The last post was on the anniversary on 9/11 and I think it is clear from my post that there are still some emotions in this blogger about that day.  Last week it was suddenly announced that several terrorists (everyone cool if I jump to judgment?) will be tried in a civilian federal court.  Bully for the Obama Administration on this tactical maneuver to fix our image with the insane part of Arab world, the wimpy European award givers, and everyone else who main pretense for hating America has been our decision to put terrorist bent on killing Americans on an island surrounded by some of the best trained American Marines and generally away from, you know, Americans.  I am sure we are all confident that trying these men in downtown New York City, or “the scene of the crime”, will have last implications on our enemies. 

I expect that the Taliban will lay down its arms, unveil their women, and open up a movie theater in time for the new Twilight. 

I’m sure Iran will immediately halt its nuclear program, stop funding terrorist endeavors in Israel, and perhaps admit at one point 6 million Jews didn’t just take a vacation. 

If only Obama had acted earlier, the Fort Hood terrorist (I’ll call him what he is) wouldn’t have had any spite towards the American soldiers. 

Everything will be fine right?  Right? 

Ok, I’ll humor the “right wing extremist, town hall attending, tea party belonging, Pelosi-care hating” minority that might think this isn’t the best idea. 

So what if this is only being applied to some of the enemy combatants and not all, so the general premise of justice is still greyer than Joe Biden’s head? 

So what if this could expose our intelligence gathering abilities and make it harder to fight the next wave of plotters who figure out a new way to wreak havoc on American soil?  (There won’t be any reason to hate America remember)

So what if this drains resources from federal and state agencies?  It doesn’t make much sense to guard against unknown plots and dangers when you have 5 guys who are already caught in downtown Manhattan.

So what that one sympathetic juror could cause a hung jury or Allah forbid…acquittal? 

So what if you believe that non-citizens shouldn’t be awarded the same rights at American citizens?  There is no irony that the way of life our soldiers are fighting to protect is being given to men who wish to kill them. 

So what if these Islamo-maniacs could be given a pulpit to openly mock the victims in front of their families?  I doubt they would take the opportunity. 

You people are looking at the forest and not the cliff beyond it. 

I was in my 8:30AM college class when my teacher was called out of the room, he came back and we continued our incredibly dull class.  Afterwards as we were collecting our things our professor said we might want to go check a TV because a plane had hit the World Trade Center.  I guess I wasn’t panicked at that point for two reasons: 1) if it were a real event our professor would have told us and 2) not many people remember, but only a few weeks earlier some jerk got his parachute caught on the statue of liberty, so I figured it was a small plane that probably didn’t do much. 

My roommate and I went back to our room and turned on the TV.  Everything changed.  We watched the towers come down.  I can still recall my roommate’s stunned voice cracking “They’re gone.  They’re just gone.”  Shortly after I heard the Pentagon was hit.  The Pentagon, symbol of America’s military might was on fire.  I could see the smoke from the common room.  I remember a hall mate crying as he tried to count the floors of the towers to see if his uncles office was directly hit.  I remember not being able to call anyone because phone lines were jammed.  I remember the only time I was ever truly scared was when a CNN reporter said the simple, yet perilous words “Some planes are still unaccounted for.”  High profile American targets were ablaze, and most of the others were in DC. 

I don’t remember when I felt safe.  It happened eventually as friends from home got signed onto AOL and I was able to get messages to my parents I was ok.  When the military stood up and said we are responding I must have felt some sense of relief. 

I don’t remember when I felt angry, but I know if happened on one of the viewings of the towers coming down.   Something clicked, something primal, something I still feel when I watch the footage of the towers coming down.

I remember exactly when I was proud to be an American.  It was later that day, after another crash in PA, after the planes were accounted for, after everything changed.  It was at an impromptu vigil; the candles spaced out, but causing one low glow.  Each one joining with another to fight off the night as it settled in.  That is just how I felt. 

So hear we are 8 years later.  I still feel that sense of coming together to stand against the world’s evil.  I just worry not enough American’s feel the same way.

"Todd Beamer couldn’t get through to anyone except a telephone company operator, Lisa Jefferson. He explained three men were on board and one seemed to have a bomb tied around his waist. She told him about the planes that had smashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Mr Beamer said they had a plan to jump the guy with the bomb. He asked her if she would pray with him, so they recited the 23rd Psalm:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me…

Then they rushed the hijackers"  Full article Click Here

Look, both sides have ideas of how this country can be better, but I told her that the main difference between liberals and conservatives is liberals think they know how best to run your life, and ideally conservatives try to give you as much freedom as possible to run it yourself. Now I will concede that lately they lost focus of that ideal and that is probably one of the reasons they got booted the past few years.

The health care “debate” is being put down by the democrat leadership because in their minds anyone who disagrees with them simply can understand the facts. They went to Harvard/Yale/Columbia and you and I most likely didn’t so we should just sit down, shut up, and let the government do as it sees fit because they know better than you do.

Now I will concede that some of the youtube clips I have seen don’t seem very productive, but to dismiss or belittle people for voicing their opinions seems like a great injustice. Now I will admit no where in the history of the world has a group ever written down that people have a right to petition the government, but still Obama talked about bringing people together, so why not hear us out. It is also a little hypocritical for democrats to say they want and honest and truthful debate when a month ago they were trying to ram this 1,000 page (I know it is that big because lots of Members say they haven’t read it) bill down America’s throat before recess.

It is frustrating enough that President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, and Harry Reid think we should trust them blindly, but it is infinitely more frustrating when there is significant evidence that their plan doesn’t hold water. Medicare and Medicade reform- tackle that first. Show us you can really cut these bloated government programs and save the country money. Then maybe you would at least have some evidence that you can handle the whole kit and or caboodle.

They system of health care has serious flaws, but one could argue they are government’s fault. “Mainstream economists generally agree that current U.S. tax policy for health insurance is fundamentally irrational, regressive, and ultimately destructive. Fixing this system should be one of Congress’s top priorities when it comes to health reform. Sadly, the current Congressional health-reform proposals would leave the worst feature of the current system in place and make a bad situation worse.”

The rest of the article is here. Essentially is argues it would be much cheaper to achieve universal health care by going to an employee based system. I agree. Make health insurance like auto insurance. Let the top companies compete for customers if for no other reason than more “Cave Man” commercials.

On the one hand you have a plan that puts a massive amount of control into the government’s hands, and more importantly, opens up the door for even greater government control later when we have to “reform” again. On the other you have a plan that puts more money in your pocket and lets you go out and shop for the insurance you want.

I may not have gone to Harvard like Obama, but I am also not the Nazi Pelosi thinks I am. I am a rational human being who wishes to run my life the way I want. I hope and pray it stays that way.

(P.S. if you are planning to turn me into the White House, don’t bother. I did it myself when I asked the question “Where in the Constitution do you have the power to do this?” No answer on that yet.)

Vanity drownings will not be covered under the Obama plan

Senior White House aides promise "an aggressive public and private schedule" for Obama as he presses his case for reform, including a prime-time news conference on Wednesday, a trip to Cleveland, and heavy use of Internet video to broadcast his message beyond the reach of the traditional media.

"Our strategy has been to allow this process to advance to the point where it made sense for the president to take the baton. Now's that time," said senior adviser David Axelrod. "I don't know whether he will Twitter or tweet. But he's going to be very, very visible."

I believe President Obama is turning into a modern day Narcissus.  Perhaps staring at his own reflection too much in the teleprompter is beginning to warp his self perception.  Though it must be conceded that he's a much more attractive spokesman for the Democrats than a Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi (in terms of both appearance and eloquence). 

When he dances, George can never resist indulging in the 'white guy finger point' move

Tap a typical democratic member of the House of Representatives on the knee with a rubber hammer and he or she will say: "Tax the rich!" If such a person, lounging in a lawn chair, is startled from a summer torpor by a cymbal crash, he or she will leap up exclaiming: "Tax the rich!" Forgive such people; they cannot help themselves. It is a reflex.

But people with only one idea really have no idea; they have only a mental default position. So, last week the House decided to solve the problem of finding $1 trillion for health care by increasing taxes on the income of the 1.4 percent of taxpayers who already pay 45.2 percent of the income taxes—the rich, understood, for now, as those with annual household incomes of at least $350,000. These people do a disproportionate share of society's investing and charitable giving, so there will be less of both if the House has its way.

To read the whole article click here.

Many will fall, one will rise...

We are currently in dire need of more 'good cops' as an objective news media is critical for the functioning of a healthy Republic. The 4th Estate has a solemn responsibility to watch the watchers, and must resist the temptation to present news without first focusing it through an ideological prism.

Returning to Mr. Tapper, NewsBusters.org reports that,

“Congress's chief budget analyst delivered a devastating assessment yesterday of the health care proposals drafted by congressional Democrats,” the Washington Post reported Friday, but of the broadcast network evening newscasts on Thursday only ABC's World News related how, as Jake Tapper put it, “the President's case was dealt a blow today” when CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf warned the health plans will require massive additional spending...

...Neither the CBS Evening News nor NBC Nightly News ran a health care story on Thursday night.

The night before, as recounted in my Wednesday night NB item, “CBS and NBC Push Obama's Health Agenda, Empathize with His Challenge,” those two programs advanced Obama's agenda:

The White House's decision to offer interviews with the President to the medical doctors who are correspondents for ABC, CBS and NBC paid off Wednesday night with stories that embraced the assumption health care must be reformed; and interviews on CBS and NBC which put Obama's efforts in the best light...

I'm reminded of a moment in my favorite musical, 1776, when John Adams finds himself alone, casting about for support the night before the final vote on the Declaration.  The cause of independence is not wearing a particularly hopeful aspect so John Hancock, a patriot and fellow Massachusian, enters the deserted chamber to offer Adams aide.  Adams simply replies, "No John, you're the President of Congress.  You're a fair man Hancock, stay that way." 

Hold the light high Jake.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please notice that I have nothing up my sleeves as I will now attempt to pull a bogus justification out of my own rear end."

“And folks look, AARP knows and the people with me here today know, the president knows, and I know, that the status quo is simply not acceptable,” Biden said at the event on Thursday in Alexandria, Va. “It’s totally unacceptable. And it’s completely unsustainable. Even if we wanted to keep it the way we have it now. It can’t do it financially.”

“We’re going to go bankrupt as a nation,” Biden said.

“Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, that's what I’m telling you.”

To watch video of Vice President Biden speek at the townhall click here.

What's interesting about this is that only a few hours prior to Biden's speech the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report saying that ObamaCare will actually lead to a drastic and unsustainable increase in government spending - preemptively discrediting the Vice President's nonsensical Keynesian drivel. 

The Democrats in Congress and the White House have primed the pump so much they've broken off the handle and the taxpayer money now flows freely from our pocketbooks into their collectivist programs.  Simple mathematics be damned.