Short Retort

When I first heard about the hoopla surrounding Sarah Palin’s $150,000 wardrobe I started to hear voices in my mind. Who was I hearing? First I heard the voice of Ricky Ricardo yelling “Lucy” then Dick van Dyke saying “Oh Laura” followed by Tim the tool man berating his wife and even Homer yelling at Marge. Since the start of time men believe that their wives are always buying expensive outfits that the hardworking husbands couldn’t afford. Oh those silly little ladies!

The Question

It is one week before the election and I want to scream in frustration because a Democrat friend, after discussing the latest about Obama, then asked me “Why didn’t we learn about this earlier?”

What provoked The Question was a conversation about the latest news. My friend was unaware that in addition to Obama’s “spread the wealth” response to Joe the Plumber, there is now a newly discovered tape on this subject from 2001. In this interview, Obama not only talks about redistributing the wealth, he says it was a “tragedy” that the civil unrest of the 60’s didn’t address this issue. Based on this it is hard not to wonder if Obama is a socialist.

We weren’t the only ones with questions and I filled my friend in on the latest news about this. He knew about Barbara West, a local anchorwoman, who in an interview with Biden dared to ask if Obama was a Marxist. But my friend hadn’t heard that Biden also didn’t answer a local station in Philly where he was later interviewed and asked a similar question.

Based on this information, we discussed how Obama’s actions are becoming more and more disconcerting. First Obama supporters tried to thoroughly discredit and trash Joe the Plumber. It was bad enough when they went after Palin, but at least she is a public figure. But Joe was a citizen who simply asked a question. Yet his life may never be the same after the horrible treatment by the press and Obama supporters. As for the two TV stations which dared to openly question if Obama is a socialist? Both stations have been banned from further contact with Obama until at least the election.

The fact that Obama has expressed his true socialistic ideology in the past combined with the silencing the journalists who dared to question Obama or Biden about this caused my Democrat friend to ask The Question. “Why didn’t we know about this earlier?”

Of course it was hard not to be angry and frustrated by The Question. I couldn’t help but get a little heated when I answered him by saying “We didn’t know this earlier because no one was looking! The media has been so enamored of Obama that they never investigated him. Why did the NY Times dig through Facebook to locate friends of the McCain’s daughter in order to find dirt on Cindy McCain when she was addicted to prescription drugs years ago? And yet no one has dared to interview any of Obama’s high school or college friends to ask about Obama doing coke as a teenager.” My friend simply replied “Valid point,” For what else is there to say?

History has shown that almost every government take over begins with silencing the media. Up until recently, this wasn’t a problem because the media never asked any tough questions. In fact it was the mainstream media who attacked anyone who didn’t like Obama. But now the true side of Obama is showing. And it is very scary. And yet how many TV stations, radio channels or newspapers will Obama ban before journalists finally wake up? And when they do, will it be too late?

The Astonishing Biden Interview

Have you thought that it is too late for anyone in the media to ask some tough questions? Or that no one would ever confront the Obama campaign about Obama’s true beliefs? Well, guess what. It actually happened. I wasn’t surprised to learn that the person with the “balls” to do this is actually a woman but what did surprise me was to find out that she was from a TV station in my own hometown!

Barbara West, a long time anchorwoman with WFTV in Orlando, had the opportunity to interview Joe Biden last week. She only asked Senator Biden a few questions but oh what questions they were! I will include the link to the interview at the bottom but sometimes there is a greater impact to words when you see them written in black and white. Here were the questions asked to Joe Biden:

“..Aren’t you embarrassed by the blatant attempts to register phony voters by ACORN, an organization that Barrack Obama has been tied to in the past?”

“..Senator Obama now famously told Joe the Plumber he wanted to spread his wealth around. A Gallup poll showed 84% of Americans preferred government focus on improving economic conditions and creating more jobs in the US as opposed to taking steps to distribute wealth. Isn’t Senator Obama’s comment a potentially crushing political blunder?”

“You may recognize this famous quote ‘From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.’ That’s from Karl Marx. How is Senator Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?”

Wow. The first question wasn’t too bad although Ms. West followed it up with a tougher question on Obama’s affiliation with ACORN. The second question was shocking as no one has ever accused Obama of any mistakes much less a “potentially crushing blunder”. When you watch the interview, keep an eye on Biden’s face during this question. Biden smiles broadly at the mention of Joe the Plumber but as Ms. West continues with her question his smile slowly deflates until it is a near grimace by the time she gets to “blunder”. In fact I don’t think he really smiles again for the rest of the interview.

It is the last question, though, which is priceless. I almost wonder if this is a question from a viewer as it is more like the questions real people are asking each other and not questions a journalist would ask. Biden’s reaction is funny for he keeps asking if this question is a joke. No joke, Joe. Wake up and realize that in the real world this is what people are wondering about your leader.

As for Obama’s reaction to this interview? Simple. He is now banning this TV station from his campaign for the foreseeable future. And that may have been his biggest mistake. If he had ignored it and treated it as a small town problem not worthy of his attention it might have blown over. Instead, he has given it greater importance and credence by blackballing the station. Then again, the fact that somebody actually asked these questions is just too good, too juicy to be ignored. Now go see it for yourself and enjoy …. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbCf4l1dtDc&feature=related.

ACORN CREEPs Into The News

I had a flashback this morning as I listened to more news regarding ACORN and their potentially illegal practices in voter registration. There are now reports of counties with more registered voters than population, plus tapes of this non profit organization’s obvious, yet illegal, support of a political candidate (Obama). Out of nowhere CREEP popped into my mind. Now that is a blast from the past.

For anyone under 50, CREEP was the Committee to ReElect the President and in this case the President was Nixon. Everyone is familiar with Watergate, the hotel where the burglaries took place, but few remember that it was at the direction of CREEP. So why does ACORN remind me of CREEP, other than the fact they both have memorable acronyms?

Richard Nixon would have clearly won his second term without the machinations of McCord, Dean, Mitchell etc. breaking into and wiretapping the offices of the Democrat Party. Assuming Obama wins in two weeks, I would think he still would have won even without ACORN’s help. Yes, it might be a lot closer race without the millions of voters registered legally and illegally by ACORN but he probably might still be the next president.

Yet thanks to the illegalities of ACORN all the votes cast for Obama in areas in which ACORN was active will be questionable. Additionally, the millions raised by ACORN will now be thoroughly investigated to see if any money was diverted to Obama’s campaign. Even the NY Times, which had previously refused to write about ACORN, is now investigating this organization because of the growing accusations.

Just as in the case with CREEP, I think the overriding problem is hubris combined with stupidity. For how arrogant and dumb can you be for an ACORN executive to give a speech at an ACORN event in which they openly and forcefully support Obama while they were being taped? Did they not know it was illegal for a non profit organization to support a candidate? Or did they think that no one would dare to take them to task because Obama is the chosen one who must be elected? Additionally can’t anyone count in this organization? It is one thing to knowingly register false names but to end up with more supposedly registered voters than there is a voting population is absurd. (Yes a few areas might be attributable to college campuses but this doesn’t explain all of them.)

Whatever the reasons, ACORN is now beginning to tarnish Obama’s campaign. Unfortunately, by now ACORN and Obama are clearly tied together in the public’s mind such that any illegalities by ACORN will reflect on to Obama. Even if Obama wins, I believe that the investigations into ACORN will continue. Unlike CREEP which eventually brought down Nixon’s presidency I sincerely doubt if ACORN’s activities could do the same to Obama. An obvious difference is that Obama will have a sympathetic Congress and media who will do all that they can to shield Obama from any criminal activities by ACORN.

I have no idea how all of this will play out. It is also important to remember that it wasn’t CREEP’s activities as much as it was the cover up afterwards that caused Nixon’s downfall. It will be interesting to watch how both ACORN and Obama react to these newest charges.
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PS – I wanted to add a short follow up to my blog about the first day of early voting in Florida. I had said that two of my friends had given up due to the long lines but that I expected they would try again. They did. Yesterday, on the second day of early voting, my friend returned to the downtown Orlando polling place where once again the parking lot was full and there was a long line. This time she was prepared for this and thinking that it might never get much better she spent the 90 minutes needed to park, stand in line and then vote. My second friend, who lived in an upper income suburb, also returned to his polling spot. This time there were plenty of parking spaces and no lines, and he was in and out in about 5 minutes. Considering the demographic trend of downtown urban voters vs. suburban upper income voters, this does not bode well for McCain….

Turning Out the Vote in Florida

Senator Obama held a rally in Orlando yesterday to coincide with the first day of early voting in Florida. Although there were 50,000 people at the rally, Obama’s supporters were also out at the voting booths, too. Mid afternoon I received an email from a friend who lives in Orlando and had decided to vote early. She assumed that mid day, when people are at work, would be a good time to vote as there wouldn’t be any lines or waiting. Wrong. She couldn’t even find a parking space in the large strip parking lot. There was also a long line snaking out of the front door, down a block and around the corner. She drove up to those near the back of the line and asked how long the wait was. To her amazement they said an hour and a half at which point she went back home.

A few hours later I was on the phone with another friend who was driving to his home in an affluent suburban area north of Orlando. He, too, planned to stop off and vote that afternoon. Just as I was relaying what happened to my other friend he interrupted me. Turns out, that even in this higher income suburb, people were out early to vote. The library parking lot was full, people were parking all over the place and there was even a policeman helping direct all the traffic. Needless to say, this friend also gave up on voting yesterday.

In her email, my first friend observed that in the downtown voting area the long line was made up of primarily African Americans and Hispanics. I can only imagine that for them, voting for the first African American for President must be a joyous and exciting occasion. Actually I can’t really imagine how it must feel. To know that you or your father or grandfather had been subjected to degrading and sometimes violent racism and now you are voting to elect a black man as the next president. Wow. Whites were always told that anything is possible in America. Blacks are now finding out that the same is really true for them, too.

If I were black I would vote for Obama, even if I didn’t completely agree with his politics. Why? Because I would want my children to know that they can grow up to be President if they wanted to. I believe that the second or third time that an African American is up for election everyone will be more inclined to vote based on politics. But this first time? Blacks relate to him as family, as a man who will understand what it is like to be black in America and will speak for them. (Ironically, in the Middle East and then Hawaii, Obama rarely faced the racial problems found elsewhere in America but that doesn’t seem to matter.) In spite of what Colin Powell or anyone else says this presidential race is about race and yet I don’t think it is necessarily racist. I think it is more akin to voting for your favorite Uncle even if you didn’t completely agree with his politics. But he is family, someone more like you than any other past president so yes, you would vote for him and then believe he will help you out in return.

One can assume with nearly 100% accuracy that a black man standing in line to vote will cast his vote for Obama. Then there is the white guy standing in line amidst a sea of black faces. No wonder there have been altercations regarding wearing clothing with political slogans and names when going to vote. In many states it is illegal to campaign near a voting booth therefore wearing a t-shirt that says Obama may not be allowed. However, I don’t blame the wearer of such clothing, especially if it is a white person. If, in a line full of exuberant African Americans, I was one of the few whites then I, too, would want to wear my Obama t-shirt to proudly show I was with them. On the other hand if I were planning to vote for McCain I would probably feel somewhat intimidated, especially if I were elderly as many of McCain’s supporters are.

I worry that many Republicans will turn around and go home when faced with long lines just as my friends did. However, I am sure both of my friends will try again until they do vote (although ironically they will cancel each other out). But I wonder how many other people will become discouraged by these long lines even during this early voting period? I also imagine that there are a lot of Republicans who aren’t all that fond of McCain to begin with, who are put off by the long lines, who perhaps even feel a bit intimidated by them and who believe the polls that Obama was going to win anyway. How many of these Republicans will eventually give up and go home?

The only hope McCain has is if he has the kind of grass roots support that Obama has. For he will need supporters who will encourage and help his voters go and stay in lines, perhaps for more than an hour, in order to cast their votes for him otherwise it could be a landslide victory for Obama.

And yet, I almost worry more about the process then the results. Already there are all these problems about invalid voters, fraudulent practices and lawsuits. I truly hope that the combination of McCain supporters, Obama supporters, ACORN workers, “independent” observers and of course the media looking for a story doesn’t turn our election process into a sham and our voting precincts into battlefields.

Islamic Harmony vs. Freedoms

On September 27th the home of Martin Rynja, which is also the headquarters for Gibson Square’s publishing house, was firebombed. It didn’t make the major headlines and yet it should have for this was a terrorist attack against a company who stood up to Islamic threats. This weekend I received an email berating me for an article I had written about a radical Islamic group. Although a bit creepy, the email was not threatening and yet I mention it because the two incidents are somewhat related.

In August I wrote an article berating Random House: http://pcfugitive.blogspot.com/2008/08/islamic-blackmail-wins-again.html for submitting to Islamic blackmail. If you recall, this blog was about a new book by Sherry Jones on a wife of Mohammad called “The Jewel of Medina”. Random House was to publish it until they were told that it might be offensive to Muslims and could cause violence. I thought Random House was wrong to then back down and give in to this blackmail. I feel that we always need to stand up for our freedoms no matter the threats.

However, I was wrong when I wrote that Random House would not let any other company publish this book. They did sell the publishing rights to Gibson Square Publishers who was willing to publish “The Jewel of Medina” even knowing about the threats. But these threats were not idle for, as previously mentioned, their headquarters were bombed the end of September. Luckily it was only a small bomb which was inserted in the mail slot and no one was injured. In fact, according to the NY Times “The police were already on the scene as the result of what they described as “a preplanned intelligence-led operation,”. The London police have already arrested three men so that’s one for the good guys!

Did this terrorist attack stop the publisher, Mr. Rynja, from publishing this book? No. Although he is taking precautions and is currently in hiding he actually sped up the printing process. Instead of the October 30th date they sent the books to the US for an October 15th publishing date. I am so pleased that the book is actually published as I had been very upset with Random House when they backed down to the threat of possible violence. It just felt so wrong to me. I believed that the radical Islam’s had won and it only takes a few decisions like this for us to slowly begin to lose our freedoms. We need to stand up against bullies of all shapes and sizes and preserve our freedoms no matter the costs. Gibson Square Publishing needs to be applauded for their actions.

In the beginning of this blog I also mentioned an email I received on Saturday. After I wrote my blog about Random House I followed it with an article (http://pcfugitive.blogspot.com/2008/08/messenger-of-allah.html) on a radical Islamic group called Messenger of Allah Unites who wanted to “criminalize any act deemed to be insulting to Islam” In addition to the passing of their UN resolution denouncing defamation of religions, the scariest part is that they want to subpoena and try anyone accused of blasphemy or inciting hatred against their religion.

I was appalled to think that this Jordan based group could reach out to anyone anywhere that they thought were anti Muslims or whom they simply disliked. Ironically it turns out I am one of those people. The email I received on Saturday was to tell me that someone had left a comment on this old article. The comment was:

“The most intelligent thing to do is to recognize that Prophet Mohammad is too important for Muslims and should not be degraded in the guise of ‘freedom of
speech’. You do this for anti-semetic propaganda. So, why not anti-Mohammad.”

Remember, Muslims usually don't have an issue with a scholarly criticism of Mohammad or even a non-scholarly criticism of Islam and Muslims. But, Prophet Mohammad is dear to every Muslim no matter how religious or non-religious he/she might be. And, the day people like you recognize it, you'll actually start promoting harmony instead of hatred in this world.”

In a way I sympathize with him. It isn’t easy to see a beloved and revered religious figure degraded. For decades, Christians have had to deal with blasphemous books or pictures of Jesus, Mary and other Christian symbols. It is disturbing and yet that is the price you have to pay to ensure our freedoms. And yes, it is hypocritical to be told that flying the Confederate flag or using the N word or speaking against gays is considered “hate speech” but attacks on any religion is allowed. This isn’t right but in today’s world of political correctness where some are more equal than others I doubt if it can be changed.

As for my article, I never denigrated the Muslim religion at all, I was only criticizing those who wanted to prosecute and censure anyone they deemed was anti Muslim. The commenter mentioned promoting harmony and yet the only way to obtain perfect harmony is to silence anyone who disagrees with you. This means threatening book publishers and even commenting on an obscure article written months ago by an amateur blogger. But we can’t let them silence us. For we believe in a free world with freedom of religion as well as freedom of speech. And with these freedoms come discord and the right to disagree as we all will have our own opinions. It may not be perfect but I’ll take our messy freedoms over perfect harmony any day.

Time Out for Laughs

By now you have probably heard bits and pieces from the Al Smith Dinner where both McCain and Obama spoke. In at least this comparison, McCain was clearly the winner. He was funny while also being nice whereas Obama wasn't nearly as comfortable delivering a humorous speech and at times his was sounding pompous again.

If only more people could see this side of John McCain - funny, warm, personable. To see both speeches click on the following link. This will bring up a page where on the right is a video and above it are small pictures. Click on the second small picture for McCain's speech and the third one for Obama's speech. It is well worth the time because in this tense campaign, we all could use a laugh. Enjoy... http://wcbstv.com/campaign08/al.smith.dinner.2.842562.html

This really is more sad than funny but I've been meaning to tell you about this story. I was flabbergasted by what I heard a news anchor say earlier this week. The story was bad enough but it was made worse by the fact that she reported it with a straight face as if it truly was a newsworthy item. What did she say? Well, would you believe that she said that due to the credit crunch lenders are tightening up on their loans and are now only lending money to people who can pay them back. Hold the presses! What astounding news - lenders will now only make loans to folks who can pay them back. Wow.

Back to the candidates, turns out McCain's running mate will also be debuting her funny side tomorrow night on Saturday Night Live. It might be worth setting your TeeVo to see Sarah Palin next to Tina Fey. This could either be very hilarious or very embarrassing....

Conspiracy Theory

I don’t believe in conspiracies. I think Kennedy was killed by just one man, Elvis is truly dead and the idea of little men from outer space is nothing but man’s wish that we aren’t alone. And yet…..

I can’t help but wonder if the economic crisis suddenly becomes resolved if Obama is elected next month. The housing crisis is real but the rest of it is fueled by emotions and fear. Could this mood of impending doom have been created by people who want Obama in office? How is it that all of a sudden major companies we are all familiar with are declaring bankruptcy at the same time? Why is it that the Stock Market is swinging out of control and people are losing their life savings? Is it truly coincidental to the upcoming election? Could it possibly be influenced by people who know that Democrats always do better in economic bad times and therefore they are creating this crisis to ensure Obama’s victory?

Maybe I am being paranoid but here are a few more thoughts running through my head. When the gas prices increased, everyone cried out how terrible that is and that it’s entirely the fault of big oil and Republicans. Yet the media has barely noticed that in the past week gas prices have had their biggest decline in years. In addition, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate was unchanged with 6.1% in August and September. That doesn’t sound too bad to me and actually is at the same rate as five years ago but nobody was yelling recession back then.

Today everyone is saying we are in a recession and I really do believe that a lot of it is psychological. If you heard every night on the evening news that times were bad it would eventually get to you and affect your behavior. For example, people start to cut back on dinners out which in turn hurts restaurants. When a restaurant then goes bankrupt everyone will then knowingly nod and say “See it is a recession.” Americans are very nervous about their future savings and retirement and are behaving accordingly. But who made everyone this nervous?

By the way, has anybody else noticed that there has been no coverage of Iraq at all recently? I also don’t think anybody has mentioned “terror” or “terrorist” except McCain’s campaign because you sure don’t hear it on the news lately. This is somewhat the media’s fault for not covering it but perhaps the terrorists are holding off on attacks because they want us to elect Obama.

Am I going a bit overboard in seeing conspiracies where none exist? Or am I just saying what a lot of people are thinking – that maybe, just maybe this financial crisis was caused to help elect Obama. Not to forget the idea that the Islamic radicals are waiting until Obama is in power before attacking again. And if his “supporters” around the world can do all of this then what else could they do if he gets in power as the President?

Short Retort

In a column by Arianna Huffington on the Huffington Post discussing potential "October surprises" by McCain she wrote the following sentence. Obviously Huffington included this quote to show how awful conservatives are. I think this is too good of a line and it shouldn't be buried in a blog that no right minded conservative would normally read. I think you'll agree after you read this line about McCain's current strategy:

"The latest attempt came from the chair of Virginia's Republican Party, who said Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden "both have friends that have bombed the Pentagon" -- a comment McCain refused to disavow, although his campaign already had.)"

Short Retort

What happens when a small group of Republicans dare to have a parade for John McCain in downtown Manhattan? Do you suppose that as fellow Americans they are treated with kindness, warmth and given an inclusive welcome by the New Yorkers? Yeah right.... To see what really happened watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQalRPQ8stI