Thats Just Bob

So Called Prayer At Obama Day, Today

2009-01-20T16:54:00.004-06:00

Based on this so called prayer by this so called Rev. today claiming white people do not know what is right, is just plan stupid! What would have happened if a White person had made the same comment about Blacks at Bush's Inauguration. We would have riots in the streets if the roll was reversed. I do not know who he was praying to, but according the Bible to reach the Father you must address all prayers through Jesus Christ. The below comment was not a prayer is was a ridiculous racist comment. Obama should apologize for this guy's comment.
Bob

Benediction at Obama 's inauguration, Rev. Joseph Lowery: 'Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen'...

Sex Is A Problem- Needs $3 Billion Bailout

2009-01-19T12:46:00.009-06:00

Larry Flynt, owner the sex magazine Hustler and Joe Francis, of "Girls Gone Wild" his buddy in the sex trade, wants bailout for their businesses.

I am not joking, these guys want $3 billion to bail them out. According to Flynt and Francis they have lost more than 20% of their business because of the poor economy.

Okay now lets look at the problem. Congress bailed out the auto industry and the banks. So if you had a choice, would you rather be driving a new car with credit cards in your pocket or reading Hustler magazine and watching "Girls Gone wild"? I have also heard the hookers in Vegas are upset because of the economy. They may be traveling to DC as well. I believe they are more for a Character witness and someone that can get down on the same level as Barney Frank, just in case he is the head dog that is over Smut Bailouts.

I bet they are hoping to get Barney Frank as the head committeeman over Smut bailouts. Barney might tell them, "Why are y'all complaining, why don't you just bend over and take it like the rest of the country has been doing for years"? I find it rather ironic that Congress, who have been screwing the American people for years, can offer any assistance or can cure America's lack of Smut desire. I actually never thought of Barney Frank as a sex therapist.

These guys are saying that men do not think about sex when they are miserable. I know plenty of men that are always miserable and all they talk about is sex. Go figure. DUH!

Bob

Helen Cole Banquet

2009-01-19T12:05:00.002-06:00

Cleveland County Helen Cole “Republican of the Year” Banquet"
Special guest, nationally known historian and author, David Barton, founder of WallBuilders. David will be speaking about America’s forgotten history and heroes with an emphasis on our moral religion and constitutional heritage. David was named, by Time Magazine, as one of Americas 25 most influential evangelicals.

Speaker of the House, Chris Benge, will speak about the 2009 Legislative agenda.

Location: J.D. McCarty Center, 2002 East Robinson, Norman
Date: January 27th
Time: 6:30-8:30 PM
Dress: Business attire
Buffett starts at 6:30 PM
Cost advance $35.00 at the door $40.00 if available.
Tickets available from Thad Balkman 229-9822, Jim Helm 229-4807, Tammy Howard 249-9603, Louis Hemphill 802-2000, Joe Lester 321-8964, Bob Cleveland 517-5990 and Ginger Tinney 202-3075

Past Winners
Helen Cole 2003
Stan Wards 2004
Pat Mayes 2004
Gary Gardenhire 2005
Marc Nuttle 2005
Joe & Elizabeth Winds 2006
Pat Tautfast 2006
JC Watts 2006
Todd Hiett 2006
Bobby & Barbara CLEVELAND 2007
Malinda Hair 2007
Lance Cargill 2008
Thad Balkman 2008
Pat & Don Allen 2008
Mina Hibdon 2008

Katie Couric Shooting A Terrorist

2009-01-19T11:29:00.002-06:00

Couric can't take honest answer.
Bob
Katie Couric, while interviewing a Marine sniper, asked:

"What do you feel... when you shoot a Terrorist?"

The Marine shrugged and replied, "a slight recoil"

MLK STRUGGLE AGAINST DEMOCRATS

2009-01-19T08:54:00.002-06:00

Martin Luther King's struggle was against Democrats

The police chief of Birmingham, Alabama during the civil rights era was a Democrat. A member of the Ku Klux Klan, Eugene "Bull" Connor had been a Democrat state legislator and a delegate to the 1948 Democratic National Convention.

In 1963, police under Connor's command attacked several thousand African-American schoolchildren who were demonstrating peacefully for their civil rights. At the time, it should be noted, he was the Democratic National Committeeman for Alabama. Connor's men used high-pressure hoses, clubs and dogs in their assault, and then jailed nearly a thousand children. A year after attacking the children, Connor was elected, as a Democrat, to statewide office.

How did it come to be that African-Americans in Alabama were so oppressed?

In 1901, the Alabama Democratic Party called for a convention to write a new state constitution that would prohibit African-Americans from voting. Despite vocal opposition from Booker T. Washington and other Republican civil rights activists, the Democrat scam succeeded.

Democrats dominated Alabama's 1901 constitutional convention, and its chairman was a Democrat. In his opening address, he said:

"If we would have white supremacy, we must establish it by law -- not by force or fraud... The negro is descended from a race lowest in intelligence and moral precepts of all the races of men."

Alabama's African-American citizens would not vote in appreciable numbers again until the 1950s. It was a Republican federal judge, Frank Johnson, who in 1956 ruled in favor of Rosa Parks and who in 1965 ordered the Democrat governor, George Wallace, to permit Martin Luther King's voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery.

At the 2000 Republican National Convention, Condoleezza Rice said:

"The first Republican I knew was my father, and he is still the Republican I most admire. He joined our party because the Democrats in Jim Crow Alabama of 1952 would not register him to vote. The Republicans did. My father has never forgotten that day, and neither have I."

And, as Republicans celebrate Martin Luther King Day, they should remember that his struggle was against Democrats.

Here is the permalink to the article on my blog.

Michael Zak is a popular speaker to Republican organizations around the country. He is the author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party. Each day, his Grand Old Partisan blog celebrates 155 years of Republican heroes and heroics. See www.RepublicanBasics.com for more information.

Michael Zak is a popular speaker to Republican organizations around the country. He has made presentations in 28 states so far. His book, Back to Basics for the Republican Party, is the acclaimed history of the GOP cited by Clarence Thomas in a Supreme Court decision.

Open VS Close Precinct

2009-01-19T08:29:00.005-06:00

There seems to be a lot of confusion about what Open VS closed Precinct means.
At the Cleveland County meeting last week a lot of people commented they wanted a closed precinct. Some thought a closed precinct meant that you have to attend the precinct meeting in order to be a delegate to the County Convention.

Closed Precinct means only the elected delegate and alternate for each slotted vote will be allowed to vote. Other delegates present that are not elected will not get to cast a vote.

Open delegation means every delegate gets a portion of the slotted votes.

So why would any Precinct vote to be closed and eliminate everyone's opportunity to vote?
RULE

Open Delegation: There is no limit on the number of delegates elected as the votes will be equally allocated among the delegates casting votes, the allocation to be limited to the number of delegate votes authorized per precinct.

Closed Delegation: You elect 1 delegate and 1 alternate for each slot authorized by the County Executive Committee. Each delegate present at the time of the vote will receive a ballot that will represent 1 whole vote. If there are not as many delegate votes cast as the number authorized, the vote(s) will be lost. It is the Precinct Chairman?s responsibility to make sure all delegates are registered and to fill vacant slots with alternates before the Convention registration closes.

Bob

Animals Have Same Rights As Humans

2009-01-17T10:11:00.006-06:00

With Obama we might as well say good by to the Cows, Deer, Hogs, Chicken and maybe even the Dogs. The new Regulatory cazr even thinks a seeing eye dog is nothing but a slave. This guy is really a nut case!

Cass Sunstein is Obama's pick to run the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. He's a dedicated animal-rights zealot.

He believes before we can use lab rats for cancer research will need to get permission from the rats.

He believes seeing eye dogs are nothing but slavesSeeing-eye dogs? They're nothing more than slaves.

And if that's not nutty enough, he's actually in favor of giving animals the legal right to sue people.

Here's what Sunstein wrote in his 2004 book, Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions:
"[A]nimals should be permitted to bring suit, with human beings as their representatives ... Any animals that are entitled to bring suit would be represented by (human) counsel, who would owe guardian like obligations and make decisions, subject to those obligations, on their clients' behalf."Conservative commentators have been openly fretting that Barack Obama may try to turn welfare entitlements and single-payer healthcare into a new Bill of Rights. But Cass Sunstein threatens to expand the whole concept of "rights" to include the rest of the animal kingdom.

Ken Blackwell Says No To Stimulus

2009-01-17T10:07:00.000-06:00

Blackwell Knows The Difference
Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell said Friday President-elect Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan is esignedin part to give a political edge to Democrats.

Blackwell, a candidate for chair of the Republican National Committee, blasted Obama in a column for the conservative website Townhall.com, writing that the stimulus package “as currently designed, has serious flaws, some of which convey a partisan advantage.”

Specifically, Blackwell charged that Obama’s plans to create hundreds of thousands of government jobs could be a thinly-veiled effort to swell Democratic voter rolls in Maryland and Virginia.

“Most federal employees, that are not political employees, vote Democrat,” Blackwell argued. “Creating 600,000 new jobs might help cement Virginia in the Democrat column, making it harder for Republicans to retake the White House.”

In addition, Blackwell also suggested that Democrats would pack the stimulus bill with earmarks targeted at voters in the 2010 midterm election. He pointed specifically at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, whose home state of Nevada may receive federal funding for a controversial – and some say frivolous – museum of organized crime.

“Is that the kind of project that requires emergency federal funding?” Blackwell asked rhetorically. “Is it irrelevant that Mr. Reid is facing a tough reelection next year?”

The former Cincinnati mayor, a favorite target of liberal bloggers due to his role in overseeing Ohio’s 2004 presidential balloting, has distinguished himself in the RNC contest as the most aggressive and sharply ideological conservative in the field.

In early January he received endorsements from a host of conservative movement leaders, including Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafly, American Conservative Union President David Keene and Virginia RNC Committeeman Morton Blackwell.

Star Parker Says, We Need Share Holder Revolt

2009-01-17T10:05:00.000-06:00

We Still Need New Leadership

The fact there does not appear to be a single Republican leader capable or ready to challenge the assertion that "only government" can put our sputtering economy back on track shows we need a rebirth of the Republican Party. And that this rebirth must come from the grass roots.
Those 56 percent of Republicans who said "no" in this latest Gallup poll are looking for a leader. And that leader certainly does not seem to be in Washington.
As the political class in Washington transforms our once great, prosperous and free country into a lumbering socialist mediocrity, a voice of dissent is needed.
In this sense, I like what Ken Blackwell is proposing in his run for Republican National Committee chairman. Mr. Blackwell is calling for a "shareholder revolt" within the Republican Party and to move power, money and influence to state organizations.
We do need a shareholder revolt in the Republican Party followed by one in the country as a whole.
Star Parker is a nationally syndicated columnist.

Democrats Trying To Reduce The Cattle Industry

2009-01-16T09:02:00.001-06:00

Stimulus may bolster dairy industry
FALLING MILK PRICES: Initial effort to pay farmers to retire cows fizzles
By MARC HELLER
TIMES WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2009
ARTICLE OPTIONS

WASHINGTON — A stimulus package may be a lifeline for the nation's economy, but it could be a death sentence for a lot of cows.
Lawmakers are looking for ways to use the forthcoming stimulus bill to help dairy farmers, and the number one priority is to dampen milk supplies and prop up prices. Translation: reduce the nation's dairy herd.
Exactly how Congress will accomplish that remains uncertain. An initial effort to use stimulus money to pay farmers to retire cows failed when House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wis., objected on the grounds that it violated a promise not to include earmarks in the bill, said Rep. Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.
Taking milk cows out of production as a way to control milk (for more go http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20090115/NEWS02/301159967/0/FRONTPAGE)

Sex With Students OK For Teachers

2009-01-16T08:58:00.002-06:00

From Mark Shannon Blog:

School teachers can have sex with their their 18-year-old students according to.
A three-judge panel of the Washington Court of Appeals on Tuesday ordered the dismissal of a case brought against Matthew Hirschfelder, a former choir teacher at Hoquiam High School who was accused of having a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old student in 2006, when he was 33.

Hirschfelder, who resigned in 2007, denied the relationship. But his lawyer challenged the charge against him, first-degree sexual misconduct with a minor, arguing that an 18-year-old is not a minor. The Court of Appeals heard the case after a lower-court judge refused to dismiss it.
With Tuesday's ruling, the appeals court unanimously agreed that the state law banning sex between teachers and students is "ambiguous," because 18-year-old students are not legally minors. The appeals court reversed the lower court's ruling and ordered it to dismiss the charges.
Prosecutors say they have not decided whether they will appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.

Adolf Hitler Is Not An Appropriate Name According To The Government

2009-01-16T08:42:00.003-06:00

A 3-year-old boy named Adolf Hitler and his two Nazi-named younger sisters were removed from their New Jersey home last week and placed in state custody, police said.

Adolf Hitler Campbell and his sisters, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell, were taken from their Holland Township, N.J., home on Friday by the state's Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS), Sgt. John Harris of the Holland Township Police Department told FOXNews.com.
Kate Bernyk, a spokeswoman for the DYFS, said confidentiality laws barred her from commenting on the case or even confirming that the Campbell children were involved.
"DYFS has their reasons and they normally don’t release any information, so we kind of have to go on faith with them," Harris said. Police were not told what the agency was investigating.

"I’ve dealt with the family for years and as far as the children are concerned, I have never had any reports of any abuse with the children," Harris said. "As far as I know, he’s always been very good with the children."
•
Little 'Adolf Hitler' Denied Birthday Cake at New Jersey Grocery Store
Speaking generally, Bernyk said the state's "decision to remove a child is based on the safety and well being of the child and the risk to that child, and that decision is made in conjunction with the courts and the county family court judge."
The Campbells made national news last month when a ShopRite supermarket refused to sell them a birthday cake with Adolf Hitler's name on it. The story generated a slew of angry Internet chatter.
Forensic psychologist N.G. Berrill said naming a boy Hitler could be considered child abuse.

"Part of it is the infantile nature of the parents’ behavior," Berrill said. "You can name your dog something weird, but they think they’re making some kind of bold statement with the children, not appreciating that the children will have separate lives and will be looked at in a negative light until they’re able to change their name. It is abuse."

Heath Campbell told the Easton-Express Times last year that he named his son after Adolf Hitler because he liked it and "no one else in the world would have that name."
A paper to be published in March in Social Sciences Journal by economists David E. Kalist and Daniel Y. Lee of Shippensburg University found that unpopular first names, when mixed with factors like a disadvantaged home life, can increase the tendency toward juvenile delinquency.
Lee told FOXNews.com that Adolf and Hitler were not names they looked at for the study.

"Hitler most likely would be an unpopular name in the sense that not many people name their children with a name [like Hitler], but we didn’t particularly look at particularly bad names like that," he said.
.

Obama Picks A Real Winner

2009-01-15T14:14:00.004-06:00

Vicki Robinson a Bishop who left his wife and two daughters to live with a man is Obama's pick to pray at the inaugural. Don't expect him to have his Bible with him.
Bob

'Gay' bishop doesn't plan to use Bible at inaugural event

Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. - The first openly homosexual Episcopal bishop will offer a prayer at the Lincoln Memorial at an inaugural event for president-elect Barack Obama.

The selection of New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Vicki Gene Robinson for Sunday's event follows weeks of criticism from homosexual-rights groups over Obama's decision to have the Rev. Rick Warren give the invocation at his Jan. 20 inauguration. Warren backed the ban on same-sex "marriage" that passed in his home state of California on the November ballot.

Robinson said last month the choice of Warren was like a slap in the face. In an interview with the Concord Monitor, he said he doesn't believe Obama invited him in response to the Warren criticism but said his inclusion won't go unnoticed by the homosexual community. "It's important for any minority to see themselves represented in some way," Robinson told the newspaper for a story in Monday's editions. "Whether it be a racial minority, an ethnic minority, or in our case, a sexual minority. Just seeing someone like you up front matters."

Clark Stevens, a spokesman for the inaugural committee, said Robinson was invited because he had offered his advice to Obama during the campaign and because of his church work. When asked whether Robinson was included to calm the Warren complaints, he said Robinson is "an important figure in the religious community. We are excited that he will be involved."

Robinson, 61, said both Obama and vice president-elect Joe Biden will attend the event, and Obama is expected to speak. As for himself, Robinson said he doesn't yet know what he'll say, but he knows he won't use a Bible.

"While that is a holy and sacred text to me, it is not for many Americans," Robinson said. "I will be careful not to be especially Christian in my prayer. This is a prayer for the whole nation."

Robinson said his prayer will be reflective of the times. "I think these are sober and difficult times that we are facing," he said. "It won't be a happy, clappy prayer."

Robinson's 2003 consecration has divided the Episcopal Church in the United States and abroad.

RNC Needs Strong New Leadershop

2009-01-10T20:43:00.002-06:00

The Republican National Committee will soon be picking a new chairman. Normally
the President selects the RNC Chairman and the RNC members merely approve the
decision. But because John McCain lost, the RNC will select the next RNC
Chairman January 30th in Washington D.C.

The RNC is composed of 3 members -- the state chairman, a national
committeeman, and a national committeewoman -- from all fifty states plus
Washington DC,
Puerto Rico, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, Northern Marianas, and Guam. In
addition to a new chariman, the RNC will be voting on a resolution critical of
the bailout.

Six candidates are seeking the job, including:
1.Mike Duncan current Chairman
2.Ken Blackwell, former Ohio Secretary of State.
3.Chip Saltsman, (Mike Huckabee's campaign manager)
4.Michael Steele, former Lt. Governor of Maryland
5.Saul Anuzis, State Chairman from Michigan
6.Katon Dawson, State Chairman from South Carolina.

Morton Blackwell, a long-time national committeeman from Virginia and someone who has inspired and mobilized two generations of grassroots Conservative activists through his Leadership Institute, put together a list of 37 characteristically thoughtful questions for the candidates and received thoughtful answers in reply

I have read all pages of the response to Morton Blackwell's questionnaire. Two
candidates that really stand out head and shoulders above everyone else are
former Lt. Governor of Maryland and Fox News contributor Michael Steele and
former Ohio Scretary of State Ken Blackwell. I have always like Michael Steele.
I guess you could say he was my favorite from the beginning. However, after
reviewing Ken Blackwell's answers and doing some research, Blackwell is now my
choice. Blackwell has held several elected offices including State Treasurer
and Secretary of State of Ohio. Below is why I am supporting Ken Blackwell for
our next RNC Chairman. I believe Ken Blackwell matches up the best with
Oklahoma's conservative values.

Here is a short list of Ken Blackwell supporters and where he stands on
important issues facing our country.
1. GOPAC
2. Eagle Forum
3. Club for Growth
4. James Dobson
5. NRA
7. Family Policy Council
8. Opposes same sex marriage.
9. Opposes abortion.
10. Opposes the bailouts.
11. Also Ken Blackwell took on Acorn in his home state of Ohio and kicked butt.

I believe Ken Blackwell best represents the values of Oklahoma conservatives.
Blackwell also believes the RNC needs to focus bottom up, not top down.
Blackwell believes that the Republican Party is not the problem, rather it's
the party leadership.

My second choice is Michael Steele; either of these gentlemen will give us the
leadership we need and deserve.

State Chairman Gary Jones is on Ken Blackwell's leadership team and endorsed
Ken Blackwell from the beginning.

I now am requesting that National Committeeman James Dunn, and National
Committeewoman Carolyn McLarty share their thoughts with the grassroots
conservative all over Oklahoma. Who do you support?

Bob

That's Just Bob New Blog Site

2009-01-08T13:25:00.000-06:00

That's Just Bob has launched a new informational site. That's Just Bobdotcom not only has the blog with the no spin opinion of the now more than famous Bob Cleveland, it also has a message board built and maintained by conservatives for conservatives like you. Now you can express and exercise your constitutional right of free political speech. Go there today!!!!

Anuzis, Dawson Favored To Head RNC

2009-01-08T10:43:00.001-06:00

Buzz up!Incumbent Mike Duncan probably will get the most first-ballot votes for election as Republican National Committee chairman, but eventual victory likely will go to one of the other two RNC members running for the post in the election scheduled for Jan. 30.

Several members who initially tagged Mr. Duncan or Mr. Steele as the front-runner changed their minds after all six candidates presented their respective cases and fielded questions on Wednesday, the end of an unprecedented three days of candidate self-advertisement.

The new view of these members is that the contest probably will go to either Mr. Anuzis, a technology-hip, motorcycle-riding son of Lithuanian immigrants, or Mr. Dawson, who has amassed a winning record for Republican candidates in his state.

"Saul showed his saviness and had the best grasp of the latest in communications tools," North Dakota Chairman Gary Eminent told The Washington Times after the RNC member-only meeting at the Capitol Hill Club. "But on his winning record in South Carolina and articulating the national party's message, Katon looked pretty strong."

Bailout A Disaster

2009-01-08T10:40:00.002-06:00

The next Chairman of the RNC is very important to the success of the Republican Party.
Bob

By JOHN FUND
President Bush's handling of the economic crisis came in for sharp criticism during Monday's debate between candidates vying to become the next chairman of the Republican National Committee. Five of the six contenders said they would support a pending RNC resolution criticizing both the auto bailout and the bailout of the financial industry passed by Congress in September.

"The bailout was a bust. It should never have happened," former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele told the audience at the debate sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform. "Republicans should have had a little bit more you-know-what to withstand the pressure. They didn't and we're paying for it. I absolutely support the resolution because it reflects the frustration of our base." Mr. Steele's position was seconded by four of the five other candidates vying for the RNC chairman's post.

The lone dissenter was Mike Duncan, the current RNC chairman who has worked closely with the Bush administration. He said that "as a banker" he understood the problem better than the other candidates and it couldn't be summarized with "a simple yes or no answer." He did admit the bailouts have clearly created "a lot of problems."

Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, told ABC News that the antibailout resolution was vital to get Republicans "back into the swing of having an opinion as a party" on an issue that involved "giving $750 billion of other people's money to people whose claim to fame is that they lost their money."

The election for RNC chairman, along with a vote on the antibailout resolution, will be held in Washington on January 29.

Who does the Oklahoma delecation support?

Congressman Cole Appointed To The Appropriations Committee

2009-01-08T10:36:00.003-06:00

By World Washington Bureau
Published: 1/7/2009 11:29 AM
Last Modified: 1/7/2009 11:29 AM

WASHINGTON –- U.S. Tom Cole nabbed a seat Wednesday on the House Appropriations Committee, one of the more coveted panels in Congress.

As a member of that committee, the Oklahoma Republican will help oversee federal spending.

His new post provides an automatic boost to the state delegation's clout in Congress as members of the committee also can steer funds to their districts and states for specific projects.

Sex Drive In Trouble?

2009-01-07T12:48:00.006-06:00

The porn industry is looking for bailout. Larry Flint is complaining that Congress has hurt the smut industry. He is looking for $5 billion dollar bailout. Because of all the misery in the country, right now, people are just not thinking about sex, according to Flint. It is hard to believe that a little misery would cause people to stop thinking about sex. Mr. Flint must be from a different planet. I have some friends that are always miserable and all they talk about is sex, go figure. The guy who came up with the "Girls Gone Wild" video is outraged at his lost revenue. He is going to Congress and discuss the bailout and request $5 billion dollars for the smut industry. I hope they show him discussing his request with Congress. It will be interesting to see how they react to the smut industry.
Now the porn industry needs bailout. Leading sellers of smut are looking to Congress to keep them going. I bet they hope that Barney Frank is Chair of the Committee. I can just hear Barney now, "Oh come boys just bend over and take it like all he rest of of us do".
Bob

Wednesday, January 7, 2009
MORE on the porn bailout
LOS ANGELES - Joe Francis and Larry Flynt claim the economy has made America's sexual appetite go limp.

According to TMZ.com Flynt of Hustler Magazine and Francis of Girls Gone Wild are asking the government for a $5 billion bailout, claiming the adult entertainment industry has hit hard times -- citing the fact that XXX DVD sales are down 22% from a year ago.

"With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind," Flynt says. "It's time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America."

Francis sees his industry like the big 3 automakers, only BIGGER: "Congress seems willing to help shore up our nation's most important businesses; we feel we deserve the same consideration."

Francis says he's going to D.C. to personally make the pitch.
We need a on line pole to vote on this one.

Black Montana Bears Now Wants Bailout

2009-01-07T10:35:00.003-06:00

Due to a sweeping Democratic Party victory in the November elections, animals that were formerly self-sufficient are already modifying their behavior to take advantage of what they expect to be a new set of societal norms in the next four to eight years.

This black bear from Montana has ceased hunting for a living and is sitting outside the US Fish & Wildlife Service office in Kalispell, apparently waiting to be fed and to have his winter den dug by government employees.

The residents of Kalispell are calling him 'Bearack Obama'.

Take A Stand On The Bailouts

2009-01-07T10:16:00.004-06:00

Where are Oklahoma National Committee members Chairman Gary Jones, Committeewoman Carolyn McCarty and National Committeeman James Dunn? Why have they not taken a public stand on the bailouts and the fart tax? I believe Oklahoma Republicans deserve to hear from them and to know where they stand on these issues. I believe we have a right to know who they will be voting for as RNC Chairman at the National RNC meeting. Sure we elected them to represent Oklahoma at the national level, but we deserve to know who they are backing before the vote not after the vote.

What I find very puzzling is why not one of them has taken a stand against the bailout.

Bob

Obama's $200 Billion Give Away

2009-01-07T10:13:00.000-06:00

It now looks like half of President-elect Barack Obama's stimulus package will take the form of "tax cuts" for 95 percent of all Americans. Yet this wouldn't so much boost the economy as trigger a massive, unhealthy shift in American politics.

Under Obama's plan, the majority of American voters would pay no federal income taxes, but would get money from the government instead. That is, these "refundable tax credits" are basically welfare checks - and Obama's plan would leave the most of us collecting, not paying.

A $200 billion giveaway won't do much to get a $14 trillion economy rolling again. But the plan would leave any future taxpayer revolt no hope of majority support.

Today, the bottom 50 percent of US taxpayers pays a total of $30.6 billion in federal income taxes on a combined income of about $1 trillion. So about 3 percent of all federal income-tax payments come from the poorest half of the country. (The top 1 percent pays 40 percent; the top 25 percent pay 85 percent of the federal income tax.)

Obama's plan - he'd give all couples a $1,000 refundable tax credit and all single people $500 - would funnel more than $50 billion to the lowest half of the country, thereby completely wiping out their total federal tax liability. In most cases, it would trigger a "refund" welfare check.

In one stroke, this would transform the majority of voters from taxpayers into tax eaters - and leave an increasingly small minority to pay the bill. Whether or not this is good economics, it is very dangerous politics.

Essentially, it would put those who actually pay the taxes that fund our government into much the same situation as landlords in New York City - hopelessly outvoted by their tenants, who use their political clout to limit rents and landlords' profits.

Since Ronald Reagan, the anti-tax movement has been based on a blue-collar revolt against high taxes; it would lose that constituency under the Obama plan. Taxpayers would be politically helpless and the tax-eating majority would have free reign to impose any levies it wished.

Almost all of the 68 million tax filers in the country's bottom economic half would get a check from Washington at tax time. Some would be among the 22 million who get money from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Others would get a $500 check through the (Bush-passed) Child Tax Credit - and all would get funds through the new Obama tax credit.

Welfare would no longer be only for the poor - the majority of the voters would depend on government handouts. This very system is what makes European social democracies so resistant to change.

In 1980, the bottom 50 percent of the nation paid 7 percent of the national tax bill, after refund and credits. It now pays 3 percent; under Obama's plan, it would pay less than nothing (that is, it would net a profit from the IRS). In 1980, the top 1 percent paid 19 percent of the income-tax burden; now it's 40 percent. Taxes have become the province only of the rich.

Of course, the shift in tax burden also mirrors the incredible increase in incomes of the wealthy in the last 30 years - the top 1 percent earned only 8 percent of the total national income in 1980; now it earns 22 percent. And the poorest half has seen its share of national income fall from 17 percent in 1980 to only 12.5 percent today.

So it is both fair and sensible to give the poor a tax break and to draw the bulk of federal revenues from the rich. But to exempt the bottom half - a majority of the voters - from paying any taxes and to award them refund checks instead would dangerously alter the fundamental balance of national politics. For the economically well off, it could effectively become taxation without representation - which, as the founders of our nation warned, leads to tyranny.
Dick Morris

Trinity Baptist Church Norman

2009-01-07T10:11:00.000-06:00

Friends:

Tell others about this event below. Trinity Baptist Church, Norman will host the science and faith conference.
FYI -- O.U. is doing a big Darwin 200 Celebration ( www.ou.edu/darwin/ ) February 12 is the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth. Events are listed on the University of Oklahoma's website. The event that disturbs me most is Richard Dawkins coming to O.U. because he will be paid a lot of money and I'm wondering if that is taken from my taxes. On March 6, Oxford University professor, Dr. Richard Dawkins, renowned evolutionary biologist, theorist, and outspoken atheist will meet with students and deliver a public lecture. Dawkins is the author of The God Delusion, The Blind Watchmaker, etc. Dawkins was interviewed by Ben Stein in the movie, EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed. I would not mind if O.U. used my taxes to bring Ben to speak on the Norman campus.

Oklahomans for Better Science (www.obse.org ) will be partnering with the IDEA club at O.U. (www.ou.edu/idea/ ) to counter O.U.'s so-called Darwin 200 celebration. There will be others speaking at O.U. sponsored by the IDEA club. I have heard but not verified, that Dr. William Dembski and Dr. Al Mohler will speak on the O.U. campus to give the other side of this controversial topic.

See below about the conference. For further information about the conference, Ray Martin's email is: charlesraymartin@gmail.com or contact Ryan Polk on staff at Trinity Baptist, Norman: ryan@trinitynorman.org

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Judy,
We have scheduled a Science and Faith conference for Feb. 7 from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. at Trinity Baptist in Norman. Keynote speakers include Dr. Mike Strauss, a particle physicist at OU and faculty sponsor of IDEA club, Jeff Harwell, a chemical engineer and ID proponent who introduced Dembski last Sept., and Ronnie Rogers, pastor at Trinity who will speak on naturalism's impact on the Gospel.

There will also be breakout sessions where others will teach in smaller settings on more specific topics.

The cost is $5.

Ray Martin, president IDEA club at O.U.

“Democrats Push for Fart Tax”.

2009-01-07T07:56:00.005-06:00

Now The Dems Want A Fart Tax
The EPA, last year, published its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) for regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Clean Air Act. One of the suggestions the EPA made to regulate GHG is to levy a tax on livestock.
“The tax for dairy cows could be $175 per cow, and $87.50 per head of beef cattle. The tax on hogs would upwards of $20 per hog,” the release said. “Any operation with more than 25 dairy cows, 50 beef cattle or 200 hogs would have to obtain permits.”
Analysts predict that it would raise the cost to produce a gallon of milk by about $0.08. It would also drive up the production cost of beef and pork. These costs will be passed on to the consumer.
Prominent politicians on both sides of the aisle can be pretty out of touch with cost of staple foods (John Edwards and Rudy Guliani are examples), so maybe the suggestion of a mere 8 cent raise in milk prices isn't a big deal. But to the average American family it sure is. To the family that has seen the cost of milk, bread and eggs nearly double (in the case of eggs, it more than doubled), in the past few years, additional spikes in food costs are hard to swallow.
Regulating GHG emissions by taxing everyday food items is a bad idea as it hurts people who buy food (which, if my calculations are correct, is a lot of people!). It will also hurt small farmers especially, as the profit margin for small farmers is already pretty small and the additional transaction costs associated with applying for permits and paying a new tax will only hurt

Sheriff Lester Makes Changes

2009-01-05T17:11:00.005-06:00

Rhett Burnett gets new position under Sheriff Joe Lester. Lister makes several new changes as the County Sheriff.

Pictured above is Cleveland County's new Under sheriff Rhett Burnett being sworn in by Judge Hetherington last Friday January 2. Rhett is considered by many in law enforcement as one of the top investigators in the state. A great pick by Lester.

Bob

Al Franken Cheating To Win Senate Seat

2009-01-05T17:07:00.000-06:00

Dick Morris

The Democrats are on the verge of seating Al Franken as the next U.S. Senator from Minnesota.
This is simply an outrage!
On election day, Republican Norm Coleman was ahead by hundreds of votes.
Since then, Franken and liberal allies like George Soros have raised millions to wage a legal fight contesting every Coleman ballot.
With the help of the Democratic Sec. of State in Minnesota, the "recount" has gone wildly in Franken's favor.
With claims of outright vote fraud, double voting -- they are even rejecting military ballots cast by our servicemen overseas to help Franken -- Franken now claims a lead.
He must be stopped. He can be stopped.
The Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) is the nation's leading Republican group fighting for a fair vote in Minnesota.
This is the same group that exposed ACORN and is led by a distinguished advisory board, including former attorney general Ed Meese and former solicitor general Ted Olson.
They desperately need to raise funds as the Minnesota recount comes down to the wire.
Please help them today by donating now -- Go Here Now.
Also, read their urgent message below.
Yours,
Dick Morris
Stop Al Franken Before It's Too Late!
Dear Dickmorris.com Reader:
The fix is in!
Senate Democrats led by Harry Reid are planning to certify Al Franken the "winner" in the contested Minnesota seat that Republican Norm Coleman is fighting to keep.
New York Sen. Charles Schumer said Sunday that Democrat Al Franken is the clear winner in Minnesota's Senate race and should be seated as soon as possible and last week Democrat Senate Leader Harry Reid said "it appears that Franken will be certified the winner by the state Canvassing Board."
For weeks after the election Norm Coleman led Franken by hundreds of votes and Reid and company were very quiet.
After Franken raised millions and waged a fierce legal battle over a handful of rejected ballots, he claims he is ahead of Coleman by about 225 votes.
The Democrats want to seize on this claim and parachute Al Franken into the U.S. Senate.
The Democrats may use this dubious "certification" to actually seat Franken in the Senate on January 6 -- before the process in Minnesota is even complete!
The Democrats have claimed they were for a fair and honest recount, but the facts show this was simply a lie.
The truth is that billionaire George Soros and ACORN-backed Democrat Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's Canvassing Board have backed Franken's outrageous subversion of the vote process: some Franken voters have voted twice, Coleman votes have been rejected, and the Franken camp literally makes up the recount rules as they go along.
The irregularities in this Election Contest are absolutely shocking -- and allowing Franken to claim victory now is outrageous.
With the help of Minnesota's liberal Sec. of State Mark Ritchie they have rewritten the rules and Franken now has a "lead."
The Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) has been the leader in fighting against vote fraud and for open, fair, and honest elections.
We at the RNLA need your urgent help today to expose the fraudulent efforts of Harry Reid and a Soros-ACORN supported Secretary of State to pick Al Franken the next Senator from Minnesota.
We must expose their brazen attempt to subvert the democratic process -- before the vote is even final!
You can help us stop Harry Reid and George Soros -- Donate Here Now
Let me reveal to you just how Franken and Ritchie are working to steal this election from Republican Norm Coleman.
Ritchie has taken votes that were clearly for Coleman and rejected them, putting them in a pile for the courts to decide at a later date.
Meanwhile, Franken votes have been accepted, giving Franken an artificial lead.
During the recount supposed "errors" were corrected, almost always favoring Franken. Though this is statistically improbable, the votes were counted for Franken.
In one voting precinct that clearly benefitted Coleman, the Ritchie led Canvassing Board ruled that the recount will not include them -- instead that one precinct will have to live with the final vote total as of election night.
The Ritchie led canvassing board has even admitted they are "not going to be entirely consistent" when reviewing challenged ballots and has ruled a number of votes as votes for Franken when his circle is marked and as under votes when the Coleman circle is identically marked.
The effort to subvert a fair vote is so obvious, even a Democratic election official in Minneapolis admitted votes are being counted twice.
"I know it happened in several precincts," she said.
Simply put, the Ritchie led Secretary of State office wants to decide this election in Franken's favor and certify him the "winner."
They want Reid and Senate Democrats to seat him in the Senate.
They don't care if Coleman fights the election in court -- after the fact.
As National Republican Senatorial Chair Texas Senator John Cornyn stated: "Al Franken is falsely declaring victory based on an artificial lead created on the back of the double counting of ballots."
We here at the RNLA are waging a fierce battle to stop Franken, Soros and Ritchie.
We have the truth on our side.
We need to expose these illicit attempts to steal the election and seat Al Franken in the Senate.
You can help up today -- Go Here Now.
Remember this Senate seat is crucial. If Franken joins the Democrats he will give them 59 seats. They will be just one short vote of a filibuster.
They will be able to push through a radical liberal agenda.
But we can still stop them.
We need your help today -- Go Here Now
Thank you.
Michael Thielen Executive Director
PS. During this holiday and New Year our members have not taken off. We at the RNLA believe strongly that the people in Minnesota deserve a fair vote. We need your help to stop Harry Reid Senate, Al Franken lawyers, and the ACORN backed Secretary of State Mark Ritchie Canvassing Board from picking the next Minnesota Senator and ignoring the will of the voters of Minnesota. Help us today -- Go Here Now
Go to DickMorris.com to read all of Dick's columns!

Loveless Fined

2009-01-05T17:04:00.001-06:00

WASHINGTON — The Federal Election Commission has closed its lengthy investigation of former U.S. Rep. Ernest Istook’s last re-election campaign. Officials disclosed that a civil penalty of $14,600 was levied for various violations.

The FEC staff conducted an audit two years ago of Istook’s 2003-04 campaign. It found improper contributions from corporations, donations exceeding the legal limit, a failure to report some last-minute contributions and campaign money used on personal items, including tickets to football games and Broadway shows.
The commission reviewed audit findings and decided on the $14,600 fine. Documents released last week show the commission allowed $12,000 to be paid from remaining campaign funds.
Personal paymentsIstook, a Republican who now works for a Washington think tank, was required to pay $1,800 from his personal funds.
Istook’s former campaign manager, Kyle Loveless, was required to pay $800 from his personal funds. Loveless, of Oklahoma City, was also required to reimburse the campaign committee $2,153 for money he used on personal expenses.
Commission documents show all the fines have been paid.
Istook ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006.

Jason Reese Candadiate For Labor Commissioner

2009-01-02T07:03:00.003-06:00

REESE ANNOUNCES STATEWIDE CANDIDACY FOR 2010
Republican Attorney Files for Labor Commissioner
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 2, 2008
CONTACT: Jason Reese (405) 414-3655, reese@reeseforlabor.com

Oklahoma City--Calling for fundamental reform and a new vision at the Oklahoma Labor Department, Jason Reese today announced his candidacy for Oklahoma Labor Commissioner in 2010. “Oklahoma's Labor Commissioner should be at the forefront of the debate on how to build an economically vibrant state,” Reese said. “Our Commissioner should be consistently offering ideas and policies that will make Oklahoma an even better and more prosperous state. For too long, however, the Commissioner's office has been staffed by old-guard bureaucrats and defenders of the status quo whose stale and outdated ideas have done very little to move Oklahoma forward.” Reese, a Republican from Oklahoma City, pledged, “If elected - on day one - I'll start working to improve the efficiency and accountability of the office. I'll promote greater flexibility for employees in their workplaces across the state. Through better use of technology, I'll bring the Labor Department's services directly to people in their home counties, moving beyond the Department's outdated centralization in Oklahoma City. And I'll lead on the big issues, like Worker's Comp Reform, that have held our state back for too long.”

While reformatting the role of Labor Commissioner from the current reactive, bureaucratic model to a proactive, policy and idea model represents significant change, Reese said he'll meet the challenge. Combining cutting-edge new media with old-fashioned stumping across the state, the Reese campaign will demonstrate a forward-thinking, pro-Oklahoma approach to governance. “Though I grew up sweeping floors at my father’s auto body shop, my first paycheck came from my job performing maintenance at a rural electric cooperative. I learned early the value of hard work and fair dealing,” Reese said. Reese's diverse experience in both the public and private sectors make him uniquely suited for the Labor Commissioner role. He made his way through the University of Oklahoma on a National Merit Scholarship and part-time jobs. Afterward, he graduated from OU Law School and took a position on the staff of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. While there he served as an advisor to the Chairman of the Workers' Comp Taskforce and as Administrative Rules Counsel, where he was responsible for reviewing nearly every regulation written by Oklahoma's state agencies for constitutionality and effect on small businesses. Since leaving the House, Jason has worked as an attorney for one of the state's premier law firms, where he has advised Oklahoma businesses on numerous matters including labor practices and compliance with immigration laws. Reese recently introduced “A New Land Run,” a comprehensive plan to build an opportunity-economy in Oklahoma that is both job-friendly and family-friendly. The plan can be found at his website, ReeseforLabor.com. Active in his church and community, Reese, his wife Jessica, and sons, Patrick and Jack, reside in Central Park, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Oklahoma City. Reese concluded, “Just as my neighborhood is seeing a rebirth with the arrival of young families like mine, we need a reinvigorated Department of Labor, with a fresh, pro-growth vision for our state that puts the interest of the people first. That's exactly the kindof servant-leader I will be.”

Will Obama Run Our Country Like Chicago?

2009-01-01T11:56:00.003-06:00

Chicago .... Who Runs it?

Senators: Barack Obama & Dick Durbin Senators
Congressman: Jesse Jackson, Jr.
Illinois Governor: Rod Blogojevich (arrested this week)

Illinois House leader: Mike Madigan

Illinois Attorney General: Lisa Madigan (daughter of Mike)

Chicago Mayor: Richard M. Daley (son of Mayor Richard J. Daley)

The leadership in Illinois ? .....all Democrats.

Chicago body count in the last six months: 292 killed (murdered) in Chicago 221 killed in Iraq

State pension fund - $44 Billion in debt, worst in the country.

Cook County ( Chicago ) sales tax - 10.25% highest in country. (Look it up).

Chicago school system - rated one of the worst in the country. Of course, they're all blaming each other.

They can't blame Republicans because there aren't any. This is the political culture that Obama comes from in Illinois! And he's going to '"fix" Washington politics for us?

Good luck and may God help us all!!

Bob Picks Top 5 2008 Stories

2009-01-01T10:17:00.007-06:00

1. GOP takeover number one story for 2008. Republicans now control the Senate and the House with 26 Republicans and 22 Democrats in the Senate. In the House the Republicans have 61 and the Democrats have 40.
2. Dana Murphy beats Jim Roth for Corporation Commissioner in the most negative campaigning in the history of Oklahoma by any Democrat or a Republican candidate. Dana Murphy stayed focused and run a clean race and did not return evil for evil. Dana stayed with her qualifications and did an outstanding job articulating her qualifications a traveling all over the state speaking to various groups.
3. House Speaker Lance Cargill resigns.
4. Democrat Auditor and Inspector Jeff McMahan convicted. Another Democrat crook bites the dust!
5. Rep. Sally Kerns makes national news for speaking the truth. She was over overwhelming re-elected and is one of the most respected members of the House.
Bob

Organize Now Get Active In Your Precinct

2009-01-01T10:12:00.000-06:00

What Conservatives Must Now Do
By Peter Ferrara on 12.31.08 @ 6:07AM
Return to the Grassroots
First and most important is to build up mighty, grassroots networks across the country. This is something that conservatives must do, not Republicans, who need to work on their own grassroots party network. Conservatives have become too good lately in lecturing Republicans on what they must do. We need to lead by building a powerful political movement, and the Republicans will then naturally follow.

The radical, liberal-left agenda is tailor made for generating grassroots firestorms in opposition. Included in that agenda is national legislation to remove all state restrictions on abortion, all parental notification, waiting periods, informed consent, and partial birth abortion restrictions. Instead we are slated for taxpayer funding for abortion on demand. Another beaut is national legislation to remove all state protections of gun rights, such as conceal and carry permits. Then there is the federal takeover of health care, the federal shutdown of proven, reliable energy production, global warming regulation to shut down what is left of the economy, the "fairness" doctrine to shut down talk radio, and national legislation to take away workers' rights to a secret ballot election to determine whether they will be forced into a union in their workplace. That last item also includes forcing union contracts on businesses, small, medium and large, in place of the current system of free negotiation.

And we haven't even gotten to tax increases yet. Nor the trillion dollar deficit Obama will propose in his first budget, which will increase federal spending to the highest levels in peacetime in U.S. history, by far.

Conservatives don't need to wait for national leadership. Just start an activist grassroots network in your own locality. This consists most fundamentally in gathering lists of names, phone numbers, and emails of those in your area who will take political action to fight on one or more of the above issues, and others that will arise (Senator Patrick Leahy's court packing plan, for example). Political action means first and foremost communicating, to neighbors, family and friends, privately and publicly. Public communication is pursued through media outlets (letters to the editor, press releases, commentaries for local papers, complaints to the media by phone or in writing, induced media coverage), public forums and meetings (showing up with signs, loud protests, and speaking where that is allowed), contacts with elected officials (by phone, email, or in person), and public protests by the activist group itself.

The group's leadership would communicate with members through newsletters and action alerts, informing them about the issues, and about what is going on in Washington. This would be enhanced by meetings primarily involving attractive social gatherings at least once a month, which will build the spirit and cohesiveness of the network. An informative speaker at such events would help.

During campaign season, such groups would grow into fundraising networks, sources of campaign volunteers, and get out the vote drives, for candidates that support the group's views. Don't be shy about participating in politics. That is your right which many have fought and died for. The Left is not shy.

Most people are politically inactive except for showing up to vote, or maybe providing campaign contributions. So even a group of 20 active members is a political force. You can form such groups out of your existing social network, including friends from your church or even your union. But don't try to formally affiliate with your church or union, or ask them for permission to form your own group by contacting people you know. Also, don't pick a name for the group that suggests radical, inflammatory, revolution. The style should be moderate, informational, competent, professional. The substance should be vintage Reagan.

Conservative leaders must organize state, regional, and even national networks of such local groups, reaching into every congressional district in the country. State, regional or national conferences would add to the punch. This grassroots organizing should be in addition to existing organizations dedicated to pro-life, gun rights, and taxpayer issues, which are all to the good, but more is needed.

Democrats Opposed Freeing Slaves

2009-01-01T10:05:00.002-06:00

On New Year's Day in 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation came into effect. For over a year, Senator Charles Sumner, Senator Orville Browning, Governor Andrew Curtin and other Republican leaders had been urging President Abraham Lincoln to strike this blow against slavery.
While all Republicans rejoiced, Democrat politicians and newspapers denounced President Lincoln (R-IL) for freeing slaves. Demonstrating their depravity, New York's governor, Horatio Seymour, who would be the 1868 Democrat presidential nominee, denounced the Emancipation Proclamation as "a proposal for the butchery of women and children." The Louisville Daily Democrat called it "an outrage of all constitutional law, all human justice, all Christian feeling."
Acting on authority granted by the Republican-majority 37th Congress to seize rebel "property," President Lincoln had issued the proclamation two months before, to the dismay of the Democrats. Effective at yearend, all slaves in rebel-controlled territory would be "forever free."
Ill-informed critics of President Lincoln fault him for not freeing slaves in areas under U.S. control, but the federal government lacked the necessary authority. Within three years, the Republican-majority 38th Congress followed up the Emancipation Proclamation with the 13th Amendment, banning slavery throughout the nation.

Top 25 GOP Candidates For 2012

2009-01-01T09:58:00.004-06:00

Here is a list of the top 25 GOP candidates for President in 2012.

1) Mark Sanford, Governor of South Carolina. The sane conservative choice.
2) Mike Pence, US Representative from Indiana. The insane conservative choice.
3) Tim Pawlenty, Governor of Minnesota. No strikes against him. Slogan: "If McCain had picked me, who knows?"
4) Rick Perry, Governor of Texas. If he thinks he can win re-election in 2010, he'll do it and then run for President. If he thinks Hutchison will beat him (see #9 below), he won't run for re-election, and then run for President.
5) Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts. He has to be on the list because it's possible that nobody else with access to serious funding will run. In the meantime, will he run for governor or senator of one of his various home states (which now includes California)?
6) Jim DeMint, US Senator from South Carolina. Sure acts like he wants it more than anybody else.
7) John Thune, US Senator from South Dakota. It's a shame that Daschle isn't going for the rematch in 2010. That would be a great race.
8) Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana. Says he's not going to run in 2012. They're so cute the first time they say that!
9) Kay Bailey Hutchison. Assuming she becomes governor of Texas (see #4 above) she'd be in great position for it. Slogan: "A Republican woman who knows stuff."
10) Mitch Daniels, Governor of Indiana. A rarity: a Republican who has recently won an election.
11) Bill Frist, former Senator from Tennessee. Consider yourself warned: the doctor is planning a comeback.
12) Jon Huntsman Jr., Governor of Utah. Mormon, but less creepy than Mitt. Would be higher on this list, but I assume that Romney will torpedo him as revenge for endorsing McCain.
13) Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House from Georgia. Running for President is a great way to meet chicks.
14) Haley Barbour, Governor of Mississippi. A real rarity: a competent Republican.
15) Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska. Would be lower on this list, but how do I know it isn't God's will?
16) Charlie Crist, Governor of Florida. He got married to a woman earlier this month, which is supposed to put the gay rumors behind him. Good luck with that.
17) Eric Cantor, US Representative from Virginia. He's Mr. Ambition.
18) Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas. Have you noticed that he's been putting the weight back on? Remember when everyone was watching Al Gore's waistline for signs that he was getting in shape to run last year?
19) John Ensign, US Senator from Nevada. As chair of the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, he cleverly cleared away much of the field of prominent Republicans.
20) Tom Ridge, former Secretary of Homeland Security. Great candidate, but his pro-choice position makes him unfeasible -- unless he can concoct a better magical sanctity-of-life conversion story than Romney did. Possible campaign slogan: "I left Homeland Security WAAAYY before Katrina!"
21) Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida. Perhaps the next US Senator from Florida. Still, 2012 might be too soon for rehabbing the family name.
22) Gen. David Petraeus, CENTCOM Commander. An awful lot of conservatives seem to think this is a serious possibility, and I guess it makes at least as much sense as Wesley Clark did.
23) Lindsay Graham, Senator from South Carolina. Third most likely South Carolinian. A real loser.
24) Don Carcieri, Governor of Rhode Island. Sure, nobody knows him. That's his upside.
25) Unknown business tycoon. I'm sorry to wimp out like that, but I think there's a legitimate chance that the nominee will be some extremely successful but relatively little-known executive -- a center-conservative version of Virginia's Mark Warner, or a Christian version of Michael Bloomberg -- who has never run for public office before. And I have no idea who it might be.
Published Dec 31 2008, 10:40 AM by David S. Bernstein

Police New Pain-Ray

2008-12-31T09:41:00.003-06:00

Police Pain-Ray

Friday, December 26, 2008 by Shattered Paradigm ·
Labels: Police State
I wonder how many guns Norman will order? Maybe OU will order some in case the fans at an OU Football game ever get on the field or get excited and charge onto the Lloyd Noble basketball court after a big win.
Bob

Imagine a world where police have the ability to fire pain ray guns at protesters that instantly cause them excruciating pain as soon as they are activated.Imagine a world where police have the ability to torture from a distance anyone they want at the touch of a button.Does that sound like something out of a science fiction novel?It's not.It is in the final stages of development and could soon be a reality on the streets of America.NewScientist is reporting that the U.S. Department of Justice is developing two portable "non-lethal" weapons that inflict severe pain from a distance using either microwave technology or laser beams.According to that report, the intention of the U.S. Department of Justice is to put these pain ray weapons into the hands of police on the streets of America.Some observers are very upset about this development, as they claim that giving police the ability to instantly torture anyone they want from a distance is a very dangerous thing to do.Others are applauding the development of these new "non-lethal" weapons as a step away from the use of "lethal" weapons by police.All of this comes a couple of months after a report that the U.S. Army will be deploying mobile pain ray trucks (called the Active Denial System) that have the capability to instantly fry the flesh of whole crowds of protesters using microwave technology.Imagine that.A whole crowd of rioters actually being cooked like they are in a microwave oven.Frightening stuff.Instead of finding more ways to torture and kill one another, perhaps we all should be looking for more ways to love each other.

Just a thought.

Newt Is Wrong!

2008-12-31T08:14:00.004-06:00

Do grassroots conservatives really care what Newt Gingrich thinks? Newt has done a great job articulating conservative positions in the past, but really Newt, you need to "Wake up and smell the Roses". This is today and we need strong leadership. To be critical of Saltsman over this stupid parody is wrong! The parody has been played hundreds of times on Rush Limbaugh’s show. The parody is almost a year old, Saltsman did not write it nor did he sing it, he only sent the CD to RNC members. If Newt thought the CD was so bad why did he not speak up, one of the many times he was on Limbaugh’s radio show? Why didn't the Current RNC Chairman speak up when he heard the song on Limbaughs radio show? Chairman Duncan needs to step aside and let someone with some actual ideas be the next RNC Chairman. The RNC needs innovation if we are going to be successful in the future. I hope our National Committeewoman, Committeeman and State Chairman vote for a change.
Bob

http://spectator.org/archives/2008/12/30/hapless-white-boys-run-for-gop/

Political Hay
Hapless White Boys Run for GOP Chairman
By Jeffrey Lord on 12.30.08 @ 6:08AM
Amazing. Absolutely amazing.
Into the Christmas-New Year's holiday lull comes word that one Chip Saltsman, late of the Huckabee for President campaign (he was the campaign manager) and now a candidate for Republican National Chairman, is under attack by two of his competitors and, of all people, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Why? What on earth could possibly put the contest for GOP chairman in the news amidst Christmas tidings and the impending tidal wave of Obamamania?

It seems that Mr. Saltsman, in pursuit of his candidacy (voters for RNC chairman are the members of the Republican National Committee) sent to all RNC members a disk containing some of the musical political parodies of Paul Shanklin. Mr. Shanklin, according to Saltsman, is a "longtime friend." Shanklin is also, of course, extremely well known to the audience of the Rush Limbaugh Show. Rush frequently plays the latest Shanklin parody about this or that political figure or news event, always to great mirth or at a minimum a considerable chuckle. The Shanklin parodies are a rousing hit with the Limbaugh audience, combining an uncanny ability to match famous songs with a devastating take of the latest shenanigans of the non-conservatives of this world. Needless to say, Shanklin has lots of material to work with.

What has suddenly erupted into a bizarre yet disturbing fight among the candidates for GOP chairman is that the selection Saltsman sent to every RNC member contained a Shanklin parody titled "Barack the Magic Negro." Sung to the famous Peter, Paul and Mary tune "Puff the Magic Dragon," the song features Shanklin-as-Al Sharpton lamenting the rise of Barack Obama.
The title is taken from an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times in early 2007 as Obama was beginning to catch on as a presidential possibility. The article was penned by David Ehrenstein, a black, gay liberal writer. Ehrenstein's point was that Obama was just another "magic negro" (Ehrenstein's phrase) who, like actor Sidney Poitier of 1960s movie fame (or perhaps today's Tiger Woods), comes across to whites as unthreatening, black but yet not really black at all. Certainly Obama is no Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson, was the Ehrenstein point, both of whom are real blacks as opposed to, um, fake blacks. Wrote Ehrenstein of Obama and whites: "If he were real, white America couldn't project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him." Ehrenstein, it should be said, is no Obama fan, pointedly saying recently that Obama "is not my president" because of the invite to conservative pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at the Obama inaugural.

While Sharpton is now on the Obama train, it is important to remember here that at the beginning of the campaign season Sharpton was decidedly not an Obama supporter. It quickly became clear that because Obama had not made his bones in the modern civil rights movement and was -- gasp -- not a descendant of slaves but the son of an African who actually lived in Africa (Kenya) Obama was somehow not down with the struggle. Sharpton, like Jesse Jackson, had also run for the Democratic presidential nomination once upon a time and met with similar results, which is to say defeat. The word was out that there was not an inconsiderable amount of outright jealously directed towards Obama by both Sharpton and Jackson. The more Obama succeeded, of course, the feeling was the less relevant the two would become. If America has a black president, who needs two old and out of touch self-described black civil rights leaders?

In an interview with WCBS-TV reported in the March 13, 2007 Political Bulletin of U.S. News & World Report, Sharpton is said to have made "harsh" criticisms of Obama, saying: "Why shouldn't the black community ask questions? Are we now being told 'You all just shut up'?" Jackson was famously caught waiting for a Fox TV interview, where, unaware that there was a live microphone and already rolling camera, the good Reverend whispered to a fellow guest that he wanted to "cut (Obama's) nuts off." Jackson also used the "N word" in the course of his whispered and highly revealing diatribe.

WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS have to do with Chip Saltsman, Paul Shanklin and Rush Limbaugh?
The Shanklin parody has a very distinct point. It zeroes in on Sharpton for being the racial arsonist that he in fact is. Shanklin, and certainly Rush Limbaugh, are well aware of Sharpton's despicable record as a black David Duke, Duke the Louisiana Ku Klux Klan leader who ran for governor of the state as a brand new Republican. (Duke, by the way, was forcefully and quite publicly disowned by then-RNC chair Lee Atwater and President George H.W. Bush. Sharpton, on the other hand, was recently pictured lunching with New York Senate hopeful Caroline Kennedy, just as he has been sought out previously by both Clintons and Al Gore, to name but a few of the establishment Democrats who grovel at his feet.) Sharpton's involvement in the disgraceful Tawana Brawley episode, in which he became an "advisor" to a young black girl who falsely (as was eventually admitted) accused six white men of rape, was but one glaring example of his relentless use of racial cross-burning politics. So too was Sharpton's role in the tragedy of Freddy's Fashion Mart, a Harlem incident in which Sharpton urged on a protest of a Jewish store owner, in anti-Semitic style labeling the Jewish man a "white interloper." The result was the burning of Freddy's and a shooting by a black man riled to action, with several customers shot outright and seven store employees dying of smoke inhalation. In short, the record of Sharpton as, in the words of conservative David Horowitz, "an anti-Semitic racist" is well out there. Yet still there's no problem for Caroline, Hillary, Bill or Al etc. etc. Does that tell you something about the history of Democrats and race or what?

Picking up on the theme of the black Ehrenstein that Obama was a "magic negro" (which is to say, decidedly unlike Sharpton who is presumably an "un-magic negro"), Shanklin's parody, in decidedly 21st century humorist form, makes the ancient core point of the Republican Party. To wit, racism has no business in the GOP, and that it has been at the very center of the Democrats' party since its very inception. Al Sharpton's first, gut reaction to Obama is in fact just the latest personification of what is a very, very ugly history indeed. There is no need here to endlessly detail the record of Democrats, the party of race, which includes enthusiastic support for every hatefully racist idea in American from the cruelty of slavery, to segregation and lynching. For that one can pick up Bruce Bartlett's great book Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past, or read earlier thoughts from this space on the Democrats' Missing Years or whether there would be an apology for slavery in the Democrats' platform from then presumptive-nominee Hillary Clinton. Specifics may be found there.

What disturbs greatly here is the reaction to the Shanklin parody, to Saltsman, and by extension, wittingly or not, to Rush Limbaugh. As quoted in the New York Times of December 28th (and admittedly taking a quote of any Republican as accurate when reported by the Times is perilous), Saltsman has come under virulent attack from at least two of his competitors for the RNC chairmanship. Said incumbent chair Mike Duncan: "I am shocked and appalled." Chimed in Michigan chairman Saul Anuzis: "This isn't funny, and it's in bad taste."

Most amazing was the reaction as quoted from an e-mail by ex-Speaker Gingrich: "This is so inappropriate that it should disqualify any Republican National Committee candidate who would use it. There are no grounds for demeaning him (President-elect Obama) or for using racist descriptions."
One can only be startled that these gentlemen do not seem to understand that their reaction to what is clearly an attack on the racist, anti-Semitic ravings of Mr. Sharpton makes them seem as nothing more than a collection of white-shoe country club Republicans whose idea of civil rights is to tip the black waiter an extra buck while telling him they gave five more bucks to the NAACP. This is serious stuff here. To elect anyone chairman of the Republican National Committee, anyone who does not have a detailed understanding of the real civil rights record of the GOP as opposed to the grossly misrepresented version of that history routinely presented by Democrats and the media, is a critical mistake. The votes of African Americans will never -- and should never -- be sought with the incredibly patronizing attitude about blacks displayed in the comments of Duncan, Anuzis and Gingrich. African Americans are understandably proud that one of their own is about to become President of the United States. So too were Irish Catholics proud of JFK, and this year millions of women enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin.

Yet in the end, the American ideal is that we are all Americans here, that America is very much NOT about race, creed, gender or sexual preference but ideas of freedom and liberty. And the embrace of Obama by blacks in a way they refused to embrace Sharpton and Jackson is telling indeed. "Magic negro" or not, instinctively they recognized racism when they saw it. Of the two major political parties, there is only one which from its founding and in platform after platform and policy after policy, from Lincoln to Grant to Theodore Roosevelt, Coolidge, Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan and down to George W. Bush that has relentlessly stood for the goal of a color-blind America. That party is the one which now has two African Americans, Michael Steele of Maryland and Ken Blackwell of Ohio, also seeking the RNC chairmanship. Surely no one has to tell either of these two of the real GOP history that Mr. Shanklin is pointedly highlighting in his parody, particularly not Mr. Steele, who had Oreo cookies thrown at him by Democrats during his race for the U.S. Senate.

ONE CAN ONLY WONDER what possesses these three men -- Duncan, Anuzis and Gingrich to ever -- ever! -- put themselves or their party in the position of adopting a "me-too" version of the Republican Party as presented by opponents that have made the ugliest of racism part of the bedrock of their party history. It is impossible to believe that any of the three thought carefully about what they were saying, thought deeply about Reverend Sharpton's Duke-like history, or have even taken any time recently to go back and read the civil rights history of their own party. In the case of history professor Gingrich this is particularly stunning.

The first thing these three can do when the New Year arrives? Apologize for this mind-boggling display of racial patronizing to the African-American community, to Republicans and quite specifically to Mr. Saltsman, Mr. Shanklin, and Mr. Limbaugh. In the case of the latter -- and as a Newt fan who has met the Speaker many times in my career and for whom I have great respect -- Newt should bite the bullet and ask to go on-air with Rush. To apologize directly to Rush. To get this clarified. To do otherwise is to leave the impression, an impression I am certain he does not hold, that he, Newt Gingrich, has appeared frequently over the years on a radio show he secretly considers racist. Quite aside from the fact that this is insulting to Rush, it is an in-your-face swipe at his 20 million listeners. Does Newt really believe conservatives and Republicans are a party of racists? Of course not -- but you sure couldn't say that from his reaction here.

What were these guys thinking in saying something this nutty? How could they be so wildly off point?
I have no idea. But it wasn't magic, it was hapless.

Democrats Putting Us Deeper In Debt

2008-12-29T20:55:00.001-06:00

Supreme Court Will Look At the Birth Certificate Issue

2008-12-29T08:14:00.003-06:00

WorldNet Daily

OBAMA WATCH CENTRALEligibility remains focus of Supremes' conferencesDispute posted on docket twice after Electoral College votes in

Posted: December 26, 200810:40 pm Eastern© 2008 WorldNetDaily
A second conference has been posted on the docket for the U.S. Supreme Court over the issue of Barack Obama's eligibility to occupy the White House, this one scheduled a week after Congress is to review the Electoral College vote tabulation.

The latest issue posted is a request for an injunction on the election results pending the resolution of a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by attorney Philip J. Berg, a case that is docketed for a similar conference among the justices on Jan. 9.
Berg's original case raises questions about Obama's eligibility and his injunction request first was filed early in December. It was submitted to and rejected by two different justices before it came before Justice Antonin Scalia on Dec. 18. Then just before Christmas the docket was updated to reflect that the motion had been "distributed for conference of January 16, 2009."

On Berg's Obama Crimes.com website, he said Congress is scheduled to hear the Electoral College results on Jan. 8. Then on Jan. 9 there's the conference scheduled on Berg's case itself, with the injunction issue to be addressed a week later.

WND has reported Berg's case, one of the first legal challenges to Obama's eligibility to reach the Supreme Court, alleges he cannot constitutionally be inaugurated.
"I know that Mr. Obama is not a constitutionally qualified natural born citizen and is ineligible to assume the office of president of the United States," Berg said in a statement on his ObamaCrimes.com website.

"Obama knows he is not 'natural born' as he knows where he was born and he knows he was adopted in Indonesia; Obama is an attorney, Harvard Law grad who taught Constitutional law; Obama knows his candidacy is the largest 'hoax' attempted on the citizens of the United States in over 200 years; Obama places our Constitution in a 'crisis' situation; and Obama is in a situation where he can be blackmailed by leaders around the world who know Obama is not qualified," Berg's statement continued.
"The Supreme Court has listed the case of Berg vs. Obama for 'conference' on January 9," the website said.
"I am appalled that the main stream media continues to ignore this issue as we are headed to a 'Constitution Crisis,'" Berg wrote. "There is nothing more important than our U.S. Constitution and it must be enforced. I am concerned that our courts have not yet decided to look into the merits of our allegations."

WND previously reported on a case brought by Cort Wrotnowski. It fell by the wayside when the justices heard about it in conference but refused to give it a further hearing. That was the same fate handed to a case brought by Leo Donofrio. Both challenged Obama on essentially the same issue: allegations that dual citizenship based on a father who was a British subject and a mother who was an American minor disqualified him for office.
Where's the proof Barack Obama was born in the U.S. or that he fulfills the "natural-born American" clause in the Constitution? If you still want to see it, join more than 190,000 others and sign up now!

The high court previously turned down a request from Berg to stop the Electoral College from selecting the 44th president until Obama documents his eligibility for the office.
As WND has reported, more than a dozen lawsuits have been filed over Obama's eligibility to assume the office of the president, many have been dismissed, while others remain pending.
The cases, in various ways, have alleged Obama does not meet the "natural born citizen" clause of the U.S. Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, which reads, "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."

Some of the legal challenges have alleged Obama was not born in Hawaii, as he insists, but in Kenya. Obama's American mother, the suits contend, was too young at the time of his birth to confer American citizenship to her son under the law at the time.
Other challenges have focused on Obama's citizenship through his father, a Kenyan subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time of his birth, thus making him a dual citizen. Such cases contend the framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from qualifying as natural born.

Several details of Obama's past have added twists to the question of his eligibility and citizenship, including his family's move to Indonesia when he was a child, his travel to Pakistan in the '80s when such travel was forbidden to American citizens and conflicting reports from Obama's family about his place of birth.

A partial listing and status update for several of the cases surrounding Obama's eligibility to serve as president is below:

Philip J. Berg, a Pennsylvania Democrat, demanded that the courts verify Obama's original birth certificate and other documents proving his American citizenship. Supreme Court conferences on the case and its motions are scheduled Jan. 9 and 16.

Leo Donofrio of New Jersey filed a lawsuit claiming Obama's dual citizenship disqualified him from serving as president. His case was considered in conference by the U.S. Supreme Court but denied a full hearing.

Cort Wrotnowski filed suit against Connecticut's secretary of state, making a similar argument to Donofrio. His case was considered in conference by the U.S. Supreme Court, but was denied a full hearing.

Former presidential candidate Alan Keyes headlines a list of people filing a suit in California, in a case handled by the United States Justice Foundation, that asks the secretary of state to refuse to allow the state's 55 Electoral College votes to be cast in the 2008 presidential election until Obama verifies his eligibility to hold the office. The case is pending, and lawyers are seeking the public's support.

Chicago attorney Andy Martin sought legal action requiring Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle to release Obama's vital statistics record. The case was dismissed by Hawaii Circuit Court Judge Bert Ayabe.

Lt. Col. Donald Sullivan sought a temporary restraining order to stop the Electoral College vote in North Carolina until Barack Obama's eligibility could be confirmed, alleging doubt about Obama's citizenship. His case was denied.

In Ohio, David M. Neal sued to force the secretary of state to request documents from the Federal Elections Commission, the Democratic National Committee, the Ohio Democratic Party and Obama to show the presidential candidate was born in Hawaii. The case was denied.
In Washington state, Steven Marquis sued the secretary of state seeking a determination on Obama's citizenship. The case was denied.

In Georgia, Rev. Tom Terry asked the state Supreme Court to authenticate Obama's birth certificate. His request for an injuction against Georgia's secretary of state was denied by Georgia Superior Court Judge Jerry W. Baxter.

California attorney Orly Taitz also has brought a complaint alleging Obama is not a "natural born" citizen and has written an open letter to the Supreme Court asking for the issue to be resolved.

Last month, WND reported the worries over a "constitutional crisis" that could be looming over the issue of Obama's citizenship.
"Should Senator Obama be discovered, after he takes office, to be ineligible for the Office of President of the United States of America and, thereby, his election declared void," argues the Alan Keyes case pending in California, "Americans will suffer irreparable harm in that (a) usurper will be sitting as the President of the United States, and none of the treaties, laws, or executive orders signed by him will be valid or legal."

With such high stakes potentially at risk, WND earlier launched a letter campaign to contact Electoral College members and urge them to review the controversy.

That followed a campaign that sent more than 60,000 letters by overnight delivery to the U.S. Supreme Court when one case contesting Obama's eligibility for the Oval Office was pending.
A separate petition, already signed by more than 190,000 also is ongoing asking authorities in the election to seek proof Obama was born in the U.S. or that he fulfills the "natural-born American" clause in the Constitution.

WND senior reporter Jerome Corsi had gone to both Kenya and Hawaii prior to the election to investigate issues surrounding Obama's birth. But his research and discoveries only raised more questions.

The biggest question was why, if a Hawaii birth certificate exists as his campaign has stated, Obama hasn't simply ordered it made available to settle the rumors. The image his campaign posted online has been rejected by critics since it is a "certification of live birth," not a birth certificate, and under Hawaii law at the time such certifications were given to parents of children born outside the state.

The governor's office in Hawaii said there is a valid certificate but rejected requests for access and left ambiguous its origin: Does the certificate on file with the Department of Health indicate a Hawaii birth or was it generated after the Obama family registered a Kenyan birth in Hawaii?
Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro, has named two different Hawaii hospitals where Obama could have been born. There have been other allegations that Obama actually was born in Kenya during a time when his father was a British subject. At one point a Kenyan ambassador said Obama's birthplace in Kenya already was being recognized.

Small Town America

2008-12-27T11:14:00.005-06:00

This week I took my grandson, Quinn, to Bass Pro Shop looking for a Tomahawk. Bass Pro did not have any Tomahawks so I suggested we go to Sam's Surplus, a family business since 1948 on South Agnew, in my old neighborhood. On our way, I decided to show Quinn Packing Town and the area we called Sand Town, when I was growing up. This is the area south of Exchange, which borders between Penn and Agnew, which is close to the South Canadian River. The homes were small and some even vacant. I explained to Quinn that familes with 4-6 kids lived in these homes with only had one bathroom. Also, families, back then, only had one car. Quinn found this hard to believe. He commented "Boy, Bob were y'all poor?" I stated "well, no not really, because everyone was poor back then and we did not know it." From Packing Town we went south on Agnew to Sam's Surplus, a place that if you have never been; it's worth the visit.

Quinn could not believe all the different items that Sam's carried. When we left Sam's, we drove by Jackson Jr. High School, where I attended. It looked like the Confetti Capitol of South OKC. I explained that growing up in that South Oklahoma City area was like living in a small town. We had our own stores, our own theatres and everyone knew everyone. One thing that caught his attention was when I stated that we never had to lock our doors at night in South Side or small town America, back in those days. Everyone respected their neighbor.

When Sarah Palin ran for Vice President and she talked a lot about small town values I understood what she meant. The below story tells about values that we still have in small towns all across this great country. Sarah Palin was a good pick as our Vice President.
Bob

By Ruben Navarrette Jr.Special to CNN

Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a nationally syndicated columnist and a member of the editorial board of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Read his column here
Ruben Navarrette says Sarah Palin's critics challenged her because of prejudices about small-town values.

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- During the presidential election, some Democrats demanded to know how I could defend Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Simply put, Palin is my people. She's small-town folk who wound up in the big leagues.
Because I grew up in a small town with a population of less than 15,000 people, I was disgusted by the insults and condescension coming from those who think of themselves as the enlightened elite. Meanwhile, in small towns, I detected great affection for Palin. People talked about how she was "a real person" who "reflected their values."

The most significant divide in America isn't Red State vs. Blue State, it's rural vs. urban. The country mouse and the city mouse are still slugging it out.

In 1982, New York Mayor Ed Koch ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York. Some say the deciding factor was when Koch described life in upstate New York as "sterile" and said he dreaded living in the "small town" of Albany, if elected. That didn't play well in rural areas.
Now comes Colin Powell. During a recent appearance on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS," Powell attempted an autopsy on the Republican Party's failed presidential bid. He went after Palin, accusing her of pushing the party so far to the right that it went over a cliff.

"I think [Palin] had something of a polarizing effect when she talked about how small-town values are good," Powell said. "Well, most of us don't live in small towns. And I was raised in the South Bronx, and there's nothing wrong with my value system from the South Bronx."
You'd think the presidential campaign was about conservatives picking on urbanites. It wasn't. Sure, some Republicans probably made a mistake by using phrases such as "real America" or "real Americans" as a rallying cry for the base. Americans who live in cities might have thought they were being slighted.

But those phrases referred as much to people's politics and values as it did their zip code. I live in a city with a population of more than a million people and I never thought the GOP singled me out as not being a "real American."

If anything, it appeared that big-city liberals were tapping into prejudices about small-town America to belittle the governor of Alaska
After Powell attacked Palin, one of the governor's most vocal defenders, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, returned the favor by attacking Powell.

"What is this hatred for conservatives and small-town people and Sarah Palin?" Limbaugh asked on his radio show. "I know a lot of people that are from the Bronx, Gen. Powell, and if you think the values there in the Bronx today reflect the ones you grew up with, take a trip back and see if the street corners and the activities there are the same as when you were growing up."
Limbaugh got it. When people use phrases such as "small-town values," it's as much about time as it is place. The idea isn't that people who live in small towns have better values than people who live in cities. It's simply an attempt to recall, with nostalgia, what life was like when more Americans lived in small towns.

It used to be that more families ate dinner together and high school students worked summers and after school. It used to be that our schools didn't make excuses for why some kids don't learn because they were too busy trying to teach them.
It used to be that parents weren't interested in being their kids' best friends, only good parents. And it used to be that people pulled their own weight and would never dare ask for a handout.
During a recent interview with the conservative newspaper, Human Events, Palin was asked if she thought her humble background accounted for some of the flak she got from the media. Palin acknowledged that she didn't come from elite stock, but said that she was grateful for that.

"I got my education from the University of Idaho because that's what I could afford," she said. "No, I don't come from the self-proclaimed 'movers and shakers' group and that's fine with me. It's caused me, or rather, allowed me, to work harder and pull myself up by my bootstraps without anyone else helping me. I think it allows me to be in touch with the vast majority of Americans who are in the same position that I am."

Sarah Palin understands a lot about America. Too bad many Americans don't understand Sarah Palin. No worries. They may get another chance to acquaint themselves with her -- in say, four years.The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely mine.

Barack The Magic Negro CD Under Fire

2008-12-27T11:11:00.003-06:00

Republican Party
From RNC Chair Hopeful, a Provocative Holiday CD
By Michael D. Shear

Chip Saltsman, a candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee, sent committee members this month a holiday music CD that included "Barack the Magic Negro," a parody song first aired in 2007 by talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

Created by conservative satirist Paul Shanklin, the song puts new lyrics to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon," and it is performed as if black activist Al Sharpton were singing it. Limbaugh played it after the Los Angeles Times ran an opinion piece with the same title, arguing that a vote for Barack Obama could assuage white guilt.

"A guy from the LA paper said it made guilty whites feel good, they'll vote for him and not for me cuz he's not from the hood," the song goes. "Oh, Barack the magic negro lives in DC, the LA Times they called him that because he's black but not authentically."

The CD accompanied holiday greetings from Saltsman, committee members said tonight. Saltsman, a Tennessee resident who managed former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee's campaign for president, announced his bid to lead the Republican Party earlier this month.
He did not return a call seeking comment tonight. Saltsman had earlier told the Hill newspaper, which first reported the incident, that the song is meant as a joke and should not be taken seriously.

"Paul Shanklin is a longtime friend, and I think that RNC members have the good humor and good sense to recognize that his songs for 'The Rush Limbaugh Show' are light-hearted political parodies," he told the newspaper.

Another candidate to lead the GOP, South Carolina party chair Katon Dawson, drew headlines this fall by resigning his membership of 12 years in a whites-only country club, weeks before launching his run at the national job.

The two incidents for both men come as Republicans are reeling from losing the presidency and dozens of House and Senate seats, and as many in the party are trying to improve relations with African Americans, who voted in record numbers for Obama and other Democratic candidates last month.

Among the candidates for RNC chairman are two African Americans: Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, and Ken Blackwell, a former secretary of state in Ohio, who ran unsuccessfully for governor of that state in 2006.

Neither Blackwell or Steele could be reached last night for comment on the CD. Another candidate for RNC chair, Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis, declined to comment, saying, "I haven't seen it. I don't really want to make any comment."

A spokesman for president-elect Barack Obama also declined to comment.
Saltsman was widely credited for helping transform Huckabee from a fringe candidate into a serious contender for the Republican nomination, tapping into a desire among evangelical voters for a candidate they could believe in.

A onetime top aide to former Senate majority leader Bill Frist, Saltsman has recently traveled to several states to woo some of the 168 Republican committee members face-to-face. The winner of the chairmanship must get 84 votes to claim the job.
Current Republican chairman Mike Duncan is also running for reelection. The vote is at the end of January.

Open Letter To Our State Party Leadership

2008-12-26T12:44:00.010-06:00

RNC Chair.
We need change starting at the top. It's time to replace Chairman Duncan.We need strong leadership that opposes same-sex marriage and abortion. We need leadership that opposes bailouts, supports lower taxes and a smaller government. The Republican Party does not need to move to the left. We do not need to run away from Ronald Reagan. The voter should be able to tell the difference between the Democrat and the Republican Party when it comes to spending. I, for one, am sick and tired of hearing the voters say, "why should I even go vote, you can't tell the difference between the Republicans and the Democrats? They both spend money like a bunch of drunken sailors"

One of the many mistakes John McCain made, while running for President, was voting for the bailout just like the Democrats. Instead of seizing an opportunity to demonstrate fiscal responsibility, John McCain joined the Democrats and many Republicans in the biggest government giveaway in our country’s history! The Republican Party needs to get back to basics. We need leadership that is interested in changing the Republican Party by promoting the Republican platform, from the bottom up not from the top down. The Republican Party needs common sense leadership, someone that understands how important the Internet is. The technology is changing and we need to be out front, not playing catch up.

The grassroots activists need to take this party over and stop the RNC from telling us what to think. We need leadership that is willing to listen. The RNC should be listening, and in my opinion, they have lost track of their responsibility. We need a strong leadership team, stop the old farts and get back to what the Republican Party stands far. The Republican Party needs to get back to supporting strong national defense, family values, and promoting lower taxes and opposing and runaway spending. Those four things can make the difference. We need leadership that will walk the walk and understands that BS will no longer work.

The Republican activists want action not words!The Republican Party is right; it's our leadership that is wrong. I ask our National Committeeman, Committeewoman and our State Chairman to vote for leadership that has strong Christian values, someone that believes that the Republican Party does not need to change, but leadership that will change. The last thing we need is someone that approves of abortion, that supports same-sex marriage, and that supports the bailouts. We need someone that will stay true to our conservative Republican values! We need leadership that will articulate this message to all Americans, including African Americans, Hispanics and other growing minorities to once again make the Republican Party the majority party.Bob
Below is copy of an email I received:
Your letter to the RNC comparing Congress' spending with drunken sailors insults drunken sailors. Joe

American Red Cross

2008-12-25T16:36:00.001-06:00

Grand Old Partisan salutes Clara Barton, born on Christmas Day in 1821. During the Civil War, she volunteered at field hospitals and became Superintendant of Nurses. She excelled in fundraising and in distributing medical supplies.
Clara Barton was active in the Republican Party and campaigned for many Republican candidates. She was a political ally of Senator John Logan (R-IL), founder of Memorial Day and a Republican vice presidential nominee. Barton also campaigned for James Garfield (R-OH), elected president in 1880.
On May 12, 1881, Senator Omar Conger (R-MI) convened a meeting in his home at which Barton made plans to establish the American Red Cross. Nine days later, Barton and her colleagues drafted an organizational charter. Her friend Frederick Douglass (R-MD), the Washington, DC Recorder of Deeds, registered the new organization. She then met with Secretary of State James Blaine, a future Republican presidential nominee, and President Garfield to discuss setting up chapters nationwide.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T07:16:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas Happy Birthday Jesus

Bob

Coach C.B. Speegle

2008-12-24T08:39:00.006-06:00

As a High School student we all have had teachers that have touched our lives. One teacher we had at Capitol Hill back in the early 50’s and the late 60’s was C.B. Speegle (The Great One). C.B. Speegle was one class act. He had a positive impact on all of us at Capitol Hill. He was loved by so many as I look back on my years growing up in South Oklahoma City, I can never remember anyone saying one bad word about C.B Speegle. He was every ones hero.

Bob

Comment
Very sad!!! A legend at Capitol Hill for sure!! Coach Speegle will not be forgotten. I spent many a night at the Speegle household and always looked forward to spending time with them. CB III was one of my very best friends. God Bless their souls!!

I believe he was originally scheduled to speak at our 50th Reunion but was unable to make it. Am I correct on this Committee?

Crosby

C. B. Speegle at the age of 92 passed away Tuesday.

C.B. Speegle Jr., 92, teacher, died Tuesday. Visitation 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. today (Vondel L. Smith & Son North, Oklahoma City).

Pope Trying To Save Humanity from Homosexuality

2008-12-24T08:12:00.002-06:00

Pope Benedict criticizes homosexual behavior
Reuters
Published: December 22, 2008

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict said Monday that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour was just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.
The Church "should also protect man from the destruction of himself. A sort of ecology of man is needed," the pontiff said in a holiday address to the Curia, the Vatican's central administration.
"The tropical forests do deserve our protection. But man, as a creature, does not deserve any less."
The Catholic Church teaches that while homosexuality is not sinful, homosexual acts are. It opposes gay marriage and, in October, a leading Vatican official called homosexuality "a deviation, an irregularity, a wound."
The pope said humanity needed to "listen to the language of creation" to understand the intended roles of man and woman. He compared behavior beyond traditional heterosexual relations as "a destruction of God's work."
He also defended the Church's right to "speak of human nature as man and woman, and ask that this order of creation be respected."

Another Pope story
From Times Online
December 23, 2008
Pope accused of stoking homophobia after he equates homosexuality to climate change
(Gregorio Borgia/AP)
Pope Benedict has spoken out against 'gender theory'
Philippe Naughton
Pope Benedict was accused of stoking homophobia today after a speech in which he declared that saving humanity from homosexuality was just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.
The Pontiff made the remarks yesterday in an end-of-year address to the Curia, the Vatican's central administration. He said that humanity needed to listen to the "language of creation" to understand the intended roles of man and woman and behaviour beyond traditional heterosexual relations was a "destruction of God’s work".
"The tropical forests do deserve our protection. But man, as a creature, does not deserve any less," he told scores of prelates gathered in the Vatican's Clementine Hall.
"What’s needed is something like a ‘human ecology,’ understood in the right sense. It’s not simply an outdated metaphysics if the Church speaks of the nature of the human person as man and woman, and asks that this order of creation be respected."
·

Lisbian speaks out.

The Rev Sharon Ferguson, chief executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, described the Pope's comments as "totally irresponsible and unacceptable in any shape or form". She said: "It is more the case that we need to be saved from his comments. It is comments like that that justify homophobic bullying that goes on in schools and it is comments like that that justify gay-bashing.
"There are still so many instances of people being killed around the world, including in Western society, purely and simply because of their sexual orientation or their gender identity.
"When you have religious leaders like that making that sort of statement then followers feel they are justified in behaving in an aggressive and violent way because they feel that they are doing God’s work in ridding the world of these people."
Her views were echoed by the Reverend Dr Giles Fraser, the vicar of Putney and president of Inclusive Church, the pro-gay Anglican movement. "I thought the Christmas angels said ’Fear not’. Instead, the Pope is spreading fear that gay people somehow threaten the planet. And that’s just absurd ... Can’t he think of something better to say at Christmas?"
Pam Spaulding, a leading lesbian blogger from the United States, was even more direct. She said: "The Prada Papa Ratzi opens his trap again, and the homophobia stinks like trash piled up during a NYC garbage strike."
The Catholic Church teaches that while homosexuality is not sinful, homosexual acts are. It opposes gay marriage and, in October, a leading Vatican official called homosexuality "a deviation, an irregularity, a wound".
The Pope's speech was also seen, however, as a denunciation of "gender theory" – the study of how gender assignments affects the behaviour of individuals. The Catholic Church has repeatedly spoken out against gender theory, which gay and transsexual groups promote as a key to understanding and tolerance.
"That which is often expressed and understood by the term ‘gender’ in the end amounts to the self-emancipation of the human person from creation and from the Creator," the Pope said.
"Human beings want to do everything by themselves, and to control exclusively everything that regards them. But in this way, the human person lives against the truth, against the Creator Spirit."
Mark Dowd, campaign strategist at Operation Noah, the Christian environmental group, who is a gay man and a former Dominican friar, said that the Pope’s remarks were "understandable but misguided and unfortunate".
He said that he understood the Pope’s vision of creation in which rainforests were protected and men and women "complement one another, reproduce and live happily ever after".
But he said: "The problem is that if you study ecology seriously as any intelligent man would do, and the Pope is a fantastically intelligent man, you realise that ecology is complex, it has all sort of weird interdependencies and it is the same with human sexuality.
"It is not a one-size-fits-all model, there are lots of differences, so therefore I think it is really sad that these comments betray a lack of openess to the complexity of creation."

Balkman's Win

2008-12-23T17:42:00.004-06:00

Notice anything unusual about this Christmas card? See the object crawling away in the background. That's not a dog that's Zoe, the youngest Balkman. Thad-Amy did not even notice she crawled off until Amy saw her do a double gainer off the side of the bridge. They win the best Christmas card of 2008.
Bob

Congressman Cole In Iraq

2008-12-23T15:06:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Weiner, Paterson, and Israel Visit Officials, Troops in Baghdad
Representative Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn and Queens), along with Governor David Paterson, Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) and members of the New York congressional delegation visited American troops and top officials in Baghdad on Sunday. The delegation shared meals with service men and women, toured American bases and met with U.S. and Iraqi officials during the trip.

Left to Right: Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Governor David Paterson (D-NY), Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), and Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, the Commander of MNSTC-I (Multi-National Security Transition Command Iraq). Photo credit: Office of Rep. Israel / Mike Ryan
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; it's the only thing that ever has" - Margaret Mead

Pope/Rinehart

2008-12-22T19:22:00.003-06:00

Tim Pope and Brent Rinehart might be in trouble. I sure hope that they have not done anything illegal. Check out the story on http://www.kten.com/global/story.asp?s=9533759

Bob

Tom Cole Off To Iraq

2008-12-22T07:33:00.003-06:00

Congressman Tom Cole is off to Iraq to spend part of his Christmas holidays with our troops. We appreciate Congressman Cole and his support and respect for our brave military personal. Bobby

Electoral College Members Outraged!

2008-12-22T07:10:00.002-06:00

I will jump in here now.

It was my understanding that the Secretary of State (Susan Savage) was responsible for the proceedings, etc. Her letter said proceedings were to start at 2:00PM. I glanced at the wall clock when she entered the room. It was between 15 and 20 after 2:00PM.

So the Governor must have arrived after 2:30PM. Common courtesy would call for her and the Governor to at least be in attendance at 2:00PM sharp. When they did appear, neither uttered any apology for being late in arriving.

One of the first things our Mommies taught us - have good manners, be polite, and apologize if you keep someone waiting.

The two short sentences he spoke before turning over the proceedings to his aide only further demonstrated his lack of respect.

He never welcomed the Electors (or their guests in attendance) to the State Capitol. Looking back, I believe the Secretary of State and the Governor showed deliberate disrespect to the Electors, individually, and to the purpose for our meeting.

I do not believe any of us could have spoken up and done anything different. I believe by law, the proceedings were to be conducted and led by the Governor and Secretary of State. This was their show!

About the only good thing about the day was personally visiting with the Electors I had not previously met. Gail, Diana, Pete. I agree with Bobby, the entire ceremony (what ceremony?) sucked! On December 15th we were all thrown under the bus!

I have not received my mileage check yet. But I want round trip mileage and tolls and if I do not receive, I will speak up.
Member of Oklahoma Electoral College

Top Gay Speaks Up

2008-12-22T07:00:00.002-06:00

Rep. Frank Opposes Warren Invocation at Inauguration
Frank, who is openly gay, says it was a mistake to give such a high honor to a pastor who compared homosexuality to incest
WASHINGTON -- The first openly gay member of Congress said Sunday it was a mistake for President-elect Barack Obama to invite the Rev. Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration.
"Mr. Warren compared same-sex couples to incest. I found that deeply offensive and unfair," Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said in a broadcast interview.
"If he was inviting the Rev. Warren to participate in a forum and to make a speech, that would be a good thing," Frank said. "But being singled out to give the prayer at the inauguration is a high honor. It has traditionally given as a mark of great respect. And, yes, I think it was wrong to single him out for this mark of respect."
Read more http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/21/rep-frank-opposes-warren-invocation-inauguration/

Chaney Mocks Biden

2008-12-22T06:59:00.000-06:00

Cheney Mocks Biden, Defends Rumsfeld in 'FOX News Sunday' Interview
Vice President Cheney mocked Vice President-elect Joe Biden's grasp of the Constitution, defended former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and said President Bush "doesn't have to check with anybody" before launching a nuclear attack.In a blunt, unapologetic interview on "FOX News Sunday," Cheney fired back at Biden for declaring in October that "Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history.""He also said that all the powers and responsibilities of the executive branch are laid out in Article I of the Constitution," Cheney said in a interview that was conducted on Friday. "Well, they're not. Article I of the Constitution is the one on the legislative branch.""Joe's been chairman of the Judiciary Committee, a member of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate for 36 years, teaches constitutional law back in Delaware, and can't keep straight which article of the Constitution provides for the legislature and which provides for the executive. So I think I'd write that off as campaign rhetoric. I don't take it seriously."Cheney, who is often called the most powerful vice president in history, also challenged Biden's claim that the Bush administration has amassed too much executive authority, a trend Biden reportedly plans to reverse."If he wants to diminish the office of the vice president, that's obviously his call," Cheney shrugged. "President-elect Obama will decide what he wants in a vice president and apparently, from the way they're talking about it, he does not expect him to have as consequential a role as I have had during my time."
Biden bit back, however, in a dueling Sunday morning interview that aired on ABC's "This Week" in which he said he stood by his statements.
To see the rest of this story go to http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/21/cheney-mocks-biden-defends-rumsfeld-fox-news-sunday-interview/

Archbishop Sends Warning

2008-12-22T06:56:00.001-06:00

Archbishop warns of dangers of economic dogma
LONDON (AFP) — Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams warned Monday that governments should not pursue dogmatic solutions to the financial crisis at the risk of the most vulnerable, saying that is what the Nazis did.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, he said Hitler's movement was based on a system of principles that "worked quite consistently once you accepted that quite a lot of people that you might have thought mattered as human beings actually didn't".
Williams, the most senior cleric in the Church of England, said that in the current climate, "what looked like a principled defence of some of our economic assumptions... seems more ragged and vulnerable than it once did".

Electoral College Photos

2008-12-18T16:34:00.002-06:00

Photos from the Electoral College Ceremony at the State Capitol Blue Room.

Obama Only Virgin In Chicago

2008-12-18T16:00:00.004-06:00

Obama says he had no dealings with Blogojevich. Because Obama said so, the media drops the issue. When Sarah Palin ran for VP hundreds of reporters went to Alaska to learn more about her. Chicago has a history of being corrupt, yet how many reporters descended on Chicago to check out Obama's story? None

So, let's just be happy knowing that Obama is the only virgin in the Chicago Democratic whorehouse!

The next four years will be full of lies. What happen to the Transparency Administration that Obama was going to take to Washington?
Get ready for 4 years of lying and evasion.

Bob

Obama's Original Birth Certificate Finally!

2008-12-18T07:28:00.005-06:00

In the past weeks I have received a variety of allegedly true articles froma number of you - each calling into question the citizenship of ourPresident Elect and spreading false rumors in an attempt to discredit him. Like so much on the internet it has no basis in fact but lack of facts never stops the bloggers and those who see a conspiracy in every turn. Obama recently released his Hawaii birth certificate and I hope for once and for all the matter will be dropped and I will not have five or six e mails each day from you with a different conspiracy angle... He was elected as our President and we need to get over the fact we lost...please stop stirring up things and trying to discredit him with groundless rumors before he even takes office. I'm attaching a copy of his birth certificate and I hope this will put thematter to rest once and for all...
Send e-mail anywhere. No map, no compass.

My Thoughts On The Electoral College Ceremony Monday

2008-12-16T17:52:00.002-06:00

I am extremely disappointed in the way the Governor treated us during the Electoral College ceremony. Compared to other states, our Electoral College ceremony sucked.
Yes, the Governor was friendy and cordial after showing up 30:00 minutes late.

Other states had their Electoral College ceremony in front of their entire chamber. I resent the Governor's statement, "that we electors should help unite the state and work to move the state forward after a long, and sometimes divisive, presidential campaign. At the end of the day, we are all Oklahoman's. We are Americans" If he really believed his words he would have treated us with more respect.
Bobby

From Land Of Lincoln To Land Of Liars

2008-12-16T17:51:00.001-06:00

"Funny Money: How Barack Obama Bought the White House for $668 Million"

Barack Obama and his team smashed all fundraising records on the way to victory, raking in a staggering $668 million. But some of that all-important cash came from questionable — even make-believe — sources.
An intensive Newsmax investigation by investigative reporter Kenneth Timmerman — cited in a complaint by the Republican National Committee — uncovered numerous instances of questionable and even illegal donations.
The Newsmax special report uncovered evidence that that Obama campaign raked in millions by allowing donors to exceed legal limits. Millions more flowed into his coffers from unidentifiable sources, including prohibited financial support from foreign nationals.
And, astoundingly, nearly half of his total campaign contributions, over $300 million, came from donors under $200 — donor names Obama still won't release for public scrutiny.
Newsmax magazine's special report "Funny Money: How Barack Obama Bought the White House for $668 Million" offers an in-depth look at the questions surrounding the fundraising efforts that have forever changed American politics.

Know Who Do You Believe? NewsMax?

2008-12-14T20:39:00.002-06:00

My friend Bunny Chambers sent me this information.

Obama Was Born in the United States

Monday, December 8, 2008 11:30 AMBy: Ronald Kessler
For months, I have been bombarded by e-mails claiming Barack Obama was born in Kenya and therefore does not meet the constitutional requirements to be president. I have also received hundreds of e-mails from readers asking why I do not expose the truth about his birth.
The truth is that Obama was born in Hawaii. Hawaii, by law, does not make original birth certificates public, and this has enabled conspiracy theorists to claim that there is something nefarious about the circumstances of Obama's birth.

Instead, it provides those born in Hawaii with a so-called certification of their birth — also known as a short-form birth certificate — that lists the name of the baby and the date and place of birth but not additional details like the birth weight and the parents' hometowns.

As claims of a cover-up mounted on the Internet prior to the election, Obama posted a digitally scanned image of his original short-form birth certificate. But that enabled conspiracy theorists to say the image had been created by Photoshop. Obama then let FactCheck.org, a nonprofit project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, view, handle, and photograph the short-form birth certificate at Obama campaign headquarters in Chicago.
The certificate has all the elements the State Department requires for proving citizenship to obtain a U.S. passport," FactCheck.org, headed by respected former Wall Street Journal reporter Brooks Jackson, concluded.

According to the State Department, that includes "your full name, the full name of your parent(s), date and place of birth, sex, date the birth record was filed, and the seal or other certification of the official custodian of such records."

That led to claims by conspiracy theorists that the document shown to FactCheck.org was fake. However, on Oct. 31, the Hawaii Department of Health issued a press release saying that Chiyome Fukino, director of Hawaii's Department of Health, along with Alvin Onaka, the registrar of vital statistics, had "personally seen and verified that Hawaii's State Department of Public Health has Sen. Obama's original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures."

Fukino told the Honolulu Advertiser that her department issued the press release after being barraged by calls about the issue, including some received by state officials at home in the middle of the night.

This has gotten ridiculous," said Fukino, a medical doctor.
Aside from that official verification of Obama's birth in Hawaii, back on Aug. 31, 1961, the Honolulu Advertiser ran an announcement of his birth.
Mr. and Mrs. Barack H. Obama, 6085 Kalaniaaole Hwy., son, Aug. 4," the announcement said.
What about claims that Obama’s paternal grandmother has said he was born in Kenya? At a dinner at the Ritz Carlton given by a conservative group, I happened to sit next to Philip Berg. Berg is the Philadelphia lawyer who is suing to have Obama disqualified as president because he is allegedly not a citizen of the United States.

A former deputy attorney general of Pennsylvania, Berg has claimed that he has a tape recording of a phone conversation in which Obama’s paternal grandmother says she was in the delivery room in Kenya when he was born Aug. 4, 1961.

On Oct. 23, Berg told talk-radio host Michael Savage that he would release the tape “in a day or two.” To date, he has not done so.
At the dinner, I asked Berg how he knows that the voice on the tape is that of Obama’s grandmother. Berg was vague: He said he knows someone who vouches for the fact that the tape is authentic.

"Tape recordings" are never fool-proof evidence. For example, I remember a dinner my wife and I once had in Paris with a reporter for the National Enquirer while I was writing a book on arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. Actor Richard Burton had just died, and the reporter said he was going to meet up later with other National Enquirer reporters at a bar so they could make up stories about Burton to run in the paper.
I knew a Williams & Connolly lawyer who reviewed the paper’s stories for libel before they were published. He had told me that he insisted on listening to any taped interviews that support sensitive stories.

“How do you get around that?” I asked the Enquirer reporter.
“Oh, that’s easy,” the reporter explained. “I get in a cab and pay the driver to say what I tell him to say into a tape recorder.”
On the radio show, Berg told Savage that he believes the birth certificate Obama showed FactCheck.org was forged.

“This has been a real sham he’s pulled off for the last 20 months," Berg told Savage.
Berg said he believes Obama's mother was near the end of her pregnancy and was unable to travel by plane, so Obama was born in Kenya. According to Berg, the family then traveled to Hawaii and registered the birth and submitted the birth announcement to the local newspaper.
Why would they do that? To any conspiracy theorist, the answer would be obvious: They knew that Obama would some day run for president. After all, Berg also believes that President Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, and other government officials had “adequate foreknowledge” of the 9/11 attack and “failed to warn the country or attempt to prevent it and have been covering up the truth of that day ever since,” according to another lawsuit he filed.
“I think that there is no question that President Bush knew about it [and] was very complicit in the events of 9/11,” Berg told Joe Scarborough on MSNBC on Jan. 28, 2004.

In response to Berg’s complaint about Obama’s citizenship, Obama and the Democratic National Committee asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit. They said that Berg’s claims were “ridiculous” and “patently false” and that Berg had “no standing” to challenge the qualifications of a candidate for president, because he had not shown the requisite harm to himself.

On Oct. 24, U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick in Philadelphia dismissed Berg’s lawsuit. In a 34-page memorandum and opinion, the judge said Berg’s allegations of harm were “too vague and too attenuated” to confer standing on him or on any other voters.
Berg has appealed to the Supreme Court. A virulent Internet rumor claims that the court has agreed to take the case. In fact, as it does with all cases, the court has merely agreed to decide whether to take the case. Berg's petition is on the justices’ private conference list for today, Dec. 8.

Meanwhile, Berg has been collecting money through his Web site to support his case. When I asked him how much he has collected, he would not say.
If there were any basis for Berg’s claims, one would think that the John McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee would have supported the lawsuit or at least blasted out e-mails touting the case. In fact, a McCain campaign aide told me that McCain campaign lawyers had looked into the allegations about Obama’s birth and found them to be bogus.
You would also think that Berg would be happy to be interviewed about the case by a journalist like me. But although he agreed to an interview at the conservative dinner, he has since failed to respond to my voicemails and e-mails asking for him to call.

Ever since President Bush toppled a man who killed 300,000 people, he has been the subject of vicious attacks and conspiracy theories from the left. Now is the time for the right to show that it will not tarnish itself by going down that road and that it will extend to the new president the fair play and respect Bush never received.
Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com.

Electoral College Does It Work

2008-12-14T16:41:00.002-06:00

Political Scientist Says Electoral College Lacks What It Needs To Elect Obama To White House PR Web ^ 12/11/08 Dr. Mary Maxwell
Posted on Sunday, December 14, 2008 12:57:46 PM by BP2
Marblehead, Mass. (PRWEB) December 11, 2008 -- Dr. Mary Maxwell, political scientist, said today: "Obama's silence about his citizenship is indefensible and unworkable. Next Monday, the 538 members of the Electoral college meet and they are at risk, themselves, of violating state election laws if they participate in a fraud."
"If a presidential candidate's claim that he meets the requirements are later found to be false," Maxwell said,"one or more of the 50 states could bring charges against him. But that would be a terrible thing if it comes after Inauguration Day. It would be better if a state would apply its law stringently as early as possible For example, the Election Commission of Alabama has authority to cite for contempt (http://law.justia.com/alabama/codes/16474/17-15-57.html) any person who refuses to deliver, upon subpoena, relevant items."
Maxwell said: "An Obama spokesman has called the eligibility controversy 'garbage,' and wants to keep pertinent records under seal." "Privacy is of great value," Maxwell acknowledged, "but when one signs the form to become a candidate for elective office, one swears, in most states, that one is eligible."
"For a presidential hopeful that means he has attained age 35, has resided here for 14 years,and is a natural-born citizen of the U.S." Maxwell stated, "If voters want proof of a candidate's eligibility -- and thousands have signed petitions and called Congress (http://rallycongress.com/constitutional-qualification/1244/stop-obama-constitutional-crisis/) seeking Obama's proof -- it follows that privacy must be sacrificed. How can Electors do their solemn duty of choosing America's executive for the next four years if they are in doubt about his qualification?" she asked.
"I've posted a current case, Keyes v Bowen, at my website (http://www.marymaxwell.us)," said Maxwell. "The plaintiffs are Electors who don't want to vote until they see Obama's documents," she said, "This case is making its way to the Supreme Court, but not in time for Dec.15th." Also, she reported,"there are some military officers who understandably insist that their Commander in Chief be free of any suspicion of divided loyalties."
"This lays a shockingly heavy burden on Electors' shoulders," Maxwell said. "I believe that Obama's grammar school records, showing his citizenship as 'Indonesian,' are sufficient indication that he has an eligibility problem. So the presumption has to be against him. If Obama feels that is unfair he can simply submit the documents and put an end to the problem, " she said.
"Granted this approach is embarrassing," said Maxwell, "but so what? Don't Immigration officers frequently knock on doors of American residents and say 'Show your passport'?" She observed, "The Constitution protects all congresspersons from arrest on their way to or from their legislative sessions, but no one is immune from the law at other times. That is the core of our great system."
"If we create a cultural habit of exonerating government officials when they do wrong, or look the other way, it will soon be said that rule-of-law no longer works in our society and we need martial law," said Maxwell, "in fact I sniff it in the air now. What nonsense! We have a perfectly workable Constitution. But of course it can't work if the law does not apply to all."
"Failure to deal with Obama's issue is likely to cause an upset on Dec. 15th," said Maxwell. "Since Nov. 4th, the public has been told that the Electors will cast 373 ballots for Obama, and 165 for McCain. Typically, all Electors 'obey' their party but the Constitution does not require them to do so," she noted, "and in a 1992 case, Ray v Blair (http://vlex.com/vid/20012409), the Court ruled that political parties may give direction but they did not say the Elector is thus coerced."
"It is amazing to realize that if Obama drops out, the Electors are not obliged to choose his running mate, Joe Biden, or the next-best from the Democrat's summer convention, Hillary Clinton," Maxwell said. They can even choose someone that ran in a third party, such as Bob Barr or Cynthia McKinney." She remarked, "Indeed they are free to elect a citizen who never campaigned."
"Happily, panic need not occur if no individual gets a majority on Dec. 15th," Maxwell stated. "As usual, the Founding Fathers foresaw that outcome, and arranged for the House of Representatives to choose the president from the three highest on the Elector's list," she said. "and they would vote as states, with each state having one vote. The National Archives website (http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#270) says that would occur on Jan. 8th, 2009."

More Pictures Helen Cole Banquet

2008-12-13T08:46:00.003-06:00

Oops I believe one of the pictures is out of place, do you know which one?

Pictures From Past Helen Cole Banquets

2008-12-13T08:38:00.003-06:00

Jesus

2008-12-13T07:51:00.000-06:00

Last night, we had the opportunity to attend our granddaughter’s High School Christmas program at Community Christian School. Yes, you heard it right, I said the word Christmas. The program consisted of the grade school, Jr High and High School students playing and singing Christmas carols. My granddaughter, Kenady, Rod’s daughter, is in the High School choir and they did an outstanding job of entertaining everybody. After hearing these young kids sing, I can fully understand why they have won so many awards. As I sat through the program, I thought about the Norman school system not allowing nativity scenes in the school system. I thought about how the kids of the Norman school system are being robbed of the real meaning of Christmas. I remember when I was a kid growing up in the Capital Hill area in South OKC, how I looked forward to the Christmas program each year. As the kids were singing, I started counting the number of times I heard the word Jesus; I lost count at 15 times. The word Christmas was used over 20 times and we even prayed at the start and finish of the program, just like we did when I was a kid.
How refreshing it is to attend a program by our young kids and listen to them use the word Jesus! They certainly are not ashamed of the word Jesus. Something like this could not happen in the public school system. No way can you say Jesus, and in some cases, you cannot even use the word Christmas because that might be offensive to someone. I have never understood how Christmas or even Jesus could offend someone. Sixty-five percent of Americans believe that the nation's founders intended the U.S. to be a Christian nation and 55% believe that the Constitution establishes a Christian nation, according to the “State of the First Amendment 2007” national survey released Sept. 11 by the First Amendment Center. Let’s not forget that the Christmas season is when all Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. When someone tells you happy holidays be sure and say Merry Christmas. I find it very offensive for someone to say Happy Holidays. I, for one, am not ashamed to use the word Jesus. As we look back at our Constitution, we need to remember the first five freedoms listed in the First Amendment; Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition.
We have a lot to be thankful for and we should never forget the rights and freedoms we have in the great county. Most importantly, we can never forget Jesus. Merry Christmas!
Bob

Movie Australia

2008-12-12T10:46:00.000-06:00

Last night, Barbara and I went to see Australia at the Warren Theater. I had not read anything about the movie, but heard from several friends, that it was really good. The movie is three hours long, and in my opinion, it was the best movie I have seen in years. It is a true story that covers when the Japanese bombed Australia. Hope our good friend Pat McGuigan, Oklahoma’s premier movie critic, will write about Australia.
Bob

Rep Jackson Ready To Pay To Play

2008-12-12T07:59:00.001-06:00

Jackson Backers Sought Cash For Senate Seat

CHICAGO – Businessmen with ties to both Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson discussed raising $1 million for Blagojevich to help persuade him to appoint Jackson to President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, according to a published report.
Citing unnamed sources, the Chicago Tribune reports in a story for Friday's editions that businessman Raghuveer Nayak and Blagojevich aide Rajinder Bedi told attendees at an Oct. 31 meeting that they needed to raise the money for the governor to ensure Jackson's appointment.
"Raghu said he needed to raise a million for Rod to make sure Jesse got the seat," an unidentified source who attended the meeting told the Tribune. Blagojevich also attended the meeting, which was sponsored by Nayak, an Oak Brook businessman. For more on this story go to

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_on_re_us/illinois_governor_jackson

Rep Reynolds Right, Again

2008-12-11T11:12:00.001-06:00

State Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, wants to remove the governor's authority to fill vacant statewide offices. Reynolds said that in light of allegations that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich tried to sell an appointment to the now-vacant U.S. Senate seat in that state, he will file legislation that would allow Oklahoma voters, not the governor, to choose the person who fills any vacated statewide office. If any major office is vacated before the end of the officeholders current term that position would remain unfilled until the next general election under the proposal. Currently, the governor is allowed to appoint a successor. The Illinois scandal makes clear that the appointment power can easily be abused and weve had more than our share of corruption in Oklahoma already, said Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City. My proposal will simply remove that temptation and ensure the people of Oklahoma get to choose the people they want in office. Reynolds noted that Governor Henry actually endorsed a similar course of action when former State Auditor Jeff McMahan was under federal investigation. During that controversy, Henry urged McMahan to step aside during the investigation. McMahan later resigned from office after being convicted. Reynolds also noted that vacancies in the state Legislature are filled through the election process and not by gubernatorial appointment. In recent years, two major statewide officeholders have resigned due to legal troubles: McMahan and former Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher. Other vacancies have occurred in the offices of State Treasurer and Corporation Commissioner.-posted McCarville

Istook And Infrastructure

2008-12-11T08:06:00.000-06:00

You call this ‘vital infrastructure’?
With President-elect Obama talking about a $1-trillion-plus “stimulus package” in January, big spenders in the nation’s capital are already drawing up their post-Christmas wish lists. Governors lined up first when they met with Obama to ask for $136 billion or more in immediate projects. Mayors claim they have $73 billion in projects “ready to go. It’s quite a stretch to justify another $1-trillion in debt for many of these.

You can read the details about how they want to waste your money at
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83297

Congress Bailouts

2008-12-11T07:09:00.002-06:00

Included in the bailout bill are raises for U.S. Federal Judges. Why is the press not reporting this?
Bob

WASHINGTON (AP) - A House-passed bill to speed $14 billion in loans to Detroit's automakers stands on shaky ground in a bailout-weary Congress, undermined by Republican opposition that could derail the emergency aid in the Senate.
Republicans are challenging lame-duck President George W. Bush on the proposal, arguing that any support for the domestic auto industry should carry significant concessions from autoworkers and creditors and reject tougher environmental rules imposed by House Democrats. More on this story http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081211/D950GI5G0.html

General Curry Speaks Out About Birth Certificate

2008-12-11T06:57:00.002-06:00

Bobby:

If the Supreme Court won’t step up and defend our nation and its constitution from a possible fraud masquerading as s US Senator then the electoral college has to, even if it means that one man has to take a stand against the rest.

Jerry

IT’S TIME FOR THE COURT TO BE SUPREME

What if two or three years from now it turns out that President Obama’s birth certificate is a forgery and that he is not a natural-born American citizen eligible under the U.S. Constitution to be President? Such an event would do irreparable harm to the nation and the constitution since none of Obama’s actions and the executive orders and laws he has signed would be valid and legal, from the time he was sworn in as President until he was later discovered to be unqualified to be President.

Such an unfortunate state of affairs can and must be prevented at all costs. Fortunately for all concerned, the Supreme Court Of The United States (SCOTUS) has scheduled the case for a December 5, 2008 conference review to determine if the Court should hear oral arguments as to whether Senators Obama and McCain, according to the constitution, are eligible to be President of the United States. The natural-born status of both men is open to question.

There is little time available between the December 5, 2008 conference, the December 15 meeting of the Electoral College, and the January 20, 2009 presidential inauguration for the Court to properly sort these things out. So much is at stake should Senator Obama in the end turn out not to be constitutionally qualified to be President, that his qualifications or lack thereof cannot be treated cavalierly, as though this were just some routine technical matter.

Constitutional matters of this magnitude and importance should be settled before Obama is sworn into office as President, not afterward. For all our sakes, including Senator Obama’s, let us pray that after the investigation, his claim of natural-born citizenship turns out to be legitimate. If it does not, I fear that the public’s reaction may turn ugly.
Also, it is possible that the Court during its review of Senator Obama’s natural-born birth status may, at the same time, consider whether Senator McCain’s having been born in the Panama Canal Zone of U.S. citizen parents can be equated as to having natural-born American citizen status.

It would be most troubling if the Court constitutionally disqualified both men from holding presidential office. The electoral crisis that such a decision would precipitate could literally rip the guts out of the nation and rioting in the streets is a distinct possibility, especially among black Americans who may feel that once more they have been disenfranchised by their white American compatriots. Let us pray that we are spared such convulsions and that if the nation should enter into a time of crisis, our leadership will not falter in maintaining and keeping order.

Specifically at issue in this matter is whether Senator Obama was born in Kenya instead of in Hawaii as claimed. This would make him a natural-born citizen of Kenya and not a natural-born citizen of the United States. Next, is whether as a child Obama was taken to Indonesia where he legally became an Indonesian citizen. If he did not file for American citizenship under the U.S. Nationality Act of 1940 as required of foreign born U.S. citizens, he may be neither a native-born nor a naturalized American citizen. In short, Senator Obama may not be an American citizen at all. Finally, yet to be properly sorted out is the allegation that Senator Obama’s birth certificate, proving U.S. citizenship, is a forgery.

Until all these matters are legally resolved by SCOTUS, the presidential election process cannot proceed from Senator Obama’s being declared President-Elect on December 15, 2008 by the Electoral College, to his inauguration as President of the United States on January 20, 2009. Who knows but that the U.S. Supreme Court was established by the Framers of the Constitution for such a time as this.

If the Court refuses to aggressively pursue the subject of the legitimacy of Senator Obama’s place of birth at conference on December 5, deliverance will come to the nation through another venue. But don’t think that the Court’s refusal to get involved in the presidential selection process will enhance its reputation as guardian of the Constitution. Rather, its reputation will be forever tainted by its refusal to protect the Constitution and the American people’s interests.

Gen. Jerry R. Curry
US Army, Ret.
Haymarket, VA

Rep Martin Appointment

2008-12-11T06:47:00.003-06:00

Norman Republican Named Budget Vice Chairman OKLAHOMA CITY (Dec. 10, 2008) - A

Norman Republican was appointed vice chairman of the powerful state House Appropriations and Budget Committee by the Speaker of the House today.Rep. Scott Martin, R-Norman, will serve beside Rep. Ken Miller, the chairman of the budget committee and will have a role in crafting the state budget as bills with a financial impact are heard in his committee.

"I consider it a true privilege to serve in this capacity and I look forward to working with the Speaker and Chairman Miller in the upcoming legislative session," said Martin.House Speaker Chris Benge said he is confident Rep. Martin will continue to push pro-growth fiscal policies for Oklahoma that will help its people prosper while also attracting business to the state.“I look forward to working with Rep. Martin to ensure our taxes remain low and government is streamlined so our tax dollars are saved for vital services Oklahomans need like education and public safety," said Benge, R-Tulsa. With the country in a recession, Rep. Martin stressed how important it is to ensure government is efficient with taxpayer dollars. "In this difficult financial time, now more than ever, it is important that the people's resources are used as judiciously as possible," said Martin.

"Oklahoma's strong workforce and recently enacted fiscally conservative policies like tax cuts and restrained spending have put Oklahoma in a better financial situation than many states nationwide."I'm committed to looking for innovative ways to keep growing Oklahoma, and working with my colleagues to find solutions as we set the budget and make sure the people's money is spent in ways that benefit the entire state," he said.Rep. Martin previously served as the vice chairman of the General Government and Transportation Committee, and also sat on Human Services Committee, the Energy Subcommittee and the Arts and Culture Subcommittee.

Cole Calls For Pardon For Border Patrol Agents

2008-12-10T15:20:00.001-06:00

Cole Calls on President to Pardon Border Patrol Agents

WASHINGTON – U.S. Congressman Tom Cole (OK-4) sent a letter to President Bush late yesterday asking him to commute the sentences and issue pardons for Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos. In October 2006, Ramos and Compean were each sentenced to more than a decade in prison after shooting an illegal immigrant who was believed to have been armed while transporting hundreds of pounds of marijuana into the country.

"The justice system has failed border agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos," Congressman Tom Cole said. "When a narcotics-smuggling criminal, who has illegally crossed our borders on multiple occasions, receives more just treatment in our judicial system than officers of the law - a gross injustice has occurred. Officers Compean and Ramos were rightfully carrying out their duties to protect our nation from a drug smuggler illegally attempting to enter the United States. They should be commended for their actions, not put in jail."

"While these border agents may have violated certain rules of procedure, I believe they have received excessive and unwarranted sentences. After all, these men were respected members of their communities, with unblemished records, who were acting to protect our borders from those wish our country harm. The harsh and excessive sentence they received was uncalled for - these men deserve a full pardon."

County Jail Plan Passes

2008-12-09T20:54:00.006-06:00

County Jail plan passes Yes 5610 No 3161. Congratulations to our County officials.
Bob

Obama Involved In Corruption?

2008-12-09T15:28:00.002-06:00

Questions Arise About the Obama/Blagojevich Relationship
December 09, 2008 3:37 PM
Huma Khan-->"Obviously like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the US attorney's office today," said President-elect Obama this afternoon in Chicago, speaking of the criminal complaint against Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich for corruption. "But as this is a ongoing investigation involving the governor I don't think it would be appropriate for me to comment on the issue at this time."Asked what contact he'd had with the governor's office about his replacement in the Senate, President-elect Obama today said "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening." But on November 23, 2008, his senior adviser David Axelrod appeared on Fox News Chicago and said something quite different.While insisting that the President-elect had not expressed a favorite to replace him, and his inclination was to avoid being a "kingmaker," Axelrod said, "I know he's talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them
For more on this story go to http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/12/questions-arise.html

Thank You David Horowitz

2008-12-09T11:19:00.003-06:00

David Horowitz finally agrees with what I have been saying now for a month. Now lets just move on. Obama now will have to distance him self from the Gov of Illinois, who by the way was arrested this morning. Is Obama corrupt like Gov Blogojevich who he has been known to hang with?
Bob

The continuing efforts of a fringe group of conservatives to deny Obama his victory and to lay the basis for the claim that he is not a legitimate president is embarrassing and destructive. The fact that these efforts are being led by Alan Keyes, an unhinged demagogue on the political fringe who lost a senate election to the then unknown Obama by 42 points should be a warning in itself.
This tempest over whether Obama, the child of an American citizen was born on American soil is tantamount to the Democrats' seditious claim that Bush "stole" the election in Florida and hence was not the legitimate president. This delusion helped to create the Democrats' Bush derangement syndrome and encouraged Democratic leaders to lie about the origins of the Iraq War, and regard it as illegitimate as Bush himself. It became "Bush's War" rather than American War with destructive consequences for our troops and our cause.
The Birth Certificate zealots are essentially arguing that 64 million voters should be disenfranchised because of a contested technicality as to whether Obama was born on U.S. soil. (McCain narrowly escaped the problem by being born in the Panama Canal zone, which is no longer American.)
What difference does it make to the future of this country whether Obama was born on US soil? Advocates of this destructive campaign will argue that the Constitutional principle regarding the qualifications for President trumps all others. But how viable will our Constitution be if 5 Supreme Court justices should decide to void 64 million ballots?
Conservatives are supposed to respect the organic nature of human societies. Ours has been driven by profound disagreements that have been deepening over many years. We are divided not only about political facts and social values, but also about what the Constitution itself means. The crusaders on this issue choose to ignore these problems and are proposing to deny the will of 64 million voters by appealing to 5 Supreme Court Justices (since no one is delusional enough to think that the 4 liberal justices are going to take the presidency away from Obama). What kind of conservatism is this?
It is not conservatism; it is sore loserism and quite radical in its intent. Respect for election results is one of the most durable bulwarks of our unity as a nation. Conservatives need to accept the fact that we lost the election, and get over it; and get on with the important business of reviving our country's economy and defending its citizens, and -- by the way -- it’s Constitution.

Governor Of Illinois Arrested

2008-12-09T09:47:00.004-06:00

When Blagojevich campaigned for Governor his main issue was "Stop the Corruption" duh, well he meant stop everyone else from being corrupt!. It will be interesting to see what involvement Obama and Jesse Jackson had to do with the selling of Obama's vacant Senate seat.

Bob

TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE
digg_url = 'http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-rod-blagojevich-1209,0,7997804.story';

Illinois Gov. Blagojevich, chief of staff, arrested
Breadth of corruption "staggering"
By Jeff Coen, David Kidwell and Monique Garcia Tribune staff reporters
9:14 AM CST, December 9, 2008
Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested by FBI agents on federal corruption charges Tuesday morning.Blagojevich and Harris were arrested simultaneously at their homes at about 6:15 a.m., according to Frank Bochte of the FBI. Both were awakened in their residences and transported to FBI headquarters in Chicago.In one charge related to the appointment of a senator to replace Barack Obama, prosecutors allege that Blagojevich sought appointment for himseld as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama administration, or a lucrative job with a union, in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate.Another charge alleges Blagojevich and Harris conspired to demand the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members responsible for editorials critical of him in exchange for
Blagojevich and Harris, along with others, obtained and sought to gain financial benefits for the governor, members of his family and his campaign fund in exchange for appointments to state boards and commissions, state jobs and state contracts, according to the charges."The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement."They allege that Blagojevich put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism." (for the rest of the crook story go to http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-rod-blagojevich-1209,0,7997804.story)

Supreme Court Says No

2008-12-08T11:28:00.000-06:00

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.
The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., to intervene in the presidential election. Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth — his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject — he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president.

Another Reason Why We Need A New Jail

2008-12-07T16:29:00.003-06:00

Here is a good reason why we have so many people in prison and if we are going to let them out, we must invest in a quality probation system, not just “hope for the best, and use the money from prisons for another program.” We have to protect the citizens. The number responsibility of our government. This is a good example why a new jail is so important.
Kirk

http://www.newsobserver.com/2933/story/1324510.html
Probationers kill, state dawdles
North Carolina

Part 1:
Published: Dec 07, 2008 04:42 AM
Modified: Dec 07, 2008 04:44 AM
Probationers kill, state dawdles
Since the start of 2000, 580 offenders have killed while on probation. Probation officers, hamstrung by vacancies and a sloppy bureaucracy, can't locate nearly 14,000 criminals
Doris Durham holds a picture of her son, Jamel Jefferys, at the spot where he was shot and killed in Raleigh in 2006. One of the shooters, Michael Jones, was on probation but had received poor supervision from a Wake County probation officer.
Staff Photo by Jason Arthurs
The slayings of two college students earlier this year put the state's probation system under the microscope. Suspects accused of killing Eve Carson, the UNC-Chapel Hill student body president, and Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato received scant attention from probation officers after previous offenses. That led to calls for reform.
An internal audit and a review by the National Institute of Corrections found major problems, including missing files, cases being ignored and supervisors failing to quickly file arrest warrants for absconders.

Sarah Ovaska, Joseph Neff and David Raynor, Staff Writers Comment on this story
North Carolina's probation system, designed to help low-level offenders rebuild their lives and stay out of costly prisons, is risking public safety by neglecting or losing track of thousands of criminals.
The results can be deadly, a News & Observer investigation has found.
Since the start of 2000, 580 people have killed in North Carolina while under the watch of state probation officers -- 17 percent of all convictions for intentional killings.
Documents and interviews indicate that probation officers -- poorly paid, overworked, some inexperienced -- routinely lose contact with the people they are required to supervise and guide toward more productive lives. Probation leaders have failed to take advantage of technology advances, for years leaving their officers with no automatic tracking of the people under their supervision. Officers often weren't aware when probationers were arrested on new charges.
State probation managers disregarded warnings -- and periodic cries for help from understaffed county offices.
It's unclear how many of the 580 killers were poorly supervised, because correction leaders wouldn't release records of thousands of probationers who committed serious crimes.
They did release partial records in 24 cases; The N&O found that probation officials had botched many of them. They failed basic tasks such as filing arrest warrants or hooking offenders to electronic house arrest. They ignored some probationers for more than a year.
That prevented offenders' early missteps from being met with the "swift and certain response" required by the N.C. Division of Community Corrections.
The response to Michael C. Jones was neither swift nor certain.
In March 2006, Jones' Wake County probation officer hadn't talked to the 19-year-old Bloods gang member in four months. A Superior Court judge ordered his arrest for skipping out on his probation, but probation officers never made the warrant available to police who could have jailed Jones.
Soon after, Jones and several other gang members assaulted Jamel Jefferys with a volley of bullets. Jefferys, a 19-year-old Southeast Raleigh teenager with plans to join the U.S. Army, was mistaken by his assailants as a rival gang member and died from multiple gunshots. One was a bullet fired into his head from a rifle used by Jones, also known as "Hitman."
Jefferys' murder came two months after Jones' probation officer took out the arrest warrant. But the officer didn't send it to a state clearinghouse that links with national crime databases. Had it been filed, any officer who encountered Jones would have known to hold him, including Raleigh police who twice arrested him in the months before Jefferys' death.
After Jones was charged with murder, his probation officer failed to fill out the mandatory report to alert supervisors and trigger an audit. That omission was common, occurring in 30 percent of all killings by probationers since 2003.
"They should have been on the job more," said Tyasha Jefferys, Jamel's older sister. "He [Jones] would have been arrested, and the murder wouldn't have happened."
It has happened more than nearly anyone realized, even after the highly publicized killings of UNC-Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson and Duke graduate student Abhijit Mahato. The men accused in their killings had received scant attention from probation officers in Wake and Durham counties, but state officials initially said the cases of lax oversight were unusual.
They were not.
Jones, now serving a life sentence, had consistently run into problems with the law and ignored the terms of his probation. Probation officers waited three months to place Eric Revels of Durham under house arrest, enough time for him to be charged with murder. John H. Robinson of Rockingham County shot a friend to death in a late-night argument after skipping out on weekends in jail and racking up new convictions. More on this story at http://www.newsobserver.com/2933/story/1324510.html

Take Advice From Your Local Criminals - We Don't Want a New Jail

2008-12-06T13:44:00.005-06:00

Bob please put this on your blog.

Please Vote "No" on the new jail proposal this Tuesday. The Cleveland County Jail has been our home for the past year. We don't want to move. We really enjoy it here, especially when we get 5 or 6 other people in our cell - we have a great time together.

We know that according to the State Health Department, the jail is overcrowded so we all use our free time researching the laws so we can milk you taxpayers even more with frivilous lawsuits. And when we arent't doing that, we are figuring out creative ways to escape from this outdated and run down place.

We are asking all the good folks of Cleveland County to please vote NO to a new jail. We like it here just fine thank you. So disregard the advice of all your local law enforcement officials including your past, present and future County Sheriffs who have endorsed the Jail Proposal - they don't know what they're talking about - trust us instead!

Jake The Snake and Slick Willy

Aliases

Honest Abe

Bad Bad Leroy Brown

Gotebo Jake

Red Fred

Senator Feinstein Visits thatsjustbob

2008-12-06T13:10:00.001-06:00

We all have thought for years that California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s elevator did not did not go to the top. I have even heard some people say she is not the sharpest tool in the tool shed.

Well, now I have proof. Today I received a letter from the Oklahoma Secretary of State. The letter states that, “ the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, through Senator Dianne Feinstein, has extended an invitation for you and a guest to attend the 56th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C. “

Attached was a letter to the Oklahoma Secretary of State from Senator Feinstein, requesting that the Secretary of State forward a letter to all Electors inviting them to the Ceremonies.

Now at first I thought someone was playing a joke on me until I noticed the words “Congress of The United States with Dianne Feinstein Chairman, Harry Reid and Robert Bennett” on the top left, then on the top right was “Nancy Pelosi, John Hoyer and John Boehner”, with complete details on how I pick up my tickets.

It is a nice gesture but I do not believe I will be making any trips to D.C. any time soon. As some of you may know December 15th at 2pm is the date we Electors attend the Electoral College to vote at the State Capitol in the Blue Room. Once we all cast our ballots for John McCain and Sarah Palin, the Governor and the Secretary of the State sign the ballot, the ballots are sealed and sent to Congress to be read during the Electoral College count. Once read before Congress the ballots are sent to the Library of Congress for its final resting place.

Bob

Mr. Honest Charley Rangel

2008-12-06T10:15:00.005-06:00

If Charley Rangel was a Republican the Democrats would be calling for Congressional hearings. Republicans would be calling for his resignation. But wait, he is a Democrat and their standards or much lower. Since he is a Democrat the Democrat leadership will allow him to continue with his powerful Chairmanship. What will happen nothing, because Democrats don't really care about anyone other than themselves. Read the below article.

Bob

Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, reportedly steered almost $80,000 dollars in campaign cash to his son's Internet company for a pair of Web sites between 2004 and 2007. The Politico newspaper reports an expert says one of the sites should have cost no more than $100 to create.
Rangel paid more than any other House member, during that election cycle, for Web sites. He is currently the subject of a House Ethics Committee probe for his failure to pay taxes on rental income and his alleged use of House stationary to solicit contributions for a public policy center bearing his name.

Balkman Says Yes to Public Safety Sales Tax

2008-12-06T09:02:00.000-06:00

Friends:

Did you know there’s an election this Tuesday? This Tuesday – December 9th voters in Cleveland County will be voting on whether to pass a County Sales Tax for ¼ of a cent to be dedicated to the construction of a new county jail. I urge you to take time this weekend to learn about this proposed tax and I believe that you will agree with me that we need to support this proposal. I have included an article from The Norman Transcript that describes the proposal as well as a letter to the editor that I wrote the week before last.

Additional information about the jail proposal is available on the Cleveland County website at http://www.ccok.us/media/presentation.pdf

From The Norman Transcript, December 3, 2009

Cleveland County voters are asked to return to the polls Tuesday to vote on a one-fourth of one-cent sales tax for a proposed $40 million detention center planned on Franklin Road, just east of U.S. 77.

County Commissioners want the proposed one quarter cent jail sales tax paid off and taken off the books as soon as possible, the board said last week.

If the sales tax is approved, a committee will oversee the monies received from the tax. The sales tax will be for 20 years but once the jail is paid for, the tax will stop.

The mayor or the mayor's designee of Norman, Moore, Noble, Lexington, Slaughterville and Oklahoma City will each appoint a member to the oversight committee. County commissioners will each appoint a member and other members will include a representative in the banking business, sheriff's office, the University of Oklahoma and a citizen at large.

The Cleveland County Detention Center was built in the 1980s to hold 177 prisoners. The center averages more than 200 prisoners and has for the past few years. The Oklahoma State Department of Health has mandated that the county fix the problem or the health department will shut down the jail or fine the county $10,000 a day.

My letter to the Editor

Let's keep our community an attractive and safe place to live, work and play by voting "Yes" on the proposed county sales tax on December 9th. The quarter cent sales tax will be used to construct and maintain a much needed new county jail here in Cleveland County. It might seem strange for this conservative Republican, who once signed a no new taxes pledge as a state legislator, to endorse a new tax. But one thing that Oklahomans of all political stripes agree on is public safety is government's most fundamental responsibility.

Norman and Cleveland County in general, enjoy a low crime rate thanks to the combined efforts of our police forces, the District Attorney's office and the web of social service and community agencies. It's no wonder Money Magazine ranked Norman as the 6th best place to live in the United States, the highest of any city in Oklahoma! It should be noted that two of the factors used in that survey were personal crime incidents and property crime incidents, and we ranked 2nd best in each category.

If we are to make sure our community is a safe desirable place to be, we must keep those who commit crimes locked up. But time is running out. Already, we have been repeatedly cited by the state numerous times for not having enough space in our county jail, and if we don't build a bigger jail we run the risk of being fined $10,000 a day by the state. Furthermore, the threat of frivolous lawsuits against the taxpayers brought by clever convicts hangs over us until we fix this problem.

Paying an extra quarter cent on the things we buy to construct a new county jail is a good investment for the continued safety and security of our community. I hope other Cleveland County residents, especially those like me who usually do not favor tax increases, will vote yes on December 9th.

Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Please vote “YES” on December 9.

Thad Balkman

General Counsel, VP External Relations

Republican Party Abolished Slavery

2008-12-06T09:00:00.000-06:00

the Republican Party Abolished Slavery
December 6, 2008

On this day in 1865, the 13th Amendment -- abolishing slavery -- became part of the U.S. Constitution -- when ratified by three-quarters of the states.
Despite protests from the Democrats, the Republican Party made banning slavery part of its national platform in 1864. Senator Lyman Trumbull (R-IL) wrote the final version of the text, combining the proposed wordings of several other Republican congressmen.
All Republicans in Congress voted for the 13th Amendment, while nearly all Democrats voted against it. So strongly did President Abraham Lincoln (R-IL) support the 13th Amendment, he insisted on signing the document, though presidential approval is not part of the amendment process.
Outlawing slavery was a Republican achievement.
This article is also on the Grand Old Partisan blog, each day celebrating 154 years of Republican heroes and heroics.
Michael Zak is a popular speaker to Republican organizations around the country. See www.RepublicanBasics.com for more information.

Obama Wants Your Gun

2008-12-06T08:59:00.000-06:00

Dear Fellow NRA Member,
Because Barack Obama's campaign promisenot to take away our guns is a lie.
He's not even in office, yet he's fired the opening salvos in a war against the future of the Second Amendment, our hunting and shooting traditions, and YOU.
Obama's FIRST attack on YOU: Appointing Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel to be White House Chief of Staff. In Congress, Emanuel earned an "F" rating from NRA, and while working in the Clinton Administration, he was known as the "point man on gun control." He is an avowed enemy of the Second Amendment and will wield enormous power in the battle for the future of our firearm freedoms.
Obama's SECOND attack on YOU: If Hillary Clinton is confirmed as Secretary of State, she'll rip the Second Amendment right out of the Bill of Rights. She'll be our nation's top diplomat with the power to determine whether the United Nations will pass, and Obama will sign, a global gun ban treaty that will surrender our Second Amendment rights and our national sovereignty.
Obama's THIRD attack on YOU: Nominating ex-Senator and former Majority Leader Tom Daschle-an avowed enemy of NRA-to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. NRA was responsible for defeating Daschle when he ran in South Dakota for re-election to the Senate. If Daschle is confirmed, he could hold the ultimate power to declare guns a "public health menace" and regulate away our essential liberties.
Obama's FOURTH attack on YOU: Nominating Eric Holder to be Attorney General. As former Assistant Attorney General, Holder was a key architect and vocal advocate for the Clinton era's sweeping gun ban agenda. He supported national handgun licensing, mandatory trigger locks, and ending gun shows as we know them.
Just recently, Holder opposed the District of Columbia's Heller decision that declared the Second Amendment an individual right. Holder also called for reviving the Clinton gun bans and, as Attorney General, would fight in court to prevent the landmark Heller decision from being made applicable to state and local governments.
Worst of all, if Holder is confirmed as the nation's top law-enforcement officer, he would control BATFE and wield enormous power to harass gun owners and sue America's arms makers out of existence.
Obama's FIFTH attack on YOU: In the job application for the Obama Administration, he made it clear that gun owners are second-class citizens and told 80 million gun owners not to even bother applying for a job. In the "White House Personnel Data Questionnaire" he asked:
"Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage."
This chilling notice to gun owners-that they are not welcome to serve in his Administration-shows the deep hostility for Americans' Second Amendment Freedoms that Obama and his Administration have in their hearts.
On its face, that question endorses gun registration-a mandate in only five states in our nation-and buys into the anti-gun premise that firearms are inherently dangerous and gun owners are prone to misusing them.
That's an outrageous mindset, especially for the President-elect whose sworn duty will be to uphold the U.S. Constitution, including our right to keep and bear arms.
Obama CLEARLY wants to make gun registration the law of the land.
First for employees under his control...AND THEN FOR YOU.
Working with a Congress dominated by gun haters like Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, John Conyers, Henry Waxman, and Charles Schumer!!!
Rubbing salt in gun owner wounds is the Brady Campaign, which just issued a completely bogus poll claiming that two-thirds of the Americans-including 60% of all gun owners-favor gun registration, licensing of firearm owners, and other sweeping restrictions on our firearm freedoms!
Add it all up and you have the potentialfor a Second Amendment disaster that's unlikeany other NRA members have ever battled.

Merry Christmas Poll

2008-12-05T22:00:00.001-06:00

The Great 'Christmas' vs. 'Holidays' Debate
Dec 2, 2008
-By Mark Dolliver NEW YORK Like mistletoe and spiked eggnog, it's becoming a December tradition: wrangling over whether store personnel and ads should say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays." Two new surveys find a general preference for the former option.Rasmussen Reports polling found 68 percent of respondents favoring "Merry Christmas," vs. 25 percent preferring "Happy Holidays." Men were especially likely to favor the "Christmas" version, with 71 percent doing so, vs. 65 percent of women.In a similar BIGresearch survey, 65 percent of respondents said they'd prefer that store employees say "Merry Christmas" to them, while 27 percent would rather hear "Happy Holidays." Moreover, 88 percent said they consider it "proper" for retailers to use the word "Christmas" in their ads.Inevitably, there's a partisan split in this seasonal debate. The Rasmussen poll found Republicans much more likely than Democrats (84 percent vs. 51 percent) to say they prefer "Merry Christmas." Conversely, Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to favor "Happy Holidays" (43 percent vs. 13 percent).Well, have a nice December!

New Rasmussen Poll Concerning Pardons

2008-12-05T21:51:00.002-06:00

46% Say Congress Should Be Able To Override Presidential Pardons
Friday, December 05, 2008
Forty-six percent (46%) of U.S. voters say Congress should be able to overturn presidential pardons it thinks are unjustified, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Thirty-seven percent (37%) believe Congress should not have that power, and 18% are undecided.
Fifty-two percent (52%) of female voters say Congress should be able to override pardons they don’t approve of, compared to 39% of male voters. Forty-six percent (46%) of men believe Congress should not have that power, but only 28% of women agree.
Most likely reflecting the current situation where a Republican president is granting pardons while Democrats control Congress, 58% of Democrats think Congress should have the power to overturn pardons, compared to 40% of GOP voters. Forty-six percent (46%) of Republicans say Congress should not be able to do so versus just 25% of Democrats. A plurality of unaffiliated voters by six points think Congress should not have the power to override the president.
Catholics and Evangelical Christians both give the edge to Congress, while other Protestants are evenly divided on the question.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of African-American voters think Congress should be able to overturn pardons, compared to 44% of whites.
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The end of presidential administrations historically are a time when presidents issue pardons. President Bush granted more than a dozen pardons right before Thanksgiving and is sure to announce more before he leaves office in January. Unlike the pardons of several of his predecessors, most recently President Clinton, Bush’s have not raised any criticism thus far.
The most famous pardon is President Gerald Ford’s of his immediate predecessor, Richard Nixon, in 1974.
Fourteen percent (14%) of voters say Bush’s pardons will be more justified than those of previous presidents, while 22% say they will be less justified. Fifty-four percent (54%) believe they will be about the same as those of his predecessors. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided.
Eighteen percent (18%) of men say Bush’s pardons will be more justified, but just 10% of women agree.
Twenty-two percent (22%) of Republicans feel that way, compared to 14% of unaffiliated voters and six percent (6%) of Democrats. Thirty-six percent (36%) of Democratic voters think Bush’s pardons will be less justified, a view shared by only 11% of Republicans and 14% of unafilliateds.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, a Democrat, has asked Bush to commute the prison sentence of George Ryan, the former Illinois Republican governor who was convicted in 2006 on federal corruption charges, but 66% of the state’s voters oppose a pardon for Ryan.
President-elect Obama’s nominee for attorney general, Eric Holder, who served in the Justice Department at the time, is likely to face questioning from Congress about his involvement in Clinton’s pardon of financier Marc Rich in 2001 under questionable circumstances.
Voters aren’t too concerned about the Holder nomination, announced on Monday, however. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval Index now gives Obama a +28 rating, matching his highest level yet.
For the most part voters appear to have confidence in the time-honored practice of presidential pardons. Fifty-eight percent (58%) say a good case is most important when seeking a pardon. Just 21% say political connections are most important, and 14% put the emphasis on a good attorney. Seven percent (7%) aren’t sure.
See the rest of the story at http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/46_say_congress_should_be_able_to_override_presidential_pardons

Rasmussen Poll Best Days Ahead

2008-12-05T21:45:00.000-06:00

America's Best Days
GOP Voters Grow Slightly More Optimistic About America’s Future
Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Thirty-eight percent (38%) of Republican voters now say America’s best days are in the future, while 48% think they are in the past, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Just after the election, only 30% of GOP voters thought the nation’s best days were ahead while 55% said they had come and gone.
Democrats say America’s best days lie ahead by a 53% to 30% margin. Among unaffiliated voters, 48% say the nation’s best days are in the future while 35% say they are in the past.
Overall, 47% of voters say America’s best days are in the future, while 37% say they are in the past.
Black voters also grew even more optimistic than they were just after Election Day. Now, 73% say the country’s best days are still to come, compared to 68% on November 6. Just 17% believe the nation’s best days already happened, compared to 23% in November.
White voters remain divided, with 43% who say the best days are still to come and 41% who say the opposite.
These numbers come as confidence among consumers and investors continue to hover around record lows in the Rasmussen Consumer Index, and one fourth of workers worry about losing their jobs in the Rasmussen Employment Index.
However, Barack Obama’s approval ratings continue to rise to record highs in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Approval Index.
The latest survey also found that 63% of American voters view society as fair and decent, while 24% see it as unfair and discriminatory. Those numbers have changed little over the past month.
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Black voters are less positive today than they were immediately after Obama was elected president. Just 23% view society as fair and decent, down from 42% on November 6. Over half (53%) now view society as unfair and discriminatory, up from 46% in November.
A separate survey conducted just after Election Day found that black voters grew more positive about relations between blacks and whites after the election.
While 68% of men view society as fair and decent, 59% of women agree. Twenty-one percent (21%) of men and 28% of women see U.S. society as being unfair and discriminatory.
Voters continue to favor a government that provides fewer services and sets lower taxes over one that demands higher taxes but offers more services by a 59% to 28% margin. Over half of Democrats prefer more services with higher taxes, while the majority of GOP and unaffiliated voters favor the opposite approach.
The plurality of voters (45%) believe America’s allies should do what the United States wants when it comes to foreign policy, while 21% say this country should do what its allies want. Another 27% say neither should be the case. Those percentages remain relatively steady each month.
Finally, 73% of voters say people who move here from foreign countries should adopt American culture, while just 13% say they should maintain the cultures of their home countries. Those numbers have also held steady.
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Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.
The Rasmussen Reports ElectionEdge™ Premium Service for Election 2008 offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a Presidential election.
Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.

What Is Flying Over Austin?

2008-12-05T21:29:00.003-06:00

See what is flying over Austin. Who is responsible? Is it an OU fan? Is it A Texas Tech fan? No it's a Texas fan. Is Mac hot about this?

You Will Not Believe This Story

2008-12-04T21:40:00.001-06:00

Just a little double standard, don't you think!
Bob

Thursday, December 4, 2008ANN ARBOR, MI — “A despicable double standard.” That’s what Thomas More Law Center President, Richard Thompson said as he blasted the University of Toledo’s response justifying its firing of Crystal Dixon from her post as Associate VP for Human Resources. Thompson was reacting to a press statement released by the University that claimed Dixon’s firing was about her ability to perform her sensitive job as associate vice president for human resources because of her statements in the Toledo Free Press.Dixon’s past job performance at the University – spanning six years and all in Human Resources – has always been outstanding. Her last job evaluation was excellent. In July 2007, Dixon was promoted to Interim Associate VP for Human Resources over all UT campuses. One month before she was fired, she was made permanent Associate VP for Human Resources (no longer interim). Of course all that changed once she publicly expressed her private views on homosexuality based upon her Christian faith.Thompson pointed to the fact that less than 6 months before Dixon was fired over her comments, the University’s vice provost, Carol Bresnahan, publicly attacked Christians who opposed domestic partnership laws, without being fired. Thompson said, “The University of Toledo has displayed a double standard that trashes the right to free speech. UT’s President encourages those who support the radical homosexual agenda to speak out, but punishes Christians who oppose the agenda.” In a December 22, 2007 Toledo Blade article, UT Provost Bresnahan, identified as an official of the University, attacked those who opposed the law on domestic partnership registry as bigots. She said, “It’s their religious beliefs, and bigotry in the name of religion is still bigotry.” Bresnahan, an admitted lesbian, was in effect attacking Toledo Catholic Bishop Leonard Blair who publicly expressed disappointment on behalf of many people in Toledo regarding the registry law enacted by the Toledo City Council.This past May, Dixon was fired by the University’s President because she responded to an opinion article written by the editor-in-chief of the Toledo Free Press entitled, “Gay Rights and Wrongs.” Dixon wrote a letter of response based on her personal perspective. She wrote, “As a Black woman ... I take great umbrage at the notion that those choosing the homosexual lifestyle are ‘civil rights victims.’ Here's why. I cannot wake up tomorrow and not be a Black woman. I am genetically and biologically a Black woman and very pleased to be so as my Creator intended.”Further proof of the double standard was the UT President’s speech at a “Celebrate Diversity Week” rally in March 2007. He urged his audience to speak out about diversity. He said “If you have something to say, speak out and speak up. Speak up and never let it be said that people can’t hear you. You are important to this university. You are important to me, I care about you.” Apparently, he did not mean Christians who oppose the homosexual agenda. The Thomas More Law Center defends and promotes the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life through education, litigation, and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is supported by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations, and is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization. You may reach the Thomas More Law Center at (734) 827-2001 or visit our website at www.thomasmore.org .

Wal Mart

2008-12-04T21:09:00.002-06:00

HOW BIG IS WAL*MART?
1 . At Wal-Mart, Americans spend $36,000,000 every hour of every day.
2 . This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!
3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) than Target sells all year.
4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target + Sears + Costco + K-Mart combined.
5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people and is the largest private employer.
6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the World
7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger & Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only 15 years.
8. During this same period, 31 Supermarket chains sought bankruptcy (including Winn-Dixie). 9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.
10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had 5 years ago.
11. This year, 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at a Wal-Mart store. (Earth's population is approximately6.5 billion.)
12. 90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart
13. Let Wal-Mart bail out Wall Street

Supreme Court Reviewing Obama's Citizenship

2008-12-04T16:47:00.001-06:00

CHICAGO — The U.S. Supreme Court will consider Friday whether to take up a lawsuit challenging President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship, a continuation of a New Jersey case embraced by some opponents of Obama's election.
The meeting of justices will coincide with a vigil by the filer's supporters in Washington on the steps of the nation's highest court.
The suit originally sought to stay the election, and was filed on behalf of Leo Donofrio against New Jersey Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells.
Legal experts say the appeal has little chance of succeeding, despite appearing on the court's schedule. Legal records show it is only the tip of an iceberg of nationwide efforts seeking to derail Obama's election over accusations that he either wasn't born a U.S. citizen or that he later renounced his citizenship in Indonesia.
The Obama campaign has maintained that he was born in Hawaii, has an authentic birth certificate, and is a "natural-born" U.S. citizen. Hawaiian officials agree.
Among those filing lawsuits is Alan Keyes, who lost to Obama in the 2004 Illinois Senate race. Keyes' suit seeks to halt certification of votes in California. Another suit by a Kentucky man seeks to have a federal judge review Obama's original birth certificate, which Hawaiian officials say is locked in a state vault.
Other suits have been filed by Andy Martin, whose case was dismissed in Hawaii, and by an Ohio man whose case also was dismissed. Five more suits, all later dismissed, were filed in Hawaii by a person who is currently suing the "Peoples Association of Human, Animals Conceived God/s and Religions, John McCain (and) USA Govt." The plaintiff previously sought to sue Wikipedia and "All News Media."
The most famous case questioning Obama's citizenship was filed in Pennsylvania in August on behalf of Philip J. Berg and sought to enjoin the Democratic National Committee from nominating Obama. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to accept the case. Earlier, a federal judge rejected it for "lack of standing" — ruling that Berg had no legal right to sue. In cases like this, judges sometimes believe the matter is best left to political institutions, such as the Electoral College or Congress, said legal scholar Eugene Volokh of the University of California at Los Angeles.
The remaining case with the highest profile is Donofrio vs. Wells. Because it was distributed by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to other justices for conference, it gained undue importance for people unschooled in how the court works, Volokh said.
Many petitioners seeking stays of pending events have their cases distributed to the full court, he said. Of those, Volokh found that 782 were denied in the last eight years while just 60 were heard — and not all of those ultimately were successful.

Just Say No

2008-12-04T16:43:00.000-06:00

To our Oklahoma Delegation:

Please do not bail out the Big Three auto makers. The United Auto Workers have not made any serious concessions. To be paid $168,000 a year, to screw bolts onto a part using an air driven-socket wrench is ridiculous ! I taught engineering at the University of Oklahoma for over forty years and never came close to making that kind of money.

Let them file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. If they don't survive, then Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mercedes etc will provide us with all the American made cars that we need at a cheaper price.

It will be much cheaper for us to pay unemployment insurance to these guys than to increase our debt by 25-125 billion dollars. We survived the death of Studebaker and Hudson auto companies, and we can survive the death of GM, etc.

We don't need to pile on more debt to our kids and grandkids.

It's time to say NO to Bailouts. They have not worked! We are turning our country into a socialist state.The pursuit of Happiness is available to individuals,but the government cannot guarantee Happiness.

Thank You,

Prof. Edward F Blick
Norman, OK

Sheriff Lester Picks Burnett

2008-12-02T21:17:00.000-06:00

Sheriff-elect Joe Lester selected Rhett Burnett as his new Under Sheriff today. Sheriff Lester could not have picked a better person for the job. Rhett has been with District Attorney's office for the past 15 years and he is widely regarded as one of the state's top investigators.
Bob

Full Page Ad In Chicago Paper Challanges Obama

2008-12-02T14:49:00.003-06:00

Obama Birth Certificate Rears Its Head - Again
By Liza Porteus VianaDec 1st 2008 2:44PM

Filed Under:eBarack Obama, 2008 President, Obama Administration
The election may be over, but not the controversy.Just when you thought the flap over the genuineness of Barack Obama's birth certificate was all said and done, in comes the We The People Foundation. The group purchases a full-page ad in The Chicago Tribune - the newspaper of the president-elect's hometown - today and Wednesday, called "Open Letter to Mr. Obama." It's described by the foundation as a "formal Petition for a Redress (Remedy) for the alleged violation of the 'natural born citizen' clause of the Constitution of the United States of America." Click here to view the ad."Mr. Obama is respectfully requested to direct the Hawaiian officials to provide access to his original birth certificate on December 5-7 by our team of forensic scientists, and to provide additional documentary evidence establishing his citizenship status prior to our Washington, D.C. press conference on December 8," the foundation says. PolitiFact has said it has no reason to doubt the authenticity of the document.Among other complaints, the foundation charges:-that the Obama campaign posted on the Internet an "unsigned, forged and thoroughly discredited, computer-generated birth form created in 2007"-the Hawaii Dept of Health won't confirm Obama's assertion that you were born in Hawaii (the director of Hawaii's Department of Health on Oct. 31 personally verified that the health department holds Obama's original birth certificate.)-there are legal affidavits stating Obama was actually born in Kenya-Obama's grandmother is recorded on tape saying she attended your birth in Kenya.-In 1965, Obama's mother legally relinquished whatever Kenyan or U.S. citizenship she and her son had by marrying an Indonesian and becoming a naturalized Indonesian citizen.We the People is in the process of choosing the forensic scientists who would travel to Hawaii to examine Obama's original birth certificate, if Obama directs Hawaiian officials to provide it. The group estimates costs will be about $20,000 to successfully complete the task, and they need money. Any donors out there?The birth certificate issue is like this annoying itch that just won't go away. During the campaign, the Obama camp tried to stamp out the rumors by posting information - and the birth certificate - on its Fight the Smears site. But that apparently hasn't stopped the rumor mill.A Kentucky truck driver last week filed a demand that Obama prove he is a natural-born U.S. citizen. Daniel John Essek, 47, wants the former Illinois senator to provide a copy of his birth certificate to a federal judge in London for verification."I may very well be chasing windmills thinking they're monsters," Essek told the Lexington Herald-Leader.A Pennsylvania judge threw out a pre-election court challenge to the citizenship issue, saying its arguments were frivolous. Other similar lawsuits have also been filed.Right Side News on Sunday so graciously pointed out that "Hawaii Revised Statute 338-17.8 allows registration of birth in Hawaii for a child that was born outside of Hawaii to parents who, for a year preceding the childs birth, claimed Hawaii as their place of residence. The parents would be issued a Certification of Live Birth. This is not proof of where the child was born. It only proves that the parents claimed Hawaii as their main place of residence for the prior year."This Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court judges will conference. It's expected the question of whether Obama is actually eligible to become the next president will come up. If four of the nine justices vote to hear the case, brought by Leo C. Donofrio against the New Jersey secretary of state, oral argument may be scheduled. You know the Internet is going to be abuzz with activity surrounding Friday's conference. We'll try to sift through the sludge and bring you the facts.UPDATE: Here's my Q&A with We The People Foundation Chairman Bob Schulz:Q.) Why don't you believe that the Hawaiian authorities have vouched for the authenticity of the birth certificate filed with that state for President-elect Obama? The state's Department of Health director on Oct. 31 released a statement verifying the legitimacy of Obama's birth certificate. DOH Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino and the registrar of vital statistics, Alvin Onaka, have personally verified that the health department holds Obama's original birth certificate.A.) Yes, Hawaii officials have publicly verified that they possess Obama's original birth certificate, however in their official press release they fail to state it is an original birth certificate from Hawaii.In fact, under Hawaiian law, a foreign born child can be registered as a naturalized (but not "natural born") U.S. citizen following application of the parents, (See, Hawaiian law provides for registration of out-of-state births under HRS 338-17.8. ). Such persons would be eligible to receive a "Certification of Live Birth" from the state, such as the document Obama has proffered. "Naturalized" citizens, such as the Governor of California, cannot hold the office of President.This of course, does not resolve the thornier issue as to the content of Obama's birth document. Specifically the stated "place of birth" may not in fact reflect the physical location of Obama's birth (as evidenced by the "original" certificate of Live Birth claimed to be in the possession of Hawaii officials), but rather the local Hawaii residency of the U.S. parent claimed in a birth registration application such as that provided by HRS 338-17.8 (See above). In any event the document is simply a computer-created document based upon the entries in a computer database, which may have been conceivably tampered with at some point.Hawaii law also provides for "amending" birth certificates. From the official web page: "Amended certificates of birth may be prepared and filed with the Department of Health, as provided by law, for 1) a person born in Hawaii who already has a birth certificate filed with the Department of Health or 2) a person born in a foreign country."In short, the document proffered by Obama does not contain all the information needed to conclusively verify that he is legally eligible to hold the Office of President.Additionally, beyond their refusal to minimally confirm that Obama was born in Hawaii, state officials also refuse to comment on the authenticity of Obama's birth document.All these questions could be resolved by Obama by simply providing access to his original birth certificate.Q.) What reputable sources have discredited the birth certificate already produced by Obama?A.) Attorney Phil Berg states in his lawsuit against Obama, "...three (3) independent Document Forensic Experts performed extensive Forensic testing on the Certificate of Live Birth posted on Obama's campaign website."He has not publicly identified his sources but one of them is reported to be a reputable professional forensics expert going under the pseudonym "Polarik" for his family's protection. His latest comprehensive report concluding Obama's document is a forgery can be found here. He has also posted a short YouTube video.Q.) How much did you pay for these 2 full-page ads (on Dec. 1 and 3)?A.) Tens of thousands of dollars. It was a negotiated amount.Q.) What sort of reaction have you received so far to the ads?A.) We have experienced significant media interest from primarily talk shows and newspapers, including some well-known media entities. We have hoped that our ads would spur public debate on this topic and hopefully, this may have begun.In the end, there is no practical reason why Obama refuses to produce his original birth certificate. He is seeking the Office of President and has a duty to provide evidence that he meets the explicit requirements established by the Constitution.

Republican Rejected, But Not Conservative Values

2008-12-02T13:29:00.002-06:00

This is a very interesting article. I hope you will take the time to read it.
Bob
Republicans Rejected, But Not Conservative Values
By Warren Cole SmithEvangelical News PressNovember 26, 2008

The Republicans took a beating on Nov. 4. There can be no doubt about that. Barack Obama won the presidency, and the Democrats gained seats in both the House and the Senate.
But was the election a disaster? Hardly. As political strategist Karl Rove said, “In a year when all currents were running against Republicans and our campaign was lackluster and erratic, Barack Obama received only 3.1 points more than Al Gore in 2000 and only 4.6 more than John Kerry in 2004.”
Rove is right: this wasn’t a landslide. If you look at a map of the nation “colored in” by county, you’ll still see a lot more red than blue. And if you drill down, while Republicans might be wringing their hands, this social conservative finds much to like about this election. Here are a few lessons from the 2008 election that bode well for the future.

Culture Still Matters. Marriage amendments won California, Arizona, and Florida - and they won against overwhelming odds. California is the largest and one of the most liberal states in the nation, and the campaign against Proposition 8, the pro-marriage amendment, was extraordinarily well-funded. Yet it carried 52 percent of the vote, and 70 percent of African-Americans voted for it. Even Barack Obama is against gay marriage. This is a winning issue for social conservatives.

Moderate Republicans Were (Properly) Chastened. There has been some astonishment outside of North Carolina that “even Elizabeth Dole” got beat. But the truth is that she has been the very archetype of what has gone wrong with the Republican Party. Her departure may have cost the Republicans a seat in the Senate, but it is a welcome purging. And she is just one of many wishy-washy moderates among the Republican leadership who have been replaced by solid “movement conservatives” such as Indiana’s Mike Pence. Pence and his conservative friends know the Republicans can’t win by being faux-Democrats. Expect to see a clearly articulated and politically sophisticated conservatism come from them in the months and years ahead.

A Deep Bench Emerges. With “old line” candidates such as John McCain and Rudy Giuliani headed for the showers, a strong bench is headed for the field - and they’re all pro-family, pro-life, limited-government, pro-defense conservatives. Governors Sarah Palin (Alaska), Bobby Jindal (Louisiana), and Tim Pawlenty (Minnesota) have long been mentioned as possible candidates. But now a new name moves to the top tier. South Carolina’s Mark Sanford was elected chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association, leapfrogging the aforementioned governors onto a highly visible platform. Sanford has long had the ideas; indeed, he may be the most intellectually vigorous politician in America today. He’s also got the best resume of the crowd: service in Congress, two terms as governor, and he’s a reserve officer in the U.S. Air Force. Look for him to be mentioned more and more as a possibility for president in the months ahead.

Are there still problems? As Sarah Palin would say, “You betcha.” Obama has promised to undo years of grass-roots legislative work on the life issue by signing the misnamed Freedom of Choice Act. It’s likely that he will have the chance to appoint at least two Supreme Court justices. The only good news there is that Obama appointments will likely replace liberals, thereby not changing the balance of the court. But judicial appointments at lower levels will likely have an impact on the judicial system of America for many years. And there are other concerns. Conservatives have to learn how to talk with African-Americans and Hispanics, who share many of our values, but who feel (sometimes justifiably, and sometimes not) they have been made scapegoats of Republican demagoguery.
But let me reiterate: things could be and have been much, much worse for conservatives in America. In fact, I would say that the “conservative” brand is in much better shape than either the “liberal” or “Republican” brand. So now is not the time to give up. It is the time to dig in. America’s and conservatism’s greatest victories are not behind us, but before us.

Warren Cole Smith is a North Carolina resident and the editor and publisher of Evangelical Press News Service.

WorldNet Daily Calls Obama A Fake

2008-12-02T10:25:00.001-06:00

OBAMA WATCH CENTRALImaging guru: 'Certification' of birth time, location is fake'It would be hard to perform as president from behind jail cell door at Leavenworth'
Posted: December 01, 200810:20 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh© 2008 WorldNetDaily
A guru on the "Certification of Live Birth" Barack Obama's campaign posted online to rebut charges he is ineligible to be president due to the Constitution's "natural born citizen" requirement says it's a fake, and further, that such fraud is criminal.
The Obama campaign has told WND such allegations are "garbage," but Dr. Ron Polarik, who holds a Ph.D. in instructional media specializing in computer technology such as printers, scanners and digital imaging, disagrees. His analyses have been posted online in a YouTube video, which also is embedded here:
He explained to WND his four months of research on the images, including nearly 1,000 test images using actual scans and photographs of real certifcates, reveal there are several "giveaways" on the image itself. For example, the document has gray and white between the lettering, not green pixels as the rest of the background document, suggesting someone cut-and-pasted or typed new information that was embedded on top of the background.
Where's the proof Barack Obama was born in the U.S. and thus a "natural born American" as required by Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution? If you still want to see it, sign WND's petition demanding the release of his birth certificate.
Also, Polarik said although the Obama form has a border and seal from 2008, it purportedly was obtained in 2007. He said the seal does not match seals on other documents from 2007, but does match those from 2008. His full report is posted at Polarik.blogtownhall.com.
In Polarik's view, there has to be a significant reason for a political candidate and campaign to go to such lengths.
"Obviously, there's something very critical to hide, or they wouldn't have spent the million dollars in legal fees to prevent the release of his original birth certificate," Polarik told WND.
"There's absolutely something to hide," he said. "If he was born in Hawaii they would have had a luau that would be continuing today.
"Not that the people who voted for him would care," he said, "but they used this forged document to convince the American voters.
"It's a scary thought to have someone who essentially begins his presidency as a criminal," he said, because the use of a faked document as identification is, in fact, a crime, he noted.
"It would be hard to perform as president from behind jail cell door at Leavenworth," he said.
The video has Polarik's face and voice disguised and he confirmed in talking with WND that he's using an assumed name because of the threats he's reported receiving.
Polarik said the issue of the birth location is a "chink" in Obama's armor, but the Democrat also has declined to release information about his college years, about his selective service and about his passports, including on what nation's passport he traveled to Pakistan two decades ago when it was illegal to go there as a U.S. citizen.
Polarik describes his findings and conclusions on the video.
WND columnist Janet Porter has written extensively about the birth certification issue.
"Look, we're not asking for the world here. Neither is the Constitution. Some pretty basic requirements like being 35 years old, having 14 years residency in the United States, and being a natural born citizen. When Senator John McCain was questioned about it, he showed his birth certificate without hesitating. When Barack Obama was asked by courts including the U.S. Supreme Court, he ducked and hid behind the right to privacy," she writes.
"Ironically, when Obama was running for the State Senate, he won by disqualifying every candidate who ran against him in the primary, including a guy who had been through a nasty and salacious divorce. Even though he had a small child who could be hurt by the information being made public, a court decided that the public's right to know; outweighed this poor fella's right to privacy, and he backed out. Obama clings to the 'right to privacy' regarding his own qualifications, just not his opponents."
She also noted the issue won't go away, and recommended a visit to ObamaForgery.com to review what's happening.
"These are the facts," she wrote. "The Constitution requires the president to be a natural born citizen. Obama's grandmother said she was there when Barack was born in Kenya. Obama refuses to release his original birth certificate. Instead of a birth certificate, Obama's campaign posted a certification given to those born abroad. Experts have called even that document an 'obvious forgery.'"
"Our Constitution still matters," she said.
Her group, Faith2Action, is working on funding for the purchase of time for a new television ad on the issue.
In the Philadelphia Bulletin, constitutional lawyer Edwin Vieira said a multitude of problems could result.
"Let's assume he wasn't born in the U.S.," Vieira told the newspaper. "What's the consequence? He will not be eligible. That means he cannot be elected validly. The people and the Electoral College cannot overcome this and the House of Representatives can't make him president. So what's the next step? He takes the oath of office, and assuming he's aware he's not a citizen, then it's a perjured oath.

"He may have nominated people to different positions; he may have nominated people to the judicial branch, who may have been confirmed, they may have gone out on executive duty and done various things," said Vieira. "The people that he's put into the judicial branch may have decided cases, and all of that needs to be unzipped."
"Let's say we go a year into this process, and it all turns out to be a flim-flam," he told the newspaper. "What's the nation's reaction to that? What's going to be the reaction in the next U.S. election? God knows. It has almost revolutionary consequences, if you think about it."
He continued, "[The birth certificate], in theory, should be there. What if it isn't? Who knows, aside from Mr. Obama? Does Russian intelligence know it isn't there? Does Chinese intelligence know it isn't there? Does the CIA know that it isn't there? Who is in a position to blackmail this fellow?"
Vieira expressed confidence Obama eventually will be forced to produce documentation.
"Let's assume that an Obama administration passes some of these controversial pieces of legislation he has been promising to go for, like the FOCA (Freedom of Choice) Act," he told the newspaper. "I would assume that some of those surely will have some severe civil or criminal penalties attached to them for violation. You are now the criminal defendant under this statute, which was passed by an Obama Congress and signed by President Obama. Your defense is that is not a statute because Mr. Obama is not the president. You now have a right and I have never heard this challenged, to subpoena in a criminal case, anyone who has relevant evidence relating to your defenses. And you can subpoena them duces tecum, meaning 'you shall bring with you the documents.'"
WND founder and editor Joseph Farah has launched a program to allow concerned voters to express their desire directly to the U.S. Supreme Court for the issue to be resolved.
A conference among the justices is scheduled Friday on a New England challenge to Obama's eligibility.
"The case is brought by Leo C. Donofrio against Nina Wells, the New Jersey secretary of state, and questions whether Obama is a 'natural-born citizen' as required by Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution," Farah reported.
"It would seem a simple matter to resolve," he said. "Barack Obama could have put this issue to rest long ago by producing a complete birth certificate from Hawaii. Instead, he has chosen to stonewall the matter, citing a website post of what can only be characterized as a partial representation of a birth certificate – one that has been criticized as a forgery.
"Meanwhile, some of Obama's own Kenyan relatives claim to have been present at his birth in Mombasa. This controversy, which some have dismissed as frivolous, is as serious as the literal meaning of the Constitution itself."
The nation's Electoral College, the process through which Obama is to be formally voted as the next president, will meet Dec. 15, and his inaugural is scheduled Jan. 20.
Meanwhile, more than 125,000 have signed WND's petition seeking full disclosure of Obama's information.
The petition cites the U.S. Constitution's requirement that no one can be sworn into office as president without being a natural born citizen. It also asserts there are questions about Obama's reported Hawaii birth, that the Democrat has refused repeated calls to document his birth, that activist judges have declined to require him to shed light on the issue and that Hawaii – at the time of Obama's birth – allowed parents whose children were born in other locations to register the birth there.
WND's petition is available online, and more information is available at this link.

They Are Coming For Your Gun

2008-12-01T16:08:00.003-06:00

This is being introduced in each state
starting with California, New York, Illinois, Hawaii, Maryland, Indiana, Tennessee, and Washington.

"No later than January 1, 2011,
all non coded ammunition for the calibers listed in this act,
whether owned by private citizens or retail outlets,
shall be disposed."

Do not let these types of so-called laws be passed!
They are coming for your guns.
Now they will find the unregistered ones via registered ammo.

All tyrants use the registration records
to confiscate guns from potential resistors.

Also, if someone steals your ammo and commits a crime, they will come to the one who has it registered.

Many law-abiding people who have guns but do not have Drivers license or government issued ID
cannot buy ammunition.

I do not have a Driver's license nor a government issued ID.
Nor do I want one or be forced to have one

By 2011, it will be a crime to have
Non coded ammunition in your possession

When fines are collected,
where does the money go?
Yes, you are right!...To build a bigger empire.

They are also taxing ammo
at the rate of 5 cents for each round.

Do not let it happen
5 cents today could be $1.00 per round tomorrow

Creates the Ammunition Accountability Act. Provides that all firearm ammunition manufactured or sold in the State of Illinois on or after January 1, 2010 shall be coded by the manufacturer. Provides that effective January 1, 2010, all firearm ammunition used within the State of Illinois shall be coded by the manufacturer. Provides that on or after January 1, 2010, a person in possession of non-coded ammunition that was manufactured prior to January 1, 2010, may transfer the same only to an heir, to an individual residing in another state maintaining the ammunition in another state, or to a federally licensed firearms dealer. Provides that the Department of State Police shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining an Ammunition Coding System Database (ACSD) containing specified information. Establishes penalties and exemptions.
The "coding" is applied to the base of the bullet (where it's apparently supposed to hold together through firing and impact, in order to identify the ammunition. Now these bills (or this bill, really) exempt shotgun ammunition (which makes sense--the idea of encoding the hundreds of .08" diameter pellets in a round of #9 shot is obviously ridiculous), and muzzle-loader ammunition.

The other two bills, HB 4269 and HB 4349 are both called the "Regulated Firearms Encoded Ammunition Act," and although somewhat different from the first two bills, appear to be identical to each other. Here's the summary of these bills:
Creates the Regulated Firearms Encoded Ammunition Act and amends the State Finance Act. Provides that a manufacturer of ammunition for handguns and certain specified assault weapons sold in this State after January 1, 2009 must encode the ammunition in such a manner that the Director of State Police establishes. Provides that ammunition contained in one ammunition box may not be labeled with the same serial number as the ammunition contained in any other ammunition box from the same manufacturer. Provides that on or before January 1, 2011, an owner of ammunition for use in a regulated firearm that is not encoded by the manufacturer shall dispose of the ammunition. Provides that beginning on January 1, 2009, the Director of State Police shall establish and maintain an encoded ammunition database. Creates the Ammunition Accountability Fund as a special fund in the State treasury. Provides that subject to appropriation, the Department of State Police may use moneys from the Fund to establish and maintain the encoded ammunition database. Provides that beginning January 1, 2009, each person selling encoded ammunition at retail in this State shall collect from retail customers a fee of $0.05 for each round that is sold and delivered in this State. Establishes civil and criminal penalties for violations of the Regulated Firearms Encoded Ammunition Act. Effective January 1, 2009.
These bills are apparently intended to mollify hunters, by "only" going after ammunition intended for handguns and so-called "assault weapons." This, of course, is ridiculous, as handguns have been built in nearly every caliber that rifles have, including the terrifying, airline-busting .50 BMG "weapon of war" (that's sarcasm, if you're wondering) and the .600 Nitro Express elephant gun cartridge. Additionally, "assault weapons" aren't chambered in special "assault weapon" calibers (although that little fact is conveniently ignored by the folks pushing bans of "high-powered assault weapons"), so there is no such thing as a special category of "'assault weapon' ammunition." In fact, the bill defines "assault weapon" by type, and among the designated "assault weapons" are several 12 gauge shotguns, meaning that, unlike the other bills, these two will apply to 12 gauge shotgun ammunition (.410 shotgun shells would also be affected, because the Taurus "Judge" means that .410 shells are "handgun ammunition"). Hunters take note.

Both types of bill have the program administered by the Illinois State Police--an organization that in it's zeal for citizen disarmament, has no compunction about breaking the law.

I mention banning ammunition, because although the bills won't explicitly do that, the enormous costs of tooling up to manufacture such ammunition will basically make it impractical for ammunition manufacturers to comply, meaning they'll simply have to stop selling ammunition in Illinois. The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI) has more on that, from when they were fighting such legislation in California (before California went the "microstamping" route, instead). If manufacturers (and retailers) would continue to serve the Illinois market, the cost of ammunition for the consumer would be prohibitive (even without the nickel per round tax imposed by the second set of bills).

By the way, neither bill mentions provisions for an exemption for hand loaders.

Illinois has apparently gotten tired of the slow progress of a relentless "slippery slope" procession of draconian laws, and has decided to push the state off a "teflon cliff."

Dick Morris Reports "Obama's Fund Raising"

2008-12-01T15:56:00.003-06:00

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN Published on the DickMorris.com on December 1, 2008
Myths in politics take on a life of their own and the Obama campaign has been quick to cloak its incredible electoral success with a new coat of mythology. Two fantasies, in particular, pervade the amazing triumph of the Obama candidacy: That young people propelled him to victory by finally voting in large numbers and that small donors financed his campaign.
Were either myth a reality, it would be big news. Ever since the voting age was dropped to 18, politicians have been waiting for young voters to rock the system. But turnout among the young has been consistently and disappointingly low. From the manifest enthusiasm for Obama on campuses and the mammoth crowds of young admirers he generated, it appeared that the moment for the young had finally come. In the primaries and caucuses, young people flocked to Obama's bandwagon, often supplying his top heavy margins of victory in caucus states that propelled him to victory over Hillary.
But on Election Day, it did not happen. The Fox News/Opinion Data exit polling showed that the vote cast by people under thirty held steady at 11% of the total, the same level the organization's 2004 exit polls had found. Edison Media Research/Mitofsky International found a higher proportion of the vote cast by 18-29 year olds -- 18% -- but, by the same methodology, the firm found the 2004 voter base was 17% composed of people in that age cohort. Whether the young cast 11% or 18% of the vote in 2008 makes little difference. The fact is that neither polling firm found any real increase from the levels they found four years ago.

The myth of the small donor is even more important. Most political observers did not attack Obama for his breaking of his pledge to accept public financing because of our belief that he was funding his campaign by a massive outpouring of small donations. We felt that he was single-handedly accomplishing campaign finance reform and did not mind that he opted out of the public system. Indeed, we cheered as he amassed a $600 million war chest as it signified the clout of the small donor and showed the vulnerability of the old fat cat/PAC network that others used to raise money.But we were fooled by Obama's propaganda. In a story by Fred Lucas, CNSNews reports that the Campaign Finance Institute (CFI) found that only 26% of the donors to Obama's campaign gave $200 or less, compared to 25% for President Bush's campaign in 2004. How did Obama fund his campaign? The old fashioned way, from fat cats. CFI found that he got 80% more money from large donors (over $1,000) than from those who gave less than $200.Obama did benefit from small donors slightly more than other campaigns, but not enough to make the historic statement it appeared at the time that was taking place. CFI notes that 47% of Obama's total fund raising came from large donors, compared to 60% for McCain, 60% for Bush in 2004, and 56% for John Kerry. This trend represents a movement in the right direction, but hardly the revolution that has been mythologized.These revealing stats are more than a footnote to history. They represent the denouement of a carefully cultivated myth. Obama sold America on the idea that his campaign was animated by hordes of small donors who we're attracted online. It now appears that this line was nothing more than a convenient smoke screen to mask his dependence on the traditional forces that have always funded presidential campaigns. And it puts into a new perspective the massive amount Obama raised and his brazen reversal of his public pledge to accept the limits imposed by public financing of campaigns.Now that we know that Obama funded his campaign the old way - from rich people and special interests - it is reprehensible that he did so to the tune of over $600 million. When it looked like he was using the money of small donors to buy the election, it was excusable. But we were fooled.

McGuigan Speaks Out About James Bond

2008-12-01T13:10:00.001-06:00

ENT Bond review 11-26

In new Bond film, Daniel Craig is superb as 007
By Patrick B. McGuigan
Sentinel Managing Editor

Daniel Craig may be the best James Bond ever. He certainly qualifies as the actor who has most thoroughly confounded critics who thought a blond and blue-eyed fellow known previously for artsy films and stage acting could never pass muster as Ian Fleming’s edgy, hard-drinking and frequent smoking master spy.
Frequent smoking has left the series, but edgy and hard drinking remain. Craig’s performance in the 2006 film, “Casino Royale,” blew most away most critics. With “Quantum of Solace,” a solid sequel story that begins just minutes after conclusion of the last film, Craig secures his place in the Bond pantheon alongside the original and still most popular 007, Sean Connery.
Speaking of Connery, there is a brief hotel lobby scene in “Quantum”where Craig’s character checks on a message, then retrieves a briefcase belonging to someone else, a crucial moment in the plot development. Before and after an exchange between Craig’s character and a girl at the desk, the camera provides brief glimpses of a fellow reading in an easy chair near the front desk.
I was certain it was Sean Connery. A note posted on The City Sentinel’s MySpace page, Tulsa Today’s website and Norman activist Bobby Cleveland’s blogsite brought a flurry of responses. Most agreed with me, but an impressive minority report it is Michael G. Wilson, producer of the film who has popped up (Hitchcock-like) in the last few installments. The latter group is no doubt correct, but see for yourself. The moment referenced is about a half-hour into the film.
It would help, but is not essential, to have seen the last installment before going to this one. The essentials of that story are: Bond falls in love. The object of his affections dies in a way that makes him believe he was betrayed. He was not, and thereby lies this tale.
This is a story about revenge, regret, sorrow, heartbreak and the call of duty in a world gone mad. Evil men and their minions pose as caring environmental stewards, yet still have allies among world leaders and intelligence agents when all the duplicity and deceit of the group known as “Quantum” (long-time Bond fans, think: Spectre) is understood. While certainly a brilliant action film with lots of explosives and several brutal fights, this is nonetheless a Bond story for those with literate tastes and an appreciation for compelling character portrayals.
A few critics have said this is the least subtle Bond ever filmed. I must have seen a different motion picture. Craig pours spectacular and believable emotion into a glance, a stare, a gulp of liquor, a kiss for a woman he never beds, and a flurry of eloquence in tribute after learning of the death of a woman he did.
The supporting cast is uniformly superb, but special praise goes to Olga Kurylenko as the Bolivian agent who becomes Bond’s friend, Mathieu Amalric as retired agent Rene Mathis, whose departure from the series is masterfully handled, and Jeffrey Wright as American agent and Bond friend Felix Leiter. The bad guys might be the film’s relative weakness, but one that is not disabling.
For this reviewer, this excellent movie is not quite the equal of its immediate predecessor, but my wife liked it better for both the abundance of action and Bond’s believable vulnerability and understated grief.
The film includes a poignant exchange between Craig’s Bond and the incomparable Judi Dench’s M, director of the British secret service. Their emotional back story in the “Casino” and “Quantum” gives meaning to her words, like mother to son: “I want you back.” He replies, “I never left.”
That’s good news from Bond, James Bond.

77% Want Pledge At School

2008-11-29T10:01:00.004-06:00

The Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag is an oath of loyalty to the country. It is recited at many public events. US Congressional sessions open with the recitation of the Pledge.

Seventy-seven percent (77%) of U.S. voters say school children should say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at school, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Just 13% say they should not, and nine percent (9%) are undecided.
Eighty-two percent (82%) say the words “under God” should remain in the Pledge as well. Fourteen percent (14%) think the phrase should be dropped from the Pledge, and just four percent (4%) have no opinion.
Voters are closely divided over whether students should be able to opt out of saying the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. Forty-four percent (44%) say they should be allowed to do so, but 47% disagree. Nine percent (9%) are not sure.
Support for saying the Pledge is slightly higher than in a survey for July 4 this year in which 75% of voters said they were proud of American history and nearly as many said the world would be a better place if more countries were like ours.
Men and women are in near agreement on saying the Pledge every day. Eighty-four percent (84%) of African-American voters think school children should say the Pledge daily, compared to 77% of whites.
While 91% of Republicans and 75% of unaffiliated voters say students should say the Pledge every morning, just 67% of Democrats agree. Half of Democrats (50%) say children should be able to opt out of saying the Pledge, but 58% of GOP voters say they should not be able to do so. Unaffiliateds oppose opting out by a six-point margin.
The phrase “under God” which was added to the Pledge in 1954 has been challenged in the courts in recent years, prompting Congress to consider legislation making use of the phrase mandatory under law. The legal challenges have been unsuccessful to date.
Ninety-three percent (93%) of Republicans, 80% of unaffiliated voters and 74% of Democrats say “under God” should not be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance.
Even those who characterize themselves as politically liberal support the phrase by a two-to-one margin.
Again, support is stronger among African-Americans (92%) than among whites (82%).
Seventy-two percent (72%) of voters also say people are too worried about being politically correct these days. Only 19% disagree, with nine percent (9%) undecided.
Eighty-one percent (81%) of conservatives and 73% of moderates say there is too much concern about political correctness, but just 56% of liberals agree. Seventy-six percent (76%) of white voters share this view, compared to 59% of African-Americans.
Forty-six percent (46%) of voters say the United States is truly the land of liberty and justice for all, but 42% disagree. Thirteen percent (13%) are not sure. These findings are virtually identical to those in July.
Most men believe America is a land of liberty and justice for all, but a plurality of women (45%) disagree.
While 62% of Republicans say the country is fair to all, 53% of Democrats say it is not. Unaffiliated voters are closely divided on the question, giving a slight edge to the more positive view.
Whites by a 49% to 40% margin say the United States is a country with liberty and justice for all. But just 20% of black voters agree. Sixty percent (60%) of blacks say America is not fair to all.
Two days after Barack Obama became the first African-American to be voted into the White House, the percentage of black voters who viewed American society as fair and decent jumped 18 points to 42%. Just a month earlier, only 24% of black voters viewed U.S. society as fair and decent.

Wal Mart Employee Trampled

2008-11-28T11:05:00.003-06:00

Detectives said a 34-year-old Walmart employee died when a throng of shoppers entering the store on Green Acres Road knocked him to the ground.
The victim was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead just after 6 a.m., police said. A medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
In addition, a 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a nearby hospital for observation. Three other shoppers suffered minor injuries and were taken to area hospitals.
Police said the cause of the emergency wasn’t necessarily shoppers pushing and shoving to get into the shopping center. A woman who works at the mall said someone had a heart attack outside the Walmart and insists the raucous wasn't a result of shoppers trampling over each other to get inside.
Walmart released the following statement:
"The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority.
"A tragic situation occurred this morning prior to opening at our Valley Stream, N.Y., location. We are saddened to report that a gentleman who was working for a temporary agency on our behalf died at the store and a few of our customers were injured. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families at this difficult time. At this point, facts are still being assembled and we are working closely with the Nassau County Police as they investigate what occurred.
"As there is still an ongoing investigation, any further comment would be best served coming from them."
Police are investigating.

Email From Thad Concerning Obama's Birth Certificate

2008-11-27T17:44:00.003-06:00

Received this email today from Thad.

As for these calls for an investigation of Obama's birth certificate. It AINT GONNA HAPPEN! Those Republicans who keep talking about his birth certificate are beginning to look as bad as the gays out in California who are trying to stop Proposition 8 AFTER the people decided in favor of it.

We lost the Presidential election. We have another chance in 4 years. In the meantime, get over it and criticize Obama when his policies fail.

Where was all of this passion during the campaign? Why didn't these people help us nominate a better candidate?

I'm tired of hearing about this birth certificate nonsense. Can't we talk about something more relevant?

Thad Balkman