Parents Television Council--A danger to liberty

I am no fan of the Osbourne family. I didn't like their show on MTV and I have no intention of watching their new show on Fox. They are fouled-mouthed celebrities with nothing better to do than to waste the time of those who do watch their shows.

That being said I had to roll my eyes today when I read that the Parents Television Council has sicced the dogs on Fox because of the Osbourne's new variety show. This is one of the groups that sit around watching a television show or a movie so that "you won't have to". People in groups like this either don't agree with people of free-will or they don't know about the channel or power buttons on their remote control.

Now it's one thing if a group of concerned parents ban together to help other like-minded parents to filter what their own children see. It's quite another thing when these groups are too lazy to turn the channel or better yet turn off the TV altogether. When the latter is the case these types of organizations tend to try to use the police powers of the government to force networks and stations to stop showing content that they find objectionable. The interesting thing about these kinds of groups is that there are similar groups on both sides of the political aisle. However, they are equally dangerous.

For every conservative group like the Parents Television Council, there are at least an equal number of liberal groups, like Newshounds ("We watch Fox [News] so you don't have to"), that pop up on the left. They are both dangerous to free-speech, especially when they try to force a network to pull a show using the government as a tool, or when they try to recreate the falsely named "Fairness Doctrine" to allegedly give equal time to opposing viewpoints. One tries to eliminate what they feel is objectionable programming outright. The other tries to manipulate the rules in such a fashion as to make it nearly impossible to air content due to oppressive regulation and the need to give all opposing views equal air time, whether or not sponsors will buy time for those views or not. Both are dangerous in a free society because they stifle free expression.

SOURCE: E! Online article

'Fusion Centers' Expand Criteria to Identify Militia Members - First 100 Days of Presidency - Politics FOXNews.com

'Fusion Centers' Expand Criteria to Identify Militia Members - First 100 Days of Presidency - Politics FOXNews.com

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Obama's teleprompter (new cartoon)

Obama will never give up his right to bear a teleprompter.

Hollow Man II: President Obama (new cartoon)

President Hollow Man, er I mean Obama. We have heard some hollow, if not downright duplicitous promises from President Obama since he took office. It seems that it has taken its toll.

DNC attacks a patriot

The Democrat National Committee is attacking the Republican governor of South Carolina. Mark Sanford has said for weeks that he would not accept federal stimulus money for his state. he wants to use a quarter of that money to pay down the state's debt. He says that the stimulus would actually make the financial situation in the state worse in the long term.

However, being financially responsible and paying off an already existing debt doesn't sit well with them. Some Republicans have learned from the mistakes of the party's past. The Dems apparently didn't.

SOURCE: CNN article

Butcher's Bill (update)

Today's Butcher's Bill update:

• Vivek Kundra; appointed last week Chief Information Officer by the Obama administration; killed due to "an ongoing investigation" by the Feds (his former office in the District of Columbia Chief Technology Office was raided today)
• Charles Freeman; killed
• Tom Dashcle; killed
• Nancy Killefer; killed
• New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; killed
• U.S. Attorney Gen. William Holder; wounded
• Timothy Geithner; wounded
• Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel; wounded
• Senior Adviser David Axelrod; wounded
• Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett; wounded
  
• Leon Panetta; wounded
• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; wounded
• William Lynn; wounded

NOTE: We haven't made it to the first 100 day mark yet and this is already shaping up to be one of the most corrupt administrations in history.

SOURCE: Politico story on Vivek Kundra

Butcher's Bill

During the Napoleonic Wars, a list of the dead and wounded was called the "Butcher's Bill". Since so many of Obama's nominations for key positions have fallen under the weight of their own misdeeds I have decided that I will keep a "Butcher's Bill" for the Obama Administration. New entries will be marked in red.

• Charles Freeman (former ambassador to Saudi Arabia); nominated to to be the chairman of the National Intelligence Council; killed due to strong anti-Israeli views and close ties to the Chinese and Saudis (including the Bib Laden family)
• Tom Dashcle (former Senate majority leader); nominated to be Secretary of Health and Human Services; killed due to unpaid taxes
• Nancy Killefer; nominated to be deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget; killed due to failure to pay employment taxes on household help (D.C. placed a tax lean on Killefer’s, $1.7 million home in Northwest Washington in 2005 for failure to pay the taxes)
• New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; Commerce secretary; killed due to federal investigation into “pay-to-play” allegations
• U.S. Attorney Gen. William Holder; wounded due to his support for the early release of FALN terrorist bombers and the pardon of Marc Rich
• Timothy Geithner, (former president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank that failed to head off the Wall Street meltdown); wounded due to his failure to head off the Wall street meltdown and unpaid taxes
• Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel; wounded due to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich scandal
• Senior Adviser David Axelrod; wounded due to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich scandal
• Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett; wounded due to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich scandal
• Leon Panetta (former Clinton administration chief staff); nominated to be CIA director; wounded due to lack of intelligence experience
• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; wounded due to possible conflict of interest with her husband's foundation
• William Lynn; wounded because despite Obama’s “no lobbyists” pledge, he selected the former Raytheon executive and lobbyist to serve as the No. 2 official in the Pentagon. Raytheon is a major Pentagon contractor

Newsmax interviewed James P. Pfiffner, author of The Modern Presidency, about the number of "casualties" in the Obama administration:

Presidential transition and policy expert James P. Pfiffner, author of The Modern Presidency, tells Newsmax that Obama’s nomination mishaps have been somewhat greater than normal for an incoming president, particularly regarding tax issues.

The errors suggest flaws in the Obama team’s vetting process, he says, and adds that the stumbles are worrisome given the high expectations for good governance created by Obama himself.

Pfiffner, a public policy professor at George Mason University, says he finds Obama’s missteps all the more surprising given what he viewed as an extraordinarily effective presidential transition.

SOURCE: Newsmax article on Ambassador Charles Freeman
SOURCE: Newsmax article on other nominees

Daily Lowlights

The only political low-light that I have today is from a story by the Washington Times. It shows that the people advising President Obama aren't exactly pinnacles of virtue.

SOURCE: Washington Times story

Daily Lowlights

These are some of todays lowest political moments:

• 28 % of all giving is given by the top 2% of income earners. However, the Obama administration wants to cut out the deduction for charitable giving for these donors. Treasury Secretary Geithner says that he can think of no better way to improve charitable giving than to stimulate the economy. Of course the problem with that thinking is the money comes from the same taxpayers that they claim to be helping.
• Union bosses for the AFL-CIO meet in a $400.00 a night hotel for their meeting about taking away worker's rights. That means that they are using union dues to pay for the same type of extravagant accommodations for which they have repeatedly chastised CEOs.
• Congress wants to spend Millions of taxpayer dollars on tattoo removal for gang members and for keeping the stink of pig waste down.

Uncle Sam on life support (new cartoon)

The stimulus bill causes a hemorrhage that puts Uncle Sam in the ICU.

The Republicans are still the best option

Since the 2006 midterm election we have heard things from the Left like, "elections have consequences" and "don't preach about fiscal responsibility when Bush grew the debt greater than any president since FDR". And they're right on both counts.

The fact is that the Republicans screwed up royally. They were more concerned about maintaining a semblance of power so that they betrayed the fiscal responsibility that got them elected in the first place. And I still say to this day that the Democrats didn't win the 2006 and 2008 elections; the Republicans lost. In fact, you could say that they went out of their way to lose.

But this is a new year. The new congress and the president have been in control for a little over a month and things are worse now than they were before. The stock market continues to decline because investors are worried about the socialist moves that the new government has begun to put in place. And the only answer that the Democrats offer is more government spending, more regulation and higher taxes on the high achievers--the ones that provide most of the jobs in this country. The thing that the Republicans warned against has come to pass. So now what do we do?

The only thing to do is reelect the Republicans in 2010. They aren't perfect but hopefully they have been sufficiently chastised that they will not make the same mistakes again. We should redouble our efforts to show that the Democrat plans are not only counterproductive, but are in fact harmful. We should take the high road and not issue juvenile personal attacks. We should modernize, not hip hop-ize the party. We should use the same techniques (i.e. internet video, blogging, email campaigns, etc.) as the Dems, without stooping to the same type of false accusations and mindless repetition of talking points. We have the facts on our side. It's time that we use modern campaigning techniques and technologies to get our message out.

And once we are back in control we need to put the party's feet to the fire to make sure that they don't make the mistakes of the past or come up with new mistakes that they can make. This is too important.

We also need a special 10th amendment commission to explore ways to return power to the states. The size and power of the federal government are truly unconstitutional. We must challenge the big government types on this. They claim that they are supporting and defending the Constitution but they do the exact opposite of what they say.

Winning in 2010 is going to be harder because the Left has decided to politicize the census by putting it under the control of the White House. They are also bantering about the atrociously name "Fairness Doctrine". And some of the higher taxes on the job providers that I mentioned earlier won't go into effect until 2011. That means that even if we win in 2010, by the time we take control of the congress these oppressive taxes will start to ruin the economy even further.

Personally I would like to see a more libertarian form of government. But truthfully the Libertarian Party doesn't stand much chance of winning a national election campaign. There are still too many people in this county that want a nanny government to take care of them, than want liberty. The Republicans aren't the perfect choice but they are still the best option that we have. The more we can move the party toward constructivist, libertarian policies the better the county will be for it.

The Left savages Jindal

I was just reading a Politico article about the Chris Mathews "faux pas" last night. For those that don't know it, just before the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address last night, someone from the MSNBC news crew was overheard saying, "Oh god". Since Keith Olberman was on the panel everyone assumed that it was him. However, it was later revealed that it was in fact Obama's lap dog, Chris Matthews.

Now I don't care really what Matthews or Olberman say. Both of them have been salivating ever since Obama gave his speech at the 2004 Democrat National Convention. Any day now I expect one of them to collapse in rapture over their president.

What made me angry was the responses by the commentators on the Politico article. Most could not get ablove childish remarks about Jindal's personal appearance. They claimed that he was trying to ape the appearance of president by having the walk-out of the Louisiana govenor's mansion. They also made remarks about how thin and stiff he was.

Now let us not forget that Obama was doing the same thing before after the election, but before he was actually sworn into office. Remember the "Office of the President-elect" shield that he would have on his podium when he made a speech? There is no such thing as the "Office of President-elect" but the Dems are all government educated so you can't really expect much. And even before the election he and his handlers were doing everything they could with their marketing skills to make the neophyte politician look presidential. We even had the famous redesign of the presidential seal that was leaked from the campaign.

And Obama is thin and stiff, despsite what Entertainment Tonight and the other admirers tell ad nauseam. But I have gone out of my way since I started this blog to not make personal attacks (i.e. attacks on the personal appearance) on the Democrats. Now I make no bones about the fact that they are misguided and in many cases they have no common sense. But to make fun of someone because of their appearance is just juvenile. And it's the kind of thing that they used to argue against Republican candidates when they would say things like, "Americans are tired of personal attacks".

We Conservatives know that it will be a long four years. But we should do what the Dems keep saying that they are going to do. We should stand above personal attacks, and attack them on their policies. After all, there's plenty to attack.

The sorry state of the Union

I didn't watch the State of the Union address last night. That means one down, three to go. The thing about the SOU is that you really know what the president is going to say beforehand especially in this day and age of 24-hour news and the internet. And quite frankly President Obama has nothing to say that I want to hear. The only reason anybody wants to see it is to bask in the warm glow of the Dem chosen one.

Today I was watching CNBC and I saw Rep. Spencer Bacchus from my state, Alabama. He said something that is going to become a battle cry for Conservatives for the next four years.

"The government never solved anything by throwing more money at it."

We have known this for years. Look at the government school system. Every time we get a liberal president and congress we see the budget for government education explode. And every time it's like throwing money down a bottomless hole. It makes liberals think good about themselves and it placates some voters. But when everything is said and done it's just a useless waste of time. It always will be as long as teacher's unions are allowed to set policy.

Another example is the nation's infrastructure. When tax money goes to states and local communities, ostensibly to improve roads, bridges and levees, politicians, conservative and liberal alike, spend that money on pet projects. There was the instance in New Orleans where the local government spent infrastructure money meant for the levees on a fountain. A few years later Hurricane Katrina slammed into NO and the rest is history.

Just a few years ago there was the bridge collapse that was caused by stress fatigue and age. The money that should have been spent repairing that preexisting bridge was instead spent on building new structures just so politicians could get their names placed on them. And again people died.

In other words you have to change what you are doing to improve, not just throw money at it.

Al Sharpton causes a cold day in hell (new cartoon)

A possible future if Al Sharpton learns to not be offended by every little thing. Satan won't like it too much.

The new "octomom" delivers (new cartoon)

Well most of you have heard of the welfare mom that recently had octuplets, bringing her brood to fourteen. Now that the imperial congress has passed the new stimulus bill and along with all of the other liberal spending that's going on, we now have a new "octomom": the federal government.

NY Post chimpanzee cartoon

I have seen the NY Post cartoon with the chimpanzee that was shot dead by capitol police. The caption reads, "They'll have to find someone else to right the next stimulus bill". Now there seems to be something of a stink surrounding the cartoon because some politicians and people who call themselves community leaders are upset. They claim that the image is a blatant, racist attack of President Obama.

As a cartoonist and a libertarian I want to yell "Freedom of speech!". However, as a discerning reader I want to say, "What in the name of all that is holy were you thinking?".

In this day and age when people get their knickers in a bunch any time someone looks at them funny, it seems to me that some self-censoring might have been in order. Though I know that the cartoonist was trying to play off of the recent incident of the rampaging chimpanzee by comparing the new stimulus bill as rampaging pork, his execution was tenuous at best. And what concerns me more is that the Post's editorial staff didn't vet the piece more carefully.

All that being said, the fact is that the people most vocally "outraged" over the cartoon, are always outraged about something. They have no moral high ground. They have been "calling wolf" for decades and people no longer really listen to them. These self-proclaimed "leaders" wouldn't have anything to do if it wasn't for complaining. They would shrivel up and die. So I'm calling BS on their moral outrage.

SOURCE: AP story

Atlas Screwed

With the massive debt that Obama's stimulus bill will incur, someone has to shoulder the burden.

All bank transactions now in Swedish

I read that Lindsey Graham and Alan Greenspan are supporting a move to a "Swedish model" for our banks. This means nationalization of the struggling banks in this country.

My question is this: "Does this mean we get a free member of the Swedish bikini team with each new account opening?" Because that's basically all the Swedish ever gave us. Well that and the Nobel Prize and we all see how valuable that is.

Uncle Obama Wants Your Free Will

This is something I did for one of my Cafe Press designs. It's based on the famous World War I recruiting poster by James Montgomery Flagg.

Roland Burris: Typical Democrat

This stuff just keeps getting better and better. I mean for eight years the Dems kept telling us that the Republicans were the source of all the country's woes and that the Republicans had created a "swamp" (Nancy Pelosi) in the Congress. Well it seems that the party of the jackass can't even get out of the starting gate without creating a swamp of their own.

Roland Burris, the man appointed by Rod "The Rug" Blagojevich to fill the Senate seat vacated by OB when he was elected to the presidentcy, has just been found to be exactly what the Republicans and even some Dems warned against: just another corrupt Chicago politician who pays to play.

I found a Washington Post article from "The Fix" (perfect name for a Dem shill) that illuminates some of the fears that the Dems are suffering from less than a month after they forced this yahoo on the citizens of Illinois.

The beauty of this is that the Dems can no longer blame the Republicans for their problems. They seem to have no trouble creating their own.

SOURCE: Washington Post "The Fix" article