Watch this video of Bill Clinton at the funeral of West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd. It helps everyone living in West Virgina several decades ago understand why they did not join the Ku Klux Klan. View here:
Clinton - Why You Didn't Join the Klan
Watch this video of Bill Clinton at the funeral of West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd. It helps everyone living in West Virgina several decades ago understand why they did not join the Ku Klux Klan. View here:
Only in NM State Government
Local Tea Party at the Park
From Charlie - Not a word in the local newspaper about this event! At least I did not find anything! But I got this from the Las Cruces Tea Party - Yesterday (meaning Saturday) was tremendous! The efforts of Betty Russell and her committee provided tremendous fruit! What a wonderful day to spend with like minded patriots thanks to the 350 to 400 who came to celebrate with the Las Cruces Tea Party. Thank you to the Mesilla Valley Fireman's Chaplin who reminded us of those who have given the ultimate in their defense of our freedoms... Bart Trotter, Mickey Cochran, and Mark Remington and the Riversong Ramblers provided a reminder of the Americana we have often lost but seek to regain with their foot tapping music and vocal support
of our efforts... Harvey Baldwin'sTeam expressed the Las Cruces Tea Parties core values in a wonderfully designed and crafted Electric Light Parade Float! Watching from the crowd when it came by gave me a great deal of pride for his and your efforts! .......and oh by the way it wasn't just a great float it was the FIRST PLACE WINNER IN THE NON-COMMERCIAL CATEGORY!
of our efforts... Harvey Baldwin'sTeam expressed the Las Cruces Tea Parties core values in a wonderfully designed and crafted Electric Light Parade Float! Watching from the crowd when it came by gave me a great deal of pride for his and your efforts! .......and oh by the way it wasn't just a great float it was the FIRST PLACE WINNER IN THE NON-COMMERCIAL CATEGORY!
Governor's Fundraising Race
A look at the fundraising race in New Mexico's gubernatorial election is a case of the "Haves" and "Have Nots." Susana Martinez of Las Cruces has only $1 in funds for every $7 Diane Denish has. Denish is backed by literally an army of lobbyists and lawyers (last count 450 and growing). Accordingly, Denish is sitting on more than $2.1 million in her campaign war chest. Martinez has about $300,000. Read the details here:
Andy Grove - We Better Get "Job Centric"
Apple Suddenly Thinking About Playing Defense
Part III - Partisan Politics - Energy Problems
Republicans are unapologetic about their role in America’s unsolved energy problems. They deserve some credit for the basic understanding that our entire economy is based on automobiles and tractor trailer units hauling people and goods from place to place. However, far too often GOP officials are convinced to blindly ignore all the hidden security costs of importing oil, particularly from countries where radical Islamic groups perpetuate violently anti-western attitudes.
It is important for America to remember as the images of what is happening in the gulf continue to be transmitted on television screens of what we as a nation have settled for. The nation’s out-of-sight, out-of-mind, energy risk management program consists of too much drilling in five thousand feet of water or not drilling at all. The gulf oil spill has become a monument to how we choose our policymakers. Now that we are being inundated with images of oil covered beaches, devastated marshes, idle fishing boats, and dead wildlife, we should realize we as voters are actually looking in the mirror.
The U.S. has already missed the vast early commercial opportunities available in capturing lithium-ion battery innovations. Plans are underway to ramp up production of battery powered automobiles. And many American states, desperate for jobs, are vying to land domestic battery manufacturing facilities. However, it is excruciatingly obvious that transitional problems remain unsolved. Batteries in electric cars will require re-charging. And a near complete conversion to nuclear-based electrical power (a la France) that can charge the vehicles will take fifteen years from the day Congress and the White House finally kicks its own “asses.”
What America has been experiencing the last couple of years is NOT temporary pain. The financial markets now fear that perpetual incompetence in American leadership is increasingly likely to lead us to economic Armageddon. And at the heart of our problems is partisan politics-enabled bad energy policy.
Stranded Course - Stranded Jobs
The City Council's agenda for Tuesday July 6th contains the following item: (16) Resolution No. 11-012.
There are thousands of job-seeking citizens and risk-taking citizens relying on clear thought processes of various councilors. When you get past all of the gibberish contained in the language of the resolution, the Las Cruces City Council will answer one very simple question. Does this council wish to continue to send a message to city staffers that the council wants to manage every detail involved in opening of this beautiful golf course just north of U.S. Highway 70?
Councilors can stop stranding this course and the jobs associated with it by casting a vote on Tuesday that merely begins the process of bringing some relief to those seeking employment. Will council do so or will other "priorities" crowd out the income earning opportunities local unemployed citizens have? We'll let you know.
The Denunciatory Ethic Part II
See The Denunciatory Ethic Part 1
Much like President Obama today, Jimmy Carter (left) tended to embrace the Denunciatory Ethic during his presidency. We were reminded of the essence of Carter’s presidency while watching an “Iranian hostage crisis” documentary recently. When Islamic extremists took American hostages at the U.S. embassy Carter declared, “We won’t abandon our struggle for a decent and fair society here at home.” The odd aspect of this statement being that Carter felt compelled to make it immediately following his condemnation of those who took U.S. Embassy officials and other occupants as hostages in Iran. It was clear by Carter’s declaration that even in the aftermath of that unprovoked assault on Americans he felt it was necessary to placate America’s domestic denouncers through a brief exercise in self-flagellation. In doing so, clearly Carter was hoping to head off any insinuations that his response to the obvious aggression might actually be a misconstrued as a colonial-like exploitation campaign against the new theocracy in Iran. And much like President Obama who has also bent over backwards to try to engage in diplomacy with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (below right) of Iran, President Carter was condemned by those in power there anyway.
Much like President Obama today, Jimmy Carter (left) tended to embrace the Denunciatory Ethic during his presidency. We were reminded of the essence of Carter’s presidency while watching an “Iranian hostage crisis” documentary recently. When Islamic extremists took American hostages at the U.S. embassy Carter declared, “We won’t abandon our struggle for a decent and fair society here at home.” The odd aspect of this statement being that Carter felt compelled to make it immediately following his condemnation of those who took U.S. Embassy officials and other occupants as hostages in Iran. It was clear by Carter’s declaration that even in the aftermath of that unprovoked assault on Americans he felt it was necessary to placate America’s domestic denouncers through a brief exercise in self-flagellation. In doing so, clearly Carter was hoping to head off any insinuations that his response to the obvious aggression might actually be a misconstrued as a colonial-like exploitation campaign against the new theocracy in Iran. And much like President Obama who has also bent over backwards to try to engage in diplomacy with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (below right) of Iran, President Carter was condemned by those in power there anyway.
The Reverend Jeremiah Wright (left) in Chicago and the leaders of al Qaeda both have asked their god to “damn” America. And it is worth noting that sponsors of suicide bombers benefit greatly from the basic ethical tenets that encourage the embracing of the Denunciatory Ethic in America. No doubt recruiters of suicide bombers are grateful for any thought process that convinces Americans to project the image of a country totally dissatisfied with itself. One of the hallmarks of the Denunciatory Ethic is a accepting an international double standard. And this double standard adds barriers to solving the enormous problems presented by international and domestic terrorists. When questioning the wisdom of the actions of foreign terrorists or their sponsoring governments is almost always quickly described by denouncers as U.S. bullying or “cultural imperialism,” it tends to compromise domestic attempts to identify the sources of terror. The best example of this is the recent reluctance by some seemingly prominent members of the White House to simply point to the extreme radical elements of Islam as a primary source of terrorist activity. 
A “national self-guilt” game is initiated whenever an attempt to turn American attention towards border security and away from its own shortcomings is made. When denouncers apply stinging criticisms of America and yet refuse to apply the same standards of behavior to all other nations, they enable the swell of global anti-American sentiment to grow. We saw a fine example of this recently. With the full support of the White House, Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon (below) was allowed to criticize Arizona’s new border security law which essentially mirrors Mexico’s laws.
How has the U.S. media dealt with the denunciation movement? For several decades the majority of urban newspapers and national television networks appeared to practically fawn over anyone willing to utter anti-American rhetoric. However, in recent years not all domestic journalism outlets have directed sympathetic coverage towards the aims or words of denouncers. Since the late 1990’s the Fox News Network has provided significant weighting in the media to the recognition of American generosity and successes rather then place an emphasis on its shortcomings and failures. American citizens have responded to this non-denunciatory approach by making Fox News the top-rated cable news network In America by a wide margin.
Many sources within the denunciation movement attack Fox News. These attacks tend to reflect growing anguish within the denouncer community. Prior to the ascension of Fox News to the top domestic ratings spot in television news, the best way for a denouncing politician to avoid being criticized for being “dangerously patriotic” or “insensitively unconcerned” was to simply lead campaigns that trumpet American shortcomings. These days when any prominent denouncer engages in America bashing, they can count on being confronted by Fox.
In Part III we will look at how denouncers connect their words to their most favored policies.
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