The Nightmare (for liberals) before (America's) Christmas

It started the week of the budget debate.  I had just seen SARAH PALIN: THE UNDEFEATED and perhaps my synapses were misfiring due to the extreme amount of serotonin used during the deficit battle.


I was exhausted and frustrated at the capitulation to "compromise" by not only the establishment GOP, but even those on the right who were fearful of the fight.  And as I drifted off to sleep in fits of frustration, I swore I saw Barak Obama staring alone at the TV in the oval office.  President Elect Sarah Palin and Vice President Michelle Bauchmann gracing the screen:

Twas the night of the Chicas, and through the White House,
Obama was trembling, exposed as a louse.
The networks were stunned at the landslide of red,
In hopes that their nightmare was ending instead.


The staffers long gone - no one in their steads,
All papers, recordings in baskets of shreds.
Sarah in her glasses, Michelle in her pumps,
both enjoying the election landslide triumph.


For 2 months before, his debate hope was shattered,
his polls and his lies were ripped down and battered.
The "Anointed One"'s gab, once cool and brash,
was gone like the Billion of record campaign cash.


The doom on his quest from this mama grizzly foe,
struck hard from the start as she launched the first blow.   
"Mr. President," she said, "my goal is so clear,
When elected, I'll make sure you're jail time severe."


"You said we had driven right into a ditch,
but you dug it farther, and it's not just a glitch.
More Marxist than China, your policies became,
and rather than fix it, you just called us names."

"But George Bush! Tea Party! You're heartless!" he proclaimed.
"You're bigots and terrorists, and the poor you declaim.
The Bush cuts will kills us, and we didn't spend enough
If it wasn't for the 'baggers we'd be out of this trough!"


"Mr. President..., NO! - 'Spend, spend!' was your cry,
Stimulus, Tarp and QE2 did you vie.
"Even Dems were repulsed at the budget you drew.
And the Dow knows now US bankruptcy is due." 


"For a while some were tingling with 'George W' dissent,
But transparency was as real as 8 percent unemployment.
"Stimulus for guns - that killed border guards,
In centuries past you'd have been shot and tarred."


"And killing a hundred thousand oil drilling jobs,
showed the lengths you would go to create Alinksy mobs.
"if Mao or Lenin set out to destroy us,
they'd consider your one term a victory joyous."  


The President glared back and resented this cow.
A trickle of sweat appearing on his brow.
He would have to think fast, and speak very slow
Use the old snake charm, divert and blow some more snow.


"My mother was poor, I struggled in my youth,
to overcome obstacles and find out the truth.
"My father sacrificed, that I could succeed,
and to Congress was I elected, to help those in need."


"With the facts,"  Sarah stopped him, "are you playing loose.
"I am smelling something similar to the crap from a moose.
"Your record in Congress was of nothing to boast.
You voted 'present' more often than I've cooked a roast" 


"Against the debt ceiling - were you in the Senate,
Fleecing taxpayers for unions - was your new tenet"
"And if not enough, what you did with car dealers,
closing their stores like Cesar and robbing bond holders." 


And don't get me started on your 'long form birth cert.'
you committed a felony and the office, pervert.
No, Barak, or Barry, with your fake SS number,
I will clean up your mess and job growth unencumber."


Barry spoke not a word, for nothing seemed to work
Even Brian Williams now saw the 'Messiah' as a jerk
"in Alaska I did this and the bureaucrats depose."
The audience once silent, now applauding - arose.


He shook and shuttered recalling the dismissal,
the unions failing delivery of the fake votes made him bristle,
He then heard them exclaim those 2 women he did spite, 
"God bless America.  And remember, right will always win the fight."

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God, Governor Perry and Our Response to the THE RESPONSE

Today with thousands of others I head to THE RESPONSE - A call to prayer and fasting by Governor Rick Perry of Texas.


To those of you who wonder about Perry's ulterior motives or the usefulness I say... Go to Hell. 


....Oh wait, as a fanatical Jesus Freak, I don't think I'm supposed to say that.  Forgive me and allow me to restate:


If you don't like it.. you WILL go to hell.  How's that?


Ok... I dont' think I'm endearing myself to those I'm actually trying to reach with this message so let me start over.


Seriously, the bible makes three things terribly clear from my perspective:

1. Only God knows the heart of man. (1 Cor 2:11)
2. We can judge a tree by it's fruit (Mt 7:16)
3. If someone isn't representing God, God will take care of it. 

Is Perry doing this to set up a political bid?  Only God will truly know.  I've been following Perry by 'tweet' since I arrived back in Texas and was impressed with his consistent call to prayer and from my perspective - it is directly in line with how he has represented himself.  Even those who are disappointed with Perry's conservative record do not doubt his Christian conviction. And the wise chief of the Sanhedrin in the New Testament was clear that if someone claims something they aren't - we all eventually find out.  Better or worse.  

We know that there have been many religious hypocrites going back to the guy that God used to write Proverbs and Psalms - and we know that men like Ronald Reagan derided for their alleged lack of intelligent were actually exonerated by personal papers and history.

What we can say with absolute fact is that when you stand before Jesus - He ain't going to ask you what you think about Governor Perry. He's going to ask about YOU.

Instead of complaining about Obama - what did YOU do?

Instead of fret or stand by - did YOU acknowledge HE who 'lifts up princes and brings them low?'

Founders from Washington, Franklin - through Reagan have called for days of prayer and fasting with many documented results.

I remember the Governor of Georgia who was vindicated from his detractors in calling to the Most High God for rain in their worst drought in centuries - by unforcasted storms forming literally the day after his call.

So check your own heart and join us in calling for God's spirit to move on this country and it's people.  And to save this great land He established.

  

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101 Uses for a Dead Liberal

One of my favorite books of all time (sorry feline befriend-ers) is Simon Bond book, "101 Uses for a Dead Cat."  This past week of defict debate caused me to reflect on writing a modern day adaptation called, "101 Uses for a Dead Liberal."


In response to my aggressive (and totally off-base) request for a liberal to justify mathematically how taxing 100% of the top 1% of the US taxpayers would solve the debt crisis - I was called a "fascist," (@whisper1111), a "fu*kwit," (@SherriGG) and an "a**hole." (@DugganNY).


I must confess I DID call the instigator (@GottaLaff) of this assault a "#looser," for which I was BLOCKED and summarily cast as a right wing extremist I am sure.  And I guess I should apologize since there was at least one liberal who did defend their argument very articulately with the use of math:

I have tried desperately to reason with my fellow Americans of the leftist bent and was wondering what might bring us together now that this silly deficit argument has been won by the Tea Party.  Or Obama.  Or WHOEVER.  I'm still not quite sure.  (I don't feel like I've won anything but GOPeptic ulcers.)

I would normally refrain from such macabre humor except it is clear from Biden's "Tea Partiers are Terrorists" remark and recast portrayals of those who don't want America to become BFEgypt that they are "extremists", the era of political civility called for by our Birth Certificate-ly challenged leader is over.  @Jimmiebjr's Sundries Shack blog documents this well and should be bookmarked by every conservative for defense and ammunition in the upcoming election year.  I thought to myself, perhaps I have liberals all wrong.  Perhaps it is through this ugly rhetoric that they best communicate!

And since many of these liberals might have retained their procreative rights, it would be an excellent chance for them to teach tolerance to their progeny like, "conservatives really do have a sense of humor."  So trying humor that they associate with - I decided let's play... 101 Uses for a Dead Liberal.

Since I AM A CONSERVATIVE (thank you @KurtSchlicter), I, of course, do not wish Liberals any physical demise or harm.  Liberals unfortunately DO want conservatives dead and there are many instances from Chris Matthews, Montel Williams, P.J. O'Rourke as well documented by Brent Bozell here. 

But, professional speakers say humor is a wonderful ice breaker since it unifies an audience on a common theme.  So with the disclaimer that we are merely 'reaching out' across the aisle - Hobbit to Orc, if you will, with a humor they have already mastered, let's start a dialog.  

Now you might think I would respond with uses for their dead corpses such as:

• Dress up a dead lib in a Navy uniform so POTUS could claim he was correct when he said we had "corpse-man"
• Give honorary degrees to dead libs at Occidental and Columbia so Obama can claim there were 'people' who actually knew him.  (Dead men can't lie!) 
• Collect them in rural areas so liberals would finally be able to point to Americans who are dying of hunger. (what?...that's off limits with GWB out of office?...oh.)

But I won't stoop so low to do that.  Instead, let's keep this on a higher plain and instead, suggest the impact that dead liberals would leave should they (God forbid) leave our world: 

1. Global Cooling! - That's right! Once a liberal is dead, they no longer can consume planetary resources.  They also emit 450 liters (roughly 900 grams) of carbon dioxide per day although I suspect some liberals like Ed Schultz and Harry Reid might raise that average. Although liberal self-indentification is not the same as liberal behavior - we can estimate that if roughly 52 million US self-proclaimed liberals create over 23 Billion liters of CO2 per day and over 8 TRILLION liters a year!  It's amazing that all 50 states did not break a high temperature record last month!


2. Wall Street with less graft and crime - Believe it or not in 2010 election cycle, 62% of political donations went to Democrats.  The bible says, "where your treasure is, their your heart is," so we must assume all those former Goldman Sachs executives now in the government actually BELIEVE the crap that the party in power espouses.  Less wall street executives less wall street crime.


3. Higher Quality of Life - Yes, Democrats are much unhappier and have less friends than Republicans!  This is a shocker to many of my conservative friends but a study concludes just that!  Moreover, this has been true for DECADES.  In 2008 the NY Times suggested this was because the nasty hobbitses were in power but (shocker) that was wrong too!  And science has already made the correlation that when we connect with other happy people are we happier, we are also HEALTHIER.  Honestly, isn't there a liberal in your world that makes you unhappy?


Which may explain the entire nature of the liberal 'tone' from last week.  They are simply unhappy.  But, you cannot argue their joy at the passing of the Budget Control Act yesterday by the House, as this tweeter shows:

Shhh!  Please no one tell her that a) social security was never at stake, b) we are borrowing money from the Chinese today to cut Social Security checks, or c) that her SS deduction from last week paid some retired Republican in Florida.  As a lib, she doesn't need anything else to make her unhappy.

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A 'deal' versus an Ideal (I told you so)

...or "The Lesson of the Tea Party 22"

To those who have worked tirelessly for the conservative cause and who were called RINO's last week allow me to apologize on behalf of the more...exuberant...members of the Tea Party.  The blood spilled in 1776 and beyond came from both Federalists and Democratic-Republicans.  You love your country and that should not be called into question.

Oh, and by the way, we told you so.

I can't read the Wall Street Journal's "A Tea Party Triumph" and not pop a least one shirt button over my massive, manly chest I am gifted to have (at least in my own mind).  And, as I read I read Sissy Willis' excellent article From violent, racist "teabaggers" to debate changers with a seat at the table the thought occurred to me:

We told you so.  An IDEAL will beat a "deal", any day.

I've been trained by my mom, church and others - this is not humble, gracious or a character quality of my beloved Savior and therefore I should immediately cast down such thoughts.  But it is damn tempting not to do so.

No we've got a VERY long way to go.  To claim 'victory' now, would be like popping the champagne at retreated of the British from Boston harbor. (For you non-history buff's it preceded years of torment and continual defeat for the forces lead by Geo Washington).  No, agreeing to to a fraction LESS of debt to be incurred over the next 10 years is nothing to celebrate.  But I beg of you to understand what actually happened here.  Essentially here is a timeline:

7/22 - Senate tables "Cut, Cap, Balance" 51 to 46
REID: "Worst Piece of legislation in US history."
TEA PARTY: "Hold the line"

7/25 - Obama/Boehner address the nation
OBAMA: Bushes Fault, Jet Owners Bad, Catastrophe if REAL Cuts Enacted.

BOEHNER: Quit Spending Barry, No More Blank Checks.

TEA PARTY: "YAY!" ...("Hold the Line.")

7/27 - Rumors of GOP doing back door deal

BOEHNER: "We have to have a back-up plan..."

TEA PARTY: "Uh Oh...."

7/28 - Vote in House scheduled

McCAIN: "Nasty Hobbitses"

BOEHNER: "Get in Line!"

Non-TeaParty Conservatives: "Govern responsibly, Wait for 2012, the MSM will kill us."

(some) TEA PARTY TWEETERS: RINO's!

TEA PARTY: "When do we ever ACTUALLY stop the out of control spending?  Hold the Freakin' Line."

7/29, 7/30, 

MSM & others: "EXTREMEISTS! TALIBAN! TERRORISTS!"

7/31 - Reid, McConnell shake hands, Obama (gasp) address nation

POLITICIANS: "We have a deal!"

8/1

MSM  & others: "Tea Party kept us honest.  They Win."

TEA PARTY, "We are not idiots.  Hold the G_d damn line."

Is that a fair characterization?  I think so.  What has happened is the typical pattern of non-principled tough nosed negotiation. 

When I was a young adult, I had the privilege of watching a mentor of mine negotiate for a new Cadillac he wanted to buy.  He told me how he had been dreaming of this car for months and had done the research to find out EXACTLY what the dealer had paid.  I learned through him that car manufacturers give the dealers 'fake' invoices that fool even the best intended car buyer who thinks they can get the best price. 

My mentor first made sure the salesperson knew he was interested. He told him that he would pay cash, so the salesperson didn't think the deal would fall apart in financing.  Then he asked question after question and after question until the salesperson had over an hour invested in him. 

Finally the salesperson asked, "what price would it take for you to drive this off of the lot, today?" My mentor had been waiting for him to make the first inquiry and gave him the 'number' he had calculated as the REAL price the dealer paid and about $300 profit.  (My mentor said, I WANT them to make money so they can be in business.  I don't want to finance his kid's college fund on my back.)

The salesperson acted hurt and injured that my mentor would offer such a horrible first offer.  After putting a modicum of protest, salesperson reluctantly said he'd ask his manager but had no hope in the offer.  He came back almost immediately shaking his head but offering about a $1000 discount from the sticker price.  My mentor thanked the salesperson for his time, gave him his phone number and told him he would be visiting another dealer tomorrow to buy his car.

The salesperson assured my mentor he would have the same result and bid him adieu.

I wondered if my mentor wasn't concerned about spending every weekend for the next 2 months and asked him, "what if no one gives you this deal and you have to go back changing your hard line"?  My mentor responded, "it is the end of the month and I guarantee you that salesperson needs the sale, and that not even as much as the dealership.  He'll call."

When about 2 hours later he received a call from the dealer telling him to come pick up his new Caddy, My mentor explained, "they didn't know I was serious until I walked away."

I wondered why I they bothered with half of the required classes and didn't teach this!  This led me to write and teach about negotiation techniques for one of the largest contract negotiation educators for a number of years. Every time McConnell, Boehner or my fellow non-Tea Party conservatives spoke about, "the best we can get for now," or "we only control 1/3 of the government," I PHYSICALLY felt sick.  So what have we learned?

Lesson 1 - Never believe the position of your opponent and NEVER hint at yours

The Democrats have been brilliant at this. The Republicans - pathetic.  What a shocker (not) that the Democrats wouldn't pass Cut, Cap and Balance when Boehner tells them BEFORE THE VOTE they are working on a backup plan.  Why do you think the Democrats have not put forth a 'serious' bill and Obama none at all?  BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE TO!  Reagan figured this out with the Soviets at Reykjavík.  Later he explained that the Soviets knew that they would never have to deal seriously, because we trained them that would offer deal after deal when they rejected a previous offer.  Reagan knew they finally had to KNOW we would walk away from a bad deal.  Later Gorbachev  admitted, it changed their entire strategy for dealing with Reagan.  Republicans have GOT quit telegraphing every move they make. 

Lesson 2 - Know what your opponent is willing to 'die' for

A seasoned (or smart) negotiation opponent is NEVER going to let on to what they WILL settle for  and, in fact, will make it APPEAR they are fully committed to the 'straw man' position to keep you from knowing their real one.  Washington is so used to people with no principles, they assume that when a Tea Party representative like Bauchmann says no, she is really just positioning for a little more.  Our Founders believed that it is better to die for freedom than live a slave in tyranny.  It is why you heard even hard line liberal reporters confess it was , "refreshing" for anyone to really stand up for what they believe.  And why, when people like Allen West gave in to compromise with the 'establishment' GOP, Washington and the MSM didn't take the Tea Party 22 seriously.  They figure we are all hypocrites.  It is simple: the man who wouldn't dare give his car away to someone else for free will quickly change his mind when a gun is pointed at his head as a REAL threat.  His values quickly change.  Those who perceive the entitlement structure and debt as not just a 'more expensive' version of America but a real threat on our way of life and government will not settle.  Hopefully others will change their position and join us.

Lesson 3 - Those with the most conviction will win 

The BIG split among conservatives was FEAR.  Fear of being perceived that we couldn't govern, fear that the MSM would taunt and hold us guilty and it would somehow reflect negatively in the 2012 elections.  Yet we all lament at the career politician's willingness to lie about ANYTHING to score a political point.  Let me ask how can we expect them to change when we show that we are willing to compromise on fundamental beliefs (like living within our means) just because it is 'the best we can get.'  For all of us faults, George W. Bush exemplified this in his stance on the 'Surge' in Iraq. We need to remember the principle of doing what is right, rather than worrying about the outcome.

Why do we gamble that the most immoral political party in the history of our country will somehow 'not budge' on their position or that WE have to compromise?  They don't believe in ANYTHING except their own selfish interest.  I suspect it is either because we truly don't believe that our position is that important, or that we aren't willing to suffer the emotional or political pain for our convictions.  We are better people than that.  My experience has also taught me the man with the most conviction will win - even in loosing.  We love Cool Hand Luke not because he beat George Kennedy's character, but because he didn't give up.  He won by finally making George Kennedy's character understand - the fight would never end. 

So, what I would like to persuade my fellow patriots who despised the idea of standing strong on principle last week, is this:  there will NEVER be a better time to fight.  Not only are the Democrats weak politically in the polls - they are now beginning to understand that the American people WILL rally to the side of the person RIGHT in their convictions - MSM coverage or not.  It is my guess that after continued rants about how 'extremist' and 'crazy' we Tea Partiers are, they will someday use US as the example and ideal in their arguments.  I mean, would you EVER have envisioned Sam Donaldson speaking as highly of Ronald Reagan as Obama has been doing?  Of course not.

And, finally, to my fellow tea partiers - let us be gracious in our speech.  Remember that those who aren't willing to go as far in the fight as we are, are still our friends, compatriots and brothers/sisters in the cause.  Make sure they know we love them for whatever part of the battle they are willing to fight.

And God bless the Tea Party 22.

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The Current Conservative Sympathizers

This is in response to the article: 

Obama, Geithner Hold All the Face Cards in Debt Ceiling Fight

The administration will get to choose who gets government checks and who doesn't.

July 29, 2011 - 12:00 am - by Jazz Shaw

It always amazes me how conservatives are so ignorant of history.  Not just recent history, but the history of how this country started.

Few realize that when the Revolutionary War began, public support for outright 'war' against the British was hovering somewhere around 40%.  With the first skirmish that sent the Redcoats running, popular opinion soared - only to crash with humbling defeat after defeat.  But the war wasn't waged by public opinion.  It was to do what was right.


A few - fully committed - to see it through to the end - even if it meant death - and not those who wanted to continue to 'reason' with the British - is why we are the greatest country on earth.


Some would see the message of the 2010 House landslide as a bad spanking or stern warning to government to get it's fiscal house in order.  The fringes of the movement may indeed have seen it that way, but those of us who were moved to tears and action from the first Rick Santelli rant saw it as a declaration of war.


So the question raised here is how do we do it.  This author - and others - are terrified of the consequences of forcing our Executive Branch to make hard choices.  As a student of not only Alinksy, but also Marx, and Clower/Piven - it might even be goal for the President to create utter chaos in government services and blame the GOP.


So what.


The only REAL problem we have is in finding a leader who will not back down as the 'war' is engaged. Without that person, Democrats will continue to treat us as the new prison inmate in the militant gay pod of this political prison.


With the supposed dire threats of Independents sharpening pitchforks minutes after a strong stand by the GOP, the conservative movement for fiscal accountability continues to look like they are not serious about holding not not only our government - but our immediate elected representatives accountable.


It certainly didn't help that Boehner admitted to the Democratic leaders that we would have a 'back up' plan ready in case Cut Cap Balance wouldn't pass the Senate (as he already knew it would not.)  Remind me to invite him to my next poker game. 


How do we know WHAT we can get out of Senate Democrats unless they are pushed to a place where THEY are finally seen as the obstructionists that they are?  This can not be done by continued TELEGRAPHED 'compromise.'


When government services are being shut down and CUT CAP BALANCE are sitting in front of Obama and/or REID - it is THEY who will eventually be on the hot seat IF every GOP representative says NO!  You can not spend anymore.


A key lesson of history and human nature is that opportunists and those not planted in a morally righteous cause are the first to fold under real pressure.


What you do is you what Reagan did to that 'evil' empire.  You blow up all their preconceived ideas how they can (and have traditionally) played us.


If the GOP would have stuck together on CUT CAP BALANCE suddenly putting Reid and the White House in the position of saying they WOULD NOT bring spending into control - we have no idea what concessions we could have achieved.


Instead, Boehner acted like Obama's personal press boy and reinforced the absolutely false notion that sheer disaster would strike if a deal wasn't 'struck' and by August 2nd - a claim that has been proven as complete hogwash.


We haven't even BEGUN to test the stamina of the democrats.  And it is because of the 'fear sympathizers' like this author.


It is embarrassing as a conservative to read articles like this continuing to 'accept' that ANY political pain for the GOP 'brand' is simply off of the table.  When it is clear THERE WILL BE NO FUTURE if the entitlement structural issues aren't dealt with immediately (something folks like Jack Kemp warned of 30 years ago) - at some point REAL Men and Women who want to save the country must risk a battle that could have cost.


I hear the angst of John Adams in the tenor of my own words here as he was frustrated with similar voices (like the Pennsylvania representative of his day) who merely felt they had to play 'devil's advocate' to make sure they were taking all routes before the most dangerous. 


What these people don't understand is that while some are gifted with diplomacy, and others with patience, there are those of us who are gifted with a sense of risk and prophecy.  It is these people who do what people laugh at.  Palin did it in Alaska.  Smith did it with FEDEX.


There will be pain.  And that pain (as it did in 1775) will continue to build and compound the longer we sit around and 'wait' for the right time to save our children's future.  As then, we actually are in a WEAKER position to fight as we wait.  There will NEVER be the right time to enact all of the great reforms we all fantasize about with. 


An appropriate scripture is Ecclesiastes 11:4 - "He who observes the wind [and waits for all conditions to be favorable] will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap."


What if we don't win the Senate?  What Obama finds some way to win in 2012?  You are not promised the future.  You take what you have and wage war the best you can with what you have.


Churchill knew this.  The reason he was at the right place, at the right time to lead Britain was NOT because he cautioned to wait until the right time to fight.  No, he advocated the same position to his peers for a decade.  But the jeers and embarrassment of his 'weaker' poltico's changed as the threat HE saw became more and more evident.


What would have happened had they the intestinal fortitude to test Germany's resolve even a year earlier?  Think about that.


Certainly continuing to buy into the liberal argument of the moment (it will disrupt government, credit rating will suffer, GOP wants to take services away from those who need it, etc.) - you will NEVER make a dent in the problem because they will simply change their accusation to blunt whatever objective we pursue at that moment.


Rush Limbaugh, Jim DeMint, Erick Erickson, Michelle Bauchmann and Sarah Palin are courageously playing the role Ronald Reagan played against the establishment media and party by their call to arms.


Quit betraying the cause and be worthy of those Founders who pledged their lives, their fortune and their sacred honor to do not what they felt they could get the other side to agree to - but what is right.


www.streamofjim.blogspot.com

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30 year Home Econ Teacher Diagnoses President Obama

A friend of mine sent this to me this morning, in response to the debate over whether to back Boehner and fight another day, or use whatever power the country has given to stop the political shenanigans of band-aids which end up continuing to grow the debt.  She doesn't blog so I asked her permission to put it up here.  It is the most profound thing I've heard in this debate: 

After spending 30 years teaching Home Economics, this is my view of the debt crisis in D.C.:

It is estimated that one in four children in America grows up in a dysfunctional home. That means that one or more family members has a major problem, like alcohol addiction, that is never solved. The addict surrounds himself with friends and family who either have the same addictive personality traits or accept the addiction as part of “loving” that individual. The family members learn to cope by means of denial, escape, or participating with the addict. Many times the family members assist out of “love”. They do things like bail the addict out of jail, put him to bed after he passes out, clean up his vomit, call in sick to work for him, etc. They make excuses for him to make the abuse OK like ”a bad day at work” or “financial stress”.  Any family member who speaks up is quickly shunned and called “cruel and heartless” for speaking the truth about the addict’s behavior. This co-dependency allows the addict to maintain this lifestyle for many years by not accepting the consequences of his actions. Usually it takes a major catastrophe where the family hits rock bottom for them to admit they have a major problem and seek help. For real healing to take place, the family members have to stand strong and stop bailing the addict out or they will all end up right back in the same dysfunctional cycle.

Our federal government is dysfunctional in the same way. Our elected officials have become addicted to borrowing money to fund all the laws they pass. They surround themselves with other politicians who have the same addictive personalities and cry out constantly that “we must spend more money’. They are encouraged by co-dependent persons who want to help spend the money the politicians are borrowing. They make excuses like “…we have to or else someone will suffer…” or “…this is just for one more year…” Any fellow politician who speaks out about the addiction is quickly shunned and called “cruel and heartless” or even worse, “a stupid Tea Partier”. Just like in a dysfunctional home, this behavior allows the addicts to maintain their daily lives in Washington and not deal with the consequences of their actions.

Now Washington is heading for what may turn out to be a major financial catastrophe for the US. Our politicians are so dysfunctional that they want to borrow money to make the payments on past borrowed money so they can keep spending more money on their pet projects. We citizens can keep our nation dysfunctional, stay co-dependent, make excuses for them and bail them out again. We can dig into our wallets and give them more money to throw away so we don’t have to face reality ourselves. Or, we can practice good old fashioned “tough love”. We can say. “No more. It stops here. It is time to get out of this dysfunctional debt cycle.”We can stand behind the members of Congress that are being shunned for speaking the truth. We can allow our nation to hit financial rock bottom. We can stay strong and not bail the politicians out this time. We can force them to admit they have a major addiction to debt and deal with it. It will be hard, just like it is hard on a family when they hit bottom. But if we stand together, we will come out healed and stronger as a nation. We will be able to weed out the addicts and their co-dependents in Washington. We can keep the strong healthy leaders and send them some non-dysfunctional coworkers this next election cycle. Then it will be up to us to keep watch and make sure we never bail out addicts in Washington again, or we will end up back in the same dysfunctional cycle.

Stand Strong,

Colleen Vera

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Put down the Kool Aid, Mr. "industry expert"

My day job is in that of the "green" and energy businesses.  My email inbox is daily filled with messages from NRDC and Sierra Club to Hydrocarbon Processing.  (The spiritual and humor emails keep me sane.)


This morning I was 'blessed' to read an editorial by the editor of ENERGY BIZ - and energy industry insider publication telling the industry how to "SOFT SELL" the climate debate.  You can read this piece of propaganda - I mean - scholarly editorial here.


This man is held in the highest regard including awards from the WALL STREET ECONOMISTS - an impressive sounding organization that looks like it was formed in the past two years.  Anyway - my response:


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Ken Silverstein - Kool Aid Drinker

 - Jul 28, 2011 - 9:57 AM

Mr. Silverstein's support for action on 'climate change' could be excused a couple of years ago as many of us 'non-scientists' were trying to sort through the clutter of information overload.  When the U.K. censored AN INVCONVENIENT TRUTH unless 9 core claims were corrected however, I would have expected someone named "Top Economics Journalists by Wall Street Economists" to have stopped - like the rest of us - and wondered first HOW so many errors could have been endorsed by the world's leading climate change evangelist and, more importantly asked, "WHAT ELSE was wrong?"

Then - I was curious why a number of leading CLIMATOLOGISTS (not philosphy professors with doctorates as included in the 'concensus' claim) were not adamant to embrace this data such as Richard Lindzen, of MIT.  In fact they offered caution.

When, however, emails by the very scientists who drove the IPCC report of globabl warming were discovered to admit that even THEY were disturbed by the lack of actual evidence to support their theory - most rational intelligent people were downright (dare I say it) ...skeptical.  That could be why GALLUP reports only 44% of US citizens believe in man made global warming from 71% in 2007.

And yet Mr. Silverstein boldly forges ahead to further weaken our fragile economy with more regulation and onerous tax burden solutions - embracing the need to still 'take action' on climate change.  He says,

"But it would be highly irresponsible to disregard what many acclaimed scientists have said." 

Really?  It is RESPONSIBLE to spend money we don't have on a theory  that is so controversial that 1,000 international scientists openly challenge the concept of man made global warming?  Most of whom now even question data that there is in fact ANY substantial warming AT ALL?

We wake up to headlines this week that, "Arctic scientist who prompted global warming fears for polar bears -- now under investigation for 'scientific misconduct," and with it a critically reviewed paper that gives substantial evidence that nearly all climate models are seriously flawed. Is it  "RESPONSIBLE" to continue to push for a complete restructuring of the world economy and the energy industry?

I have lost all respect for the Wall Street Economists who would give any award to such a person.

On the other hand, when I was offered investment cash for our company based on carbon credits - I declined in the case that indeed, this market was based on sham science.  Yes, it cost us investment capital but I felt it was prudent to protect our company and shareholders from later embarrassment.  Where is the integrity in either journalsim or the energy industry regarding this?

I spoke to one leading energy executive a month ago who admitted he did not believe that CO2 was in ANY WAY harmful.  And yet he freely petitioned the DOE for grant money because 'it was there.'  Perhaps Ben Franklin would prounounce the great American experiment over since it was he who prophesied it would only last until we as people discovered we could vote for ourselves funds from the public treasury.

Yes.  Most of us agree on the dangers and needed actions on particulate pollution, acid rain and toxin groundwater control.  If one does not, i suspect that most of  those NOT in the 'green movement' would label those borderline 'evil.'  But it is now fair to question the motives of people like this author and the holding company that would continue to allow such irresponsible journalism.

How can you NOT cite even one mainstream climatologist who disagrees with your theory?  You even try to "stain" the carbon emission argument by bringing issues such as 'acid rain' into your introductory thought.

Put down the Kool Aid Ken.  The responsible thing to do is to either resign - or start being a bit more accurate and balanced in your editorial comments. 

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