"Look, I don’t care how you slice it, folks, it just doesn’t make any sense. Even the most accepted, and some might say logical explanation, it doesn’t make sense, and here’s what it is. Why are the Republicans willing to commit suicide? Because that’s what it is."
Rush pretty much answers the question (to some extent) later in the show: Many of these Republican leaders depend on the two-timing Chamber of Commerce and other fence-sitting Big Business connected donors for their funding...so whatever they want (political puppets & cheap labor), the GOP leadership pursues; which in turn, secures their retirement from Congress (monetarily speaking). Con artists, no?
Let’s review. Last fall, remember, leading up to the government shutdown, the Republican Party leadership is making sure they’re out there, they’re publicly saying, “Focus on Obamacare. Get rid of Obamacare. We gotta get rid of Obamacare.” They wanted us to think that’s what they’re focusing on, and do not lose sight of it. Mike Lee and Ted Cruz pop up and take ‘em seriously and it results in a government shutdown. The Republican Party leadership goes absolutely batty, “Oh, my God, you’re killing us! We’re gonna get blamed for shutting down the government and people love the government. People don’t want the government shut down, oh, my God, oh, my God.”
Now they’ve done a total flip-flop and to heck with Obamacare. They don’t seem to care at all even though it’s failing, even though it’s ripe. I mean, it’s never been — and it’s been this way for a long time — it’s never been a greater opportunity for the Republican Party to connect with a majority of Americans across the spectrum. The opposition to Obamacare knows no bounds. People from all income levels, people from all walks of life, all religions, all creeds, all three sexes, it doesn’t matter, there are opponents, and they are the vast majority. And it is getting bigger. And the Republicans who last fall said “Don’t do anything to take the focus off that,” have now taken the focus off that and have shifted to amnesty!
ADDENDUM: Rush says he ran across a theory over the weekend that he wanted to run by us. I don't buy it, neither does Rush, but that's not really the point. The point is how wacky it's getting out there trying to figure out what the hell the Republican hierarchy is doing...when the answer is simple: follow the money.
So, Democrat-lite? Republicans, why is this guy still Speaker? He's killing the party!
TheHill: House Republicans arrived at their retreat here in search of an agenda for 2014, hoping to show voters that they are, in the words of Speaker John Boehner, the “alternative party,” not simply the opposition to President Obama.
In between motivational speeches and ideas lectures at a resort along the banks of the frozen Chesapeake Bay, GOP lawmakers will try to hatch plans on immigration, the debt ceiling and healthcare.
“I think in order to maximize this year, it’s important that we show the American people that we’re not just the opposition party, we’re actually the alternative party,” Boehner (R-Ohio), dressed casually in an orange sweater, told reporters Thursday morning.
“Republicans have to do more to talk about the better solutions that we think we have that will help the American people grow their wages, have opportunities to have a better job and clearly have a better shot at the American dream.”
More talk? You've talked enough, sir. You need to act...not with Obama (on immigration, the debt ceiling and healthcare), but act in opposition to this president's statist agenda! (and free yourself from the Chamber of Cronyism's shackles for crying out loud!)
Related link: Just Say No, Republicans
ADDENDUM I: Rush says Boehner is conveying the message that ‘We are not going to criticize the dictator’...
ADDENDUM II: On Monday, Levin reminds us that the Republican Party is an apparatus and a Party, NOT a philosophy. The Republican Party is no longer a conservative party, and has truly only been led by conservative leaders twice in the last hundred years (Coolidge and Reagan). Of course, the establishment fought them throughout their administrations; preceding and following with progressivism from both Republican and Democrat alike through all the Deals and Societies. As the GOP keeps moving away from a constitutionalist, small government party, they creep ever closer to a more centrist, leftist one. Thus, the Speaker's idea of an 'alternative' as opposed to a genuine 'opposition' party.
This evening, Mark Levin reminds us of a particular speech from former Democratic Governor of Colorado, Dick Lamm, at the Immigration-Overpopulation Conference held in Washington, D.C. back in 2005. It was a powerful speech that left the audience stunned...a speech that is perfectly timed in light of the RINOs push towards amnesty...
"If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America. It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.' Here is how they do it.
First: Turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bi-cultural country. History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual.
The historical scholar Seymour Lipset put it this way: 'The histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy.' Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans.
Second: Invent 'multi-culturalism' and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no cultural differences. I would make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds. We could make the United States an 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort.
Third: The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: 'The apparent success of our own multi-ethnic and multi-cultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentrically and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together.' I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural sub-groups living in America reinforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities.
Fourth: I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school.
My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology.'
I would get all minorities to think their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population.
My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other.
A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic games. A common enemy Persia threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and
geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell. "E. Pluribus Unum" -- From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus' instead of the 'unum,' we can balkanize America as surely as Kosovo.
Seventh: I would place all subjects off limits ~ make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate.
Eighth: Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America , it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant sympatric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them.
Lastly, I would censor Victor Hanson Davis's book Mexifornia. His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book."
No applause concluded Lamm's speech. Only a quiet, chilling fear arose throughout every attendee. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today. Not so quiet anymore, is it? Every discussion concerning the dangers of illegal immigration, multi-culturalism and the impending balkanization of our society continues to be suppressed. 'Diversity' is celebrated above assimilation, above being American. American jobs have vanished into the Third World as corporatists assist the creation of a Third World in America. This hydra-head eating away at our national sovereignty is destroying the American Dream for both native and new citizen.
Related link: MUST LISTEN: Mark Levin on how to destroy America
Here's one genuine conservative's 'WTH' response to John Bonehead's move towards amnesty...
Breitbart: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) thinks that the House GOP leadership’s renewed push this week to grant amnesty to illegal aliens would destroy the Republican Party’s chances at retaking the Senate in 2014.
Cruz questioned how establishment Republicans unilaterally caving to Democrats on everything from the farm bill to the budget to the debt ceiling and more could think amnesty is a good idea at this time.
"Right now, Republican leadership in both chambers is aggressively urging members to stand down on virtually every front: on the continuing resolution, on the budget, on the farm bill, on the debt ceiling,” Cruz said in a statement provided exclusively to Breitbart News on Thursday.
He continued:
"They may or may not be right, but their argument is that we should focus exclusively on Obamacare and on jobs. In that context, why on earth would the House dive into immigration right now? It makes no sense, unless you're Harry Reid. Republicans are poised for an historic election this fall--a conservative tidal wave much like 2010. The biggest thing we could do to mess that up would be if the House passed an amnesty bill--or any bill perceived as an amnesty bill--that demoralized voters going into November. Rather than responding to the big-money lobbying on K Street, we need to make sure working-class Americans show up by the millions to reject Obamacare and vote out the Democrats. Amnesty will ensure they stay home."
Cruz added that granting amnesty now--while wrong in his opinion at any time--would ensure Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid remains in his position after the 2014 elections.
Indeed it will...along with crushing voters' morale and ultimately leading to the party's demise, not just towards Senate hopes, but in all branches of government permanently. It's suicide...
Related links: Sessions Warns House GOP: Immigration Bill Is Bad Politics, Bad Policy
Wrecking the country, losing voters, destroying the party...all for Amnesty?
Ryan all-in with Boehner, GOP Establishment in selling out America to Amnesty
So, why the hell is the House GOP prepared to sell out the citizenry and the country to amnesty this week? Particularly when Phyllis Schlafly has produced a stunning report on how the current immigration policies, as opposed to the unenforced laws, are fundamentally transforming the nation...
AC: Citing surveys from the Pew Research Center, the Pew Hispanic Center, Gallup, NBC News, Harris polling, the Annenberg Policy Center, Latino Decisions, the Center for Immigration Studies and the Hudson Institute, Schlafly's report overwhelmingly demonstrates that merely continuing our current immigration policies spells doom for the Republican Party.
At the current accelerated rate of immigration -- 1.1 million new immigrants every year -- Republicans will be a fringe party in about a decade.
Thanks to endless polling, we have a pretty good idea of what most immigrants believe.
According to a Harris poll, 81 percent of native-born citizens think the schools should teach students to be proud of being American. Only 50 percent of naturalized U.S. citizens do.
While 67 percent of native-born Americans believe our Constitution is a higher legal authority than international law, only 37 percent of naturalized citizens agree.
No wonder they vote 2-1 for the Democrats.
The two largest immigrant groups, Hispanics and Asians, have little in common economically, culturally or historically. But they both overwhelmingly support big government, Obamacare, affirmative action and gun control.
According the 2012 National Asian American Survey, as well as a Kaiser Foundation poll, only 40 percent of the general public holds a favorable opinion of Obamacare, 42 percent unfavorable. Meanwhile, 51 percent of Asians have a favorable opinion of Obamacare, 18 percent an unfavorable one. Even Koreans support Obamacare by 57 percent to 17 percent.
Overall, 69 percent of immigrants like Obamacare, according to a 2010 Cooperative Congressional Election Study.
That same survey showed that only 35 percent of native-born Americans support affirmative action, compared to 58 percent of immigrants, including -- amazingly -- 64 percent of Asians (suggesting they may not be as smart as everyone thinks).
Also surprising, a Pew Research Center poll of all Hispanics, immigrant and citizen alike, found that Hispanics take a dimmer view of capitalism than even people who describe themselves as "liberal Democrats." While 47 percent of self-described "liberal Democrats" hold a negative view of capitalism, 55 percent of Hispanics do.
Pew also found that only 27 percent of Hispanics support gun rights, compared to 57 percent of non-Hispanic whites. According to Latino Decisions, large majorities of Hispanics favor a national database of gun owners, limiting the capacity of magazines and a ban on semiautomatic weapons.
Seventy-five percent of Hispanic immigrants and 55 percent of Asian immigrants support bigger government -- also according to Pew. Even after three generations in America, Hispanics still support bigger government 55 percent to 36 percent, compared to the general public, which opposes bigger government 48 percent to 41 percent.
How are Republicans going to square that circle? It's not their position on amnesty that immigrants don't like; it's Republicans' support for small government, gun rights, patriotism, the Constitution and capitalism.
Reading these statistics, does anyone wonder why Democrats think vastly increasing immigration should be the nation's No. 1 priority?
Here's an answer in Levin's terms as to why the GOP leadership is doing this: The Chamber of Cronyism wants cheap labor over American employment...and many within the Republican Party are financially beholden to these corporatists (becoming corporatists themselves).
Looks like the GOP leadership is on board with Obama's 'Year of Action'...in ways Democrats didn't even expect!
Newsmax: House Speaker John Boehner, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, and other leaders in the House are planning to make a case for taking up a controversial plan that could include some path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants during the annual GOP retreat under way in Maryland.
Among the most contentious issue is a push by Boehner to pass some sort of immigration reform this year even as weary Republicans face tough midterm elections back home, The Hill reports.
Related link: Buchanan: Boehner Will Lose Speakership if He Pushes for Immigration Reform
Yes, the former GOP VP pick is all-in with Boehner and the boyz in the sellout...
Wizbang: Paul Ryan is considered by those in Washington to be one of the brightest guys around. We accepted that view when Mitt Romney picked him for VP. We should have known better, we’ve been watching Washington for a long time.
Today, in an interview on Satan’s network, MSNBC, Ryan proved everybody wrong. Turns out Paul Ryan is dumb as a box of rocks and fits perfectly into the old adage, “There’s one born every minute.” I’ll get this out of the way right now, Paul Ryan is a shameful fool and should be banished to Venezuela, just listen to this crap.
A probationary pathway to legalization with a law written in a way that the administration can’t get around enforcing it. That is the absolutely stupidest statement that has ever come out of the mouth of a Republican, and we think that Rep. Ryan may actually believe that pile of horse pucky he just left in our house.
Related links: Rep. Paul Ryan wants amnesty first, border security second
Rep. Ryan: GOP Looking at Legal Status, Chance for Citizenship
Sen. John Cornyn: We can’t win in 2016 without resolving immigration reform
Limbaugh Lifts Ban On MSNBC To Rip Reince Priebus
So while the Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus (along with Boehner) butters up the Chamber of Commerce (along with Obama and the Democrats) by espousing that 'something big' has to happen towards overhauling our immigration laws (instead of enforcing them!), one has to ask is this the best scam they can come up with?
TheDC: Dud Con II: Immigration reform watchers have been waiting to see how the GOP leadership tries to package legislation to trick anti-amnesty conservatives into voting for what in essence is an amnesty.**
So how were Boehner & Co going to sell “legal status first” plan as an “enforcement first plan”?
Now we know: By pretending that legal status isn’t legal status. That’s something that not even the famously deceptive Senate Gang of 8 tried.
According to amnesty champion Paul Ryan, illegal immigrants would at first get “probationary status” along with a “work permit.” They could come ‘out of the shadows’ and live and work here. Then if measures are taken so the “border is secured” they’d get a “regular work permit.”
The idea, WaPo‘s Greg Sargent says, seems to be that “Undocumenteds will be allowed to work on probation while the border is being secured, but will not enjoy legal status.” Why not? Apparently because their “probationary” permits might not be permanent — the immigrants “could be kicked off of probationary status if certain security benchmarks aren’t met.”
This is a joke.
Really, this is the best they could come up with? I’m beginning to worry about the lack of ingenuity among America’s skilled legislative con artists. Maybe we need to import some better ones from abroad — a sort of “guest lobbyist” program. (H-1K visas.)
What’s wrong with a straight Enforcement First, Legalization Second approach, anyway? The undocumented have been waiting ‘in the shadows’ for 25 years. They can wait 5 more while we implement a few measures to prevent another surge of additional undocumenteds (like the one that came after the 1986 amnesty).
It’s no answer to say that the Democrats won’t go for that. It’s certainly not an answer Republicans have to accept.
Backfill: See Allahpundit and P.J. Tatler (“Paul Ryan has an immigration plan. It’s awful.”)
_____
**–More accurately, the idea is to allow GOP congressmen to con their conservative constituents into not rebelling against them when they vote for what is in essence an amnesty.
Wreck the country, while losing voters, simply to satisfy Republican bundlers...at a time when Democrats are electorally weak due to all of Obama's failed policies? Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Sounds like the GOP are attempting to put the final nail in their own coffin!
Related links: Immigration officials warn of amnesty ‘overload’
LIMBAUGH: Amnesty Is The ‘Mother Of All Scams’
UPDATE: Oh look...sudden change of heart? Doubtful. (via Levin)...
On Monday's Mark Levin Show: The Republican leadership seems to be retreating on the issue of amnesty and Mark says that we can't let our guard down - are they just doing this to get thru the Republican primaries and the next election cycle? We have been adamant about our position on illegal immigration for years, and suddenly for John Boehner to change his mind and others, something must be going on.
Related link: U.S. immigration bill 'in doubt' this year, Republican Ryan says
DAMN! Maybe, just maybe, some eyes are even opening in Chicago after that sorry SOTU...
Rebelpundit: [Tuesday] night in Chicago, black grassroots activists reacted to President Obama’s State of the Union address at Wallace’s Catfish Corner–and it wasn’t pretty.
J.R. Fleming of the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign said, “This state of the union was the same ol’ same ol’, a bunch of talk and rhetoric to give favor to a dying economy in America–and the reason why our economy is dying is the President’s approach is always to place blame…It’s not the 1 percent problem, it’s not the 99 percent problem, it’s an American problem, and the problem is patronage, nepotism and cronyism.
Joe Watkins, Founder of V.O.T.E. (Voices of the Ex-Offender) asked how raising the minimum wage was “going to help people who don’t have any jobs right now.” Watkins remarked that despite holding a graduate’s degree, he has been unemployed for four years.
But perhaps the biggest slam was when Mark Carter, also of V.O.T.E., suggested that black Americans would be better off if the President would cut his presidency short and “just quit.” Carter direct his comments to the President, saying, “if this is what you call helping us, then just stop helping us.”
Carter went on to criticize the President’s record during his time in Chicago as a community organizer. “He had never done anything for the community, he didn’t know the people in the community. All those things they talk about Altgeld Gardens, he wasn’t doing that stuff for real.”
Despite socio-political differences one might have with some of the insinuations or expectations, it's nonetheless interesting to see how these Democrats from the Senator-turned-President's own proclaimed state (although he spends more time in Hawaii) are starting to realize on their own what conservatives have been telling them for decades, not just about this President and their own party, but the Democratic statist philosophy.
Related link: Al Sharpton's Chicago Town Hall Erupts Into Revolt Against Machine Politics
Ted Cruz wrote an excellent piece ahead of Obama's SOTU, addressing the imperial tendencies of this president. In doing so, Cruz explains to the American people that "in the nation's history, there is simply no precedent for an American president so wantonly ignoring federal law."
WSJ: Of all the troubling aspects of the Obama presidency, none is more dangerous than the president's persistent pattern of lawlessness, his willingness to disregard the written law and instead enforce his own policies via executive fiat. On Monday, Mr. Obama acted unilaterally to raise the minimum wage paid by federal contracts, the first of many executive actions the White House promised would be a theme of his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
The president's taste for unilateral action to circumvent Congress should concern every citizen, regardless of party or ideology. The great 18th-century political philosopher Montesquieu observed: "There can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or body of magistrates." America's Founding Fathers took this warning to heart, and we should too.
Rule of law doesn't simply mean that society has laws; dictatorships are often characterized by an abundance of laws. Rather, rule of law means that we are a nation ruled by laws, not men. That no one—and especially not the president—is above the law. For that reason, the U.S. Constitution imposes on every president the express duty to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."
Yet rather than honor this duty, President Obama has openly defied it by repeatedly suspending, delaying and waiving portions of the laws he is charged to enforce.
Cruz points out instances where Obama has disagreed with federal laws, in which he orders executive departments to cease enforcement: immigration law, welfare law, drug laws and DoMA. Yet, when things aren't going his way, or when he or his party are politically inconvenienced, he abuses the executive powers in the same manner by postponing and waiving...
On many of those policy issues, reasonable minds can disagree. Mr. Obama may be right that some of those laws should be changed. But the typical way to voice that policy disagreement, for the preceding 43 presidents, has been to work with Congress to change the law. If the president cannot persuade Congress, then the next step is to take the case to the American people. As President Reagan put it: "If you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat" of electoral accountability.
President Obama has a different approach. As he said recently, describing his executive powers: "I've got a pen, and I've got a phone." Under the Constitution, that is not the way federal law is supposed to work.
The Obama administration has been so brazen in its attempts to expand federal power that the Supreme Court has unanimously rejected the Justice Department's efforts to expand federal power nine times since January 2012.
There is no example of lawlessness more egregious than the enforcement—or nonenforcement—of the president's signature policy, the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Obama has repeatedly declared that "it's the law of the land." Yet he has repeatedly violated ObamaCare's statutory text.
After strolling through the laundry list of illegal executive actions taken on behalf of that singularly disastrous Leviathan of unconstitutional lawlessness, Cruz explains to Americans of all stripes how Barack Obama is fundamentally transforming the office of the presidency into something never meant for this nation...
In the past, when Republican presidents abused their power, many Republicans—and the press—rightly called them to account. Today many in Congress—and the press—have chosen to give President Obama a pass on his pattern of lawlessness, perhaps letting partisan loyalty to the man supersede their fidelity to the law.
But this should not be a partisan issue. In time, the country will have another president from another party. For all those who are silent now: What would they think of a Republican president who announced that he was going to ignore the law, or unilaterally change the law? Imagine a future president setting aside environmental laws, or tax laws, or labor laws, or tort laws with which he or she disagreed.
That would be wrong—and it is the Obama precedent that is opening the door for future lawlessness. As Montesquieu knew, an imperial presidency threatens the liberty of every citizen. Because when a president can pick and choose which laws to follow and which to ignore, he is no longer a president.
...and therein lies the danger from within.
Related link: Obama To Act ‘Wherever And Whenever’ He Can ‘Without Legislation’
Performed by none other than white comedian Paul Shanklin...
RUSH: "If you're saying, 'What?' You got it! If you're saying, 'What the hell was that?' You got it. If you're saying, 'Well, I don't understand it.' You got it! If you're saying, 'Wait a minute, what did I miss.' You didn't miss anything! If you're scratching your head saying, 'Wait a minute, is that supposed to be funny?' You got it. If you're saying, 'Wait a minute, is there some sarcasm in there?' You got it! It was a whole bunch of NUTHIN' last night."
Related links: Limbaugh on SOTU: A Campaign Speech Without An Election
RUSH: ‘We Do Not Want Congress And the President Working Together On Our Behalf’
Yeah, you could have wasted your night watching Obama essentially reboot last year's State of the Union address, with added unilateral dictate and more inequality diatribes, or the ineffective Republican response. But in actuality, the only address that mattered last night (or even worth listening to) was delivered by Sen. Mike Lee...
Here's a few selected excerpts of Sen. Lee’s remarks:
“In America, the test of any political movement is not what that movement is against, but what it is for. The founders made a point at Boston Harbor, but they made history in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall.”
“Today, Americans know in their hearts that something is wrong. Much of what is wrong relates to the sense that the ‘American Dream’ is falling out of reach for far too many of us. We are facing an inequality crisis – one to which the President has paid lip-service, but seems uninterested in truly confronting or correcting.”
“But where does this new inequality come from? From government – every time it takes rights and opportunities away from the American people and gives them instead to politicians, bureaucrats, and special interests.”
“Throughout the last five years, President Obama has promised an economy for the middle class; but all he’s delivered is an economy for the middle-men.”
“We have a new generation of leaders in Washington with positive, innovative ideas – thoughtful policy reforms to, as my friend Senator Ted Cruz says – “Make D.C. listen.” Reforms to help poor families work their way into the middle class, to help middle-class families start to get ahead, and to level the playing field and put corporate and political insiders back to work for the rest of us.”
“All of these proposals within this new conservative reform agenda, along with many more to come, mark the road to Philadelphia. These principles and these policies will work – and will put Americans back to work. Not just by cutting big government, but by fixing broken government. Not just by making government smaller but by promoting bigger citizens, stronger families and more heroic communities. Our goal should be an America where everyone has a fair chance to pursue happiness – and find it. That’s what it looks like when protest grows into reform.”
Related link: Six reasons why Mike Lee’s tea party response to the State of the Union was amazing
"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and “slipped the surly bonds of earth” to “touch the face of God.”"
28 years ago today...
On January 28th, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was broadcast live on television and was seen by millions of Americans, from school children to adult observers. President Reagan addressed the nation that evening, not just as a president, but as a fellow American who had also just witnessed such a terrible tragedy.
His brilliant and deliberate speech set the tone for the country's mourning, thus propelling the nation's will to overcome the horrific event by paying tribute to the seven astronauts who lost their lives and immortalizing these brave explorers as the American heroes they were:
Michael Smith
Dick Scobee
Judith Resnik
Ronald McNair
Ellison Onizuka
Gregory Jarvis
Christa McAuliffe
Related link: Challenger Disaster: Reagan's TV Address
Haven't had a lot of time lately to update the blog, as I've undertaken one of those jobs that Americans won't do, like completely remodeling my master bathroom! So without depleting valuable time on the Grammy's mockery and insult of conservatives, Christianity and the sacrament of marriage or other demonic entertainment ills, I'll pass the torch onto Rush and Levin in an effort to prep you for Obama's State of the Coup speech tonight (HUGE H/T to DailyRushbo)...
Rush says Obama is sure to whine about inequality at the ‘State of the Coup’ address...
"We also have the State of the Union. I’m gonna call it the State of the Coup. I think that is what we need to call this. It’s not the State of the Union. It’s the State of the Coup. ...
And do you know what the theme of the State of the Coup is? Inequality. The president is going to complain and whine and moan about inequality."
Related link: RUSH: To Ensure Equality All Teenagers Will Be Required To Get High
Levin clarifies Obama's ‘One Man Wrecking Ball’ status...
"This President has created more poverty, more economic inequality, more economic dislocation, more crushing debt than any president in modern American history, including Jimmy Carter and Herbert Hoover!"
Related links: Mark Levin: We Need A New Republican Party
LEVIN: Quotes By Stalin, Lenin And Marx Sound Eerily Like Quotes By Obama And Hillary
More suggestions/comments from the Maha-Rushie:
And to go along with Levin's comments on the need for a New Republican Party, Rush also has a word of advice for the GOP leadership and their cronies in the Chamber of Commerce: Amnesty is dead...except for the Republicans!
"It’s the State of the Coup address tonight. USA Today is reporting that, for the second straight year, undocumented immigrants will be in the chamber when President Obama makes the State of the Coup speech tonight. “As Congress struggles to reach an agreement on a way to overhaul the nation’s…” You know, this is dead. Except for the Republicans, this is dead. Everybody acknowledges it’s dead for 2014.
The Democrats could not get it done on their own, and Obama could not get it done. I mean, the time passed. Now, the Republicans are planning on reviving it. It just goes to illustrate the game that’s played inside the Beltway with the establishment of both parties. They’re hell-bent on getting this done, and no matter how. There is no party difference on this issue. Never mind the fact that it only polls at 3%. Only 3% of the American people would rank it as an important issue.
So this is, again, the establishment forcing it on us. Chamber of Commerce is forcing it on the Republicans — and the continuing parade of victims, people that break the law being portrayed as victims worthy of our sympathy. People who are breaking the law are being present as worthy of our sympathy and being presented as examples of what a mean country this is. They’re gonna bring in a parade of undocumented immigrants to the State of the Coup speech for the express purpose of having them portrayed as victims."
Related link: RUSH: Obama Not Getting Enough Blame For The State Of The Economy
ADDENDUM: Ted Cruz also relayed a few words about what to expect from Obama's SOTU address to Glenn Beck...
“This president consistently is not addressing the challenges facing this country. I mean, we know what’s going to come next week. He’s going to propose raising the minimum wage. He’s going to propose more government spending. He’s going to propose more debt. He’s going to propose more taxes. He’s going to propose all of the policies that he’s been doing for the last five years that aren’t working and they are making the problem worse.
He’s going to ignore the enormous harms that people are suffering because of Obamacare, that are suffering because we have the lowest work force participation in decades, because the Obama economic policies aren’t working,” Cruz said. “And he’s certainly going to ignore the scandals of IRS and Benghazi.”
Beck's reply to Cruz:
“For the first time ever, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and Glenn Beck, and hopefully Rush Limbaugh, are all on the same page. We’ve all come to the same understanding ourselves … and we’re all moving in the same direction. And none of us are moving in the direction of the GOP. For the very first time, all of talk radio, which is supposed to be this GOP organ, is the furthest thing from a GOP organ.
I think you and Mark and Sean and Rush are like Paul Revere and Patrick Henry. You are sounding the alarm, and you’re speaking the truth. And that is powerful. It’s critically important. But I think the answer is to bring the Republican Party back to the principles we should have been standing for.”
Hat tip to theRightScoop for supplying us with some uplifting images of genuine hope in America on an otherwise dark day in American history, ethics, culture and morality...
Today was the annual March for Life in Washington DC. According to news reports, thousands turned out in the cold weather to March on Washington and protest abortion. According to the USA Today, Patrick Kelly, chairman of the march told a large crowd at the National Mall “We may be freezing, but we are freezing for the best cause in the world.”
USA Today also cites that protesters chanted “Hey, hey, ho, ho, abortion has got to go” and “We love babies, yes we do, we love babies, how about you?!” and that the atmosphere was great: “The atmosphere was upbeat, even as their signs whipped in the brutal wind: “Babies are precious”, “#teamlife” and “I am the pro-life generation.”"
Really? Everyone? Not so much. Here's Obama's celebratory statement on the 41st anniversary of the SCOTUS decision that's led to the murder of over 55 MILLION babies...
"Today, as we reflect on the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, we recommit ourselves to the decision’s guiding principle: that every woman should be able to make her own choices about her body and her health. We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to protecting a woman’s access to safe, affordable health care and her constitutional right to privacy, including the right to reproductive freedom. And we resolve to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, support maternal and child health, and continue to build safe and healthy communities for all our children. Because this is a country where everyone deserves the same freedom and opportunities to fulfill their dreams."
What a sick little ideologue we have in the White House.
Ed Morrissey of HotAir begged to differ 'on behalf of the 55 million whose opportunities for freedom and dreams got sucked out of existence when the same thing happened to them.'
The core value of the freedom to life was denied those millions of victims. Abortion is literally the antithesis of that final sentence, and a horrid parody of reality for “all our children.”
Morrissey also picked up on a report from TheHill that states Republicans plan to make this an issue for the midterms. There's the inclination to just expect lip service from the current so-called leadership, with no real meaningful push behind it. But if they really are encouraging GOP candidates to discuss abortion openly, then they better be prepared to have principles behind it and intelligent articulation to back it up.
That strategy requires political candidates who can discuss the subject intelligently. We’ve seen what happens when Republicans attempt to “wing it” during interviews, and the media will be as anxious as ever to cast the GOP as “extreme” on abortion.
If the RNC really wants to put this issue on the table for 2014, then it had better plan for those eventualities. (They did postpone their winter meeting to allow Republicans on Capitol Hill to participate in March for Life demonstrations today.)
Related link: Obama on abortion anniversary: “This is a country where everyone deserves the same freedom…to fulfill their dreams”
Overwhelmingly barbaric. More than 55 MILLION babies murdered since Roe (and Doe)...this is nothing short of genocide.
ChicagoNow: “America is missing at least 55 million people – that’s the estimated number of abortions performed in the United States since the historic Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions were handed down by the Supreme Court in 1973.
“Fifty-five million. That’s almost 20 percent of today’s population. Talk about genocide,” he wrote.
But that apparently doesn’t bother many, explained Byrne, a contributing op-ed columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
“For the extremists in Planned Parenthood, Illinois Personal PAC, ACLU and other absolutist outfits that support the idea that an unborn child can be killed for any reason (an idea made real by the combined Roe and Doe decisions), those 55 million aren’t people. They’re not even mourned for the loss of potential life.”
But he said it does matter: “I’ll be accused – again – of being heartless, of not caring about a woman who is forced to make a difficult choice. I’ll be told that if I don’t want an abortion then I should not get one. As if there is no one else involved in this matter of pure ‘Choice.’ Making the millions and millions of problems (not persons, mind you) disappear, as if they were never people who ever existed?
“Now that’s heartless.”
Related link: 55 million babies have been killed in America since 1973
Today marks one of the darkest stains on American history, ethics, culture and morality...but it wasn't foisted on us through a misguided vote of the people, or even Congress. Rather, such barbarism as abortion on demand was granted by seven unelected oligarchs among nine on high...
NRLNews: On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade and its companion case, Doe v. Bolton. In a 7-2 decision, the Court ruled that abortion must be permitted for any reason before fetal viability—and that it must be permitted for “health” reasons, broadly defined in Doe (so as to encompass virtually any reason), all the way until birth. Roe and Doe essentially legalized abortion on demand nationwide.
The New York Times proclaimed the verdict “a historic resolution of a fiercely controversial issue.” But now, 41 years later, abortion is as unresolved and controversial as ever. Three intractable problems will continue to plague the Court and its abortion jurisprudence until the day when, finally, Roe is overturned.
First, and most importantly, the outcome of Roe is fundamentally harmful and unjust. Why? The facts of biology show that the human embryo or fetus (the being whose life is ended in abortion) is a distinct and living human organism at the earliest stages of development. This was established long before 1973, though subsequent scientific and technological advances have greatly improved our knowledge of life before birth. As Dr. Horatio R. Storer explained in a book published in 1866, “Physicians have now arrived at the unanimous opinion that the foetus in utero is alive from the very moment of conception.”
The second problem with Roe is that it is legally, constitutionally mistaken. Justice Harry Blackmun’s majority opinion claimed that the “liberty” protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment includes a “right of privacy” that is “broad enough to encompass” a right to abortion. “As a constitutional argument,” notes University of Pennsylvania law professor Kermit Roosevelt (who favors legalized abortion), “Roe is barely coherent. The Court pulled its fundamental right to choose more or less from the constitutional ether.”
Third, Roe is undemocratic. It struck down the democratically-decided abortion laws of all 50 states and imposed a nationwide policy of abortion on demand, whether the people like it or not. Because the Court lacked any constitutional warrant for this move, it usurped the rightful authority of the elected branches of government to determine abortion policy.
Overturning Roe would not make abortion illegal nationwide. It would return the question of abortion policy back to the people and their elected representatives, where it had been for almost 200 years, and where it always belonged.
So these are the intractable problems of Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court abused the Constitution to usurp the authority of the people by imposing a gravely unjust policy with breathtakingly disastrous results.
Unjust. Unconstitutional. Undemocratic. Together, these problems will lead, eventually, to Roe’s collapse.
We pray that this genocide end in America, we act through our state legislatures to protect the unborn...and we March For Life!
Notice Joe Biden also used MLK Day not to celebrate Dr. King's civil rights work, but instead to promote Big Government as civil rights at Al-not-so-Sharpton's National Action Network breakfast?
"Let me tell you where I think we are today. I think we're on the brink of bringing 11 million people out of the shadows on to a path to citizenship, making us not only a humane country, but more economically successful country. I think we're in the process of guaranteeing that no one who works 40 hours a week will have to continue to live in poverty. We're gonna raise that minimum wage. I think we're in the final stages of rectifying the injustice of income equality between women and men. Not only is it unjust for women to make 70 cents on the dollar compared to a man, it's stupid economically. It's against our economic interest. And it's way past time we stop arguing about whether every American has the right to adequate, affordable health care. Thanks to Barack Obama, that fight is over, and we are not going back, period."
Well, so did Mark Levin (starting @ 12:00 into podcast)...
"You see, ladies and gentlemen, this is not about civil rights anymore. This isn't a civil rights agenda. This is a Big Government agenda. Martin Luther King was marching against, among other things, Democrats. Democrat governors, Democrat state legislators, Democrat mayors, Democrat sheriffs. The Democrats still don't get this liberty thing. They still don't get this rule of law, constitution thing. They still don't get this thing about unalienable rights and free will and individual sovereignty. They don't get it, they never will get it. They are a Big Government operation.
Bringing 11 million people out of the shadows? We didn't put them in the shadows in the first place! They're here illegally! How is this a civil rights issue? Ralph Abernathy didn't think it was a civil rights issue. And unlike Joe Biden, he marched right next to Martin Luther King. Cesar Chavez didn't think it was a civil rights issue, 'cause he marched against it too. Suddenly it's a civil rights issue.
The minimum wage is a civil rights issue. Really? Economic liberty is a civil rights issue. Is that our focus on the lowest rung of the ladder? We want people to move up the ladder, and they cannot move up the ladder without taking the first step. This is a sop for the unions. Not for poor, minorities and other people, who are trying to get the first step up on the ladder. It's not a civil rights issue.
Guaranteeing people who work 40 hours a week won't live in poverty. Really? Well let me tell you something. That 17.3 Trillion dollar fiscal operating debt, and that now over 100 Trillion dollar unfunded liability, that's gonna take the whole damn country down! Nobody's gonna be above poverty one day. The answer to poverty is liberty. It's free market capitalism. It's the only way out for the vast majority of people. It works! It's worked before, it works today, it'll work tomorrow, but for the obstruction of Big Government, which is now the civil rights issue, Big Government.
He says, the Vice President of the United States, that it's unjust for women to make 77 cents on the dollar. You know what, folks? He's right! But that figure's a lie, and it's been addressed time and time and time again. They look at aggregates rather than specific jobs. Because still in our country, it's a funny thing about nature and women. They still want to nurture their children. I'm sorry, it's true! It's a funny thing in this country. Moms still want to be moms! And so in many respects, they take jobs where they can spend more time with their children. None of that's considered in the feminist, radical left agenda, which pushes this statistic. We also know for a fact that if you want to apply this manner of analyzing things, that in the White House, men are paid more than women! Right under Joe Biden's nose! What does he do about it? Not a damn thing.
And then there's the issue of equality. Equality of payments. What does that mean? That the same person doing the same job should be paid the same thing. Well guess what? If the same person, regardless of their genitalia, is doing the same job, for the most part, they are paid the same thing!"
...
"This is part of the problem. Part of the problem is you've got a dumb man like Joe Biden who's a demagogue, always has been a demagogue...he speaks at a forum like this, and he just pukes his lies up.
If we had what I've been calling for sometime now, a New Republican Party with a rebirth of freedom, not just on Martin Luther King's birthday, but every single day, we'd be making the case to anyone who'd listen, anyone, regardless of where they live, regardless of their background, regardless of what they do with their genitalia, regardless of their pigmentation, regardless of their religion, we would make the case that economic freedom and political freedom are intertwined! That when combined in the same hands, it's a recipe for tyranny. That we take progress, as a result of economic and political freedom, for granted. That our key documents, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and the Bill of Rights as part of the Constitution, demonstrate our magnificent heritage, focus on individual sovereignty and a stable, just rule of law.
The tremendous progress we've had in this society, second to none, makes certain imperfections even more acute, even more objectionable, because people obsess over them, they focus over them. They even lie about them and distort them. Because these demagogues, like Biden, they want people to turn to government. In specific, they want people to turn to them! And too many people ignore the danger that government imposes to their individual freedom. Government coercion is accepted as a force of improvement, a force of security and equality, when it's not."
...
So when Joe Biden shows up at the National Action Network and peddles more of the same Big Government statism as civil rights, he should be called on it. ...
We can make the case, ladies and gentlemen, for a free society. We can make the case, ladies and gentlemen, for respect for each and every human being and unalienable rights. We can make the case against a big, smothering, overbearing government with an insatiable appetite for power. We can make the case.
The civil rights movement is about liberty. Liberty. It's not about radical egalitarianism. Radical egalitarianism is about tyranny, where the individual is disrespected. It's about uniformity and conformity. It's about smothering rules and regulations. It's about bullying by government, pushing people around, telling them what to do, telling them what they can't do, mandating things, banning things, just because it can.
People's whose ancestry goes back to slavery, people whose ancestry goes through segregation, that's the natural conservative constituency. It truly is, if we would make the case, if we would break the back of the NEA and AFT and government-sanctioned control over our public school systems, and create competition and improve education and improve the ability of individuals to think for themselves and to really look at American history and to embrace our heritage. It's very difficult, but it has to be done.
Civil rights isn't government dictating wages and salaries, it isn't government making people who are here illegally legal, it isn't this endless war for radical egalitarianism until we're all at each others' throats demanding this and demanding that, that we're all victims all the time and every time."
...and that's what Biden, Obama, the Democrats, and quite frankly, too many Republicans, do.
We have to learn how to take these demagogues on, articulating conservatism and the principle behind it in order to win over Americans as a whole, away from the forces of inevitable tyranny. And we must insure that those we elect to represent us selflessly share in such learnedness.
Related link: Mark Levin delivers brilliant take down of Joe Biden’s MLK Day speech
