Bill's Comments

One of my favorite bloggers is Dr. Sanity. "PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF NARCISSISM" is a particularly good example of her posts, and she also has a wonderful way with parody, especially poetic parody (As a one-time wannabe poet, I am quite envious of her ability) such as this.

Read and enjoy.

1. The Republicans betrayed their principles.
2. The majority of the people wanted a change at any price.
3. Most people do not really care about foreign affairs either way.
4. Most people are enamoured of celebrity over substance. (See most-read articles on the Fox News website.)
5. We have allowed our education system to be dumbed down, and complain when any attempt at standards other than letting our kids slide with unearned grades is attempted.
6. We are so productive that we think whatever we wish will come true, because we have never had to really work for anything.
7. We have no sense of community or deferment of gratification.
8. We no longer think, we feel.

.....a naive, smooth-talking, Chicago politician that is selling us down the river for the gain in power of the government and therefore him and his henchmen.

between a cynical, political operator trading on people's gullibility, and a naive, idealist. The former will recognize reality and adjust accordingly for the long term and the latter will simply pretend all is as he/she wants it to be. The former is far less dangerous than the latter. A cynical operator will see danger coming and deal with it, if for no other reason than self-preservation. The idealist never sees it coming and then wonders how it all happened. In today's world, the idealist will get more than him/herself killed.

Which one do you think we have for a President?

......and it makes a difference.

John Cox published an excellent drawing and quote that he has kindly allowed me to post.



We are seeing a rapid erosion of the support for the programs that President Obama has put forth. At the same time we see a constant stream of news articles castigating his opponents as if it were he and not the policies that are being attacked. The most outrageous of these was from the man who nevers knows when to shut up, Jimmy Carter, to the effect that opposition to President Obama is racist.

From the very first, it has always been about the man and not his policies. Chris Matthew's "Tingle up my leg", the Greek amphitheater in Denver, multiple Time covers, and the constant wall-to-wall television appearances and coverage of the President are more than ample proof that it is about him and not his programs. Because they are his programs, we should accept them. If we dislike his programs, we are directly attacking him.

Go back and read the picture.

.....and always has been, not his policies.

I received the following email from my sister. I have seen the same information from a totally different and reliable source over a month ago.

While I realize that some of you were/are supporters of the liberal party’s candidate for president, nevertheless, I believe we need to stand up and be counted on this one, no matter which political persuasion we are.This is so unbelievable and incredibly scary.

America wanted change! Boy is it coming!
A Democrat has now introduced legislation that would repeal the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution – the prohibition against any President serving more than two terms in office.
Just like the Nazis, the Communists, and the Fascists, Obama and the Democratic Party are moving to posture the U.S. Presidency for succession by one President. That’s how Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini became “Leaders for Life”. Once the 22nd Amendment is repealed, the next step is to pass an Amendment to the (already emasculated) Constitution which permits a majority in the House of Representatives to designate a President as “President for Life”.
Wake up America! Contact your congressional representative and make it VERY clear that you oppose this proposed legislation.

H. J. Res. 5 - Repealing 22nd Amendment bill was referred to the House Committee on Judiciary on 1/6/09 and then referred to the Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on 2/9/09. (Check it out on the government websites listed below.)

Earlier this year, Rep. Jose Serrano, D-N.Y. introduced H. J. Res. 5, a bill that would repeal the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment which prohibits a president from being elected to more than two terms in office, thus potentially paving the way to make Barack Obama president for life. Not surprisingly, the corporate media currently caught up in Obama-mania has not covered this story.

“Will George W. Bush end up being the last true U.S. President?” asked Sher Zieve, writing for the Canadian Free Press on January 14. “ As I warned you on multiple times prior to the 2008 General Election, ‘Once Obama is elected, we won’t be able to get rid of him.’ Tragically, this warning is now being realized. Not only has Obama established his election-fraud organization ACORN nationwide, his adherents have now begun the process to repeal the U.S. Constitution’s 22nd Amendment.”

See the proof on any of these websites.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=hj111-5
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-hj5/show
http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/111_H J _5..html
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.j.res.00005:

Or go to Google and do your own search by typing in H. J. Res. 5

.........they don't teach the '30's any more, and few people are alive to remember them.

The nanny state triumphs again. But remember, it isn't really about doing good, it's about being in control.

Thanks to Fox News for the article.

Please read this article . The Helmsley Hotel refused to let Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attend its hotel and cancelled the dinner he was to speak at as soon as they learned of his planned attendance.

Rep. Joe Wilson's now famous "You lie," to President Obama during his speech has generated a flurry of decorum pronouncements. This article extracts the essence of this document, which is an interpretation of the House Rules of Decorum.

Despite the apology of Rep Wilson directly to President Obama [But I wonder why apologize for the truth? bk], the house Democrats decided to formally rebuke Rep Wilson. This of course is great political theater, allowing the Dems to show support of the President in an non-substantive way, and actually strengthening Rep Wilson back home.

I figure the move will backfire, since people are already up in arms over the various attempts to control the country. It will provide the Republicans great campaign fodder--The President did not tell the truth and the Democrats tried to stiffle the one man with the courage to call him on it. We'll see. Republicans usually are gutless wonders when campaigning.

Not only did she complete the tri in less time than she expected......

SHE WON FIRST PLACE IN HER AGE GROUP!!!!!

My wife ROCKS!!

See the previous post.

OK, to do what my wife just did requires---
1. A custom-fitted bike. Seriously, if you want to do this, you can do it with a Schwinn, but it won't be easy or fun (It still won't be easy, but it won't be torture, and it will be fun.).
2. A wet suit--if the water is cold, it is essential. Hypothermia is no fun and dangerous.
3. Really good shoes--Your standard Nikes won't do it. You have to go to a real running store and be custom-fitted.
4. Months of training--She started training in May for a September Tri.
5. Perserverence--try falling off your bike seven times, getting back up, and still going on.
6. Training seven days a week--period--two for each kind of racing and once a week to put it all together
7. Fundraising--this is optional, unless you join Team in Training as she did.--She worked many weekends, pouring beer, serving pop, anything where she could raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
8. A phenomenal dedication to all of the above and the willingness to conquer any obstacle.
9. The desire to make real difference--saving lives, one mile at a time.

At 12:10 PM, EDT, my wife Jennifer completed her first triathlon. She swam 1500 meters in 50 min, 6 sec, biked 40 km in about 1:15, and ran 10 km in 1:16, for an overall time including transitions of 3:46:57, less than four hours. She also raised $2900 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by doing this. I am extremely proud of her.

.......she is a hero!

I have finished reading an excellent book, the first in a series by James W. Huston, Balance of Power. The plot could be considered a version of the Somali Pirate incident writ large, but (and this is the eerie thing about it) it was written 12 years ago. The protagonists are a pacifist President with no military service, a Congress still in touch with the people, the bad guys, and an American task force in the Pacific.

The author does an excellent job with the political issues and especially some very interesting Constitutional questions, which would not arise in today's environment, because Congress and the President are in each other's laps. The author is an ex-Navy fighter pilot and intelligence officer. He only provides enough of the military details to make the story intelligible and flow well--no dazzling us with his intimate knowledge.

I have four extended quotes from the book to share. Each makes it own point, though the last two are closely related.

The first quote is about something we often forget:

…When the United States was founded, it wasn’t because we had great men who were going to tell us what to do; it was because those men recognized principles that were binding on us all. We’re not bound to men, we’re bound to ideas. Ideas like equality, freedom of expression, freedom of religion….The thing that protects us from losing those freedoms isn’t a person, it’s a document….Without it, we’re just another country arguing about who wins, which is decided by who is in power. Is it up to the President to say what we are to do? Is he the Commander in Chief? Sure he’s the Commander in Chief of the armed forces. But can he do whatever he wants with us?...He is limited by the Constitution like everyone else.” --- Balance of Power, James W. Huston, pp. 285-6

The second quote from the briefing session before the military action, makes it clear in no uncertain terms what it really means to be a citizen of the United States and also of its military. That it is our obligation to protect and defend all citizens of the US--regardless:

“This is the brief for Event One. The event in which we are going to go and beat the s[***] out of a bunch of people who shot Americans in the head and sank their ship, and killed a frogman from this battle group. As you know, we are now considered a renegade battle group. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I kind of like the way that sounds. In fact, in case you haven’t noticed, the battle group has been flying the new group flag.” He removed a large piece of white butcher paper from the board next to the chart and exposed a hand-drawn red and white “Don’t Tread on Me” flag. “Thanks to IS1 Alverez for her rendition of this old Navy Battle Flag used in the Revolutionary War. For those of you who graduated from high school in the last ten years and therefore by definition don’t know s[***], the Revolutionary War was when we fought England for our Independence and kicked their a[***]s. This flag said how we felt then, and I think”—he posted it behind him—“it still does. --- Balance of Power, James W. Huston, pp. 443

The third quote is a questioning of the man who created the possible authority to conduct the military operation by the Admiral of the task force. It has to do with the correct mind-set to use military force. It is rather more nuanced than General Patton:

“Well, Mr. Dillon, do you think we did the right thing?” Billings asked.

Dillon finally sat up. “That’s really not for me to say.”

Billings lookd directly at Dillon. “I think it is for you to say, Mr. Dillon. If you can’t form an opinion now, you never will.” He pressed him. “Are you doing the p;olitical thing of waiting to see all the implications before you decide whether it’s ‘right’ or ‘wrong’? We don’t have that luxury here. We have to act.” He waited for a response from Dillon. “Your’re not under my command. Let’s hear what you have to say.”

Dillon rubbed his eyes. “I don’t know, Admiral. I thought from the beginning that the right thing to do was to go hammer these guys. Now we’ve hammered them. I guess the part of it that surprises me is that I always thought it would feel good once you did it, but it doesn’t…” His voice trailed off. “You just wonder if it was all worth it.”

“You should always wonder that, Mr. Dillon. We look at everything we do in that same light. Everything. But now that you have, what’s your conclusion?” He studied Dillon’s face and saw the clash of emotions.

“Even knowing what I know now, it was the right thing. I’d do it again.” --- Balance of Power, James W. Huston, pp. 508-9

And finally, at the end of a discussion of our central character with his very liberal girl friend that he would like to become his girl-friend, we have this quote. It puts shame to most of us on the sidelines, regardless of whether we are for or against a certain military action:

“You were there on the carrier,” she said, noticing his involuntary wince. “We may disagree on whether it was right or not, whether it was legal, but did it feel good? Are you glad?”

Dillon closed his eyes momentarily to slow the watering from the cold. “It’s funny, Admiral Billings asked me the same thing. Sort of. That’s what surprised me. This wasn’t really much of a war, and it got to me. I saw it personally, Molly. I went ashore with the Marines. I saw people get killed. I saw the head terrorist and he shot me twice.” He could see the surprise on her face. “Hit my helmet and flak jacket. I only got bruises and a small cut,” he said touching a half-inch scab by his ear. “And after I got back to the carrier, I thought it would be like winning a football game, where everyone comes to their feet and cheers and claps. It’s not like that at all. It’s not a sport. So, no, I guess I’m not glad. It doesn’t make me happy. It’s made me, I don’t know, different. I think I’d take it more seriously now than I ever would have before.”… “But it was still the right thing to do.” --- Balance of Power, James W. Huston, pp. 540-1

Unfortunately, in today's US, doing the right thing seems to be almost an impossibility for our government.

The prize doesn't always go to the most deserving.




Irena Sendler

There recently was a death of a 98 year-old lady named Irena. During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an 'ulterior motive' ... She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews, (being German.) Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids..) She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises.. During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize ... She was not selected.
Al Gore won, for a slide show on Global Warming.

For more details see these You Tube videos, (1), (2) .


63 years later



In MEMORIAM - 63 YEARS LATER

Please read the little cartoon carefully, it's powerful. Then read the comments at the end.



It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended This post is in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the German and Russian Peoples looking the other way!

Now, more than ever, with Iraq , Iran , and others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it's imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again.

From The China Daily:

The national flag of the People's Republic of China (PRC) will be hoisted at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on September 20, media reported Sunday.

Update: The flag will be flown on the Elipse across the street, not the White House South Lawn. Thanks to Kevin for the correction.

.....we legitimize totalitarian states.

ACORN's voter rights tactics follow the Cloward-Piven Strategy:

1. Register as many Democrat voters as possible, legal or otherwise and help them vote, multiple times if possible.
2. Overwhelm the system with fraudulent registrations using multiple entries of the same name, names of deceased, random names from the phone book, even contrived names.
3. Make the system difficult to police by lobbying for minimal identification standards.

In this effort, ACORN sets up registration sites all over the country and has been frequently cited for turning in fraudulent registrations, as well as destroying republican applications. In the 2004-2006 election cycles alone, ACORN was accused of widespread voter fraud in 12 states. It may have swung the election for one state governor.

Thanks to American Thinker for the quote.

A pair of radical Columbia University professors by the name of Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven wrote an article in the radical magazine known as The Nation. The article was published on May 2, 1966 and laid out what is now known as the “Cloward-Piven Strategy”.

The plan calls for the destruction of capitalism in America by swelling the welfare rolls to the point of collapsing our economy and then implementing socialism by nationalizing many private institutions.

Thanks to Infidel Bloggers Alliance for the quote.


The most extensive writeup on this is and essay by Jim Simpson in American Thinker

You can google Cloward-Piven Strategy Google will provide several suggestions) to see what is happening.