Smearing Herman Cain

The Left is at it again- trying to take down real conservative opposition with warmed-over twenty year old allegations that rise nowhere near those that did not disqualify Bill Clinton from the US Presidency in the same era- this time released just in time to attempt to knock Herman Cain from his strong momentum that has given him a lead in recent polls in the race for the GOP nomination for the nation's highest office. Cain is being given the Clarence Thomas "soda can" type of treatment primarily because he is seen as a threat to the liberals currently in power, a strong, eloquent, and wise conservative Christian who also happens to be an "authentically black" man. Abortion-pushing Leftist women did not line up to denounce Bill Clinton for being a Lothario with a seemingly longstanding pattern of harassment. In fact, so long as Clinton backed abortion on demand, the National Organization of Women did not care how many of their sisters were personally harmed by Clinton's sexual excesses, but let a candidate stand against Roe and watch how vicious these same "ladies" can be. Herman Cain as a Republican candidate wears the bull's eye of so many, his GOP rivals, his Democrat opponents, and the dinosaur media to boot. Do not permit those who would destroy the country's very foundations to besmirch an honorable and capable man.

After Obama's Reelection

If the nightmare comes to pass, here is what I envision. Our Nobel-Peace laureate President Barack Hussein Obama will usher in world-wide war, not by purposeful action, but by permitting Iran to arm up and lash out with nuclear weapons, or with equal results, not supporting an existentially-threatened Israel when the Jewish State fearing an imminent attack has her hand forced and launches a unilateral preemptive strike against the Islamic Republic. Either course would engender catastrophic consequences for America and the rest of humanity but could very well happen if America's voters once again abandon good sense and stay with the drowning horse and rider in the middle of the torrent they so carelessly wandered into with grim domestic ramifications as well. With or without the World War III scenario, Obama's continuing economic mismanagement will spell disaster (only with WW III, that much worse). Economic dislocation and dissatisfaction is already bringing the so-called "Occupy" street demonstrations to life. These will morph into endemic street violence with those perceived to be financially secure targeted by the mob if Obama wins another term. When Obama celebrates his inauguration, he will set care rationing, death-hastening Obama Care in stone. Simply having Obama in office till 2016 will take America from double dip recession into either crushing stagflation, or perhaps a deliberate policy of currency inflation to pay down the essentially unmanageable debt the Federal government is accumulating bringing America toward hyperinflation, or simply remaining on the super spending, regulatory state path that could cause outright depression as in a return to 1929 vintage collapse. In any event, four more Obama years would be the opposite of rosy.

Weakness Invites Aggression

Living up to my recent theme, Islamic Jihad has launched a barrage of Grad rockets at Israel with fatal consequence, but what else could happen in a nation where those in charge have forgotten that the military defends the nation and not the other way around? More terror assaults are inevitable because Israel gave up on meaningful deterrence.

Just Saying "Thanks"

The United States embassy in Bosnia was attacked by an AK-wielding Muslim extremist. Is it not amazing that in a country that likely would not exist had the US not intervened to "protect Muslims", that a jihadist would try to murder Americans, who after all started wars against Serbs supposedly to save the Muslims of both Bosnia and Kosovo?

Robust and Aggressive

If Barack Hussein Obama continues to maintain the presence of US combat forces in Afghanistan, he must untie their hands by relaxing the near suicidal rules of engagement(ROE) and let our forces aggressively defend themselves and also go more on the offensive against those who would target our forces and those of our allies. I for one also do not like to witness American troops fighting and all too often dying under "international command", not being represented by their own commanders and spokesmen as "US soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, reservists, activated national guardsmen (and women), or coastguards fighting in American uniform under American officers and under our own flag" but instead being called members of ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) which serves not only to disguise and diminish their contribution and sacrifice but undercuts esprit de corps and natural patriotism as Americans. To hear mouthpieces speak of "ISAF members killed and wounded" in cases where from the beginning it was obvious that the casualties were entirely American must be an undue horror for family members left on tenterhooks wondering if their service member has died or been injured. The monetary cost and more importantly the blood sacrifice in Afghanistan has and continues to be inordinately borne by Americans and their loss should never be hidden from the US public or obscured by identifying them only as ISAF fallen. An unlucky thirteen more fell today. Here is their tragic tale as related by Amir Shah of the Associated Press linked through Yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/us-official-13-americans-killed-afghan-bombing-132131947.html. Their blood should never be allowed to have spilled in vain. I have also just heard on ABC radio that one of our Canadian allies also lost his life in the same blast and three Australian soldiers were ambushed by an "Afghan soldier" who turned his gun on them. This articles was in no way meant to minimize the courageous contribution of real allies who bleed alongside our own troops but mostly to call for ROE sufficiently violent that those fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda are able to protect themselves.

Moribund Hippy Upheaval

I happen to live in Nashville, the capital city of the state of Tennessee. As in a number of other cities, the sixties retread crowd and some fellow travelers of younger vintage have overtaken our state's Legislative Plaza. Their "demands" are varied and in any event, could not be fulfilled while retaining any aspect of the market-based capitalism which has been the engine of American prosperity. These protesters generally embrace the "Blame America First" and anti-war agendas. They have according to some reports used their camp for fornication and as an open latrine. The sane course of action would be to remove them with the minimal amount of force necessary. The Tennessee Highway Patrol embarked on exactly that action last night with professionalism and maximum restraint. Nashville's Night Court which is a city, not state institution, incomprehensibly released the radical so-called "occupiers". There is little organic support for the "urban campers" except among the relatively radical university crowd. Those Leftists making a spectacle of themselves now here in my hometown and elsewhere around the nation really do want to change America, but they have no inkling of how bad life here would be if their prescriptions were followed.

New Revolutionary Coif

A great deal of optimism has been sparked by the "Greek haircut", the measure that is hoped to preserve the fiscal footing of the Euro. The plan is supposed to institute a somewhat harsher austerity on the Greek people in exchange for which creditors are willing to half the amount of principal to be repaid as part of Greek national debt. The major hitch in the notion is the presumption that the Greek populace is willing to tolerate further cuts in what was their cradle to grave socialism (which was also replete with free lifetime education including college). Most of the citizens of Greece feel that they have already relinquished enough and many are ready to resist rather than accept more benefit cuts. On the Greek street, there have already been massive and violent protests that are likely to grow worse. Now, not only Black Flag anarchists and Communists will run riot on Athens' streets, but everyday Greek workers (many even from the public sector) could join the Molotov Cocktail throwers and bank burners. Those disaffected and alienated are no longer the few but the many who wrongly feel that they alone are suffering while the world elite have gone out of the way to protect those with wealth and privilege in Greece. The attitude among the riotous throng has started to resemble that of the Paris of 1789. The demonstrators in Greece would seemingly not be adverse to a little revenge a la Robespierre and care must be taken to avoid an explosion where the "Greek Haircut" circa 2011 does not become a "French Haircut" from the age of the guillotine.

A Certain Outcome

Any nation that projects weakness makes itself a target for attack. Whether that be America when the US punishes ICE agents for doing their duty or Israel when the Jewish State trades culpable criminals for innocents turned hostage, actions that suggest a country is not willing to employ the full measure of defense available to it tend to invite further attack. It should therefore come as no surprise that drug smugglers attempt to infiltrate America's borders every single day and that just yesterday rockets fired from Gaza began landing in Israel again. Just as the schoolyard bully pushes around the child least likely to resist, so too do terrorists or criminal gangs when countries bind their own hands when fighting back. A robust response to drug gangs calls for at the very least more agents with greater freedom of action and an expanded border barrier, the "fence" we have been told would be completed for years. In the case of Israel, as Tehran plots and Hezbollah and Hamas act as Iranian proxies, Israel must meet the force of falling Grad missiles with greater force that convinces people of Lebanon in the case of Hezbollah and the residents of Gaza that when it comes to Hamas, that the cost of supporting these terrorists exacts simply too high a price to endure. Only then, when the Arab populace turns against the murderers they have been shielding, will any possibility of peace start to prevail.

Presidential Pardon Now

Just as Ramos and Compean were eventually and rightly, belatedly pardoned by the last President Bush, President Obama should forthwith pardon Border Agent Jesus E. Diaz Jr. This righteous act after the travesty of an incomprehensible prosecution would spare Agent Diaz and his family separation, suffering, and huge expense. And it is the right thing to do.

Beggars the Imagination

A nation that abandons her own borders must no longer be considered a nation. Sovereignty defines nationhood. When a country places more stock in the demands of a neighboring country than in the needs and protection of her own citizens, that country becomes a geographic fiction with borders that are merely printed on paper but in reality, no longer secure anything or anyone. When your prosecutors drag your border enforcers into court and take their freedom away from them, border enforcement, by necessity, crumbles. To witness an example of this in action, please read Jerry Seper's excellent piece from The Washington Times: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/oct/25/border-agent-jaile-arrest-teen-drug-smuggler/?page=all#pagebreak.

Manipulating the Willing

The Left and their dinosaur media sycophants are baiting class warfare. A piece on a blog picked up on Yahoo is crafted to feed the hysteria and finely manipulates the numbers not to take into consideration the massive losses the so-called rich have sustained in and after the 2008 Wall Street Crash. You can read this little piece of Trotskyite propaganda by Zachary Roth from The Lookout here: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/numbers-income-top-one-percent-skyrocketed-over-last-153005722.html. The propagators of the Big Lie never have trouble inciting an already willing mob to do their evil bidding. By in large, those who prosper in America work for it and do not horde but share their wealth through the process of job creation, the kind of job creation so sorely lacking under government's increasingly intrusive, increasingly expensive and demanding grasp.

Another Craven Capitulation

America's foremost ally in the Middle East continues her path of self-destruction as Israel exchanges twenty-five (25) prisoners for a dual Israeli-American citizen Ilan Grapel, who Egypt holds hostage. Israel no longer possesses any credible deterrence, and after more than a thousand terrorists were exchanged for Gilad Shalit, it seems Israel has essentially even abandoned the rational pursuit of self-preservation. One would have hoped that as someone with American citizenship that the United States State Department would have moved heaven and earth to expedite the release of an American improperly detained, but in the event, Foggy Bottom remained content to have Israel carry the ball forward with Israel bearing the burden of ransoming Grapel's release. Should their be any doubt that had America squawked about Egypt seizing a young American without due cause that Grapel would have long since been released with no price having to have been extorted by Egypt from the Jewish State? Israel has unfortunately incentivized the taking of Jews as hostage and by their supine posture, ever more terrorism directed against Jews and Israel. When there is all profit and no cost for abducting Jews, why not seize a passel of them?

Rare Sports Column

If God did not create Tim Tebow, central casting would have.

Embracing Liberation Theology

Without Pope John Paul II, the Iron Curtain may never have fallen. John Paul II was one of the staunch anti-Communists of the era, just as crucial to overcoming Red tyranny as Ronald Reagan or Lech Walesa. Pope Benedict XVI (or those formulating the public persona for him) is quite the opposite, abandoning the Gospels for a redistributionist, social justice agenda and apparently embracing the neo-hippy mob that is befouling Wall Street. This Billy Hallowell piece from The Blaze is quite revealing:http://www.theblaze.com/stories/is-the-vatican-throwing-its-support-behind-occupy-wall-street/. The embedded video of Father Thomas Reese purporting to represent the Pontiff casts Pope Benedict with the hard Left. I wonder what the late, lamented Pope John Paul II would think of the Marxism being proclaimed in the name of his successor.

Rise of Islamism

The so-called Arab Spring has not brought freedom but a different sort of tyranny. Instead of being ruled by greed-driven autocrats, the newly "liberated" Arab nations are lining up as Islamist states. Instead of prosecuting political dissent, the emerging regimes will not countenance any practice not in conformity with Islamic Law. In Tunisia and probably Libya as well, the West has assisted in the creation of two more Sharia states that ultimately will be antithetical to Western norms. Do not for one moment surmise that warmth and gratitude will be the reward for our backing democracy, because democratic institutions will never take hold under a theo-political system that disdains the freedoms we hold most dear. Islam literally means "submission" and the Islamic regimes that are being born are inherently adverse to our concept of liberal democracy and individual rights.

Karzai the Lunatic

The mayor of Kabul who is also known as the President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai now contends that if the United States goes to war with Pakistan that Afghanistan will side with Pakistan. The irony here is rich as the only reason that Karzai is in power today is the US presence. The reason Karzai is alive now is because American forces have kept him so. Karzai is widely believed to have manipulated the outcome to produce victory in the last election. He is not beloved by the Afghan people and might well meet the same fate as Gaddafi if his American protectors came home. So Karzai would side with Pakistan, the same nation that has destabilized his own country and has overseen much of the terror that the Afghan people have faced. Words are cheap and Hamid Karzai, who is nothing more than a confused, corrupt puppet, is even cheaper.

A Despot's Ransom

Muammar Gaddafi was presumed to have looted Libya, but only now is the true degree of the pillage beginning to emerge. Most Libyans under the Gaddafi tyranny struggled at the survival level though regime confederates enjoyed the good life. The amount that Gaddafi actually stole is almost incomprehensible. If Paul Richter's report is not complete hyperbole, Gaddafi may have been the wealthiest individual the world has ever known. Mull over the article from Australia's The Age here:http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/gaddafi-salted-away-about-200-billion-20111022-1md9z.html. If the facts are as stated, all that lucre did not extend the tyrant's life a single breath.

Abdicating to Iran

Barack Hussein Obama is throwing in the towel in Iraq, which effectively cedes the field to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Well over half of the population of Iraq practice Shia Islam as do ninety percent of the people in neighboring Iran. They are not merely coreligionists but share an End Time mindset with the most influential and powerful extra-governmental group in Iraq already being Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army. Another indigenous Iraqi Shia group that has steadily risen is Hezbollah in Iraq which also acts on the behest of the Mullahs in Iran. By pulling up stakes now, Obama allows Iran to fill the power vacuum, with Shia believers in the Twelve Imam eschatology certain to gain a further foothold in a still fragile Iraq, which may well splinter along sectarian divides, with Kurds in control near and in conflict with Turkey, with Sunni fighting for their lives in the center of the country, and with much of the populace including the Shia "Marsh Arabs" giving natural fealty to Iran. Only the US troop presence had blocked Iran thus far and with American forces leaving, the gates are open to the most destabilizing and dangerous force in the world today, the aggressive jihadists of Iran (who also happen to be racing to produce nuclear weapons).

Entirely Misplaced Concern

The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights wants to investigate the fate that befell Muammar Gaddafi. Muammar Gaddafi merits no such consideration. He was an unrepentant mass murderer, one could say a "mad dog" killer but no rabid animal ever brought down a passenger-laden 747. Gaddafi was despised by the vast majority of the Libyan people who are rejoicing at his death. Justice was never dispensed by Gaddafi in life, but it was richly served in his passing.

Human Rights Farce

This evening, the BBC America news telecast had a representative of Human Rights Watch on to comment on the situation in Libya. Incredulously, this rights activist was concerned over the fate of the Libyan despot Muammar Gaddafi. Talk about what the Rolling Stones so aptly called "sympathy for the devil", this mouthpiece actually mentioned that if Gaddafi was "captured alive" and subsequently executed, taking his life could be considered a "war crime" and possibly referred to the International Criminal Court. If these nebbishes want to forever undermine confidence in the so-called system of international justice and multilateralism in the administration of law, they could not find a better way to do it than worrying about Gaddafi on what is self-evidently an internal matter for the Libyan people, who were after all, this living Lucifer's victims until their self-defense wiped him out.

Good Riddance Gaddafi

The butcher who controlled Libya for two generations has reportedly been killed. Muammar Gaddafi had been one of the globe's leading backers of terror, formerly a major sponsor of so-called movements of national liberation. Gaddafi's bloody hand had been seen as far away from Libya as the conflict in Ireland with Libyan armament and explosives being used by the Irish Republican Army to attack British forces and their Royal Ulster Constabulary allies, Protestant paramilitaries, and of course, innocent civilians. Libya was also implicated in the notorious Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie. Terrorists from around the world found sanctuary and trained in Gaddafi's Libya, but Gaddafi's worst crimes were reserved for the Libyan people. Gaddafi tolerated no dissent and had no time for due process in legal proceedings, leading to torture and outright murder across Libya during his time in control. If Gaddafi is actually dead, the Libyan people should rejoice in their triumph over dictatorship. Gaddafi well-earned the harshest punishment and Libya's people now evidently have gained their "pound of flesh".

An Endurance Test

Will we find ten minutes joy in one hundred years of suffering?

Without Requiring Debate

The Republican Presidential debate last night was designed by the dinosaur media to make the candidates seem small and petty so as to elevate the sinking stature of their "Chosen One", Barack Hussein Obama. The GOP aspirants were baited to go for each other's throat. In the event, the rhetoric was feisty, even combative at times, but the contestants did not by in large look weak, but strong, with real conviction in their beliefs and respective plans (so much as they were enunciated). Herman Cain defended his 9-9-9 Plan with passion and fact and America would certainly gain if the Federal tax system were simplified and the marginal rate of Federal income tax lowered. Cain's plan may not be perfect but appears vastly better than the labyrinthine Federal tax system as it exists today. A flat or fair tax carefully implemented would also be preferable to the enormous, indecipherable tax system under which we now suffer. As far as the proceedings went last night, none of the candidates said anything to disqualify themselves but the candidate who seemed most well-versed in the facts and at times seemed to be the calming influence in the room was Newt Gingrich whose campaign so far has gained little traction. Though the event was orchestrated by the main stream media puppet masters to harm the GOP, all of those seeking to secure the Republican nomination would still be vastly preferable to the man in the White House, Barack Obama, who is systematically destroying the foundations of our Republic.

Class Envy Demagogues

One has come to expect Democrats to roll out their class warfare rhetoric, de rigueur in every major race since Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the nation's highest office, but to hear Republicans tilling the same tired ground at this time should be shocking. At first, it appeared as though Virginia GOP Congressman Eric Cantor was simply off the reservation when he joined Democrats with populist bashing of "millionaires and billionaires", but then Republican Presidential aspirant Mitt Romney joined in the pillory the rich game (a wild irony as Romney is quite rich himself). With major GOP figures suddenly speaking of the wealth gap, with income inequality, and disparities that are inevitable in any economic system, there is even less to differentiate the Republican Party from the Democrat rabble-rousers. Every society has privileged classes, even the old Soviet Union, but free societies foster upward mobility through merit and effort while other systems maintain a closed high echelon with advancement only through connection (somewhat similar to the crony capitalism that Barack Hussein Obama has put into practice). It is discouraging to see Republican leaders march in virtual lockstep with the overt socialists who call themselves Democrats in promising to create more equal outcomes by socking it to the so-called "rich". No one has ever become a billionaire in America without creating (by necessity) wealth and jobs for others. Most of the nation's employment is created by those small business-owning millionaires who operate S corporations where they pay their business tax at the highest rate filing as individuals. America's "millionaires and billionaires" are the job creators, who if allowed to by the Federal government, will return prosperity to Main Street USA. These risk-takers, America's entrepreneurs, are now not just in the line of fire of Democrats but of the Republican Party, which should be watching their backs instead of reaching for their wallets.

Just a Possibility

After mulling over the horror that took place in our neighborhood Saturday night, suspicion arose about the placement of traffic signals that have caused increased congestion and more road hazard in the couple blocks around my home. During rush hours since the red lights were placed, it has become more difficult rather than less to exit our own driveways. Even an officer investigating the fatal wreck conceded that the stop light seemed to be unnecessary and has actually made navigating the area worse. In any event, I find it odd that those in the neighborhood were not surveyed or consulted before the traffic signals were erected. If there was a public hearing prior to the installation, it was not publicized in any meaningful way in which

neighbors were able to participate. My thought is that some Federal stimulus money had been allocated for some "make-work" jobs and that is how my neighborhood ended up with a traffic signal array no one who lives nearby wanted that has ultimately made road congestion worse, and perhaps, in some small way, even had a part in Saturday's deadly crash.

A Tragic Update

The website of local TV station WSMV is reporting that as I feared, a death occurred in the wreck near my home. Ernest Adams lost his life. Our condolences are extended to his family. The driver alleged to be at fault is in critical condition as I suspected she would be after watching her extricated from her Gold Infiniti Q30 with what are reported to be life threatening injuries. Police contend alcohol was found in her automobile and may have been a causal factor.

A Grim Collision

Last night around 7pm, a three car wreck happened in front of my immediate neighbor's house, about two hundred feet from my front door. I did not witness the accident itself but certainly heard the impact. I at first thought my ninety-year old father had fallen (or my mother who is younger but has a few afflictions of her own) and conversely, they thought I might have slipped in the shower. We called out to each other and quickly realized no one in the house had collapsed and my Mom yelled, "Must have been a wreck, I'll see". As she burst outside to see if she could aid anybody, I was urging, "Call 911", but as my Mom came back in, she said nearby drivers had immediately summoned help. In the event, I toweled off from the shower I had been taking and joined the bystanders outside. My neighbor in front of whose home the actual collision took place said his wife was given a baby to hold from the vehicle witnesses said had crossed three lanes of traffic to impale the driver's side of a car travelling in the proper direction. I never saw the motorist who did nothing wrong but received the brunt of the damage. I was told a nurse who happened to be driving by attempted CPR on this individual to no avail and the ambulance in which the body was placed appeared to be in no urgency to arrive at the trauma center. I have to presume sadly that this individual was dead at the scene. The driver with the infant in her old gold sedan may have been distracted by the baby or something else or had some medical issue which caused her to veer out of control and according to those who saw it actually cause the accident. She was removed from the car with the assistance of the "Jaws of Life", and I saw for myself that she unfortunately was in a critical condition (or worse). A third car that took a glancing blow from the spinning carnage also produced a casualty who appeared to be lucid and mostly functional but was also rushed away by a third ambulance. This was not the first wreck by any means near my property in the nineteen years I have resided at this home, but it did produce the first fatalities. A block away within the last month, a new array of two traffic signals have been installed and congestion has become a nightmare since the new lights came online. I do not contend that they are the proximate cause of last night's death(s) but the red lights may have been a factor. No one to my knowledge in the neighborhood was surveyed or consulted about adding the new traffic signals prior to their installation. When the bridge ices over in winter where the red lights are now deployed, there will surely be more wrecks as people will now have greater occasion to brake quickly on a frozen overpass as the signals change. Placing the stop lights there was ill-conceived, traps my family and our neighbors in our own driveways, and may have already within the first month of operation played a role in the first fatal accident here in at least two decades.

Iran's Rogue Agent

If Iran has in fact attempted to orchestrate assassination in America, one must ask "who" and "why". As to the who, is it possible that a party or powerful person within Iran who wants to bring about the rise of the mahdi (the Islamic version of an end-time messiah) as soon as possible, seeks to ignite World War III? The responsible party might not be either among the mullahs or the civil administration or could be a high ranking member of either. Someone attempting to embarrass, imperil, or overthrow Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might have initiated the plot. Conversely, someone plotting to bring down Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei could have started scheming. In any event, more definitive information needs to be assessed though it appears to have been a real threat. If Iran has any interest at all in maintaining the peace, they must ferret out the culpable parties and in the interests of justice, extradite them to the United States, where they will surely be treated more leniently than if Saudi Arabia ever captures them.

Graham Versus Obama

Barack Hussein Obama never met Ben Graham and probably would not recognize him if he had as Graham was considered to be the father of value investing. Graham believed in sound management practice while Obama is a friend and benefactor of the rent-seeking, lobbyist-flanked, politically-connected type of manager. Graham was firmly convicted that capitalism was the path to prosperity. Ben Graham assumed (at a minimum) fiduciary responsibility. Barack Obama emphasizes campaign contributions that seem to lead inextricably to the quid pro quo. If Barack Obama believes in any kind of capitalism at all, it is the crony-brand of capitalism that he abides alongside his basic socialist impulse. No, Barack Obama abjures Ben Graham and Milton Friedman too.

Not a Chance

Even the dinosaur media is now talking about Herman Cain and his surging popularity, but that in no way means that the GOP establishment (otherwise known as the Republican elites who helped give us the failed McCain campaign) will embrace Cain now or ever. Cain is anathema to the Rockefeller-wing and all those "moderate" kingmakers, because Cain is in no way beholden to them. These Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe types have more in common with the Kennedys than Cain and they have opposed him and the TEA Party ethos now driving the ground game of the party. Cain is self-made and by the bootstraps and will not kowtow to power brokers or play down the middle, split the difference games. Cain drives right which is the conservative direction the nation needs.

Wondering Out Loud

Why is it acceptable for the other debaters and the media to single out Herman Cain, who happens to be the sole African-American GOP Presidential contender, while Barack Hussein Obama received no such scrutiny when he was running for the 2008 nomination? There are double standards galore in politics but the difference between the rabid assaults on Cain and the kid glove treatment of Obama is glaring. Obama was (and remains) remarkably protected by the dinosaur media while Cain is being hunted.

Iran Must Pay

Iran seems to have once again violated international norms with a purported plot to murder the the Saudi and Israeli ambassadors to the United States while on American soil. If successful, this plan could have sparked regional war in the Middle East and should be treated as an attack on America. Iran remains the greatest threat to peace and stability in the world, and a nuclear Mullah State would only be that much worse. If Iran refuses to respect US sovereignty, there is no reason that America should respect Iran's. This murder plot may be the Zimmermann Telegram of the modern day, finally convincing Washington that there is no recourse but to declaw Tehran now.

Christians Under Siege

The "New Egypt" is vastly worse for Christians than their circumstance was under the regime of Hosni Mubarak, though even under Mubarak's rule followers of Jesus routinely faced discrimination, persecution, and occasionally murder. The Arab Spring has heralded new menace with affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood which has come to dominate the nation making it abundantly clear that non-Muslims remaining in Egypt will at best be regarded as dhimmi and could quite easily end up in the grave. Twenty-four Egyptians died in sectarian (read as anti-Christian) violence this weekend and prospects are that conditions for the religious minority in the land of the Pharaohs will only grow worse. Christendom must unite to shout to the powers that are emerging in Egypt "let my people go".

The Uninvited Guest

A tropical storm of sorts seems to be visiting Florida contemporaneously with my stay. Hope Florida will welcome me back, but I would understand if they did not. My first trip here in a half decade brings record precipitation, damaging winds, and millions (or more) in lost commerce. A hearty mea culpa if I am in any way responsible. Who knew a little rain dance would be so demoralizing to our fourth most populous state? Next time, I should visit Sedona and bring an umbrella.

Bringing the Deluge

After chronicling my experience in the Millennial Flood in Nashville in May 2010, I have taken to the export business of sorts, bringing ten inches of rain along with me to the Orlando area. Most people return to Nashville from Florida with a golden tan; it appears I will be floating back a tad pale and waterlogged.

Theme Park Wisdom

Never indulge in a large meal before boarding a ride boasting "heart-pounding G-force thrills", and pray the the couple in the car behind you did not just have the zesty, saucy enchilada with copious extra salsa? Do any gentle readers have any laundry suggestions as club soda did not remove whatever the lovely couple from Peoria ate?

The Sunshine Beckons

I have arrived in the Sunshine State just in time to be soaked in rain. Florida though is as lovely as ever.

Praise To Giant

The single most dominant figure in technology has died. Steve Jobs revolutionized a cutting edge industry in such a way as to bring what not too long ago was the stuff of science fiction into virtually every home. What used to be the realm of techies and geeks is approachable to everyone due to the genius Jobs' unique talent for innovation- making the unbelievably complex approachable, even user-friendly. Apple will undeniably suffer to some extent and Jobs will be sorely missed. Steve Job's like will not pass this way again.

Despot Does Destin

The "Despot" author may be taking a short leave of absence for the first time since this forum was initiated to contest the 2008 Obama campaign. I may turn this into a travelogue for a few days if the spirit moves me and the schedule of activity permits. I am not throwing in the towel, capitulating the hustings to angry, self-deluded left. I am merely recharging my batteries to prepare for the titanic struggle against those who will finish the nation off if they are reelected in 2012. Wish me bon voyage!

Fall From Olympus

How could a relatively minor nation with a small economy bring down the entire economy of the world? The elites have long sought a "global economy" and that creation actually started coming to the fore in the Americas with the George Herbert Walker Bush (Papa Bush implementing a "free trade alliance" to compete with the unifying Europe back in the 1980s where too few listened to H. Ross Perot and his giant sucking sound of America's still fading jobs disappearing) with the inception of the North American Free Trade Agreement coming into force to compete with the growing European-bloc being fully joined with a common currency, no tariffs or impediments to trade between European nations, and a shared trade policy amongst the Euro members. These large free-trade areas were meant to foster a growing shared prosperity with interdependence- one world where barriers were removed and prosperity would inevitably take hold. In the event, instead of all European economies rising to the efficiency of Germany, they slid to the insipid socialism of Greece. Instead of NAFTA lifting the Americas to the (formerly) thriving conditions of the United States, the US is dragged down while Mexico becomes a failed ultra-violent narco-state. The Greek tragedy is that the world succeeded in unifying economies to such an extent that a butterfly effect occurs when a tiny country having to borrow more and more from trade-bloc partners, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund to simply service ever-expanding debt, that logic dictates as only a minor player in finance, should not hold our destiny in its hands but in spite of being of apparently little consequence, is now bringing down the rest of us.

Dependency and Denial

Individuals and even nations find themselves on the slippery slope of dependency. There are several sorts to explore. A person may be dependent on various substances including intoxicants to make it through the day. This type of dependency may ultimately destroy the individual and be gravely injurious to those who care about him. Then there is dependency by the able-bodied and able-minded individual on "benefits" from the state which may be every bit as destructive as substance abuse by sapping the initiative and eventually destroying the dignity and diminishing the productive capacity of what could otherwise be a contributing member of society to a member of the permanent underclass, a parasite, what I have previously termed on this forum "dole dwellers". Then there is dependency between and amongst states. Greece has become a ward of the rest of Europe and a crushing burden on the financial system of the free world, financing debt service with more never to be paid back loans while imposing half-measures of long overdue austerity after witnessing the creation of a cradle to grave welfare state that never was (and never could be) self-sustaining. Germany primarily has attempted to save the Greeks but patience and resources are running thin and Germans may soon right off their Greek dependency basket case as a total loss which would likely spell the end of the Euro. The last aspect of dependency to be discussed herein is American dependency on foreign petroleum, largely from places that do not wish America well (most notably the Muslim nations of OPEC and Venezuela, which under the dictator Hugo Chavez, shares antipathy toward the USA). I am not one for pie-in-the-sky green energy ideas that will never materialize under real-world market conditions and are failing even with enormous government-subsidies behind them, but I am for drilling domestically where ever oil might be reasonably obtained. The last dependency mentioned is the easiest to end and to do so, Sarah Palin said it best, "drill, baby, drill".

Hidebound Democrat Ideology

The political party that for the moment controls the US Senate and Presidency, the Democrats, are adamant that no progress on healing the American economy will be permitted until the Republican agree to play the class envy game and make economic war on the rich. The Democrats in Congress are mostly ideologues and Barack Hussein Obama turns out to be nothing of a pragmatist or compromiser but a classic redistributionist above all else. Here, Obama differs from his last Democrat predecessor Bill Clinton in that Clinton placed his personal political viability above his socialist leanings while Obama does the opposite. The dinosaur press will present the GOP as obstructionists and will portray Republicans as the barrier to agreement, but those Americans observing the process will recognize that "tax the rich" as fiscal policy is no way to revive the economy or spark the kind of hiring and business expansion America will need to rebound from the sinking domestic economy. Only lower marginal tax rates, lower capital gains tax, and relaxing crushing government regulation will do that.

Lest We Forget

Across the political spectrum, from the American Civil Liberties Union to the Council on American-Islamic Relations to Constitutional fetishist and Republican Presidential candidate Texas Representative Ron Paul, the "assassination" of Anwar al-Awlaki is being denounced. Anwar al-Awlaki happened to be born in New Mexico which would typically have conferred the full rights and protections of US citizenship, but what the civil libertarians are missing is that al-Awlaki had to know that he was among America's most wanted men. Just like a criminal fleeing an armed robbery who refuses to let pursuing officers see his (empty) hands, al-Awlaki was well aware he was being pursued and had reputedly even previously survived a drone-launched rocket attack that had just missed him. If al-Awlaki had wanted to ensure his own survival at least through whatever criminal proceedings that would have been launched against him, he could have given up his role recruiting suicide attackers for al-Qaeda and simply presented himself to any US consulate or embassy, who would gladly have taken him into American custody. Anwar al-Awlaki decided he would wage war against the country of his birth. He chose to live as a terrorist and consequent to his own conduct, died like one.