Once again, the Mainly Marginalized Media are showing their stripes: two of the "Big Three" networks are refusing to air the above ad that takes a critical look at Obama's health care plan. Now, it's not like we actually expect objectivity from our mass media these days - but, as Dick Morris pointed out, the networks are cherry-picking how they implement their own standards.
See, ABC's claim as to why they opted out of the ad is that it is "partisan":
"The ABC Television Network has a long-standing policy that we do not sell time for advertising that presents a partisan position on a controversial public issue," spokeswoman Susan Sewell said in a written statement. "Just to be clear, this is a policy for the entire network, not just ABC News."
Okay, but as Morris notes, "It's the ultimate act of chutzpah because ABC is the network that turned itself over completely to Obama for a daylong propaganda festabout health care reform," he said. "For them to be pious and say they will not accept advertising on health care shuts their viewers out from any possible understanding of both sides of this issue."
NBC's spokeswoman said the network will consider running the ad - with revisions. "We have communicated with the media agency about some factual claims that require additional substantiation," spokeswoman Liz Fischer told FOXNews.com. "As always, we are happy to reconsider the ad once these issues are addressed."
In better news, CBS approved the ad to run nationwide, and Fox is in talks to distribute the ad as well.
Meanwhile, it's up to those of us so-called Astroturfers in the front lines to spread the word. So, go viral, my friends!
This morning, this little gem of a letter was in my inbox, courtesy of my awesome father. As a refresher, view the YouTube clip first so you can fully appreciate the letter in context. All I can say about Jim Hill's response is, "Oh snap!"
Many of us witnessed the arrogance of Barbara Boxer as she admonished a brigadier general because he addressed her as "ma'am" and not "Senator" before a Senate hearing. This letter is from a National Guard aviator and Captain for Alaska Airlines. I wonder what he would have said if he were really angry. Long fly Alaska!!!!!
Babs:
You were so right on when you scolded the general on TV for using the term, "ma'am," instead of "Senator." After all, in the military, "ma'am" is a term of respect when addressing a female of superior rank or position. The general was totally wrong. You are not a person of superior rank or position. You are a member of one of the world's most corrupt organizations, the U.S. Senate, equalled only by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Congress is a cesspool of liars, thieves, inside traders, traitors, drunks (one who killed a staffer, yet is still revered [Remember Mary Jo]), criminals, and other low level swine who, as individuals (not all, but many), will do anything to enhance their lives, fortunes and power, all at the expense of the People of the United States and its Constitution, in order to be continually re-elected. Many democrats even want American troops killed by releasing photographs. How many of you could honestly say, "We pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor"? None? One? Two?
Your reaction to the general shows several things. First is your abysmal ignorance of all things military. Your treatment of the general shows you to be an elitist of the worst kind. When the general entered the military (as most of us who served) he wrote the government a blank check, offering his life to protect your derriere, now safely and comfortably ensconced in a 20 thousand dollar leather chair, paid for by the general's taxes. You repaid him for this by humiliating him in front of millions.
Second is your puerile character, lack of sophistication, and arrogance which borders on the hubristic. This display of brattish behavior shows you to be a virago, termagant, harridan, nag, scold or shrew, unfit for your position, regardless of the support of the unwashed, uneducated masses who have made California into the laughing stock of the nation.
What I am writing, Senator, are the same thoughts countless millions of Americans have toward Congress, but who lack the energy, ability or time to convey them. Under the democrats, some don't even have the 44 cents to buy the stamp. Regardless of their thoughts, most realize that politicians are pretty much the same, and will vote for the one who will bring home the most bacon, even if they do consider how corrupt that person is. Lord Acton (1834 - 1902) so aptly charged, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Unbeknownst to you and your colleagues, "Mr. Power" has had his way with all of you, and we are all the worse for it.
Finally Senator, I, too, have a title. It is "Right Wing Extremist Potential Terrorist Threat." It is not of my choosing, but was given to me by your Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. And you were offended by "ma'am"?
Have a fine day. Cheers! Jim Hill
16808 - 103rd Avenue Court East South Hill, WA 98374
Please circulate this to remind every voter that the "cesspools" MUST be pumped out when we go to the polls in November, 2010. Honoring and respecting the voters is a thing of the past for many of those in our congress and senate.We need to vote their arrogant, self-serving rears out of office if America is to get on the long road back from the devastation that these self -serving cowards have brought upon us!
Here's some more scintillating food for thought from our good friends at MSNBC:
Okay, let me get this right: referring to Obama et. al. as "socialists" is on par with people on the Left calling Obama critics "right-wing nutjobs."
So now it's a "generic Conservative bludgeoning tool" to refer to someone as a "socialist," or one who believes in socialist policies?
Let's have a little refresher as to what constitutes socialism:
Socialism refers to various theories of economic organization advocating state, public or common worker (through cooperatives) ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equal access to resources for all individuals with an egalitarian method of compensation...
Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, creates an unequal society, does not provide equal opportunities for everyone to maximize their potentialities and does not utilize technology and resources to their maximum potential nor in the interests of the public. Therefore socialists advocate the creation of a society that allows for the widespread application of modern technology to rationalize the economy by eliminating the anarchy in production of capitalism, allowing for wealth and power to be distributed more evenly based on the amount of work expended in production, although there is considerable disagreement among socialists over how and to what extent this could be achieved....
Economically, socialism denotes an economic system of state ownership and/or worker ownership of the means of production and distribution.
Nah, that doesn't sound like what Obama's doing at all. Slapping someone whose policies promote increased state ownership of industry (Government Motors, anyone? Banking bailouts? Government-run health care?) with the label "socialist" is definitely name-calling. It MUST be a codeword for... that one word that starts with N and rhymes with Tigger. There's no way I'll type that one out.
I mean, how on earth could we possibly come up with such a crazy idea that Obama's a Socialist?!
Oh yeah. Because we're racist right-wing nutjobs.
PS: I think Winston Churchill had it right when he said:
...socialist policy is abhorrent to the British ideas of freedom. Socialism is inseparably interwoven with totalitarianism and the object worship of the state. It will prescribe for every one where they are to work, what they are to work at, where they may go and what they may say. Socialism is an attack on the right to breathe freely. No socialist system can be established without a political police. They would have to fall back on some form of Gestapo, no doubt very humanely directed in the first instance.
Talk about a complete lack of journalistic integrity! As posted on Hot Air, MSNBC did a segment earlier this week about a man wearing a semi-automatic rifle and a pistol outside of where Obama was speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Phoenix.
Now, as you watch the clip, listen closely to how the journalist race-baits the situation - she doesn't specify the race of the armed man, but she then goes on to talk about angry white people showing up armed to events with the black president. The entire discussion into which these three get into centers on race - basically invalidating the opinions of those who disagree with or dislike Obama as being racists (since racists' voices don't matter, of course, right?).
Well, funny how if you look at the AZCentral.com photo of the gunman, you'll notice why the racist accusations don't work:
HE'S BLACK.
Hmmmm... a black man who disagrees with a (half-)black president's policies. Yep, yep, racist indeed.
If you notice, MSNBC's footage never shows the armed man's skin. That took some careful framing of the shot by the videographer. There's a chance that he wasn't purposefully trying to mislead viewers... but let's be honest - that chance is pretty slim.
I'd like to say this is unbelievable... but we're talking about an NBC outlet here. They seem to be so in bed with the Obama administration, I wouldn't trust their spin on anything! (And not to nitpick here, but it was John Hinckley - not Mark - who tried to assassinate Reagan. Come on, people - you call yourselves journalists?!)
Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it. Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)
Huh. Alinsky was the father of community organizing. Obama started his career as a community organizer and was heavily influenced by Alinsky. Funny how all the anti-Obama critics get labeled and written off as right-wing whack jobs and racists. After all, how could their arguments have any merit, right?
(And for the record - I don't necessarily promote carrying a gun to a rally. That's just bound to incite anger. But it is that man's Second Amendment right to bear arms.)
I'm currently in the middle of reading The 5,000 Year Leap(a MUST-READ if I've read one!), and today's lunch break was spent reading about the Founding ideas behind abolishing an abusive government. Oh, that John Locke was a smart man.
Well, I got back to my cubicle feeling all feisty and wondering how to save our system - after all, I don't think it's the form of government that's our problem. It's the people in it.
"How do you know a politician's lying?"
"If his lips are moving."
Anyways, a dear friend must have been inspired to send this my way, because it was sitting in my inbox:
"Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail. This is the cradle of humanity, where life on this earth began in the Garden of Eden. This is the place of the new Jerusalem. This is the place that the Lord said is favored above all other nations in all the world. This is the place where the Savior will come to His temple. This is the favored land in all the world.
"Yes, I repeat, men may fail, but this nation won't fail. I have faith in America; you and I must have faith in America, if we understand the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are living in a day when we must pay heed to these challenges. I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all the world. This is the favored land. This is the land of our forefathers. It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through." -- Spencer W. Kimball, 12th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Ye Are the Light of the World, 350-51)
Well, I don't know about you, but this was a great reminder to me. This country was founded on correct principles by wise men raised up to the task. The more we study those ideas and ideals, and the more we discuss them and return to our ideological roots as a people, the better off we will be. We're off track, yes, but I don't think we're beyond hope, my friends.
While speaking in town halls last week, Obama compared government-run healthcare to United States Postal Service competing with FedEx and UPS - insulting USPS as being the one always having problems. (How he thought this would actually help his argument for a government-run option, I'll never know.)
With all of these efforts underway within the Postal Service community, it was a kick to the chest to have you take a shot at a group of federal employees who are working hard every day to support this country.
Employees of the Postal Service are largely represented by unions and management associations, all of whom strongly supported your candidacy last year. For our support we do not expect any special consideration. However, we would like to be treated fairly and not have our current situation misrepresented, especially by the Commander-in-Chief.
Oh snap.
Meanwhile, at a town hall meeting in Grand Junction, Colo., on Saturday, Obama's toughest question came from college student Zach Lahn:
I like Lahn's comment about how if you can't ride a bike, don't get on the motorcycle. If Medicare and the government-run health care for veterans were shining examples of success, then I might not be so critical. But they're not successful. They need improvement, and they need it badly - so let's get those fine tuned before we try taking on health care for the entire country.
Who doesn't remember that classic scene in Bambi where Thumper's mom reminds him of some priceless wisdom:
"If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all." --Thumper, from Disney's Bambi
Well, apparently this is a lesson that's getting lost in the heat of today's political debates - namely that surrounding Pres. Obama's healthcare proposal. I read a great piece on Examiner.com that eloquently makes this point - I don't want to steal his thunder too much, so I definitely recommend reading it.
Meanwhile, I do have to wonder at political leaders who mock citizens standing up for their rights (many for the first time) and call them "Astroturf" demonstrators - especially when they lauded demonstrators who stood up against the Bush administration. How do they do this with a straight face?! I love, love, love this clip by Glenn Beck - it's a little long, but PLEASE, take the time to watch it and to see what the media and the Obama administration are saying about you, how they're trying to shut up the protests of those who disagree with their plan. It's wrong and downright unAmerican!
Okay, this video is a little cheesy - but it makes a good point. If the government goes in to "help" an industry, often they seem to do what's counter-intuitive and simply make a mess! The California Legislature is particularly adept at it (bless their hearts!) - as the video points out, they would rather divert water to the tiny little Delta smelt fish instead of sending it to farmers in the Central Valley, which produces much of the produce for the country. Apparently a tiny fish has more value to them than the farmers whose livelihood depends on water rights and to the people of this state who will have to pay more and more for food as it becomes scarce due to farmland drying up into dust. Does that make sense to you? It sure doesn't to me!
Which is why the Tea Party Patriots of California have planned a March on Sacramento for Aug. 28. If you can, go make your voice heard!
FROM THE SAC 828 BLOG: MARCH ON SACRAMENTO 8.28.09 There is no political affiliation associated with the March on Sacramento 8.28.09.
This is the residents of California: business owners AND workers, taxpayers AND consumers, demanding economically sound, environmentally sensible solutions rather than impossible politically-driven regulations.
We won’t be distracted by politicians who attempt to “divide and conquer”…we are resolved to remain united and and strong.
We don’t have to agree on EVERYTHING, but we agree on this.
All other issues aside, we are marching together in Sacramento to protest business-and-job-killing, price-and-tax-raising policies that originate in our Capitol under the guise of “protecting the environment.”
Thanks to these lovely things called genetics, I have curly hair. Really, really curly hair. While some people find this enchanting or enviable, I find it just plain annoying. I have fought my curls tooth and nail for the better part of the last 10-plus years, at times spending upwards of an hour to straighten my locks and one-up the curse of nature.
Or, at least, I used to.
Then the 2008 elections came up, and before I knew it, I was busier than a one-armed paperhanger, trying to keep up with all of the breaking news and then get the info disseminated on my marriage blog.
And suddenly I couldn't fathom spending upwards of an hour on something as trivial as my hair. Suddenly perspective crept in, and my priorities realigned. Suddenly something so superficial really didn't matter - and instead of fighting the curl, I embraced it.
Now here I am, almost a year later, and I can proudly say that with few exceptions, I've accepted my curls. When I'm in a humidity-free zone I put that flat iron to work (because, after all, it takes less time and effort there), but for the most part, I'm learning to use what I've got and to make the most of it.
And that goes beyond just hair - I didn't spend years acquiring knowledge of our country's Founding, a passion for newsgathering and a (sometimes oblivious) lack of a filter in making my voice heard for nothing, right? As a wise woman once told me, if you've got it, flaunt it.
My country 'tis of thee, Sweet land of Liberty, To thee I sing; Land where my Fathers died, Land of the Pilgrims' pride. From every mountainside - Let Freedom Ring!
For as long as I can remember, I have passionately and wholeheartedly loved my country. From childhood memories of singing about the Constitution (thanks to some well-meaning person from church who gifted me a cassette tape and book combo about the Founding - bet they didn't realize what seeds they were planting!) to my college years spent studying and teaching the American Founding and other aspects of our nation's character as both an American Studies major and an American history TA, America has been near and dear to my heart.
But as much as I love my country, life sure can be distracting. I graduated from college and jumped straight into a career in journalism, and at 22 my focus was more on working hard and playing harder than it was on my civic duty. I loved America, sure - but for a journalist, I was abysmally out of the loop as to what was happening in the news beyond the Orange Curtain. And, I'm ashamed to admit, that wasn't new, either. I think I was more informed as a middle-schooler banished to the nearby college campus to study until 6 p.m. (during which time I read TIME, Newsweek and the like after doing my homework) than I was in high school, college or beyond.
Until now.
Last fall, leading up to the 2008 election season, I got more involved politically than I had ever been before. Where I had been happy enough before to gather news nuggets from my almost-too-informed parents and to rely on their judgment calls, it was no longer enough. I started reading. And reading. And reading. Through the election much of my energy was funneled into helping Prop. 8 pass in California, but my interest in politics and what was happening in the world around me quickly grew beyond defending the traditional family.
The fire of patriotism and of action for our country was fanned into a conflagration, and before I knew it, all I could talk about was politics! It's as if a sleeping giant had been awakened, and I couldn't stop. The scales of complacency had fallen from my eyes, and I realized that this amazing Republic about which I had read and studied and revered my entire life was suddenly dangling by a thread, on the brink of becoming altered beyond recognition.
Yes, I know that it wasn't really a sudden change - nay, the seeds of the situation before us began ages ago. Some peg it on the radicals of the 1960s; others blame FDR and all of his New Deal programs that expanded big government like never before (and actually may have prolonged the Great Depression). Yet others take it back to before immigration reforms in the 1920s which sought to stave off a new kind of immigrant, one with radical philosophical leanings based in European socialism and Russian Communism instead of in the American values of liberty, self-reliance and faith in God. Let's not forget Woodrow Wilson's progressivism, either. Heck, I recently heard someone trace the roots of where we are today all the way back to the 1880s!
Well, it's like Billy Joel said in his epic "We Didn't Start the Fire" - we didn't start the fire, sure, but that's irrelevant at this point, really. We need to collectively take a stand and start to fight it, to maintain what ground (Conservative principles, religious freedoms, capitalism, etc.) we can.
And that's why I'm starting this blog. Posting links on Facebook is no longer enough for me. Besides alienating my liberal friends aplenty on there, it doesn't give me enough of a sandbox and creative space to express my thoughts and share my learning on this journey back to the principles that make this nation great (and to exposing all of the lies and the hypocrisy out there that the mainstream - or, shall I say, mainly marginalized - media isn't going to make known). I hope that you'll enjoy joining me in this journey and helping me fight for what's truly amazing about this country, to fight for the phenomenal principles upon which we were founded so long ago which empowered America to make what Cleon Skousen calls a "5,000-year leap."
More on that later. For now, let me just say that I echo the clip before - I'm mad as... well... That Hot Place - and I'm not going to take it anymore!
Got a news tip, a great story to tell or just need someone to commiserate with your political rantings and ravings? The Curly-Haired Conservative is here for you. Hit me up at curlyhairedconservative [at] gmail [dot] com.
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