One of the Two Million
Topic: World War II
One day, my dad stopped to talk to the elderly lady across the street, who is left-leaning politically.  The subject of the Atom Bomb came up, and she told him how terrible it was that the US bombed Japan in World War II.

My dad replied that he did not regret dropping the bomb, because, as he put it, "I am one of the two million."

You see, my dad was a crewman on board the battleship USS Alabama in 1945-46.  He is shy about his naval service, judging that he did not do anything compared to the many who took real risk in the war.  The Alabama was patrolling off the West Coast, and did not see actual combat.  My dad, who later attended college on the G.I. Bill, says he got much more out of his service than he ever put in.

However, as the US fleet encroached upon Japan, they were increasingly hammered by kamikaze attacks that sank hundreds of ships.  Since the Japanese were refusing to surrender, regularly fighting to the death, and even training their women to fight with sharpened sticks, our government estimated that a conventional invasion would cost one million lives on each side.  Other estimates were higher.  My dad had a well-founded expectation of being involved if such a major invasion took place.

After the war, many Japanese thanked US troops for ending the war quickly.  Many of them were also "one of the two million."

Energy Colony States Wrongly Criticized
Topic: Energy Independence
People in most states do not understand what it means to live in an oil and gas-producing state.  There was a time when natural gas was just a by-product of oil production and too cheap to make it profitable to store or ship.  But it was dangerous, being both poisonous and explosive, so they would "flare" it, lighting up the gas well and letting it burn.  There were places like my dad's native Sand Springs, OK, that were lit up like daylight by gas flares 24 hours a day.

People also used to run a pipe out to such a well to use for lighting and heating their homes.  These pipelines were not pressure regulated, so it was fairly common for someone's house to blow up.  More safety regulations were enacted, such as the addition of the stinky smell, after the school in New London, Texas, blew up, killing over 200 children and teachers.  I have heard that there are still towns in which natural gas is provided free of charge, but they are the exception.

Back in the 1920s, my maternal grandfather left the farm in search of a better life.  He tried his hand in the oilfield in the boomtown of Sour Lake, Texas; but they say that in those days, with the wooden wildcatting derricks built close together, an average of one man per day was killed.  So he moved on to the great refinery in Baytown, and worked there his whole career (in addition to being a minister).

Oil is to Texas, Oklahoma, and other producing states like a crop, like corn in Iowa.  When the business prospers, there are jobs and prosperity.  The government would not overburden the corn growers in Iowa -- on the contrary, they subsidize them tremendously -- but they will overburden the oil and gas industry with regulation and taxes.  They do the same with nuclear energy.

Texas and other producing states have long been treated as energy colonies by the Northeast and other parts of the country.  Our oil and gas should be dirt cheap, but due to interstate price regulation, prices are kept low outside the state and artificially inflated here.  At the same time, the same states that blame the oil and gas companies, and producing states, for high prices maintain a NIMBY ("not in my back yard") attitude.  They want pure air and clean beaches, but still demand cheap fuel.  If you look at a map of oil and gas pipelines in the US, you will see dozens running from east of Houston, and other parts of Texas, up to the Northeast.

The demand for cheap oil and gas gave OPEC and other foreign producers the opportunity to undercut domestic production.  Since the 1970s, domestic production has largely "gone to pot," as we say, meaning allowed to deteriorate, along with jobs.  We have been buying and using all the foreign crude we can get, and wanting more.  Meanwhile, oil refining states bear the lion's share of the hazards of polution and danger (since we still refine the foreign crude), at the same time being picked on by the EPA, and denigrated by the "clean water and beaches" states, for those same hazards.

Samuel Adams Prescient on Obama Election
Topic: Democrat Watch
"The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men."

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, — go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!"

"Mankind are governed more by their feelings than by reason."

"How strangely will the Tools of a Tyrant pervert the plain Meaning of Words!"

"A general dissolution of the principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. . . . While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader. . . . If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security."

"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin."

"Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty."

Crowd Dynamics and the Messiah Complex
Topic: Politics
Here is a great article in the Wall Street Journal by Fouad Ajami, entitled, "The Politics of Crowds."  He outlines an interesting "take" on the "messianic" view of Obama by his supporters:

Link:
http://www.careerjournal.com/article/SB122533157015082889.html

Excerpts:

"On the face of it, there is nothing overwhelmingly stirring about Sen. Obama. There is a cerebral quality to him, and an air of detachment. He has eloquence, but within bounds. After nearly two years on the trail, the audience can pretty much anticipate and recite his lines. The political genius of the man is that he is a blank slate. The devotees can project onto him what they wish. . . .  All [other considerations are] shelved. . . .

"A creature of universities and churches and nonprofit institutions. . . .  Ambiguity has been a powerful weapon of this gifted candidate: He has been different things to different people, and he was under no obligation to tell this coalition of a thousand discontents, and a thousand visions, the details of his political programs. . . .

"A younger man, "cool" and collected, carrying within his own biography the strands of the world beyond America's shores, was put forth as a herald of the change upon us. The crowd would risk the experiment. There was grudge and a desire for retribution in the crowd to begin with. . . .

". . . .  So a candidate pledged to good government and to ending the role of money in our political life opts out of public financing of presidential campaigns. What of it? The end justifies the means."

Obama's View of the Constitution
Topic: Democrat Watch
In a 2001 interview with WBEZ-FM radio (PBS), Barack Obama, who has been a lecturer in constitutional law and a constitutional lawyer, inadvertently gave a glimpse of his real opinion of the Constitution:

"If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court. I think where it succeeded was to invest formal rights in previously dispossessed people, so that now I would have the right to vote. I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order as long as I could pay for it I’d be o.k. But, the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth, and of more basic issues such as political and economic justice in society. To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as its been interpreted and Warren Court interpreted in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can’t do to you. Says what the Federal government can’t do to you, but doesn’t say what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf, and that hasn’t shifted and one of the, I think, tragedies of the civil rights movement was, um, because the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think there was a tendancy to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change. In some ways we still suffer from that.

"I’m not optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the courts. You know, the institution just isn’t structured that way."

In other words, Obama's study of the Constitution has focused on how it can be used, in conjunction with the Supreme Court and civil rights activism, to redistribute wealth and power in U.S. society to the lower classes (those least educated, least accomplished, least self-reliant, and most dependent on government).  The only problem with the Warren Court, infamous for its judicial activism and twisting of the Constitution to create new law, is (to paraphrase domestic terrorist William Ayres) "I wish they had done more."  Obama who, if elected, may appoint as many as three new Supreme Court justices, would like to see the Court "break free" of the "constraints" of the Founding Fathers, and the original intent of the laws, even more than did the Warren Court.  He characterizes the Constitution as a set of "negative liberties," outlining "what the states [and the State] can't do," when in truth the bulk of the Constitution outlines the nature of our government, and the Bill of Rights is an absolutely positive decree of our rights as citizens which cannot be alienated from us.  Obama looks instead for a socialist expansion of government powers to recreate society by redistributing wealth and the creation of special rights for select constituencies.

For a brief history of Supreme Court activism that has already changed the meaning of our Constitution, download:
http://www.geocities.com/westloop/godstrombone/constitution-history.pdf

Financial Crisis: Blame the Democrats
Topic: Democrat Watch
The Democrats are to blame for the current financial crisis by creating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in order to continue to build a constituency of dependent, ingratiated, and usually ignorant voters.  They have threatened, extorted, and badgered loan institutions to give home loans to people who cannot afford them, including illegal aliens and persons with no verifiable employment.  Otherwise, institutions were accused of "redlining" (read:  racism).  Meanwhile, Fannie and Freddie have been used to funnel contributions to political candidates, especially Democrats, including (in descending order of dollar amount) Christopher Dodd, John Kerry, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton (not neglecting Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi).

The Attack on Gov. Palin's Daughter
Topic: Media Watch
I am not a parent, but I was a teenager once and am not stupid.  I know that children do not always do as they are told, that teenagers tend to rebel, that teen girls in love will often "give away the store" to their boyfriends in order to keep them, that teen boys can be very aggressive and manipulative, that traditional mores and parental authority have been undermined by Liberals since the radical 1960s, and that our youth are taught every day in pop culture and every night on TV that pre-marital sex is not only normal but expected, and virgins are "losers."

If Gov. Palin is blamed, think about this first:  What if it were reported, conversely, that she had forced her daughter to come straight home from school, forbidden her to date boys or to have a boyfriend, and otherwise tracked her in all her movements?  That is what it would take to absolutely prevent the pregnancy, but Gov. Palin would now be cast as some kind of mean, controlling ogre.

As for subjecting her children to media scrutiny, that is ultimately the media's fault, and they are selective.  They never touched Chelsea Clinton, and are not widely reporting about Obama's relatives or the fraud cases against Hunter Biden.  They covered up FDR's disability and JFK's adultery, and helped turn the Lewinsky Scandal against the GOP.  They are currently grasping for any dirt they can get, including wide reporting of wild rumors such as Palin's daughter being the "real mother" of her special-needs infant, and that Palin was once active in an Alaska secession movement.

Russian, Georgian Armies May Clash
Topic: Armageddon
As the Geogian Army attempts to reestablish control of its South Ossetia province, Russia is sending in tanks.

Read about it:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080808/ap_on_re_eu/
georgia_south_ossetia&printer=1;_ylt=Ah0hPuGvUYKNvQtCdsr5AbVbbBAF

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but ever since the apparent breakup of the Soviet Union in 1989, I have suspected the whole thing to be a ploy, a long-term strategy to prompt the US and Europe to disarm.  Recall the farce-like atmosphere in which Russian tanks were driving around aimlessly, without any clear orders, culminating with Boris Yeltsin climbing up on a tank to give an "impromtu" speech (before the cameras).  My intuition has always been that the old Soviet Union will some day coalesce once again, almost overnight, to threaten world domination.

This clash, along with Vladimir Putin's behind-the-scenes power-mongering and popular youth movement (eerily similar to the Hitler Youth) might well contribute to that eventuality.

Remember that you heard it here first.

Obama's View of the Bible
Topic: Politics
Barack Obama teaches that Biblical Principles cannot be applied to government and public policy.

View Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=4FCNKwHRCQM&
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHoMlGudEq8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1hFwigq6lU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXcvbnzNIjg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiOpDAAd-c0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFc61fb-ZaU

Ludacris - Hatin' on Obama Deniers
Topic: Race and Racialism

These are the lyrics to rapper Ludacris' new pro-Obama rap:

I'm back on it like I just signed my record deal
yeah the best is here, the Bentley Coup paint is dripping wet, it got sex appeal
never should have hated
you never should've doubted him
with a slot in the president's iPod Obama shattered 'em
Said I handled his biz and I'm one of his favorite rappers
Well give Luda a special pardon if I'm ever in the slammer
Better yet put him in office, make me your vice president
Hillary hated on you, so that b____ is irrelevant
Jesse talking slick and apologizing for what?
if you said it then you meant it how you want it have a gut!
and all you other politicians trying to hate on my man,
watch us win a majority vote in every state on my man
you can't stop what's bout to happen, we bout to make history
the first black president is destined and it's meant to be
the threats ain't fazing us, the nooses or the jokes
so get off your a__, black people, it's time to get out and vote!
paint the White House black and I'm sure that's got 'em terrified
McCain don't belong in ANY chair unless he's paralyzed
Yeah I said it cause Bush is mentally handicapped
Ball up all of his speeches and I throw em like candy wrap
cause what you talking I hear nothing even relevant
and you the worst of all 43 presidents
get out and vote or the end will be near
the world is ready for change because Obama is here!
cause Obama is here
The world is ready for change because Obama is here!

Editor's note:  he got his name right.  He just misspells it.

Feminist Compares Democrats to Child Rape
Topic: Democrat Watch
Prominent Berkeley feminist Robin Lakoff, a Hillary supporter, has compared the treatment of Hillary Clinton supporters by the Democrat Party to child rape:

"I am reminded of a particularly chilling passage in Vladimir Nabokov's novel 'Lolita.'  Humbert Humbert, after raping the 12-year-old, is pondering why she has come back to his bed.  'You see,' Humbert tells the reader, 'she had absolutely nowhere else to go.'

"That's just how I feel.  And they want my enthusiastic support?  The Democratic Party can fend for itself."

Read it for yourself:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/29/EDCC120QOH.DTL

Posted on The Hughes Report
https://members.tripod.com/pneuma_music/hughesreport/

Media Ignoring Edwards Affair, Love Child
Topic: Democrat Watch

Amongst the other huge stories that the biased mainstream media is ignoring is this one about failed Democrat vice-presidential candidate John Edwards.  Edwards was allegedly caught by reporters while leaving his mistress's hotel in the small hours of the morning.

Read about it:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,391426,00.html
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/sen_john_edwards_caught_with_mistress_and_love_child_in_la_hotel/celebrity/65193
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/john_edwards_love_child/celebrity/64426
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_072308/content/01125115.guest.html
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/john_edwards_love_child_update/celebrity/65199
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/FineOnMedia/archives/2008/07/the_national_en.html
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_072508/content/01125104.guest.html

AP's Terence Hunt Is No Journalist
Topic: Media Watch

I first saw it as a headline on my main Yahoo page.  I could not believe what I was reading:  "Bush tries to blame Congress for high energy costs."

What is wrong with this picture?  Terence Hunt of Associated Press wrote what amounts to an opinion editorial (Op-ed) masquerading as a bonafide news item.  It was also published in Newsweek at:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/81348

Journalism is reporting news objectively.  What Hunt has done is inject his opinion of the news, and what he thinks the public should think about it, even in his headline.  He could have appropriately enough said, "Bush Blames Congress for High Energy Costs," but no!  He has to smear the President.

Mr. Hunt, you call yourself a journalist?  Is this what you call objective journalism?   Have you no shame?  Is Newsweek now your private blog?

Shame, shame, Mr. Hunt. 

 

Van Impe vs. the Oprah
Topic: God Help Us!

I happened to tune in to Bible teacher Jack Van Impe's show late last night, and heard him criticizing Oprah and her current New Age guru as false teachers. He showed a thick packet of information that he said was study materials put out by the guru, which Van Impe said he will be studying thoroughly and will report back on in a week.

I have seldom watched Oprah's show, but occasionally tune in to hear from one of her guests, like Bill Cosby or Dr. Oz. I have decided that Oprah must be one of the neediest persons in the world. Rich and famous as she is, she has sought out a series of gurus over the years to tell her how to live. Dr. Oz is one of these, and so was Dr. Phil.

She is also a compulsive eater. On several occasions when food was brought onto stage by some chef or dietician, I have seen her immediately start grabbing at it and stuffing it into her mouth.  She seemed quite rude, not asking permission, but diving in. It was also kind of funny, because she suddenly quit talking and was preoccupied by eating.

=======================================

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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Liberalism_Unmasked

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"Black Hole" Called Racist
Topic: Race and Racialism
In Dallas, a county commissioners meeting erupted into pandemonium when two black commissioners objected to a white commissioner's use of the term, "black hole."

Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, referred to the Central Collections Office as a "black hole" because it had gained a reputation for losing paperwork.  John Wiley Price interrupted, saying that it should be called a "white hole."  Judge Thomas Jones demanded that Mayfield apologize for racial insensitivity.  

Mayfield tried to explain that the term "black hole" was a scientific term as well as a common figure of speech.

That is reminiscent of the 1999 firing of David Howard for using the term "niggardly," which means "miserly," and has nothing to do with race.  In that case, as well, black officials, who were ignorant of the word's meaning and overreacted, insisted that he should have realized how it sounded to black listeners.

Similarly, earlier this year, National Public Radio apologized for using the term "Dark Continent" to describe Africa.

Do we really expect electing Barack Obama to solve this racial hypersensitivity, or would that only make it worse?

Read about it:
http://cityhallblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/07/dallas-county-meeting-turns-ra.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/jan99/district27.htm
http://www.npr.org/ombudsman/2008/02/should_npr_have_apologized_for.html

Yuk! Political Correctness Runs Amok!
Topic: Race and Racialism
The National Children's Bureau, a British government-funded group, suggests that toddlers who say "Yuk!" in reaction to ethnic food, refer to other children as "those people," or say that another person smells, may be racist.  The group issued a guide, the 366-page "Young Children and Racial Justice," to nursery school teachers, which states that "No racist incident should be ignored" and should be censured, whereas anyone who disagrees is racist.

The spectre looms that offhand remarks by innocent children might result in a criminal record, or their parents being hauled into court.  A 10-year-old boy has already been charged with racist slurs.

So are children who do not like Brussels sprouts anti-Belgian?

Read about it:
http://www.ncb.org.uk/Page.asp?originx_8761oq_5113477690040g44a_20086125657e
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/education/2261307/Toddlers-who-dislike-spicy-food-racist,-say-report.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1032650/Children-young-reported-racism-Government-funded-group-claims.html

Racializing the National Anthem
Topic: Race and Racialism
Around 1970, the small Czech-Bohemian town of Crosby, near Houston, was forced by government mandate to integrate its schools with the black community of Barrett, four miles away.  One problem:  the Crosby school mascot was the Buffalo.  The new black constituency associated the buffalo with a racial stereotype, so it was changed to the Cougar.  Similarly, another area school district, C. E. King, changed from Rebels to Panthers.  Their "old" mascot looked like a Confederate soldier.

Fair enough.  Call it sense and sensibilities.

On July 3, 2008, jazz singer Rene Marie was scheduled to sing the National Anthem at the Denver mayor's State of the City address.  What she did not bother to tell the mayor's office was that she had decided, "months ago," to no longer sing the national anthem.  Instead, she substituted her own version, to which she had adapted lyrics from the Black National Anthem.  The Black National Anthem was written by James Weldon Johnson, best known for his poetry series about black preachers, entitled "God's Trombones."

See:  http://www.black-network.com/anthem.htm
http://www.afrikation.com/BlackNationalAnthem.htm

Ms. Marie, who justified her choice in the name of "artistic expression," seemed to relish the deception.  She told a reporter, "I pulled a switcheroonie on them," and said she "wouldn't change a thing" about what she had done.  Apparently, Ms. Marie has never been "really proud of her country."

There is nothing wrong with Johnson's song, but it is not our national anthem.  Is this what is to pass for unity today -- the submersion, or subversion, of our historical culture, the product of the great Melting Pot (or as some say, Stew Pot) of cultures, in deference to the overworked sensibilities and sensitivities of a minority of one minority?

Moreover, how radical and emboldened, if Barack Obama is elected president -- or if he is not -- can we expect this minority of racialists to become?

Read about it:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-anthem4-2008jul04,0,1711041.story
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=20135
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,375164,00.html

All the Justices Are White???
Topic: Supreme Court
Newsweek columnist Dahlia Lithwick tells us that all of the current
justices of the Supreme Court are white. Huh? And they are all male,
too, right?

No doubt this "error" is an intentional slap in Clarence Thomas's face.

She also notes that up to 3 justice chairs may be up for grabs during
the next administration. Judging from the crucial recent Court
decisions, all with a 5-4 margin, the choice of a president will
clearly be the major influence on the future direction of the country.

Read about it:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/142669

Join Liberalism Unmasked!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Liberalism_Unmasked/

While Blaming Bush, Democrats Get Sweetheart Loans
Topic: Democrat Watch
In case you missed the major Democrat scandal that has only been nominally reported by the mainstream media:

Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, recent presidential candidate and current chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has been exposed for accepting a preferential home loan from Countrywide Financial Corp.  In a carefully worded statement, Dodd said that he "did not seek or expect any favorable treatment.  Just like millions of other Americans, we shopped around and received competitive rates."

Also implicated is Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, chairman of the Budget Committee.  He insisted, "If they did me a favor, they did it without my knowledge and without my requesting it."  However, Conrad placed a personal call to CEO Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide asking for the mortgage.  An internal memo from Mozilo indicates that the fact that Conrad is a senator cemented the deal.

Let us not forget about recent revelations of the preferential home loan given to presidential candidate Barack Obama, and his ties to Tony Rezko, recently convicted for improprieties, and Jim Johnson, recently dismissed from the campaign.  Other Democrats implicated in the "new" scandal include Clinton Administration operatives Alphonso Jackson, Donna Shalala, and Richard Holbrooke.

This is the Congress that took power in 2006 on the promise to "clean up Washington."

Sources:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25140560/
http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/top-5/2008/06/12/Countrywide-Loan-Scandal
http://www.salon.com/wires/ap/2008/06/13/D919849G3_senators_vip_mortgages/print.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121332396326070639.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_topbox

A Father's Prayer
Topic: World War II
by General Douglas MacArthur

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak and brave evough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat and humble and gentle in victory.

Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be; a son who will know Thee -- and realize that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge.  Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously.  Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.

Then, I, his father, will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain."