Dateline MSNBC series, with host Chris Hansen, “To Catch A Predator,” is known for its undercover sting operation to catch those sick individuals that prey on our youth via the internet. But did you know that MSNBC is now engaged in a scheme to protect our president? Yes, they are on “racism patrol,” staking out protests and criticism so that they can catch themselves some racists!

“To Catch a Racist” hosts include Keith Olbermann (brainchild of “Worst Persons”) and his sidekick, Janeane Garofalo (brainless), as well as Dylan Ratigan, Chris Matthews, and others. The latest is Nora O’Donnell, who attempted a “got a racists” outside shot.

The left-wing media is relentless with their talking “race baiting” heads and not only are they trying to capture any “sign” of racism, they are targeting African-American citizens to make sure they are safe.

Kelly O’Donnell, an NBC reporter, confronted Darryl Postell at the April 15, 2010 Tax Day Tea Party rally in Washington D.C. O’Donnell’s question, “There aren’t a lot of African-American men at these events, have you ever felt uncomfortable?” Postell responded, “No, no, these are my people…Americans.”

It turns out Postell is a retired Air Force veteran and appeared on Fox News to talk about this incident. Gretchen Carlson asked why he attended the rally and Postell answered, “I care about the country and I know the direction that most tea partiers are moving in and they care about liberty and government intrusion, so I just wanted to go and be a part if it.”

Lloyd Marcus, a black conservative and Tea Party rock star, is on the left-wing media’s radar and on his website journals some of his interviews — more like interrogations, with the hopes that Marcus will ID the racists.

At the April 15th Tax Day Tea Party, Marcus was ambushed by a reporter for Ebony (a prominent national black magazine), who according to Marcus, asked him “the same two questions every other reporter has asked;” ‘Are the tea parties racist?’ ‘Why are blacks not attending?’ Marcus explained to the reporter, “the Tea Party movement is not about race, but about stopping an out-of-control administration from pushing our country towards socialism.” Frustratingly, the Ebony magazine reporter replied, ‘So why do you hate Barack Obama?’ The reporter asked again, ‘Are these rallies racist?’ Marcus notes that it was if the reporter never heard a word he said.

Another account occurred right after Marcus performed at the Tea Party in Traverse City, Michigan (part of the Tea Party Express tour) when a “white snooty female reporter” asked him a “series of annoying questions straight out of the liberal playbook.” Marcus goes on to describe what got his “blood boiling”; when she asked him the following question with what he described as “the trademark liberal condescending edge,” ‘Mr. Marcus, don’t you think by calling yourself an unhyphenated American, you are encouraging white people to feel comfortable with their racism?’ While Marcus wanted to respond negatively, he chose the higher ground and ended the interview abruptly, “With all due respect, I strongly disagree.”

Where was the left-wing “racist police” when Kenneth Gladney, a black conservative, was physically assaulted and racially insulted by SEIU thugs (oh, I mean members) outside a 2009 town-hall meeting in St. Louis, Missouri –– just for handing out “Don’t Tread on Me” flags? Maybe they were on a coffee break having “cupcakes” with Olbermann.

In March, another MSNBC “To Catch a Racist” host, David Shuster, interviewed (more of a duel) Kevin Jackson, author, blogger, black conservative, and a well-known speaker at the tea parties. Shuster was armed with his bag of race-baiting talking points and brought up what he considered “the violent imagery and rhetoric,” specifically in reference to the ObamaCare, March 20th protest on the steps of Capitol Hill. Jackson responded, “I’ve been to hundreds of tea parties around the country. What I can tell you is that I’ve never seen any blacks lynched at one of them. That’s still one of those things that only Democrats can hold a distinction about.”

Shuster later asked if Jackson was okay with how President Obama had been depicted in signs at Tea Party rallies, the Hitler mustache and the Joker. Jackson responded, “It’s par for the course. Every president that’s been elected has gone through something like that.” Jackson also reminded Shuster that Bush had been demonized as a gorilla, a chimpanzee, a cowboy, cowpoke, and a host of other things. In fact, “[Bush] was depicted as Hitler many, many times and more than Obama.”

Jackson is dead on, Bush was called every ghastly name in the “hate” book; evil, the Antichrist, Hitler, terrorist, fascists (to name a few), and they just didn’t want to kill him, they wanted to impeach, imprison, smite, shoot, hang, bomb his house, chop his head off, and burn him. Although it is unclear in what order they wanted to do all of this. But that was back in the day when it was “patriotic to speak out against our government” –– when Bush was president.
[Three "hate Bush" photos; pick a year –– 2001 to 2008 –– you will find tons; and for your attire pleasure; “Kill Bush” t-shirt]

It is no longer patriotic to speak out against our government; it is downright racists and the left-wing media is hot on the case. Thank you MSNBC…these protestors are Astroturf, radical, angry mobs, armed and dangerous with signs that say, “Kill the Bill,” not “Kill Bush.”

[Photo right; March 20, 2010 Protest against ObamaCare]

I guess we “concerned citizens” should remain silent and allow this administration to do whatever it wants. After all, Obama and his cronies (including Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid) know what’s best. Let’s just light a campfire, burn our Constitution, hold hands, and sing Kumbaya as they chip away at our liberties and bankrupt our country. Any criticism over a federal government that has grown too large, too expensive, too intrusive, and in many aspects too corrupt is, in the shallow words of Garafolo, “racism straight up.” And, well, Olbermann (talk about an angry white man) is just pissed off because he didn’t get enough “free hate Bush cupcakes.”

I hope the gang at MSNBC catches all those damn racists! Maybe we can arrest them, make them register as “racist offenders,” and start a “racist registry.” With a quick Google search we can find the little red dots (racists) within a 10-mile radius, pulling up their “rap sheet.” Angry dudes lounging on the grass with the, “No ObamaCare” sign. Hateful teenager holding sign that said, “I’m 14, Stop Spending my Retirement.” Radical grandma for her sign that says, “Stop the Insanity, the borrowing, spending and taxing.” All guilty, lock the em’ up! The most violent citizen, “You can’t fix STUPID, but you can vote it out!” and the dangerous woman with the words, “NO socialism.” Make sure the racist dog, Scruffy, with his plate that says, “I didn’t read the stimulus bill either,” is arrested too –– he or she looks like a real threat to our government!
[Photo right, Dog at Tax Day Tea Party, April 15, 2009 in California]

Personally I have witnessed “racism straight up” from my two stepfathers and other people I’ve known over the years, who called me an “N-lover,” and it sent chills down my spine and got my blood boiling. Back then I didn’t sit back idly –– they were confronted harshly regardless my age. While I am not a member of any tea party –– not the joiner type –– I refuse to sit back and watch this crap coming from the left-wing media, labeling ALL critics of Obama and his administration as racists; causing more division. In doing so, I won’t sit back and condone the very offensive and obvious racially charged signs as well as any of the shameful and lame ones displayed at some of the Tea Party rallies and elsewhere. As I watch the reported behavior and disgraceful comments coming from the fringe nut-jobs –– which attach themselves to all movements –– I am equally appalled.

Come on people, let’s honor our First Amendment –– speech, press, and peaceable assembly –– by protesting with dignity and don’t give the left-wing media or anyone else a reason to demonize legitimate criticism of our government, its policies and direction. For God sakes, leave your racial remarks, guns, Hitler signs, hate, and violence at home.

Let me be clear, by no means does this imply that the Tea Party movement is about race and ALL, or even the majority of protestors are racists. And as the debate over Immigration reform heats up; we can expect more racists charges to emerge, with MSNBC at the helm. On the other hand, I won’t bury my head in the sand and claim that racism is dead. Despite the fact that 2008 was a historical moment for our country, electing our first African-American president, Obama, who won by a large margin, racism still exists in America and it’s ugly. However, you don’t have to be white or part of the Tea Party or any “party” to be a racist — it comes in all colors and exists on both sides of the political isle. Racism is an issue that deserves much better –– an intelligent discussion, not reckless accusations, assumptions, and the manipulation of the facts.

When Nathanial Stuart, BigGovernment.com, covered the April 15, 2010 Tax Day Tea Party rally in Washington D.C., he decided to do a few interviews of his own. He wanted to know what attendees thought about the left-wing media’s (Huffington Post, New York Times, and MSNBC) charge that the tea party goers as racists and hateful. One woman in particular (didn’t get her name, but I like her), was asked about her feelings on MSNBC’s reporting that black conservatives have been called Oreos, traitors, and Uncle Tom by other blacks. Her response, “If we’re talking about Olbermann — Keith Olbermann is not a black person. I am not an Oreo. I am a very aggressive, assertive, professional black woman….”

Earlier in Stuarts interaction with this woman, she had this to say, “…Black Americans have been following Democrats off a cliff for the last 40 years…So, I’m out here with my family of tea party people — Democrats, Republicans, Independents…It’s not that we hate the president, its not that we hate the Democrats; but we love our country, we love our children.” We’re allowed to have a voice. Just like they’re allowed to have a voice.” Amen sister!

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Considering the rise of incumbent unpopularity and the fact that Senator Barbara Boxer –– the three-term Democratic senator –– is confronting her own unfavorable rating, which has recently shot up to 51 percent; Boxer is now facing what is expected to be her toughest re-election “bout” yet. However, President Obama has decided to step in as “promoter in chief” and will be making a trip to California next month to help raise money for Boxer and the Democratic National Committee: a fundraiser event that is set to take place in Los Angeles.

Boxer, a staunch progressive, needs a jolt to her campaign because Republican hopefuls are closing in. The latest Rasmussen poll puts Boxer in a virtual dead heat with Tom Campbell in California’s U.S. Senate race and Carly Fiorina and Chuck DeVore remain within striking distance.

The three Republican candidates, who are in a match of their own fighting to get into the “ring” with Boxer, are aggressively stepping up their strategies and snatching strong “ringside” support. Carly Fiorina, the wealthy former Chief Executive of Hewlett-Packard, just last week secured a very high profile endorsement by former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. Tom Campbell, on the other hand, is a former member of Congress, who seems to fit the moderate Republican profile, has the backing of Conservative GOP politician Bill Simon. Meanwhile, Chuck DeVore, a Republican Assemblyman,  has just snagged the support of the Tea Party Express, which will be announced today at a mega rally –– located in Senator Harry Reid’s hometown of Searchlight, Nevada and headlined by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

So far it looks like Fiorina has a slight lead over Campbell, while DeVore trails behind. The Republican California primary coming up in June will be fascinating to watch and its outcome will decide who will get into the much anticipated political bout with Boxer. And with such an important midterm election coming up in November, that looming question arises: will Boxer get “knocked out” of the California senate seat, marking a predominately liberal state into the “red?”

With “dope” now on the 2010 California November ballot, which has the possibility of turning California “brown,” coupled with an unpredictable political climate, it is safe to assume anything can happen!

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As you probably know, the Constitution mandates a complete population count every 10 years, which helps redraw political boundaries and determine states’ representation in Congress and the distribution of more than $400 billion in federal funds to state and local governments every year. In March of this year, Americans will be receiving what is considered the shortest Census form in U.S. history and the 2010 Census will be advertised by what many are calling the government’s “unprecedented promotional blitz,”costing taxpayers $340 million.

The Census campaign includes $140 million on TV, radio, print and outdoor advertising and roughly $80 million spent on ads that will target racial and ethnic groups and non-English speakers in 28 languages. They will be accompanied by a road tour called “The 2010 Census Portrait of America Road Tour” — stopping and exhibiting at more than 800 events nationwide, of which “13 road tour vehicles will provide the public with an educational, engaging and interactive experience that brings the 2010 Census to life.” The Census Road Tour will be stopping at the Super Bowl in Miami this Sunday, February 7th.

Speaking of the Super Bowl and all of its advertising glory: Hold on to your football jerseys because this season you won’t see Pepsi, yet, Dr. Pepper will be making an appearance during the game ads. Also, it turns out that the “Man Crunch Ad” was rejected by CBS; however, you will be able to catch the “Tebow Family Ad” and plenty of beer and Doritos commercials. Just in case you can’t afford to go to the Super Bowl this weekend, it is nice to know that your taxpayer dollars will be there and we have our government to thank. Not only will the Census Road Tour be in attendance, but “Uncle Sam has purchased a 30-second, $2.5-million reminder,” so that you will stand up and be counted! Apparently, Christopher Guest has directed quite a few of these Census ads under a project called “Snapshot of America,” starring actor, activist Ed Begley Jr. and others. [It is not quite clear which ad will be airing during the Super Bowl – here is a preview of what I could find]

Due to concerns over ACORN’s shady reputation and accusations and convictions of voter-registration fraud, last September the Census Bureau severed its ties with ACORN, noting that they will not be involved with the 2010 head count. However, as many of us were focused on the health care debate and other issues of the day this past December, Jose Cruz, Senior Director of Civic Engagement for the National Association of the Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) enlisted Jesus to get the Census “word” out and designed a poster that included the over 2000-year-old biblical account when Mary (with child) and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem after Caesar Augustus called for “all the world to be counted,” so that they could be taxed.

While the government did not pay or play a role in creating the posters, this type of propaganda did cause quite a stir amongst the faithful. Still, Cruz defended his decision in using this tactic as a means to get “full Latino count,” and stated, “For people who fear government — especially those here illegally — the plea to fill out the Census has to come from someone they trust – there is no more trusted voice in our community than faith-based leaders.”

Our government is also taking Census education and advertising to our children. The Census Bureau and the US Department of Education have launched the “2010 Census in Schools” program. If you have children in school be prepared for a week of Census education, which is scheduled to occur anywhere between January and March. Since the Census Bureau partnered with Sesame Street to extend the 2010 Census message, The Count and Rosita have already been spotted on American school campuses and it’s possible we will find Big Bird, Elmo and the rest of the Sesame Street crew on our TV screen, marketing the 2010 Census. Maybe our government will emloy Elmo to be a census taker, the Cookie Monster to hand out free refreshments, and The Count to add up all the taxpayer money our government is spending on the 2010 Census?

As it turns out, “the 10-year life-cycle costs of Census 2010″ are estimated at $14 billion, of which the $340 million allotted for paid advertising to “urge participation in Census 2010,” are in full force. Will you be counted?

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The aftermath of Scott Brown’s historic win last week, when he was voted to in fill “The People’s Seat” in Massachusetts, is quite fascinating. Pundits and politicians have been scrambling and speculating about why a predominately liberal state would elect a Republican to the Senate. Those on the right are taking a victory lap and may be seeking advice from Brown, while a handful of Democrats are doing some soul searching. Senator Evan Bayh sees it as a wake-up call and Senator Joe Lieberman urges the Democratic party to move more toward the center. Then there is Governor Howard Dean.

As the news broke over this election, Rachel Maddow interviewed Dean. His analysis included blaming Bush for the Democrat’s loss and, a few breaths later, affirming, “People who blame others are losers.” In an awkward and spirited exchange between, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and Dean over Brown’s victory and the future of the Democrats’ health care reform bill, Dean came up with some interesting conclusions. “Yesterday, the problem was that people wanted more,” stated Dean. Matthews pointed out the differences between the two candidates: Martha Coakley, who is very progressive and in favor of a public option versus Brown, who said that he would “kill the bill.” Asked Matthews, “Why didn’t they vote for the candidate for the public option?” Dean’s response? “They want real change”!

Let me see if I have this straight. In essence, what Dean is saying is that the Independents and Democrats who voted for Brown wanted the public option in the health care bill, so they voted for the candidate who campaigned as “Mr. Forty-One; the vote to filibuster.” Were the voters sending smoke signals or is Brown secretly a progressive, masquerading as a conservative?

While Dean continues his delusional interpretation of the Massachusetts Senate election outcome, many have turned to second-guessing the mood of the country, including President Obama. Why are the people “angry” and “frustrated?”

Let’s take a look at what transpired during the past year: bank bailouts, the GM takeover, and the passing of the February 2009 $787 billion stimulus package, which was marketed with the assurance of economic recovery and the creation of jobs, yet our economy is still in the dumps and unemployment has risen to 10%. Okay, so Obama inherited an economic mess, but what about tone and direction?

Elitism and Arrogance

The elitist mentality of the White House staff and amongst the Democrats is palpable; they think that their skills, abilities or wisdom render them fit to govern, without full consideration of what the people want, their arrogance has been demonstrated time and time again. All criticism has been met with attempts to dismiss, discredit, and demonize, and an entire news network was rebuked. Democrats and the left-wing media have talked down to the people, labeling us with everything from stupid to angry mobs and Astroturf, from un-American to racists, and our own president has mocked us.

Broken Political Promises

Every political campaign comes with promises of a better, cleaner, and more noble government, with the declaration that they will represent “the will of the people.” Obama arrived on the political stage with his speeches about “hope and change,” and most likely, good intentions. He was clear and confident that he was going to be the one to usher in bipartisanship and government transparency –– a message that resonated with the majority of American voters.

Candidate Obama promised to veto any bill with earmarks, yet the amount of pork in the bills passed by Congress last year would give the healthiest American athlete an immediate heart attack. The Democrats’ widely unpopular and massive health care bill is a key example of how a multitude of promises were broken. Starting with the fact that Republicans were shut out of the process and despite C-SPAN CEO Brian Lamb’s letters to leaders in Congress, urging them to open up the last leg of health care reform negotiations to the public––access thus far has been denied and the people left in the dark.

The most angering aspect is in the process: it reeks of corruption. What is transparent is that, instead of taking a bipartisan approach and listening to the American people, President Obama, Senator Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have chosen to deliberate behind closed doors, using bribes such as the $300 million “Louisiana Purchase,” the “Cornhusker Kickback” ($45 billion for the first decade), and more. To add insult to injury, last week Obama made a back-room deal with the unions. According to The Washington Post, this deal “would exempt union members from a proposed surtax on expensive insurance plans (so-called Cadillac plans) until 2018, five years after the legislation would take effect.” It seems that Obama’s resolve to take on special-interest groups and their perverting influence on the entire legislative process only applies to the ones he is not connected to. Nevertheless, Governor Dean may be right from one perspective: the legislative process under this administration may be politics as usual, and Americans want real change –– we need more than health care reform, we need “sausage making reform.”

Expansion of Government

President Obama came out fast and furiously, expanding his executive power by appointing a record number of ““czars”” and filling other key positions of influence in the White House with a coterie of radicals, socialists and socialist sympathizers .

I am not ready to echo Glenn Beck’s accusations of conspiracy in this area. However, I will say that since Obama’s agenda is a moving target and remains a mystery, it does lead many Americans to pause and wonder. What we do know is that this administration is comfortable with demonizing success, yet they want to use the rich to pay for all of their government programs and have been quoted as saying that “redistribution of wealth ,” is a good thing.

Out of Control Debt

When President George Bush took office, the national debt was $5.73 trillion. When he left, it was $10.7 trillion. That is a difference of $4.97 trillion in eight years. A year ago our national debt was $10.7 trillion and now it is at $12.3 trillion and rising. So what is driving Obama’s unprecedented massive deficits? The answer lies in analyzing the nonpartisan details.

Back in December, Congress raised the debt ceiling by $290 billion and this past week the Democrats opened a debate to push for the ceiling to be raised by $1.9 trillion, so they can borrow and spend more money.

Many Americans are disturbed and frightened by the fact that legislation like ObamaCare, cap-and-trade, and many others coming down the political pike are destined to raise taxes even for the middle class (broken promise), will expand all aspects of government, and jeopardize many of the freedoms we, the people enjoy today. It looks like hope and change is morphing into government control and debt.

Lawyers for Terrorists

With recent cases like the White House party crashers, the Fort Hood shootings, and the Christmas underwear bomber, it seems that we have an administration that has trouble keeping the White House secure and connecting the intelligence dots. What is frustrating to many Americans is their attitude toward terrorists and how they are handled. I am personally against any type of torture, including water boarding, because our respect for humanity is what separates us from the evil we are fighting. However, treating terrorists like common criminals and giving them a lawyer, doesn’t make sense. Part of the rationalization floating around for this decision is “Bush did it.” If Bush jumped off a building would they follow? Speaking of Bush, that brings me to my final point.

Blame Bush

The blame Bush game, which President Obama and the Democrats, with the support of the left-wing media, have used to escape or deflect culpability, has gone on long enough, tiring even non-Bush supporters. Did they get the memo that Bush is not the president anymore?
Even a day after Brown won the Senate seat in Massachusetts and in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, President Obama gave his assessment of the vote and the mood around the county, “People are angry and they’re frustrated, not just because of what’s happened in the last year or two years, but what’s happened over the last eight years.”

Why are the people angry and frustrated? Only time will reveal why and what it really means in the political arena, but for now it looks as if some just don’t get it. And as one voice of the people, an average American voting citizen, may I remind those at the White House and on Capital Hill that, “pride goeth before a fall.”

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Prior to the devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake that devastated Haiti last Tuesday, according to the United Nations Children's Fund there were about 380,000 orphans, a number that is expected to grow in the wake of the quake. What is most maddening is many of these orphans were already in the process of being adopted, but the paperwork got “lost in the rubble” — putting this process in limbo and leaving the families involved in adopting Haitian children feeling helpless and distraught.

A few days ago, CNN's Gary Tuchman broke the story about two young American sisters from Pittsburgh, Jamie McMutrie, 30 and her sister Ali McMutrie, 21, who run the BRESMA orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. With the collapse of this orphanage and food, water, and other supplies running low, these two young girls continued their dedication to care for the children with the hopes of getting them out.

This story has a great ending because this morning a "mission" formulated by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), with the assistance of Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and others, succeeded in bringing 53 of the 150 BRESMA orphans back to the United States. Officials are saying, "The other children are being cared for by people from the countries where they are being adopted, such as France and Holland."

Yesterday, Jonathan Hunt, who is on the ground in Haiti, and Shepard Smith in the Fox News studios, brought another compelling Haitian orphanage story to the forefront. The "House of the God" orphanage, run by a Texas-based outreach organization, was in dire straits for aid and the Salvation Army and Red Cross responded. According to Hunt and others, the urgent need now is "to get these children out of Port-au-Prince.” Hunt also informed Smith that the Dutch government decided to “fly a plane there today and pick up 100 children to be adopted by Dutch families."

With much frustration, Hunt pointed out the "ridiculousness of the situation" occurring at the "House of the God" orphanage that he was positioned at, stating that the majority (120 of the 135) of the children "had already been legally adopted by American families.” Despite the fact that "For His Glory Outreach" had sent an airplane and it was sitting in the Dominican Republic, waiting for permission to pick up the children, the orphans still sit in Haiti. "The problem is the State Department; they will not act to allow these children to come into the United States now," Hunt said.

Sitting with the children, Hunt began to introduce Smith to the orphans by name and said, "these kids… are the very best of Haiti." "The families who have adopted [these orphans] in the United States are the very best of America and what is keeping the best of these two countries apart is the worst of America: bureaucratic red tape," Hunt stated with what seemed to be pure disgust.

The stories in Haiti move rapidly, making it difficult to track, and as I write this article, Hunt and Smith announced that Texas governor Rick Perry is lobbying heavily to move these orphans out of Haiti as soon as possible. It turns out Hunt was right, The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs chartered a plane to pick up about 100 children on Monday and from the same CNN report, “300 children have pending adoption cases with American families and six children arrived in Florida Sunday night and were met by their adoptive parents with hugs and tears of happiness.”

As many organizations and government officials are making efforts to protect and provide care for the Haitian orphans and are scrambling to move them to a safe and secure place, I can't help but share the same irritation and outrage Hunt displayed in his reporting. It is sad that the fate of these children lie in the hands of politicians. Furthermore, anyone with half a brain (actually heart) knows that there is a difference between the “letter of the law” and the “spirit of the law,” and this particular crisis calls for action. The Haitian government and any other country, including ours, need to get off their butts, cut the damn bureaucratic red tape, and let the "already adopted" children go home to their new families.

Since my mother died when I was three and my father abandoned me, the orphan issue in Haiti has pulled on my heartstrings. Due to the kindness of distant relatives, I was only an orphan for a short period of time and by no stretch of the imagination can I compare my childhood situation with what is going on with the Haitian orphans, yet, I can care. Because I am not in a position to adopt and will have to settle with my adopted pets, I can only hope that those who have it their heart to adopt consider the Haitian orphans. Lastly, I can pray that when the reporters go home, the orphans in Haiti are not forgotten or forsaken — all the orphans around the world for that matter.

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California Governor Schwarzenegger is one of only a few Republican officials to publicly come out in favor of ObamaCare.  In October of 2009  he even submitted a statement of support.

Now, he's back…

Yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger gave his final State of the State address in Sacramento and along with his famous accent and charm, mixed in with occasional humor, he had much to say about California issues, especially our economy and jobs.

Toward the middle of his address, he talked about the "special burden" we face as a border state. He identified the federal government’s role on immigration policy and border security and noted their lack of fairness in sharing the financial responsibility in dealing with "undocumented immigrants".

Schwarzenegger continued, “We no longer can ignore what is owed to us, or what we are forced to spend on federal mandates," and expressed his concern over the billions of dollars already owed, later adding, "And now Congress is about to pile billions more on to California with the new health care bill."

Schwarzenegger expanded further on the current health care legislation being proposed by the Democrats. "While I enthusiastically support health care reform, it is not reform to push more costs onto states that are already struggling while other states are getting sweetheart deals," said the Governor. "Health care reform, which started as a noble and needed legislation, has become a trough of bribes, deals and loopholes….you’ve heard of the bridge to nowhere; this is the health care to nowhere”, Schwarzenegger added.

Schwarzenegger advised California's congressional delegation to either vote against the bill, labeling it "a disaster for California" or to get in there and "fight for the same sweetheart deal that Senator Nelson of Nebraska got for the Cornhusker State". "He [Nelson] got the corn; we got the husk".

It's obvious to anyone paying close attention; Republicans do want health care reform. However, they and most Americans still oppose the current health care bills being proposed by President Obama and the Democrats. And Schwarzennegger, a Republican who once supported ObamaCare, has now publicly and firmly spoke out against it!

Back in the 90's, I ran into Arnold and Maria at Gold's Gym – –terrific people. I vividly remember Schwarzenegger giving me some sound bodybuilding advice, which had an impact on my bodybuilding and fitness career. As a citizen of the United States and a California resident, I wonder if the "2010 words" of Schwarzenegger will resonate with those in Congress or anyone else for that matter? Will they see the light as he did, and come to the conclusion that ObamaCare is “health care to nowhere”?

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Since 9/11 I haven’t been that enthused about getting on an airplane, but it’s never been a problem because I’m not a frequent traveler. However, I did allow my teenage daughter to fly out of the country to Taiwan and Malaysia for the Christmas holidays. Prior to my daughter’s departure, I was aware that I would miss her a lot because she had never been out of my sight for more than five days and as most mothers, I was concerned about her safety. And, yes, I did think about terrorism and even mentioned it to some of my friends. There response, “you watch the news too much”.

The Christmas Day attempted terrorist attack on Flight 253 (Amsterdam to Detroit) awakened my fears because four days after this dreadful event, my daughter was about to board a flight to come home. And what made it most worrisome, she was flying from another country back to the United States––Taipei, Taiwan to Los Angeles. Feelings of fear hit home. Not like the terror experienced by the passengers and crew on Flight 253 on Christmas day, but inner panic that this terror plot might be more of a larger one. Was our government on top of this situation and handling our homeland security properly? Will be my daughter be safe?

I guess I wasn’t too crazy because as I was writing this blog I found out that another airline bomber, similar to that of the “Christmas Bomber”, was caught trying to board a commercial airliner in Mogadishu last month.

Suffice it to say, my daughter made it home safely and without incident. In an effort to keep this story from becoming melodramatic, I’ll just say that Tuesday, December 29th was a very long day of waiting and worrying, but with the assistance of my brother, my eldest daughter, a few friends, and my dog Shorty, I picked up my daughter from LAX and was relieved and excited!

Shortly after this attempted terrorist attack, the facts surrounding Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab began to unravel. While many are still questioning how Abdulmutallab got on a plane with a bomb and why there weren’t more “red flags” raised, information about this case continues to soar faster than a jet. Like the fact that Abdulmutallab purchased a ticket with cash and did not carry any luggage and back in May he was denied a visa by the British government and was placed on an official watch list to prevent him from re-entering Britain. What we are learning is that Abdulmutallab has links to Al Qaeda, who have claimed responsibility for this plot to blow up the airliner bound for Detroit.

The most interesting part of this story is that the father of Abdulmutallab had recently (about a month ago) contacted the U.S. Embassy and various other security agencies to warn them that his son had “become radicalized.” Apparently Abdulmutallab was placed on the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) list but failed to make it on the “no-fly” list. Recent reports also tell us that the CIA knew of a “Nigerian” airline terror plot, but according to a CIA spokesperson, “We learned of Abdulmutallab in November, when his father came to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria and sought help in finding him. We did not have his name before then.”

What Flight 253 deserved in the days following this terror attempt was a quick response from a president to commend them for their heroic acts; followed by a nation that needed a sense of safety and security. But what we got was a president that decided to wait a few days before he addressed our nation, and worse an administration that sent out Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. When Napolitano appeared on State of the Union this past Sunday she stated that “the system worked” and a day later she clarified her ridiculous and controversial remark by backtracking and admitting, “Our system did not work in this instance”.

When President Obama gave his second press statement in reaction to the Christmas day bomb plot, he labeled it a “systemic failure”. Well, they got that right––the system and the people running the system FAILED! It not only failed those 278 passengers and crew on Flight 253, the city of Detroit, and the United States, but it failed all of the of people flying this holiday season, including my daughter.

I thought it was the job of Department of Homeland Security to prevent terrorist attacks, not the responsibility of citizens to thwart them. While there is plenty of blame to go around, a third grader could have put all of these “dots” together, made a nice picture, and colored it in without going out of the lines.

It’s unfortunate that our current administration treats terrorists more like common criminals as opposed to the unrelenting and deadly, terrorizing threat they represent. It’s quite fascinating that they have changed the name from a “War on Terror” to “Overseas Contingency Operations”. Did they miss the fact that these radical Muslim extremists declared jihad (“holy war”) against the U.S., intensified their warfare on 9/11 when they used four of our airplanes as weapons to murdered almost 3000 innocent people, have in 2009 vowed to open “new fronts” against the U.S. and its allies, and evidently aren’t done yet.

I’m not saying that I advocate the aggressive “Cowboy Bush”––shoot first ask questions later approach, but going the other extreme––everyone needs to love me passive, “Obama Style”––is just as dangerous. I’m well aware of the complexity of the terrorism issue and the difficulties involved in combating this type of evil, but homeland security should be a top priority––they need to fix the failures, make sure there are no other loopholes in the system, and anticipate possible killing methods terrorists may try in the future. I can only hope and pray that moving forward our concerns will be lightened and as we (or one of our loved ones) board an airplane we will be safer.

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The term earmark comes from the practice of marking the ears of livestock for identification, yet in American politics it has come to mean money that is “set aside for a special project or purpose”: AKA pet projects, pork. As I’m sure that animals are not thrilled by this procedure, I am more confident that Congress and their frivolous spending outrages the American people.

According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, an independent watchdog organization states “widespread earmarking is a relatively new phenomenon in American politics, which gained momentum in the 1970’s”. Pork in a bill in Congress is as common as a hot dog at a football game. Moreover there continues to be a rise in pork barrel spending and there is no getting around it; both Republicans and Democrats are part of this Congressional excess and waste.

During the first presidential debate Senator John McCain and then Senator Barack Obama argued over the earmark issue, and Obama pledged, “Absolutely, we need earmark reform. And when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.” Hold your applause please; I’m just getting started!

Considering the White House continues to proclaim that “we are in the worst economic crisis sine the great depression”, why does Congress keep spending money on flippant projects. It’s one thing to spend money when we are flying high in prosperity, but when we are drowning in debt, it doesn’t make sense.

Any intelligent American household would have enough common sense to cut out the “extra stuff” when they are facing dire financial times; why doesn’t Washington? Are they that ignorant, unwilling or are they just self-serving?

We started 2009 spending; when Congress passed the urgent $800 billion Economic Stimulus Package claiming that it would create jobs and save our economy. Almost a year later and as we continue to await the arrival of our jobs, we do know that the White House Recovery.gov website, which costs over 18 million dollars to renovate, reported that thousands of jobs were saved in Congressional Districts that don’t exist. Not to mention that stimulus checks were sent out to dead people and inmates. But, that’s another story.

While the stimulus package was in the midst of scrutiny, President Obama said, ‘”Members of Congress won’t be allowed to slip earmarks into the economic recovery package Congress will soon take up. And concluded “we are going to bring a long-overdue sense of responsibility and accountability to Washington.” “We are going to stop talking about government reform, and we’re actually going to start executing.”

The Republicans claimed that there were over 9,000 earmarks with an estimated value at $7.7 billion in the stimulus and the Democratic leadership estimated the dollar amount to be around $3.8 billion. But President Obama bragged, “We passed a recovery plan free of earmarks,” and on many fronts, has blasted earmarks. In February Robert Gibbs declared victory on the earmark front maintaining there were “no earmarks” in the stimulus package, yet politifact.com Truth-O-Meter found his statement to be FALSE. I guess that is the nice way of saying “you lie”.

Congress continued this pattern and in March of this year passed an Omnibus Spending bill at a price tag of $410 billion, which contained 9,287 pork projects at a cost of nearly $12.8 billion.

Contrary to his campaign promise, President Obama signed that bill too, however, the White House did have an excuse. In an exclusive interview with ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos White House Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag told Stephanopoulos, “This is last year’s business. We want to just move on”. Orszag also stated that Obama intends to work on earmark reform in the future.

Even Chris Matthews, one of Obama’s biggest fans, criticized Obama for breaking his earmark reform pledge.

Now we end 2009 with yet another spending fiasco. Over the weekend the Senate was at it again and passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill. The 1,000-page-plus package passed with a 57-35 vote and now heads to President Obama for his signature.

According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, there are 5224 earmarks worth $3.998 billion, and that is just the preliminary round. Included in the list of pork barrel spending are “home-state projects sought by individual lawmakers in both parties”. While the legislation also contains numerous items not directly related to spending, it also approves a 2 percent pay increase for federal workers.

On the Senate floor, Senator McCain expressed his concern over the earmarks in the spending bill, calling it “shameful”, urging his colleagues to vote against it, and “demanded” President Obama to “keep his word” and veto it.

McCain’s two favorite earmarks are the $2.7 million to support surgical operations in outer space at the University of Nebraska and the $655 thousands for Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California for equipment and supplies for the Institute for Irritable Bowel Syndrome research. This would be laughable if it were a Saturday Night Live skit, but this is not joke, this is our Congress in action.

Americans are jobless, losing their homes and can barely put food on the table, yet Congress wants to play doctor in outer space and contribute to IBS –– literally. By the way Woodstock Film Festival Youth Initiative gets 30 thousand of our taxpayer dollars. Besides the fact the youth in America are already inundated with Hollywood stuff, isn’t the film industry wealthy enough to pay for their own special projects? And, I wonder if this earmark has anything to do with the National Endowment for the Arts.

I’m just waiting for the millions we’re going to spend on condoms for animals; or will it be Viagra? I’m sure Congress wants to put a Kool-aid station on Mars or research the farts of pigs. Yeah, that makes sense. And since this is the season to spend frivolously, maybe Congress plans on buying Christmas presents for Al Qaeda this year.

Despite the 5000 earmarks, President Obama has gone ahead and signed it anyway. Apparently, Obama didn’t get that earmark reform memo.

And to add insult to injury, Washington is so out of touch with reality and politicians like Senator Schumer have the nerve to utter that American people don’t care about earmarks. Billions of dollars wasted, are you kidding me? Congress is nuts to think we don’t care –– we do! Furthermore, we are sick and tired of out-of-control spending, votes being bought as well as the fact that special interest groups, lobbyists and big business are making out like bandits, while the needs of the American people are ignored.

With our economy in shambles, unemployment above 10%, and our national debt at $ 1 2 , 1 0 5 , 1 3 8 , 4 6 5 , 5 3 5 . 5 1 and climbing (financial burdens of the massive health care reform and cap and trade legislations yet to be factored in), what is their excuse? I’m sure the White House would like to continue to blame Bush, but even smart Obama supporters know that game is getting old––BLAME GAME OVER.

This may be business a usual in Washington, broken promises and a smorgasbord of pork, but it’s an utter disgrace and a slap in the face to the American people. Both sides of the political aisle, Republican and Democrat are guilty; and that means those who get appropriations for their pet projects, vote yes on pork-laden bills, and any president that signs such treacherous bills. So much for “Hope and Change”: all we can expect is government control and more debt.

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“The men who have brought us this [amendment] don’t single out a procedure that is used by a man, or a drug that is used by a man, that involves his reproductive health care, and say they have to get a special rider…There is nothing in this amendment that says if a man some day wants to buy Viagra, for example, that his pharmaceutical coverage cannot cover it, that he has to buy a rider.”

After Senator Reid’s ridiculous statement comparing health care reform to slavery, this recent absurdity reminds me of the Jim Carrey movie, Dumb and Dumber. What the heck does Viagra have to do with abortion? How is there any comparison between an erection (or lack thereof) and terminating the life of a fetus? Either Barbara Boxer is on drugs, is showing her ignorance, or worse, she’s demonstrating her lack of sensitivity for the unborn.

Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson noted that the current Senate health care bill does “allow taxpayer dollars, directly and indirectly, to pay for insurance plans that cover abortion”. Nelson led the charge along with nine others Senators, offering an amendment that mirrored the Stupak Amendment language that was passed by the House last month and was to extend the Hyde Amendment, which was passed by Congress in 1976, barring public funds from covering abortion.

Abortion is an extremely contentious topic and even though the goal of the ten Senators was not to take a women’s “right to choose” away, but to make sure taxpayer dollars don’t have to foot the bill, it was rejected yesterday by the Senate with a 54-45 vote. While I’m sure Boxer did some high fives, Majority Leader Harry Reid had a message of his own, “The legislation is about access to health care, not abortion”. Do Boxer and Reid know that an abortion is an elective medical procedure with the goal of ending a life, not health care aimed at caring for and saving lives? When are these progressive Democrats going to get out of their pathetic ideology and off their “we know what is best America pedestal” for just a few minutes and do what is right? Or at least they can choose proper analogies to make their point.

The silver lining in the dark clouds looming over ObamaCare (if there is one) is that Barbara Boxer and others in Congress are up for re-election in 2010! “Call me Senator”, Boxer may be facing off with either Republicans Carly Fiorina or Chuck Devore in 2010. While a November Rasmussen poll puts Boxer ahead of both Republican candidates, there is plenty of time to expose her inadequacies.

Senator Boxer’s voting record reflects a left-wing political agenda, a partisan approach, and a strong partiality toward unions. Boxer is also considered a career politician who apparently hasn’t done much legislating or communicating with her constituents, although she has plenty of time to write books and attend book signings.

This past summer, Boxer preferred to serve herself rather than conduct Town Hall meetings to address the concerns about health care reform shared by many California citizens. Who could forget her starring role as “Obama’s attack dog”; condemning concerned citizens. Both proof that she doesn’t give a damn about us citizens. And more revealing was Boxer’s condescending racial twaddle when she addressed Harry Alford, the President and CEO of the Black Chamber of Commerce.

As I continue to monitor and research the potential Republican candidates who may get in the ring with Boxer, it is clear that whoever gets the job, a knock out would be the best outcome for this political bout. Since this match will affect my state, my hope is that Boxer’s 2005 book; A Time to Run is prophetic in nature. Wake up California, we need a change; it’s time to run Boxer right out of office –– three terms (18 years) is long enough!

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Love her or hate her, Palin is a “Rock Star” in the political arena and isn’t going away any time soon.
Opinion in Politics — by Christine Lakatos — on Nov 15, 2009

With the much anticipated release of Sarah Palin’s book, Going Rogue: An American Life, it is already an Amazon best-selling pre-order that many are calling a “phenomenon.” Published by Harper Collins, Going Rogue is set to be released November 17 and apparently with quite the marketing strategy — as if Palin has difficulty drawing attention.

While Palin enjoys widespread popularity and adoration, the criticism and slams are already pouring in, starting with the Associated Press and their reports on her book. The Huffington Post fired an attack entitled “The First Ten Lies from Going Rogue.”

Due to the fact that Palin writes about her experience during the 2008 campaign and apparently criticizes some staffers from the McCain campaign camp, many are crying foul, drumming up all kinds of drama.

Last week, Rachel Maddow, in the condescending way reserved for those she doesn’t like, featured a Palin book segment, which included Ana Mari Cox, from Air America Radio, Cox claiming she has the “inside scoop” into the McCain camp and a direct line to the McCain staffers.

As both Maddow and Cox whacked around some petty complaints and opinions about Palin and her book, Maddow surmised a gloomy prediction of Palin’s reputation. I wonder why don’t these “targeted staffers” come out and speak for themselves? Even though I have yet to read Going Rogue, I’m confident it has more to offer than Palin’s attitudes about her vice presidential candidacy; nevertheless, many prefer to ignite drama rather than substance.

As the Associated Press stands by their story, Palin fired back on her Facebook page, “Amazingly, but not surprisingly, the AP somehow nabbed a copy of the book before it was released. They’re now erroneously reporting on the book’s contents and are repeating many of the same things they spewed during the campaign and afterwards. We’ve heard 11 writers are engaged in this opposition research, er, ‘fact checking’ research! Imagine that…”

I’m sure there is more criticism looming, but I’ve been debriefed and am certain that when I watch Maddow, Keith Olbermann, Bill Maher or David Letterman, I will get an earful of Palin bashing.

It wasn’t enough for liberal pundits, politicians, and comedians to take pot shots at Palin and her family, her life, and anything else they found useful in their arsenal of contempt during the 2008 campaign. The left wing media continues its obsession with Palin and their attempt to discredit and demean her at every turn — the criticism is unrelenting and senseless. I don’t quite get it.

Love her or hate her, Palin is a rock star in the political arena and the pundits, politicians, bloggers, and all the rest might as well get used to it. Palin is here to stay and she is now going on tour!

The official publicity for Going Rogue started with a taped sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey, which is set to air on November 16 and clips have already emerged along with an Oprah promotion and a statement that directly followed the interview. Palin also noted her experience with Oprah and announced it on her Facebook page: “Oprah was very hospitable and gracious, and her audience was full of warm, energized and (no doubt) curious viewers.”

I am no fan of Palin or Oprah for that matter, but then again my “fan list” is quite short and reserved for people like Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr. That said, I do admire and respect both of these women and may watch my first Oprah Winfrey Show on Monday with the hope that it goes better than the Katie Couric debacle.

Labeled as a “wide-ranging interview” including insights into Palin’s public and personal life as well as her presidential aspirations, the Barbara Walters Sarah Palin special will be a five-part series and is scheduled to begin airing on Good Morning America starting November 17. Palin will also be a guest on Sean Hannity’s show November 18 and she may later have interviews with Rush Limbaugh, and other FOX News Channel personalities like Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Greta Van Susteren.

Palin is set for the first part of her book signing tour, for which she will travel across the county to strategically selected locations, starting on November 18 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and ending November 24 in Orlando, Florida.

Many are pondering whether Going Rogue and the Palin publicity tour is the beginning of a 2012 political campaign. Since Palin is full of surprises, we will just have to wait and see. What we do know is that drama sells books and in this case has the potential of catapulting Going Rogue and Sarah Palin beyond a phenomenon.

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