MSNBC isn't dishonest? Check this out!

If you are reading this on an email newsfeed or Facebook, click here to see the videos.

This is the first video clip, which was aired on the very pro-Obama MSNBC. Notice the details of the video. Also, listen to the insane blather on this program! These people are unbelievable... but you decide for yourself.



And here is a local ABC affiliate's video. Notice that the gun-toting (great) American in the video is not a "white racist".





I report. You decide. Haha. Where's Jon Stewart on this one??

Again, if you cannot see the videos, click here.

Keeping racial divides intact

I tried to ignore this story for a long time. Since I haven't been writing as much as I used to, I thought maybe this article should be about Obama's shady health care pipe dream or the absurd Jeremy Mayfield saga out of NASCAR. However, the arrest of Harvard scholar Henry Gates has really struck a nerve with me. And I'll say that I'm tackling a very difficult subject that no one can truly fully understand. I just think with common sense, and I think that's the best thing people can do in this world.

The short version of the story is that Gates, upon arriving from out of town, was having difficulty entering his home in Cambridge, Mass. and appeared to be breaking into the home. The police were called to investigate, and according to reports, Gates, who is black, immediately became irate with officers and began hurling charges of racism almost upon contact. He showed the officers his driver's license, but refused to cooperate or calm down. He was then arrested for disorderly conduct.

Where the real story begins, is when Mr. Gates began telling his story to his prominent friends-- Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA) and President Obama.


Despite hearing only their friend's account of the story, both men immediately issued public comments, decrying the treatment of their friend and jumping to conclusions.

"(This incident is) every black man's nightmare and a reality for many black men." Patrick said.

His buddy, the President, added that "The Cambridge police acted stupidly..."

Fair enough. I get it. You're sticking up for your friend. I don't blame Barack or Deval for that. I do however have a problem with them making this a racial issue.

What about the fact that this Officer Crowley, the arresting officer is a very respected member of the police force?

"Numerous police officers, including African-Americans, have spoken up on Crowley's behalf and portrayed him as a good and fair officer. Crowley, who is white, had once been chosen by a black police officer to teach a police academy course on ways to avoid racial profiling." (CNN.com)

That doesn't sound like a racist to me... Sounds like a stiff guy that goes by the book.

Henry Gates is a prominent genealogist and African-American scholar. He's into it... hardcore. He is also the Editor-In-Chief of TheRoot.com , a black online newspaper owned by The Washington Post.

This is from The Root's "About Us" section:

The Root is a daily online magazine that provides thought-provoking commentary on today's news from a variety of black perspectives. The site also hosts an interactive genealogical section to trace one's ancestry through AfricanDNA.com, a DNA testing site co-founded by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who is also The Root's Editor-In-Chief. The Root aims to be an unprecedented departure from traditional American journalism, raising the profile of black voices in mainstream media and engaging anyone interested in black culture around the world.

I will not pretend to know what it is like to be an African-American, because I have no idea. All I can do is try to understand where they're coming from and base an opinion on what I do know.

What I do know is that there are racists throughout the world, but most people are not. Those involved in movements such as Gates are extremely passionate about their cause, but seem to utilize what I perceive to be as a blame game very regularly.

It's the reverse cycle trace.

Man X (who happens to be black) is arrested by police for a crime or lawful suspicion of a crime.

Now begins the reverse cycle trace.

He was arrested by racist white police because of his skin color, but it wasn't all his fault because he grew up in a bad neighborhood full of drugs and crime, and wasn't given any opportunities because of societal oppression... and so on... all the way back to the heinous abomination of slavery.

I'm not saying all of this is not partially legitimate. Unfortunately, Lord knows that it is. Those who grow up in those types of situations certainly haven't received the opportunities in life that I have... I get that.

But at some point, people must take responsibilities for their actions and their own lives.

Mr. Gates was detained because he was yelling and screaming absurd accusations at police officers who were simply trying to do their jobs. These guys see enough stuff on a day to day basis to not take any chances.

Gates reportedly yelled things at the officers like, "(You) have no idea who (you're) was 'messing' with!" And when asked to come outside the home, "I'll speak with your mama outside. And generally "...exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior."

I wasn't there, just like President Obama wasn't, so I cannot totally say what happened there that night. I can say however that Mr. Gates is probably not the biggest fan of white people.

The following are quotes from Mr. Gates from an interview with Jane Slaughter of The Progressive. It appears in vol. 62 in 1998.

Affirmative action to me is reparations for sexism, reparations for racism. But it's being dismantled. That's scary, and it's depressing. And the most depressing aspect is that a black man is the swing vote on these issues often--that's Clarence Thomas. It really pisses me off, and you can quote me. His attitude [toward the liberals, feminists, and black intellectuals who opposed his nomination] is, "You messed with me, and you didn't kill me. You should have killed me. Now I'm going to kick your ass forever."

What you want is a level playing field. Once you're in there, you want the same privileges, the same opportunities as the white boys.

He continues on:

"It's like [the white male elite] was hibernating for a few decades, and they woke up one day, they walked into a room, and they go, "God, how'd these women get in here, how'd these black people get in here? We're gonna shake the tree and all of y'all that can hold on to those branches, you're welcome to stay. But ain't no more of you gonna get in, and if you fall down, your ass is going back to where it was y'all came from."

If he said these things during Bill Clinton's presidency, imagine what he was saying during 8 years of Dubya and Cheney.

I have no problem with Gates and his black legitimacy movement. I actually encourage it. Our American society can only become stronger if the African-American community continues to improve.

I just don't like the methods. Promoting blame and making societal excuses and declarations is no way to empower people. If anything Gates is a proponent of dependency and reckless assumptions.

I like the Bill Cosby method myself:

"They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: "Why you ain't," "Where you is," "What he drive," "Where he stay," "Where he work," "Who you be." And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk.

Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.

People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around. The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids, $500 sneakers for what? And they won't spend $200 for 'Hooked on Phonics.'

I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18, and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol? And where is the father? Or who is his father?

People putting their clothes on backward: Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong? People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something? Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up? Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?

What part of Africa did this come from? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa. With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail.

Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back. People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' -- or men, or whatever you call them now. We have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We, as black folks, have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us. We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.

We cannot blame the white people any longer."

--Bill Cosby, 2004

Obviously, there is racism in our society. Everyone is guilty of passing judgment on someone because of their appearance at one time or another; it is simply human nature. It is what you do with those perceptions and actions that makes you a positive or negative force on this world. It is surely a complex issue that will never fully be worked out, but incidents like this are assisting in keeping racial divides intact.

And that, is just plain wrong.

Lie or lose: Miss California gets blacklisted

I don't pay any attention to beauty pageants. Never have, probably never will. However, after reading several headlines about how the Miss USA runner-up lost the paegent, I really got riled up.

Celebrity gossip columnist/blogger person (and extremely gay dude) Perez Hilton asked Miss California Carrie Prejean, "Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?" Prejean responded:

"We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."

That response, according to Hilton, "...lost her the crown, without a doubt!"

Also, in this Fox News article, it becomes apparent that two of Prejean's biggest backers and organizers of the Miss California paegent Shanna Moakler and Keith Lewis, totally ignored Prejean following the competition and have ripped her publicly. Apparently it is okay for Moakler to take off her clothes in Playboy (2001), but not okay for Prejean to believe in traditional marriage. Sorry. My bad. I guess I don't know what family values are anymore. Prejean is so obviously a horrible person.

Give me a goddamn break.

Again, I don't care about these types of competitions-- they mean nothing to me. I am however, offended by the fact that people can no longer hold dissenting positions in certain forums-- especially in Hollywood.

Think about it, how many openly conservative actors are there in Hollywood? Very few. People are afraid to "come out" with their political views for fears of being blacklisted. It is far more acceptable in Hollywood to put out a sex tape a la Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton or become a drug addicted derelict/deviant a la Lindsay Lohan or Amy Winehouse, than it is to state your valid beliefs on gay marriage or Barack Obama. It is such a militantly liberal atmosphere, that retribution against anyone different is usually imminent. It truly is the height of hypocrisy.

With that said, this particular contest is a sham if the judges themselves are obviously biased. That's like a professional football player asking a Miss USA contestant what her favorite sport is, then blasting her and voting her down when she honestly answers "soccer".

Apparently, being Miss USA entails intangibles like courage, integrity, empathy, and intelligence. It's sad to see that someone can retain all those characteristics and still get skewered like that simply for answering a question honestly.

I guess she should have lied. What a great message.

A rampage a day...

What the hell is going on here? First it was a rapist in Oakland on parole who killed four police officers. Then it was a disgruntled ex-vaccum plant worker shooting up a Binghamton, NY immigration center. This of course was immediately followed by a paranoid gun nut (and an apparent anti-semite a-hole) killing 3 more police officers in Pittsburgh today.

--News Alert--

While writing this, the new Yahoo top story contains this headline:

"Police: 5 children, father found dead in Wash."

Seriously. What THE HELL is going on here?

Each case is different, and the Washington murder-suicide (presumably) hasn't been fully investigated yet, but two out of the four rampages (Binghamton, Pittsburgh) have involved unstable individuals losing their jobs.

Of course one cannot blame these massacres on any one factor. Each murderer is responsible for their actions-- not the economy, and not gun laws.

I cannot write an article that would solve any of these specific issues, but each case is infuriating.

Take the Oakland murderer. Here's a career criminal for you. In all reality, this is a person who is genetically human, but actually more closely resembles human feces. Gun charges, assault, rape of a 12 year-old, homicide, you name it. Yet this piece of human garbage was on the streets, out on parole. You can blame the legal system, the prison system, California's fiscal irresponsibility, etc.

The fact remains that this person stood no chance of ever being a productive member of society, and society is better off with people like this 6 feet underground, or under 300 feet of water beneath the Bay Bridge. But no. Lovelle Mixon was a free man who was mourned by 500 racists for being a hero cop killer. Totally nauseating.

I know this isn't the Old West or Afghanistan or Mexico, but all it takes is a 20 cent, .22 caliber bullet to make society safer by killing these Mixon-like degenerates. But no. It costs us millions to try, house, and rehabilitate people like this. What do we get? Four brave public servants dead and their families suffering. And of course widening race divisions...

The Binghamton killer was a crazy Vietnamese immigrant who got a raw deal and hated America for it. He lost his job and got made fun of for his poor English. If everybody who couldn't speak English well and got laid off killed 14 people, the entire country would be dead.

The Pittsburgh guy... same thing. Guy lost his job, but decided to blame Obama and his supposed gun laws-- you know... the ones he hasn't passed yet? How about this? The guy was a mentally ill racist and probably needed to be locked up in a sanitarium. Instead he killed 3 of Pittsburgh's finest.

I must now explain why these gun crimes have nothing to do with gun laws, and why the future calls for gun control by the media and its pundits-- not to mention Atty. General Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton, and perhaps Obama himself-- are totally irrelevant and borderline unconstitutional.

Guns cannot fire themselves. A person must load it, cock it, point it, and pull the trigger.

Guns can be acquired both legally and illegally.

Criminals are going to be criminals whether the population has access to guns or not.

Would you rather have a population of armed criminals and armed law-abiders or just armed criminals?

In a population as large as ours, there are always going to be bad apples. You know that. But firearms are going to find their way into the hands of criminals whether the rest of the population has access to them or not. And the truth of the matter is, everyone is capable of being a criminal. Whether we are or not is up to us, not gun laws.

These incidents exhibit why we must be more vigilant than ever about people. I know... all doom and gloom, right? But it's gotten to the point where you cannot give borderline personalities the benefit of the doubt-- guns or no guns.

People are just freaking out out there in the midst of a tough world. Some just can't handle it. I hope that we treat these incidents as the isolated incidents that they are instead of overreacting. Because overreacting is exactly why these incidents occurred in the first place.

We haven't hit bottom yet

Unfortunately, it is true.

People keep saying, "Well how will we know when this recession has hit its peak? How will we know when we've hit bottom?"

The answer, I believe, is when the other credit crisis occurs.

Reckless lending practices and living beyond our means got us into this mess in the first place. I too am guilty of living beyond my means. We've all got a little debt. Some have more than others. Most people would consider their debt manageable.

With the country hemorrhaging jobs for the last 12 months, a credit aftershock has yet to be felt. If the housing and manufacturing crises registered an 8.0 on the Richter scale, the upcoming aftershock could register as high as a 5.0. That of course could derail any progress we've made in the meantime.

What happens when people lose their income? They must rely on savings and credit cards. Sometimes, their savings were dependent on stock portfolios and other variable accounts like 401k's-- many of which have gone down the dumper recently.

So this fictitious, yet common individual has some savings left, maybe a little severance (maybe not), and the same bills that he or she was paying when he or she was employed.

Assuming this person cannot land a similar job with similar pay in the next 2 or 3 months, they will have to make some choices. For an increasing amount of people, credit cards are the default answer.

Most of us have them... many have more than two. According to CreditCards.com, there were 1.5 billion credit cards in use in the US in 2006. That number has only increased. With the average consumer owing on 13 different credit obligations (myfico.com) and 60% of the population owing an average of $9,000, people losing jobs en masse can only spell disaster.

They are convenient. They allow great financial freedom. They serve well in emergencies and can help you out of jams.

They were not, however, made to support entire families for extended periods of time. The more desperate the employment situation gets, the more personal debt in this country is going to skyrocket.

And who owes money to who, you may ask?

Heading the top of the list is the relatively stable JPMorgan-Chase with 119.4 million cards in circulation (2008), that is followed by Citibank (92 million) and Bank of America (80.2 million). So B of A and Citi have 172.2 million cards out there, huh? Not very comforting at all.

The thing that's scary about this whole situation is that the American people are racking up necessary debts at alarming rates right now, and less money is going into these banks in the form of remittances. I can't say I'm an expert, but this seems like another serious cash flow problem for these already hard-hit banks.

We're talking about serious numbers here. The US Census Bureau determined that Americans had $832 billion in credit card debt in 2005, and at the time predicted a rise to $1.1 trillion in 2010. And of course, despite their disturbing findings in 2005, they did not factor in the deep recession that we are currently mired in.

The amount of debt floating around out there is only set to increase, with it being the only significant lifeline for a growing segment of the population.

Hopefully frugal spending by those with jobs during these uncertain times will help offset part of the growing debt problem, but that remains to be seen.

The Federal Government, ever the shining example of fiscal responsibility, is basically replicating the aforementioned process on a much larger scale... And just like many credit card issuers are doing by raising interest rates and transaction fees, the government will have to raise taxes. Again, it's a simple overextension of credit and a subsequent cash flow issue.

I hope I'm wrong about this, but I don't think I am.



Thanks for reading, and please leave a comment every once in awhile! I need to know if I'm nuts or on point!

Enough said.

Obama is driving us nuts...

...and by "us", I mean those of us who didn't vote for him; those of us who do not share in his increasingly ideological partisan policies.

We expected a rough couple months... maybe even a couple years. We knew that if Barack got elected, we'd be marginalized, mocked, and teased. We aren't in power anymore. It certainly is an increasingly tough pill to swallow-- so tough to swallow that many of us are choking on the damn capsule, and frantically searching for a glass of water (or booze) to wash it down.

Here's what is driving us nuts:


1) Immediately ordering Guantanamo shut down... I don't need to say more.

2) Appointing/attempting to appoint tax cheats and other various non-law-abiding sleazes to his cabinet (Tom Daschle, Bill Richardson, Hilda Sollis, Nancy Killefer, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.)

Geithner is the most egregious mistake. More on that later.

3) The Stimulus Bill

Or as I like to call it, the "Spendulus". Rush likes "Porkulous". Whatever. To each his own. Obama forced this massive $787 billion dollar behemoth through with very little transparency, using doom and gloom fear tactics (the very type of politics he said he wouldn't utilize). The Wall Street Journal breaks this disaster down here.

My favorites include:
$19.99 billion for food stamps
$1 billion for "extra money for census"
$230 million for "National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration facilities and research"
$10 million for costs to administer grant money
$15 million for Preservation grants for historically black colleges and universities
$500 million for upgrades to health services infrastructure on Indian Reservations
$75 million to the Smithsonian and to fund non-profit arts programs
$1.1 billion to research the effectiveness of Medicare and Medicaid
$121 million solely for federal oversight of delegated monies
$201 million for volunteering programs

I could go on, and on, and on. There are a lot of worthy causes in this bill, but many of the provisions go to advanced sciences and energy research, jobs that require highly advanced and specialized degrees. How is that going to help the guy who got laid off from a factory in Ohio?

A lot of spending in this is going directly to programs or causes that increase dependency on government. It reeks of the "S" word...

And why on earth does it take $121 million dollars to oversee these things?? Is that not what we have the government for in the first place? Isn't this already their job? Some of this is truly bizarre and unconscionable.

4) Naiively suggesting that we should "reach out" to "moderate" elements of the Taliban.

News flash: Mr. Obama, the success of American forces in Iraq in cooperating with Sunni militias is not the same thing. Please take a history and/or International Politics class, and consult with people who know something about military strategy. The suggestion that the Taliban has moderate elements is a very troubling sign. There aren't any. THEY'RE THE TALIBAN FOR GOD'S SAKE! As O'Reilly would say, "Wise up, sir."

5) Attempting to overhaul the healthcare system while the economy is struggling

Mr. President, it would behoove you to concentrate solely on the economic crisis at hand. The healthcare system is flawed, but sir, you have been in office for 5 weeks. You have already included billions of dollars in your stimulus bill for these types of things. Please see Rodham Clinton, Hillary circa 1993, and ask her advice on overhauling one of the most complex and expensive things in existence. Feel free to revisit this issue in 2 years when our financial issues have been repaired. (Hint: go after the corrupt insurance companies that have forced costs to astronomical levels.)

6) Please reign in your minions

The minions I speak of are specifically his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Stimulus architect, Nancy Pelosi. I am fully aware of Emanuel's purpose. He is the powerbroker; the attack dog. I get that.

However, he orchestrated a plan to go after Rush Limbaugh, an influential entertainer. From where I'm standing, it looks extremely childish. Rush has 20 million listeners. I'd venture to say that 18 million of those listeners are going to vote conservatively anyway, that's why they listen to him. To go after him and attempt to paint him as the leader of the GOP screams of insecurity and weakness. Does he have influence? Yes. Does he influence policy? Does he hold a seat on the House Means & Ways Committee? No.

Leave it alone, and focus on your Treasury Secretary, who is fumbling around in the dark, looking for a light switch and sucking his thumb.


7) Tim Geithner needs to get his act together

The guy in charge of fixing this economic crisis is asleep at the wheel. 17 top jobs underneath Geithner remain unfilled. The gaping hole in the most important division of Obama's cabinet is causing it to run at half steam when it needs to be setting land speed records. This is appalling.

How on earth is it that a nearly $800 billion dollar spending package gets passed within two weeks, and there is no one working with this boob Geithner to help fix this mess? I am sincerely dumbfounded by this. How can anything get done? Who's running this trainwreck? Unbelievable.

8) Obama is on the verge of being a proven hypocrite

Strong words? Yes. The latest bill to arrive on his desk is a $410 billion omnibus bill with 9,000-- count 'em NINE THOUSAND earmarks. Hmm... $8 billion in earmarks signed into law? Geez... I could've sworn you said you wouldn't do that Mr. President.

Of course during your campaign and even after you were sworn in, I heard you say all kinds of stuff about being fiscally responsible and spending sensibly. You've spent almost $1.2 trillion dollars in 5 weeks. Not even George Steinbrenner paired with 50 Cent could accomplish that.

And yet, I hear this refrain: "I inherited this mess."

Sir, you may have inherited a lot of issues, but you are exacerbating the problem by digging a hole in which you may never be able to get out of.



Okay, this has gotten too long, but I needed to vent. I needed to vent on behalf of all conservatives who are deeply troubled right now. The philosophical differences between the Bush White House and the Obama White House are simply staggering. I don't know if this is anything we can get used to. There is simply no common ground between us.

Truly Appalling: Devaluing Our Own Currency

Look, I am no economist, and I do not believe Glenn Beck is the foremost authority on all this... but you must watch this and heed its words.

Thanks to the blog Conservative Today for spreading the content.

If this is accurate, the government's actions are totally reckless. If this continues, our money will be worth nothing. This isn't exactly Zimbabwe territory, but it is not good, to say the least.

Of course irrelevant stimulus bills that cost $1.3 trillion dollars we don't have is going to take a much longer time to pay off with our tax dollars if our paychecks are worth less and less.

And you thought the Bush Administration was disappointing and John McCain was The Maverick... little did you know. I wonder if Barack knows about this.

Funny thing too... didn't Glenn Beck used to be on CNN Headline News? Yup, he sure was. I watch a little less political TV than I used to, mainly because it upsets me. However, Beck's addition to Fox News is a very solid acquisition. The guy is very bright and very legit.

At this point though, I don't even try to defend FNC's conservative political leanings. It is what it is. I prefer it. I won't apologize for that.

What does bother me is when people try to tell me CNN is not a liberal-leaning network. That is a total falsehood.

We've got Hannity/O'Reilly/Beck/Karl Rove, you've got Anderson Cooper (who is definitely "the other way") and Larry King, the "King of Softball Questions".

On a lighter note, here's my Super Bowl pick: Cardinals (+7) over Steelers.

Powder kegs Obama must deal with

Obama has inherited a hornet's nest. Unfortunately, current economic volatility has pushed most foreign policy issues out of sight and out of mind for the time being. If it weren't for these foreclosures, bank bailouts, massive job cuts, and automakers begging on their knees, Obama would have to pay a bit more attention to the world around him.

By the way, major kudos to Barack for not immediately telling the military what to do. He has no clue what to do with all of it, and it's doubtful he'll be able to make any real decisions for a little while-- at least until he takes an International Relations class and learns the extent of our military capabilities. Luckily, we continue to target terrorists in Pakistan, which is absolutely imperative. The following are just a few of the international issues that Obama must deal with, and deal with soon.




Afghanistan



The Taliban has slowly but surely been making inroads in previously liberated areas of this hellhole. They're employing suicide bombers in cities like Kabul (an Arab al-Qaeda style form of attack), and are taking more and more land. They are exerting influence in the South and in Pakistan. Pretty much anywhere soldiers are not.

Obama has two choices right now. He can act swiftly and send tens of thousands of badly needed troops into this region to quell this increase of Taliban control (which sounds inevitable based conversations I've had with two people I know in the military), or he can withdraw everyone and declare it a loss. The current stalemate is not acceptable. Losing is unacceptable as well.

We are losing ground there because it is too vast a country with too many geographic obstacles. The borders mean nothing. Lines on a map are not keeping the flow of guns, opium, and terrorists from doing whatever they damn well please.

As I see it, there are three steps here:

1) Kill the Taliban (or at least drive them into Pakistan for the time being), and create security for Afghans as well as commerce.

2) Promote new sustainable farming techniques and alternatives to growing opium poppies. Encourage NGO's and relief organizations like Roots of Peace (nice plug, huh, Tuck?) to set up shop in the country until some semblance of legitimate economy blossoms. When people have opportunities, it's less likely that they will choose terrorist or dope grower as their profession. In turn, radical Islam becomes less attractive. Stop the dope, stop the Taliban's income. Stop the Taliban.

3) Utilize the international community's undying love for Obama to acquire more peackeepers for the region. Then, sustain a fledging Afghan state until it can take off the training wheels. Democracy is not going to work there but for God's sake, just keep them from killing each other or killing us.


Pakistan


Few realize that Pakistan, not Iran, is the next front in the War on Terror. Dubya might be having a Lonestar or Shiner down in Crawford right now, but these battles are going to have to be waged sooner or later.

Pakistan is especially difficult to deal with because of it's unsettled political situation. Historically, they have been a wary ally of America, but since the ouster of Pervez Musharraf, things are less rosy.

Osama is hiding there, the Taliban controls vast swaths of Pakistan's tribal areas, and fundamentalism is spreading by the day. Also compounding issues is our strengthening relationship with Pakistan's loathed enemy, India.

Of course the Pakistanis want us to stop shooting missiles into Waziristan... but what country wouldn't? Islamabad has no control over this region, and that is the main reason that we're able to get away with this.

The current situation is not sustainable though and something must be done to keep this from getting out of hand. It is a delicate balancing act for the time being.


Somalia



Somalia is not exactly a priority for most people. It is basically unimportant in every way. At least it was...

This lawless country hasn't had a real government in nearly 20 years. Islamic warlords and pirates now rule this horrible place. The UN-backed provisional government controls about 20 blocks worth of the country. Recently, Ethiopia, the only country in Africa's horn with a real military and a US ally, withdrew its troops.

Same old, same old, right?

Not with these pirates on the high seas. These guys are capturing Supertankers and actually getting paid ransom money. In turn, these ransom payments are funding the land-based militias that terrorize the population. The Gulf of Aden is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, and is the lone obstacle in the way of the Middle Eastern continent.

With Islamic fundamentalists set to nurture the dysfunction, what's stopping them from hosting al-Qaeda training facilities, and acting as a go between between radicals in Yemen or Saudi Arabia? This creates an unholy triangle of geographic hell. At the very least, a coalition of international warships need to be positioned all along international shipping lanes. This should not all be footed by the US either. The Russians, Chinese, Saudis, and the EU pansies all have a stake in this. Somalia has basically been quarantined since 1991, and this needs to continue. Its population is a lost cause unfortunately, with multiple generations only knowing squalor, starvation and war as a way of life. The best the world can hope is to contain them and hope they do not destabilize the region around them.

Let's hope Obama keeps this mind as he moves forward.

Other issues: Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Darfur, Socialism in South America, Russia's bullying of former republics and Putin consolidating power

Thanks for reading, and for you old timers, remember all those blue underlined words are hyperlinks. Check them out... that's why they're there.

Is Obama Who We Thought He Was?

Very interesting Barack... very interesting indeed.

I was just going over the list of Obama's newly dubbed cabinet members, and browsing some CNN.com articles... namely this one.

I'm just sort of flabbergasted at the normalcy of his cabinet, and the fact that he dubbed two Republicans to fill positions (keeping on Bush's Sec. of Defense Robert Gates as one of them.)

I'm just a bit confused though... and can you blame me? Here is a guy we conservatives were just terrified of. He voted to the left of Ted Kennedy in the Senate, appealed to every wacko leftist from Alec Baldwin to Maureen Dowd, and yet, these are the types of people that are mad at him!

I just can't get over it. The guy spends countless hours giving rousing speeches about how he would reach out across the political divide and welcome all kinds of ideas from all kinds of people. And you know what? Despite not being in office yet, the son of a gun has kept his promise.

I don't really know what to think. I'm still wary of him, especially on his stances on foreign policy, Gitmo, coerced interrogation, and the Iraq war, but I'm not totally freaking out either. The sky has stopped falling for the time being.

My favorite part of this whole thing is that he invited Evangelical preacherman extraordinaire Rick Warren to do the whole invocation thing.

Of course, the militant radical gays are all up in arms about it. I've got news for you. There are more Evangelical and traditional Christians in this country than gays and lesbians-- including many that crossed party lines and voted for Obama. Everyone has a right to believe what they believe. Just like people can believe in God and against abortion or gay marriage, you can believe what you believe too.

Just because you don't agree with someone doesn't mean anything. By being "outraged" at Barack's tolerance and belief in Christianity and legitimate leaders like Warren, liberals are just "revenge discriminating" and throwing the equivalent of a toddler's temper tantrum.

I'm sick of it.

And what I don't understand is why people think everyone has to be a part of everything-- otherwise there's no chance of success.

What these liberal groups are really saying is that we want minority groups OVER-represented in important cabinet positions. And another conundrum of liberal hypocrisy is making a big deal about what gender, race, or sexual orientation someone is in relation to job qualification.

So what you're saying is, a white guy, or straight Asian woman is the wrong choice for a position because they're not gay or disabled, or a member of the radical left? Not every workplace, television commercial, or party needs to look like a picture from a high school Spanish book-- you know the ones (The picture with the Asian girl, the white kid in the wheelchair, the black guy with braces, the Hispanic girl with short hair, and the sexually/racially ambiguous kid on rollerblades all hanging out together with a dog, supposedly speaking Spanish amongst each other?) Again... all of this bellyaching about qualified people getting cabinet jobs is nothing more than reverse discrimination and sets the "progressive" movement back on a daily basis. Normal Americans are tired of this BS, and it makes the far left look like whiny idiots. Just stop parading around your differences and then trying to force other people to accept them as mainstream.

Anyway--- back to Warren.

Rick Warren is a good man who speaks the word of God, and spearheads a number of charitable endeavors that make the world a better place. I wouldn't apologize for inviting him if I were Barack either.

It's just so ironically hilarious to me that these same "progressive" groups that were gushing about Obama from day one are now condemning the man for doing what he said he was going to do. He promised he wouldn't be a partisan a-hole, and so far, so good.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not getting soft here, but things could be a lot worse.

Look at it this way. Barack could have appointed a socialist nutcase like Dennis Kucinich as Secretary of Labor, and some other loon like Barbara Boxer or Charlie Rangel as something else. He could've asked Reverend Wright to do the invocation so he could preach his hateful message, but he didn't. It could be soooo much worse than Hillary and Bill Richardson. In these simple terms, I think he's doing alright so far, and I'm no longer beside myself as I was back on November 4th.

But...

Is this nothing more than a political ploy to get our collective guard down? Is he buttering us up? We will soon see...