and Mike are doing their best to get themselves listed on a DHS watchlist. Dave has been suffering through the wrath of Mother Nature. He posted about the flooding in his home, as he told us "little rivers literally flowed through my basement," and in the process ranted decently about "Greenie whackos who run around claiming the sky is falling."

I also thought of Nickie Goomba who along with the other two Tenors, DC and Rhod, have a great blog called "It Don't Make Sense." Nickie's "Al Gore's Carbon Assprint Update" posts are always sure to bring a laugh, as well as inform.

These are just two of the blogs you can find in my blog roll, appropriately titled "Wisdom of Others," because from each of them I have gained some wisdom, no doubt.

So in honor of Dr. Dave, Nickie, and all of you who hate listening to AlGore type B.S. - a little George Carlin on a Friday night.



Happy Friday!

Sarah Palin v. The Dixie Chicks

I'm having an "Arguing With Idiots" moment as I sit through Countdown with Keith Olbermann tonight.

I know - you want to know why I'm watching that crazy kook? Well, it's not because I'm looking to be fit for a straightjacket anytime soon, if that's what you're thinking. As I've stated here before, it's actually because I believe it makes me a more well informed person to know what the 'other side' is saying, plus there are no good sports on tonight.

Mr. Olbermann is going to attempt to equate Sarah Palin's speech in China to The Dixie Chicks' anti-American diatribe in London back in 2003. If I know BathTubBoy as well as I believe I do, he is going to say that the Republicans came out in a rage against the little country music angels who were just being concerned citizens, while Mrs. Palin, given her previous political experience and place in the eye of the public should have known better than to slander Barack Obama and The United States while on the soil of Communist China!!

So let's be truthful here. The Dixie Chicks were in London, doing what they were paid to do: perform music. The date was March 10, 2003. In the process of performing, Natalie Maines, a Texas native, said:

"Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas."

The only conflict the U.S. was involved in at the time was in Afghanistan, as we did not invade Iraq until March 20, 2003. Afghanistan, as we all know - because Barack Obama tells us so, is "the good war, the war worth fighting."

However, Ms. Maines chose to speak abusively of the President of The United States, while on foreign soil, in a moment which had absolutely nothing to do with politics whatsoever.

Her rationale? "I said it there 'cause that's where I was." Very classy. After an amazing outcry, Maines attempted to clarify matters on March 12 by saying, "I feel the President is ignoring the opinions of many in the U.S. and alienating the rest of the world."

Really...? We went into Afghanistan with the support of pretty much the world. Even the impending invasion of Iraq was going to be done by a multinational force led by The United States and... you guessed it - The United Kingdom.

Conservatives, Republicans... Hell - all good Americans spoke out about this repulsive and unpatriotic act. They spoke on the airwaves, and they spoke with their wallets. Listeners called for boycotts of the Dixie Chicks' music on radio stations nationwide (except perhaps Berkeley and Soho) and massive CD crunching parties were organized, plowing over piles of Dixie Chicks music with bulldozers. At one point, 76% of former fans polled responded with, "If I could, I'd take my CDs back."

Of course, there were those in Hollywood and the music biz who sided with the Chicks. Over time, and after an apology and the creation of an alliance with moveon.org, and a bunch of creative expression of non-guilt (a liberal not feeling guilty? I don't get it) the Dixie Chicks have returned to a reasonable level of success.

On to Sarah Palin (Guys, get your minds out of the gutter). As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Mrs. Palin was paid to give a 90 minute speech in Hong Kong, at a conference sponsored by investment firm CLSA Asia Pacific Markets. The speech was aimed at educating investors about the American market and how it might play a role in their future dealings. There were persons of various nationalities in attendance, including Americans.

Speaking on China policy, the former governor criticized the Obama administration for cutting back on some defense spending, suggesting that it sends a worrisome signal to allies depending on U.S. strength to counterbalance China's growing influence.

"Our strong defense posture in Asia has helped keep the region safe and allowed ... this area to prosper," Ms. Palin said. "Our Asian allies get nervous if they think we're weakening with security commitments."

According to The New York Times, Melvin Goodé, a regional marketing consultant, thought Mrs. Palin chose Hong Kong because it was “a place where things happen and where freedom can be expanded upon.”

“It’s not Beijing or Shanghai,” said Mr. Goodé . “She also mentioned Tibet, Burma and North Korea in the same breath as places where China should be more sensitive and careful about how people are treated. She said it on a human-rights level.”

Mr. Goodé, an African-American who said he did some campaign polling for President Obama, said Mrs. Palin mentioned President Obama three times on Wednesday.

“And there was nothing derogatory in it, no sleight of hand, and believe me, I was listening for that,” he said, adding that Mrs. Palin referred to Mr. Obama as “our president,” with the emphasis on “our.”

According to AFP as reported on Breitbart.com, Two US delegates left early, with one saying "it was awful, we couldn't stand it any longer". He declined to be identified (imagine that - probably a liberal).

However, some of those who attended praised Palin's forthright views on government social and economic intervention.

"She was brilliant," said a European delegate, on condition of anonymity.

"She said America was spending a lot of money and it was a temporary solution. Normal people are having to pay more and more but things don't get better. The rich will leave the country and the poor will get poorer."

So what Mrs. Palin did was completely within the scope of what was expected of her, with the understanding, of course, that it can be risky for a potential candidate to speak out against current American policy. However, as Palin has no stated plans for candidacy, she was simply a representative of the U. S. with a greater understanding given her history as a governor, and as reprted she completed her expected task with little to no controversy... outside that which Mr. Olbermann wishes to create.

"Truth for those who wish to look," Glenn's little song says...

Revisiting Our Past To Find Our Future

I was intrigued by a discussion that took place on Glenn Beck's radio program today. It seems that he has created quite the discussion amongst "Good Republicans" by stating that he might very well have voted for Hillary Clinton over John McCain, because had John McCain been elected President we would have had many similar domestic policies enacted, and there would have been less of a motivating factor for the current Conservative groundswell that is clearly reaching across this great nation.

Some on the right seem to believe that to have a Republican in office is the solution, and that no matter what, a political landscape filled with Republicans will always offer a better chance for good policy than any other scenario.

I have learned through my transition from being a Liberal to being a Conservative that such a perspective has done great damage to our nation over the course of the last forty years or so. In my younger days, my perspective was the opposite - I thought only Liberals would make good policy. I learned that I was wrong, and now I believe that I am better served and more politically astute and intuitive than I used to be.

This is the position that (I believe) Beck represents as well. As he took calls today, it became interesting to listen to the callers who said they "get it" and are "on board" with his message, yet some of them continued to beat the partisan drum and attempt to draw everything down party lines. Glenn became increasingly frustrated, particularly with one caller, because he didn't "get it" at all. This caller just wanted to liberal-bash, and it was moving the conversation backwards rather than forwards.

Right at the close of his show, a caller mentioned that to find the truth in Conservatism and to have hope for a better future regardless of how uncomfortable things may be today, we should find Ronald Reagan's 1977 speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Some of you may already be familiar with this speech. It is truly amazing. I had heard of it, but never read it in its entirety.

I recommend that you take the time to really read this speech. There are amazing similarities between 1977 and today.

Some of the social issues remain the same today as they were then. Abortion, for example. While not today's hottest topic, it is always a topic of great debate. What now is being called "Social Justice" by Obama was then known as "quotas," as we were in earlier stages of the ever-failing concept of affirmative action.

Watergate and the remnants of Vietnam parallel Iraq, and Nixon parallels George W. Bush in the way each led people to distrust government on a whole. Therefore Nixon (and Ford who never stood a chance) led to Carter just as Bush 43 led to Obama.

The Cold War of Reagan's era was what we see in Radical Islamic Terrorism today. The organization and structure of our enemy is different, but the desire of our enemy is the same: to destroy freedom.

The polling data he presents in this speech is remarkable, if not downright eerily similar to that which we have heard recently. We are in an amazingly similar political climate today as that which brought Dutch to the forefront of American politics.

There is a complete misunderstanding in the media today of what Conservatism is as compared to the Republican party; the same seemed to be true as Reagan brought Conservatives together in a great American resurgence.

We were under the presidency of a young inexperienced far left leaning Liberal, just as we are today - and although in February 1977 Carter had just become president a few weeks before this speech, the writing was on the wall; Conservatism needed a leader, and Reagan was the man for the time. We must seek to recognize our leader, the man or woman whose time is now.

There is no shortage of greatness in this speech, as you will soon understand. For me, one particular paragraph stood out as probably the most profound:

"Let us lay to rest, once and for all, the myth of a small group of ideological purists trying to capture a majority. Replace it with the reality of a majority trying to assert its rights against the tyranny of powerful academics, fashionable left-revolutionaries, some economic illiterates who happen to hold elective office and the social engineers who dominate the dialogue and set the format in political and social affairs. If there is any ideological fanaticism in American political life, it is to be found among the enemies of freedom on the left or right—those who would sacrifice principle to theory, those who worship only the god of political, social and economic abstractions, ignoring the realities of everyday life. They are not conservatives."

I was also amazed by the number of times in this speech Reagan referenced 'wisdom' and 'common sense.' I'm flattered...

This is a link to a complete copy of Reagan's 1977 CPAC speech, which is clearly guided by principles.

Enjoy.

Thank You, President Obama

President Obama, I would like to thank you for your speech today.

Thank you for denigrating our former President (albeit indirectly) on the world stage. How very American of you.

Thank you for telling the world absolutely nothing positive about the greatest nation on God's green Earth.

Speaking of green, thank you for not speaking directly to India and China, two growing nations whose agenda regarding pollution control is equivalent to your apparent respect for The United States - none.

Thank you for throwing our brave troops under the bus. We understand that you could not take time away from your busy 5 network tour to address the serious request for more troops brought forward the Generals in charge of the region, for after all you do need to maintain your status as the coolest celebrity around - but maybe next time you get up on the world stage you might consider speaking well of the efforts and sacrifices of the brave men and women who have given life and limb for the hope of a more safe and free world?

Thank you as well for spitting in the face of the brave people of Iraq and Afghanistan, who have weathered incredibly unforgiving conditions of domestic political corruption within their budding new governments, as well as civil and military conflict, in the hope that their children may someday live in lands that are free.

Thank you for telling Israel to bend over and take it from the Arab and Muslim world. Thank you for not promising the Israeli people that we will stand by their right to live.

Thank you for telling the entire world that you would like to be rid of nuclear weapons, in essence offering the idea of peace throughout the world. I could not agree with you any more that this is a wonderful concept; in fact, I'd call it rather Utopian. Sadly, it is also extremely far-fetched, and while it feels good to act as if we're "part of the masses," the truth is a real leader would stand before the world and tell them that only responsible nations should ever be allowed the privilege of having such harmful mechanisms.

On that note, thank you for saying absolutely nothing to Iran directly regarding their obviously underhanded and manipulative behavior in an effort to gain such powerful killing devices.

Mr. President, you have compared yourself to Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy. At this point in your presidency, I would put you on pace to be the next Jimmy Carter - if you're lucky.

Mr. President, if you really wish to be a leader, then lead. True leaders have the courage to stand before those who oppose them the most and tell their opposition the truth. Period.

Updated: School Children Sing The Praises of Obama

There is nothing I can say that this video doesn't say itself.

I have this copied to hard drive - if it disappears off of YouTube I will post it directly.



Via: Drudge Report
Via: Michelle Malkin

****UPDATE****

Hat Tip to Clifton B. at Another Black Conservative

(Click for larger image)

(h/t Michelle Malkin and Smart Girl Politics) Here is a little more indoctrination for you. This is a test given in a high school anatomy class. The test is pure pro Obama. Notice there is not a single question expressing the opposing point of view. Notice also how Obama's point of view is treated as fact! The 30,000,000 uninsured number is totally in dispute, but you would never know from this exam.

Don't let the left fool you, your children are being indoctrinated! Obama did not have to say anything Dear Leader-ish to the children, the teachers are the ones who would do the indoctrinating for him.

I am beginning to wonder more and more if the Department of Education had a telephone conference like the NEA did.