Last night, Rep. David Price held a town hall at NCCU in Durham, NC. I was actually interested in being there when he decided to hold one and had been regularly checking his site (http://price.house.gov) for a date, and when not seeing one, meant to call.

I didn’t get to go. Wanna know why? Because as of lunch yesterday, his site still had no information. It wasn’t until I got an email from the University’s College Republicans President that I found out about it. And surprise, I went to check out the website and there was the information. I got the email at 3:00pm. Arrival for the meeting was at 5:45pm. I had less than 3 hrs notice.  And the day my wife had with a very cranky baby didn’t afford me the luxury of calling and saying “last minute change, dear, I won’t be home til 8″.

But, in trying to get an idea of what went on, Google(tm) News sent me here where I found this bit of info in the comments:

2

adrecord

8/13/09 10:08 PM EDT

Please do not try to speak for all Americans. I was at this public forum and it was clear that the vast majority of those in attendance support Price in his backing of the reform. Mark As Violation

 

3

swb2328

8/13/09 10:37 PM EDT

Oh please, the supporters knew about this event way before the general public. Price’s office as of yesterday morning was saying no events were planned but when I heard of this earlier today and did some searching, I found that the website Democratic Underground had postings about this yesterday evening and the Organizing for America site had the same thing posted with the date of August 12th on the information. Maybe the vast majority of folks who were in support had a head’s up and could arrange to get there.

Yeah, I’m throwing the “shenanigans” flag on that play (I suspected as much anyway, but it’s good to know there’s information to substantiate the paranoia). Few things would make me happier than seeing this group of dou….people searching for new jobs come 2011.

Did anyone else make it and are willing to share their thoughts?

I’ve talked about my displeasure of Obama and all his plans with a multitude of people in casual conversation. I’ve shared via email and twitter and facebook my thoughts on the downward spiral our country is quickly taking due to the President’s agenda. I’ve made no apologies for what I’ve said. And it occurred to me: All of these people are obviously going to deluge the new flag@whitehouse.gov address with emails telling the President and his staff how concerned they are with my disinformation and astroturfing scheme. So, in compassion to the folks who have to deal with the email account in question, I twittered last night not to bother, that I would be turning myself in (that’s ~900 less emails they’ll be getting, plus whoever follows the #tcot hashtag). This morning I completed and sent the below email:

Dear Whitehouse,

I’m writing to you because I understand this is an email address we can
write to if we hear or see people speaking out against the reform that
President Obama so desperately seeks to bring. I realize that the White
House is a very busy place, and by this time, this address must be inundated
with hundreds, if not thousands of emails telling of friends, co-workers,
and even family members who have been obstacles to what the President and
Congress are trying to do for our country. So to be compassionate to the
folks in the Administration who must deal with this email, I’m saving them
hundreds more emails by turning myself in.

That’s right, I’m letting you know that I am a vocal opponent to what the
President is trying to do. On everything, in fact, but we can deal with
health care right now.

You see, Mr. President, I am a middle-class working American. I’m college
educated. I have a job that offers excellent benefits. And despite what
you’d like people to believe, the majority of Americans do as well. Only 19%
of those polled believe the system as is (or the “status quo” that is so
often maligned) believe their health care is poor (
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/277036). But yet, we’re constantly
told that health care is a crisis in this country, that “50 million” *
Americans* cannot get health care (which is a lie on several levels, see
http://www.mrc.org/press/2007/press20070719.asp for one such discussion of
the real numbers).

Mr. President, when I look at other government run entities such as Social
Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and the newest addition to government failures,
the “Cash for Clunkers” debacle, I notice a common theme: they are either
bankrupt or well on their way. But yet you try to convince us that by
essentially expanding the already government provided health care benefits
to “all” Americans, you can do this and 1) keep costs within the
ever-changing monetary estimates, 2) do this without raising my taxes (oops,
apparently according to 2 of your own people, that’s not so much a reality)
and 3) you can do it without deficit spending. I’m sorry Mr. President, but
the government’s track record is pretty shotty. You couldn’t even get the
estimate for a measly $1B program like “Cash for Clunkers” right, but I should
expect the figures for something as massive as all-encompassing Health Care
to be correct? You must be joking.

I’d also like to point out that in your own words, in 2003 and 2007, you *
admitted* that you wanted a single-payer system that eliminates the need for
employer provided (read: private) insurance. But now you say that’s
*not* what you want. Which Obama should I believe? The one that was
speaking
candidly to his supporters, or the President desperate to push through the
crown-jewel of his presidency?

You also mentioned that the public plan was almost just like the plan
that you had when you were in Congress. However, there were two
amendments proposed to the bill that is being discussed in Congress.
One would make the public plan as nice as what Congresspeople get, and
the other would force Congresspeople to go on the public plan. Both
were shot down. If what you said is true, Mr. President, then why was
it necessary to bring such amendments to the table?

I would like to end my email by saying that you justify your need for
immediate action by claiming you get letters from people desperate and
asking for you to “fix” things. Mr. President, the changes would not
take effect until 2013. What are those poor people supposed to do for
the next 4 years.

I haven’t even gotten to the meat of the bill, nor do I have to. The
reasons above are more than justification enough for opposing what you
want to do. You’ve demonstrated time and time again that you have no
interest in helping people, but merely playing “politics as usual” and
ramming through legislation that does nothing but help those who help
you. Your ~$800B boondoggle of a “stimulus” package has done nothing
for job creation nor the economy (does 9.5% unemployment sound like
the recession is turning, Mr. President?). Last I heard 6% of the
money has been spent, so far. How can you claim that it’s helped
anything?

Mr. President, I not only oppose your plans for reforming health care,
but I vehemently oppose your plans. Not only your plans for health
care, but your plans for reforming the United States into a nation
that the Founding Fathers would be disgusted by. You nor anyone in
your administration scare me, and I will continue to use my God-given
freedom of speech, protected by the Constitution of the United States
to tell my friends, family, and co-workers what a disaster plans are
for our country. I will talk to them, email them use Twitter and
Facebook and go to Townhalls to make sure that people are educated on
just the man you are.

Mr. President, I hope you fail. It is only then our country will succeed.

Sincerely,

Brian Johnson

PS. It’s encouraging to see that McCarthyism and Witch hunts are alive and well.

I refuse to be intimidated by these people.

“The White House position mirrors the stand taken by the Bush administration” I know it’s going to be a good day. Because I know that in the US, there’s at least one lefty head exploding. And each time, I hope it’s Janeane Garofalo’s. But if it happens to be Rosie O’Donnell’s, I’ll count it as a win as well. One less lefty head of any sort is a win.

So, in today’s episode of “Guess That Expired Obama Promise”, we’re treated to this gem from bsnbc.com:

Despite his campaign promise to “make White House communications public,” the Obama administration again is blocking the public from seeing White House visitor logs, this time refusing to disclose meetings with health care executives. Tonight, less than an hour before his news conference on health care, he released some of the information only after a nonprofit group filed a federal lawsuit.

So all during the Bush years, we were bombarded with the constant meme that Bushitler and his cohort Darth Cheney were constantly hiding the truth and obfuscating facts in an effort to dupe the American public into believing whatever would further their impirialistic goal of ruling the world with their iron fists.

But, on Jan 20, 2009, the efforts of Bushitler/Darth Cheney to destroy the 22nd Amendment and set themselves up as dictators for life were foiled, and we were introduced to our new President, President Hopey-Changey. And President Hopey-Changey made many, many promises that would set him apart from the line or presidents before him.

Funny how those promises get thrown out when it suits his needs just fine. In this case, the White House is not gung-ho about upholding their promise of transparency when it comes to White House visitor logs, in particular those dealing with the White House’s meeting with health care executives. It was only after a lawsuit was filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) that the White House decided to revisit the promise, but only partially. They released the names and times of the visitors, but not the entire logs.

Obama’s promises remind me of shirts that were popular when I was in college. The shirt was made so that a message was written in large letters to say one thing, but up close you find there’s smaller font that says something different. I had one that went like this:

I was on

I-95 when I passed

the PGA Tour

bus.

In like fashion, I think Obama’s policy on transparency should read:

I promise to be completely open and transparent

as long as it doesn’t damn my agenda to socialize and destroy the US

and to share with the American people everything

except the stuff that sheds light on my true agenda or reveals the thug-like Chicago politics behind the scenes or does anythng to discredit me in any way or hurt my popular rock-star image.

Another broken Obama promise, and something else he “inherited” from Bush — the continuation of a policy that President Bush was skewered by the left for.

It’s obvious that yes, Virginia, coffee at 10pm does have an effect on me. So, I thought I’d post this:

In America, they came first for “Big Oil”, “Big Pharmaceuticals”, and “Big Tobacco”, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t any of those things;
And then they came for “the rich”, And I didn’t speak up because I don’t make more than $250,000. Or $200,000. Or whatever the number of the week is.
And then they came for small businesses, And I didn’t speak up because I don’t have a small business.
And then… they came for me… And by that time there was no one left to speak up.

Apologies to Martin Niemöller

Friday afternoon, via Twitter, I decided to tweet a rather smart revelation I had to give the Dems a hand: If only they’d get Timmah “Turbo Tax” Geitner to pay his taxes, they’d have more than enough money to cover their HealthScare scam. A few minutes later, I was treated to this tweet in reply:

CyberCzarPol@khelek <– right wing delusional freak that believes everything Rush & Hannity tells him like a good little boy with no brain. #tcot

Now, I must say that, given the traffic the #tcot hashtag gets, I’m deeply honored to have been singled out by this left-wing Twitter brain donor. I later offered to be his BFF so that he could share with me why he believes the Fairness Doctrine is fair, along with what he believes a “theocracy” is, but sadly he didn’t take me up on my offer. He did, however, offer me a cookie and advice only Joycelyn Elders would give.

But I digress. What I wanted to address was the heart of his tweet — the tired and stale idea that we Conservatives have heard since AM radio was revived in 1988: that for 9 hours a day, between 12 and 9pm, we dutifully sit by our radios and get our marching orders from Rush, Hannity, and The Great One himself, Mark Levin. And the 15 hours we can’t listen to them, we continue our indoctrination by staying glued to the TV being assimilated by Fox News.

I make no apologies, I love Conservative talk radio. And I know that many other Redstaters do as well. If only I had 9 hrs to devote each day, but sadly it’s tough enough getting in the 2 hr Rush podcasts I’ve subscribed to.

But why? Unlike the liberal, who must watch BSNBC, CNN, and the various other state-run “news” outlets to get their talking points, Conservatives don’t. I’ve always been Conservative, though not always self-aware of that fact. I remember having abortion being defined to me in 1988 as an 8th grader and literally feeling so sick to my stomach I thought I would throw up. I’ve always known America is great, that our military men and women are heroes and deserving of nothing but praise, that lower taxes mean more freedom and prosperity, and ultimately government sucks. These were beliefs that no one, not even my parents, taught me. They’re just common sense things I’ve come to realize as I became more and more aware of the world around me.

We don’t listen to these guys because we have no brain and need them to tell us what to do or who we are. We listen to them because they tell us the things that the state-run media won’t. They let us know the truth behind what’s going on. They give us the facts that don’t get reported anywhere else. For example, on Rush’s show mid-June, he shared an WSJ editorial by the CEO of Safeway, discussing how they were able to keep insurance costs affordable without *gasp!* government intervention (here). However, because this goes against the meme that only Obama and government can save us from this health care “crisis”, I’m willing to bet that no one in the MSM had the guts to share it. Same goes for the 46 million uninsured lie. If not for Rush, etc, we’d only know what the MSM puts out to push their pro-Obama agenda.

I liken it to going to church. I go every Sunday to hear my preacher preach. I don’t listen to him because he tells me what to believe. As a Christian, I’ve read the Bible and have come to my conclusions (as I believe led by the Holy Spirit) on the Bible, God, and who Jesus Christ is. I listen to my preacher because I know that his beliefs are in line with mine and that his preaching ultimately comes from God. I learn from him, and I have the Bible to study after the sermon for myself and see if he speaks Truth.

The same with Rush and company. They teach and they give us the resources. We can then go to those resources, do our homework, and come to our own conclusions.

So no @CyberCzarPol, it’s not us on the Right that walk around, zombie-like, waiting to be spoon fed our beliefs. I believe that distinction belongs to your side.

This morning, as I was sipping my first cup of coffee for the day and watching various Twitter feeds, courtesy  of TweetGrid (I’m khelek in twitter, for the interested, btw), I was treated to this gem from Jake Tapper:

In Russia, President Obama Explains His Support for Ousted President of Honduras

Especially telling in the piece is this:

“America supports now the restoration of the democratically-elected President of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies,” the president told graduate students at the commencement ceremony of Moscow’s New Economic School. “We do so not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not. “

I will readily admit that I’m late to the game when it comes to commenting on our foreign policy….fiasco when it comes to the current situation in Honduras, but….c’mon! Is our President that blind that he can’t understand the reason Americans support the people of Honduras is not because the President has anti-American beliefs (sorry, in this day and age I’ve got to specify…the President of Honduras), but because he tried to shred their constitution by staying longer than their term limits allow? I honestly don’t know what to think. On the one hand, there is the naive part of me that truly wants to believe that our 44th President is merely inexperienced and himself naive, that he truly sees this man as democratically-elected official that’s been “wronged” by being removed from power. On the flip side, actions speak louder than words, and we’ve seen time and time again where our President cozies up to other tyrants and dictators and constantly spurns and alienates long-time allies like Britain and Israel. And the only conclusion I can take away from is that he’s not so blind as this is purposeful and, once again, he’s destroying relations with yet another ally in Honduras. And now the question that remains is “why?”. Why would our President support a man who so blatantly and unashamedly shreds the constitution of his country in a move to make himself dictator-for-life?

I try not to be a conspiracy theorist, and I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. There are some who speculate that Obama wishes to do to our own Constitution what Zelaya did to theirs — ignore it and establish himself as dictator-for-life. I mean, why let a little thing like the Constitution get between the Messiah-in-Chief and the agenda he’s been mandated by the American people to carry out? He certainly hasn’t let it stop him up to this point with is czars and handling of the automobile bankruptcies. The 22nd Amendment is just one amendment; we have so many left after we throw that one out.

I don’t know what his plans are. I know that whatever they are, they will destroy our country. And I know that the words “freedom” and “independence” mean nothing to Barack Obama. At every turn he throws away the founding principles of what America stands for and what makes her great, and the only people he’s given “hope” to are the people who wish to see this country torn apart and destroyed.

It disgusts me to no end.

You know, it’s amazing….I don’t recall seeing the constant stream of “crises” in this country until Mr. Obama took office. From the economy and the banks and car manufacturers to Club Gitmo, the need for a $3.6 trillion budget and the fact that waaaay too many babies are allowed to be born alive in this country, it’s been one crisis after another that’s needed to be dealt with immediately, and can only be fixed by the President and government. And health care has been on the list for some time too, but now, apparently, the President has made it clear that we’re getting to the buzzer. From breitbart.com:

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama warned Thursday that if Congress doesn’t deliver health care
legislation by the end of the year, the opportunity will be lost, a
plea to political supporters to pressure lawmakers to act. “If we don’t
get it done this year, we’re not going to get it done,” Obama told
supporters by phone as he flew home on Air Force One from a West Coast
fundraising trip.

Let me translate: “President Barack Obama warned Thursday that if Congress doesn’t ram through a hastily put together plan by the end of the year that will force all Americans to take government funded crappy healthcare and will ultimately bankrupt the country for generations to come (you know, even more than he has already), then the Americans I continue to snow will wise up and realize what we’re trying to do and oppose us with pitchforks and torches. Then I won’t be cool.”

The man has no shame. Or class. It shouldn’t surprise me; he’s a hyper-radical with a hyper-liberal agenda. And in order to achieve his hyper-liberal goals, he has to keep things moving fast in the hopes that no one’s paying attention. Well, no one that he likes is paying attention….well, whose money and approval he likes. Of course, we on the Right are paying attention and knew what he was all about long before now, and tried to warn people. And those warnings fell on deaf ears.

Well, 52% of America, you reap what you sow. You’ve sown an ultra-radical leader whose goal is to destroy the things that make this country great. In return, everyone will reap higher taxes, massive debt, and the loss of more and more freedoms to a huge federal government that believes we’re too stupid and incompetent to live our own lives without their help.

“Never” sounds like the perfect choice, Mr. President.

Seriously, can we? I’m so tired of hearing the accusation from both sides of the ideological divide. To me, the charge of ‘racism’ is so watered down and cliched that it’s like a time travel plot device in a Star Trek movie — what you resort to when you don’t have any ideas.

Of course, I’m referring to the firestorm set off by Former House Speaker Gingrich’s tweet yesterday calling SCOTUS nominee a racist (to be fair, he’s not the only high-profile Conservative to pile on), in response to this gem quoted by said nominee at a lecture in 2001:

I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life

Here’s the thing about racism that I believe. it exists in all sorts of flavors and groups. I don’t believe in “reverse racism”; bigotry towards any group due to their ethnicity or the color of their skin is racism. I also believe that it’s like the legal definition of torture — I don’t believe that a comment can be racist unless the commenter meant for it to be racist. There are some things that you can say with no other intention than to be racist. I don’t have to list them. There are other things that can be said that, despite the fact that a race is focused upon, that aren’t racist. The Left is far quicker to leverage the charge than the Right on anything that criticizes a person of certain race or ethnicity, and way more often than not they’re wrong. Because a comment mentions race does not a racist comment make. We on the Right know that better than anyone, I would think.

Don’t get me wrong, I know what’s being said. “If a white justice nominee had said something so completely stupid and ignorant, they would’ve been raked over the coals 7 ways from Sunday and would be forced to withdraw”. I agree completely. It was a stupid remark and I think one that should call into question her ability to rule in a way that upholds the Constitution. I agree that we conservatives should jump all over it like….well, things that jump on other things. But can we please not call it ‘racist’. That’s a Left tactic, one that we’re above.

What does worry me, and I’m not the first to point it out, is I do believe the statement tips her hand and hints how she’ll rule. Like so many others have said, justice is blind…it shouldn’t care about anything but the law and the Constitution. Ethnicity, circumstances, how often your father hugged you as a child should have no bearing on what your ruling should be.

But like so many other things coming from The One, it’s about fairness and giving to those who have been victimized by the oppressors in this country. I’m sure she’ll go about “setting right what once went wrong” (to steal from Quantum Leap), empathetic to the plights of the downtrodden and wronged.

She’s an activist judge. Color me surprised. But I’m withholding judgement on ‘racist’.

Brian

It’s the political silly season, and the other day I was driving behind a car. On the back of the car, there was a bumper sticker asking “Got Hope?” My reply” Yes, yes I do!

Now, those who know me know I’m a political junkie. Iv’e been reading the political blogs and eating up everything I can about this election. I’m a strong believer in our system and enjoy the privileges of partaking in it. While there are days that I come home ranting and raving about what’s going on and the idiocy of our government, in the end politics is enjoyable for me.

But I need to make something clear….hopefully those who know me best know that before I affiliate myself with a political ideology or party, I identify myself with a Person – Jesus Christ. Above all else, that’s where my identity lies.

And so yes, I do have Hope. I had Hope before the 2008 election began (though I don’t know…seems like the 2008 election cycle started 10 years ago….). I had Hope before it became a popular mantra invoked by a presidential candidate and his zombie cult followers. I had Hope starting in 1989 when I professed my faith in Christ.

You see, my Hope doesn’t lie in Obama or McCain. my Hope lies in Christ and Christ alone! My Hope and Change! Because as I’m walking with my Lord, He’s changing me each day to be more like Him!

Presidents and candidates make promises they can’t keep….they pander to people to get their vote and give them what they want to hear. Christ, on the other hand, doesn’t make promises He can’t keep and He sure doesn’t tell people what they want to hear — He speaks the Truth! He’s faithful to His Word. He told us that He’s the only way to God the Father, and that He came to give us Life and Life more abundantly!

Don’t get me wrong…I want to see McCain win, and believe he has a good shot at it. But if he doesn’t, I know that God is sovereign and He’ll still be in control over all. Paul reminds us in Romans 13:1 “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authoritiy comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.” So, if McCain loses, . God’s in control and it’s all accordinig to His Will. And, in reading Jeremiah, I’m reminded that the Judeans were exiled to Babylon, but God promised to take care of them and to bring them home if they just trusted in Him. He’ll do the same for those of us know that Obama is not what this country needs!

There’s no one here tat can provide the Hope and Change I truly need. The One (the REAL One) who can left earth nearly 2000 years ago, and yet still lives! And, unlike anyone here, He’s King for eternity. That’s my Hope!

I’ve been reading RedState for several years now, and have thoroughly enjoyed the diaries and discussions we’ve seen here. I often thought it would be fun to actually talk to other RedState regulars through instant messaging. So, this morning, I thought I’d set up an IRC channel, post it in a diary, and see what happens.

So, if you’d like to join me and talk to other smart people, get your favorite IRC client, connect to ‘irc.distributed.net’, and join the channel #VRWC. I’ll be there!

UPDATE: Per Jaded’s request, here’s a link for the irc server and #VRWC channel:

irc://irc.distributed.net/VRWC

Brian