Day: November 11, 2009

Carrie Prejean: Conservative Women Being Treated Unfairly?

Ronald 3 Comments

Carrie Prejean, the former Miss California USA, who was controversial for her condemnation of gay marriage, who was also shown to have fake breasts, and to have produced a sex tape at age 17, acts as if she is a spokesman for conservative women in her new book defending her behavior. She claims a double standard favoring liberal women over conservative women.

She claims that she is a victim of liberal news media, as much as Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, and that if conservative news media attacked Michelle Obama, Sonia Sotomayor, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi in the same way, that the conservative talk show hosts would be fired!

What a bunch of lies and manipulation by a young woman who is a disgrace to her generation of women! Indeed, there have been bitter, nasty attacks against Michelle Obama, Sonia Sotomayor, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi by conservative media talk show hosts.

At the same time, while liberal media have made fun of Carrie Prejean, Michele Bachmann, and Sarah Palin and criticized them, there have been no personal attacks on the level of Fox News Channel or talk radio. Every attack has been based on FACTS, not just name calling.

Carrie Prejean has proved to be really a true disaster, as she tonight on Larry King claimed that Sarah Palin is her hero, wishes she would run for President, but knows she is too smart to do that, and that Sarah Palin would be a great President and has done great things!

I ask, Miss Prejean, what have you been smoking or ingesting lately? You are truly loony! 🙁

As I was finishing this entry, Carrie Prejean took off her microphone on Larry King Live and sat there, claiming King was being “inappropriate” and refusing to speak. Just further proof of her total lack of credibility and legitimacy. This is something I doubt has ever occurred to Larry King, and is totally to be condemned. It just adds to the image of a horrible hypocrite. She came back and now is boasting that she is an author of a book at age 22. Overall, UNBELIEVABLE and DISGRACEFUL!

Surprising Report: Barack Obama Rejects Afghan Military Options Presented To Him!

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Emerging news reports indicate, to the surprise of many, that President Obama has rejected various alternatives for troop buildup in Afghanistan, and has told his national security team to go back to the drawing board to figure out how to start the process of handing over the war to the Afghan Army as soon as possible!

If this is true, it is fantastic news! It comes at a time when Colin Powell has made clear his belief that Obama should not be pressured into a decision to commit more troops, and the US Ambassador to Afghanistan has sent word of his opposition to any more troop commitment in that nation.

This is a major change from recent news reports that had indicated Obama was leaning toward a major troop upsurge. One can only hope that the latest reports are accurate, and if so, all committed Democrats and liberals need to do everything they can to support the President on this and other issues, and teach the Republicans and conservatives that they LOST the election, and will not dictate or be allowed to undermine the necessary changes in foreign and domestic policy that are urgently needed and wanted by the American people!

Congressman Joseph Cao: A Profile In Courage

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Louisiana Republican Congressman Joseph Cao, the first Vietnamese ethnic Congressman in history, showed he was a profile in courage when he was the only Republican to vote for the House bill on health care last Saturday night.

Representing one of the poorest districts in the nation, a large section of New Orleans, which has still not recovered from Hurricane Katrina, Cao knew that a large portion of his constituents had no access to health care, and therefore voted his conscience and did what was right for his district, forsaking his party affiliations.

For this, some donors to his congressional reelection campaign have asked for refunds, and it is obvious that the Republican party is not happy with his “rebellion”. He may, very likely, not win reelection, but at least he knows in his heart that he did the proper thing. And for the Republicans to condemn him for his courage is a sign of the bankruptcy of the Republican party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Reagan!

Robert Gates’s Strange Statement About Reagan And Troop Commitment

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Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a Republican who served in the same post under President George W. Bush and has worked on defense and security issues for thirty years, gave a speech on Tuesday praising former President Ronald Reagan for being cautious at committing troops to any mission that did not have a strong chance of success. Therefore, he avoided a direct confrontation with the Soviet Union and promoted negotiation instead.

One wonders why this was stated now, at a time when Barack Obama faces an equally difficult circumstance, and many are advising caution about committing troops without a strong likelihood of success in Afghanistan.

It is even more odd because supposedly, according to news reports, Gates is advocating more troops in that country, but now one wonders if this is a sign that Gates continues to have doubts about the Afghan mission.

This only makes the Afghan decision, when it is announced soon by President Obama, even more powerful a moment in his administration, and the odds of success in his Presidency ride on the answer!

Great News: Lou Dobbs Leaving CNN! :)

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News has just come that Lou Dobbs, the highly controversial talk show host on CNN at 7 pm weekdays, is resigning! This is GREAT NEWS, long overdue!

Dobbs has emerged in the past couple of years as a hate monger and a demagogue, particularly in his strong, vicious attacks on the subject of immigration. If you listened to and followed Dobbs, all 12 million estimated illegal immigrants would be deported yesterday, if he had his way. Also, he was promoting the “birther” movement, which contended that President Obama was not born in Hawaii, despite the birth certificate on file there, and the announcements of his birth in Honolulu newspapers a couple of days after his birth!

His promotion of nativism and prejudice is unbecoming CNN, and there was pressure brought to push that cable channel to force him out, and I was part of that effort in a small way.

The kind of journalism that Dobbs represents belongs on Fox News Channel and I predict that he will end up on that channel, joining Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly et al, only adding more disgrace to that so called “news channel”!

The Sad Truth About Wounded Veterans Of Iraq And Afghanistan

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Politicians love to say that they honor the sacrifices of our veterans who go to war, but when it is suggested that we need to do more for veterans, many have problems with the concept and the funding involved.

On Veterans Day, we are reminded of the ultimate sacrifice paid by those who have died in the service of their country. The fact that over 5,000 soldiers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan is noted, and these people are mourned.

But we forget those military personnel who are wounded in war, whether physically or mentally, with the reality that mental injuries are often hard to detect, and may take years to show up, as with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

The fact that veterans who survive have a high level of PTSD, suicide, drug addiction, alchoholism, divorce, and violence is very troubling, and has not been fully addressed by our government, although now the Obama Administration is trying to give new attention to these issues.

But how many Americans realize that if we count reported injuries, which are certainly the tip of the iceberg, that over 35,000 American soldiers have been wounded and disabled by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, seven times the total who have died?

The problems they have, therefore, will exist and be part of the long term future of our nation, and we need to dedicate ourselves, on this day, 91 years after the end of World War I, to action on a massive scale to assist all of our warriors in their adjustment to their injuries, both physical and mental. They deserve nothing less!

Bill O’Reilly And The Big Lie Technique

Ronald 2 Comments

Bill O’Reilly of Fox News Channel is a promoter, just like others on Fox News Channel and conservative talk radio, of the Big Lie Technique, utilized many years ago by Adolf Hitler–the idea that if you tell a lie enough times, then people will believe it.

O’Reilly has been caught in an obvious use of the Big Lie on a recent show with guest, liberal talk show host Ed Schultz of MSNBC.

The issue was the report from the Veterans Affairs Department that there are about 131,000 homeless veterans at the present time, and over a year, 260,000 veterans are homeless at some point of time.

O’Reilly stated that he does not believe that even one veteran is homeless, and he refuses to believe otherwise. Schultz contested this with him, but O’Reilly just dismissed this, and refuses, at least till now, to retract his statement.

This is, of course, nothing new, and it is what is poisoning American politics, that conservatives on radio and television and cable stop at nothing to spread lies and propaganda, and to promote conflict and hate, and sow division and chaos among uninformed and ignorant people who have their opinions, but have no truth or facts to back up their viewpoints.

Bill O’Reilly should be condemned for contributing to this Big Lie tactic, but of course, he is so smug, cocky, and egotistical, and why not? He is laughing all the way to the bank, enriching himself on misleading the American people who choose to listen to and believe his drivel! 🙁

Wise Men Expressing Doubts About Afghanistan

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As the Afghanistan debate rages, wise men are expressing doubt about further commitment of troops to that war.

Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the 2004 Democratic nominee for President, and the Chairman now of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has warned against going down the same road we did in Vietnam.

Former Defense Secretary William Cohen, who served under Bill Clinton in his second term, and was earlier a Republican senator and congressman from Maine, also has demonstrated his doubts of the wisdom of commitment of more troops in a war where we have no faith in the leader of that nation, President Karzai.

These men may soon be joined by Al Gore, former Vice President and 2000 Democratic nominee for President, who will be expressing his views on Larry King Live on Thursday evening. It will be interesting to hear what his advice is, and I would be very suprised if he endorsed commitment of more troops to the Afghan War.

The distinguished citizens who are speaking out against this escalation include many Democratic senators and representatives not specifically mentioned here, and it is important that President Obama listen to this advice, and not just to the generals and cabinet members who advocate escalation.

This may be the most important decision the President will make during his time in office, and we have to hope he makes the proper decision!

Shame On Senator Tom Coburn On Disabled Vets Bill Delay!

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Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn, an outrageous embarrassment for the Senate in general, now stands out as the ONLY senator preventing a vote on a bill to fund homecare providers for 6,800 disabled veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to commemorate our appreciation of our troops on Veterans Day!

Coburn’s reasoning is there is no budgeted money for the bill and that some other programs should be cut to cover the $4 billion expense before it goes through into law.

This concept that one senator can prevent a vote on a bill needs to be changed, as there is no justification to do this, and sends the wrong symbol to our cherished veterans who have sacrificed so much and then see a disgrace of a senator, a man who has shown he is loony and disgraceful in so many statements and actions, destroy a gesture that should be done NOW.

The senator should be censured for his actions, which will not happen, of course, but it should be a lesson to many people that indeed Tom Coburn, who is sponsoring a bill for term limits for Congress, should personally be term limited! 🙁

The White House Debate Over Afghanistan

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The New York Times reports today that various alternative plans on Afghanistan are being considered, and that the President is about to have his eighth meeting on the subject with his advisers later today after his involvement with the Veterans Day commemoration at Arlington National Cemetery.

The various alternatives all seem to involve different levels of new troops going to Afghanistan, although the top advisers continue to be split on the subject.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen all seem to favor a major escalation of troops, while Vice President Joe Biden and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel remain skeptical to such a growth of troops.

This decision is extremely important, and I feel that if President Obama goes the route of more escalation, he will come to regret it, and it could cause a loss of support within his party for his domestic initiatives. Ultimately, it could cause a failed Presidency and an untold growth in the national debt, which seems not to worry the Republican opposition which screams and yells about unacceptable levels of debt to deal with the Great Recession and domestic reform, including health care, but sees defense spending as not an issue that upsets them.

I say to President Obama that he must ignore the opposition attacks and do what is best for the nation, so I repeat: Listen to your vice President, Joe Biden, as he is leading you down the proper and sensible path. Do NOT escalate in Afghanistan and instead build up our homeland security and solve the many domestic problems that this country faces and that you campaigned on. Keep your commitments, and to hell with the conservative and Republican opposition as they wish you and the country ill in their mad quest for taking us to the extreme right, the real threat above all to our nation’s long term future!