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Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day 2010

…and not an Obama in sight. Vacationing in fact. To my way of thinking as a veteran, as an American and as a patriot, perhaps it’s best he didn’t show. He would have somehow sullied our memories of the countless selfless souls who have gone before. I think that somewhere the spirits of these warriors would protest at someone who thought so little of the freedoms they willingly gave the ultimate measure of devotion to maintain.



Obama seems unable to think or behave in any sort of a strategic manner. He seems truly oblivious when it comes to anything beyond the narrow focus of his ideology. There is a North Korean General threatening “all out war.” The South Korean military is at its highest state of readiness, as are the tens of thousands of our troops there.

The Israeli Navy has met and stopped a convoy of six ships carrying some 700 pro-Palestinian activists and ‘aid’ for the blockaded Gaza strip. The IDF has repeatedly said that the ships will not be permitted to land at Gaza. With a steadily deteriorating peace the last thing Israel needs is 700 crazed activists running loose in Gaza. Their true intentions were indicated by the savage attack on the IDF boarding party.

An 'aid worker' aboard the flotilla.



In an indication of just how serious the situation in the region has become, Israel has stationed three nuclear submarines off of the coast of Iran. Barack Obama hasn’t a clue of how to deal with either North Korea or Iran. Either one has the potential to blow up in our faces.

Obama cheapens everything he touches, so perhaps it’s just as well that he wasn’t present at the memorials for our fallen.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Sunday, May 30, 2010

By The Way, While You Weren’t Looking…

The nation is spellbound, as it watches the monumental struggle between puny mankind and elemental natural forces at 5,000 feet beneath the ocean. This is an environmental disaster of the first rank and no one will argue that, but while you, as concerned citizens, are focused on the Gulf coast, guess what your US Senate was doing?

Reid and Schumer

They’re scheming to steal your liberties and give them to illegal aliens. Charles (Chuck) Schumer and Majority Leader Harry Reid on the Senate side and Luis Gutierrez, (D) Ill. and Solomon Ortiz, (D) Texas for the House side. The two proposed bills graphically illustrate just exactly what the leftists are really all about. For elected representatives to embrace and foster this decidedly self-serving and onerous legislation is, in my opinion, tantamount to a direct assault and contravention of our Constitution. These people should be investigated, as well as their ties to leftist illegal alien supporters and those who thrive from the illegal alien trade.

This legislation is rife with such cute alien incentives such as free automatic social security. Hey, gee whiz citizens, where’s our free anything? Silly me, it takes mucho dinero to keep those aliens here, in our schools, in our hospitals and last, but certainly not least, in our jails and prisons.



There’s an article I’d recommend you read on ‘Right Wing News’ entitled ‘22 Problems With The Senate’s Illegal Immigration Bill‘. This article, by John Hawkins, lays it out pretty well and makes me wonder why these perennial sellout politicians haven’t been called for treason against the country and the constitution.

If there are any Republicans that support this amnesty we must drive them from office. We can no longer afford ‘Republicans In Name Only’. Now, perhaps, we should add ‘CINO’ – Conservatives In Name Only, since conservatism seems to be the party banner.

It’s time to start lighting up the phone lines again, not that you’ve ever stopped, but we’ll have to really hammer them to get their attention. Don’t ever let them distract you from the goal of chasing these Marxists out of government and keeping it that way.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Obama, What Did He Know And When Did He Know It?

It’s tempting to venture into calling what may be happening to President Obama and the Democrats poetic justice, as more is revealed about the White House, Sestak, Clinton connection.

Clinton and Sestak

Republicans are calling for a special prosecutor to dig into the offering to Sestak of ‘an unpaid job’ as the head of a Presidential commission, if he’d drop his Senate bid in favor of Arlen Specter. The White House has worked quickly to distance the President from the possible backlash if, as some suggested, the law had been broken.

It might be noted here that Obama’s White House moved much faster covering Obama’s butt than they did responding to the disaster in the Gulf. Commission? More likely what he was offered was Secretary of the Navy. There are, of course, many vociferous denials coming from the left as they prepare to circle the wagons. Not the best move in an election year perhaps… sure to draw fire from Republicans and pointed questions from voters as well. What did you know and when did you know it?

The left excoriated George Bush unmercifully for years after nine eleven. The LSM (Lame Stream Media) is also falling all over themselves to minimize the impact of the Sestak story. But as we say in the industry, this story has legs and we haven’t seen or heard the last of it.



What we do know is that the call went out to Bill Clinton from Rahm Emanuel to ‘influence’ Joe Sestak, a sitting Representative, to drop his US Senate aspirations in favor of the Administration’s pick, Arlen Specter. Interfering with a candidate and promising favor, paid or not, is in violation of the statute.
Can’t wait to see where this one goes….

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Friday, May 28, 2010

Sins Of The Father.

With tension still running high in the Korean peninsula, there are still more questions than answers. It has been confirmed that the South Korean ‘Cheonan’ was sunk by a North Korean torpedo, but there has been no reason given for this unwarranted act which could be, and has been by various news sources, termed an act of war.

South Korean Corvette 'Cheonan' 

Was it the action of some renegade submarine commander that harbored a particularly strong hatred for his southern neighbors? Perhaps he saw it as an opportunity to find favor in Pyongyang? This theory is unlikely, as intelligence sources have revealed that a few Yeono-class midget submarines, and a mother ship supporting them, left a North Korean naval base in the West Sea two to three days prior to the attack and returned to their port two to three days after the attack. This would indicate a planned attack, under orders from a higher authority.

Many have speculated that it could be an attempt by Kim Jong Il to assert his power, or perhaps more accurately the power of his family, over the North Korean people. It is a country that is virtually dead on its feet, by some accounts much like its leader. It is evident that he has been honing his youngest son, Kim Jong-Un, to take the dictatorial throne upon Il’s death or incapacity.

Kim Jong-Un

As with most things in N. Korea, much about the younger Kim remains a mystery. Even recent photographs, claimed to be of him, have been disproved. The one shown here was taken when he attended a German-speaking school in Berne, Switzerland, while assuming a false name. According to fellow students, he was a great fan of the NBA and held Michael Jordan in high esteem. He owned a collection of Nike shoes which, he lamented, were not available in his home country. Perhaps, after tasting the freedom of the west and all it offers, it has opened his eyes to the reality that capitalism is not the beast portrayed to him by his forebears.

There is the possibility that this latest attack is the ‘dying wish’ of a man who knows that his time is near, that the chances of a conflict with those that he holds in contempt will be diminished after his passing, that he would prefer to go in a blaze of glory, regardless of the consequences to his people and the world.
Let’s hope that his successor will see this act as the folly of a senile, power-crazed tyrant, rather than the inspirational act of a paternal figure.



Whatever happens in the domestic affairs of North Korea, whoever takes control, we cannot allow acts of aggression that involve the deaths of innocent personnel to go unpunished. However, with one as unbalanced as Kim Jong Il, we have to tread very carefully.

(Editor Dee is in for Skip today)

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Sauce For The Goose.

If there is one thing that really gets under my skin, it’s double standards. Politics is full of it, you see news items nearly every day about elected officials doing a full 180° turn on important issues.

Often, they will excuse it away with comments like ‘my words were taken out of context’ or ‘I misunderstood the question’. Thanks to modern media technology, the first excuse can be easily disproved with a quick replay of the original interview or a quick search of YouTube. As for the ‘misunderstanding’ – it’s worrying that so many powerful figures don’t have a basic grasp of their own language.



While I’m on the subject of the media, it’s interesting to note that Obama is holding a press conference today, his first in 308 days. So much for the ‘transparency’ that he promised and the ‘monthly press conference’ he spoke of as a Presidential candidate. Maybe he thought there would be more good news to share with the American public after his election? It’s pretty difficult using a teleprompter to answer ‘off-the-cuff’ questions and rumor has it that he has a team of programmers designing software that can instantaneously display the ‘correct’ answer to any query!

He really has embraced technology with the creation of the official White House news channel. Who needs questions from the networks when their version of the ‘truth’ is there for all to see. Remember those big video screens in ’1984′?



Regardless of the inconsistencies of the President, his administration and, ashamedly, some Republicans, there is a double standard that should annoy every American. It is the use of the United States as the world’s scapegoat. While they are all too happy to enjoy the benefits they reap from America, all the ills of the world seem to be attributed in some way to the US. You’d expect this sort of  propaganda from the…. let’s say non Judeo-Christian countries, to prevent accusations of racism from the left. However, this attitude is prevalent amongst our so-called allies.

Recently, in one of  Skip’s articles, he included a forum post, written by myself, to a British site. One or two of the Brit contributors were, although distinctly left-leaning, reasonable in their approach. Most, however, were totally anti-American and even made remarks such as, “Can’t we get away from you lot?” An interesting statement, coming from one who lives in an island (Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency) whose liberation from occupying nazi forces was in no small part due to the support of the US military. Strangely, they feel a strong bond to the UK, whose government (the recent socialist one, anyway), along with the EU, would have them change their attractive taxation rules as an offshore banking center, a move that would decimate their strong economy.

It’s no good trying to find logic in any of this, most of it stems from purely emotive reactions of one kind or another. Sour grapes on the part of Britain, perhaps, because it could have been what America became, but didn’t? A country which was a world leader in research, technology, invention and industry is now run on service industries and civil servants. It would be interesting to know what the reaction would have been in Britain, if Texaco had caused a spill on the British coast the size of the one in the Gulf created by British Petroleum. No prizes for guessing!



It also gets me wondering what the world would be saying if a North Korean ship had been sunk by an American torpedo. A UN meeting to discuss sanctions? Would China, Russia and various other countries who are strangely silent be so quiet?

Obama proceeded on a false assumption, that by extending a hand of friendship to our enemies, by compromising our American values, he could create a safer world. Wrong, Mr President! They see you as a soft touch, giving them the precious time they need to further their totalitarian aims. They hate America and while some of them find your bowing agreeable, it shows subservience. The look of arrogance that is your hallmark when talking to your American people should be used on the Kim Jong Ils of this world.

As we head towards the mid-term elections, conservative Republican candidates take some advice. Stay strong to your conservative beliefs, be honest to yourself and your electorate, do not be swayed by the media, peers or any other factor that may present itself. I believe that although we are not in the best of times, America can and will remain an example to the rest of the world of what can be achieved by adhering to the principles laid down in the Constitution.

God Bless America.

(Editor Dee is in for Skip today)

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

In Obama’s World Failure Pays.

I don’t think that by now there is any doubt in anyone’s mind that Obama has the most radical government in United States history. From his cabinet right on through the administration, Obama has assembled a version of himself. Like himself, they are ideologically in lockstep with Saul Alinsky, which is to say Karl Marx.

Obama lecturing Chicago students on Alinsky's ideas.

The crew that was swept into power with Barack Hussein Obama are largely academic theorists and have not themselves run anything other than a classroom. Then there were the party loyalists drafted to support their boss, such as Janet Napolitano. Others are political climbers and opportunists. They have only one real thing in common; a slavish faith that, given enough time and money, the elsewhere failed Socio-Marxist doctrines they wish to impose on us will transport us all to a centrally planned and administered socialist utopia. They are so focused on this that they have failed entirely in reading the mood of the nation.



The DeMarxists know that this is their last hoorah, too. Don’t listen to what they say, watch what they do. Right now, every DeMarxist member of Congress is distancing himself or herself from Obama and his increasingly disjointed pitches for his agenda. Many of these self-same politicians are trying as much as possible to distance themselves from their own votes in Congress. Sort of like John McCain getting serious about the borders just in time for elections. It may be way too late for most of these people this time around. We’re counting votes out here and we’re remembering who voted for what.

For a while, politicians were able to buy time to hide behind, for making deals on votes that they knew would be unpopular with their constituents. It is an old and dishonorable practice that has been set on its head by the internet and the new media. There were many years where politicians in Washington were pretty much bullet proof. Now they are being called to account and many of us are saying it’s about time!

These politicians, their regulators and agencies have been running roughshod through our lives and we the American citizens are going to stop it. This is the face of the new Conservative revolution. We have an administration which is a failure, coupled to a failed one term Presidency for Barack Obama and a DeMarxist majority in Congress which is going to get its clock cleaned.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Witnessing The Wilderness That Is The Obama Presidency.

It’s a grim, foreboding landscape littered with the wreckage of failed government programs, destroyed manufacturing, lost jobs, foreclosed homes, banking and institutional failures… the list goes onward. To refer to Obama’s performance as uninspiring would be kind.



It’s very apparent that the job is just too big for the man. Obama, his advisers and government just don’t have a clue and it looks very much like they aren’t going to change anytime soon.

Since we’re on the subject of the ills of Obama overrunning the land, I guess we’d best dispel the “we’ve turned the corner” and the “it’s almost over” crowd first. It’s like this… ‘it’ (the recession) has gone exactly nowhere and in point of fact has been waiting in the hallway doing push-ups, while Obama has been bleating the ‘progress’ and ‘accomplishments’ he has to show for his time in office. The recession isn’t over, not even close, and it stands an odds-on chance of getting worse before it does get better.

Obama’s braggadocio is falling on deaf ears… we’ve heard it all before, sixteen months worth. Obama rushes from city to city, hyping his poisonous policies and in each stop he has to have his ‘canned’ audience of union goons. The more people hear him speak, the less they like it. Right now, like it or not, there’s no one to blame but Obama, just like there’s no one to blame for the DeMarxists, many still serving in Congress today, who were by action, or as likely inaction, responsible for preventing George Bush and the Republicans from placing controls on Freddie and Fannie that precipitated the entire sub-prime racket to start with.



By the way folks, how’s that bailout investment Obama is always tooting his horn about? You know, your money? Well, Freddie and Fannie, with DeMarxists running interference for them just like in the ‘good old days’, have posted a combined loss of twenty three point seven billion dollars for the year after losses in excess of seventy two billion dollars last year.

This too is the wreckage that comes with the DeMarxists stumbling through our economy. Obama is well on his way to being nothing more than an unpleasant footnote in history.
From my lips to God’s ears.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Monday, May 24, 2010

Homebrew.

That’s an apt description for the groundswell that has become the Tea Parties, the various patriot movements and citizens of all stripes and persuasions to whom the message of Conservative Republicans is resonating. That number is growing, as evinced by polling data and the surprising inroads being claimed by Conservative Republican challengers, some in heavily Democratic districts.



Yes, this is a grassroots movement, but it is much more than that. It is a uniquely American grassroots movement, which in turn has its roots in the very foundations of this country. It is indeed a home brew. It is a recipe that sadly I don’t think would work for our European brethren. It’s not that they are not smart enough or brave enough. It’s just that they haven’t been inculcated with the spirit of freedom. It’s a magic transformation. Once introduced to the idea of freedom and liberty few will choose to revert to subservience. Here in this country in the last sixteen months we have witnessed events that would have precipitated rioting in the streets of many countries.



The world will be watching us to see how we deal with the orderly transfer of power in the November elections. The players on the world stage will be watching too, because they know that if the DeMarxists lose Congress in November the free ride is over. The bad guys get the message too. They have the President, his administration and party pegged as a bunch of vacuous radical lightweights without a coherent foreign policy or diplomatic message. They see Barack Hussein Obama as weak, vacillating and apologetic to all the wrong people… Obama has an uncanny attraction for the worst sort of people. It’s an example of things finding their own level.

It would do well for us to remember that not only Israel, but we also have a very large target on our backs, that the threats of annihilation coming at us daily from Islamo-fascists around the world are real and that words have meaning. Are you listening, Barack?

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Sunday, May 23, 2010

The Long Gray Line.

West Point. In the rolling hills of New York on the Hudson river the long gray line goes on, only slightly sullied by the internationale tone of their Commander in Chief. Once again, Obama has used the Corps of Cadets as backdrop for advancing his political schemes.



He was received with polite (just barely) applause. These very bright young officers have, for the most part, figured out just about all there is to know about Mr Barack Obama. They know just how feckless and naive Obama’s ‘diplomacy and engagement’ policy will be, when examined in the light of Obama’s own first sixteen months.

The desk chair in the oval office hadn’t had a chance to warm up in January of 2009, when our prancing pony was out the door bowing and genuflecting his way across the world stage in globe trotting extravaganzas designed to awe the rubes of the world with his sagacity and magnificence. Didn’t work. Other nations listened to his comic-opera approach and applauded, as they applaud anything that diminishes the United States. That’s what Barack Obama does, he diminishes. He cheapens this country and I don’t like that feeling.



There are a lot of men in that long gray line. Going all the way back to 1778, when West Point was first occupied, through 1802 when the United States Military Academy was formally established, through to today. The weight of history is very much apparent in the valor and sacrifice of the men and women of that long gray line.

Balanced against the truth of the valiants that went before us, Barack Hussein’s rhetoric seems trite, petty and self serving. He serves it dished out a la carte to those desperate souls who require a Barack Obama or a Jim Jones to validate their existence. No, I don’t think Obama’s speech had much impact on the Cadets. It sure didn’t do much for us out here either.
Makes you want to go wash up good afterwards though.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Saturday, May 22, 2010

The Message Is… There Is No Message.

There is no coherent message coming from the administration. It’s like the legend of the Tower of Babel, where man’s arrogance drove him to build a tower to heaven (sort of like health care?). God’s answer was to change everyone’s languages so they could no longer cooperate. The Tower failed and the people scattered.



If we compiled a list of the top 100 things an administration should not do, Obama’s government would have used up these and more. But then it is the path they would travel if they were purposely trying to destroy the foundation of the country and create a Marxist-Socialist state. We know what Obama wants to do. We also know what we have to do to stop it.

The whole White House is being run by rank amateurs. It shows in everything they do. Domestic policy is an absolute disaster, as Obama and the DeMarxist faithful in the Congress pile economic atrocity upon economic catastrophe, shouting to the rooftops that everything is fine and rosy and please don’t pay attention to all those foreclosures or all those millions of unemployed.

The message isn’t coherent, from the very top right down to the lowest level of the government. It shows in the bi-polar foreign policy approach that has made us the laughing stock of the world, as Obama bows and simpers his apologies across the globe. Obama has been forced to reverse his policy of harassing the single true ally we have in the entire middle-east, Israel.



Somebody in the Defense Department must have gotten to the President. The result was the delivery of advanced offensive hardware and critical combat resupply. Then there is the news that the United States will have as many as four or five carrier groups off of the coast of Iran by mid-July, with a complement of over 5000 Marines. That’s some serious firepower. This story has largely been ignored in the LSM.

I’m delighted with the Administration’s reversal of policy, though the Israelis know that Obama cannot be trusted, not for a second. War is coming to the middle-east and it’s becoming more and more apparent daily. Having a full scale shooting war with Obama as Commander in Chief is, quite frankly, frightening. He’s pretty obviously not the sharpest knife in the drawer and is a moral coward to boot. He is waffling and indecisive, and places our country in great peril by his weakness.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Friday, May 21, 2010

Obama An Embarrassment.

The President of an oppressive third world oligarchy has been telling us just what he expects of us in an insulting diatribe that stretched several limits of credulity.

Calderon and Obama

His illegal immigrants are flooding our emergency rooms, our schools, public welfare schemes and our legal system, courts and prisons. The internecine drug wars tearing at the very substance of his country are the direct result of government corruption at every level.

President Calderon thinks you’re stupid… after his self righteous presentations to the Congress and the people of the country about the glories of illegal immigration, and how grateful we should be for absorbing millions of illegals. He went on to detail how unjust Arizona’s new immigrant enforcement law is and how illegals have human rights which our laws overlook.

I should have mentioned that Barack Obama set the stage for Calderon’s performance with a sophomoric rant about a ‘path to citizenship for aliens’. It’s the same thing we shot down during the Bush years. Giving it the good old politburo standing ovation, the DeMarxists looked like puppets on cue. The Republicans forswore the privilege. Calderon should certainly receive an award for raw out-and-out chutzpah.



Would anyone care to know how Mexico treats illegals as they come across the southern Mexican border? Two years in prison for a first offense and ten for a second. Non-citizens have no rights in Mexico. Mexico’s ‘General Laws’ see to that. Even a naturalized Mexican citizen is second class to native born Mexicans and may not participate in the Mexican political process, among other restrictions. Mexican illegal aliens are frequently beaten, robbed, or, in the case of women, raped.

So, Mr Calderon. Tell us again how your country would survive if we did close the border. My guess is it wouldn’t. Walk softly, Mr Calderon… you may regret your words before it’s said and done.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Uncommonly Good Sense.

Most of you who are regular readers of this column are aware that my hardworking editor Dee lives in the UK. Living in a socialist environment has given her a unique perspective on the ills of this failed and failing system. The same system (or worse) that the DeMarxists would see instituted here. Unfortunately for them they have run smack dab into the American people. We do not want your socialism. We will not permit you to take our country and freedoms from us.

What follows is Dee’s reply to a critic of the US, excerpted from a chat forum from the island of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency off of the coast of France. I thought that it would prove instructional. I love the English people, but they have been so inculcated with leftist dogma and institutionalized welfare that all vestiges of independent thinking outside the socialist envelope is lacking along with the spirit of independence.
Dee has taken them on and as a Brit she is in a unique position to tell it the way it is.



Forum post in reply to a critic of the USA, 05/19/10, whynotguernsey.com :

Let’s take your points in turn here. First, socialism. Socialism never has and never will work in any country. It’s been tried many times, always with the same result – financial and social disaster. A free economy is the only tried and trusted system. Ok, you get the propaganda a la Michael Moore and Cuba. Have you seen the everyday hospitals that the ordinary folks get treatment in? Socialism means greater state control and big government which swallows up the hard-earned money of the people through taxes.



It would be great to have a university education without the debt to repay….. uh, but who’s going to pay for it? The government I guess – that means us, the taxpayers. I can’t recall anything in the Bill of Rights about further education being a right given by God. If it was, and health care, then surely the three things that all humans need to survive should be free too? Who can survive without air, food and water? Only one of these is free (at the moment, although the left are trying to change this with cap and tax).

No one is refused emergency treatment in the US, insured or not. True, insurance is expensive. That’s the fault of the system which allows huge lawsuits by slip-and-fall lawyers. 60% of a physician’s overheads is legal insurance. The GOP has promised tort reform along with interstate insurance policies to cut these costs. Obama, instead, is dismantling the best medical services in the world in favor of a NHS style one-size-fits-all system. It would be a punishable offense not to purchase health cover from the government. Still sound so good?

Oh, that increasing US debt you mentioned is partly due to the staggering cost of his health reforms, I believe it was one trillion at the last count. Medicare, which provides a wonderful service for seniors, will be cut to help cover the cost of his new scheme. It’ll probably finish up like the UK, where a senior might not be worth the cost of treatment.

While the national debt is rising (naturally, under a socialist), the country can still afford to contribute 25% of the IMF fund, money now being used to bail out EU countries, and possibly Britain (again) soon. To say that the US is one of the poorest countries when it is still the world’s largest economy is a total contradiction.
To quote you: “Teaching something as fact, when it is not proven is wrong. It is ultimately brainwashing, and should be illegal.”
Do you agree, then, that global warming should not be taught in schools? It is certainly not proven, in fact the evidence gets flimsier as time goes on.

As for California, as much as I love it, it is a financial and social disaster, thanks to the liberals that have controlled it for so long. Again, it is a victim of socialist policies – unrestrained spending, high state taxes that have forced businesses to other states and too much regulation and bureaucracy in Sacramento. Is it any surprise that there is a backlash from the people?

The difference between the US and Britain is that the US was founded by the people, with government as their servants. This current administration is taking a route towards Euro-socialism, where they believe that rights are granted by government. That won’t wash in the US, as the current mid-term elections are proving. At least they have seen the danger before it sinks into the abyss completely.

When the US economy is rebounding, the UK will still be increasing everyone’s taxes to cover a failed health system, an ineffective police force (now that its teeth have been taken away completely) and development of cleaner, eco-friendly power sources. Well, that’s what the BP ad said, while they screwed up the entire Gulf coast.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Spotlight On November.

Arlen Specter, he of many faces, is gone. His epitaph will be that he turned his back on his friends, only to turn his back on those friends… one too many times out there, Arlen. Arlen Specter is a victim of his own perfidy. There was a time that Specter could count on wide support. Voters turned on him. Republicans didn’t like him and Democrats didn’t trust him. The huge inner city voter turnout he was gambling on didn’t develop.

Arlen Specter

The ‘incumbent’ syndrome most certainly came into play here as the voters turned away from Specter, voting instead for former Admiral, Rep. Joe Sestak. Sestak now goes on to face Conservative Republican Pat Toomey in November.

Rand Paul, son of Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, won a walk-away victory in Kentucky against Republican Trey Grayson. Rand Paul was able to paint Grayson as the quintessential country club Republican. Paul proudly identifies himself as a ‘Tea Party’ member and they certainly came out for him in force.



The political gods have not been treating Barack Hussein Obama and the DeMarxist Congress very kindly. Blanche Lincoln has been forced into a runoff election with Arkansas Lt. Governor Bill Halter three weeks from now, and then the winner of that race will face Republican Representative John Boozman. Pre-election polling indicated that Boozman could beat either Lincoln or Halter in November. Democrat Mark Critz defeated Republican Tim Burns in pursuit of the late John Murtha’s Senate seat.

Hawaii’s special election is on May 22 and the Conservative Republican candidate Charles Djou looks to have a comfortable lead over both of his opponents in this winner-take-all special election. This was Obama’s home district.
I’d give a lot to be a fly on the wall at some of the DeMarxist huddles that are undoubtedly taking place about now…

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Senator Kyl, Shut The Heck Up!

The moderates in the US Senate are poised to roll over on the nomination of Elena Kagan. This is a prime example of the changes that are going to have to be made in order for the Republican party to prosper and grow into this century. Announcing to all and sundry that Ms. Kagan’s confirmation is as good as a done deal was not the smartest thing you’ve ever done, Senator Kyl. That applies to John Cornyn of Texas as well.



We have some questions we’d like asked and answered. If Elena Kagan is confirmed she will be making decisions that will influence the court, the constitution and ultimately the daily lives of every man, woman and child in this nation for two or three decades to come. Is there a single reason that she should not be vetted accordingly?

We know quite a bit about her. We know she’s a hard-left liberal from upper New York… surprise! She has spent most of her career in academia. She clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall and she worked for the Clinton administration for two years. The bulk of her paper trail will come from there. Last week, I said that Elena Kagan had never tried a case before a court. As a reader pointed out to me, I was incorrect. She has tried one case as Solicitor General before the Supreme Court.

She has some radical views on the first amendment and the government’s role. Kagan appears to have some serious anti-gun issues. Both of these deserve close scrutiny. Her shameful banning of military recruiters on Harvard’s campus should be a disqualifier by itself. For any Senator on the Republican side to state out of hand that he saw no impediment to Kagan’s passage is a slap in the face to every American citizen. You’re not doing the job we are paying you to do. To say we won’t filibuster is pure cowardice and is handing the problem right back for we the people to handle, in the form of a possible radical activist justice to deal with for decades.



Apparently, some of you moderate Republicans didn’t get the Bob Bennett message. There’s no place to hide from us and November is closer by another day. The Conservatives, Independents and disaffected Democrats, who together comprise the American Patriot movement which has taken the nation by storm, will not permit you to go back to your old ways. Remember, if you are not up for re-election this cycle we’ll be waiting when you are and you will answer to your fellow Americans and constituents for your deeds, or lack thereof.
The nation can no longer afford phony Republicans or false Conservatives. We don’t have that luxury any more.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Monday, May 17, 2010

Obama… My Friend Israel?

Barack Hussein Obama is suffering from whiplash. His whimsical, ugly, anti-semitic and totally illogical treatment of Israel has come to an abrupt end. All is well with the Anointed One. His 180° course change with Israel has not gone unnoticed by Israel’s enemies in the Holy Land.

Netanyahu and Obama

No more starving Israel of strategic re-supply in the event a real shoot-em-up does get started. No more withholding key munitions that Israel needs for offensive warfare. No more threatened or actual sanctions by our pro-Palestinian leftist State Department. At least for now.

Obama has been giving Israel a very rough time of it for as long as he’s been in office. His State Department has aligned itself with the leftist elements in the country to influence policy and weaken Israel’s resolve from within. The President had a vapidly phrased letter sent to a group of American Rabbis as an almost insulting gesture of apology for the icily hostile attitude exhibited by Obama’s Government over the last fourteen months.

So, to what do we have to credit Barack Hussein’s epiphany? Here are some possibilities. Barack has badly damaged relations with American Jewry. This has been a virtually unassailable bastion of loyal Democratic voters and prime recruiting territory for political activism. Barack’s open antagonism of Israel has opened a schism in that voting block and American Jews are moving away from the Democrat party, responding to the message of the Conservatives. His move has also been interpreted as a sop to the Jewish community.



Then there is the hard reality that Obama’s subservient toadying has netted him nothing but ridicule and disdain from his muslim brothers. He may not realize that by coddling Iran, hoping to bring them to the table, he has created a far more dangerous world in the last fourteen months, but at least some of his advisers do. The Administration has to be aware that there is a heck of a good chance that we will be smack in the middle of a regional conflict, with us and Israel on one side and Hamas, Hizballah, Lebanon and Iran sitting in the catbird seat behind its surrogates on the other.

Israel will be fighting for its very existence. Obama hasn’t changed his stripes one bit, but he has come to the conclusion that the rest of us have known for years… that Israel is the only game in town.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Sunday, May 16, 2010

How Much Time?

I love enigmatic titles. This is one that is sort of sober in the sense that I’m attempting to discern how soon the business in the Middle East is going to erupt into something really nasty. The build-up of opposing forces is reaching fever pitch with multiple missile systems, both offensive and defensive, on both sides.

Fajr-5, supplied to Hamas by Iran.

Israel has developed some truly remarkable defensive anti-missile systems. Their offensive punch is legendary and has just been made much more powerful with the arrival of the LJDAM deep penetrating bunker buster shipment, which had been held up at the island of Diego Garcia by order of Barack Obama when he was trying to strong-arm Israel. With some help from US anti-missile systems Israel has a reasonable capacity to repel a rocket or missile assault. Still, with the sheer numbers of rockets and missiles they face, some are bound to get through.

Iran would like nothing better than for Israel to be bled out in a prolonged land engagement with Hizballah, with their other surrogate Hamas, and their ultimate stooge, Assad of Syria. The foremost thought in my mind at this point is just how long Israel can or will wait to take action?

Iran has juiced up its nuclear program to fever pitch, while President Obama runs interference for them with his feckless and ineffectual policy of appeasing Islamists and interference with Israel’s security, through endless, pointless negotiations in which Israel has been urged to give, give and give more, for the ‘promise’ of a peace which will never come and the Islamo-fascists who will grant no peace, having sworn to Israel’s destruction and the slaughter of every man, woman and child. More pointedly, their goal is the death of every Jew on Earth. That’s only the appetizer y’all. Then they are going to exterminate or enslave the rest of us if we don’t defeat this cult of death.



If President Obama does not support Israel in this extremely dangerous region, the American people will. Sixty three percent of Americans support the nation of Israel. Aside from the tens of thousands of offensive rockets and missiles sitting just across the border in Lebanon, with the new longer range missiles supplied by Syria, the launchers don’t even have to be near the border. Syria has been training large units of regular Hizballah troops and around 5,000 ‘special operations’ commando types, thought to be the spearhead of a possible incursion into Israel itself.

Hizballah

Israel has had a long time to prepare for that which they knew to be inevitable. The odds against them seem to multiply, as more and more arms are smuggled across the Syrian border and more and more Hizballah ‘troops’ are trained by Syrians.

I keep seeing new factors come to light that I think may be the thing that pulls the pin on Israel’s grenade. So far I’ve been wrong. But neither do I see how she can let the situation deteriorate beyond the point at which they can militarily be confident of success.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Saturday, May 15, 2010

More Dominoes In Democrat Destruction Derby.

Another bastion of the left looks to fall before the onslaught of Conservatism. This was a state thought to be well within the Democrat safe zone. There’s a special election on May 22, in Hawaii.

From Left: Case, Hanabusa, Djou.

Republican Charles Djou, Honolulu city councilman, is turning heads in his surprising 36% lead over former Congressman Ed Case (D) with 28%. Third in this winner-take-all race in Hawaii’s first congressional district, which incidentally is Obama’s old home district, is Colleen Hanabusa (D), State Senate President, at 22%.
Nothing could point out more vividly the sea change that has taken place than the fact that a young Republican, with a message of fiscal responsibility, smaller government and conservative principles, is resonating in this heavily Democratic state.



It’s true that Charles Djou is benefiting from the vote splitting between his two Democrat opponents, but it’s not all down to luck. Charles has been getting some help. House GOP leaders pulled out all the stops in an effort to support Djou. The Hawaiian Tea Party Patriots have come out in strength to support him as well. Should Charles Djou win as projected on the 22nd, he stands a really good chance of winning a full two year term in November. This will be as big a deal as Scott Brown winning Good Ol’ Teddy’s Massachusetts Senate seat. Once again a Democratic seat will have fallen that shouldn’t have.

The other and most telling indicator, at least to me, is the message. The Conservative Republican message is being heard and it’s being responded to in a big way. Election out of election and poll out of poll, it’s all there. The siren song of Marxi-Socialism is being rejected out of hand by Americans.
Democrats… a Conservative challenger will be coming to a neighborhood near you very soon.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Friday, May 14, 2010

Cap And Tax… Kerry, Lieberman, Graham Style.

John ‘Swiftboat’ Kerry. The man who perjured himself in front of Congress to sell out his brothers in arms? That John Kerry? Anything Kerry’s involved with can’t help but be just terrific for the country, right?

Then there’s Joe Lieberman. I really admire Lieberman’s unwavering support of the war against terrorism and his steadfast support of the State of Israel. So much so that I could almost forget how far left Joe Lieberman really is… almost. Only a liberal could have put forth a bill like this.

Then we come to the final member of the triumvirate, who did not have much input with the language of the bill but who has since identified himself with it, Lindsey Graham. Now, Graham may not have had any say in this legislation, but it points out exactly why Graham should go the way of Bob Bennett.

From Left: Graham, Lieberman, Kerry.

This ‘new’ climate legislation is being called dead on arrival this year by some of the leadership on both sides. It still looks as though the intrepid trio will attempt to move it forward anyhow. The bill itself is a job and economy killer as all such legislation is. It will put considerable burdens on 2,700 manufacturing and power generators by requiring a 17% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. The economy is still staggering under the cumulative effects of two years of severe recession. Any impediment to business and commerce will be magnified.



Additional requirements, burdens and taxes will be placed on offshore oil and gas drilling operations. It does, however, strip the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon emissions, which would be an excellent idea if it weren’t couched in this larger bill. This bill is certain to be strongly resisted by Republicans, but there are many of the left’s extreme environmental wing nuts who aren’t a bit happy with the bill’s provisions, such as billions of dollars for ‘clean coal’ and offshore drilling and exploration. There are also provisions for nuclear power. These last items are of course sops for Republican support, which is likely to be scarce.

It is an ill-conceived piece of legislation at an even more inopportune time and, fortunately for us, looks unlikely to see the light of day.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Thursday, May 13, 2010

House Of Cards… And An Ill Wind Blowing.

New figures on the deficit have jarred veteran Wall Street economists. The deficit just posted for April was eighty two billion dollars. That’s over twice what the deficit was just last April. Our total deficit for this year alone is projected to be one point five trillion dollars. The total debt of the United States of America is an astonishing twelve trillion nine hundred thirty billion plus dollars.



The 785 billion dollar ‘stimulus’, that was to keep our republic from sinking into the abyss of depression, didn’t. That is, it didn’t do what Obama and the panic gang said it would. It was a huge pile of freshly minted dollars that was carefully, reverently poured down every wrong hole they could find. Predictably, as with most government initiatives, it didn’t take it long to go wrong… not long and very,very wrong. The government invested in itself and not in the American people. Much of the stimulus money hasn’t even been accounted for, and with the typical layers of government deniability and shifting of responsibility, probably never will.

Our government, in the form of the radical Obama regime, advocates and supervises the confiscation of the treasure of the country to pay for massive entitlements, with which to enslave the American people in a self perpetuating cycle of poverty and debt.



It’s an increasingly dangerous place, this world of ours. The sheer number of muslim illegals in this country would almost guarantee success at some point. Get one hundred low-budget bombers and if only one succeeds they’ve won… or maybe these turkeys are only a blind for deeper embedded terrorist cells that are already here and operational. We shouldn’t congratulate ourselves for stopping them. We need to be so much more vigilant than we have been.

Obama’s mismanagement makes the world situation much more dangerous than it needed to be. We will pay for this one day soon. The Iranian navy is going to try to force us from the Straights of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, or in the event of the outbreak of hostilities try to sink our ships. Easier said than done I’ll admit, but Iran is not an adversary to take lightly. I assure you the Israelis won’t. No one wants war but this one is on the horizon and I don’t see anything that will mitigate that in any way.

LJDAM (Laser Joint Direct Attack Munitions)

Obama has shifted his policy towards Israel and Iran again and completed supplying Israel with the latest deep penetrating LJDAM bunker buster. Now if he were smart he’d get out of Israel’s way and let them do what they have to do. But Barack Obama isn’t; smart that is. The alternative is a nuclear armed Iran and the very real possibility of nuclear war. Obama’s weak posturing in front of these middle east strongmen and radical fanatics has only succeeded in painting a huge bulls eye on our backs and then expecting nothing to happen.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Syria. Israeli Trigger?

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has a surrogate. That surrogate is being trained and equipped by Syria. They are not only being supplied, they are being trained as a standing army. Assad’s surrogate is Hizballah in Lebanon.



Syria is also training Hizballah fighters on the advanced M-600 missile systems which they have supplied. It’s been reported that Hizballah in Lebanon has some 40,000 rockets and missiles, among them are the aforementioned M-600 missiles, Scuds, Kornets, Silkworms, anti-aircraft batteries, Yakhont cruise missiles and the usual shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. Syria has been training their surrogates in special operations and there is a 5,000 man assault unit poised to enter Israel from Lebanon.



President Assad is not popular with his own military. A Syrian military large enough to directly confront Israel is also a military which could threaten Assad’s control. Technically, a state of war still exists between Syria and Israel. A storm is coming and many are surprised that it has not already burst upon us. Israel has been navigating a difficult path, knowing that sooner or later Hizballah’s missiles and troops will have to be faced. Israel will not forget or forgive President Assad’s support of Hizballah.

Iran made a great show of chasing a US surveillance aircraft away from its most recent eleven day naval exercise designed to intimidate the US Fleet away from the Straights of Hormuz and the major shipping channels. It is a direct challenge to a first world navy by a third world nation bent on destruction. Before Obama such a scenario would have been laughable. Now? Well, I have infinite confidence in the ability, courage and dedication of the United States military… I have absolutely no faith in Barack Hussein Obama.



The real problem begins and ends with him. His willingness to allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons is a crime against humanity. He hasn’t the courage to stand up to our stated enemies… enemies that want all of us dead… or in slavery to their pernicious religion of death.
Israel will have to take the bone in its teeth and go for it sooner or later. We can only pray that we have the uncommon good sense to aid her against the most monstrous regime since Adolf Hitler.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Judicial Lightweight.

She’s a college buddy of Obama’s. Her name is Elena Kagan. Her portfolio is as empty as Obama’s own. She has never tried a case in front of any court. She has written no legal briefs or opinions. She has never tried a case, either as council or as a judge. She has no qualification to sit on the highest court in the land. She’s not as much lawyer or legal academic as she is a political hack for Barack Hussein.



Obama didn’t pick her for her legal brilliance. He picked her because she is every bit as much a left wing radical as he is. He picked her because she’ll follow Obama’s leftist agenda with the dedication of a zealot. He picked her for Solicitor General for the same reason. Rush Limbaugh called her a “pure academic idealist radical”. I’m inclined to go along with Rush’s analysis.

There is supposedly some trepidation among liberals about Ms. Kagan’s opinions about everything from the second amendment to her stated opposition to gay marriage. Many see her as an academic with the hallmarks of a cautious pragmatist and not the ultra-left leaning activist jurist they want. She’s plenty radical enough for most of us. I’m sure we’ll hear plenty more about her as this thing plays out.



The Republicans must filibuster this appointment. Republican lawmakers have a long history of being all too willing to cave on issues where standing on conservative principles was not the popular thing to do. Republicans should note and study what occurred with Bob Bennett. Our lawmakers should be aware that we are watching. We’re watching every race and every candidate very closely. Stand up and fight or go the way of Bob Bennett is what it amounts to.

Elena Kagan would be a dangerous radical on the Supreme Court. She is being put forth strictly because she’ll work to further the Barack Hussein Obama regime’s radical socialist agenda. Obama has taken a page from the book of Franklin Roosevelt, from when he attempted to pack the Supreme Court with Justices who Roosevelt knew were in favor of his big government policies.
As Conservatives, we have to do all we can to see that no ‘court packing’ goes on with Barack Obama in the White House. Filibuster or else.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Monday, May 10, 2010

Cold Lonely Summer.

Yes, it’s going to be a cold lonely summer… Senator Bob Bennett R-Utah found out, and it didn’t have to go anywhere past the second ballot of the Utah State GOP delegation. Bennett was an eighteen year incumbent. The influence of the ‘Tea Party’ Patriots was definitely felt here.

Exit Stage LEFT

It’s going to be a very tough year on incumbents. It will be hard on Republicans, but it’s shaping up to be extremely difficult for our so-called ‘moderate’ Blue Dog Democrats… the ones who had an opportunity to stand up and be counted on the critical issues which came before them, but when the time came, voted against the American people.

All over the country races are shaping up to be a Demarxist debacle, the likes of which have never before been seen in American politics. We’ve been calling it the New American Revolution. That’s what it is. It’s the American people standing up to a rogue regime which threatens our livelihoods, our families, our property, our national security and our freedom.

A quick look at some of the other races is informative. Republican turned Democrat Arlen Specter looks to lose to Democrat Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania, proving that the Democrats didn’t want any more to do with him either. John Murtha’s Pennsylvania seat may be in jeopardy after being a Democratic mainstay for 35 years. Republican Tim Burns is in strong contention for Murtha’s Senate seat.
Meanwhile, the Indiana Senate race looks to be another Republican victory in the making, with newly chosen Republican nominee Dan Coats at 51% to 36% for Democrat Brad Ellsworth, according to Rasmussen. West Virginia Democrat Representative Alan Mollohan is facing his first serious primary challenge in thirty years.



A major voting block of the Democratic party has now seriously split, with many American Jews reacting strongly to Obama’s worse than shabby treatment of Israel and his obviously anti-semitic leanings.

Along with Pennsylvania, there are three other states that have primaries on the 18th of May… Arkansas, Kentucky and Oregon. None of these races look particularly encouraging for Democrats either.
Yes, it’s going to be a very interesting year.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Bennett The First.

We’re not talking about some monarchic ascension here, we’re talking about Bennett, the first of the DeMarxist casualties for 2010. It is the harbinger of things to come. The landscape for Democrats isn’t looking all that promising, and Bob Bennett is just the first to fall to the ire of Conservative Republicans and Independents who feel that he turned his back on the Conservatives.

Bob Bennett

He cannot, regardless of what he says, claim that he was not warned. Citizens and Patriots, by the hundreds of thousands, have repeatedly told him, and others like him, to stand up for freedom and conservative principles. I recall writing such warnings in this column numerous times.

Bob Bennett betrayed his constituents and his party by voting for the Wall Street bailout. His favorite hobby was pork hunting, something which did not endear him to Utah’s strong conservative electorate. Bob Bennett didn’t even make it to the primaries and was voted out of office by the Utah State GOP. Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, are you listening? Oh, and don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of company… from both sides of the aisle.



The severity of the recession and the socialist assault on our economy and our country has forged a new breed of young, aggressive conservative activists on virtually every level of American politics. It’s a wonderful thing to see. Likewise, the number of solid, level-headed conservative kids that are managing to come out of those poison factories that we call our public school systems. Conservative student groups are growing in strength and making inroads on our college and university campuses.

Super high fives to those students up in Napa, California who fought back and ultimately won the right to wear their American flag ‘T’ shirts. It took nerve to show up with those shirts on when the atmosphere at school was so racially charged. It took courage to stand up in the face of the administration.



People everywhere in this country are making their voices heard. The left can no longer control the message and the dialogue of the American political tapestry. We no longer allow the left’s outrageous claims to go unanswered and the speed of the internet ensures that the reporting is usually done in minutes.
We are in the huge groundswell that is the new conservative revolution. It’s up to every single one of us to see it succeed. There aren’t any other options.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Welcome Back, I Think.

First of all let me thank Dee, who aside from her own schedule and work on our site, found time to lend her considerable journalistic talents covering for me while I was off for a few days. I was out of touch for much of this week, so it was with great pleasure that I read Dee’s articles this morning. Her essay into the comparison between us and European/Brit socialism was, I think, a very instructive window on where this country is headed if we don’t stop it.



The news cycle ground on while I was gone and I’ve spent most of today just trying to make sense of it. It looks like there’s more of the administration’s bi-polar unemployment figures out there for us, touting a 260,000 increase in employment as evidence that the economy ‘has turned the corner’. This administration has used that same pitch now for over a year. Back then the stimulus was going to do it for us, remember? We had nothing to worry about because the Obama administration had it all under control. A year and four months later and we get a new econo-fantasy-a-day out of Obama’s government.



At the same time as they’re talking about a jobs increase they’re reporting higher unemployment. We are now officially at 9.9 %. The real figure is the one they don’t want you know. It’s the one that reflects the underemployed, as well as the unemployed who have given up and aren’t currently looking. That figure was 17.1% last time I checked. Some sources claim that that figure is much closer to 20%. If that’s true then we are much closer to depression era unemployment than anyone is willing to admit.

The country will only sink farther into this miasma, created by Obama and the DeMarxists, if we as citizens don’t step in and stop them.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Friday, May 7, 2010

Who You Gonna Call?

The answer to that question is simple, the US of course. Some months ago I made a comment to Skip that the EU would be lucky to survive another ten years. It now looks like my estimate could have been generous. Greece is all but bankrupt, Portugal and Spain are teetering on the brink, Italy and Ireland are close behind. This week, Britain announced that it forecasts a budget deficit larger than that of Greece. All is not well in the New European Empire.

A Greek Police Officer Hit By A Molotov Cocktail.

In a one-size-fits-all economic arrangement there are bound to be casualties. The cap simply won’t, and can’t, fit some countries. Imagine the US joining an extended form of NAFTA, perhaps called AFTA, which includes all or most countries in Central and South America. To create a common currency with equal value in all member states would be disastrous, not to mention the fact that ‘free movement’ rules would have to be observed. So much for immigration controls!

These free movement rules are very much a one-way street. For example, compare the number of Polish and Latvian emigres in Britain with the number of Brits in former Eastern Bloc countries. During a recession it’s virtually impossible to provide jobs for the unemployed in your own country, without trying to cater for the requirements of ex-pats from another twenty six member states.

There is no doubt that the empire builders in Brussels have this vision of being the prime world superpower, economically at least. There are numerous reasons why this just won’t work. Many European nations are notoriously socialist in their outlook, indeed for some of them communism was the only system they knew until recent times. Socialism and free market principles together cannot work. That is why the current US administration can never work. Any system which is top-heavy with bureaucracy and regulation is doomed to failure. More time, money and resources are used in supervising the machine than in letting it do its stuff.



I hope that what is happening in Europe will be an example to Obama and Congress of how not to run an economy, although it will probably fall on deaf ears. It is a coincidence that Obama’s administration gave the International Monetary Fund another $100 billion recently, while this week it was announced that the IMF is to give $39 billion to Greece. So much for the European economic powerhouse, on top of the $106 billion they are giving from countries in the Euro-zone they have to run to the IMF for a top-up, some of it being American money.

A failed economic system can only shored up for so long, eventually the weight of flawed financial principles, bureaucracy and Euro-socialist ideals will bring the walls crashing down. Then, I wonder, who will they call?

(Editor Dee is in for Skip today)

Thursday, May 6, 2010

On A Wing And A Prayer.

Although it’s only relevant in the US, it seems appropriate that the UK general election is being held today, National Prayer Day. With the amount of prayers coming out of Britain today, I hope the Good Lord has a high bandwidth connection.

Gordon Brown

In Skip’s article from May 3rd, ‘Our Founding Documents… The Foundations Of Freedom’, he said that “Many, back in the days of King George the Third and the Revolution, didn’t believe that people could self govern, that instead the guidance of a firm but benign ruler was necessary as the common man simply could not be trusted to make life decisions for himself.” This attitude is still evident today in modern Britain. I have spoken to many who complain bitterly about high taxes, uncontrolled immigration and all the other usual gripes. They usually round off their little rant with a resigned “Well, there’s nothing we can do about it”.

Compare that attitude of many, or most, Brits to that of the American people over the last year. Do you think that if Obama totally lost it (anything is possible!) and introduced a 50% income tax level, increased fuel tax to push gasoline to $9 a gallon, and set up a state-owned broadcasting network which would cost you a $220 annual license (whether you watch it or not), that there would not be a few Tea Parties? Darn right there would be!

David Cameron

One oft-quoted comment of the British public is sadly true – “It doesn’t really matter, they are all about the same”. The whole spectrum of politics has shifted to the left. The difference between Labor’s Brown and the ‘Conservative’ Cameron is like the difference between Obama and Clinton. Would you believe that the latter has even incorporated ‘hope and change’ in an election slogan? It seems that the country has lost the first and slipped too far to do anything about the second. They are all more concerned with being pc than doing what must be done to rectify the sinking ship. What sort of an alternative is a Conservative government that upholds cap and tax and promises to plow more money into the ailing NHS?

Perhaps one day another Churchill or Thatcher will come along that has the cajones to do what is needed. Until then, Britain will remain as a stark reminder to the US of what not to do, what not to let happen. There is one good thing about the British electoral system – you never get dead liberals turning out to vote!

(Editor Dee is in for Skip today)

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Cinco de Mayo – An Illegal Invasion.

A happy Cinco de Mayo to our Mexican friends. Earlier this week I thought that maybe the anti Arizona bill protesters would use today for their activities rather than May Day, which unless you’re a communist Mexican or a Hispanic morris dancer, would have little relevance. After a little thought it made sense.

Battle of Puebla

The first reason they didn’t choose today to protest is that they would rather be engaged in a fiesta, and who can blame them. The other reason is historical. I’m probably teaching granny to suck eggs here, as readers of this column are a pretty clued-up bunch, but here’s a basic account of how Cinco de Mayo started.
In 1861, Mexico stopped paying interest on loans it had received from other countries. Some, like Spain, let it go. Napoleon III of France, as was his way, had other ideas. The well-equipped French invasion force had everything going their way until May 5, 1862, when the Mexicans defeated an army twice their size at the Battle of Puebla. The French eventually took control of the country and placed Maximilian I on the throne. The occupation lasted a couple of years until the French withdrew after pressure from the US.

It would have been somewhat ironic (and dare I say hypocritical?) for the supporters of illegal immigrants to protest on the anniversary of a battle to prevent an illegal invasion.



Mexico has the toughest immigration laws in the Americas, and rightly so. Illegal immigration is classed as a felony, carrying a prison sentence of two years, although deportation is the usual course of action. It’s strange that Mexico deports more illegals each year than the US, which is usually the first choice for most fleeing their own country. Well, Britain probably features quite high in the list as well, due to it being a ‘soft touch’ when it comes to providing social housing, welfare benefits and free health care. Actually, they might have a better chance of longevity living in poverty in their home country than relying on the British National Health Service.

Regardless of the arguments about racial profiling, the fact remains that immigration control is seriously flawed. We have the resources available to rectify this, if only Washington would be supportive rather than obstructionist. Give the agencies the resources and the legislation they need to do their jobs, whether it’s the Border Patrol, Police Departments or ICE. Taking a leaf from Mexico’s law book could be a good start.

(Editor Dee is in for Skip today)

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The Pinheads And The Patriots.

Firstly, apologies to Bill O’Reilly for borrowing one of his catch phrases, but it seems so appropriate for this article. Faisal Shahzad, a ‘naturalized’ American, has been arrested for the attempted terrorist attack in Times Square. It is not clear at this time to which organization he is linked, although he was recently a visitor to Pakistan where, according to reports, he has a wife.



This is the second time within five months that a devastating attack has failed, principally due to the ineptitude of the terrorist, a pinhead of the first degree. If the situation was not so serious it would be quite comical – a terrorist using the wrong kind of fertilizer. Jocularity aside, we must realize that, as at Christmas 2009,  we were again lucky. We should not underestimate the determination and resources of the enemy based on these amateurish attempts. They will try again, that much is certain.

The left, rather than praising those who helped to avert a possible disaster and condemn the guilty, seem to be more disappointed that it was not the plot of an extremist right-wing American. Huffington Post’s Louis Klarevas had this to say: “On Monday, while Americans were fixated on the hunt for and subsequent arrest of Faisal Shahzad for his alleged role in the Times Square bomb plot, an equally important terrorism-related story that was breaking in Detroit went relatively unnoticed”.

Of course, he was referring to the release of the Hutaree members. Equally important, Mr. Klarevas? While nut-jobs like them can possibly be a danger to the public, their actions had got no further than talk. Of course, the left would probably argue that thinking something and doing it amount to the same thing. After all, they invented the thought police. While there are car bomb attacks by those with questionable links and violence  by pro-illegal immigrant supporters, the left are espousing the dangers of the Tea Parties. They really should lay off whatever they are taking.



Duane Jackson, who was the first to spot trouble and raise the alarm in the Times Square incident, was interviewed by Shepard Smith yesterday. I don’t know about anyone else, but I got a feel-good factor from Mr. Jackson. His words radiated American spirit. On the one side, you have a ‘naturalized’ citizen who attempts to destroy and maim, on the other you have this wonderful guy who is obviously so proud of being American and the freedom it represents. His face lit up at the mention of his military service.

To those who quickly responded to a dangerous situation which resulted in the arrest of the perpetrator, including New York’s finest and all the other agencies involved, we thank you for your service. God bless you all.

(Editor Dee is sitting in for Skip today)

Monday, May 3, 2010

Our Founding Documents… The Foundations Of Freedom.

The three documents, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights are the model from which America draws its freedoms. Those freedoms, and the industry and genius of a free people, are responsible for the astronomical success of the great American experiment.

Many, back in the days of King George the Third and the Revolution, didn’t believe that people could self govern, that instead the guidance of a firm but benign ruler was necessary as the common man simply could not be trusted to make life decisions for himself. Europe was essentially a series of post medieval fiefdoms. A rigid caste/class system ensured the status quo.

With the discovery of the new world, the colonizing of America sent hints of freedom back to the old world. The restless and independent who chaffed under monarchical rule responded and fled to this new land, where a man was free to worship as he pleased and prosper through the efforts of his own labor, far from the courts of Europe. This led to a fierce independence and a love of the country that had given them so much.



The Revolutionary War brought together some of the best minds in the colonies to formulate the founding documents of our fledgling republic. I’m one of those that believe that the documents were God-given. God was a very big part of our founders’ thinking and their lives, and it shows in the wording. I’m more and more convinced that the founding documents should be read, examined and wondered over by every citizen. The language is simple and easy to understand. You cannot read these works and not feel uplifted.

Since we felt so strongly about it, Dee created a page on our website, tabbed ‘Our Founding Documents’. Click on it and you can read and copy all three. You’d be surprised what a working knowledge of the founders will do for you the next time you tangle with your liberal uncle.
I need to thank Dee for her magnificent work on the site. Take a look around and let us know what you think.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010