Sunday, February 23, 2014

Constitution Study Radio: The Path to the United States Constitution


UPCOMING ONLINE CONSTITUTION CLASS BROADCASTS

FEBRUARY 23, 2014 AT 9:00 AM


00:30

Constitution Study Radio: Lesson 04, Path to the Constitution

In this episode of Constitution Study Radio, we will finish Lesson 03 with a discussion about The Articles of Confederation, and the Northwest Ordinance. Then, we will begin Lesson 04:

The Path to the Constitution

- Mayflower Compact

- The Spanish Conquistadors

- The English Charters

- Religious Freedom in the New World

- Individual Colonies

Join Douglas V. Gibbs of Political Pistachio, Constitution Radio on KCAA 1050AM, and the Constitution Association, as he journeys through the United States Constitution. We will study the concepts, principles, and direct text of the U.S. Constitution from the original point of view of the Founding Fathers.

New episodes each Sunday Morning at 9:00 am Pacific Time. The link above is also good for listening to the podcasts of passed episodes.

by Douglas V Gibbs

in Politics Conservative

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Medal Of Honor Winner Ed Freeman, R.I.P.

by JASmius


Medal of Honor winner Ed Freeman died with no media attention. It's time to raise up genuine heroes to replace the pathetic role models of the left.




Trey Gowdy: "Damn Right We're Going to Strip Funding from Obama's Pet Projects"

by JASmius


Enjoy the Gowdy-porn, my friends.....

Judge Jeanine guest hosted for Greta tonight and interviewed Trey Gowdy moments ago. She asked Gowdy what if anything can be done to stop the executive overreach by Obama. Gowdy outlined 4 methods for stopping the overreach. Gowdy said that main reason why Obama continues with the overreach is because he can get away with it. When asked if Gowdy and other members of Congress were going to take action, Gowdy said, "Damn right, we're going to strip funding from Obama's pet projects."




Historical and Current Tactics Used When Usurping Power

By Don Jans,

Throughout history different historical figures have determined their rule is superior to the rule of the people. These historical figures, although in different times and situations have assumed total power with similar methods. What always seems to be a part of the process is the silencing of any opposition and the assumption of power despite laws, rules or practices to the contrary. When criticized they answer by attacking and demeaning those who question, blaming others and praising themselves for being there to rescue their fellow countrymen. We will look at tactics used by Julius Caesar, Mussolini, Hitler and Lenin. We will then contrast and compare these tactics with those being used by Obama.

During his early career, Caesar had seen how chaotic and dysfunctional the Roman Republic had become. The republican machinery had broken down under the weight of imperialism, the central government had become powerless, the provinces had been transformed into independent principalities under the absolute control of their governors, and the army had replaced the constitution as the means of accomplishing political goals. With a weak central government, political corruption had spiraled out of control, and the status quo had been maintained by a corrupt aristocracy, which saw no need to change a system which had made all of its members quite rich. Some will justify Obama’s actions by claiming he found himself in a similar situation.

Between Caesars crossing of the Rubicon River in 49 BC, and his assassination in 44 BC, he established a new constitution, which was intended to accomplish three separate goals. First, he wanted to suppress all armed resistance out in the provinces, and thus bring order back to the Republic. Second, he wanted to create a strong central government in Rome. And finally, he wanted to knit together the entire Republic into a single cohesive unit. The first goal was accomplished when Caesar defeated Pompey and his supporters. To accomplish the other two goals, he needed to ensure that his control over the government was undisputed, and so he assumed these powers by increasing his own authority, and by decreasing the authority of Rome's other political institutions. To increase his own powers, he assumed the important magistracies and to weaken Rome's other political institutions, he instituted several additional reforms. He controlled the process by which candidates were nominated for magisterial elections, he appointed his own supporters to the senate, and he prevented hostile measures from being adopted by the assemblies. Caesar enhanced his power and diminished the power of others by assuming powers he may or may not have had legal authority to assume.

Following the March on Rome in October 1922 Mussolini became the youngest Prime Minister in Italian history. After destroying all political opposition through his secret police and outlawing labor strikes, Mussolini and his fascist followers consolidated their power through a series of laws that transformed the nation into a one-party dictatorship. Within five years he had established dictatorial authority by both legal and extraordinary means, aspiring to create a totalitarian state. Mussolini had his opponents silenced by using the force of government against them. Obama, through Schumer, has called for the silencing of his opponents through illegal activities by the Internal Revenue Service.

Following the Reichstag fire, the Nazis began to suspend civil liberties and eliminate political opposition. The Communists were excluded from the Reichstag. At the March 1933 elections, no single party secured a majority. Hitler required the vote of the Centre Party and Conservatives in the Reichstag to obtain the powers he desired. He called on Reichstag members to vote for the Enabling Act on 24 March 1933. Hitler was granted plenary powers "temporarily" by the passage of the Act. The law gave him the freedom to act without parliamentary consent and even without constitutional limitations.

Employing his characteristic mix of negotiation and intimidation, Hitler offered the possibility of friendly co-operation, promising not to threaten the Reichstag, the President, the States or the Churches if granted the emergency powers. The Centre Party, having obtained promises of non-interference in religion, joined with conservatives in voting for the Act (only the Social Democrats voted against).

The Act allowed Hitler and his Cabinet to rule by emergency decree for four years, though Hindenberg remained President. Hitler immediately set about abolishing the powers of the states and the existence of non-Nazi political parties and organizations. Non-Nazi parties were formally outlawed on 14 July, and the Reichstag abdicated its democratic responsibilities. Hitler used blatant lies, deceit and abolition of any opposition.

Lenin used these six principles in his consolidation of power.

1. The Ends Justify the Means: The broken promises of Lenin’s regime delivered just the opposite. He guaranteed a free press, but in his first two days of communist rule he halted it. He called it temporary, but it wasn’t.

2. The Firstest with the Mostest: Besides implementing a strategy of lies, Lenin also was quick to seize the semantic high ground. He swiftly altered and manipulated the meanings of words – intellectually disarming opponents. Lenin also took title to the word “democracy,” disarming opponents who were then unable to project a coherent message. By controlling words, Lenin controlled perceptions of reality.

3. Never Let a Crisis go to Waste: The Bolsheviks would even create a crisis to achieve a goal.

4. Demonization: In denouncing opponents, Lenin was obsessive, virulent and personal, calling them “bloodsuckers,” “insects,” “spiders,” “leeches” and “vampires.” The bourgeois were “ex-people.” The murder of Czar Nicholas II and his family was termed “a humane act.” Then there were “hoarders,” “wreckers,” “saboteurs” and, worst of all, “Kulaks” — the prosperous and industrious peasants of whom Lenin spoke only “with the most seething hatred.”

5. Propaganda of Example: Perhaps the most disturbing means of propaganda against Russia’s mostly illiterate population was the use of example as part of a reign of terror. Public hangings and shootings served as well as any written material to force Russians into submission. “These swine have to be dealt with so that everyone will remember it for years,” Lenin wrote.

6. Blame your Predecessor: As has happened anytime socialism has been tried, it was a failure. Lenin’s civil war cost 13 million lives and his ruinous economic policies triggered the famine of 1921-1922. Lenin had an endless propensity to blame his predecessor, the Czar, for the economic havoc.

We have not witnessed #5 literally being employed by the Obama regime. However, we have seen very real scare tactics used by the regime when they lie to the poor and minorities telling them what the opposition will do to them if the opposition gains power. Obama and his henchmen are literally employing every one of the others, just as Lenin showed them. Lenin was a good teacher and Obama, Axelrod, Jarrett and now Podesta are good students.

This is documented history. This is how a totalitarian state comes into being. The aspiring dictator must silence the opposition. At present, the IRS has been the chosen vehicle to silence those who oppose the Marxist/Progressive regime headed by Obama. The aspiring dictator must assume power whether legal or not. Obama has taken it upon himself to write law, which is not within the powers of the office he holds. Obama and people in his regime have lied to congress and the American people for the purpose of furthering their cause. Those who have lied to congress have broken the law, but Obama has chosen not to fulfill his constitutional duty and have them prosecuted. History shows us how each of these past dictators became more and more blatant in their power grab as they learned nobody would oppose them. Once the opposition became fully aware of what was happening and was willing to address the situation openly and honestly, it was too late. FREEDOM LOVING AMERICANS, WE MUST TAKE ACTION BEFORE IT IS IT TOO LATE?

Don Jans, Author and Acclaimed Speaker

I am available to be on broadcasts or speak anywhere in the country. I have no set fee and at times have not received one; understanding groups have different policies and capabilities. I do make my book, DVDs and CDs available. I will not use spin or be concerned about being politically correct. My only concern is that I speak the truth.

310-902-376

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4iPiRaAKqo

www.mygrandchildrensamerica.com

mygrandchildrensamerica@gmail.com

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Mulls Religious Protection Act

by JASmius

Well, it has been a few years since Arizona Republicans have provoked Eric "The Red" Holder into suing the state.  What better bait than slapping down the Lavender Lobby?:

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer says she will closely review a bill that would let business owners cite their religious beliefs as legal justification for refusing service to same-sex couples and others.

The legislation was approved Thursday with overwhelming Republican support, reports the Arizona Republic.

Brewer, a Republican, told CNN Friday she will review the bill carefully, but didn't reveal her opinion of the legislation.
Oh, I don't know; I think her opinion of the legislation is pretty clear:

"I think anybody that owns a business can choose who they work with or who they don't work with," Brewer commented to CNN in Washington, DC, where she is attending a governors' conference. "But I don't know that it needs to be statutory. In my life and in my businesses, if I don't want to do business or if I don't want to deal with a particular company or person or whatever, I'm not interested. That's America. That's freedom."

Can I just save us some time?  Governor Brewer is going to sign this bill.  Then the Department of Injustice & Revenge will contrive some grounds for suing Arizona to block it, and it'll probably be declared unconstitutional.  Pretty much an instant replay of the same process that took place four years ago over Arizona's illegal immigration bill.

That's almost beside the point.  The point of this bill is political, not legislative.  It's to send a message: the Lavender Lobby is not going to shove their anti-Christian persecution down, in this case, Arizonans' throats without a fight.  It's also to illustrate that the First Amendment already forbids the federal government from "prohibiting the free exercise of religion," and the Arizona constitution defines marriage thusly: "Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state."  In short, this legislation draws attention to the fact that religious liberty and freedom is already protected by federal and Arizona law, and it is homosexual militants that are violating both.  They're the ones who should be backhanded and told in no uncertain terms to back off and stop hunting Christian businesses to attack and harass and persecute to get shut down and destroyed.

It's one salvo in a long twilight struggle made all the longer by cowardice like the following:

Some Arizona business leaders voiced strong opposition to the religious freedom bill, as did most of the candidates to replace Brewer in the November election, reports the Arizona Capitol Times.

Barry Broome, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, and James Lundy, who chairs the organization's board of directors, sent a letter to Brewer Friday begging her to veto the bill, saying it would have “profound, negative effects on our business community for years to come," reports the Capitol Times.

They praised Brewer for the work she and the Arizona Commerce Authority have done strengthening the state's economy, but said the controversial bill will represent a setback.

The council also warned that the bill could cause problems by alienating businesses looking to relocate and hurt tourism as the state readies for next year's Super Bowl.
Uh-uh.  This legislation will not alienate businesses; it will alienate homosexual extremists who will target any business that doesn't publicly disavow it.  That's what the GPEC is afraid of, particularly with the added publicity of Super Bowl XLIX being in town a year from now.  Since the vast majority of businesses are mercenary rather than principled, they just want peace and quiet and are virulently allergic to "controversy".  Which is what Lefties count on in every such campaign on whatever issue.  Sorry, Mr. Broome, but there's a smidgen more at stake here than what you imagine to be your marginal opportunity costs.

I don't know what he's wetting his pants about, anyway - as I said above, the DOI&R will get the measure squashed in short order.  It'll probably have little or no impact on the Seattle Seahawks repeating as World Champions at the Toaster.  But the battle will rage on.  Because it has to.



Constitution Radio: Solutions Against Tyranny

Constitution Radio with Douglas V. Gibbs

Saturday, February 22, 2014 at 2:00 pm

Listen live on KCAA AM1050, Online at KCAAradio.com, by phone at 832-999-1050, or get your smartphone app at KCAAexpress.com.  Catch the archived podcast later at your convenience on our Podcast Page.

Learn More about Doug at DouglasVGibbs.com and read what he and JASmius have to say daily on Political Pistachio.

Today's guest is G.R. Mobley.  G.R. Mobley's first book, We The People: Whose Constitution Is It Anyway?, lays down the groundwork, and his second book is in the final stages of completion. Mr. Mobley is joining us in studio to discuss the latest book on today's show.

While the first book laid down the groundwork on what tools we have available for constitutionally restoring our republic, and the basic information on how to do it, the second book goes into more detail on putting these concepts into action.

As "Whose Constitution Is It Anyway" explains, the founders gave us many tools for fighting against tyranny, if only we would be willing to use them.  Among these tools is an Article V. Convention.  The problem, however, is that the federal government is not even willing to act upon their constitutional duty, and obligation, by "calling" a convention.  This is where the parents (States) are supposed to go into action.  The States are not beholden to the federal government.  They are the ones that are supposed to be in control, and it is they that must call a convention - but a new kind of convention, something that plays on the concept the statists use called "Judicial Review."

In Mr. Mobley's second book, "Article V.: The Strategy to Convene a Convention," he explains what "Republic Review" is, as opposed to the unconstitutional tool of the left, Judicial Review.  The States are the final arbiters of the constitution, not the judiciary, so it is up to us through our States to end the tyranny we have rising up through the Washington DC at this moment.

But how do we take action?  What are the strategies we need to use to gain control of our governments locally, and work them towards a convention that could be the only tool we have remaining in terms of regaining control of the federal government, and ultimately restoring the constitutional republic?

"The Strategy to Convene a Convention" goes through the principles of convening a convention, and his series of books is among the most important books available to Americans in regards to taking back our country.

Mr. Mobley is scheduled for the first half of the show, plus a few minutes, and last time he was on the regular listeners could not say enough about the quality of the interview, and the importance of what G. R. Mobley has to say.

After the interview we will reveal today's Book of the Week. . . 

And the Constitution Quest Question of the Week.

Then, JASmius will join us for the . . . 

5 Big Stories of the Week, February 22, 2014

5.  Less Jobs, More Spending - Is the end game collapse?





4.  The Crime of Doing Business

When it comes to Obamacare, the unconstitutional president, the tyrant, and the radical Alinsky fascist in the White House, just keeps making it worse.

Among the latest on the merry go round we call Obamacare, among the 27 unilateral changes to ObamaCare made unconstitutionally by the executive branch, Obama has created new crimes that basically makes it an offense to dare blame the government for any business practices.

Let me explain.

Under the Affordable Care Act, with Obama's nice little executive action where he has acted like a legislature, and modified the law, small business owners are going to have to certify under penalty of perjury that their hiring and firing decisions have nothing to do with ObamaCare.

A small business owner now risks fines, or prison, if he dares run his own business in a way outside of the President's wishes.


3.  To Stop A Tyrant


2.  Ukraine is Burning





Key quote ends the NYT article:

“We hoped for this but didn’t expect it,” said Roman Dakus, wearing a ski helmet and carrying a length of pipe, who guarding one doorway. He had been in Independence Square, known as Maidan, off and on for three months, he said. “It was very, very difficult to stay on the square in the cold at night,” he said. “But we warmed one another with our hearts and our souls.”

“This commences a new life for Ukraine,” he said, waving his pipe to take in the overrun presidential residence. “People really changed their mind-set because of these events. Before, people thought, ‘Nothing really depends on me.’ They preferred to say that and to think like that. But after this situation, they think differently. They believe in their struggle when they are all together.”

1.  President’s Day

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American Daily Review - Stopping Tyrants Edition

From America to the Ukraine - Working to Stop Tyranny may be gaining ground. . .


02:00 hours

American Daily Review
Welcome to the pre-game show for Constitution Radio on the Political Pistachio Radio Network [(KCAA-1050AM (Los Angeles), KCXL-1140AM (Kansas City), and WHTH-790AM (Youngstown, Ohio)]! Hang on every word of Blog Talk... more

today at 12:00 pm Pacific

GOP Puts FBI Chief On Spot Over D'Souza Indictment

by JASmius

Remember last month's case of Dinesh D'Souza, the alleged campaign finance miscreant and the Obama Regime's latest prospective political prisoner?  Intriguingly enough, so do four Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and they have some questions for the FBI:

Four Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have demanded that FBI Director James Comey answer specific questions regarding the "routine review" of campaign filings that led to last month's indictment of conservative commentator and best-selling author Dinesh D'Souza on campaign-finance charges.

The letter, dated Wednesday, was signed by the committee's ranking GOP member, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, along with Senators Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Mike Lee of Utah.

The letter, which was reported by the Weekly Standard and other news organizations, quotes former Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz's recent column in the Wall Street Journal attacking D'Souza's indictment. "I can't help but think that [D'Souza's] politics have something to do with it. ... It smacks of selective prosecution," the letter states.
Of course, politics have something to do with it.  And it isn't just selective prosecution, it's deliberate over-prosecution.  It's taking the man who finally vetted Barack Obama's Manchurian Candidate-esque background, loudly targeting him, and going after him akin to shooting a squirrel with a neutron cannon.  Not something that tends to come up "at random," unless "gods" can conjure up their own "good luck".

Consequently, recently confirmed FBI Director James Comey is going to be getting his turn in the proverbial barrel:

"To dispel this sort of public perception that Mr. D'Souza may have been targeted because of his outspoken criticisms of the president, it is important for the FBI to be transparent regarding the precise origin of this investigation," the letter continued.

The senators then pose 12 direct questions to Comey regarding the general scope of the reviews and specifically concerning the D'Souza indictment.

"During your confirmation hearing, you pledged that you would carry the values of transparency and try to spread them as far as you could within the FBI," the senators said before listing their questions. "To explain the details of these routine reviews and provide context to those who may be skeptical of the origins of this investigation, please provide answers to the following questions regarding FBI's regular review of campaign filings."

The questions are:

1. It appears from U.S. Attorney's Office comment that the FBI conducts regular, perhaps random reviews of campaign filings. Is this correct? If so, what methodology does the FBI use to conduct these reviews?

2. Please identify and describe all methods by which a review of campaign filings may be initiated.

3. Please identify all other government entities involved in the FBI's review of campaign filings and describe their involvement.

4. How and why was this particular review initiated?

5. What criteria involved in this particular review led to the suspicion that warranted further inquiry?

6. What are the guidelines under which the FBI conducts its review of campaign filings?

7. Please describe how the FBI's reviews of campaign filings are conducted.

8. How many campaign filings has the FBI reviewed in each year from 2008 to the present?

9. On average, how long does it take to complete a review of a campaign filing?

10. How many agents are assigned, per case, to review campaign filings?

11. On average, how many man hours are spent reviewing campaign filings?

12. When did the FBI begin routinely reviewing campaign filings?

Another name for this sort of process is "drilling down," starting broadly and inexorably zeroing in on the issue at hand in such an excruciating way that sphincters tighten sufficiently to cut through carbon neutronium.

Or would if Grassley, Sessions, Cruz, and Lee had any clout, which they don't.  It'll be ten and a half months at least before the Iowa senator can gain the chairmanship of Judiciary and with it the power to issue subpoenas to compel Comey's sworn testimony.  And even then there's no reason to believe that the Regime won't simply stonewall as it's been stonewalling all these various and sundry congressional probes and investigations for over three years.  At best they'd just blame the D'Souza persecution on "overeager" FBI agents in the "New York field office," just like those "overeager" IRS agents in Cincinnati "accidentally" squashed Tea Party groups last cycle.  By the time the "Gang of Four" ever managed to extract anything resembling a confession of the Regime's day-glo obvious Gestapo tactics, D'Souza would be wasting away on death row.  And such a confession is highly unlikely.

On the bright side, the senators' letter may diminish the chances of a public show trial.  Which would make quietly "disappearing" D'Souza a more appealing option for the White House.

Much the same dynamic that is unfolding in the already-infamous FCC media crackdown:

The Federal Communications Commission said on Friday that it was scrapping a controversial study derided by critics as a threat to the First Amendment right of press freedom.

The plan to look at how news organizations choose which stories to cover "overstepped the bounds of what is required," admitted FCC spokeswoman Shannon Gilson.

"To be clear, media owners and journalists will no longer be asked to participate in the Columbia, S.C., pilot study," Gilson said in a statement posted on the agency's website.

"The pilot will not be undertaken until a new study design is final," she said. "Any subsequent market studies conducted by the FCC, if determined necessary, will not seek participation from or include questions for media owners, news directors or reporters." [emphasis added]

Translation: "We'll have to do this more quietly, under the radar" - which is my interpretation of "new study design".  And that will be considerably easier to accomplish now that the message of this week has been sent: "Toe the party line, or else."

This would have made a great next D'Souza documentary, wouldn't it?

Friday, February 21, 2014

Is Obama Accelerating The Collapse Of America?

by JASmius

All together now: Yes....he....is!

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office finally reported the truth: ObamaCare is the perfect job-killing machine. Millions of people have already been downsized from full-time to part-time work, and now we know from the CBO that an additional 2.3 million jobs will be eliminated. As Wayne Allyn Root predicted, this is exactly what ObamaCare was intended to do: destroy the middle class and make us all dependent on government checks to survive.




Hard Starboard Radio: Tea Party Mudslide



The lessons of World War I finally arrive just in time to be ignored in a new century; How climatology is "political science"; How Obamanomics puts the "war" in class warfare; The emergence of "National Bolshevism"; More proof that "primarying" elected Republicans is a very, very bad idea; and e-newsletter spackle to fill up any cracks.

It's the last Open-Thighs Friday at 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific - until further notice, anyway.

Obama Pushes For Billions More In Spending, No Budget Compromise

by JASmius

You know how the proprietor of this site is always saying, "Don't make deals with left-wing liberal socialist 'progressive' commie bastards," because the only thing that can be counted on with them is that we can't count on them - particularly to honor their end of any "grand bargains"?

Well, buckle your seat belts, because here we go again:

President Obama is going back on his promise to compromise on reducing the federal debt with a budget proposal for 2015 that would increase spending by $56 billion.

His move, an apparent effort to bolster Democrats in this fall's midterm elections, abandons the "grand bargain" he offered last year to appease Republicans, the Washington Post reports.  He had promised to put a lid on spiraling retirement spending by reducing cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients in return for an increase in taxes on the richest Americans.

Obama's 2015 budget proposes increased spending on programs to bolster the middle class, including funding for early-childhood education initiatives and job training.

Another Patented Barack Obama Double-Cross?  Check.  More braying to his Marxist-Alinskyist zombie base?  Check.  More class warfare?  Check.  More transparently phony pandering to the middle class with which his Regime is at war?  Check.  Never had any intention of compromising or following through on any promise?  Check.

Blaming it all on the GOP?  Check:

The White House pointed the finger at the GOP for Obama's shift, the New York Times reports.

"There was a point in time when there was a little bit more optimism about the willingness of Republicans to budge on closing some tax loopholes," Josh Earnest, a White House deputy press secretary, tells the Times. "But over the course of the last year, they've refused to do that."
"Refused to do that" for the bupkis they knew they were going to get, yes.  In exchange for the entitlement reforms they were promised?  That would have been a different story.  See, that's why they call it a "compromise" - each side gives the other something they want.  Neither entirely wins, neither entirely loses.

But Barack Obama doesn't believe in compromise, because he does believe that he is God in human flesh and all those subhuman Republican untermenschen are so many rungs below him on the "evolutionary ladder" they're not even droolingly capable of grunting out the gratitude due him for allowing them to continue breathing, much less worthy of being treated as even near-equals in a budget negotiation.

O's latest reneging is so perfunctory that it's almost not even worth posting the retort from John Boehner's office:

"This reaffirms what has become all too apparent: the president has no interest in doing anything, even modest, to address our looming debt crisis," said Brendan Buck in a statement. "The one and only idea the president has to offer is even more job-destroying tax hikes, and that nonstarter won't do anything to save the entitlement programs that are critical to so many Americans."

True, true, and true.  But this statement begs another question: If False Messiah had pulled this perfidious volte-face two weeks ago, would the Speaker have so meekly and obsequiously caved on last week's debt ceiling hike?  Or did the White House hold off on it until after that particular concession was, as it were, "in the bank" to indulge in another "end zone celebration"?

White House Expected To Announce More Medicare Advantage Cuts To Pay For ObamaCare

by JASmius

Should we re-name it "Medicare DISadvantage"?



Hmmm.  Screwing over seniors even worse in order to keep laying waste to American health care overall....isn't that what Democrats have accused Republicans of plotting for the past fifty years?  Also, don't the elderly vote more reliably than any other age demographic?  And don't they tend to vote more conservatively as well?  How much more so now?

Sure explains ObamaCare's death panel feature, huh?

McCain Concedes Tomorrow's Presidential Election To Hillary Clinton

by JASmius

But the one allegedly scheduled for 2016?  Who knows?



The context of Maverick's comment was Michelle Bachmann's remark the other day that America isn't ready yet for a female president.  Thus the exchange between Piers Morgan and Darth Queeg whose slimy rehearsedness was given away by the Arizonan's 24-frames-per-second high-speed blinking, which I was half expecting to tear his eyelids off at any second.

If I'd been in McCain's place, I would have instead observed that Bachmann didn't appear to believe that America wasn't ready for a female president when she herself sought that same office just two years ago.  I would also have mentioned that the reason she fell so woefully short wasn't because of her gender, but because she wasn't dog-catcher timbre, much less the presidential variety, and had all the political stature of Mini-Me.

Maverick didn't say that, I imagine, because (1) he probably considers that "punching down," and (2) he'd much rather put over Hillary Clinton instead (behind that standard transparently phony "She wouldn't be my choice, but...." preamble) - which was why he was on with Piers Morgan in the first place.

Although, to be fair, what he actually said - that Hillary would be elected "tomorrow" - is functionally meaningless.  Indeed, I'm sure Hillary does wish a presidential election was tomorrow, because that means she'd get to bypass the campaign altogether and go straight to her coronation.  Because for the Empress, the problem is always the campaign, where her Nixonian qualities, all the baggage of her past and most especially her lackluster tenure at Foggy Bottom, and the unpurgeable reeking stench of her Obama association, both confluenced in a place called "Benghazi," would kill her chances deader than a delta smelt before she ever got out of the Donk primaries - once again.

But all her fanboys, including Piers Morgan and John McCain, are incapable of grasping that, and would be unwilling to do so if they weren't.  And so the unkillable conventional "wisdom" of Hillary Clinton's "inevitability" rolls on, in sequel mode, like the zombie myth it is and will remain.

A good thing, too; otherwise, I might feel an uncontrollable compulsion to blink.

ChiComms Order Obama To Scrap Dalai Lama Meeting

by JASmius

Red China says Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama will severely impair China-U.S. relations. CNN's Jim Acosta reports:




Beats me why.  Obama is one of them, a fellow Marxist and religiophobe (other than on Islam, of which the Dalai Lama is not).  There's no reason for Beijing not to hope that O will try to "forcefully" convert him to the "People's Faith".  And given the incoherent mush that oozed out of Foggy Bottom in response - "middle way approach," "Tibet is part of the PRC and we don't support Tibetan independence," "We strongly support human rights and religious freedom in China," the latter of which is rich, given that the Regime doesn't even support religious freedom here at home - there's zero chance that The One will make common cause with him on anything.  Most likely, since, to my recollection, he's never met with the Dalai Lama before, this is just checking off another box on his "don't wanna do" list.  Or maybe the dictator will hit up the DL for putting tips.  Either way, it won't have any impact on Sino-American relations.

And then we remember what's really going on here from the perspective of the other side of the Pacific.  The ChiComms know there's no significance to this meeting, not even symbolically, given how catastrophically U.S. power and prestige have evaporated.  Their objection is, in reality, nothing of the sort; it is, rather, a power play.  They know the economic leverage they have over us given the significant chunk of that infamous $17 trillion US debt they hold; they know that Barack Obama is one of them, and how eager he is to forfeit American wealth, strength, and global leadership; and they know the enormous geopolitical power vacuum that is opening - one that are ready, willing, able, and eager to fill.

It's kind of like taking a car out for a test drive.  You know all of its features; now you want to use them for yourself.  Anything that's not quite working to satisfaction can then be fine-tuned to perfection.

If King Hussein does as he's told, everything will be fine.  If he meets the Dalai Lama anyway, the PLA will have some additional "fine-tuning" to do in the Western Pacific, before they move East.

That should be one helluva tee-off.

Obama Reneges On Social Security Pledge

by JASmius

Godbama giveth, and Godbama taketh away:

President Barack Obama on Thursday dropped a measure to trim cost-of-living increases in Social Security from an upcoming budget proposal in an election-year move that may insulate fellow Democrats facing heat from senior voters.

The White House said Obama's budget proposal for the 2015 fiscal year, to be released on March 4th, will not include a plan he made last year that represented an effort to gain some Republican support and break congressional gridlock.

Dropping the offer this year is a sign Democrats are girding for November congressional elections and are in no mood to risk supporting proposals that could cost them votes from seniors on Election Day on November 4th.

I'll delve into O's latest back-stabbing later on today.  Here I will only mention the absurdity of trying with one hand to "woo" seniors with an extra three bucks a month by walking away from a slight slowing in the rate of increase of annual COLA adjustments to Social Security benefits that would have saved approximately $230 billion when with the other hand he's gutting Medicare Advantage - a plan that the elderly liked that they're not being allowed to keep - even more to try and keep ObamaCare from drowning even quicker than it already is, resulting in the usual runaway premiums, spiraling deductibles, and exploding co-pays, not one of which are skyrocketing in $3 a month increments.

Seniors have been a "date" of the Democrat Party for half a century or more because of Social Security and Medicare, but never a "cheap" date.  And there's no such thing as a date this cheap, as Donks are going to find out with a vengeance 256 days from now.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Temecula Constitution Class - REVOLUTION!

6:30 at Faith Armory, 41669 Winchester Road in Temecula we discuss the American Revolution and how it influenced the writing of the Constitution.

See you there.

Hard Starboard Radio: Of Course, Obama Should Be Impeached



Silicon Valley, the next Detroit?; Fish over farmers; "Climate change," the Church of the Poisoned Mind; The path to oppression is paved in failure; The path from oppression is heralded by impeachment; The coming American Middle East collapse; and heap big programming announcement.

Listen to David Catron denounce Ted Cruz as a RINO squish sellout at 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific.  In the mean time, enjoy a frosty beverage.

Conservatives Blast Obama’s Empty Threats Amid Ukraine Carnage

by JASmius

Well, that "truce" sure didn't last long, did it?:

Fearing that a call for a truce was a ruse, protesters tossed firebombs and advanced upon police lines Thursday in Ukraine's embattled capital. Government snipers shot back and the almost-medieval melee that ensued left at least seventy people dead and hundreds injured.

Video footage on Ukrainian television showed shocking scenes Thursday of protesters being cut down by gunfire, lying on the pavement as comrades rushed to their aid. Trying to protect themselves with shields, teams of protesters carried bodies away on sheets of plastic or on planks of wood.

Of course, the call for a truce was a ruse.  The recent roiling violence and chaos has been a huge PR blunder for "President" Yanukovych and significantly weakened his position.  This was exacerbated by his claim this morning that his police forces were not armed and "all measures to stop bloodshed and confrontation are being taken," which was contradicted by his Interior Ministry when it announced that law enforcers would get weapons as part of an "anti-terrorist" operation.

Yanukovych desperately needs to buy time, and the truce was intended to procure it for him.  Even without the propaganda FUBARs, it was a dubious prospect; with them, there's no chance at all.  The situation is spiraling toward a civil war between the pro-NATO/EU western half of Ukraine and the pro-Russian eastern half.  And if Yanukovych can't put a lid on it - which is to say, crush the western uprising - then his boss, Czar Vladimir, will be happy to do it for him with Russian "peace-keeping" troops.

Aside from that last factor, I cannot help but see the Ukrainian turmoil as a sneak-preview of what America will look like in early 2017.

Speaking of which, JASmius echo syndrome strikes yet again:

Meanwhile, in Washington the Obama administration condemned the bloodshed as conservatives in the House and Senate mocked what they saw as more empty threats from the president. Many likened it to the "red line" President Obama threatened Syria with last year over the use of poison gas, only to retreat after several gas attacks killed hundreds of people.... 
Conservative Washington Post columnist George Will picked up on the parallel between Ukraine and Syria during an appearance on Wednesday's "Special Report" on Fox News, Breitbart reported.

"Well, announcing expectations is all very well," Will said. "But I'm not sure who is impressed by it. What we are seeing in the Ukraine, what we've seen in Syria, and what we will see again in Iran is a complete failure of what I think was the centerpiece of the president's foreign policy, and that is the reset of the relations with Russia."

Peter Wehner asked in Commentary: "Have more empty words ever been uttered by an American president?"

Wehner, who served as deputy assistant to president George W. Bush wrote, "In the aftermath of Mr. Obama telling the Syrian regime that using chemical weapons would cross a 'red line,' and then doing nothing serious in response to it, the president's latest threat is probably evoking belly laughs in Kiev."

Also Wednesday, on Fox News' "Hannity" program, Oliver North described Obama as behaving like "Jimmy Carter on steroids."

North said he was not advocating sending American soldiers to quell civil wars abroad. "But it would have been nice to have had the credibility of being at least respected by adversaries or admired by our allies. And we have neither as a consequence of his total failure of leadership."
Except it really isn't an Obama "failure" of leadership, but rather the epitome of it.  Remember the Obama Doctrine: to diminish American economic and military power, to terminate our superpower status, and reduce us to "just another country".  To "transform" the U.S. into a gigantic Luxembourg, and then, presumably, start parceling off the "excess" to whence each came, like Dr. Arliss Loveless in Wild Wild West.

That's why O keeps speaking loudly without a stick.  He's already emasculated American military power; now he's busily divesting us of any remaining vestiges of national prestige and self-respect.  Indeed, I can't imagine that his impotent bloviating will have any affect on "President" Yanukovych other than to provoke the same kind of hysterical laughter than has had his patron in the Kremlin doubled over for the past five years.  And that will inevitably produce results that are no laughing matter for whatever remains of the "free world" of which the U.S. is no longer a part.

FCC Plan For Newsroom Monitors Sparks Constitutional Concern

by JASmius

Ya think?



The reason we're talking about it now is that the Obamedia failed to completely embargo the ObamaCare rollout disaster, in my august opinion.  Remember how I said at the time that TV, radio, and print outlets had no practical choice but to cover the story, however grudgingly, because it was impacting too many Americans - i.e. the blizzard of millions of policy cancellation letters - for the press to ignore (which was also the reason why the "defund caucus" erred by forcing a government shutdown too soon, but I digress....)?  This is the Regime telling their propaganda arm, "You erred by covering it at all, and since you've proven so unreliable, we're sending in 'political observers' to help remind you of where your true duty lies."

Yes, also including reviving global warming panic-mongering, "rich"-demonizing, Christophobic persecution, and promotion of the rest of King Hussein's "transformative" agenda.

Makes one wonder whether any eyes will open at the networks, New York Times, WaPo, etc.  One would be hard-pressed to picture a more blatant First Amendment wake-up call that didn't include automatic weapons.  And for the Regime, it is, indeed, a gamble - alienate False Messiah's greatest ally, the bunch that more than any other wing of the Left put his spindly ass into power, and he's finished.  If, however, not, if they feel chastened instead, then I guess they can all utter the magic words: "We are all MSNBCCCP now."

It'll be fascinating to see how this confrontation - for there's no other word for it - plays out.  If only in a gallows sort of way.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Ukraine Under Martial Law As Region Secedes

by JASmius

Actually, Ukraine is once again a de facto Russian province, for all intents and purposes.  "President" Viktor Yanukovych is a Putin stooge and puppet, which goes a long ways in explaining the past three months of near-civil war and the truce into which he's now been forced - at least for now.

But that's not what interests me.  Here's the question of the day: There are three paragraphs at the link that are utterly irrelevant to the story.  See if you can guess which three they are.  I'll give you all five minutes....

....Give up?  Trick question - I know you all spotted them even at a brief glance:

President Barack Obama warned Ukraine "there will be consequences" for violence if people step over the line and hurt civilians. He says that includes making sure that the military doesn't step into a situation that civilians should resolve.

Obama said the United States condemns the violence in the strongest terms and holds Ukraine's government primarily responsible to ensure it is dealing with peaceful protesters appropriately.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned Ukrainian Defense Minister Pavlo Lebedev in December against involving the military in efforts to break up demonstrations, according to the Department of Defense.
O is the foreign policy answer to the old riddle about whether or not a falling tree makes a noise if nobody is there to hear the sound, except that he makes no sound no matter how many are in earshot.  Warnings?  "There will be consequences"?  Like what, exactly?  More meaningless condemnations?  "Sanctions"?  "Red lines"?  Does Yanukovych even have to bother comparing notes with the mullahs, the ChiComms, Bashar Assad, Kim jong-un, or Nicolás Maduro Moros?  No he does not, because even if he did need such consultation, his boss Czar Vlad would provide him all the Red Barry comedy material he would ever need.

What the first "progressive" president actually (and famously) said was, "Speak softly....but carry a big stick!"  The One insists that it's the other way around.  Just one more reason why we all wish he'd just shut up.


UPDATE: Well, I guess sanctions will be crossed off O's list of futile gestures:

While embattled Ukranian President Viktor Yanukovych and the leaders of that country's protests urged a truce on Wednesday, two U.S. senators called for sanctions against those responsible for two days of heavy bloodshed that has left at least 26 people dead....

The senators, who visited the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, in December, said legislation they have proposed would impose "targeted sanctions on government officials and other persons who have committed, ordered, or materially supported acts of violence against peaceful citizens in Ukraine, or who are complicit in the rollback of Ukraine’s democracy."

"These sanctions should not, and will not, target the people or the country of Ukraine as a whole," they said. "Instead, they will be narrowly focused on those individuals who must be held accountable for violating human rights and undermining democracy."

There is no way on all the back-nines that the dictator will allow such sanctions legislation to become law.  First and foremost, Congress would be usurping back his purloined Article I/Section I lawmaking power; second, let's be candid about this folks, if Barack Obama was willing to turn last September's Syrian "crisis" that he himself provoked over to Vladimir Putin to "resolve," why would he treat any differently a formerly independent country and now neo-Russian province on Vlad's geopolitical doorstep?

Former UN Ambassador John Bolton supplies the correct reason not to take the sanctions route:

Sanctions are not the answer, he said, because they will only drag the economy down to Russia's level.

The United States has ignored the problem for the past five years, since Ukraine made overtures toward becoming a member of NATO, Bolton said.

The protests began in November, when Yanukovych's government abandoned an agreement to strengthen ties with the European Union, instead seeking closer cooperation with Russia. Days later, police brutally attacked protesters — galvanizing public support for the demonstrators.

Which means two things: (1) The One had a hand in precipitating the Ukrainian crisis as well, and (2) he would absolutely impose economic sanctions - if Ukraine became the 51st state.

CBO: Obama's Higher Minimum Wage Will Kill A Million Jobs

by JASmius

That's on top of the 2.5 million additional jobs that will be destroyed by ObamaCare, on top of the ninety-plus million "discouraged workers" that have already left the labor force, in this bright, sunny age of economic utopia otherwise known as the Obamapression.

I'd love to know where this objective candor has been for the previous five years:

President Barack Obama's plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour will cost as many as one million jobs by late 2016, the Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday. 

If Obama and his fellow Democrats are successful in pushing the measure through, the increase would be fully implemented by the end of 2016. It would raise the rate for 16.5 million Americans.

The current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. The jump to $10.10 over three years represents a near-40% increase.

Obama called for a $10.10 minimum wage in his State of the Union address last month. His plan would see increases this year, next year, and again in 2016 to bring the rate to $10.10. Obama is due to leave the White House in January 2017.

The Senate could begin debating such a bill as early as next month.
Annnnnnd they'll pass it, after Dirty Harry Reid quashes any Republican filibuster by finishing off that one-time "constitutional lynchpin" for good.  I'd like to be able to issue confident assurances that it'll die in the GOP House, but after last week, who knows?

Although the following may be hopeful signs:

Republicans praised the CBO report, saying that it confirmed long-held positions that a higher minimum wage is a job-killer for millions of Americans.

"This report confirms what we've long known: While helping some, mandating higher wages has real costs, including fewer people working," Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, said in a statement. "With unemployment Americans' top concern, our focus should be creating, not destroying, jobs for those who need them most."

Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas concurred.

"The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office confirmed yet again what we know to be true of government overreach in the marketplace: raising the minimum wage would slash jobs and harm an already fragile workforce," Cornyn said in a statement. "Whether it's Obamacare, a minimum-wage hike or a trillion-dollar stimulus bill charged to the nation's credit card, the bottom line is the president's big-government experiment kills jobs.

"It has made things worse not only for Americans who continue to look for a job, but also for the millions of Americans who have altogether given up looking for work," Cornyn added.

Senator John Thune, the South Dakota chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, said in a statement: "More than 3.5 million Americans have been unemployed for six months or longer, and the percentage of Americans in the labor force is at a low we haven’t seen since Jimmy Carter was president. It’s time to give lower- and middle-income workers a break, not hammer them with more bad policies."
We must, of course, remember that congressional Republican reactions to the latest CBO salvo against Obamanomics are largely, if not entirely, irrelevant, since Barack Obama has his pen and phone and will simply impose this minimum wage hike by Executive decree if Congress doesn't rubber-stamp his bidding.  Because he can "do whatever he wants," and he wants nothing more than to "build ladders into the middle class" by cutting out an additional million of them.

Here's an additional one of O's less-publicized motivations:


The Center for Union Facts analyzed collective-bargaining agreements obtained from the Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards. The data indicate that a number of unions in the service, retail and hospitality industries peg their base-line wages to the minimum wage. . . . The two most popular formulas were setting baseline union wages as a percentage above the state or federal minimum wage or mandating a flat wage premium above the minimum wage.
And just in case you were wondering whether Big Labor might not object to this full-on, frontal anti-worker assault, concludes Jim Geraghty:


And now you see why raising the minimum wage is such an intense priority for Democrats. A higher minimum wage means higher wages for union workers, which means higher union dues, which gives unions more money to spend during campaign season.
I'm not sure how their motivations will change once King Hussein cancels any further elections.  But I imagine they'll still have jobs outside the Alaska gulag.


UPDATE: The White House's reaction to this latest firestorm?  "Let them eat my shorts".

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

GOP Pushes S.T.O.P. Act To Limit Obama's Abuse Of Executive Actions

by JASmius

Bait for impeachment, perhaps?



Well, it's a sign of GOP life, so there's that much to say for it.  I wish I could say more, but (1) there's no way the S.T.O.P. Act would ever get a vote in the Senate, at least this year, and (2) there's legitimate doubt after last week's debt ceiling el foldo whether Speaker Boehner would even allow a vote on it in the House.

Of course it would never make it into law under any circumstances, but that's what makes it impeachment bait - it throws down the gauntlet to Barack Obama by forcing him to either give back the Article I/Section I power he's stolen from Congress by signing the bill, or acknowledge his high crimes and misdemeanors by vetoing it.

In short, it's a publicity stunt for now.  But in the next Congress, with a Republican Senate to go along with a Republican House?  Then we shall see.

Kansas, Tennessee Introduce Bills To Legalize Religious Choice

by JASmius

That's what I call it, anyway:

Lawmakers in Kansas are debating a bill that would make anti-gay discrimination legal in that state. The bill, which has passed in the state's Republican-controlled lower chamber, would offer legal protections for individuals, businesses and government employees who refuse to serve homosexuals on the basis of religious beliefs. The state's Senate Judiciary Committee plans to kill the measure by stalling the bill indefinitely, not allowing it to receive a vote by the entire Senate. Similar legislation has also been introduced in Tennessee. RT's Gayane Chichakayan reports on the controversial anti-gay legislation introduced around the country.




One might ask why persecuting Christians by stamping out First Amendment religious liberties isn't seen as "controversial".  Because one thing these measures are not is "anti-gay".  Anti-homosexual supremacism, perhaps, but that's a good thing, as I'm sure the Founding Fathers would have concurred.

Exit question: How long until the Department of Injustice & Revenge or King Hussein's pen and phone swoop in to crush this "red" state "insurrection"?

Book Signing: I will Be There at 5:00

but it starts at 6 pm
I will remain on site until after an hour after the video ends.

Book Signing by Douglas V. Gibbs for his book, 25 Myths of the United States Constitution - Tonight at Sons of Liberty Aleworks in Norco.  Join us for an instructional presentation, and an autographed book by Douglas V. Gibbs.  The beer is crafted on the premises, and the discussion will include the Hillsdale College Constitution Course.  Sons of Liberty is located on Town & Country, off of Hamner, in Norco.  Hope to see you there!

Hard Starboard Radio: Liberals, Failure, Oppression & Power



Tennessee Volkswagon workers tell the UAW to go pound sand - but could they have done so under "card check"?; The settled science that global warming is BS; Baking the cake of anti-Christian persecution that the Antichrist will finish; And liberalism, like all brands of false utopianism, rolls on towards the same terminus: the mass grave.

The digging starts at 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific.  But I imagine the ammunition will be "catered".