Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Bringing Down the House

It was lost, but now is found. :-)

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NU6fuFrdCJY

Watch it, rate it. It's an extremely interesting view

Monday, September 29, 2008

Quotes from Biden

Taken from America Second by Anne Bayefsky: Quotes from Biden

An inability to recognize the enemy when it stares them in the face.
“When the Senate votes to designate a large part of Iran's military a “terrorist” organization... the main result is to increase tensions with Iran.” (Joe Biden, December 6, 2007)

The lack of straight talk about American values and the assault which has been launched upon them. “I don’t believe in a clash of civilizations.” (Joe Biden, March 10, 2005) Perhaps he should attend the UN Human Rights Council and watch the battle raging over defamation of religion versus freedom of expression and women’s rights versus cultural particularities?



Prioritizing optics over substance.
“The way we position ourselves, we’re made to look like the bad guys.” (Joe Biden, July 9, 2008) News flash: America is made to look like the bad guy for doing anything at all — that’s the burden of having power and using it.

Treading lightly on Russia. “We need…Russia’s help on Iran… Pushing too hard, too fast on democracy risks alienating governments whose help we need.” (Joe Biden, March 10, 2005) First Georgia. Next?

Naiveté about Russian and Chinese intentions. “Direct U.S. engagement with Iran is something that the European Union, Russia, and China have told me they would welcome. In exchange, we should insist on firm commitments from those governments to impose serious sanctions.” (July 9, 2008) The Russians and the Chinese have made it clear for years that they will not allow serious sanctions against Iran to be adopted by the Security Council.

Showcasing America as weak and unwilling to use force. “The Folly of War: War with Iran is not just a bad option. It would be a disaster …Even talk of war is counter-productive to our interests.” (Joe Biden, December 6, 2007)

Putting the feelings of mobs and despots above the interests of the United States and its democratic allies. “Air strikes can set back Iran's nuclear program, but … imagine the consequences beyond Iran …enraged Muslim populations would make it much harder for moderate leaders to cooperate with us ...” (Joe Biden, December 6, 2007)

Grossly underestimating the enemy. “My concern is not that a nuclear Iran some day would be moved by messianic fervor to use a nuclear weapon…My worry is that the fear of a nuclear Iran could spark an arms race in the Middle East…” (Joe Biden, December 6, 2007)

Turning diplomacy into an instrument of self-destruction, where cheap talk gives the enemy legitimacy and time. “In 2005, while the Bush Administration was shunning Iran's reformist President [Khatami], I held the highest-level meeting in 25 years between any U.S. and Iranian official when I met with Iran's foreign minister.” (Joe Biden, December 6, 2007) Here is what his friend Khatami — the man in charge of nurturing Iran’s nuclear weapons program for eight years until 2005 — had to say in November 2000: “As the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I wish to underline … we take pride in the heroic resistance of the children of the Muslim and Arab Ummah against suppression and bullying of the terrorist racist Zionist regime.”

No pre-conditions for talks with Iran and hand the enemy the tools he needs to run out the clock. “First, let’s end this false argument about “pre-conditions.” Senator Obama is right that the United States should be willing to engage Iran on its nuclear program without insisting that Iran first freeze the program.” (Joe Biden, May 20, 2008)

A long-time love affair with the United Nations. “The United States and other countries should commit military forces to the exclusive use by the United Nations’ Security Council.” (Joe Biden as reported October 29, 1992)

President Obama, and his authority figure on foreign policy, will sit down to chat with genocidal antisemites, shelve the use of force, pander to the rabble-rousers, embrace the United Nations, avoid confrontation with the enemies of Israel and genuine religious pluralism — and permit Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.

That’s America second.

The economy

The newest crisis to come along is the economy. There is no doubt that there is plenty of blame to go around, and as usual, politicians are playing at their political game. Like two kids caught over a bottle of spilled milk, both of the political party's are blaming each other. "Look, it's clearly Bush and the Republicans fault! They've had the White House for 8 years now!" cry the Dems. "But you've had a majority for at least two years!" cry the Republicans. In truth, there is plenty of blame to go around. There was plenty of warning that this was coming down the line, and neither party was properly prepared for it.

I feel that the crisis can be blamed squarely on an ideal. The idea that the government is responsible for the economy, when in fact the government is charged with protecting the economy. It's a minor difference between the two, but big enough that disregarding the latter in favor of the former has taken us to where we are today. The government is not the fount of our economy, it is the protector of it. The interference of the government is taking our idea of capitalism, the cornerstone of our economy, and replacing it with socialism (an ideal near and dear to every liberal heart). A perfect example is Obama's economic plan, as espoused by him in the debate. His idea is to raise taxes on everyone/everything that makes more then 250,000 a year, and lower taxes on the rest of the population. The rich have more money, so it's more fair for us to tax them then those who have less. A noble idea, to be sure. Or at least on the surface. It shows stunning ignorance by someone who claims to be completely prepared to lead this nation. Maybe not ignorance though ... maybe just a belief that is far left of my own. You are wrong, sir. Robbing from the rich to give to the poor sounds noble, but the reality of it is that the greater cost being absorber by the rich is ALWAYS passed down to the little guy. Sure, it looks nice on TV, but upon closer inspection, one realizes that it's a bad apple.

Friday, September 26, 2008

The Debates

Barack Obama: Community activist and recent Senator.

John McCain: Miltary veteran, long time Senator.

It is a difficult time to be a semi-informed Republican existing within the leftist media of today. Being inundated with patently liberal spin, or worse, completely false information, makes it hard to determine what lies or bias to accept, and tonight's debates were no exception. Barack Obama came out a lot stronger then I personally expected, and McCain didn't quite have the fire that I hoped so badly to see. I would say a slight edge went to McCain, but apparently CNN disagreed with me. Personally, I think they are ignoring that later half of that debate, which is what most people remember.

There were several key points that McCain brought up that Obama simply didn't have an answer to. One was about Obama's refusal to admit that he was wrong about the surge. I don't think that anyone disagree's that the troop surge in Iraq has worked, and worked stunningly. It was a brilliant move, and I was glad that McCain brought up his role as an early supporter of the troop surge. Obama came out just as strongly against it, saying that it would fail, and that we would fail in Iraq. I'm glad that the soldier in the field didn't take that to heart. Or rather, I hope that he did, and realizes that when he votes in the upcoming election.

Another thing that so confused me was Obama's insistence that McCain was right, but *insert Obama's view on the subject*. It was a patently political response, and one that was obvious to even the most naive observer. To make matters worse, he had to say it at least 20 times. Gone were the soaring rhetoric that characterized his campaign. I would imagine it was the knowledge that McCain and his "Straight-Talk-Express" would steamroll right through it that kept Obama from expressing his amazingly leftist ideals.

In the end, I strongly believe in the intelligence of the American people. Sadly, like the little boy who cried wolf, if the press insists on blatently spinning what happens in the political proces, people will start to see through the bias, and I believe that is what has happened. God bless America, and God bless our next President. I pray daily that God will give guidance to whomever becomes our next president, for the next 5 years will be a difficult time for us. We will persevere, and we will triumph, because our system and our people are strong.