On 2012

What a year 2012 has been.  From a seemingly endless election cycle to natural distasters to the end of the world itself, there has been no shortage of things happening this year.  I suppose that is true every year, however the problems of this year seemed considerably more pronounced.

Obviously, the most prominent event all year was the presidential election.  On the one hand, I thank God it's over.  The primary season started so early in 2011 and never stopped after.  The election was mean and ugly to watch as the president and his surrogates continually tore down and attacked his opponents.  We wanted to roll back civil rights to Jim Crow, Mitt Romney killed a woman with cancer, we want old people and children to die, etc..  This wore thin in 2010.  It was nearly unbearable this year.

Yet, bore it we did.  And, for the other hand, it is unfortunate how it turned out.  Despite all that we fought for and the dire straits our country is in, we conservatives and the American people as a whole lost this election.  I know I am not the only one who has felt the past couple of months to be long and oppressive.  Unfortunately, this may be a preview of the coming year.  It makes this Tuesday seem far more dreadful than usual.

Then there were the natural disasters.  Hurricane Sandy come to mind for this.  Speaking of, I wonder how all those people on Staten Island are doing.  Haven't heard a thing about the recovery in a couple of weeks.  Though as I last recall, the response was still incredibly slow.

Of course, we can not forget the man-caused disasters, either (the lines kind of blur with the election, but I digress).  Anyone remember Benghazi?  I do.  Four men are dead and we still have no answers.

The list goes on.

Are you depressed yet?

Believe it or not, that was not my intention.  I fully intended on writing an article that balanced the negative with the positive.  An honest assessment of the year, however, recognizes just how bad it was.

There were positives, of course.  I'll get back to you when I think of them.  I think something can be said of all the little things that happen in our lives that we look to, however.  It's hard to find a big thing to look toward as a great positive this year.  At the very least, positives that counteract the negatives.  That pretty much leaves us with God and the blessings, big and small alike, that He bestows upon us.  That should be enough.

I'll leave you with this.  It's been a hard year.  There were a great many highs and much lower lows.  For the coming year and beyond, we'll have to work harder.  We'll have to focus better.  Fight more intensely.  This year was a harbinger of things to come, no doubt.  I think we conservatives are strong enough to handle it.  We have to be for the country we love.

So, for now, recharge your bodies and refresh your minds.  Periods of rest such of this will be more important than ever.

Happy New Year to you all!  I look forward to seeing you on the battlefield of ideas in the coming year.

I thought of a positive! The world didn't end! ...Well, a friend thought it up.

Christmas

Another year, another Christmas.  Amazingly, I managed to avoid discussing the antics of the anti-theists for the season, despite how much they disgust me.  I'm serious; that took a lot of self-control.  I really just needed to ignore them this year, especially after the debacle-that-shall-not-be-named.  There has been a lot stupid floating around since then and I need a break from it.

Instead, I shall talk about Christmas.

After all, the event that Christmas celebrates may be the most important in history.

For those of you who do not know (how?) or are being intentionally obtuse (why?), Christmas is the day that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.  This event single-handedly changed the course of world history and has touched more lives than any other.

Before Christ, there was sin and darkness in a fallen world.  The righteous who believed in the God of Israel, Issac and Jacob were few and far inbetween.  The Israelites were continually threatened by enemies who worshipped nature and demons.  The world was filled by those who gave no value to human life and tossed it away casually.  There was little hope in the world for reason, sanity, and, perhaps most of all, salvation.

That all changed on the first Christmas.  That night, a new era dawned.  The dynamics by which the world worked changed completely.  As the newborn lay in the manger, none knew of the lessons to be taught and the miracles to be performed.  No one foresaw the crucifixion or the ressurection.  None saw the millions of lives to be transformed over the centuries.

What began that night in Bethlehem was light and hope.  Instead of a world where people were slaves to their baser instincts and unredeemable, they now had a savior.  They now had a hope to be at God's side after death.  They had reason to be righteous in life and be good to their fellow men.  The world was given a promise by God that whosoever shall believe in the salvation in Christ will not die.

Ever since, the blind have seen, the lame have walked and the broken-hearted have been made whole.  People have experienced an unconditional love that could never be replicated on Earth.  They have experienced grace and forgiveness far beyond what they deserve.

And it all started in a stable in the town of Bethlehem.

Spend your Christmas, between and during the gifts, the family and the egg nog, remembering why we celebrate and be merry for it.  It is a beautiful season.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

On George W. Bush - Governing Philosophy

Time to get into the weeds, it seems.

It's time to talk about everyone's favorite president, George Walker Bush!  Also known as 43.  Or Dubya.

You see, something that bothers me a lot is just how much the man is criticized, even four years out from his presidency.  President Obama continually uses him as a scapegoat (despite making the country demonstrably worse off than before).  Liberals constantly scream and cry how he was a moron who was two-steps away from becoming a tyrant (not sure how that works; idiots generally don't have the wherewithal to become tyrants).  Some conservatives even (particularly more libertarianish ones) believe he and Obama are equal amounts of bad.

So where does the truth lie?  Was president Bush some horrible, idiot man-child given hell bent on maliciously expanding the government until we were all made serfs?  Or was he something less than that?

I am actually inclined to agree with the libertarian, who saw Bush's "compassionate conservatism" as bad policy.  His solutions for societal problems, like education, was bigger [federal] government.  Following the September 11th attacks, the solution was the Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security, both of which granted large of amounts of power to the federal government.

However, this does not make Bush comparable to Obama in any way.  It is ridiculous to suggest that the motivations and actions of one of comparable to the other.  When Bush pushed for the Patriot Act and DHS, he was not doing it in some crazy attempt to massively expand the government to curb our freedoms.  If you believe that was his motivation, you live in some other world entirely.  He believed it was the right thing to do to keep us safe.

Now, that's not to say it was not ill-conceived.  It most certainly was.  In the hands of 43, however, it was relatively benign, designed and used to protect us.  Clearly he and many others who do not understand constitutional restrictions did not realize that out of their hands, such power could easily be abused.  Even now, the current administration is using defense bills to try and grant itself power to spy on American citizens.  Not overseas foreign nationals suspected of terror ties, but Americans themselves.  The slippery slope strikes again.

Same goes for any other big government initiative proposed by Bush.  His heart was most certainly in the right place for things like "No Child Left Behind;" the proposed (and passed) solution was just as incorrect and constitutionally dubious.  This does not make him equal President Obama, however.  They do not have the same motivations for doing things.  Bush, as far as I can tell, believed the government was capable of doing good things for the people.  Obama, on the other hand, clearly believes that the government is better and/or smarter than the people and thus should be doing things it is assumed they can not, regardless of ability.

To Bush, government was the tool for a solution, that it could help the individual improve him or herself.  To Obama, the government is the solution, all the time.  In essence, it subsumes the individual.

I think that is a very distinct philosophical difference.

Preparing for Hatred

So, I've been spending the past couple of hours (I wrote this Thursday night, obviously) perusing my Twitter timeline and watching people batter Michelle Malkin repeatedly with misogynistic and racist slurs.  That woman is a true warrior.  She has learned not to care about the hate or the rape threats or the death threats.  At least, she does not let it show.  If only all conservatives could be like that.

But we can't.  Not all of us are in the trenches day in and day out, being told repeatedly that we are horrible fascists who want children to die and should go die ourselves.  Steven Crowder (remember, the guy who assaulted a man's fist with his face?) tweeted this out not long ago.

If most of us receive threats like this, we would be afraid.  We would not know how to react.  We would never have seen it or experienced it before.  We should not have to at all.  However, it happens and with increasing frequency.

You see, there is a bitter truth I think far too many people are afraid to admit to, whether it is for fear of offending people or being attacked: liberals are hateful.  No, I do not care that I am making a blanket statement and no, I will never care again.  It is irrelevant in the face of overwhelming evidence.  Time and again I have seen liberals spew vitriol at the smallest and biggest things.  Conservative women are whores who are going to be raped.  Black conservatives are Uncle Toms and niggers.  Supporters of Israel are Jew sluts.  We all deserve to die horrible deaths or should commit suicide.  Words like this, toothless though they likely are, can come from nowhere but a heart filled vitriol and bile.

Now, there are liberals out there who are not like this.  I follow a few on Twitter and know a few personally (I just had a pleasant conversation with one), but they are the exception, not the rule.  The hatred overwhelms those of good character and conscience who would never utter those slurs.

In the past year and after the election, in particular, we have seen a dramatic rise in hatred coming from the left.  It seemed that weekly some prominent conservative was libeled and viciously attacked for stating his or her opinion.  It has happened again tonight and will continue to happen as well.  In their arrogance, liberals assume their victories and "moral uprightness" means they will no longer be called out and challenged on their despicable views and behavior.  They take the filters off and what is truly in their hearts comes out.

Those filters coming off should tell conservatives everywhere that the game has changed.  These are no longer random events.  This kind of behavior is now the status quo.

We must be prepared.

We conservatives must be ready, willing and able to combat the hatred.  We must be warriors for our cause and be vigilant at the walls. We already recognize this combat will not be fun, but we must also recognize that it will come upon us eventually.  It most obviously affects those with a public spotlight already, such as the Malkins and the Crowders.

However, if we wish to defend our beliefs (and each other), then we must likewise be prepared to defend ourselves against these attacks.  It doesn't matter if you are a blogger, a student, a parent, a supervisor, a cashier; we must all be prepared for the anger and the vile behavior...and worse.  We will be tested and we cannot assume just because we do not garner much attention that it will not reach our doorstep one day.

The war of ideas will wear on us all.  We must be prepared to weather whatever is thrown our way.

On Peaceful Union Protests - Updated

Watch this dramatic video as union protestors peacefully and non-aggressively swarm and cut this American's for Prosperity tent down:

And watch this clip as comedian Steven Crowder launches his face at a man's fist like the violent psychopath that he is:

Now that I have completed my descent into the absurd, let us talk about my point in posting these videos.

What were these unions protesting?  After all, when unions march, it has to be for something important, right?  Whatever they're protesting  has to involve evil businesses or anti-worker conservatives trying to "screw the little guy," right?

Well, what these thugs (because that's what they are) were actually protesting is something called a "right-to-work" law, which Michigan is now the twenty-fourth state to pass.  These laws, simply put, allow workers to get a job without being compelled to join a union.  In other words, they are given the choice over whether or not they want to join the union and, consequently, pay dues.  That is all they were protesting.  No union "rights" are being curbed.  No unions are being busted.  People are just being given the choice over joining one.

And the prospect of choice turned these people into unhinged lunatics.  After all, AFP was doing nothing except being present as a counterpoint to the unions' antics.  And the unions got violent.  They vandalized AFP property and attacked Steven Crowder for merely asking why they opposed right-to-work.

Do you know why?

Unions are becoming irrelevant.  After serving a purpose early last century against the abusive practices of businesses, they are becoming relics of an era that no longer exists.  People do not join unions of their own volition today because they do not provide a significant benefit.  Abusing workers with excessively long days, pitiful wages or making children work is now illegal.  Those battles have been fought and won.  Indeed, they are detrimental to the workers' paychecks thanks to dues and those dues often go into (Democratic) political campaigns instead of the unions' coffers.

So now the unions are afraid.  They fear losing clout and money as less people join them.  The workers who are part of them see the writing on the wall and become unhinged in their fear.  The result are the videos above, with grown men acting little better than 8-year old children who did not get the cookie they demanded.

It's pathetic.

Updated: Hey, look at that!  Racism and hot dogism!  Who would of thought?

Besides me?  Could set your watch by the slurs and vitriol that comes from the left.

Is it any wonder why false charges of racism anger me when leftists ignore actual racism from their own side?

On Democracy Worship

"Pharaoh Morsi I...I like the sound of that."

For those of you blissfully unaware, on Thanksgiving Day, Egypt's new "president," Mohammad Morsi, issued several decrees to grant himself vast power over Egypt with virtually no oversight.  Now, under normal circumstances, I would take the next paragraph or two to mock the people who did not see this coming.  Only the willfully ignorant would have missed the signs (for example, Morsi being part of the organization that spawned both Al Qaeda and Hamas).  However, for those who fell for the deception of the "Arab Spring," there is a much more serious issue at hand than a few popular uprisings, which goes right to the core of their way of thinking.

That issue is "democracy worship."

What do I mean when I say that?

An opinion that seems to be very prevalent among liberals is that many of the world's problems would be solved if only it would embrace democracy more.  Hence, they tend to cheer any time a despot is overthrown to pave the way for "free" elections.  The most obvious example of this is the reaction to the "Arab Spring" uprisings, generally lauded by liberals while looked upon with apprehension by conservatives.

So, why was the latter so standoffish about these coups and rebellions while the former embraced them wholeheartedly?  After all, it sounds good when tyrants like Muammar Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak are overthrown, doesn't it?

Note: He was voted into power.

The thing that large numbers of liberals fail to understand is that democratic (or republican) forms of governance are neither inherently good nor bad.  Truly, no form of government is inherently good or bad.  It largely dependent upon the people placed in charge and the ideologies they carry with them into positions of power.  It is true that totalitarian forms of government are far more likely to result in abusive tyrannies due to the corrupting influence of absolute power.  However, that is the government itself that gets corrupted, not the form of government.

As such, elections, even those that are free and trustworthy, can result in great evil being voted into power.  This proved true in the early 1930s, when the citizens of the Wiemar Republic voted the Nazi party into power, which eventually brought about World War II and the Holocaust.  This proved true in the late 2000s when the people of the Gaza Strip voted Hamas, a terrorist organization, into power, effectively turning the region into a epicenter of terror against Israel.

And now it has proven true in Egypt in 2012, as the people there, in a free election, voted Mohammad Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood into power.

Democracy is not a cure for society's ills.  It is subject to the whims and desires of the people under it.  If those people desire more freedom, they will vote it in.

If they desire more government control over their lives, they will vote that in.

If they desire a theocracy, they will vote that in.

Whatever people desire in democratic forms of government, they will eventually get.

If we truly wish to cure the ills of societies under dictators around the world, then the cultures of those societies must be changed.  The reason the American republic works is not because of the form of government we are under.  It is because we have people living in the republic who understand the importance of being stewards of their freedom.  They are vigilant and protect it from those who would undermine it.

Without that mentality, democracy is just another form of government, subject to be abused by the people in and under it.

On the Norquist Tax Pledge

So, as the fiscal cliff talks continue, some Republicans seem insistent on demonstrating that they are spineless cowards who are completely unwilling to take a stand in the name of principle.  The most recent example?  The expressed willingness by some to ignore Grover Norquist's anti-tax pledge.

Grover Norquist, or "The Overlord"

Now, this is not going to be some defense of Grover Norquist, though he most certainly has the right idea.  No, this has far more to do with the liberal obsession over him and the feckless politicians on the "right" side of the aisle who want to violate the tax pledge they took.

First, the obsession.  It is highly aggravating when people talk about Grover Norquist like he is God.  Not only is it aggravating, it is bizarre when they act like he has some sort of power over them to force them to not raise taxes.

Norquist is a man.  Nothing more, nothing less.  He is not some terrible god of thunder who will strike down politicians who stray from what he believes is right.  Neither is he important nor powerful in any meaningful way.  I don't say that to slight the man, for as I said before, he has the right idea.  However, it is shameful and embarrassing when people on both sides try to use him as a scapegoat for their feckless behavior.  Stop and own up to your actions.

Then there are the people who want to ignore the tax pledge that they have taken.  Now, one can argue about whether or not the pledge is a good idea, workable or what have you.  The problem does not lie in the pledge itself.  It lies in the fundamental character flaws that cause one to break a pledge for political expediency.

After all, let us be honest.  The Republicans who are banging the anti-Norquist drum are not doing so because they have had a legitimate change of heart.  They are doing so because it is (seemingly) politically expedient for them to dump fiscal conservatism to look like they are being "bipartisan."

Of course, the correct term is "cowards."

They are cowards for two reasons.  The first is that they are turning their backs on a principled position, as I mentioned before.  Instead of taking a stand for the right thing, as they were elected to do, they are instead more worried about their careers.

However, and perhaps more damning, is their willingness to reject the pledge.  Do their words have no meaning?  They made a promise, no matter what one thinks of its importance or wisdom.  This is not some fickle pinky swear on a schoolyard playground.  They are adults.  Their words have meaning.  And when they say they are willing to break their word for such a cheap reason, it diminishes them, their office and the political system as a whole.

They should be ashamed.

On Why Taxes are Viewed Wrong

So, with the "Fiscal Cliff" battle raging in Washington right now, I'm hearing lots of talk about taxation.  Specifically, Democrats want taxes to go up on the highest earners in any deal that averts the cliff and Republicans want to avoid raising taxes on anyone.  You can guess which one I am in favor of.

I think this debate brings up an important question: what is the proper way to view taxes?  If this seems like a confusing question, read on.

The IRS building.  Because there weren't better pictures.

Let us start off by defining the issue.  This is based off of personal observation alone, but the prevailing view of taxation today seems to be that the collected money is the "government's money."  It seems to suggest that the government is owed that money and indeed deserves it.  It assumes that the government is the only entity capable of effectively spending that money and thus should get that money no matter what.  After all, one cannot call for "tax fairness" without assuming that the money belongs to no one but the government.  It would not be unfair to anyone if it belonged only to the individual who earned it.

The real question then becomes "why is this viewpoint wrong?"

First, we need to redefine what taxes are.  It is not the government's money.  We are legally obligated to pay them to the government, but that does not mean that the government owns it or "deserves" it.  Instead, taxes should be seen as "money entrusted to the government by the people for its continued and proper function."

Taxation has now become a farce, where instead of people giving their money, understanding the necessity of and, therefore, in a way desiring it to go to the government, we now look at tax day with dread and apprehension.  We are forced to hand over our hard-earned money to an entity that absolutely refuses to be responsible with it and then spends beyond what we, as a people, give it.  I have yet to figure out what the 1+ trillion dollars of deficit spending is on.  Heck, I don't really know what the governments spends the money it actually takes in on. 

On top of that, the government spends that money on purposes ranging from frivolous, like turtle tunnels, to immoral, like Planned Parenthood.  To use the latter as an example, I am ardently pro-life (if that wasn't already obvious), yet my taxes (when I eventually pay them; the joys of unemployment) will go to this organization which primarily performs abortions.  I know there are those who say Planned Parenthood provides other services and that it can not spend federal money on abortion.  My answers?  The former is irrelevant to the fact that their chief business is abortion.  The latter is just asinine.  Who actually believes that PP partitions the money?  That would be both inefficient and difficult to track.  It also does not change the fact that tax money goes to fund America's largest abortion provider, whether or not it directly funds abortions.

Why is the government funding something like that?  Non-abortion services aside, it still performs abortions, which a good number of people find abhorrent.  Yet, they are forced by law to help an organization that makes millions per year slaughtering hundreds of thousands of children like they are cattle.

Before you argue that I want to burn the government down (or something equally stupid), I genuinely can not think of a single person who actually thinks that the government should not get some kind of financing, smears against fiscal conservatives aside. The problem is when the government demands our money of us so it can spend more on God-knows-what (and I'm pretty sure only God knows).

If the American people knew their Constitution (and there are a good many who do, don't get me wrong), they would realize that the federal government's top priority, as dictated by the Constitution, is the civil defense and international treaties and interaction.  Nowhere is the government supposed to provide us entitlements or pet projects for our districts and states.

I would be comfortable giving the government my taxes if it spent that money on its priorities first and then spent the surplus on whatever it deems necessary/useful.

Like debt reduction.

Perhaps when people start seeing taxed money as their money, as opposed to the government's, they may start caring about it more.

On Being Thankful

Word to the wise: This is going to be a pretty personal piece, so if you're looking for political commentary, you're not going to get any.  Also, there will be lots of contractions.

So, it's that time of year again, where we set aside time to be with family and friends.  That time when we gorge ourselves on heinously large foul.  That time we prepare ourselves to be trampled while we try to enter a department store.  Incidentally, speaking of Black Friday, why is it becoming Black Thursday?  Don't get me wrong, businesses can do whatever they want; if there's a way to draw customers earlier, so be it.  All the same, is nothing sacred anymore?  Can't we have one or two days a year where family and God are the focus, without people trampling each other for a blender?  Sure, we have Christmas, but Thanksgiving is one of those days, too.

Anyway, I digress.

So, what am I thankful for this year?  Well, are you ready for a bit of a story?

First, some background.

So, as I mentioned in a previous blog post, I'm a born-again, evangelical Christian.  I have been since I was thirteen and it kept me from ever becoming a liberal.  Now, my opinions took time to develop, no doubt.  Learning in the public school system meant I was bombarded constantly with ideas in direct opposition to the Bible.  Being young, untested, and horrifically inarticulate, it was mostly a matter of keeping my head down and my opinions to myself.

Fast forward to university, following tests of faith and other events that are not relevant to my tale.  In college...I made a mistake.  No, I didn't do cocaine, become a communist or knock up a chick at a frat party on November 11, 2009 at approximately 12:05 AM.  However, I did make a mistake.  One that turned me into a ticking time bomb of emotion that, combined with bad scheduling decisions in my senior year, detonated.

That bomb was crippling and it shook my faith severely.  It seemed that God had abandoned me when I needed Him most.  It left me depressed and drifting for the past two years.

Then Hurricane Sandy hit and knocked out our power.

Now, let me preface this tale with the situation I'm currently in.  My parents haven't been particularly well off for years and I myself am unemployed and, thus, am unable to help them or move out. Considering this, the last thing we really needed was a power outage.  Yet, a power outage we got, days spent not doing anything vaguely productive (though I did finally read "The War of the Worlds;" I can see why it's a classic).

Personally, I found this maddening and got incredibly frustrated.  It seemed like the last thing I should have been doing in my situation was nothing, considering how little I do to begin with.  Outside of blogging and staying informed, my day are unfortunately slim on worthwhile activity.  I was cold, in the dark and had disturbingly little patience for it.

The third evening, while I was waiting to get tired enough to fall asleep, however, I had a revelation.  God told me, in essence, that I had not been trusting in Him or His plan for my life.  He made me realize I had been trusting in myself instead of looking to Him first and foremost.  So I put my faith in God and declared that night would be the last night we would be in the dark and the cold.  I believed (and still do) God had put us in that situation to teach me to depend on Him with a full heart and a clear mind again.

The next day, I got this...feeling telling me to go outside.  It was just an odd inkling to take pictures of the storm damage (which I still haven't uploaded, actually).  Sure enough, when I did, I discovered that a power company worker was assessing our situation and preparing to call the crews in.  Three hours later, not long after nightfall, our lights came back on and our prayers had been answered.

Oh, wait, here's one of those pictures.

More importantly, my faith had been reaffirmed.  I learned that I had been depending too much on myself and the world and not enough on the Lord.  Even now, I'm beginning to see subtle shifts on the employment front.  I also believe that this blog will have something to do with my future as will the people I have met on Twitter.  Seeing what I can do with both, I believe God has a plan for my life involving both.

So, what's my point with this tale?  I'm am thankful for the saving grace of Jesus.  I am thankful for the Lord's forgiveness that brings me, for without second chances, I would have been doomed long before now.  And I'm thankful that the Lord reminded me of this very important and eternal truth when I need Him more than ever.

One last note: I'm thankful for your readership and hope to continue to have it in the future.  If it weren't for you, I'd have given up on this venture by now, I'm sure.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

On Supporting Israel

So, as you, my reader, may recall, I had a rather long rant on what is wrong with people who oppose Israel.  It can sometimes be truly maddening, if not frightening, to see how an argument that starts with ignorance on who the instigator is can quickly degenerate into anti-Semitic rants against Israel and Jews in general.  However, I got my fill of complaining about them last week.

Instead, I want to talk about why it is important and morally right to support Israel.

First of all, Israel has a right to the land for two reasons.  The first is that Israel has been internationally recognized as a sovereign nation.  That alone means that the land is rightfully theirs, no matter who says what.  In addition to that, historically, the land of Israel was the Jewish homeland for centuries.  The only thing they have done in establishing themselves in Israel is return to that homeland by the millions since 1948.

The land of Israel, on the other hand, is the homeland of no other group that continues to exist to this day.  Prior to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, the area known as Palestine was a blighted, barren wasteland.  Its population was sparse and it produced nothing of value.  Consequently, with no native population, there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.

Palestine, in fact, got its modern name from the Roman Empire.  The land of Judea (the name of modern day Israel under Roman rule) was renamed "Syria Palestina" in an attempt to erase the Jewish history of the land after Jewish rebellions were crushed in 70 and 135 AD.  As such, the land is not actually named after an ethnic group.  Today's "Palestinians" are merely of Arabian, Egyptian and other descent, many of whom have been displaced by the repeated wars waged against Israel in the past sixty years.

Of course, history is not the only reason to support Israel.  After all, this is the only free, stable, democratic nation in the Middle East.  In a region where military dictatorships and violent, Islamist theocracies are the norm, the fact that any nation that reflects western values exists there is positively miraculous.  In a region where women are stoned for being the victims of rape and gays are executed for existing, Israel should have the world's full support.

Then there is the fact that Israel is routinely demonized by the international community for defending itself.  Granted, the appeal of this point is purely emotional, but is one worth considering regardless.  After spending years having lukewarm feelings on Israel, I eventually learned the truth about Israel's situation.  I learned it was the victim, not the perpetrator, of terror.  I learned it was, time and again, invaded by its neighbors and won each time, despite seemingly insurmountable odds.  Yet, it is still treated as evil by nations and organizations that should be supporting it.

Indeed, Israel has made it clear, time and again, that it is the party that seeks peace.  In demonstrating its willingness to trade land for peace, Israel has been shown to be the only side seeking peace in this conflict.  In withdrawing from the Gaza strip, the nation was rewarded with thousands of rockets wantonly fired into its territory.  Yet somehow, it is the great villain of the world, demonized and censured more than any other nation on the planet, save for a select few.

The final reason, and the biggest for me, is that the Jews are God's chosen people and Israel is the apple of His eye.  The Jews are proof, above all else, of God's existence.  Despite being dispersed as a people and scattered around the world for nearly 2000 years, they were still able to come back together in 1948 and form a nation of their own.  His promise to them still stands, no matter how much other people may hate it.  Thus, anyone who stands against Israel stands in direct opposition to the will of God almighty.

In the end, there is little excuse not to support Israel.  Now, one can most certainly disagree with the tactics the Israeli people use or the course they take.  However, there is no equivalence between them and their brutal, murderous enemies.  To even attempt to draw a comparison is evidence of either astonishing ignorance or moral bankruptcy.

On the State of Israel

As I start writing this, I am seeing for the first time (at least personally) a story on the situation in Israel on Fox News Channel.  Thank goodness we have that conservative media outlet dutifully reporting on events in Israel like it should be, right?  You know, showing us on television the full story of events over there, just like any conservative media outlet would, right?  Showing us what was happening when it started shortly after the election...right?

Okay, that's out of my system.

So, for those of you who are not up to speed, for the past week, Hamas, terrorists and elected rulers of the Gaza Strip, have been bombarding Israel with mortars and rockets.  As radical Islamist terrorists like to do, they have targeted towns and cities in the regions surrounding Gaza.  In response, Israel killed Ahmed Jabari, one of Hamas' top military chiefs.   Declaring that "the gates of Hell" have been opened, the terrorists have initiated a sustained rocket barrage on Israeli civilians, forcing Israel to respond with airstrikes and now it appears that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is massing troops for a ground invasion of Gaza.

Despite the "Iron Dome" Missile Shield, hundreds of rockets have rained on Israel's cities.

These events have brought out two types of (often overlapping) people: the ignorant and the anti-Semitic.

I will start with the ignorant.  These are the people who think that Israel is the aggressor.  They believe that Israel attacks first and targets civilians intentionally.  They believe that Israel is some sort of genocidal, apartheid state that wishes to annihilate all Palestinians and/or Arabs.  Worst of all, these are often the people who absolutely refuse to believe anything else regarding Israel, no matter what they are told contrary to those viewpoints.

And those people tend to overlap with people who just hate Israel and Jews in general.  There is nothing more disgusting than logging into Twitter in the morning and seeing people I follow retweet that hatred, to show the world those heinous and morally bankrupt feelings.  After all, nothing is more unsettling than people wishing the Jewish state be wiped out and all the Jews be killed.  It is equally disturbing seeing those who call out such bigotry getting called epithets like "Jew slut."

You may have noticed that I am writing this without any hint of irony or amusement.  It's largely because these are issues that just are not funny.  And I certainly am not amused by them right now.  I'm just thoroughly disgusted with the dishonesty, hatred and lies directed at the Israeli people.

Let me go back and take those arguments from ignorance one at a time.  First, this inane notion that Israel is the aggressor state.  As I pointed out in this situation (and throughout history), military action taken by Israel is reactionary.  The Israelis know half the world hates them and know better than to be reckless in their reactions.  When Israel does act, it is fully justified, whether its a defense against foreign invasion or to protect its people from hundreds of rocket strikes in the course of a year.  Indeed, it is indicative of incredible self-restraint that the Israelis did not strike Gaza sooner, despite over 700 rockets landing in Israel this year prior to this week.

Now imagine this was the US or any other western nation. 

Then there are these accusations that Israel attack civilians intentionally.  What Israel's critics never seem to understand, or even care to know for that matter, is that Israel's enemies are the ones committing war crimes.  It is horrifying enough that the terrorists attack civilians every chance they get; they compound those crimes by hiding among civilians, forcing Israel into difficult choices.  Do they risk killing civilians to eliminate a mortar/rocket position or allow the terrorists to continue firing randomly into Israel's cities?

The IDF often takes a sort of "middle road" when faced by such choices.  They will drop leaflets warning of impending bombardment, ruining both the element of surprise and the chances of eliminating a target. However, it is completely unreasonable to expect the people of Israel to accept daily bombardment by Hamas merely because the terrorists (that the people of Gaza voted into power) hide among the civilian population.  No other country would accept such limitations on its ability to protect itself and neither should Israel.

And then there is the accusations of genocide and apartheid.  Can we all just agree that the former is idiotic?  Israel has had ample opportunity to try and wipe out the Arab people around it.  It has not.  This takes on disturbing subtext when one realizes that only seventy years ago, the Jews were subjected to the Holocaust.  Accusations of apartheid are equally stupid.  One million Arabs/Muslims  live in Israel and are not oppressed.  Assuming they do not try to blow up shopping centers or drop mortars on children, they are accepted in Israeli society and allowed to vote and live free lives in the only stable, democratic nation in the region. 

So ultimately, the point of this post is this: who are the real victims: the Arabs harboring murderous extremists or the Israelis who are attacked for merely existing?  Who are the real ignoramuses: the people who recognize Israel's challenges in a hostile world or the one's who defend Hamas and want to "free Gaza" (from a country that withdrew six years ago)?  Who are the real racists: Israelis under siege from rockets or the people all around the world who see Zionism as a great evil and applaud the idea of the six million Jews in Israel getting wiped out?

You decide.

A Grave Concern

While my analysis on the election prior to now has been rather sober and thoughtful (or so I like to hope), I do have one really pressing concern that could see me in crazy town by week's end.  Before you ask, no, it has nothing to do with extensive widespread voter fraud swaying the election (though I believe that quite a bit occurred or at least want to see investigations into allegations).  Nor does it have to do with secession.  While I appreciate the sentiment behind it, I also find it silly and the people who take it seriously silly.

No, my concern has nothing to do with any of that, but with the state of our republic.

I probably could have chosen a slightly more flattering picture.

When I saw the projection that Barack Obama won reelection, I was, as I said before, flabbergasted.  I was utterly surprised.  I was shocked.  I was any number of other adjectives that imply I was terrified for my country.

Then I started thinking: What else does the Obama victory suggest? 

My conclusion was not pretty.

As you may remember, in the lead up to election day (all 50 years of it), the Obama campaign relied on going small.  It attacked Mitt Romney for his tenure at Bain Capital.  It targeted minority groups, telling blacks that he wanted  to them all "back in chains."  It pandered to Hispanics with the unconstitutional loosening of immigration law.  It terrified young people with the idea that he was going to set women's and gay rights back 40 years (thank goodness our school teach them that our president has no power to do that).  It tried to scare seniors into thinking he wanted take away their Medicare and Social Security (the only attack that backfired).

Remember back in 2008 when Barack Obama said these words?  "If you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters."  That is exactly what he did this cycle. 

He tried to scare voters away from Mitt Romney into his campaign and made the argument about small, petty issues.  Instead of the debate being about big government vs. small, it was 'free' birth control vs. hating women.  Instead of it being about entitlement reform vs. ruinous entitlement expansion, it was 'free' stuff vs. 'heartlessness.'  Instead of Constitutional governance vs. executive fiat, it was Obama = good; Romney = evil.

And small won on the 7th.

I believe this bodes ill for the nation.  Obama's win on divide and demonize indicates that the nation is not only highly polarized, but possibly skewed in favor of government dependence and belief in the evils of conservatism.  Now, note, I don't believe that such a mentality is 'locked-in' to the popular mindset.  But the fact that small, petty and dependency won should still be alarming.  It means that we, as a nation, are well on course to that eventual outcome if nothing is done to reverse the momentum.

I believe that if conservatives fail to solidify a place for our ideas before the next election cycle, we may very well find our ideas unelectable in the face of progressive scorn.

If you think me defeatist, however, you have misjudged the words in this post.  I am merely assessing the situation as it now seems.  I have not given up hope.

I believe conservatism is not only correct, but that it is true, like I am sure many of you do.  I believe, in light of our electoral defeat, it is time for conservatism to rebrand itself.  We must become a force, not just in politics, but in the culture and communities as well.  We must make ourselves better known in the public square, not as those racist rednecks we are portrayed as, but as the thinking, caring human beings we really are.  We must turn aside the perception that we are stodgy and backward and show the world who we really are.

The re-election of President Obama will certainly make things even more difficult, as progressives push ever harder for their ruinous policies under a presumed mandate, but that is irrelevant.  Standing by and allowing irrelevancy to slowly overtake us is not acceptable.

Surrender is not an option.

Firing a Few Rounds

Honestly, you can not be completely surprised I have a few rounds left to fire off in the circular tent squad.  I already unleashed most of the clip in my first election analysis.  However, there are two other things I want to address.

First is Chris Christie.  I have heard a lot of people blaming him for the election loss, though I feel that is a lot more emotion than deep analysis.  It is pretty easy to knee-jerk against a guy who embraces the most dangerous president since Woodrow Wilson.

That said, I think they may be preparing to kiss here.

That being said, I do assign a very small portion of blame to Chris Christie.  The problem was not Governor Christie's complimenting of Barack Obama.  The problem is that he complimented him, at best, for getting nothing done.  At worst, he complimented Obama for a job badly done.  Power was inevitably going to return slowly considering how widespread the damage was.  The real problem lay and still lies in what is happening while the power remains unrestored, particularly the logistical nightmare triggered by the disruption of commerce.  People starve, freeze and live in filth as long as that has not recovered.

Yet, FEMA under Obama, much like under Bush, was woefully unprepared to deal with a disaster of this magnitude.  And Chris Christie complimented him on a job well done, a move which I have no doubt helped to solidify the appearance of Barack Obama being in control, despite people suffering a week later when the polls opened.  He complimented the president for doing a few photo-ops in a bomber jacket.

Ultimately, I think that the governor killed any prospects he had of national office.  While I do not hate him like some seem to now, I am immensely disappointed in the man.  No one should be in the business of giving undeserved accolades, whether because they are blind, for the sake of their own reelection (Christie will be up for reelection next year) or just to seem bipartisan.

Finally, my last problem is with those people who believe that the Republican party should divorce itself from the social wing.  This seems to come up every election (often from liberals...hm...) and frankly, I think is a foolish idea to consider.

For one, social conservatives bring the bulk of the energy and enthusiasm to the GOP fold.  Additionally we have numbers that moderates lack.  Splitting the party along these lines would shrink the influence of conservatives and right-leaning libertarians as they would fight amongst themselves more to vie for influence than come together.  The Republican party serves, in many ways, as a means to smooth over the differences between the two and allow them to face the left side of the aisle with greater unity.

The other problem is approaching moderates as some sort of monolithic block.  I believe this to be silly, at best.  The fact of the matter is, everyone who claims to be moderate/independent leans one way or the other.  It is not a matter of dumping social conservatives to appeal to these people; it is a matter of making a cogent argument to them in the first place.  I do not believe conservative values will fail to resonate with people when articulated clearly. 

Moderate candidates cannot do this and that, I believe, is where the problem truly lies.  As long as we keep selecting Doles, McCains and Romneys to represent conservatism on a national stage, we will continue to fail.  Now, I do think it is reasonable to debate which issues should take precedence.  Dropping certain planks because they are politically inconvenient is not the solution, however.

I believe the Democrats and progressive recognize our weaknesses when we choose moderates.  It is why they goad us into considering dumping certain ideologies and morals, particularly when elections go their way.  They wish to use this period of post-election soul searching to divide us further.  The least I can ask is that we don't fall for this kind of silly, knee-jerk stupidity.

Since there is one more big, very important topic that I wish to discuss, there will be one last blog post tomorrow or Tuesday.  Until then, readers!

Also, I hope you spent at least a little time today thinking about the veterans in your life.

Shooting the Circular Tent Squad

I think I just mixed metaphors.

Yes, yes I did.

It was not an aimless mixing, however.  Though the wave seems to be subsiding now, I noticed over the past few days a tendency for conservatives to lash out at each other in the wake of the election.  And by lash out, I do not mean "have introspective conversations with one another that occasionally become heated, but otherwise stay cordial."  I mean full blown nastiness as people would fly off the handle at each other over relatively minor disagreements over causes for the election results.  Likewise, in the immediate aftermath, I saw many jump to hilarious conclusions or assume that single issues were the sole reason for our election defeat.

Now, I do not blame people for getting emotional.  I think all of us conservatives flipped out at some point following the election.  My moment was the morning immediately after.  However, I feel we should be careful with how out of control we allow our emotions to get or, more accurately, who we take those emotions out on, no one being preferable.  Perhaps our gut feelings are right or maybe they are wrong, but we most certainly can stand to wait a day or two to articulate them in a way that does not involve attacking our friends and allies.  It is what I did and do you see any profanity in this post?  Hell no!

...Oops. (Warning: it happens again).

Part of the reason this knee-jerk emotionalism bothers me so much is that it is what liberals do.  So many liberals arrogantly began to preen about their victory, showing little grace and class in the aftermath of the election.  Indeed, the hashtag #F---WhitePeople was trending on Twitter for a time immediately following the result.  However, conservative reactions were not much better and I was disappointed.  Keep yourselves in check, people.  Be better than them.

That leads me to a few incidents that occurred during the election.

Congressman Ego.

First is the situation with Todd Akin.  Now, before you think I'm crazy, I am not defending his statements, but I do feel the need to defend him against how he was treated.  It is true he said something colossally stupid then compounded the problem by having a massive ego to boot.  Sadly, that colossally stupid thing was also taken out of context, as his overall point was that the child conceived in rape has a right to live.  However, pulling back from the man was not the solution.  He was the candidate we had to deal with.

He received far too little support (considering a straight apology and an admission of the stupidity of his statement) and he was still ignored until the last minute, despite running against a woman considered the most vulnerable senator in the country. I feel giving him greater support could have given him a shot against Claire McCaskill.  However, even if he could not have possibly won, at the very least, I feel that we could blame Akin and only Akin had he the support.  As it stands now, we will never know.

Next is Richard Mourdock.  His statement on rape was ill-conceived, but not wrong.  Anyone with common sense knows he was referring to God's plan for the child conceived in rape, not that God intended the rape.  This has been Christian belief since its founding, yet liberals pretended to be shocked at it due to (very) inartful wording.  Though not as strong as Akin's, I believe the blowback and lack of support, again, damaged Mourdock's effort severely.

Richard Mourdock

Indeed, he was asked a question that he doubtless could not have prepared for in that debate, since rape was not a pressing issue this election season.  Liberals brought it up, of course, but it is doubtful it filtered down into state races all that often.  Are conservatives telling me that if blindsided by a question, they're not going to fumble for an honest answer of what they truly believe?  If you say no, you're daft. 

I also don't buy into the argument that these men were not ready for prime-time.  Akin was a six-term congressman and Mourdock had won several statewide elections in Indiana.  Both had ample experience.

Both just ultimately made mistakes that we all make and they (and we) paid the price.  Acting like we need to find perfect men and women to represent us is an election is a pipe dream.  We are the ones who believe that man is inherently imperfect and will make mistakes.  If I may be blunt, sh*t happens.  The least we can do is stand by our fellows when they stumble instead of leave them out in the cold to be torn apart by the wolves.  We do ourselves no favors when we show a willingness to abandon otherwise principled men to gratify our own egos (even as Akin gratified his).

I would continue, but this post has gotten uncomfortably long.  As such, I'll save additional thoughts for later today or the rest of the weekend.

On the 2012 Election

Well, after taking a kinda-sorta break immediately following an election that was a disaster, I am back and in full force.  I have my ice cream, my vodka and my fuzzy bunny slippers and I am all ready to curl up and cry for another few months.  Yes, I will be eating all three.

In all seriousness, as I slowly recover from the utter demoralization of Tuesday, let me give you my thoughts on what happened.

This man loses more gracefully than liberals win, sadly.

First of all, I was utterly shocked by the result.  Not only did Mitt Romney lose, but the Republicans lost seats in congress (though they maintained their house majority).  You already know this.  I think I can also say with confidence I was as flabbergasted as the rest of the conservative movement by this.  It seemed like the momentum was on our side, with the terrible shape the nation is in, and people would be wise enough to make the change needed to fix our ever-growing problems.

They did not and now the question is why?  Let me take a stab at it.

First, I honestly believe Romney was a bad candidate.  Now, do not get me wrong, conservatives did not have a good crop to choose from to begin with.  Most of the others had baggage or inherent flaws.  I love Rick Santorum and Herman Cain (the latter's recent advocacy of a third party notwithstanding), but I also realize neither could have won.  I am also not shortchanging Mitt, for I believe he put as much effort as he personally could into his bid.

However, Romney had several glaring issues, among them Romneycare.  It took the issue of Obamacare off the table almost entirely.  It was most certainly mentioned here or there, but its taxes, spending and rationing never got the play it should have.  Indeed, with Obama's re-election, many businesses fully intend on avoiding its costs and a firmer argument against it may have avoided the lost jobs we will be seeing.

He also never truly has been a conservative.  In this election, it seemed imperative to me that our side draw a clear distinction between ourselves and Barack Obama and, in so doing, show those demographic groups who often vote Democrat that we have their best interests at heart.  That never happened. Romney certainly talked a good game and selected Paul Ryan, to his credit, but it never truly got beyond that.  Thus the lines between the "devil we knew "and the "devil we didn't" became increasingly blurred, particularly during the third debate.

However, moreso than Mitt's own flaws as a candidate was his campaign apparatus.  I believe he surrounded himself with establishment advisers who gave him bad advice.  Part of me genuinely wonders if it was Mitt himself who preferred passivity or the advice he was given to be less aggressive.  Perhaps it was a combination both.  Either way, his campaign was mismanaged, much in the same way John McCain's was (though McCain was a charisma black hole, if what happened Sarah Palin is any indication).  His lack of aggressiveness on issues like Benghazi allowed to truth to stay sealed up tight.

Additionally, I am hearing stories now of a truly weak ground game by the Republicans, which, if true, is truly absurd.  Millions of conservatives and Christians not voting should not be happening, particularly in an election this important.  Obama having a stronger ground game should not have translated into an inept one by his opposition.

This points to what are really the inherent weaknesses of the Republican Party.  If its establishment is so mired in their own egos and belief in their ability that they cannot organize effectively, it is about time they be replaced with people of energy and fresh ideas.  Replaced by people capable of adapting to the information age and changing demographics.  In particular, that establishment must be replaced by people with true conservative principles instead of party loyalty.

I believe when we realize this, conservatives will have learned the true lesson of 2012.

P.S. Think I may write about some of the smaller issues on the election tomorrow or Saturday.  There are many small issues like Chris Christie, Akin and Mourdock and others that deserve some mention.  That and I just feel like talking about it.  You got a problem with that?

An Important Video

While I said I was not going to post about the election before the election...well...I'm not, from a certain point of view.  No, I can't tell you what that point of view is.  And I don't think I asked for your opinion on the matter.

Anyway...

If you have friends, family, acquaintances, minor enemies, major villains or whoever who still think President Obama is good for this country, show them this video.  If they think conservatives are evil hatemongers, show them this video.  If you think they've never truly questioned their core beliefs in their lives, show them this video.  This is particularly important if they are able to be swayed. 

Sadly, there are many out there who will refuse to look up on the truth, no matter how directly it's presented to them.

That doesn't matter. 

As I said yesterday, we are facing the most critical election in decades.  In the waning hours of the election cycle, make sure everyone possible knows what must be done to reverse our current course.

That is our only option if we want our future to be bright.  It is our only option if we want America to grow and succeed.  To be the shining city on the hill.  So make every effort to share this video with people and open their eyes.

Conservatism is calling.

On...e More Pre-Election Post

I refuse to write or post anything between the time you see this and the moment we find out who the winner of the presidential election is.  As such, I'm writing my final piece before election day now and saving my energy for a post-election wrap-up (or whatever the situation calls for).

First, I feel the need to apologize for not having posted in well over a week.  I was not feeling anything pressing on my heart after my last post.  Then, Sandy knocked out my power for three days (fortunately, that was all it did) and I've been trying to get back into the swing of things since.

This line...is just for early voting.

So...this is finally it.  The nation is not even two days out from election day.  Since 2008, politics and the nation in general has seemed like a roller coaster, moving from one event to the other.  Election one day, gridlock the next, triumph the day after and abject defeat to follow.  I refer to nothing in particular in any order in saying that, by the way.

And now it's come down to this.  After four years of stagnation, exploding debt and endless bickering, America is about to make what may seem like the greatest choice to face any generation.  Now, it may seem like I'm repeating the same old line repeated every election.  And I am.  However, I do not repeat it for its own sake.  This election, there are two very important reasons this is true.

First, every election is important.  Let's not kid ourselves here.  Every election is a choice for our future, whether it is more/less government, honorable/dishonorable representation, higher/lower taxes, etc..  Frankly, in my humble opinion, people who do not vote have no business complaining about the condition of their country.  If they do not care enough to at least try to change things, adding their voice to the chorus is not really earned.  That is how important I feel voting is.  It is a privilege that a barely perceptible blip of all the people who have ever lived on the Earth have ever been able to do.  It should not be squandered.

Second, the past four years have just been a precursor to the next four.  For the past four years, we have seen the debt rise meteorically.  The president has produced budget proposal after budget proposal that maintains the same, sky high levels of massive debt for ten years and counting.  The Democratic Senate has not even produced a budget in four years, despite its Constitutional obligation to do so.

Speaking of the Constitution, we have a man who does not seem to respect it and its restrictions much.  Using executive orders and czars, he has committed to many policies that have never been seen by Congress.  His agencies have created thousands of regulations, avoiding the legislative body as well.  His Justice Department refuses to defend the laws it does not like, despite its obligation to defend the laws of the United States.

And I have yet to mention his constant demonizing of those he dislikes.  I have not mentioned his shunning of our allies or the embrace of our enemies (which they are taking full advantage of).  I have not mentioned the billions spent on energy companies that have failed, Fast & Furious, Benghazi and whatever else you can think of.  There's so much I have not mentioned because this is a blog, not a book.  My point is, when the man no longer faces reelection, he will not be inhibited from being far worse than he already has been.

Really, I did not intend to rant about the president originally.  However, I cannot seem to stress the importance of this election without noting why we cannot afford another four years of the Obama administration. 

To be perfectly honest, while my belief that Mitt Romney is the right man for the job has been consistently reinforced since the Paul Ryan pick, I am still not sure how he is going to govern.  I do not believe he is going to be a solid conservative, but if he holds to his promises to correct our fiscal course, I believe it will be enough.  If Mitt Romney fails in this purpose, I concur with Bill Whittle when he says he will do everything his power to ensure that Americans can have a solidly conservative choice to vote for in 2016.

Anyway, that is my pre-election rant.  I'm currently watching The Walking Dead and don't want to mix zombies into this post (though I just thought of ten ways I could).  As such I will leave it here. 

You can keep up with me on Twitter if you want to. 

Or you can also check out my Facebook page, though I don't use it much except to post these updates.

Expect me again on Election night!

Bonus: That Bill Whittle video I linked to above.

On the Benghazi Coverup

This administration has to go.

I'm sick and tired of hearing breaking news on all the ways we, as the American people, have been lied to.

I'm sick and tired and thinking back to all of the deception and deceit in the aftermath of the Benghazi raid.

Ambassador Christopher Stevens...

Just today, we learned that the CIA safe house requested help three times that night.  Three. Times.  And yet, what were the people told?  They were instructed to "stand down."  Their fellow Americans were under and attack and they were told not to lift a finger and ignore bloodshed nary a mile away.  Fortunately, a few good men ignored those orders and evacuated the consulate.  Then for hours afterward, the CIA safe house came under repeated attack by organized assaults from men using automatic weapons and indirect fire support.

Yet, despite being in a region where they were surrounded by assets to assist them, the men in Benghazi were left to die.

They.  Were Left.  To Die.

It is really any wonder that more did not perish.  This is beyond heinous.

...Sean Smith...

There were repeated attacks on the consulate and an attempted assassination of of the British ambassador in the months preceding the attack.  Then the state department goes ahead with a withdrawal of security from Libya, despite the concerns of Ambassador Stevens himself.  In fact, the ambassador asked for additional security the day of the attack.  Within hours, he was dead.

We know that the White House knew of this attack in real time.  People were watching it in the situation room via a drone and there is no chance the president was not aware of it.  For the next week, his administration blamed an idiotic YouTube video and he himself prattled on about it for longer.  He and the Secretary of State stood before the coffins of the men who died because their negligence and blamed the video.  They literally disrespected the four men who died in Libya by obfuscating and lying before their flag draped coffins.

...Tyrone Woods...

And then, on top of that, the man who created the crappy YouTube video no one had heard of until September 12th, was arrested.  No one with common sense believes it was over a probation violation.  This man and everyone who collaborated with him on the video have been demonized, attacked and defamed on the international stage.  And then he was imprisoned for exercising his free speech rights.

And now the parents of the slain are coming out on media outlets that will have them and telling their stories of their meetings with the president and the Secretary of State.  They themselves recognize they are being lied to by those people.  Lied to their faces.

...and Glen Doherty all perished in Benghazi on 9/11/12.

At this point, I am at a total loss of what to think.  I know this sounds crazy, but did the White House want these people to die?  How can you not agree to send aid of some sort?  Of any sort?  As more comes out, the more despicable and guilty the White House looks.  And I seriously doubt anyone believes Secretary of Defense when he tells us that one doesn't deploy military forces without a clear picture.  I'm no military genius, but I damn well know that military forces all across the world throughout history have entered situations without a clear picture to save lives.

And then, of course, there is the media.  Except for Fox News and conservative media outlets, no one has reported on the constant news regarding Benghazi.  No other media outlet has sought out of the truth about just what happened there.  There have been few questions and little pressure/  Every single member of the mainstream media should lose their jobs.  Immediately.  They are corrupt and they deceive us.  The president doesn't need to take over the media to make it cover him.  They do it of their own free will.

I am tired of people, who I am supposed to trust, lying to me and trying to keep me ignorant.

Enough is enough.

On Riot Threats

Lately, I've been hearing some chatter on social networks of people threatening to riot should Romney win the election.  Now, any other year, I would have considered such threats as the ramblings of sore losers.  Indeed, threats to that effect are normally just bluster of dubious legality.

But this year, I'm slightly more inclined to lend credence to the threats.  The conditions seem conducive to trigger at least some incidents of violence for the following reasons.

1) President Barack Obama is the first black man in the White House.  Unfortunately for the country, opposition to him has been consistently (and abhorrently) white-washed as racist by his surrogates and supporters, no matter the substance or intent of said opposition.  This has inflamed racial tensions greatly over the past few years, particularly with the rise of the Tea Party and the vitriol hurled at it.  Considering the occurrences of race riots in the past, this seems like a perfect excuse to incite new ones.

2) On a related note, the constant demonizing of Mitt Romney has had a similar effect.  Many of his opponents don't view him as just opposed to Barack Obama.  Many see him as flat out evil.  They see him as a big business, "vulture capitalist" out to hurt people for his own benefit.  Or because he's a sadist.  Or something.  The end result, however, has been a sharp inflammation of class tension in the country.  That could also be a catalyst for violent reaction pending an Obama defeat.

Remember how these folks degenerated into a mindless mess?

3) Occupy Wall Street is still a recent phenomenon.  Although they professed not to be friends of the president, Obama is still far closer to their world view than Mitt Romney's.  Their constant calls for government assistance for their problems certainly indicates they are much farther away from conservatives much closer to progressives.  Additionally, their proclivity for the destruction of private property makes riots the perfect activity for them.  Finally, I may or may not be going out on a limb by saying that some former occupiers may be seeking out a reason to create a resurgence after the rather inglorious and quiet death their movement suffered earlier this year.

4) All of this ties into one unsettling fact that has become increasingly evident this campaign season: Liberals have come totally unhinged.  Not a day passes by where I don't see some (apparently insane) leftist cursing out conservatives and threatening their lives.  Stories of leftists vandalizing the signs and property of Romney supporters have become increasingly commonplace.  Threats against Mitt Romney's and Paul Ryan's lives are constant (and likely keeping the secret service occupied).  There are even children being booed live on national television.  While this most certainly has happened before, and the obviousness of these incidents may be amplified by social media, these incidents seem to be getting very little play in the media at large.  Thus, the incidents' significance is diminished when they would not have been had they been directed at Barack Obama instead.

This sort of behavior, in addition to being illegal and frightening on many levels, also indicates a higher level of tension among those who fear the president may lose.  I believe that many liberals and progressives are recognizing a possible collapse of their worldview in America.  After four years of President Obama, it has been demonstrated that economic stimulus doesn't work, no matter how many people say it "saved us from another depression."  The push for national healthcare is unpopular and the bankruptcy of European nations due to cradle-to-grave entitlements is proving it does not work.  Bigger government is being shown not to work and this is sending many of its advocates off the deep end.

Now, I pray that my fears after unfounded.  As I said before, this is not the first time people have threatened to do stupid or silly things in the event of an unfavorable election outcome.  Most who do just sink into a brief, sullen depression as their electoral hopes are crushed.  At the same time, I fear conditions are ripe for people to actually carry out their idiocy on the rest of society. 

All I can say?  Pray for America and hope I'm wrong.