
Media lies and distortions are growing exponentially - All sides WERE to blame in Charlottesville
Posted by
Jim Spence
on Thursday, August 31, 2017
Now mind you, it should have been clear to anyone with half a
brain that there was scum, real scum on both sides at the Charlottesville
protests. There were "activists" in both groups just looking for a fight.....just looking to get violent.
How was this basic fact handled by the media? The answer is in typical fashion. The media simply did not want to report the truth. What they wanted instead, which is pretty much all they ever want any more, was to find
a way to use the horrific Charlottesville incidents as a way to damage Trump. So instead of the media reporting that there were in fact
slime bags from both camps in Charlottesville committing acts of violence, the media obscured the truth and then
made it look like Trump supported the only jackasses involved in the fights.
Suddenly, there is a problem developing with that absurd narrative. As
the violent left wing slime balls, who should have shared the blame for Charlottesville continue to move from place to place, the truth is becoming obvious. It is violent left wing jackasses who are continuing to commit criminal acts
of violence. Last weekend they showed up in a city with a Democrat Mayor, who felt compelled to tell the truth.
Yes, in Berkeley, California, Democrat Mayor
Jesse Arreguin said that authorities have a huge problem with “left-wing
violence” and accordingly, they should classify members of Antifa, which is the Democrat group
that was also engaged in violence in Charlottesvile, as a criminal gang.
The Berkeley mayor's suggestions were prompted by a peaceful demonstration in Berkeley’s Martin
Luther King Civic Center Park over the weekend that was marred by violent left wingers.
The trouble began when black-clad
Antifa counter-protesters in hoods showed up and started beating up people. These punks, wearing masks to prevent being
identified by law enforcement officials, actually jumped over police barriers and chased protesters, beating several mercilessly.
Ultimately, the Berkeley police department arrested ten of these masked
criminals and used tear gas to disperse the rest of them.
Mayor Arreguin went even farther, saying this of the same group Trump included on his list of instigators, “They come dressed in
uniforms. They have weapons, almost like a militia, and I think we need to
think about that in terms of our law enforcement approach.”
For the record, a gang in California is defined as, “An
organization of at least three persons, with a common name, or identifying mark
or symbol, which engages in criminal activity.”
So let us process all of this. Trump was crucified and damaged politically for insisting that “all sides” were
to blame in Charlottesville. It turns out that all sides were to blame.
How does this plain fact get reported? The Berkeley Mayor has been afforded the right to speak the truth about the same thugs President
Trump took note of with no repercussions. That sounds about right and it also explains why very few well-informed individuals believe anything coming from propagandists like CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, NPR, the New York Times, the Washington Post etc. The track record of lies and distortions continues to grow exponentially for these hacks who don't report the truth, but try to obscure it instead.

Arpaio deserves a medal.....and a pardon
Posted by
Jim Spence
on Monday, August 28, 2017
Recently there was a report released by the Center for Immigration
Studies. The report quotes former immigration judge Andrew R. Arthur as saying
that under Barack Obama some 100,000 cases were “quietly closed with no action
taken.” But the figure could be as high as 200,000. The judge had much more to
say. He thinks the Obama administration's use of the practice of simply closing
cases with no action taken may have been one of many ways it cooked the books
as it relates to the true number of cases that are pending adjudication before
the immigration courts.
As was the case with the well-chronicled IRS abuses of power
under Obama, “Prosecutorial Discretion” became the sly method for not enforcing any laws the Democrats did not like, but could not get changed under the U.S.
Constitution. Judge Arthur says there is no longer a “blanket abdication of
authority,” in his report titled, "The Immigration Court Backlog Is Larger
than We Know."
This situation illustrates the ultimate waste of resources
that is so common in Washington D.C. We pay $3.7 billion per year for the
Border Patrol, and then Democrats allow immigration law violators to stay inside our borders permanently. This practice was no secret and it infuriated millions of Americans. One American in particular who was infuriated was Sheriff Joe Arpaio of
Maricopa County, Arizona. Arpaio did his duty. He enforced the immigration laws. This of course, got him crosswise with the OPEN BORDERS obsessed Obama administration. Eventually, Joe Arpaio was cleverly ambushed by Obama officials. Outlandishly, DOJ lawyers schemed with a local judge in Phoenix and charged Arpaio with minor offenses associated
with his decision to enforce the immigration laws. The charges were minor
enough in nature to prevent Arpaio from be able to request a jury trial.
However, they were just serious enough, and timed perfectly, to smear him in
the media and get him beat in his re-election bid last year. Open border Democrats in the media in the Phoenix area poured the racism charges on thick
to insure Arpaio’s election defeat. He lost narrowly last November.
When Donald Trump pardoned the 85 year old sheriff last
weekend, the howls from the Democrats were predictable. Everyone knows
Democrats scream racism like it is a bodily function. What was astonishing were the comments from some GOP lawmakers who are revealing just how corrupt they
are, and how deep their disregard for fairness is. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan had
this to say:
"The speaker does not agree with this decision. Law enforcement officials have a special
responsibility to respect the rights of everyone in the United States. We
should not allow anyone to believe that responsibility is diminished by this
pardon."
John McCain tried to con Arizonans: "No one is above the law
and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law officers
should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly enforcing
the laws they swore to uphold. Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt
for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their
perceived immigration status in violation of a judge’s orders."
McCain added that Trump's pardon, "Undermines his claim
for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his
actions.”
Respect for the rule of law? Allow me to pause to fight back the wave of nausea that arrives anytime McCain speaks. Arpaio was one of the few law
enforcement officials in the nation who actually respected the law. In a county
plagued by gang violence associated with tens of thousands of illegal aliens, it was Arpaio who not only RESPECTED but also enforced the rule of law.
Sadly, Paul Ryan and John McCain join the growing list of stale and unprincipled rogues who need primary challenges from reputable individuals. The GOP needs to take a bath. It really stinks.
This is modern America. Somehow Arpaio’s enforcement of the
rule of law has been twisted so that the lawbreakers get immunity, while the
sheriff becomes subject to prosecution. He faced a misdemeanor charge in front
of a biased judge thanks to the dirty
politics of Barack Obama and leading officials in the GOP are OK with it.
Joe Arpaio should not have only gotten a pardon, he should be given a presidential medal in a White House ceremony.

Arpaio deserves a medal.....and a pardon
Swickard column: It's not if, it's when
Posted by
Michael Swickard
on Sunday, August 27, 2017

Still, that
is hurricane alley and there are many examples of hurricanes devastating the
area with storm surge water or just buckets and buckets of rain. What I really
wonder is why many people didn’t have any disaster supplies set aside.
Supplies
such as food, water and batteries are easy to store in case of a hurricane. And
again, they are in hurricane alley.
I’m not
talking about should they leave or not from where they live. That is their
minute by minute decision based on how the storm is tracking and how much risk
they care to take. But that is not my central concern.
Rather, my
concern is that so many people “flooded” the stores ahead of the storm trying
to get food and water with which to ride out the storm in their own houses. Why
were they just then trying to get supplies?
They know
they are in a hurricane zone. Yet hours before the landfall of the big storm
people were just then starting to go to stores looking for water and food. Why
were they not prepared already?
Many
hurricanes have pounded their area in the past. Example: A Category 4 hurricane
hit Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900 causing perhaps ten thousand deaths.
Back then there were no systems in place to warn the residents.
Today we
have nonstop weather reports that warn of approaching storms. Yes, sometimes
they are wrong but if people prepare with food and water along with batteries
for radios and flashlights, they are not out that much money. Why not already
be prepared?
But the
same could be said for any place in our country. A disaster will happen
wherever you are in some form like in New Mexico during a very cold spell in
February 2011. There was no electricity for days. Some people had a very hard
time because they had not prepared.
Unfortunately,
the answer often is that some people never prepare. They assume the electricity
will always work.
Likewise,
the same is true for people traveling in remote areas of our state who do not
bring water, food and blankets. Cars will break down. Sometimes there is no
cell service. Sad to say at that point there is going to be some suffering
people.
We must
prepare in case of disaster. How? We need to have at least a week of food,
water and supplies for ourselves and family plus what we will give to neighbors
who didn’t prepare.
Why would
we give to our neighbors? Well, for one thing the lights will come back on so
you don’t want to deny your neighbors who will remember your wonderful charity
or how they were treated poorly.
Again, you
have been warned to prepare.

Swickard column: It's not if, it's when
They don’t really know how to win
Posted by
Jim Spence
on Friday, August 25, 2017
Barack Obama was the worst president in the history of the
nation. His policies were a disaster for our country. If you are having trouble
believing this, take a look at what happened to his party. Over eight years it
was destroyed. In my lifetime, the Democrats have not been as out of power at all levels as they are
right now. The only things they control are crumbling under their mismanagement.
But Obama knew how to win. He told us he won, and reminded us that his election and re-election mattered. He was sure right about that.
Tell Mitch McConnell what winning means and you get a blank stare followed by excuses. Many of the other GOP
Senators and House members behave the same way. Recently the GOP leadership in Congress declared a recess. They quit working after literally
doing NOTHING for seven months. It took them forever to simply get Trump’s
cabinet nominees approved. After that.....nothing.
Why is this the situation when all we heard before the election last year was the very first thing the GOP was going to do, if Trump beat Hillary, was repeal and replace Obamacare?
There are a few theories out there on why the GOP is so
hapless. Let's explore the most plausible one.
Senators and House members are notoriously sensitive to what
they “hear” from constituents. The trouble is the GOP elected officials forget
who their constituents are. Most GOP voters I know do NOT go to town hall
meetings held by their Senators or House members and give these elected
officials verbal affirmations. Remember who GOP voters are. They are people who
pay for their own health insurance (the expensive crappy insurance Obama invented), they hold down jobs, they raise families, and most important of all, they value their
precious spare time. They don't waste their down time stroking the insatiable egos of elected GOP officials. Who does show up at GOP candidate town hall meetings? The
answer is pretty much the opposite types of people. Yes, Democrats would be people who go to these charades. They do so in MUCH HIGHER PERCENTAGES than Republicans. Why? They want to get government to pay for their health insurance. They don’t hold down stressful jobs, don’t
raise families, and have all sorts of spare time on their hands to be "activists."
Of course I am painting with a broad brush here but......I am reminded
of what one of the first requirements for being a conservative is. That would
be having something of value to “conserve.”
The amazing thing that has happened over the last few weeks is
the way Mitch McConnell has flipped on those who voted for him. The first thing McConnell WAS going to do (repeal and replace Obamacare) has moved completely off of his to-do list. These days the first thing he does is lecture us on how Mr. Trump does not understand
how hard it is to actually do the first thing McConnell said he was going to
do.
Mind you Mitch McConnell is the Senate Majority Leader. This
means HE SPEAKS for the GOP when it comes to Senate business. Mix in the dumb sort of things that come out of John McCain’s mouth when he is in between
mistresses and chemotherapy, plus various and assorted back stabs of Trump from other GOP Senators who have become
miffed that Mr. Trump actually remembers their campaign promises, and “voila”
you find yourself laughing at these losers. You also wonder why you half believed what they said last year. The GOP Senators don't like Trump.....fair enough, neither do I. But they don't like their colleagues or their constituents either. I guess when you like yourself so much it is hard to like anyone else.
No folks.......Republicans in Washington really don’t know how to win. They
really don’t know what to do when they win. The idea of actually following
through on their sacred promises seems almost like an absurd expectation. Only children don't understand the GOP Senate is packed with con artists.
In the meantime, the news media is trying to scam America
into thinking that the violent Democrat radicals are blameless when it comes to the divisions in our
country and that somehow we were all really "united" before Trump came along. The violent
radical left is actually chock full of criminals and America has not been united since James
Monroe was unopposed nearly two hundred years ago in seeking a second term.
The good news for the GOP is America’s heartland knows that
open borders are a disaster. It also knows that grown men should not be allowed to pee and poop in
the ladies room. They also know the GOP voters are not composed of 60 million white supremacists. And most important of all......if the GOP Senate won’t help Trump fix the mess he has on
his plate, they know it is because the GOP Senate does not want to fix it. Life is just too easy doing nothing.
They don’t really know how to win
Swickard: Looking at our imperfect historical leaders
Posted by
Michael Swickard
on Sunday, August 20, 2017
© 2017 Michael
Swickard, Ph.D. History is
the driver of culture. It’s the story of people and how they dealt with adversity.
Recently Confederate statues have been under attack which brings the issue of our
history.
Our
country is talking not only Civil War but the entire history of our nation. We search
for our “Authentic” history, not the propaganda of the winners. But the winners
write the history.
Statues
are a measure but they only reflect the feelings of a time but not for all time
and all people. In our search for our heroes we are struck by the fact that
everyone in the past was imperfect. Some were more imperfect than others but
all had blemishes.
Yet over
the years this country has been a beacon to the rest of the world when it comes
to liberty. Our country was instrumental in many other countries becoming free
of dictators. That is our primary legacy.
But what
of our heroes? We have memorials and currency and a written history about
imperfect men. And we now see their blemishes. Example: George Washington
perhaps was the only man who could take the Continental Army to victory. Hence,
we have our freedom. But he had slaves as did Thomas Jefferson.
When those
slave holders and others who tolerated slavery set forth this nation, they
started with “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal.”
But not
all humans were equal then. Women and Blacks were not equal. In the war to end slavery
President Abraham Lincoln said, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers
brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Over the
last century and a half liberty has come to Americans. It wasn’t easy but it
was done. Now there are political factions trying to derive power from injustice
then and now. The history of our country is under attack.
Rather
than taking down statues and screaming about justice perhaps we need to really
understand our history with the blemishes. We cannot find any leaders without
blemishes then or now. But we can see that Americans are free and they inspire
freedom in other countries.
Our
country has brought liberty directly and indirectly to most of the world. No,
there is still slavery and injustice over much of the world but people all over
the world know that liberty is possible because we broke away from England in
1776.
Dennis
Prager said several years ago, “Our danger now is that we are not teaching our
children what it means to be an American.” I believe it is the core of this
problem of American identity also.
We must
resolve that the dead in our wars of freedom must not have died in vain. As
Lincoln said: “…that government of the people, by the people, for the people
shall not perish from the earth.” Only if we focus on our history will that
happen.

Swickard: Looking at our imperfect historical leaders
We had this fixed forty years ago
Posted by
Jim Spence
The transformation of America's multi-racial culture has moved much faster than the claims of shameless politicians. Inter-marriage between all of the races has continued
to increase non-stop for hundreds of years. Watershed films like Guess Who’s
Coming to Dinner, in the 1960's also helped expose how utterly preposterous racial prejudice was. The film did so in
profound ways. The last time I watched this extraordinary film, I was reminded
that Sidney Poitier’s black father was the last of the four parental holdouts
in approving of the inter-racial marriage that was the heart of the story. Whites didn't have the market cornered on stereotypes, even in the 1960's.
With the increase in television viewership, professional
sports began to dramatically increase its influence on our multi-racial culture in the 60's.
By the early 1960’s all professional sports were integrated. And in 1966, Don Haskins
at UTEP (then Texas Western), taught the Kentucky Wildcats and many other southern
universities how foolish it was to intentionally not recruit the best players from high
school to play on their basketball teams. Haskins won a
national championship with the best players, and the nation received another civics lesson just a year after the Civil Rights Act became law.
In the decades that followed Jackie Robinson’s entry into
Major League Baseball, tens of thousands of great black athletes became
multi-millionaires as America’s free enterprise system rewarded them for being
the very best at what they did. The entertainment industry followed the same path. Sidney
Poitier was joined by thousands of other black entertainers and movie stars, who
like their counterparts in professional sports, became rich beyond their
wildest dreams. Motown music became as much a part of American culture as apple
pie. Fifty years ago America was far along in getting our racial
problems fixed and as recently as forty years ago, we pretty much had the problem solved.
Our wonderful story of national healing was and is still not lost on the rest
of the world. People of color from virtually every country on earth tried
harder than ever to become U.S. citizens, especially people from Africa. This longing by non-Americans of any race to become Americans persists to this day.
What the hell happened?
Politics happened. While white
racists were forced to go underground, which was fantastic, hatred of whites was encouraged and deemed chic in an increasing number of circles. It is like the bloody phase of a revolution. Democrats who filibustered the Civil Rights Act quickly learned that stoking racial division via backlash
against non-socialist whites worked well politically. So instead of declaring
success in the nation's effort to foment racial harmony in America, stoking racial suspicions and paranoia became the Democrat’s favorite “strategy.” Associating whack jobs who hold the illusion of white
supremacy, with anyone's logical support of free market capitalism has been a grand political con job. Long ago those at the very top of the American Democratic
Party decided it was best not to speak of Jackie Robinson, Don Haskins, or the fact that America is minting tens
of thousands of new black millionaires in the sports and entertainment industry every
decade. These powerful TRENDS are swept under the table and out of the discussion. Instead, Democrats continue to sell out to the sham idea that
it is best to pretend the problem with race has never received enough
attention.
Far away from the
fantasies, illusions, and distortions created by Democrat politicians, American culture has been and
continues to be way ahead on race. For decades television commercials and print ads
have been replete with people of all races enjoying themselves……together. The
depiction of inter-racial marriages like the reality of inter-racial marriages in our culture, has been
commonplace for two generations. People of all races play on all sorts of teams. Together they compete against other multi-racial teams. The best players are sought by all who care about winning, which is pretty much everyone.
So how is it that these days we have race riots where fringe
groups line up to throw projectiles at each other? It is because we will never get rid of
all the whack jobs in a nation of 350 million people.
Sadly it is the whack jobs that make the news. Take high
profile, mixed-race, and sub-par NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick
has been made famous for smearing law enforcement officers and refusing to show respect for the nation. Kaepernick is a living symbol for whack jobs
everywhere. His story is a great one that went very bad. Kaepernick was adopted and given a stable childhood by white parents who
cared not what color he was.....or wasn’t. The police Kaepernick has disparaged so
broadly, have provided security for him every time he played a football game. There
is so much more. Kaepernick was made a multi-millionaire by the free market
capitalist system that is the backbone of America. But if you hear Kaepernick talk, you would think that America is the most unfair country on the planet.....instead of the fairest. How do we know America is the fairest country? It is not because anyone says so. It is because millions say so who know tyranny. The same free market that has made America prosper and
Kaepernick fabulously wealthy, tells us all of this phony racial strife is a
sham. Hundreds of millions of Africans would give up just about anything to get
to America. They want to come here because hundreds of millions of them live under the
tyranny and oppression off black dictators in their homelands. These black dictators don't exploit them because they are black. They exploit them because this is what politicians tend to do.
Sorry folks, we had this problem solved forty years ago.
What should America do about the skinheads and Nazi fringe
groups who try to drum up attention for their vile hatred with lame demonstrations? Common sense says we
should ignore these bastards instead of pretending like they have numbers. They
don’t have numbers. But it is in Democrats interest to pretend they do have numbers and more important, pretend they are Republicans.
The group that does have alarming numbers these days is the one that
will destroy the free market system we all enjoy......if it can. This would be
the violent socialists who are nothing more than the other side of the whack
job coin.
The scariest thing going on in America in 2017 is we have whack jobs
embedded in our education system. Each year the system tries to mass produce more whack
jobs, instead of marginalizing them. Accordingly, the greatest threat our country faces comes from the political camp that feels it BENEFITS from dividing us. And so
long as Democrats believe it is in their political interests to divide us, they
will keep doing it.
With Democrats armed with the news media, the education system, and the entertainment industry, there is not much the GOP can do to stop this. And they seem hapless in the efforts to expose the truth. Sadly, when professional athletes, who have been great beneficiaries of America's free market system, insist on
pretending that America is not the place where most of the world wants to be, they create a problem that does not exist. Kaepernick is not the only fool in his field.
The idea that racism is a major problem in America is a home-grown scam. We had this fixed forty years ago.

We had this fixed forty years ago
So......you want outsiders to clean up Washington eh?
Posted by
Jim Spence
on Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Is Trump a real outsider? If you have any doubts, you have not
been paying attention. Trump has no political experience whatsoever. It is safe to say this lack of experience shows up quite often. On the other hand, (I sound like an economist) virtually
every U.S. Senator has tons of political experience as do most members of the House
of Representatives. The cads in Washington have had vast "experience" for years.....in my opinion, too much experience milking the system. Trump owes none of the ruling class anything. Hold that thought.
What you have been seeing unfold in America over the last
seven months is the exposing of corruption on a scale that boggles the mind.
The media is corrupt, the Democrats are corrupt, the Republicans are corrupt, and yes many
of America’s biggest business CEO's are corrupt. No wonder Bernie Sanders draws a
crowd. Of course Bernie and his fellow communist and wife Jane are as corrupt as they come. Only Bernie and Jane could take a golden parachute from a small college she bankrupted in a very short period of time.
Still, everyone
who has not been living in a cave for the last thirty years has known all along
that all of Washington is inherently corrupt. What we did not know until now, is just how
corrupt Washington is. It took the American heartland's votes for a crass outsider like Trump to create the force necessary to turn over the rocks.
The reason why layer after layer of corruption is being exposed right now is that our our all-powerful federal government and all its benefactors are fighting back hard against Trump the outsider. And we are finding that everyone wielding power in Washington has tools. Serious tools. Virtually all media outlets stick a knife in Trump every day. And government cronies from all walks of life cite bogus news reports as reasons why they can "no longer support Trump."
With all that a super-powerful government entails,
corruption is practically REQUIRED for survival. In fact, government has become
so powerful in America, that crony capitalism has completely replaced virtually
all market-based competition. You see this in every failing category of life (education, health care, journalism, etc.)
The all-out propaganda assault on Trump crashes ashore each day like a tsunami that won’t subside. This propaganda tsunami is all about government and its cronies retaining a death grip of "control" on America. It was all triggered by the earthquake Trump created in the political arena. We now know what happens when a president is elected while OWING nobody anything. This has not happened in our lifetimes. And it is not going down well with the entrenched and connected types who are no longer connected.
Don't kid yourself. The ruling class is not going away. They like it when there is decorum.....corrupt decorum. People who cloister around Washington want to be owed whether this president likes it or not. And this perversion does not only involve all of the Democrats in Congress and the news media who are attacking Trump on their behalf. It also involves virtually all GOP Senators and House members, as well as many high-profile corporate CEO’s who eat at and are beholden to those with access to the public trough.
Wikipedia defines crony capitalism as follows:
Crony capitalism is an economy in which businesses thrive not as a result of risk taken for them, but rather, as a return on money amassed through a nexus between a business class and the political class. ... It is also used to describe governmental decisions favoring "cronies" of governmental officials.
The all-out propaganda assault on Trump crashes ashore each day like a tsunami that won’t subside. This propaganda tsunami is all about government and its cronies retaining a death grip of "control" on America. It was all triggered by the earthquake Trump created in the political arena. We now know what happens when a president is elected while OWING nobody anything. This has not happened in our lifetimes. And it is not going down well with the entrenched and connected types who are no longer connected.
Don't kid yourself. The ruling class is not going away. They like it when there is decorum.....corrupt decorum. People who cloister around Washington want to be owed whether this president likes it or not. And this perversion does not only involve all of the Democrats in Congress and the news media who are attacking Trump on their behalf. It also involves virtually all GOP Senators and House members, as well as many high-profile corporate CEO’s who eat at and are beholden to those with access to the public trough.
The latest absurd excuse for trying to crucify Trump came after
he roundly condemned the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.
His problem was he stated the truth. He said he saw fault on all sides. This small nugget
of profound wisdom, which recognized that there were extremists on display everywhere in Charlottesville, brought howls from the ever-growing ranks of race-baiters and their apologists, as
well as the anti-Trumpers in the GOP.
The simple unspoken truth is this: There are tens of thousands of people who worship Washington who cannot stand the fact Trump does not owe them anything.
The simple unspoken truth is this: There are tens of thousands of people who worship Washington who cannot stand the fact Trump does not owe them anything.
Back to Charlottesville.....Trump saying he saw fault on "all sides" also created an
opportunity for priggish crony-capitalists to preen and posture as if they have moral authority. Where were
these jackasses when Mr. Obama said law enforcement officers who were simply protecting
property in Cambridge, acted “stupid.” Where were they when sixty cops were killed in the
final year of Obama’s term, by mostly by Black Lives Matters assassins who receive aid and comfort from Democrats every day? Big Corporate America was also mostly silent on these killings, because cops lives are not nearly as important as staying on the inside with the Obama crowd. This is the essence of cronyism and corruption. You have to slurp up taxpayer dollars at the trough.
Don’t get me wrong. I am no fan of Trump the man. However, I
am a big fan of most of the policies that Trump has proposed. Sadly, not just Senate Democrats but Senate Republicans have blocked all paths to improvement for America that would come from basic reforms in the Trump agenda.
As for the fault on both sides claim Trump made this weekend? I am reminded of a Neo-Nazi
march in mostly Jewish Skokie, Illinois many decades ago. Those dregs were given
a permit by Jewish public officials. And yes, there were violent clashes back then too. Racist dregs
have been around for as long as human beings have walked the earth. And it is both true and admirable that our
constitution protects free speech.....period. This is not North Korea or Cuba.
The floating standards for judging Trump are finally becoming surreal. When radical
Democrats committed violence, as was the case last year when those sixty law enforcement officials were gunned down, mostly by people who vote
Democrat, there was never an attempt to micro-analyze the condemnation statements
made by Democrats. As for
the standard Mr. Obama was held to after he also condemned the violence and the
perpetrators of those cop murders.....well.......whatever he said was good enough. And why not? While Obama's rhetoric, like Trump's was over the top sometimes, nobody thought Obama wanted cops killed. That would be stupid. But this is Trump's presidency so bring on the stupid and try to legitimize it.
Once stupid is a way of life in journalism, there is no news anymore…..just overtly political people shaping any event and every event to further their own predetermined agenda. Washington, many corporate CEO's and the powerful but normally stealth ruling elites are showing their backsides. They are not pretty.

So......you want outsiders to clean up Washington eh?
Swickard: War unseen on the horizon
Posted by
Michael Swickard
on Sunday, August 13, 2017

It is good
that our world has not been in global military conflict since 1945. There have
been some very nasty regional conflicts, but it has been seventy-two years
since the entire world was at war.
Unfortunately,
in that time three generations of American leaders have emerged not steeped in
the horrors of WWII. That puts all Americans in danger now. We are seeing saber
rattling and belligerent talk out of today’s world leaders.
These hot
hasty words may push our world into a global conflict. Worse, there is an
amnesia in our country as to the results of any real military conflict.
I was
speaking to a couple young men. The potential for global conflict came up and
they didn’t seem concerned. I said, “You realize that you young men will fight
the next war.”
“No,” one countered,
“I don’t want to be in the military.” The other one also didn’t fancy serving
in the military. “But you signed up for the military,” I stated.
“Did not,”
they both said. “You signed up for selective service when you turned eighteen.”
They were confused. “But we had to so that we could get student loans.”
“Yes,” I
agreed. “But you signed up with selective service so you can be drafted into
the military if our country needs you to fight a war.” That got their attention.
Neither of them believed me but I could see they were thinking about this and
would get to the truth shortly.
Prior to
the first and second world wars, America had a small professional military.
That was exhausted in a few months and then came the push for civilians. In
WWII about sixteen million Americans served in the military. Most were civilian
volunteers and draftees.
What to do
about this possible war unseen on the horizon: Ronald Reagan said, “Of the four
wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U. S. was too strong.”
For our
country to stay out of war requires three interconnected actions: first, our
country needs a very robust well-trained professional military. Second, we need
political and military leaders who can make tough decisions. Finally, a firm
strategy for winning conflicts.
More so,
we need to know at what point do we wave our flags, our bands play and we come
home. We experienced the lack of this in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is what
our country had in WWII and what it has lacked ever since, with the exception
of the Persian Gulf War. America must have a firm grasp of the end in mind when
it gets into shooting conflicts.
If history
is any guide, a larger rule is to take the politics out of military action.
Hard to do but never use a political solution for a military problem. Never.

Swickard: War unseen on the horizon
What a filthy way to make a living
Posted by
Jim Spence
on Thursday, August 10, 2017
The saddest aspect of the travesty we call the federal government, is it is now crystal clear that there is nobody
to vote for to fix it. You can’t vote for any Democrat simply because they champion policies
that are literally destroying America’s economic vitality.
The GOP was America's last hope. Starting in January, the GOP seemingly had the votes to reverse some of the idiocy that has been foisted on America over the last eight years. In less than eight months the GOP has shifted gears. Now Republicans are telling us we should "lower our expectations." Let's explore this.
Mitch McConnell is seemingly about as crafty as they come. MCConnell thinks nothing of looking the cameras in the eye and saying the GOP will do certain things "immediately" that the GOP has no
intention of doing.....ever. And though it is true that most politicians in America will mislead citizens by making false statements about
what they will do once they are re-elected, it takes special brass to mislead
the way McConnell does. Earlier this week Mitch McConnell was back in his home state of Kentucky. Lecturing his listeners after the most disastrous seven months in Congressional history, McConnell had the unmitigated gall to tell a group that Donald Trump’s “expectations” are too high. It would seem that Trump, like most of the rest of the U.S. population, actually thought the GOP Senators would keep their solemn pre-election commitments. How naïve is Trump? Apparently naive enough to believe that people like John McCain and Mitch McConnell were going to keep their sacred word. Why is this naive? It is because with people like McCain and McConnell, nothing is sacred.
Consider John McCain. McCain is arguably the most shameless and remorseless liar in the Republican Party, cancer or no cancer. Perhaps being a POW in North Viet Nam and being re-elected to the Senate for all those terms by Arizona residents, has led McCain to believe that he can promise anything, deliver nothing, and still be treated like he is ultra-special. Of course he is right. Essentially, those characteristics describe most U.S. Senators regardless of party.
After promising to repeal Obamacare to get re-elected, McCain double-crossed his voters and sided with Democrats to keep Obamacare. For his part in the debacle, Mitch McConnell hid behind his own inept leadership as the travesty unfolded while pointing the finger at others. Some people are basically worthless. Others are worse than worthless. It is the height of arrogance to make promises to win elections and then tell those who voted for you to "lower their expectations."
Of course Mitch McConnell is safe in his job for a few more years. And he is happy because he is one of the hundred most arrogant human beings on the planet (a U.S. Senator) and nobody in his adoring inner circle is going to tell him how inept or disgraceful he really is.
After promising to repeal Obamacare to get re-elected, McCain double-crossed his voters and sided with Democrats to keep Obamacare. For his part in the debacle, Mitch McConnell hid behind his own inept leadership as the travesty unfolded while pointing the finger at others. Some people are basically worthless. Others are worse than worthless. It is the height of arrogance to make promises to win elections and then tell those who voted for you to "lower their expectations."
Of course Mitch McConnell is safe in his job for a few more years. And he is happy because he is one of the hundred most arrogant human beings on the planet (a U.S. Senator) and nobody in his adoring inner circle is going to tell him how inept or disgraceful he really is.
All of this GOP hogwash will probably have consequences soon. Don’t be surprised if McConnell is the minority leader again. Can you say 2018? Instead of serving the people, the GOP has served themselves and will not simply pass laws
that repeal others that do not apply to them.
If there is one sure fired way to guarantee low GOP
voter turnout, it is to conduct yourself like the GOP Senate has. If people
like Mitch McConnell and John McCain were in business, their customers would fire them and take them to court. One GOP donor has actually sued the GOP, accusing Republicans of racketeering. This man is being silly. Doesn't he realize that in Washington, elected officials are in the business of lying, misleading, and finger pointing? These tactics in combination with "incumbency" are not liabilities if you are in politics.
What a filthy way to make a living.
What a filthy way to make a living.

What a filthy way to make a living
Swickard: Contradicting ourselves many times over
Posted by
Michael Swickard
on Sunday, August 6, 2017

Years ago,
I went to Dallas to visit friends. They decided I should see the famous Book
Depository from where Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John Kennedy November 1963.
There is a tourist attraction where once an assassin perched.
The level of security surprised me. Armed
guards were everywhere. The money taker sat behind bullet-proof glass. We were
herded through metal detectors while protectors watched.
Maybe I got there at the wrong time
but it looked like a crowd of Mom and Pop tourists to me. Then we took the
elevator which only went to the sixth floor. Much of the exhibit was the story
of the assassination of President Kennedy from the assassin’s point of view.
It answered questions of how Oswald
brought the gun up to the window where he fired. The older tourists were somber.
I suspect the younger visitors didn’t have the personal emotional attachment to
that time.
I wasn’t the only person who was peeved
at the people who stood in the southeast corner and looked from the assassin’s
perspective down to the street below mentally sighting the rifle. It was when
they said loudly, “BANG,” that I began to think the exhibit was ill-conceived.
On our way back to my host’s house we
stopped by the Irving Mall. I don’t know exactly what happened, but apparently just
minutes before we arrived a gang fight broke out next to the food court.
Some unlucky guy was just sitting
down to a piece of pizza with his wife and two small children when he was
killed by a stray shot. We walked in just after the smoke cleared. The security
guards stood in groups looking like a bunch of chickens in a barnyard right
after the farmer has culled out a couple for Sunday lunch.
There were some people who lamented
that there were not more armed security guards when the shooting occurred. With
more people shooting the perpetrator might have been caught. But the armed
guards were all back at the Dallas Book Depository.
Since I paid my way into the Book
Depository Memorial on the sixth floor I have the right to say that it should
be razed like was done with the Cleveland apartment building when a man used it
in the course of a cannibalistic crime spree.
We Americans are contradictory. We
celebrate a fallen president from where the assassin sat. The assassin should
not be the attraction. And even better, it would be nice if they were able to
change the local shooting gallery back into a shopping mall.
And for heaven’s sake, don’t get me
started on the lunacy of celebrating the outlaw Billy the Kid while completely forgetting
New Mexico’s own Sheriff Pat Garret.

Swickard: Contradicting ourselves many times over