Archive for February, 2011

The UN Sends Khadafi to bed without supper

Monday, February 28th, 2011

For every single innocent Libyan killed this week, there will be a world body with the blood of the Libyan bodies on their filthy hands.

The useless bastion of worthlessness, anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism known as the United Nations has decided to stop doing nothing and start looking busy.

Libyan strongman Moammar Khadafi has decided that he is willing to kill his own people in order to maintain his weakening grip on power. This guy is almost as dangerous and crazy as Moveon.org leaders, although he is less organized.

In an attempt to prevent genocide, the United Nations has decided to look like they have the ability and inclination to prevent it somewhere. Given their spectacular track record from Rwanda to Bosnia, it is not surprising that Khadafi would take 14 year old Libyan boys and subject them to forced 56th trimester abortions. What would the UN do to stop atrocities, something?

President Obama took a brave stand by curling up in a fetal position and sticking to what he knows, which is community organizing. Despite none of the Republicans in Wisconsin resorting to bullets to pass their bills, Mr. Obama declared them guilty of an “assault” on people. Regarding the real assaults by Khadafi against his own citizens, Mr. Obama called the situation “unacceptable.” This is code for an involuntary reflexive muscle gesture known as shoulder shrugging.

Those determined to declare Mr. Obama right about everything spouted gibberish about a tough stand endangering Americans in Libya. First of all, what the heck are Americans doing in Libya? Was Cancun out of hotel rooms? If Khadafi even dared to start firing on Americans, even Barack Obama would retaliate since going Jimmy Carter impotent would hurt him in 2012.

Yet if Mr. Obama represents individual inertia, the UN is an entire club of eunuchs who long ago failed to go to their medical practitioners to have “a pair” transplanted onto their decrepit (redacted).

In an attempt to get Khadafi Duck to stop using tactics that only Saddam Hussein or a Chicago Mayor could love, the UN has decided to send Khadafi to bed without supper. They then compromised and gave him supper but not dessert. They then decided to be flexible and give him dessert but not read him a bedtime story. They then decided to stop being cruel and give him a bedtime story but not kiss him on the forehead goodnight.

(I would not kiss that forehead…blecchhhh.)

First the UN discussed kicking Libya off of the Human Rights Council. Wow. I am sure that persuaded him to stop murdering his own people, if by persuaded one means “had no effect whatsoever.” The UN needs another week to discuss possibly having a vote on a meaningless gesture.

Then the Obama administration working (I remember when working was defined as actually doing things) in conjunction with the UN decided to issue sanctions against Libya.

Sanctions? Again with the sanctions? Which sanctions were these, the tough sanctions, sanctions with bite, meaningful sanctions, or sanctions that send a message? Was Mr. Obama crystal clear, perfectly clear, or absolutely clear?

One part of sanctions is “freezing” Khadafi’s accounts. This is nonsense. Freezing his accounts is like American politicians freezing spending. It means nothing. We can freeze the accounts of his that we know about. I am sure he does not have other secret slush funds like Yassir Arafat or past New Jersey governors. He has plenty of money, and all we are doing is freezing money that actually had a chance of going to the very Libyan people the UN does not even claim to care about.

We are placing restrictions on his air travel. We are banning him from leaving Libya. Isn’t the whole crux of the problem that he refuses to leave Libya?

(I remember as a kid by dad sent me to my room. It had no effect. Then he came in and physically carried the tv set out of my room. Let’s just say my grades improved rapidly. Taking a child’s tv is the equivalent of nuclear carpet-bombing.)

So Khadafi is determined to stay in Libya for the rest of his life and the UN sanctions him by forcing him to stay there. Libya may have some poor areas, but Khadafi does not live in the bad neighborhoods. This is like banning the UN members from leaving their five star hotels in Manhattan. Where are they going to go, the Bronx?

Let’s pretend that the UN actually cares that innocent people are being slaughtered by a meglomaniacal dictator. Let’s also pretend that Khadafi and his dwindling but ruthless band of supporters are not, to quote Zell Miller, using spitballs. Let’s assume that they are using real adult guns that fire real bullets.

Gun control advocates should notice that what separates America from Libya is that when bad guys break into American homes in Texas and Idaho, it often ends up bad for the bad guys, who are by definition…say it with me…bad.

So if the goal hypothetically is to prevent mass slaughter, could somebody in the civilized world figure out a way to get real guns with real bullets to the people being unjustly murdered? Would that be too much to ask?

This is not about sending in American troops. Just either get weapons to the innocent victims or do nothing. If the objective is to do nothing, at least admit it. Babbling about sanctions is meaningless prattle that only a State Department bureaucrat could love. They need to defog their glasses at Foggy Bottom just once.

Until then, it is comforting to know that the UN decided to rethink their approach and stop being so aggressive. They will kiss Khadafi on his forehead, but they will not pull his pants down and (redacted) him. Actually they will, but some things are so disgusting that only people as filthy and vile as UN diplomats would even publicly discuss it.

eric

CPAC Infomercial

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

This is a CPAC infomercial. I met many people there, and these are links to their sites. I started with those that are less well known since the already famous get enough attention. Yet to leave out the already well known is unfair to them. May they all grow rich(er) financially, politically, and emotionally.

Bloggers:

Doug Welch runs Stix Blog. Steve is the guy behind No Runny Eggs in Wisconsin. They are both awesome.

http://blog.stixblog.com

http://norunnyeggs.com

William Jasper is Senior Editor at the New American http://www.thenewamerican.com

Jeffrey Dunetz is a great conservative Jewish blogger at Yid With Lid http://www.jeffdunetz.com

Ryan Hartman is the brains behind Wizbang and Gabriel Malor is Ace of Spades.

http://www.wizbang.com

http://www.aceofspades.com

Beverly Perlson is the founder behind the Band of Mothers. http://www.thebandofmothers.com

John McKenna is the Boston Conservative http://www.617redmenace.wordpress.com

Beth Martinez is the co-founder of Women Go Political http:www.womengopolitical.com

Da Tech Guy is exactly that http://wwwdatechguy.wordpress.com

Charles Stone is at NewSource http://www.sambilly.biz

Craig Johnson is the Editor in Chief at the Iowa Republican http://www.theiowarepublican.com

Tom White is at Virginia Right http://www.varight.com

Rick Sincere is at the Ch’ville Libertarian Examiner http://www.ricksincere.com

Daniel McCarthy is at American Conservative Magazine http://www.amconmag.com

Matt Cover is at Cybercast News Service http://www.cnsnews.com

Media Relations and Marketing:

Audra Shay runs Project Go Pink to help elect Republican women http://www.projectgopink.com

Eric Welch is at PassCode Creative http://www.passcodecreative.com

Nancy Smith is at AdzZoo http://www.adzzoo.biz/nancysmith

Alice Linahan runs the Resolute Media Group http://www.resolutemediagroup.com

Policy:

Joseph Ben-Ami is at the Canadian Centre For Policy Studies http://www.policystudies.ca

Adam Kissel is at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education http://www.thefire.org

Roy Innis founded the Congress Of Racial Equality, and his fine legacy is being continued by his son Niger Innis and Paul Driessen. http://www.core-online.org

Art Harman is the director at the Coalition to Save Manned Space Exploration http://www.savemannedspace.com

Cliff May runs Defend Democracy. He deserves extra points for successfully skewering Jon Stewart on the Daily Show and forcing the sniveling host to for once apologize. http://www.defenddemocracy.org

Matt used to be a political director at the California Republican Party. Now he runs American Majority http://www.americanmajority.org

Reid Porter understands that oil actually works http://www.api.org

Amber Christian is at Defend Your Healthcare http://www.defendyourhealthcare.us

Jeremih Hodgkin is at FairTax Indiana http://www.fairtax.org

Eli Lehrer is at the Heartland Institute http://www.heartland.org

Susan Carleson runs the American Civil Rights Union http://www.theacru.org

Daniel Pollak does government relations at the Zionist Organization of America http://www.zoa.org

Lisa Spies is a political consultant http://www.thelsgroup.com

Rod Martin heads up the National Federation of Republican Assemblies http://www.republicanassemblies.org

William Temple is putting on Freedomfest 2011 http://www.freedomfest2011.com

Former New York Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey runs Defend Your Healthcare http://www.defendyourhealthcare.us

Americans For Prosperity consists of phenomenal human beings fighting for economic freedom. They are not a threat to democracy. They are democracy. Erik Telford of AFP also runs Right Online.

http://www.americansforprosperity.org

http://www.rightonline.com

Iowa Congressman Steve King is a very good guy. http://www.steveking.com

Robin Read runs the National Foundation For Women Legislators http://www.womenlegislators.org

Grover Norquist is the guy behind making Republicans take the anti-tax pledge at Americans for Tax Reform. http://www.atr.org

Dr. Weiss is at the Hudson Institute http://www.hudson.org

Dr. Scott Magill is at Veterans in Defense of Liberty http://vidol-america.us

Ann Salpeter Schockett heads up the Woodmere GOP http://www.woodmeregop.com

Daniel Diaz, Naphtali Rivkin, and Jordan Marks raise cain at Young Americans for Freedom. http://www.yaf.com

Kate Obenshain heads up Young America’s Foundation http://yaf.org

Inga Schweitzer heads up the Louisville, Kentucky, Young Republicans http://www.louisvilleyrs.org

Shana Jean Kluck is with the Alabama Young Republicans and other Bama groups. http://www.forwardfocusmedia.com

Eugene Pevzner is with the Brooklyn Young Republicans http://www.brooklynyrs.com

Dr. Mark Young heads up Physicians For Palin http://www.physicians4palin.com

Christine Morabito leads the Greater Boston Tea Party http://www.greaterbostonteaparty.com

Entertainment:

Lisa Mei Norton at Big Dawg Music Mafia rocks http://www.bigdawgmusicmafia.com

Norm Cady performs with Freedom Road http://www.normcady.com

Sherry Marquelle sings http://wwwsherrymarquelle.com

Cassandra is the woman behind internet sensation Paula Priesse http://www.clearglassproductions.com

Patti Lyons is a Sarah Palin impersonator http://www.sarahpalinimpostor.com

Victoria Jackson used to be on Saturday Night Live. Now she entertains politically http://www.victoriajackson.com

Radio:

Gene Berardelli is at Brooklyn GOP Radio http://www.brooklyngopradio.blogspot.com

Chad Adams is the morning man at 106.7 FM The Penguin in North Carolina http://www.thebigtalkerfm.com

Deborah Ringhaver Lane is at T-Span, Tea Party Radio http://www.tspan.us

Bill Thompson is at A More Perfect Union, also Tea Party Radio http://www.tea-party-radio.com

Michael Koolidge is based out of Illinois http://www.koolidge.com

Ellen Ratner is at Talk Radio News Service http://www.talkradionews.com

Paul Westcott is at Clearchannel http://www.clearchannel.com

Lars Larson and Dr. Laurie Roth are both nationally known and based out of the Pacific Northwest.

http://www.larslarson.com

http://www.therothshow.com

Writers:

Jerry Corsi writes for World Net Daily at Red Alert, and also founded Gilford Securities http://www.redalert.wnd.com

Jason Mattera is at Eagle Publishing http://eaglepub.com

Mark Preston is the Senior Political Editor at CNN http://www.facebook.com/mark.preston

Jack Cashill has a new book out called “Deconstructing Obama.” http://www.cashill.com

Marvin Olasky is the brains and heart behind World Magazine http://www.worldmag.com/marvinolasky

Jessica Taylor is at National Journal http://www.nationaljournal.com

Tucker Carlson runs the Daily Caller http://www.dailycaller.com

Jacquie Kubin runs the Washington Times Online http://www.communities.washingtontimes.com

To everybody I met at CPAC, I look forward to doing business with you for a long time to come.

eric

NFL Tragedy–The Death of Dave Duerson

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

Once again the National Football League flags are flying at half staff as Dave Duerson took his own life at age 50. Duerson was a feared safety on the 1985 Chicago Bears.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/news/story?id=6141129

Days before he died, he commented on the heartbreaking situation involving William “The Refrigerator” Perry.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2010/news/story?id=6091766

Very few people on this planet share my passion for the NFL. Yet the game I love is offering too much heartbreak.

While talking about suicide is not something I would normally do, this situation is different. Duerson deliberately shot himself in the chest rather than the head. He wanted his brain to remain intact. He left explicit instructions to have his brain donated to science. He wanted people to find out if the game of football destroyed his brain.

Again, I love football. Yet I am under no illusions. Football is a violent game. It destroys the body. Now we are learning that it may destroy the mind as well.

It is quite possible that football had nothing to do with Duerson’s death. After all, he had a successful financial life after football before losing it all and filing for bankruptcy. His love life collapsed as well. This obviously could have been enough, as depression sometimes leads people to end it all.

Yet ignoring the possibility that football destroyed Duerson after giving him everything cannot be allowed. Andre Ware killed himself in 2006, and his brain was damaged to the point where the physical ailment led to the mental anguish and despair.

Everything comes at a price, but is winning a Super Bowl at 25 worth dying at 50? I truly pray that the answer is a resounding no.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/3943275-419/duerson-legacy-look-out.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/23/AR2011022305999.html

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/201102/jeanne-marie-laskas-nfl-concussions-fred-mcneill?currentPage=1

Trying to balance the need to keep the players safe and the need to keep the fan interest high is a tough balancing act.

The league has made the helmets safer, thrown penalty flags, and levied fines. Players are taught to lead with their shoulder and not the crown of their helmet. They are to hit the opposing players in the chest, not the head. Yet nothing will change the fact that players become human projectiles launching at each other with the purpose of delivering hard hits.

Baseball and basketball have contact, but they are non-contact sports. Every play in football is a collision…every single play.

The NFL markets violence. Analysts celebrate hard hits and ESPN replays them. Football fans love the intensity of 4th and 1 when 22 guys are all bunched up. We love exciting kickoff returns, keeping in mind that devastating blocks and wedges often end the season for players on the losing end of such collisions.

Yet one of the problems is that while the NFL gets virtually everything right, one problem is the code of silence.

For example, Troy Aikman and Steve Young went from dueling Super Bowl champions in the 1990s to successful analysts after their careers ended. Yet their careers ended specifically because of concussions. Steve Young got hit 21 times in his next to last game. Every other play he was getting leveled. The next week he took a few more hits and was knocked out permanently. Aikman stayed in but took similar beatings. In fact, his rookie year when the team went 1-15 saw him getting belted repeatedly.

If anybody should speak up about the effects of concussions, it should be these guys. Yet if they do, maybe they will lose their jobs.

At least now there are some rules regarding concussed players. Even iron man Brett Favre was denied the right to play in his final two games because he failed the concussion tests after being slammed to the ground on his head. Aaron Rodgers just won a Super Bowl, but he barely made it through this season due to concussions.

The problem with concussions is that each concussion is exponentially worse. Retired players today from Merrill Hoge to Al Toon have suffered the effect of concussions once they stopped playing.

Americans love tough guys. We love seeing guys get belted and then get back up and win. We love teams like the 1985 Bears for their swagger and their Super Bowl Shuffle.

Yet now Refrigerator Perry cannot get out of his chair most of the time, and Dave Duerson felt he had to take his own life to get people to pay attention.

With the NFL, like in life, brief outrage and concern is replaced by normalcy and complacency.

In 1986, Cleveland Browns Safety Don Rogers died of a cocaine overdose the weekend he was supposed to be married. Had he lived the Browns may have won the Super Bowl that year. More importantly, he would have seen his wedding day. This was 8 days after Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose only 40 hours after achieving his dream of playing for the Boston Celtics.

Yet 25 years later, despite tougher testing and punishments, a select few players still do drugs.

Alcohol accidents have taken the life of players such as Stacy Toran, who at 24 was shaping up to be a great player. Yet players still drink.

Lyle Alzado abused steroids and then could not stop. He went to his grave telling players that the steroids killed him at age 43. Players still take steroids.

With Derrick Thomas, it was a car crash where he was not wearing a seat belt. Ben Roethlisberger almost died in a needless motorcycle accident.

Yet those are all off the field incidents. Many players do not drink or do drugs and then drive. Many players wear seat belts. Many players are not hopped up on roids.

Yet on the field involves violence. Every section of action is violence.

If we remove the violence, we kill the game. If we don’t contain the violence, we may be killing the very players who play the games.

I have always had the attitude that people complaining about the violence in football should man up and then shut up. Now I am not so sure.

Something has to be done regarding helmet to helmet hits. Even if they did not destroy Dave Duerson’s brain, it is indisputable that concussions can wreck the quality of a person’s life.

We need to do plenty of tests, which is what Dave Duerson wanted. We need to get to the truth of what happened to his brain.

Dave Duerson’s death was a tragedy.

Yet it would be a bigger tragedy if we ignored his dying wish.

If concussions are leading to irreversible and potentially fatal brain injuries, then steps to reduce concussions have to be taken. Period.

Football played the right way will still be violent and still be hard hitting. A player using his shoulder to level a player in the chest will still make a highlight reel. It will just not result in concussions.

Movies such as “Any Given Sunday,” “Varsity Blues,” and “The Program,” have all showed the dark side of football. Yet when the movies are over we just remember the great action and inspiring speeches, and the thrill we get watching a coach kick over a water cooler.

People are not meant to die at age 50. If they were, it would be the average life span, not 78.

Out of respect for Dave Duerson, let’s honor the game of football by making it cleaner and safer. It will still be football. The alternative is too grisly to contemplate.

Farewell Mr. Duerson. You will be missed.

eric

My Arizona Mexican Experience

Saturday, February 26th, 2011

I tend to avoid politics on the weekends, and social issues virtually always. My rule is that if the Wall Street Journal and National Review are at each other’s throats, I want no part of the fight. Illegal immigration has many passionate supporters on both sides of the issue as I am determined to stay out of it.

Yet on this quiet Saturday, I want to share my Arizona Mexican experience. This anecdote is not meant in any way to advocate a policy. It is simply a story I have been wanting to tell for some time. Just take it for what it is.

Several months ago I was supposed to speak to a Republican Women’s group in the greater Phoenix area. The drive from my home in Los Angeles to Phoenix is normally 5 1/2 hours. Rumors that I once did the drive back in 4 1/2 hours will not be confirmed in case any of the Arizona county sheriffs read my blog.

I left myself over 6 hours, and went during the day to avoid traffic as much as possible. I left home before 12:30pm for a 6:30pm event. Yet on the way there, I made a very bad mistake.

I had about a half of a tank of gasoline when I reached Quartzite, Arizona. I decided not to stop, unaware that for the next 50 miles there was nothing. In a stunning turn of events, my gas tank started rapidly going down. I cannot explain or understand why, but I was about to run out of gasoline and I was nowhere near a gas station.

I decided not to wait until I officially ran out. It was still light out, and I felt that if I was going to be stranded, it would be better not to be in the Arizona desert after dark. I called AAA, and waited for over an hour. I began flagging people down, but nobody had gasoline. Most of the people passing me were truckers, and all they had was diesel.

To make matters worse, I had forgotten to take into account the time change. Some times during the year Arizona is on West Coast time. Yet at this time of year, because they never change the clocks, they were an hour ahead. I hate non-conformists.

I called the women running the meeting, and let them know that there was no way I would make it by 6:30pm. Their meeting ended at 8:30pm, and maybe I could make it by 7:30pm. Because they had other business, they were willing to shift the schedule.

Yet the groups of people that saw me on the road fell into three categories. Some people kept on driving. Others apologized for only having diesel. Others stopped and empathized, which was of no help. A couple people promised to come back, which of course did not happen.

Things were getting desperate, and the ladies called me again to let me know that even if I could make it by 8pm, that would be ok. To have already driven for several hours to miss a meeting was not a good thing.

Finally, a ray of hope arrived.

One very small truck stopped. Three men were all sitting in the front seat. They were Mexican, and did not speak a word of English. I do not speak Spanish.

I have no idea if these men were here legally. At that moment, it was really not a concern.

Using my hands, I said the word “gasolina.” They understood that I needed some. I pointed to them and myself and kept saying “Dinero.” “Gasolina.” “Dinero.” “Gasolina.”

They understood what I meant. The driver was named Jaime. He had gasoline, and a funnel. Say what you want, the guy was prepared. He attached the funnel to my car, connected a hose, and began putting gasoline in my car.

After putting what seemed like a decent amount of gas in my car, I tried to give him $20. He tried to refuse it. I absolutely insisted he take it. I tried to give him more, but he refused.

He looked at the $20, and motioned to one of the other guys to put more gas in my car. I tried to refuse, but even without speaking English he wanted to make sure it was an honest transaction.

After putting more gas in my car, I tried to give him another $10. He adamantly refused.

He then held up his finger to say “Wait. Hold on.” He went to his car to get something. He then came back and handed it to me.

It was a canteloupe. The guy gave me a canteloupe for crying out loud. I had to accept it. When somebody offers you a gift, you accept it. I did not offer him money because he would have been insulted.

I just kept saying “gracias” to the three men and told them my name. As I prepared to leave, AAA finally showed up. AAA gave me more gasoline, and I gave them much less  money.

Thanks to Jaime and his friends, I made it to a gas station and filled the tank up. I managed to get to my speaking event at 8:15pm. I spoke for 15 minutes, and the crowd loved it. I even made some money selling books.

Again, my experience is not meant to advocate any policy change. I am certainly not saying that we should allow every illegal immigrant to come here just because three people who may have been legal anyway were nice to me.

What I am saying is that when dealing with this issue, remember that it is not about inanimate objects. Tax policy is about things. Illegal immigration is about people.

Would my attitude be different had the men beaten and robbed me instead? Of course. We are all shaped by our experiences. However, my experiences were what they were, and I am thankful that while hundreds of white Americans drove past me, three Mexicans stopped to help a guy in desperate need.

Illegal immigration is a complex issue, but the people involved are human beings. A fraction of them might be criminals, but the great majority of them are just people, blood and plasma like you and me.

I am forever thankful to Jaime and his two friends for rescuing an American citizen stranded in the Arizona desert.

That is my Arizona Mexican experience.

eric

Earth to Paulbots: You Don’t Matter

Friday, February 25th, 2011

Earth to Paulbots:

You don’t matter.

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/tygrrrr-express/2011/feb/24/earth-paulbots-you-are-irrelevant/

eric

Election 2012: The first set of wrong predictions

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

With South Dakota Senator John Thune deciding not to seek the White House, the handsomeness quotient took a hit. Normally Mr. Thune would not be a VP candidate, because South Dakota only has three electoral votes. Yet so does Wyoming, and Mr. Cheney did just fine. Mr. Thune is too telegenic not to be given a look from a Q standpoint.

With that, the first 2012 event took place. Now for some predictions that will most likely be wrong and obsolete very soon. This is a fun exercise, which is why we do it.

Let’s start with the Democrats. Anybody who thinks Barack Obama will refuse to run for reelection needs their head examined. Of course he is running again. He has the second most powerful job in the world outside of Mayor of Chicago.

He will not face a primary challenge from anybody serious. Political junkies looking for one will be disappointed. Forget it. Hillary Clinton, Russ Feingold and the rest will all have to wait until 2016. While some far left wacko like a Dennis Kucinich or Cynthia McKinney may run, this blog only deals with serious candidates. Mr. Obama will be unopposed.

As for the third party candidates, nobody I know cares. Do we really need a full length expose about Natural Law Party candidate John Hagelin running on a platform of transcendental meditation?

Either a Democrat or Republican will win, so let’s get to the Republicans.

Mitt Romney: He is the nominee. Republicans are a hierarchy, and he is next in line. He is tall with good hair, and looks like he was born wearing a red and blue diagonal necktie. He has been running since the day he lost the 2008 nomination. He is also still uber-wealthy.

Prediction: He wins the nomination.

Mike Huckabee: A year ago it absolutely looked like he was running again. Now he may not. He is perfectly qualified to be King of Iowa, yet does not seem to expand beyond the socially conservative base.

Prediction: He does not run. He will not have the money to compete if he does. He stays at his cushy Fox News job.

Newt Gingrich: Every four years he flirts with running, and then does not. This time he really looks like he is running. He is the intellectual heavyweight of the party, with plenty of substance on policy. Raising money would be easy. He is also very easy to demonize, and his personal life would be fodder for the media who despise him anyway.

Prediction: He stuns everyone by not running again. He is loved as an elder statesman but that love will disappear the moment he announces.

Tim Pawlenty: He is tall with good hair, and looks and sounds like every other white Midwestern governor since the beginning of time. He is a safe, do no harm choice. Raising money will not be easy. He is likable, but not high up in the hierarchy.

Prediction: He is running for Vice President. He needs to either run for president, do badly, and drop out very early and endorse the front-runner, or somehow run a very strong second and force his way on the ticket. If he trails badly in the race, he should avoid criticizing the front-runner at all costs. He is a solid VP choice, and most likely will be the VP choice.

Mitch Daniels: He is another white Midwestern governor, which is a polite way of saying most people has no idea who he is while those who have never heard of him or heard him will declare him boring.

Prediction: He won’t have the money. He is not running, although a larger national profile could help him get the VP nod. Unlike Minnesota, Indiana is less sensible from a strategy standpoint since it is safely Republican.

Rudy Giuliani: A year ago I would have said there was no way he was running. A 2016 bid seemed possible. Now I am not so sure. My original theory about 2008 was that the only person who could have stopped him was John McCain.

Prediction: I think he does run again, although nothing with Rudy surprises me any more. If he runs again, I will back him again. He will be financially competitive.

Chris Christie: Get over it. He is not running, and will not be a VP candidate.

Sarah Palin: She has millions of people who love and loathe her, and she is now making millions. Everybody in the GOP wants her endorsement.

Prediction: She does not run. It’s a pay cut and a loss of prestige. She plays the role McCain did in 2004, raising tons of money for the nominee.

Michele Bachmann: There is not enough room for her and Palin. Bachmann appeals to the base but she also gets the other side energized. She may not have the money to compete.

Prediction: She does not run, instead trying to move up the House leadership in 2012.

Rick Santorum: He will not have much money, but he is a social conservative who engenders less hostility than Palin or Bachmann.

Prediction: He does run, and his dark horse status allows him to run an “honest” campaign. He will be “the” socially conservative candidate, less warm and fuzzy than Huckabee but more personable than Sam Brownback. He may do well in Iowa, but by New Hampshire will be out. As long as he avoids attacking the front-runner, he can be considered as a legitimate VP candidate. Pennsylvania is a key state, and that gives him leverage.

Herman Cain: He is exciting, and can go after Barack Obama without being accused of being a racist. He is an American success story, and wants to be judged by the content of his character. Yet his being black and conservative is certainly an advantage.

Prediction: He is running because he has nothing to lose. He will have the money, but the GOP is risk averse. Mr. Cain could finish in the top three and position himself for 2016 if Mr. Obama is reelected. The issue is not race. It is the hierarchical nature of the GOP. He could be a VP candidate if he develops a national following.

Haley Barbour: Some say he is too Southern, but beneath that drawl is a very bright political animal. The base loves him while moderates are not frightened by him, since he preaches inclusion and avoids fights on divisive social issues even though he is socially conservative.

Prediction: He is running, and the best money raiser in the entire GOP will have the money. If Giuliani does not run, Haley is my guy.

Ron Paul: Nobody cares.

Prediction: He will run, he won’t win anything, and his supporters will insist that either he did win or a conspiracy prevented him from winning. Either way, his supporters will never shut up.

Donald Trump: He has plenty of money and fame. He makes sense on economic issues except for his wanting to start a trade war with China. He holds the Ron Paul view on foreign policy, although comes across as lacking the Paulbot lunacy.

Prediction: Of course he is not running. This is all a publicity stunt from the best promoter in America not named Don King or Lady Gaga. Celebrity Apprentice ratings will go through the roof. He will then decide that he likes being the boss without having to answer to Iowa pig farmers or New Hampshirites.

Other legitimate VP candidates: Paul Ryan is the most serious choice. Mike Pence is a slimmer possibility who is probably running for Governor of Indiana.

Fantasy VP choice: Marco Rubio and Colonel Allen West, but this is based on personality rather than serious accomplishments. Let them do their jobs first. They have enormous future potential.

Darkest of dark horse VP choices: Linda Lingle. I am stunned that she does not enter the discussion. She should. Unlike Bachman or Palin, Lingle would be much tougher to demonize. She is formal, proper, articulate, moderate on social issues, and had a successful three terms as governor. She lacks strategic value, but deserves consideration anyway.

The Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary are one year away.

Let the games begin!

eric

Israel and Jews under another worldwide assault

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

Those who hate Israel and Jews accuse the Jewish people of exaggerating the threat of a second Holocaust for our own advantage. The critics act like Jews sit up and night and pray for more of our relatives to be burned to death just so we could say we were right all along.

The issue is not Jewish hyperventilating. The issue is that these Jewish fears are entirely reasonable.

As the Simon Wiesenthal Center points out, the Arab Muslim world in the Middle East is every bit as harmful as 1930s Germany was.

http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=9134441

Look at the world today. It is undeniable that Israel and Jews are under a worldwide assault every bit as dangerous as what the world ignored 80 years ago.

Look at Egypt. Barack Obama praised the Egyptians for a peaceful revolution. Apparently he did not feel the need to comment on Reporter Logan being beaten and sexually assaulted. As 200 Arab Muslim men chased and beat her, they kept yelling over and over “Jew.” Lara Logan is not Jewish, but this is irrelevant. They thought he was, and ripped her body to shreds in a clear case of anti-Semitism.

Yet to relegate such barbarism to the Arab Muslim world denies the horrors going on in the United States.

The political left in this country is loaded with anti-Semitic rhetoric. The Axis of Anti-Semitism consists of the Huffington Post, Daily Kos, and Moveon.org. These leftinistras argue that criticism of Israel does not automatically makes one anti-Semitic. The rebuttal to this is that undue and false criticism of Israel is absolutely used to hide a fig leaf of anti-Semitism. Throw in Code Pink, which exists to criticize Israel, and the left has another cudgel.

Much of the funding comes from George Soros, whose hobbies over the course of his life have included trying to legalize drugs, defeat Republicans, bankrupt currencies, profit off of human misery, and regale in delightful stories about spending his teenage years sending his fellow Jews to the gas chambers.

Sadly enough, the right has a tiny but virulent strain of anti-Semitism as well in the form of the Paulbots. Ron Paul himself is not an anti-Semite. He is just an isolationist that wants to end all foreign aid. This is a wrong but sincere and consistent position. Yet many of the Paulbots are simply lunatics, and the other Ron Paul supporters refuse to weed them out the Way William Buckley did with the John Birch Society in the 1950s. Mr. Buckley also took on Pat Buchanan, calling him out for what he was and still is.

The Paulbots refuse to take on their cancerous elements who complain about worldwide conspiracies involving “bankers” and “Neocons.” Most of the Neocons are Jews, and Paul Wolfowitz is the one most criticized for being a Neocon and a former head of the International Monetary Fund. When the Paulbots say that American foreign policy should not be used to help Israel, be afraid. I personally have been told that I take my marching orders from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before writing my columns. Shockingly enough, Mr. Netanyahu has better things to do than deal with idiocy. The same cannot be said of the Paulbots.

Jews are absolutely under assault from the Obama White House, and I do not say that lightly.

Mr. Obama is not an anti-Semite. He has no malice in his heart toward Jews or even Israel. He is just cold and indifferent. Foreign policy is an intrusion that interferes with his domestic agenda. He wants the Israelis and Palestinians to shut up, solve their decades old conflict, and stop sucking up media oxygen that should be spent debating health care or environmental legislation. He applies a moral equivalence to a situation that is completely unbalanced in terms of fault. Israelis are trying to defend themselves from Palestinian suicide bombers that are really genocide bombers.

Mr. Obama’s attempt to hope it all goes away by treating both sides equally has only angered both sides. Nowhere can this be more evident than at that anti-American, anti-Semitic bastion of moral worthlessness known as the United Nations. Syria and Libya have sat on the Human Rights and Security Councils while most of the resolutions blame Israel for having the nerve to refuse to allow themselves to be blown to kingdom come.

Mr. Obama recently refused to veto an anti-Israel resolution, with the incredibly lame excuse that this allowed him to use the U.S. Veto on a harsher resolution. This immoral jujitsu was further strained from a credibility standpoint when the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice actually apologized for having sustained the veto. She called Israeli actions “unwise.”

Mr. Obama is able to get away with this because while every other community aggressively fights for its own interests, the Jewish community uniquely contains a large faction who thanks our Radical Islamist enemies and attacks our conservative Christian friends. After all, why fear Bin Laden or Armageddonijad wielding a bomb when we can shriek hysterically like Joy Behag over some Christian minister wielding a book. Short of Obamacare including a mandate that liberal Jews immediately get cranial-glutial extraction surgery, Mr. Obama  will continue to be given a free hand to slap them around. Like battered housewives, liberal Jews will keep apologizing and blaming themselves, leading to more abuse. This is called Jon Stewart Syndrome.

For those who want moral and ethical clarity, Sir Charles of Krauthammer must be heeded. He was at his absolute Krautiest in attacking those playing the moral equivalence game.

“Unwise is the wrong word, and then she said with what regret she cast the veto. Look, what she should have said is it’s not unwise. It’s hypocritical, it is scandalous, and it is something that we reject with relish. It is one sided. If it had been coupled with for example, denunciation of the Palestinians for their rejection of a peace offer at Camp David in 2000, a second offer in the same year at Taba, a third offer two years ago by Prime Minister Ehud Ohlmert, every offer of peace and partition since 1947, well perhaps I would have agreed with it. To apologize for a one-sided resolution, let me just add one fact. The state introducing this resolution was Lebanon. During these troubles, nobody has really noticed but Hezbollah took it over in a coup about a month ago. Think about this. Hezbollah, a terror organization, genocidal and anti-Semitic and terrorist, has a seat at the Security Council, the premiere entity that is supposed to secure peace in the world. Think of the moral inversion of the universe when that is the case as it is today.”

Yes, it is a moral inversion of the universe indeed. The world is upside down. We live in a world where the President of France wants to fight as the President of America keeps surrendering in a series of bows and bended knees before despots seeing these prostrations as weakness.

Israelis understand that those who have not wiped us off the map are still trying.

Between overt threats like Iran and more subtle but still dangerous enemies on the fringes of the American political extremes, Israel is in trouble. The goal is not to eliminate Israel. It is to end Jews. It almost happened once as the world did nothing to stop it.

So from the indifferent Mr. Obama to every last political zealot railing about Neocons and bankers, this worldwide assault on Jews overt and covert must stop.

Never again. Ever.

eric

Libya Explodes

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

To quote Freddie Mercury of Queen, “Another one bites the dust.”

Libya has exploded in violence and rage not seen in the Arab Muslim world since last week in Egypt and UC Irvine.

Yet unlike UC Irvine, this Arab Muslim rage is positive. Moammar Khadafi is on the verge of being overthrown as dictator for life in Libya.

The entire Arab world has finally risen up. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and You-tube have allowed the flow of information to be imported and exported en masse. There is no way to contain the people any more. They want to be free.

In 1989 it was Hungary, Poland, and the former Soviet Republics. 2011 brings Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, and yes, Iran. The Mullahs at this very minute know that their time in power is limited.

The Arab protesters are not paid leftist mercenaries roaming from Wisconsin to Ohio looking for things to actually do. These are people who have faced true oppression and are finally standing up for their basic rights as human beings and creatures of God.

(For those wondering where Barack Obama is, he has been relegated to appearing in parentheses. He does not care about Libya. He cares about Wisconsin, and is most likely enraged with God for dumping 13 inches of snow on the protesters. Paid mercenaries tend to flee in bad weather. Also, the price of gasoline exploding due to the situation in Libya is forbidden from being broached by American journalists. Since there is no way to blame it on Dick Cheney or Halliburton, the media will ignore it.)

Picture the protesters in Libya as being like Moveon.org, except with an actual purpose.

If the First Community Organizer in Chief had an ounce of courage, he would issue a strongly worded statement in favor of the protesters and demand that Khadafi leave now. Sending Hillary Clinton out to offer standard State Department blather doesn’t cut it.

The entire Arab Muslim world is looking to America for emotional support. The word “emotion” is not something Mr. Obama is known for, especially since the selfish creatures in the Middle East are more concerned with avoiding bullets than getting passionate about cap and trade or high speed rail.

To Mr. Obama’s consternation and chagrin, the world is going to go on without him. The chains of dictatorship and tyranny are being broken. The people will be free. It will be violent, bloody, and painful. It will also be worth it.

For those worrying that the new government taking over will be worse than the current evil, this is nothing more than an excuse to maintain the untenable status quo.

“Realpolitik” should cease to exist. Propping up dictators because they are “our” dictators should be abolished forever as American policy. “Stability” is phony. Secular democracy is real.

Stability has brought us temporary respites between a string of unending crises.

Those claiming that democracy and Islam are incompatible deserve to be confined to the ash heap of badly written history.

The Arab Muslim will be free. Americans can either support people shedding their own blood for freedom, or we can offer meaningless platitudes about caution and calm.

We can follow the lead of George W. Bush, who overthrew two murderous regimes and set up fledgling secular democracies.

Alternatively we can slink behind Barack Obama, who is more concerned about his own reelection in 2012 than in making a single bold statement to help Arab Muslims in 2011.

Everything in this world flows from doing what is right. Giving people human dignity is right. Supporting those who suppress this dignity is wrong.

In 2008 Barack Obama supporters insufferably babbled about “hope,” “change,” and “Yes, we can.” Those were meaningless vacuous phrases that have impacted the world with all the intensity of Rip Van Winkle after a Nyquil binge. Yet in Libya words are actually be transferred into meaningful actions that could benefit the world for decades if not generations to come.

It is imperative that Americans stand up and do everything in our power to encourage secular democracy in Libya.

Just because our own leader refuses to lead by example does not mean we have to be as politically impotent as he is.

Long after he has been forgotten, the Libyan people need to remember that the average American cared.

Khadafi Duck, you have quacked your last soliloquy.

It is time for Libya to be liberated.

It is time for the next domino in the worldwide freedom movement to fall.

It is time for you to go.

eric

Remedies to break the Wisconsin unions

Monday, February 21st, 2011

Unlike President Obama, I don’t pretend to be a constitutional scholar. If my proposed remedies for dealing with the unions trying to destroy American society cannot be implemented, the courts will figure it out.

It is vital that conservatives win the Wisconsin fight. President Obama has gone all in, and his desire to fundamentally transform America as he promised rests with the fight in Wisconsin between the people led by Governor Scott Walker and the paid leftist mercenaries only a couple degrees separated from Mr. Obama.

When Mr. Obama won the 2008 election, he rammed a hard left agenda down our throats. The Pelosiraptor ruled the house with an iron will. Did the Republicans flee Washington? No. They took their medicine, and fought back legally in the courts of law and public opinion.

Now flip things around. It is one thing for teachers to go on strike. Think of it as the French going on strike. How can you tell? Children missing a few days of school will not cripple society. If anything it will slow down the dumbing down of our children, and show how useless many of these teachers are. After all, doesn’t every parent show love for their children by starving and abandoning them?

Yet picture America with unionized TSA agents. Picture them going on strike because they are not allowed to grope passengers based on levels of attractiveness, or some other criteria such as the union right to be underworked and overpaid in a recession. Airline travel would grind to a halt. This is what happens when workers who produce nothing get to blackmail people who offer a net positive societal contribution.

This fight is the very struggle between Reaganomics and Obamanomics. Mr. Khadafi is allowed to shoot people in the streets of Libya, and Mr. Obama stays silent. Yet Governor Walker tries to save jobs by being fiscally responsible, and Mr. Obama and his minions treat Governor Walker as if he were the one spreading blood in the streets.

While Governor Walker does not (thankfully) have the latitude of Mr. Khadafi or the Iranian mullahs, there is plenty he can do to break the Wisconsin unions once and for all. It involves employing the Bush Doctrine used when we actually fought a War on Terror. We go after not just the perpetrators, but those who harbor, finance, and protect them.

While nobody is accusing unions of murdering anybody this week, the goal of terrorism is to foment instability. This is why negotiating with union blackmailers cannot happen anymore in Wisconsin. The only solution is to crush the unions by going after their enablers.

Governor Walker should immediately dock the pay of all government workers who missed work the last few days. This includes teachers and legislators.

He should then declare an impasse in the negotiations and fire the teachers. Hiring new teachers at half the price will save the state money.

He should offer reward money for the return (alive) of the Democratic legislators. Put a price on them until they are hauled into his office.

When it is discovered where the legislators are hiding, investigations into the legality of the lodging should begin. Did the legislators pay out of their own pockets or will the taxpayers foot the bill? If wealthy Democratic donors are providing their homes, this could be illegal. Those donors should be investigated.

Doctors are passing out sick notes. These doctors should be yanked in front of a medical ethics board. If one note is deemed to be fraudulent, their medical licenses should be suspended or revoked entirely. If they do not have licenses to practice medicine, they should be arrested.

Until these leftist agitators feel that crime actually has a down side, the rule of law will continue to be subverted.

Congressman Darrell Issa should immediately launch hearings into who at the White House funded these demonstrations in Wisconsin, and what laws were broken. This will have the effect of forcing Mr. Obama to cool his machine before similar battles in Ohio and elsewhere take place. After all, Mr. Obama may worship unions but he worships himself more. Force him to choose between leftist principles and reelection and he will break with the unions.

Governor Walker should also check the Wisconsin Constitution to see if there is a similar provision to the U.S. Constitution that allows for the Chief Executive to suspend that very Constitution in absolute emergencies. FDR was a constitutional dictator. Governor Walker would be benevolent by comparison.

If he is legally allowed to do this (a major if), he can install proxy voting. He can reduce the number required for a quorum. He can then unilaterally pass his budget or resort to his backup plan of mass firings.

While this is definitely the nuclear option, how else does one deal with Democrats who break the law because they know Republicans will be too timid to enforce it?

Even if the courts strike down Governor Walker’s actions, it still forces the unions and their financial backers to spend precious resources. The Ronald Reagan strategy of bankrupting the Soviet Union should be honored on his 100th birthday as we bankrupt the leftinistras ahead of 2012.

Governor Walker won the election. He has every right to ram a conservative agenda down leftist throats. The left has the right to yell and scream, which they do on a daily basis anyway. They have the right to win the next Wisconsin election and change the political landscape.

They do not have the right to take the state hostage. The Walker Doctrine should go after every corrupt union and everybody providing them money, lodging, and medical notes.

It is time to out-Alinsky the left. It is time to send the community organizers back to their own communities broken and dispirited.

For those on the left who think they will continue to subvert the will of the people because conservatives cannot fight back, it is time to deliver a loud forceful message to these miscreants.

Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

eric

Dale Earnhardt, Donald Rumsfeld, Silvio Berlusconi and Blue Pulaski

Sunday, February 20th, 2011

In NFL news, the Super Bowl was two weeks ago and I am already hating the offseason. I wish there was a way I could snap my fingers and have it be September, without me being older.

Yet this is a big weekend for sports, which is very rare when football is not being played.

NASCAR is back with the Daytona 500. This is a very special race, since it is the 10th anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhart. I was a huge fan of the Intimidator, and have not really been able to watch a complete race since his death. Junior has the pole, and I hope he wins.

I think the reason I became a fan of Earnhardt is because even as a kid I loved the color black. It got me rooting for the Raiders, and eventually it carried over to Earnhardt with the black car, black shades, and black jacket. He was an outlaw, and I always rooted for the outlaws. His mustache reminded me of Raider greats like Ben Davidson. I think that same attitude and color scheme is why I rooted for Darth Vader, whose last name rhymes with Raider. Also, I really hated Luke.

As for that black car, # 3 had the coolest set of wheels since Burt Reynolds, the legendary driver in Smokey and the Bandit. Kitt of Knight Rider does not come close.

What made Earnhardt exciting was not when he was in first place in a race. The thrill of the race was the chase, with Earnhardt in second. You would sit there and wonder what he was going to do to take down the guy in front of him. He often would. Watching him do donuts after finally winning Daytona was great, as were his post victory press conferences. A few years later he died on the final turn of the final lap of the greatest NASCAR race. Farewell Intimidator. A decade later, you still rule NASCAR in our hearts.

Yet one of the reasons this is such a terrible sports Sunday is because a man I admire politically crossed over into sports. I was fine with Donald Rumsfeld when he and the Neocons were blowing stuff up in Iraq and kicking Saddam’s @ss. Yet Mr. Rumsfeld is now on my bad side for adding one more nation to the Axis of Evil. Yes, he has gone after the Raider Nation, calling us evil.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/02/17/donald-rumseld-calls-raiders-evil/

This hurts, and not because I supported Rummy. It hurts because when we were evil, we were good. When we became a bunch of law abiding citizens we stopped winning.

One of the great football documentaries of all time has Ronald Reagan discussing the “Evil Empire.” Then the screen cuts to a photo of Lyle Alzado walking on the field as the announcer says that “Football’s most evil empire wore the Silver and Black.” Late in the documentary President Reagan calls winning coach Tom Flores and says, “I just received a call from Moscow. Marcus Allen is a new secret weapon and he must be dismantled immediately.”

So perhaps I should take Rummy’s words as a compliment, but if the Raiders want to make it mean something, they need to get back to their winning ways. Once we throttle his Steelers, I will make sure Mr. Rumsfeld knows about it in an email from me. The Evil Empire of football will return, and the Raider Nation will have the last laugh.

What else is there to think about? Let’s be honest, without football, sports is done. Sure, there was the case of the boy who refuses to wrestle women. There is only one question to ask this young man.

Is he nuts? Some of the happiest moments in my life have been wrestling with women. It always ends well, every single time.

Did he think he would be seen as the second coming of Andy Kaufman? I guess some guys are just not cut out to wrestle women. Thankfully I am. Yet even in my heyday, I needed a hero I could look up to and believe in. I needed a wise elder to consult on the subject. So I ask myself what any man would ask in this situation.

What would Blue do?

His name was Joseph “Blue” Pulaski, and he was the oldest man in “Old School,” one of the greatest comedies ever made. He did die in the 2003 movie, and died in real life in 2005 at the ripe young age of 86. Yet his final film role was his finest, as he did what every many from age 12 to his age of 84 hopes to do. He was wrestling women. His real name was Patrick Cranshaw, and I say to him what many young men said to him in his final years of life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Cranshaw

“Blue! You’re my boy blue! You’re my boy!”

So as for this young athlete that refused to wrestle a woman, I can understand why it would be less appealing without all the Jello.

So I say to this female wrestler, sorry that the guy rejected you. It was him, not you. I have a bathtub with lemon lime Jello and Will Ferrell in the background singing “Dust in the Wind” if you want to wrestle me. It is only a tape, since if Ferrell was actually in the room it would be creepy. If my voice is not sexy enough, I can have Vince Vaughn narrate.

Yet for some people, even coed Jello wrestling is not enough. For those finding those activities too tame, there is always the new sport sweeping the world, that being Bunga Bunga sex parties.

Bunga Bunga is most likely as much fun to do as it is to say. I have no idea what Bunga Bunga actually means, but it sounds like something involving a trampoline. As we all know from Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Corolla of the “Man Show,” there is nothing like watching women on trampolines.

Apparently Bunga Bunga parties are why Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is such a happy guy at age 74. His paramour was 17 year old “Ruby the Heartthrob.” Anthony Quinn was 81 when he impregnated a 19 year old, and 76 year old Tony Randall married a 24 year old. Berlusconi is an Italian billionaire. So why is he bedding down women 1/4 his age?

Listen closely…I will say it again…Because…He…Can.

Yes there are women protesting in the streets. Anybody notice the men aren’t? They know d@mn well if they had his money and power they would be doing the same thing.

David Cameron of England married Samantha Cameron, and illicit pictures of her are all over the internet. Does anybody think Nicolas Sarkozy cares about being seen as a great leader of France? No. He cares about letting everybody know he is married to Carla Bruni.

Bunga Bunga Berlusconi is basically Hugh Hefner except with a better accent. Let him have his fun.

This concludes this week’s sports report. Yet as much as stock car racing, Jello wrestling, and Bunga Bunga trampolining are great sports, none of them are football.

I will not mention the NFL L-word, because I am convinced they will get a deal done. They have to, or I will go bonkers. It has only been two weeks and already I miss football.

In less than seven months, it will be time to kick off the 2011 NFL Season.

eric