Tag: Opinion

If Harry Reid goes with the nuclear option, the Dems will be finished

That’s right folks, if Harry Reid is serious about pulling an overreach of this magnitude; the Democrats will face a setback that would last a very long time.

The Story:

Senator Harry Reid appears set to go nuclear — before Thanksgiving.

With Senate Republicans blocking a third Obama nomination to the powerful D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, a senior Senate Democratic leadership aide tells me Reid is now all but certain to move to change the Senate rules by simple majority — doing away with the filibuster on executive and judicial nominations, with the exception of the Supreme Court – as early as this week.

At a presser today, Reid told reporters he was taking another look at rules reform, but didn’t give a timeline. The senior leadership aide goes further, saying it’s hard to envision circumstances under which Reid doesn’t act.

“Reid has become personally invested in the idea that Dems have no choice other than to change the rules if the Senate is going to remain a viable and functioning institution,” the aide says. That’s a long journey from where Reid was only 10 months ago, when he agreed to a toothless filibuster reform deal out of a real reluctance to change the rules by simple majority. Asked to explain the evolution, the aide said: “It’s been a long process. But this is the only thing we can do to keep the Senate performing its basic duties.”

Asked if Reid would drop the threat to go nuclear if Republicans green-lighted one or two of Obama’s judicial nominations, the aide said: “I don’t think that’s going to fly.”

via Harry Reid is set to go nuclear. – Greg Sargent / The Plum Line

Well, I can tell you this; if Reid thinks that this “will fly” with the American people, he is wrong and the Democrats will pay the price for this one. If you think that the Republican Party will not exploit this little boneheaded move for political purposes; you are crazy. This will be seen by many as a power grab by the Conservative movement; and they will use it against the Democrats in 2014 and 2016.

Not only that; what happens if the Democrats lose the majority in both houses of Congress? Then, the Republicans will use that relaxed power to stack the courts with people who, of course, the Democrats will not like and then you would have state Christian statism in a horrible form; and you have to know the Democrats will not like that one bit. Now, if I were a partisan type, I would think this would be awesome. However, I believe in divided Government and I happen to believe that one party acts as a check and balance to the other. It keeps one party from holding a monopoly on Government.

It all goes back to that airplane analogy that I like to use: If a plane flies in circles; whether clockwise or counterclockwise, it does not really go anywhere and sooner or later, it will crash. However, if that same plane flies level, it always gets where it is going.  The same goes for the Government; a Government that is controlled by one party, is doomed to failure and will eventually crash. However, a Nation with divided Government always gets where it is going.

Hopefully, Harry Reid has more sense than to pull a stunt like this one.

Others, mostly Democrats; your mileage may vary: The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, PoliticusUSA, Booman Tribune, Balloon Juice,Lawyers, Guns & Money, A plain blog about politics, Daily Kos, National Review, The Reality-Based Community and Hullabaloo (Via Memeorandum)

Stupid black woman gets pulled over, tries to run from the police and then complains when her van gets shot at!

This is un-freaking-believable!

The video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PEoW80s-InQ

The story:

Several New Mexico police officers are under investigation for a routine traffic stop that devolved into a chaotic car chase last month. In their attempt to apprehend an uncooperative driver, the officers smashed a baton through the woman’s car window and fired several bullets at the children-filled vehicle.

The incident was recorded by a police dashcam video, which was released last week to KRQE News 13. According to a report from Taos News, the incident started when a New Mexico State police officer pulled over 39-year-old Oriana Ferrell for speeding 16 mph over the limit on a state highway.

The officer (whose name has not been revealed) approached Ferrell’s minivan in what appears to be a calm manner and told her to wait while he returned to his vehicle. Ferrell then sped off, starting a chase. When she pulled over again, the officer returned to the driver’s side window visibly agitated.

via Cop Fires Shots at Minivan Full of Kids After Mom Flees Traffic Stop – Hit & Run : Reason.com.

A few things to point out here:

  1. She ran, she could have gotten her ticket, kept her mouth shut; and everything would have been fine. But, no, she started arguing with the cop and then on top of that, she takes off —- twice! You cannot do that and not expect the police to get pissed off!
  2. She had her kids attack the police; if that had been me; that 14-year-old would have ended up in a body bag when I shot him!

I think it is important to point out; she is black. Which basically means that she will most likely get a slap on the wrist and will file a lawsuit and get a bag full of cash; and live high on the hog. Because some evil, racist white police officer actually decided that he was going to do his job. (and yes, that is sarcasm…)

Sorry, but Reason magazine is full of crap on this one; this woman broke the law and paid the price for it. The only person that is to blame for this woman’s kids getting shot at; is Oriana Ferrell and that is the only person who should be blamed.

Like my earlier posting’s video said; blacks seem to believe that they can do as they damned well please, because the actions of white men 300 years ago and it is never, ever their fault; it is the fault of the evil white man and society. 🙄

Police State? Not on this one. More like a stupid black woman. 😡

Update: Blogger Round up via Memeorandum — your mileage may vary on these:  Hit & Run, The Taos News, NBCNews, Mediaite and The New Civil Rights Movement

 Fixed some typos and spelling errors…. What I get for blogging in a hurry. 🙄

Update #2: Da Tech Guy links in! Thank You! 😀

Costco says that the Bible is fiction

This really does not shock me, seeing the world’s attitude toward Christianity anymore.

The Story:

What do the Bible, “The Hunger Games” and “Fifty Shades of Grey” have in common? All three are works of fiction, according to the booksellers at Costco.

Pastor Caleb Kaltenbach made that shocking discovery last Friday as he was shopping for a present for his wife at a Costco in Simi Valley, Calif.

“All the Bibles were labeled as fiction,” the pastor told me. “It seemed bizarre to me.”

Kaltenbach is the lead pastor at Discovery Church, a non-denominational Christian congregation in southern California.

He thought there must be some sort of mistake so he scoured the shelf for other Bibles. Every copy was plastered with a sticker that read, “$14.99 Fiction.”

via Costco — the Bible is fiction | Fox News.

When confronted by this, what does Costco do?

This:

I called Costco headquarters in Issaquah, Wash. hoping to get answers. The nice lady who answered the phone told me she was aware of the issue and chalked it up to a “human error at a warehouse.”

“It’s all fixed,” she said.

But actually, it’s not fixed – because there’s a boatload of Bibles in the Simi Valley store still marked as fiction.  

At that point, the nice lady on the phone became not-so-nice and promptly informed me that Costco doesn’t talk to the press.

“Nothing to report,” she said curtly.

A very important thing to remember:

On the one hand Christians should not yell out ‘persecution’,” he said. “We aren’t living in Iraq or Iran. But on the other hand, I believe that we do need to stand up for our faith and we need to be vocal about our concerns.”
That’s a message that resonates with pastor and author Robert Jeffress.

“Let’s hope Costco’s explanation is true and not the result of having been caught attempting to marginalize the very foundation of Christian beliefs, the Bible,” Pastor Jeffress told me. “Christians need to call out organizations like Costco whose actions undermine Christianity – regardless of whether those actions are accidental or intentional.”

Sometimes, a mistake is just that; a mistake. But, it does, like I am sure it does all that will read this, who are believers —- really wonder what Costco’s motivations were or are.  Also too; it would be easy for me to label this an “Obama World” thing. Well, I will not do that one; not on this one. Because what private businesses do are not the fault of the President. Most likely, if anything at all. This was done by some smart mouthed punk in a warehouse somewhere. So, I won’t blame politics or even atheists for this at all.

From the “You gotta be kidding me” file: House just voted on 2 bills that would undercut new financial regulations

This one somehow snuck past me.

I happen to read on Populist Jim Hightower’s website about this one here and I went and looked it up and sure enough; there it was in black and white:

The story:

WASHINGTON –– To Wall Street, this town might seem like enemy territory. But even as federal regulators and prosecutors extract multibillion-dollar penalties from the nation’s biggest banks, Wall Street can rely on at least one ally here: the House of Representatives.

The House is scheduled to vote on two bills this week that would undercut new financial regulations and hand Wall Street a victory. The legislation has garnered broad bipartisan support in the House, even after lawmakers learned that Citigroup lobbyists helped write one of the bills, which would exempt a wide array of derivatives trading from new regulation.

The bills are part of a broader campaign in the House, among Republicans and business-friendly Democrats, to roll back elements of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, the most comprehensive regulatory overhaul since the Depression. Of 10 recent bills that alter Dodd-Frank or other financial regulation, six have passed the House this year. This week, if the House approves Citigroup’s legislation and another bill that would delay heightened standards for firms that offer investment advice to retirees, the tally would rise to eight.

Both the Treasury Department and consumer groups have urged lawmakers to reject the bills, warning that they could leave the nation vulnerable again to excessive financial risk taking. The House proposals stand little chance of becoming law, having received a much chillier reception in the Senate and at the White Ho

via House, Set to Vote on 2 Bills, Is Seen as an Ally of Wall St. – NYTimes.com.

You believe those greedy bastards? Jim Hightower is not amused and rightly so:

Audio:

[podcast]

Partial Quote:

On the day before Halloween, the ethically-challenged members of our lobbyist-haunted House of Representatives did a perverse imitation of “Profiles in Courage,” turning that body into “Profiles in Spinelessness.”

In particular, they cravenly caved in to an outrageous and dangerous demand by Wall Street whiners. Such financial powerhouses as Citigroup just hate having their profiteering recklessness restrained by the regulatory reforms passed after their 2008 financial meltdown. Even though the shockwaves from that Wall Street collapse continue to devastate America’s middle class, the banking elite have completely recovered – including recovering their swaggering arrogance and ability to sway money-hungry congress critters with rich campaign donations. — Read the rest at Jim Hightower’s site

I am shocked that more Conservatives are not swinging from the trees on this one here! To their credit, there are some Democrat Party house members that are opposed to this bill and rightly so. This is the same idiotic crap that brought down the stock market and killed our economy; thank goodness there is some semblance of sanity up on the hill.

Sure enough the Bill passed the house, But it is not expected to make it through the Senate and the White House has said that they would veto the thing, if it made it to the President’s desk. Which in this instance is a very good thing. However, this is not the point. What is the point is this: Those same bastards who caused the great meltdown of 2008, are now lobbying our Government to put things back as they were, so that this sort of thing could happy again. That my friends is enough to make an economic populist, like myself, to want to bite a nail in two! 😡

The people that caused the Wall Street meltdown and downturn in our economy ought to be brought up on treason charges, and lined up against a wall and shot! 😡 But, instead, they are trying to buy their way back to lawlessness. This my friends, is an outrage.

Donald Trump ‘evolving’ on issue of gay rights

Another one of the media elites has fallen to the temptation of political correctness.

The Story:

Donald Trump described himself as “evolving” on the issue of LGBT rights Saturday in an interview in Russia with openly gay MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts.

Trump, who is co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization, is in Moscow for Saturday night’s Miss Universe pageant, which will be co-hosted by Roberts.

The choice of Moscow as host city was not without controversy for both Trump and the Miss Universe Organization. Russia is a country at the center of a debate about gay and lesbian rights, with supporters calling for a boycott of the country since the enactment of the country’s strict anti-gay laws, which call for the arrest of those who are openly LGBT.

via Donald Trump ‘evolving’ on issue of gay rights – TODAY.com.

I have written this before, but it does bear repeating:

To be clear, The Word of God, that being the King James Bible (*); offers the following on the subject of homosexuality:

Old Testament:

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. (Leviticus 18:22 KJV)

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. (Leviticus 20:13 KJV)

New Testament:

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 KJV)

In a modern version, namely the Amplified Bible:

9 Do you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (misled): neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,nor those who participate in homosexuality,

10 Nor cheats (swindlers and thieves), nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foulmouthed revilers and slanderers, nor extortioners and robbers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God.

The people who were responsible for the Amplified Bible were under no illusion as what “Effeminate” meant to them. I am a King James Bible type of Christian, but I commend the makers of the Amplified Bible for pulling no punches on that scripture.

It seems to me that Donald Trump would rather please men, than stand for what the Word of God says.

* = There are some of you that might disagree with me on my position on the King James Bible; and that is quite alright, stupidity is not illegal. ;) Click here to see my stance on the King James Bible. Also too, please know, that I am not a fan of this man here, this is a PDF link. (Please Note: The link is not my site, but one of someone whom I very much respect.)

Sorry, But Tyler Comstock got exactly what he deserved

Every time I see one of these stories, I have to wonder; what in the world is wrong with this Country’s youth?

The Video:

The Story via The Christian Post, in which a Father thinks that his moron kid, who used a motor vehicle as a weapon again law enforcement officers, should not have been shot and killed:

A 19-year-old teenager, who stole a truck that was in his father’s care because he refused to buy him cigarettes, was shot dead by police on the campus of Iowa State University after his father called them to teach the troubled teen a lesson.

“He took off with my truck. I call the police, and they kill him,” James Comstocktold The Des Moines Register on Tuesday. “It was over a damn pack of cigarettes. I wouldn’t buy him none. … And I lose my son for that.”

According to the Register, police engaged the man’s son, Tyler Comstock of Boone, in a high-speed chase shortly after he reported that the truck, which belonged to a lawn care company, was stolen.

A video of the chase shows Ames Police Officer Adam McPherson pursuing Comstock onto ISU’s campus. It shows officers attempting to stop Tyler and when he eventually did, he refused orders to turn off the engine.

McPherson is heard on the video firing six shots into the truck and the teen died from two gunshot wounds, according to the Iowa state medical examiner’s office.

His family admits that even though Tyler was a troubled teen who had some issues with the law, he was trying to get his life back together and just two weeks ago had started going to Bible study.

However, the police tell the real story:

The Story County Attorney’s Office examining the case, however, disagreed and said the teen’s death was justified because he “acted with willful disregard for the safety of others as he drove a stolen truck at a high rate of speed through red lights and then onto campus,” according to a KCRG report.

Ames police Cmdr. Geoff Huff noted on Thursday that officers had “proceeded with care,” in dealing with the teen doing things like reducing their speeds through intersections and backing off when supervisors suggested doing so.

“At the point when a supervisor made the comment to back off, the officer had already backed off and reduced his speed,” he said. He further noted that officers chased Tyler with lights and sirens as a warning to other drivers and pedestrians.

“(Comstock) had not slowed down at all,” said Huff. “We had.”

“The suspect had every opportunity to stop the truck and comply with officers’ lawful commands, and he chose not to,” Huff said. We “were out of options with two disabled squad cars and a suspect still attempting to harm the officers and posing a real risk to others,” he added.

There are many times on this blog; when I will call something the actions of a police state —- this, is not one of them times. Tyler Comstock was actually stupid enough to use a motor vehicle as a lethal weapon against law enforcement officers; because he did not want to go to jail, because he had stolen his Father’s truck and yet this punk is the victim? Please. 🙄

Tyler Comstock chose suicide by cop, and Tyler Comstock paid for it with his life. The only person responsible for that little act of foolishness; is Tyler Comstock and only Tyler Comstock.

The problem with Derek Hunter is…

The problem with Derek Hunter is, that he is an idiot.

At the link above this idiot goes on a rant about libertarianism and how it’s no longer truly defined and how they don’t seem to change policy. Which is true in some respects, but then he proceeds to compare the Libertarian Party to the Republican establishment and blames them for the loss in Virginia. Which in my opinion is quite stupid.

Reason why the guy up in Virginia lost is because not everyone is down with the extremist wing of the GOP which is represented by Ted Cruz. Some people believe that causing the government to default on its debt obligations is not always the smart idea.

Furthermore, why the guy up in Virginia lost is because he was a social conservative and now in the GOP social conservatism is not a real big priority.

One of the biggest mistakes I believe that the GOP could make now is to go off on a tangent of social conservatism. Folks whether we like it or not we lost that battle. The 1980’s as Dr. James Dobson correctly observed was simply a holding action and in the internet came in and killed any chances of that actually succeeding.

Not to mention that George H.W. Bush came in with his new world order and went soft on taxes and destroyed the Reagan Revolution.

So,I think we really need to get off of the social conservatism kick and concentrate on what’s truly important and that’s the financial state of the United States.

Not everyone thinks like the Tea Party and furthermore not everyone thinks that Ted Cruz is some sort of a rock star. There are some of us who actually believe the Ted Cruz is done more to damage the brand of the GOP then he has done to help it.

Update: Just thought I would let everyone know. Mr. Hunter wrote me on twitter and posted a link to my blog entry with a rather condescending and sarcastic remark. Well, I am all for political discussion; but I am not for ad-hominem attacks. I posted a legit criticism of his column and he responded with a personal attack. So, for this; I blocked him on twitter. Therefore, I am shutting off the comments and trackbacks on this blog entry. Because Mr. Hunter wants to turn this into a spit ball contest and I am a bit old for that sort of a thing. So to Mr. Hunter I simply say this: Grow up. If you cannot handle dissenting opinions; then stop writing on TownHall.com. Furthermore, stop writing whining columns about how your candidate did not win.

Update #2: I think this speaks for itself:

Smart move by David Barton

I wrote about this before and it appears that David Barton has conceded to reality.

Via the Corner over at NRO:

Controversial Evangelical author David Barton just announced that he won’t challenge Senator John Cornyn in the 2014 Texas Senate primary. On Glenn Beck’s radio show this morning, he told Beck’s listeners that, though the primary is “winnable,” the timing isn’t right for him.

“What can I do to talk you into this?” asked Beck, disappointed.

Texas tea-party activists had been hankering for Cornyn to get a primary challenger ever since he removed his name from Mike Lee’s letter urging his Senate colleagues to refuse to support a CR that funded the Affordable Care Act. But finding a candidate with the requisite name recognition, connections, and willingness was a tall order. Enter Barton, former vice chairman of the Texas Republican party, who’s well-connected in the Evangelical movement and has deep ties with the Texas conservative grassroots. Barton is a lightning rod for controversy: The publisher of his most recent book, The Jefferson Lies, pulled it because of concerns over numerous factual inaccuracies. (Beck wrote the foreword for that work and has promised to continue publishing it.)

Barton told Beck’s listeners that he had done polling to investigate his odds in the race, and believed it would have been easy for him to raise the first $3 to 4 million.

“Has Louie ruled it out?” Beck asked, hoping Representative Louie Gohmert would challenge the senator. The Texas congressman did reject the idea in July, and it’s ultimately unlikely Cornyn will get a competitive primary challenger.

I believe this to be a very smart move by David Barton. Because quite frankly, Barton would be a lightening rod for the left to attack the GOP as an extremist party. Furthermore, it would cost the GOP a important seat in the Senate. The plain truth is that while Barton might have some noble intentions; he is simply unelectable and his campaign would be unwinnable.

It simply boils down to credibility and Barton has a credibility problem; his book was pulled because of issues with accuracy. Those sort of things are not exactly a feather in ones cap, when it comes to politics. Either way, I am glad to see that Barton did not try and run; because in his case, the Republican Party simply did not need someone of his ilk trying to run for office. 

Detroit elects first white Mayor in 40 years

I see this as a very good thing and not for the reasons you might think!

But, first, the video:

The Story:

Detroit’s New Mayor – Mike Duggan

For Duggan, born in Detroit but who lived much of his life in the western Wayne County suburb of Livonia, it was a victory rooted in his turnaround persona that may also reflect a move away from decades of racial politics.

He will replace one-term Mayor Dave Bing in a city where 83 percent of the residents are black and in a region where racial divisions have strained city-suburb relations until recently.

A beaming Duggan Tuesday made a veiled reference to race but immediately brushed it aside to focus squarely on the monumental tasks that voters decided to put in his hands — and which he’ll share with an emergency manager appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder who holds the power to make most major decisions.

“What we have in common is much more powerful than what divides us. Now the real work begins,” Duggan said. “They want somebody to go into City Hall, get rid of the bureaucracy and get city services going.”

via Duggan: ‘Now the real work begins’ | The Detroit News.

Now about why I believe that Mike Duggan won the election; I believe that Duggan won because quite frankly, the people of the city of Detroit and I mean everyone — was sick and tired of the racial politics of the city. Those racial politics, by the way, date back to the first black mayor of the city of Detroit, Coleman A. Young. Quite bluntly, Young hated white people with a passion; and it showed in the white parts of the city, namely southwest Detroit — where I grew up.

Also too, I believe that many people in Detroit were sick of business as usual. That “Business as usual” bankrupted the city and put the city in the position that it is in now. I believe that Duggan represented a better path for the city of Detroit.  What amazes me, as that Duggan has, as you can see in the video; an overwhelming support of the black community, which I think is an awesome thing.

I am convinced Mike Duggan has his work cut out for him. I wish him and his staff the best. However, I believe that if he plays his cards right and goes in with the right attitude; I believe that he can possibly do some great things for the City of Detroit.

Here’s to a prosperous future in the City of Detroit!