Favorite Quotes

I needed a place to keep my favorite quotes. What better place than here? So here we go (in no particular order)...

1. "Marge, it takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen." Homer Simpson
2. "Greed is good." Gordon Gecko, Wall Street
3. "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." John Adams
4. "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." Abraham Lincoln
5. "Evil will always triumph over good because good is dumb." Dark Helmet, Spaceballs
6. "I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman." Homer Simpson
7. "My Homer is not a communist. He may be a liar, a pig, an idiot, a communist, but he is not a porn star." Grandpa Simpson
8. Business man: "I'll have a Samual Jackson" Samual Jackson: "Good motherf**king choice, motherf**ker! Samuel Jackson! Made painstakingly by me, Samuel L. Jackson! It'll get ya drunk! You'll be f**king fat girls in no time! You might even fight a n**ga or two! Mmmm-mmm, b*tch! How's it taste, motherf**ker?!" Chappelle Show

9.  "Son, we live in a world that has walls and those walls need to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and curse the Marines; you have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago 's death, while tragic, probably saved lives and that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use then as the backbone of a life trying to defend something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you," and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest that you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to."  Col. Jessup, A Few Good Men

More to come...

A trillion dollar debacle

“Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things you couldn’t do before.” White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

Translation: We’re going to ram $1 trillion of new spending down America’s throat under the guise of a “stimulus” bill that benefits a laundry list of Democratic special interests while we have the opportunity and before America knows they’re buying. It’s time to pay the piper.

Reality: The only “stimulus” this will provide is strengthening the possibility of permanent Democratic party power, burdening future generations with debt, inflation, and stagnation. Such a huge shift of our national GDP from the private sector to the government will crowd out people’s and business’s ability to borrow, thus slowing recovery. Every special interest in the world will descend upon Washington for a piece of the pie. The federal government will be the ultimate distributor of scarce resources. Politicians will decide who wins and loses based on who can help keep them in power. It’s going to be a disaster.

Even more frustrating is that the Republicans’ beef with the socialism bill seems to be that they were not included in its construction and therefore not able to write in goodies for their special interest supporters. It’s the “you didn’t play fair” defense instead of in defense of market-oriented principles. If it's defeated, I guess I should just be satisfied that with the endgame rather than the tactics.

Perception Is Reality

There’s a trend in political commentary that brands bills or events to the person in charge at the time. It’s not the “tax cuts of 2001 passed under Bush;” it’s the “Bush tax cuts.” It’s not the “welfare reform passed under Clinton;” it’s the “Clinton welfare reform.” Branding is important because in politics, perception matters. For example, welfare reform was strongly opposed by Clinton before he signed the ‘The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996’ after Dick Morris, a Clinton advisor, persuaded him that not signing the bill would cost Democrats more seats in the mid-term elections and after he vetoed two previous versions of the bill. Clinton now receives credit for the bill’s success despite his previous objections.

Consider the economic turmoil we now face. Despite incompetence on both sides of the aisle, Bush in particular and Republicans in general have been blamed for recent economic hardships in the court of public opinion. It’s been called the “Bush recession,” or the more draconian “Bush depression.” The main stream media continue to drive this home with little analysis but plenty of blame. With a recent Zogby poll showing that over 60% of Obama voters believe Republicans control Congress, it’s no wonder Democrats were hurled into the Presidency and strengthened its hold in the Legislative Branch.

I suspect the economy will continue to sputter in the near future based on Obama’s policy initiatives. Obama will receive a grace period of perhaps a year. The media’s love affair with him will buy a grace period longer than any conservative would be afforded. He will continue (wisely) to blame problems on Bush, but this can’t last forever. Democrats are better at framing the debate partially because they have the mainstream media to trumpet their message. Conservative leadership must become better branders and find effective ways to get their message out if they wish to regain power. In politics, perception is reality.

Obama's Past Will Catch Up To Him

I'm not one for predictions. That being said, it would not surprise me if we have a significant political scandal involving the president-elect in the next four years. Chicago's and Illinois’’ political machine is notoriously corrupt:

· Governor Blagojevich (D) corruption charges for his auction attempt for the open US Senate seat left void with Obama’s victory (2008);
· Illinois Antoin Rezko (D), a long-time Barack Obama fundraiser and from Chicago, convicted of 16 felony corruption charges (2008);
· Former Governor Ryan (D) conviction of racketeering, mail fraud, filing false tax returns, and lying to investigators (2008);
· Accusations of Illinois Rep. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D), who racked up $420,000 through a series of suspicious real-estate deals (2008);
· Chicago City clerk Jim Laski (D) guilty of bribes for steering city business to trucking companies (2006);
· Chicago alderman Arenda Troutman (D) charged with bribery (2007);
· Chicago alderman Percy Giles (D) sentenced to 3 years in prison for racketeering and extortion, among other things (2000);
· Obama's buddy from the neighborhood, Bill Ayers, founder of the radical Weather Underground, who was involved in several bombings in the early 1970s, including the Pentagon and the Capitol.
I could go on, but you get the point. These are only a few of the recent accusations and convictions. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that in the last three decades, at least 79 Illinois elected officials have been convicted of a crime, including three governors, one mayor, and 27 aldermen from Chicago. To be sure, corruption and ethics issues are not unique to Chicago or Democrats. However, in Chicago it appears to hit a whole new level.

The question is this – How could a person rise so quickly in such a poisonous political culture and keep clean? Obama is 47 years old, one of the youngest persons to ever be elected President. He began as a community organizer in Chicago at age 22. His first elected office was in 1996 to the Illinois State Senate. So in his 25 years in the state and only 12 years in elected office, we’re to believe that Obama has steered clear of all political corruption in his home state and managed to work his way up the political chain to the Presidency on merit? Color me skeptical.

As the honeymoon period ends and investigative reporters decide to actually start doing their jobs on this guy, don’t be surprised if we learn Obama has a political past that would make Richard Daley blush.

Evil Lives - Revisited

There are several great commentators that I have tremendous respect for, but few match Thomas Sowell. Here's a great article that articulates my Mumbai point better than I ever could:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/12/the_meaning_of_mumbai.html

The ‘Facebook’ Phenomenon

As a conservative thinker, I often have people ask me if I’m a fan of Bush. I find this question puzzling. It’s as if they are asking me if I’m a fan of the music group Bush. I have many of their songs on my iPod, so I say yes. Some snort back that they hate Bush. After realizing they’re referring to the President, I ask why. Hate is a pretty powerful term. Do they know him personally? How could you form such a strong opinion of a man without firsthand knowledge?

To me, this is the wrong question to ask. Politicians aren’t supposed to have ‘fans’ per se. Politicians aren’t bands with Facebook pages where you click ‘Become a Fan’. They are elected to represent us. Our government is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Politicians should be judged on their character, leadership, and policies. I absolutely believe Barack Obama was the wrong choice for America . However, I do so on the merits, his (empty) speeches, and his (questionable) past. I will refuse to try to take down a presidency like so many on the left tried, and many ways succeeded, with President Bush. There’s often a debate in college football on if a coach is bigger than the program. In politics, the president will never be bigger than the Nation.

I’m concerned about this ‘Facebook’ phenomenon’s effect on government. There’s a long held American view that government should be viewed with skepticism. Politicians should be treated the same way. Barack Obama’s team did an amazing job of organizing millions of people to raise money and spread his message. Obama for President and related Facebook pages had some of the highest number of ‘fans’ on the website. However, at what point does ‘Becoming a Fan’ cross over into oligarchy? Obsessive Obama supporters crossed this bridge many moons ago. Witness the bumper stickers of Obama ‘fans.’ Many feature a silhouette style picture of Obama posing as if he’s saying ‘follow me to the holy land.’ This disgusts me.

Evil Lives But No One Seems To Care

We are so wrapped up in our day-to-day lives, that at times we forget the crazy and dangerous world around us. Ten Muslim extremists went on a three day rampage in Mumbai, the second largest city in the world with 14 million people and financial hub of India, murdering over 170 innocent people (I highly suggest reading the WSJ’s coverage as it’s a fascinating tale of what happens when the evil of terrorism meets law enforcement ineptness and the carnage that follows). The pure evil, and that’s the only way to describe it, astounds me. Yet America yawns.

The number one job of any government is to protect its people. In these terms, President Bush has done a good job. We have not had a terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11/01. As a result of this success coupled with poor economic conditions, I’m afraid many Americans have again grown complacent to this threat. These acts are a reminder of the evil surrounding us.