September 9, 2008 - His Speech is Nothing

"...her speech is nothing, Yet the unshaped use of it doth move the hearers to collection; they aim at it, And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts; Which, as her winks, and nods, and gestures yield them, Indeed would make one think there might be thought, Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily."

Hamlet, Act IV, scene 5

I can never help recalling Shakespeare's description of Ophelia's madness when I hear Obama speak. Of course Mr. Obama is not mad. Far from it! Still, vacuous words like "change", "hope", and "future" are as empty vessels into which hearers pour their own meaning. Unlike poor Ophelia, Mr. Obama does not have the excuse of insanity. He knows exactly what he's doing. 

September 6, 2008 - Sarah Palin's Experience

Obama voters should at least have the decency to blush when they question the experience of Sarah Palin to be Vice President. Mr. Obama's lack of experience to occupy to the highest office in the land is truly breath-taking. He has spent just 144 days in the US Senate, accomplishing nothing of note. The bulk of his time since taking office in 2005 has been spent running for president. He's never shouldered the responsibilities of being mayor, never struggled under the enormous burdens of  governorship, never raced against the deadline of meeting a payroll in a small business. He even seems to have buckled under the pressure of the Illinois legislature where, instead of voting "yea" or "nay" as his constituents had every right to expect, he voted "present" almost 130 times. Sarah Palin, by contrast, has been a small town mayor (to the Democrats' delighted derision), she's been a governor for 2 years, she knows what it's is to make gut wrenching decisions that will affect an entire state, and she never had the luxury of voting "present". She has fought waste and corruption at every level, and is eminently more qualified than Mr. Obama - And she's only running for Vice President! So please, Obama voters, if you must persist in this feigned distress over Mrs. Palin's experience, kindly have the goodness to blush.

September 6, 2008 - On Taxes and Healthcare.

        In pursuit of government-run healthcare, Senator Obama has resurrected that favorite stock character of the liberal storyline, the proverbial "American who is one medical bill away from bankruptcy". I would like to hear him express some sympathy for an equally tragic figure, the American who is just one tax lien away from Bankruptcy.

        Government-run healthcare will requiring raising taxes, which Obama has promised to do. Raising taxes, even on the wealthiest Americans (a favorite stock villain of the left) takes buying power out of the economy, which costs jobs- The worst thing to do in these economically tough times. Higher taxes on any American hurts all Americans, inching them a little closer to tax-related bankruptcy, whether by honest tax mistakes, or by simply not having enough money to live on after the government has helped itself to your paycheck. 

        Then there is the separate question of why we would entrust our healthcare to a federal government which has so absurdly mismanaged Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. They are sure to screw it up! It's a guaranteed lead pipe cinch! Had any private investment firm misappropriated, misrepresented, and looted their funds as the federal government has with Social Security, they would all be in jail. The Social Security scandal makes the Enron crooks look like amateurs. We will explore this in greater detail in future posts.

        It is a dreadful scene for a family to lose their home to the bank. It is an even more harrowing scene to lose one's home to the IRS. At some point, a private lender must simply give up and write off the debt. But the IRS can seize everything you own, sell it at bargain basement prices, then pursue you to your grave for the remainder. So the next time Senator Obama seeks to frighten you with the prospect of being one medical bill away from bankruptcy, please remember the the prospect of being one tax lien away from financial ruin.

September 5, 2008 - How Dare we Question their Patriotism?

          "How dare you question my patriotism?!" Such is the scolding we receive when we question the Democratic party's resolve in defending the country. Admittedly it's an effective technique. I was recently shamed into apologies by a Democratic friend in this way. When I questioned his party's willingness to defend America, he became incensed that his love of country was being impugned. I gushed apologies, but in fact, it was never his patriotism I was questioning. This man is a World War II veteran, and I honor his service. Most liberal appeasement is built not on lack of patriotism, but on the following 2 liberal principals: :

          1 - There is no significant threat from Islamic terrorism. Despite the lip service liberals give to fighting terrorists, consider the countless ways Democrats in Congress have leapt to their defense. They've thwarted our efforts to spy on and wiretap terrorists at home and abroad; Bitterly crippled our abilities to spy on Al-Qaeda's financial networks around the world. They've fought for to grant access to these enemy combatants the the best left wing lawyers in America, and meticulously reclassified as torture any accommodations that don't involve a comfy Barcaloumger and slippers. 

          All of this is made possible because our cowardly terrorist enemies remain hidden, and it is tempting to think that the danger has passed. And since they see no threat, they are blind with rage over our military efforts.

          2 - Whatever threats we do face are of our own making. We have so mistreated the world, goes the narrative, that we have only ourselves to blame for the occasional suicide bombing. (Get any hardcore liberal started recounting America's crimes and the stream-of-consciousness tirade you will receive will make Finnegan's Wake sound like the McGuffy Reader.) So like the abused wife who blames herself for the beatings, we tell ourselves that it's our fault, and that if only we would change, the danger would pass. It's false comfort.

          There is a third factor: the small percentage of people on the left, and some on the right, who actually do hate America. Michael Moore is the obvious example. His propagandistic capitalizing on tragedies ranging from the Iraq War to school shootings amounts to a kind of war time profiteering that would make the Krupp family blush. Yet even he feigns the vapours at the hint that his patriotism on par with Washington's own. 

          So we're not supposed to question anybody's patriotism. Fair enough. But how much subversive, America-bashing, American blaming do we have to countenance before we can question something?!