Bipartisanship, the Big Myth

"It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions." — Thomas Jefferson

When President Obama gives his State of the Union address next Tuesday (January 25, 2011) the Republicans and Democrats will sit together in the Capitol. They decided to take this action in the name of bipartisanship and civility. Isn’t this just so Kumbaya — something the lefty folk singer Pete Seeger would love?

Once again we have another example of the Republicans being hoodwinked by the Democrats and the left-wing media, and the left-wing taking control of the narrative. The Republicans in their magnanimity after the November elections and the recent shooting at the Tucson Safeway store think this will give them an air of civility and bipartisanship — how foolish they are. Did Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed promote civility and bipartisanship during the 110th and 111th Congress? Did President Obama promote bipartisanship during the first two years of his administration? Remarks like; “John the election is over” and “they [the Republicans] can ride in the back of the bus” sound like civility and bipartisanship? The Answer is No!

This Republic has never been a bipartisan nation — it was designed that way. From the very beginning with the Federalists vs. the Anti Federalists to the animosity between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams this nation has been eschewed bipartisanship. Bipartisanship did not exist during the run up to the Civil War. It did not exist in the Wilson, Roosevelt or Johnson administration and it certainly did not exist in the 111th Congress.

The losers of any election always call for bipartisanship. This is their ploy to retain a seat at the table. When the Democrats were in control of the 110th and 111th Congress the media called the Republicans vile names and the party of no. Now that the Republicans control the House by a large margin the media and Democrats are calling for civility and bipartisanship, in other words they want the Republicans to make nice with them — and the Republicans are falling for their ploy. This is like the school bully, who consistently beat on the 97-pound weakling and then wanting to make up when the weakling finished his Charles Atlas course.  Bullies always act this way and the last two Congresses were composed of left-wing bullies.

If bipartisanship is so important why don’t we just have one political party? Then If this were to happen we would have a dictatorship with no dissenting voices — elections would be based on popularity and good looks rather than ideas and principals. The voters in last November’s election rejected the ideas and principals of the Democrats and they don’t like. They want to keep the narrative in their camp and the Republicans are going to let them. Mark my words, in the days to come every time the Democrats don’t get their way they will raise the clarion of raw partisanship of the majority. This is why the citizens threw out the Democrats — they did not want them getting their way anymore.

At the time of the founding of the Republic newspapers were blatantly partisan and they let you know it. The papers were tied to political parties — that’s why they carried the name Democrat or Republican on their mastheads. In order to increase circulation and revenue newspapers began using names like Observer, Times or Independent, but their partisanship still showed on the editorial pages and even in the slant they gave news stories.

This conditioned carried over to the broadcast media and was the reason for the so called “Fairness Doctrine.” The purpose of the Fairness Doctrine, enforced by the Federal Communications Commission, was to force broadcast radio and TV stations to present a balanced view of in their news and opinion programs. The FCC’s reasoning for this was that these broadcast stations used the public airways for the transmission of their programs.

The Fairness Doctrine did not work well as a TV station could have a left-wing program in the prime 6:00 pm news slot and then runs an opposing viewpoint in the 11:30 pm slot. Also, the doctrine did not work at all with National Public Radio and TV — they have always been a left leaning outlet.

With the advent and growth of cable and listener supported radio (XM and Cirrus) the Fairness Doctrine did not apply. During the Reagan administration the Fairness Doctrine was done away with. Reagan believed all points of view should be aired (like newspapers) and the consumers of the media would make their choices. This led to incredible rise of conservative talk radio. The public choose to listen to the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and other conservative talkers rather to the voices on the left. This drove the left-wing media crazy. Yes, they control the print media (which is failing due to the internet) but they came in a dismal second to the conservative shows. On any given day Rush Limbaugh has ten times the listeners as the New York Times has readers and at least double the listeners of CBS, NBC or ABC news and talk shows. Fox News dominates the cable news industry.

While conservatives believe they are losing the battle (ops— contest) of news and opinion dissemination, in fact they are not and the left-wing media knows. This is evidenced by the quick and massive reaction by conservatives to the accusations by the left that they were somehow responsible for the Tucson shooting. The left has lost power so they are screaming louder. This is the way they work — I’ll talk louder so you can understand me. Conservatives have to realize their message is resonating with the American electorate and remember the old adage; if you wrestle with a skunk you will come away stinking like the skunk.

No Shout Out for Joe

"To disarm the people...was the best and most effectual way to enslave them." — George Mason

During the Tucson Memorial pep rally President Obama recognized the so called heroes of the January 8 shooting. He acknowledged the intern who checked the bleeding from Gabrielle Giffords’ head, the woman who grabbed the gunman’s spare magazine and the 74 year-old retiree who brought Loughner to the ground. I did not hear him give a shout out to Joe Zamudio, who knelt on the shooters back and held him down.

So who is Joe Zamudio? Joe is a 24 year-old, gun tooting, Arizonian who believes in the law and the Second Amendment. You see, Joe had just walked out of the Walgreen Drug Store after buying a pack of cigarettes when he heard the shooting and commotion in the shopping plaza. Joe, who always carries a gun, immediately raced toward the commotion with his hand on the butt of his gun and releasing the safety. Joe was ready to take the shooter down. When he got to the scene he saw that 74 year-old 74-year-old Bill Badger, a retired army colonel had already knocked Loughner to the ground and had grabbed his gun. Joe was ready to shoot, but this young man with a quick thinking mind knocked the gun from Badger’s hand and when told that Badger was not the shooter he jumped on Loughner’s back, grabbed his arm in a hammer lock and knelt on his back holding him down until the police arrived.

Zamudio told interviewers latter that he was ready to shoot, but he was blessed that he did not have to go to that place.  You can see Zumudio’s interview with Ed Schultz on MSNBC by clicking here. You can also see his interview with Geraldo Riviera on Fox News if you cannot stomach Ed Schultz by clicking here.

Zamudio took responsibility of a citizen. I know there of those of you who will say he was crazy for running to the fracas ready to pull his gun and begin shooting. The fact is that he did not. In the time required to blink you eyes Zamudio was able to make the correct decision and leave his weapon holstered. I am sure had he seen Loughner standing and firing he would have shot and probably killed he shooter. The 31 students at Virginia Tech would have been so fortunate to have a Joe Zamudio close by.

When Zamudio charged the scene of the massacre he was also risking his own life as the gunman could have fired on him. I don’t know if he thought about that, you will have to ask him. It is like a soldier who takes instinctive action in combat — they really don’t think of the risk while they are doing it. They have been trained for such situations. I don’t know if Zamudio was trained, but his instincts were sound.

In days to come we will hear the voices from the left calling for stricter gun controls. They will resort to the old and tired argument that banning guns will stop the deaths by guns. I suppose banning knives will stop stabbings and banning alcohol will stop drunkenness — oh we tried that one and didn’t work out so well.

The left does not like an armed citizenry because it sees it as a threat to their dreams of big government. They don’t want a nation of Davids who can challenge the walls built by emperors a thousand miles away.

There is one weapon that kills 37,000 people and maims thousands of others each year. The manufacture of this weapon is regulated by the government. To use this weapon you need to be trained and licensed by the government. Even the substance that fuels the weapon is regulated and taxed. It is after all not the automobile that causes these deaths and injuries, but the nut that holds the steering wheel.

My Name is Fred. I'm a Killer

“[The Founders] made the Second Amendment second only to the First, which protects the freedoms of speech, press, assembly and worship. They did that because individual dignity and self-respect, which are essential to self-government, are related to a readiness for self-defense—the public’s involvement in public safety.” — George Will

My name is Fred. I'm a husband, father, a writer, and a retired land surveyor and transportation engineer. I worked hard at my profession for 55 years and was a partner in a small business employing 800 persons when I retired. I sent my children to private school, but paid taxes to support our government schools. I paid my taxes, supported charities and provide support for a little girl in Kenya through a Christian organization. I have supported my family, been married to the same woman for 50 years and believe in God. I'm also an accused killer.

On the morning of January 8th, 2011, I intentionally entered a gathering held by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and shot her at near point blank range.  I injured 14 others, killing six: among them a beautiful, curious, doe-eyed, nine-year-old girl.  I didn't actually pull the trigger, but I'm as guilty as the psychopath who did.

Here are just a few of the charges against me:

I am a conservative.

On occasion, I listen to Beck, Limbaugh, Levine, Wilkow, Hannity and Fox News.  

I've been known to pick up a book or two by conservative authors; Thomas Sowell, Andrew McCarthy, Mark Levine, Jonah Goldberg or the Founding Fathers, for example!

I believe the federal government is too large, far too intrusive, and dangerously powerful.

I believe in personal responsibility and the amazing generosity of Americans to aid those in need, rather than permanent entitlements.

I believe the private, not public sector, is the backbone of our economy.

I believe our progressive tax system is punitive. We are over-taxed, over-regulated, and over-lectured.

I believe in the power of the free market to correct itself, without government (taxpayer) intervention.

I believe the Constitution is intended to limit government, and empower the individual.

I believe in holding our elected official's feet to the fire, be they Republican or Democrat (incendiary pun intended).

I believe our sovereignty is at risk via unsecured borders, out of control spending and our crippling deficit, reckless abuses of the Constitution, and the moral decay of Washington.

I believe in every citizens right to own a gun. Our Founding Fathers knew that the First Amendment would not be worth the paper it was written without the Second Amendment

I believe that our government schools and their teachers unions are dumbing down our school children to a nation of idiots.

I believe that we are under a threat from Islamic radicals to destroy our republic and that Major Nidal Hasan was a committed Islamic terrorist.

I believe a little should not be suspended from school for wearing a rosary in honor of her grandmother.

In short, I'm a madman. Guilty as charged, and armed with the belief in my 1st Amendment right to peaceably question those we elect to serve.

The only person who actually pulled the trigger on that terrible, fateful day was Jared Loughner, by every account, a deeply troubled young man.  But the real guilty walk among us: senior citizens in red, white, and blue, armed with signs, "Taxed Enough Already," flag-wavers clinging to guns and religion, doctors, the wealthy, business owners, talk radio, and any citizen that dare exercise his or her right to free speech, particularly a conservative.

We're called greedy, stupid, and racist.  We're ridiculed with snide "slurpee" innuendos, and called lewd and malicious names, such as "teabaggers."  Ordinary citizens maligned by their own government while the pious, liberal elite get a free pass on reason and truth; while Islamists invoke their religious cloak; while the ideologue professes his moral superiority; while the media uses the power of spin; and leftists, including Robert Gibbs and Barack Obama, employ their bully pulpit.  

We defend conservatism by our very way of life: as self-reliant, tax-paying, moral citizens, and faithful defenders of limited government and the power of the individual. We are violent inciters only in so much as we threaten the current Leftist, agenda-driven stronghold on government. So alarming is our threat, the real inciters wasted no time in politicizing the tragic deaths of six innocent citizens, and one revered Congresswoman, still fighting for her life.  And they will waste no time in shamelessly exploiting a ‘crisis' at the hand of a lone psychopath to further enact gun control, and squelch freedom of speech under cries of “civility.”

Does the Left really believe the "rhetoric" of Palin, Beck, Limbaugh, and Fox is incendiary?  Do they fail to understand the language of conservative "talk" is the echo of ordinary citizens calling for limited government, and individual freedoms?  Or, do they silence us because we know our current leaders don't actually believe in their own limited power?   Truth be told, even Jared Loughner undermines their agenda.  And they know it.  They know their "transformation" of America is failing, and that people like me are not afraid to say so.

My name is Fred, and I'm a killer. They are determined to stop me before I kill again.

The Pep Rally for the Fallen

"We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions." — Ronald Reagan

Last night I watched the “Memorial Service” for the victims of the shooting by Jared Lee Loughner in Tucson last Saturday. I did not see the entire service so I cannot comment on the remarks of the preliminary speakers. I did, however watch and intently listen to the remarks of President Obama.

As Obama began his remarks I thought he was taking the correct tone and the content of was appropriate for the event. About two minutes into the President’s remarks the 30,000 assembled in the McKale Center on the campus of the University Of Arizona cheering at his words. This brought a question to my mind. What was happening here — was this a solemn and respectful memorial service or was it a political rally?

As Obama’s 34 minute speech drew on the cheering continued with faintly heard remarks yelled out from the student’s peanut gallery of “We love you” and “right on.” By now I was beginning to question the purpose of this service. Was it a memorial for the victims or a political rally?

At the time I was unaware of the 14,000 blue T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Together We Thrive, Tucson’s America” that had been hung over the backs of the lower seats in the auditorium.  No mention of this was made on Fox News when Charles Krauthammer and Chris Wallace gave their endorsement of Obama’s address. It was not until this morning, in reading the reports of the event that I learned of this. Had I known of this fact while watching and listening to Obama’s, oft interrupted address with cheers and whistles, I surely would have been more critical of the President’s remarks.

As Obama’s “eulogy” continued he played to the audience with a few perfectly timed phases. In a stunning moment, Obama announced that Giffords, who is in critical condition, opened her eyes for the first time after he left her intensive care hospital room before the service. First lady Michelle Obama held hands with Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly, as the news brought soaring cheers throughout the arena.

"She knows we are here and she knows we love her and she knows that we will be rooting for her throughout what will be a difficult journey," he said to thunderous applause and a standing ovation.

Obama, the consummate politician knew that he would get a boost on the polls if he played this right. A gave a few bones to satisfy the conservatives and a great deal of one-liners for his left wing base. The students in the auditorium were rhapsodic.

When Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush gave similar addresses after the Challenger explosion, Oklahoma City Bombing and 9/11 they spoke in a solemn tone offering both condolences and hope. Their addresses lasted about 15 minutes. Obama, in typical community organizer fashion, spoke for double this time.  This was his big moment to take advantage of the crisis.

When Arizona Governor Jan Brewer took to the podium the little minded, spoiled collage kids greeted her with boos and hoots. When DHS secretary Janet Napolitano was introduced the peanut gallery erupted with cheers and whistles. Final when Obama was introduced the assembled mass rose to their feet and began a thunderous ovation, so much so that Obama had to quiet them. All we needed was Queen’s “We will rock you” played over the PA system.

I have been to several memorial services and they certainly did not have this tone. Only an Irish wake approaches the decorum displayed by the assembled masses in the McKale Center. While Obama was the recipient of this horrible display of decorum it was the President of the University of Arizona needs to take the blame. He is in charge of the university and should have told his student body that this was not a pep rally and they should act with respect to the families of the victims. This was an embarrassment to the student body, the university and the President. Had I been a family member of one of the victims I would have gotten up and walked out. The politicians were using the deaths and injuries of innocent people for political purposes.

If you read Obama’s words they talk about civil discourse and the value of free speech. I have seen all of this after prior murders and assassinations and believe me nothing will be different two or three months from now. The left will continue to demonize conservatives and their allies. Democrats in Congress will attempt to use the tragedy as a lever to get their anti free speech and gun control legislation passed all to the cry of “do it for Gabby.” Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and other conservative talkers will be blamed for Loughner’s actions.

In my opinion Sarah Palin gave a far more cogent and concise comment on her Facebook page. She said; “There are those who claim political rhetoric is to blame for the despicable act of this deranged, apparently apolitical criminal. And they claim political debate has somehow gotten more heated just recently. But when was it less heated? Back in those “calm days” when political figures literally settled their differences with dueling pistols? In an ideal world all discourse would be civil and all disagreements cordial. But our Founding Fathers knew they weren’t designing a system for perfect men and women. If men and women were angels, there would be no need for government. Our Founders’ genius was to design a system that helped settle the inevitable conflicts caused by our imperfect passions in civil ways. So, we must condemn violence if our Republic is to endure.”

“Vigorous and spirited public debates during elections are among our most cherished traditions. And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere. If you don’t like a person’s vision for the country, you’re free to debate that vision. If you don’t like their ideas, you’re free to propose better ideas. But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.” You can read Palin’s entire address by clicking here or watch the video here.

By the way the term Blood Libel, according to Alan Dershowitz, the esteemed Harvard liberal law professor and a Jew, is a commonly used term today and does not reflect anti Semitism. It merely refers to a false accusation or claim.

John Hinckley shot Ronald Reagan, because he wanted to impress the actress Jodi Foster. No one called on Jodi Foster to justify herself in that tragedy. So why should Sarah Palin? Why should she answer for someone else's actions, especially since that person is by all indications a left-wing lunatic?

During his eulogy Obama said; “At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized — at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do — it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.” This is good prose, but not for the committed left.

Sarah Palin will continue to get death threats from the unhinged left — some posted threats rising to actual criminal actions. Obama’s words will not change anything. The left has a committed ideology that does not allow dissent to their beliefs. There is no hate that can equal the vicious hate that emanates from the left. They cannot accept that someone could disagree with them. Where was the civility when Bush was in office? There was even a movie made about the fictitious assassination of George Bush. This was considered free speech and art by the left. You can read some of the posted threats to Palin by clicking here.

Upon reflection on last night’s memorial service for the victims of January 8th I can come to only one conclusion. It was a pep rally for the committed left. We will hear numerous and banal comments in the day to come as to how we need more civility and how Congress wants to help us attain that civility by passing laws that will infringe on our first and second amendment rights. Politicians like Bernie Sanders (D-VT) will use the shooting to raise funds for his reelection campaign. Pundits and the media will continue to attack conservatives who oppose the agenda of the left as threats to our civil discourse. Don’t be taken by the smooth delivery of Barak Obama. He will stand above the debate and allow his left wing minions to carry out the attack on the right.

Never Let a Crisis go to Waste

“Never let a serious crisis go to waste…it’s an opportunity to do things you couldn’t do before.” — Rahm Emanuel, former Chief of Staff to President Barak Obama.

I will never forget the TV image of an FBI agent holding a rifle above his head and calling it “the Mauser” that had been found in the Texas School Book Depository soon after President John f. Kennedy had been shot on November 22, 1963. Soon after Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry corrected the agents claim and identified the rifle as an Italian made Carcano rifle. Thus began the fog of that began clouding the evidence and facts that would forever haunt the events of that day.

Soon after Kennedy’s death the media, especially the TV news, began pushing out facts based on opinions. At the time of his assassination Kennedy was falling in the polls and had made this trip to Texas to heal the discord within the Democrat party. There was a great deal of animosity and heated political rhetoric directed at Kennedy. The media immediately jumped on this and began pointing towards “the climate of hate” as the motive for the assassination. They had no facts to support this but that did not prevent the talking heads like Walter Cronkite from making up his own set of facts. No one wanted to look at Oswald’s ties with the Communist Party and his life in the Soviet Union. Eventfully the facts began to surface, but the media has already set a tone that would create years of conspiracy theories.

On November 5, 2009 Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army major serving as a psychiatrist, shot 45 soldiers and civilians at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 and wounding 32. Hasan, a Muslim and professed “Soldier of Allah” and disciple Yemen-based cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who quickly declared Hasan a hero. We were cautioned by the media not to label Hasan a terrorist or jihadist as we did not have enough information to do so and that we should not blame Muslims for the deaths of the 13 innocent victims. The left wing media refused to call Hasan a terrorist.

On Saturday, January 8th a lone gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, walked into a community meeting in a Tucson shopping mall and began firing his Glock 40 pistol. Before he was subdued by bystanders 6 people were dead and 13 were wounded, some critically. Among the dead were 9-year-old third-grader Christina-Taylor Green, a federal judge, John Roll, and a congressional aide. Green had two personal connections to Major League Baseball; she was a daughter of Los Angeles Dodgers scout John Green and a granddaughter of former Philadelphia Phillies manager Dallas Green. The most seriously wounded was Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), the wife of a NASA astronaut. Giffords, a two term Congresswoman representing the 8th district in Arizona, is alive today due to heroic first aid administered by one of her interns and the world class medical care she received at the University of Arizona Medical Center trauma center. Her lead doctor is Peter Rhee, a military trained trauma expert with experience in Iraq.

It did not take long for the left wing media to claim that the carnage was the product not merely of the tortured mind and trigger-happy fingers of the alleged shooter, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner. Rather, many on the American Left said the horror could be traced to the malign influence of American conservatives; members of the Tea Party; right-wing pundits Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck; former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin; and Fox News.

Without any basis in fact or the appearance of any viable evidence this was the narrative of culpability spun in the immediate aftermath of the shootings by some leading liberal commentators and Democratic politicians — despite warnings from religious leaders, lawyers, academics, ethicists, reporters and historians that such a rush to judgment only further deepens the partisan divide in America, and further poisons its discourse.

Within minutes after the attempted assassination of Giffords — indeed, at a point when it was still erroneously believed in many quarters that she was dead, and the identity of her shooter was not publicly known -- some commentators, absent any credible evidence, were already busily laying blame for the atrocity in political terms. Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman blogged at 3:22 p.m. ET Saturday: "We don't have proof yet that this was political, but the odds are that it was."

Krugman, in his blog post on the Times website, went on to mention Giffords' presence last year on Palin's "infamous crosshairs list." This was a map, disseminated by Palin's political action committee, SarahPAC, denoting the districts of 20 vulnerable House Democrats with images of crosshairs overlaid on each. The map was accompanied by a caption saying: IT'S TIME TO TAKE A STAND. Giffords herself, during her narrow campaign victory over a Tea Party-backed opponent last year, had complained about this choice of imagery, telling MSNBC: "The way that (Palin) has it depicted, the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district ...When people do that, they've gotta realize there are consequences to that action."

Unnoted by Giffords then, or Krugman now, is the routine use of similar language and imagery by both parties in a culture obsessed with "battleground" states. Indeed, a nearly identical map, included in a Democratic Leadership Committee publication in 2004, featured nine bulls eyes over regions where Republican candidates were considered vulnerable that year, and was accompanied by a caption reading: TARGETING STRATEGY. A smaller caption, beneath the bulls-eyes, read: BEHIND ENEMY LINES. The map illustrated an article on campaign strategy by Will Marshall of the Progressive Policy Institute.

There was a bullseye superimposed of Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts in the New York  Times prior to last Saturday’s NFL wildcard playoff game with the New York Jets. Did hat mean that someone should assassinate the Colts quarterback, or was it just a metaphor for a sack?

Krugman's blog post on Saturday linked "the rhetoric of Beck, Limbaugh, etc." to "the violence I fear we're going to see in the months and years ahead," and added: "Violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate." Yet in all of the grammatically hobbled writings and statements that Loughner posted on the Internet — in which, ironically, one of his chief obsessions was others' poor grammar — the failed student and awkward loner made not a single reference to talk-radio or the TV hosts Krugman cited, to the health care debate or the Tea Party, to Sarah Palin or Fox News. He posted that two of his favorite books were Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto. He also proclaimed he was an atheist, belonged to no political party, had been staking Giffords since 2007 (long before there was a Tea Party or notoriety of Sarah Palin and worshiped a backyard shrine composed of candles, a skull and dried-up oranges.  Once again we have the fog of facts and evidence getting in the way of the truth

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, a Democrat, also found a political element in Saturday's bloodshed. Dupnik argued that the "vitriol" of the country's harshly polarized political climate was partly to blame, arguing that unbalanced individuals are uniquely "susceptible" to vitriol. Dupnik added, in an interview with Fox News' Megyn Kelly: "We see one party trying to block the attempts of another party to make this a better country." Asked by Kelly if he had any evidence Loughner was in any way influenced by political "vitriol," Dupnik offered none. "That's my opinion, period," he said. All Dupnik needed was a Carcano rifle to hold over his head to make his idiocy complete. This was about the dumbest statement from a law enforcement officer I have seen since President Richard Nikon proclaimed Charles Manson guilty of murder.

As the chief law enforcement officer of Pima County Dupnik not only sounded like a political hack, he also gave Loughner’s defense attorney Judy Clarke plenty of ammunition for her defense of the accused shooter.

Dupnik should clean his own house before blaming his political competitors for the shooting. Loughner had been reported to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at least 5 times as a disturbed person. When called about this the department responded not to be concerned and that he had been checked out. Also there was no police presence at the site of the community meeting, something that should have been provided by the Sheriff.

Liberals may be making the wild stretch of blaming Sarah Palin for Saturday's shooting of Arizona Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, but one of the Internet's most popular progressive activist sites targeted Giffords for electoral defeat in 2008 in much the same way as Palin's "cross-hairs" map did in 2010 — with Daily Kos founder and publisher Markos Moulitsas even using the term "bull's-eye."

On the day of the shooting, the Hillbuzz.org website reproduced screen grabs of Moulitsas' posting, noting that "Daily Kos targeted Gabrielle Giffords with a 'bulls-eye' back in June of 2008."

Moulitsas was incensed at Giffords and 104 other House Democrats he accused of having just "sold out the Constitution" by voting for amending and enhancing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The legislative revision retroactively protected telecommunications companies from being sued for facilitating government monitoring of suspected terrorists' phone calls and e-mails.

Probably the only one to give a rational comment on the shooting was the father of Christiana Green. John Green, father of 9-year-old, the youngest victim in Saturday's Tucson massacre, was trying his best to hold it together in his interview with Fox News' Megyn Kelly. But he was amazingly straightforward when he said; “Let's not use this senseless violence as a reflexive excuse to crack down on the freedoms this nation enjoys, he said. Let's not misinterpret what really happened in front of that Safeway Grocery store around 10 a.m. Saturday morning, and conjure motives for political capital.”

No one has lost more than John Green. But there he was, hours after his "princess" was murdered, along with five other people, trying to help a nation as it struggled to understand the senseless. There he was trying to be a voice of reason.

There he was fighting off the cold shock of reality to provide a perspective. There he was doing a darn fine job of it, too.

Too bad the same can't be said for so many others. Never has the degree of sweeping and instant public access been greater for the loud, the uninformed and the dangerously ignorant. The smoke had barely cleared in Tucson before the airwaves and the blogosphere were flooded with voices providing instant analysis about the slaughter:

People who had never heard of Jared Lee Loughner were suddenly everywhere, explaining him, his likely political philosophy, his emotional temperament and his brand of hatred: He is a rightwing extremist.

He is a violent disciple of the far right.

He snapped and went on a killing spree because of the toxic political environment in Arizona and the rest of the nation.

He snapped and went on a killing spree because he hates liberals.

He's a bigot.

It was inevitable. He killed because the right in Arizona has been stoking the fires of heated anger and rage successfully in this state.

Here's what appears to have happened in Tucson Arizona Saturday morning. A deranged man took a concealed, semi-automatic weapon to a political event and tried to kill Giffords and anyone standing close to her. It was a shooting – much like the shooting in Panama City, Fla. last month, where a deranged man tried to kill members of that city's school board before taking his own life.

We don't know whether Loughner was out to change the world. We don't know whether he was trying to make a political statement. We don't know if he was striking a blow against liberalism.

What is apparent is that an unsupervised, drug-abusing nut with a gun decided to try and kill a member of Congress.

Why were so many people in a sprint to make Loughner a pawn in this nation's political and cultural war of ideas? Why were so many people in a race to get out ahead of the facts before they knew how to pronounce the man's name?

Why were so many pundits and political operatives, unwilling to pause long enough to consider what John Green offered hours after losing his 9-year-old daughter?

Maybe this simply was a random, senseless, non-political act.

In America, random, senseless, non-political acts of violence are too often a price of our freedom.

You can read a cogent article by George Will by clicking here.

The Decline of the Left

I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground that 'all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people.' To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, not longer susceptible of any definition. ... [The Constitution] was intended to lace them up straightly within the enumerated powers. In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution." — Thomas Jefferson

On January 5, 2011 a new Congress was sworn into office and a new Speaker of the House elected. Their first act was to read aloud the Constitution of the United States. Each of the 435 members of the 112th Congress read part of an article from the Constitution, some with passion and others in the tone of an errant schoolboy reading a passage from a text he was required to read.

Not all members of Congress and many in left-wing media thought this no more than a stunt to placate the members of the Tea Party that had voted many of these new members into to office last November. Congressman Gerald Nadler (D-NY) said the Constitution was not a sacred document and that we should not place such reverence in it. Ezra Kline, a nobody journalist at the Washington Post, stated the Constitution was over 100 years old and written in a language no longer relevant in our society. Joey Behar, a dumber than a stone TV personality, questioned “what is this fetish we have over the Constitution?’

These attitudes have resulted from 50 to 60 years of a cultural takeover of our institutions by the left. Our public schools, universities, courts, political elite and entertainment industry and media have been infiltrated by people who have no regard for the Constitution unless it can be bent to their agenda. The enumerated powers vested in the federal government mean nothing to them. They believe all rights stem from government and the government can do anything it deems in the public good. In essence they have replaced God with government.

You can go on any college campus across the country and find thousands of 20 year old kids that know next to nothing about the history of the United States, but they will tell you how much they hate the country. Again, this is due to a total lack of education of our children about our founding fathers and our constitution. They are taught from a playbook that totally denies the exceptionalism of the United States, our form of government and the numerous contributions we have made to civilization. They are virtually ignorant of our economic system and the benefits of capitalism. They believe that they are entitled to almost everything including a college education, a job and government health care. They also have no idea of the sacrifices made by previous generations to insure their freedoms and way of life. They can tell you all about the latest rock star, video game or smartphone but they can’t name the nations we fought in World War II or what the inalienable rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence are. You can read more about the lack of knowledge of our history, Constitution, economic system and how our government functions by clicking here.

I believe that the rise of progressivism reached its zenith on January 20, 2009 with the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama the 44th president of the United States. Obama was what the progressive left had been waiting on for years. He was the epitome of the perfect candidate for the left. He was young, eloquent and above all he was black — but not too black. He was the left wing’s messiah, the one they had been waiting for since the death of Bobby Kennedy. He was someone they could rally behind. He had very little political baggage and he came from the roots of community organizing, something the left loved. Unlike the dull and bland leftists like Mondale, McGovern, Carter, Gore and Kerry he had the charisma the left had been so longing for. He even surpassed Bill Clinton in the eyes of the true believers on the left. After all if there had been no Ross Perot in 1992 Bill Clinton would have faded away into the history of failed Democrat presidential candidates. In the eyes of the left Obama had it all, he would be their savior.

The media, academia, students and the entertainment industry fell in love with Obama. He was, in the words of Sean Hannity, “the anointed one.” The timing was perfect for Obama. We were engaged in two unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the country was entering a recession, the GOP had been disgraced in the 2006 congressional elections and the Republican candidate, John McCain, while a war hero was dull and lacked the charisma the American people were looking for.

Obama had just one flaw — he didn’t know how to govern. He was great on the campaign trail, but when it came to governing the country he fell flat. As the recession deepened and unemployment climbed to 10% Obama risked all on his universal health care program and his endless stimulus spending. He also had a Democrat controlled House and Senate that was spending like true progressives and taking more control of the lives of Americans.

Like the fable of the emperor’s new clothes the American people soon saw the naked truth about Obama — he was an arrogant fraud. He was leading the nation into economic disaster with his big government spending and growing deficit. The American people, like never before, began to rise up against the Obama, the government and the progressive left. This movement was dubbed the “Tea Party.” It was scoffed at by the political elite and left wing media. People began reading the Constitution and seeing that many of the things the Congress was doing were not what the founding fathers had wanted for this Republic.

In November of 2010 the American people rejected the Democrat Congress by sending 65 new conservative member to Washington and over 650 to the various state house across the nation. This was the largest rebuke of a sitting Congress in 65 years, almost double the conservative revolution of 1994.

Throughout history people began by pulling together to create a civilization. This was the case of the Greeks, Romans Minoans, and our American civilization. When these civilizations begin to decline they do so from the top down, not from the bottom up. The people on the bottom have little or no power to prevent the top down rot. With the explosion of the Internet the people on the bottom now have the power to take on the elite leaders and the media that supports them. This is the difference that is making itself present today. The Internet has given the people on the bottom the power to challenge the top and is one of the reasons the progressive left, that has controlled our media for so long, is now losing its hold on shaping the thinking of the American electorate. The success of the Tea Party movement proves this. For the first time in nearly 60 years the progressive left is beginning to lose the battle for the hearts and minds of the American people.

Since the end of the First World War Europeans have been living with socialism. Today throughout Europe the socialist system of government is failing. This is evident by riots in France, Greece, Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom. At the same time we have progressives in this county who want us to move in the direction the Europeans are trying to leave. This move is being rejected by the American people. To a progressive liberal capitalism is a system that works in the practical sense, but is wrong in theory. To our founding fathers it was the only way to build a sustainable civilization.

Politics in the United States is a game played between the 40 yard lines. You do not have to move the ball 90 yards to change the direction of the country. Obama and the 111th Congress attempted to violate this rule and is the main reason they failed and why progressive liberalism will decline over the next decade. A recent Gallup poll stated that those who professed to be progressive liberals accounted for 19% of the electorate, while those professing to be conservative amounted to 45%. The progressive left, while being highly visible in the media and entertainment industry, is becoming less relevant in our politics. Conversely, those in Tea Party will become more relevant in future elections. This is why the 112th Congress will not fall prey to the same fate as the 1994 Congress.

In 1994 conservatives were swept into Washington on a wave of resentment for Clinton’s hard left spending, tax increases and attempts to change our health care system. The problem they had is that as time went by these conservatives lost their way in the swamps of Washington politics and fell victim to the accouterments of power. They were soon building bridges to nowhere and spending and regulating like their progressive counterparts. There was no unified force to hold them to the Constitution or their conservative values. This is not the case today. With the rise of the Tea Party movement and the Internet conservatives have more power to hold the 112th Congress accountable for their actions.

With the death of the Kennedy political dynasty the left no longer has the charismatic great leader that can succeed Obama. There are only mediocre left wing politicians that could be the savior of the left. There is only one Obama and his tern is up in 2012. Even if he is reelected his relevancy will be severely dampened if the Congress remains conservative. This will be the challenge for conservatives and the Tea Party movement for the next two years. If they keep pressure on the House and change the balance of power in the Senate we can change the course of this Republic.

Say Goodbye to 2010

"Most economic fallacies derive from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can only gain at the expense of another." — Milton Friedman

It’s that time of year when we look back on the passing year and ahead to the New Year. It’s a time for reflection on what has been and of course prognostications and resolutions for the coming year. With this in mind I will offer my candidates for some the worst and the best of 2010.

The year began with the passing of the health care bill, the mandate or tax or benefit or entitlement or whatever it claims to be. It was not developed by anyone or any group we could identify. It did not have extensive research or studies in support. It made no tests, conducted no experiments, and took no measured steps in development. It appeared fully born like Adam and was left on our stoop like an unwanted changeling. As Nancy Pelosi said, “you have to pass the bill to know what’s in it.” Well its 12 months latter and we still do not know what this massive bill will mean to our economy or our health.

The feel-good story of the year featured a group of over thirty miners in Chile trapped underground for weeks. Through a miracle of international cooperation, the right people and the right machines were brought to bear on the problem, with happy result. This was what a world of individual initiative looks like.

Harry Reid won an election in the state of Nevada despite presiding over the squandering of trillions of dollars, thousands of thousands of millions, on his personal hunches without solid evidence. With the massive backing of the SEIU he beat a flawed opponent who could not effectively get her Tea Party message out to the voters.

The Wikis leaked all over us but President Obama told us it was rain falling on our heads. Barry says we're on the right track in Afghanistan but, as Jimmy McMillen told us, “the rent is too damned high.” Hamid Karzai just wants us to pay it in perpetuity. Joe Biden had bad news for Karzai, though, saying we'll be out of there in 2014 come hell or high water, which must be Joe's long-range forecast for the 2012 election.

The Rump Congress finally went home after slinging its last insults at our economy and our culture. And according to Gallup, 13 percent of Americans still think Congress is doing a very good job. Who are these people? They must be the ones the UN thought of when it proposed to appoint its first official ambassador to extraterrestrial beings. If the House Republicans want to cut something out of the budget next year, how about starting with the $6 billion or so we pay the East 44th Street crime family every year?

It's not just that Barry, Nancy and Harry managed to stampede more nation-mangling legislation into law. It's not just that our national debt is such a large number — $13,868,461,000,000 — that it defies imagination and repayment.

Barry got shellacked in November, but before the varnish could dry the Senate RINOs handed Obama almost everything he wanted, including a tax deal that had so many liberal toys attached, you'd need a new car to pull it. One more powerful than the Chevy Volt, which gets at least 40 miles per billion dollars of taxpayer-funded subsidies.

The passage, by Congress, of the Safe Food Act that will add 10,000 government employees and raise the cost of the food by 10-15%. It will also put the small food suppliers, the farmer’s markets and makers of local jams and jellies out of business.

The Chinese, helping us draw the economic noose ever more tightly around our necks, are also trying to stir-fry some of their neighbors into satellite states. China's military buildup now includes plans for an aircraft carrier or two. In that regard they match the Brits whose long-deck carriers may someday set sail. But the penurious Brits (rendered so by years of liberal government) can't afford to build planes to operate from their carriers. So they're thinking about a partnership with the French to take turns sailing and paying for carrier ops.

The ship will have to be christened HMS Fromage, and the alternating crews will choose between stilton and camembert. The Fromage had better have a reinforced bow because mother earth is cooling so quickly, we appear to be entering a new Ice Age.

2011 will not only be colder, but darker: the last U.S. factory making incandescent light bulbs, in Springfield VA, closed in 2010. From now on, in between the moment you throw the switch and when the stupid spiral actually emits its dull light take time to thank a liberal. When a bulb breaks, call the hazmat squad: the spirals contain mercury, which is nearly as hazardous to your health as Obamacare.

Frozen Britain reported that the first week in December 2010 wasn't the coldest ever opening week of that month. That occurred in 1639 when the British East India Company was founding the city of Madras (thereby establishing a reliable supply of tasteful plaid shirts) and the birth of Sir Isaac Newton was three years off. It's a pity that Sir Isaac isn't around to dissect mathematically California's latest act of economic suicide.

The Great Snowmageddon Snit Fit of 2010 when New York City’s union sanitation workers took a “go slow” posture in the removal of snow resulting in the deaths of several people.

Bernie Madoff went to jail for taking a few billion dollars from people for safekeeping in his Ponzi scheme and squandering it on lavish life style.

Economic terminator Schwarzenegger hailed the enactment of California's version of the failed European cap-and-trade scam just in time for Governor Moonbeam’s re-inauguration next month. Jerry Brown's new turn in Sacramento will be historic: he will be the first governor to oversee the outright bankruptcy of a U.S. state. A more fitting idea would be for California to join the economic leper colony called the "Euro Zone."

Sarah Palin has a hit show about Alaska on the Learning Network (TLC), but is still despised by the left.

Marines don't need to be told to man up, because they perfected the concept in 1775. Two Marine Commandants —  Gen. Jim Conway and his successor Gen. James Amos -- both stood fast against the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law prohibiting homosexuals from serving openly in the military. But the uber-liberals and RINOs of Congress believed themselves better judges of the effect of DADT repeal.

The repeal may be a super-secret strategery to help win the Afghanistan war. Thanks to WikiLeaks, we know the sexual proclivities of many Pashtun men, who apparently embrace a liberal interpretation of Islam as well as each other.

Long will historians ponder why — upon the repeal — the first communication from the Senate Majority Leader was to a creature of unknown biology known as Lady Gaga. The only discernible connection is that Army Pfc. Bradley Manning — accused of passing hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks — reportedly copied them onto rewritable Lady Gaga music disks. Manning is enthusiastically gay, but we will refrain from speculation of any connection between or among him, Senator Reid and Lady Gaga.

The Kabuki troupe performing security-theater at airports have yet to stop a would-be terrorist, but they have determined how Superman's x-ray vision benefits him when he isn't out fighting crime. Some of the TSA goons selected former "Baywatch" babe Donna D'Errico for personal naked x-ray screening and, according to the lady in question, she observed them chuckling furtively at what they saw.

I'm pretty sure that the TSA fondlers will not be able to touch a woman's padded bra and tell if it's padded with cotton or PETN, the explosive du jour among the bad guys. We have enough money to put TV's up in all the Wall Marts to show Big Sis warning us to say something if we see something, but not enough to train screeners to do it as the Israelis do. I'll say something: stop performing security rituals that don't make us safer, fire Janet Incompetano and train profiling screeners to keep the underwear bombers off my next flight.

The Yankees were eliminated in the playoffs and George Steinbrenner went to Heaven avoiding estate taxes. Michael Vick's career, once gone to the dogs, began to soar on the wings of Eagles, but PETA vetoes his getting a dog. LeBron James forsook the city of Cleveland, prompting its citizens to compare him to his late brother Jesse. Brett Farve ends a Hall of Fame career on a sour note by sexting his private parts to a sideline babe.

Sandra Bullock. Defying the Hollywood odds, she won an Oscar for her heartfelt portrayal of Leigh Ann Touhy, whose Memphis family adopted a black teen named Michael Oher and loved him into college and then a starting job with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. Critics hated the film, but America loved it. One reviewer found it "contrived, storybook-sweet, credulity-straining and — um, true."

Studio heads were shocked again by surprise hits like the remake of "The Karate Kid," which grossed more than $175 million. None of the top 15 movies received an "R" rating. Six of the top 15 movies were animated, and at No. 1 in box-office receipts (with more than $415 million) was G-rated "Toy Story 3." A St. Petersburg Times critic suggested it wasn't just the best film of the summer; it could be Best Picture of 2010. Quality doesn't have to equal perversity. Children are good at nagging and dragging their parents to the Cineplex. Someone in Tinseltown should just wake up and smell the popcorn.

Thanks to the greatness of the American people, voiced through the election by the Tea Party Movement, there is hope. As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke of his Democrat colleagues at the end of the 111th Congress, "If they think it's bad now, wait till next year." — I can hardly wait.

Now that's a promise that must be kept. Happy New Year.