“Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton told Congress under oath that she did not send or receive any classified emails. You just said under oath that she, in fact, did send and receive classified emails. One of you is lying. Are you lying?”
“No.”
“Then did Secretary Clinton lie?”
“I can’t say that she did.”
“Is it against the law to keep sensitive, classified emails on an unsecured, private server?”
“Yes.”
“Did Secretary Clinton keep sensitive, classified emails on an unsecured, private server?”
“Yes.”
“Did Secretary Clinton break the law?”
“No.”
The government lawyers have turned America on its head. Next thing you know there will be men in women’s bathrooms.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
God sends his spaceships to America, the beautiful
They land at six o’clock and there we are, the dutiful
Eating from TV trays, tuned into to Happy Days
Waiting for World War III while Jesus slaves
To the mating calls of lawyers in love
Paul Ryan attended the University of Miami (Ohio) where he got a degree in economics and political science and worked for John Boehner’s congressional campaign. After graduation he immediately moved to Washington, DC and became enmeshed in the Republican machinery. But for a short stint selling hot dogs, Ryan has never held a non-government job. In 1998 he ran for Wisconsin’s first district congressional seat, and won. Since then he, like most incumbents, has been repeatedly re-elected, and in October of last year he replaced his old friend Boehner as Speaker of the House, causing a uproar among grassroots conservatives. He promised to bring “regular order” back to Congress, whereby the budget would be broken into spending bills which would by voted upon individually. Instead, he rammed through another hideous “omnibus” spending bill chock full of Boehneresque pork and political paybacks. Like his predecessor, Ryan has shown no desire to stand up to the Obama juggernaut of executive overreach. Now Ryan says he is “not ready to support” Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate for president. (170 words)
Ryan is a Washington Insider. (5 words)
Ryan was elected to Congress by receiving a few hundred thousand votes in his Wisconsin district. Trump, meanwhile, is set to smash GW Bush’s all-time record of almost 11 million Republican primary votes nationwide. Despite his delusions of grandeur, “Low-T” Ryan’s position on the political food chain is significantly beneath than that of “T-Rex” Trump. While a few conservative members still sheepishly defend their support of Ryan’s speakership, many have already had enough, and there are whispers in the DC jungle of an insurrection.
Like many other Washington Insiders, Ryan thinks it is still safe to look down his nose at Trump and Trump’s legions of supporters. His arrogance is exactly why Trump enjoys such historic public acclaim. They still don’t get it. And if they don’t get it pretty soon, they risk extinction.
T-Rex Trump, ever the populist, knows what’s bugging voters. While Ryan and the Insiders whimper that government will have to cut back benefits for seniors, Trump says let’s rev up the economy. As the Insiders fuss over how many hundreds of transgendered Mexican environmentalist college safe-zone dwellers they can win over from the Democrats, Trump invites the every-man masses to join him in making America great again. While the insiders fear alienating women voters, Trump promises to protect them from invading hordes of Muslim immigrants, many of whom believe in the systemic abuse of women (and gays).
Sorry, Paul Ryan. T-Rex Trump is stomping around the jungle, hunting for breakfast, and you Insiders are looking pretty tasty.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Open the door, get on the floor
Everybody walk the dinosaur!
A memorial for Robert “LaVoy” Finicum is seen where he was shot and killed by law enforcement on a highway north of Burns, Oregon January 30, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
It has been a month since the standoff in Oregon between ticked-off ranchers and federal officers began. I have been following the story closely, uneasily, just like the many similar stories before it. The conflict between landowners in the western US and the feds has been boiling for a long, long time.
The plot usually goes like this: A family works hard on their land, raising their children, being good citizens, paying their taxes and generally minding their own business. They are good neighbors and watch out for each other. They serve on the school board and the church steering committee. They are careful stewards of their land, because it provides their home and livelihood.
In the rural West, people get along with each other. They have to. When there may only be a hundred people within thirty miles of your home, you learn to be civil, respectful, helpful and friendly.
Then one day a federal agency shows up, uninvited, with a truckload of rules cooked up in a faraway office building by activists and lawyers, on a mission that defies logic. These are not people with names, like your neighbors. Their authority comes from their initials: BLM, FWS, EPA. Nobody elected them. They can’t be fired. They can’t be taken to court, at least with any reasonable expectation of results, because they can line up taxpayer-funded lawyers until hell freezes over. They don’t have to make sense.
A Wyoming rancher is fined $16 million by the EPA for building a stock pond on his own land that was carefully planned and approved by the state. The water leaves his property cleaner than when it came in.
Spurred by activists, the feds relocate Canadian gray wolves to Montana and other states, where they reproduce wildly, destroying elk herds, and wreaking havoc on privately owned livestock and pets.
BLM officials close roads that provide access to private property. They disallow forest management on private land which results in raging fires. They usurp generations-old water rights, and claim control over ditches and sloughs as if they were “navigable waterways”. They relocate bison to open rangeland over the objections of nearby landowners.
The federal agencies just can’t seem to stop poking landowners in the eye. And when proud, independent ranchers get pushed against the fence enough times, they stiffen up. The Bundy family in Nevada had a standoff against federal officials when their grazing rights on adjacent federal land were surreptitiously changed. Dwight Hammond and his father, Steven, had dustups with the BLM over controlled burns for pasture management. When they set a backfire to protect their winter range against an oncoming fire, it jumped onto federal land and burned a small parcel, resulting in their arrest for arson. They served a three-month sentence, but another judge later added five years for mandatory sentencing under an “anti-terrorism” act.
Then a group of upset ranchers, including the Bundys, seized a federal wildlife refuge building to stage a protest about the treatment of the Hammonds and others. Another three-letter group – the FBI – soon arrived at the scene. Video footage shows officers (FBI and/or state police) shooting Lavoy Finicum, one of the ranchers, to death as he stood outside his vehicle with his hands up. A passenger in Finicum’s vehicle claims officers fired “at least 120” shots into the Suburban, and Ammon Bundy was hit in the arm.
It seems that encounters with officers are becoming increasingly deadly. Only weeks before, Idaho rancher Jack Yantis was called by the Adams County sheriff to “put down” his bull which had been hit by a vehicle on a nearby highway. As he was about to mercy-shoot the bull in the head, Yantis was pulled away from behind and shot to death by deputies. His widow says it was cold-blooded murder.
All of these incidents are still under investigation, but since it is the government investigating the government, we shouldn’t expect any big revelations.
The right to own and enjoy the unfettered use of private property may be the single biggest factor in our nation’s success. There would be a lot less conflict if the government would leave private landowners alone, and also if more land was owned by the private sector – 65% of all land west of Denver is owned by the federal government.
#RANCHERSLIVESMATTER
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Maybe I’ll be there to shake your hand
Maybe I’ll be there to share the land
That they’ll be givin’ away
When we all live together
My kids grew up with “Schoolhouse Rock”. In the late seventies and early eighties kids were glued to the TV on Saturday mornings, watching animated video clips with clever rock lyrics and music. For the most part they didn’t even notice that they were being educated on topics ranging from adverbs, to multiplication, to ‘how a bill becomes a law’.
What a concept! Using music to entertain while gently educating! (i.e. Rockin’ on the Right Side . . . )
I had pretty much forgotten about “Schoolhouse Rock” until several months ago when a number of conservative congressmen bemoaned House Speaker John Boehner’s autocratic management style. They missed the good old days. Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-SC) said:
I have been frustrated that Congress has not been following regular order. By that I mean the constitutional/School House Rock process for passing legislation. A bill is drafted and then sent to a committee. The committee can make changes and then sends the bill to the House floor. The bill is amended some more and if it passes the House it goes to the Senate. The Senate may refer the House passed bill to one of its own committees and make changes. The bill passes out of committee and is sent to the Senate floor, likely to be amended further. Once the House and the Senate have passed their separate versions of the bill, a conference committee is created to work out the differences. The conference committee reports back, the House and Senate pass the agreed upon language and the bill is then sent to the President’s desk for his signature or veto. This process works in 49 of the 50 states and has served our country well for over 200 years.
The “Schoolhouse Rock” model was the ordinary legislative process until Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House in 1995. Gingrich set up a system where every bill was rigidly defined by the House leadership with no amendments or refinements allowed. Fueled with “K Street” dollars, Gingrich required Congressmen to toe the party line on every vote or risk losing committee assignments and re-election funds. When Nancy Pelosi took over as Speaker, she adopted and enforced Gingrich’s method even more forcefully, and required members to meet fundraising quotas. Her successor, John Boehner, promised to break the Pelosi stranglehold on the legislative process, but ultimately rode an even harder line. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell followed the new paradigm in the Senate: No amendments. No negotiations. Top-down authority on legislation with no input from members at all.
When enough congressmen had a gut full of Boehner’s “my way or the highway” style, a rebel group formed that ultimately took him out. The Freedom Caucus set out to restore the “Schoolhouse Rock” model of legislative order, and ultimately succeeded when Boehner stepped down and Congressman Paul Ryan took over.
“We had more amendments processed in the first two weeks under Speaker Ryan than during Boehner’s entire speakership,” reported Representative Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) at a town hall meeting.
Boehner / McConnell’s inability or unwillingness to stop the Obama liberal steamroller has been intolerable to grassroots conservatives. Now that the legislative shackles have been removed from our congressmen, there is hope that “Schoolhouse Rock” common sense will once again prevail in the House. The Senate, unfortunately, is still locked in McConnell’s autocratic Hell.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On The Right Side
I’m just a bill, yes, I’m only a bill, And I got as far as Capitol Hill Well, now I’m stuck in committee And I’ll sit here and wait While a few key Congressmen discuss and debate Whether they should let me be a law How I hope and pray that they will But today I am still just a bill
On April 4, 2015, Walter Scott was stopped in North Charleston, SC by officer Michael Slater because his brake lights weren’t working. While the officer was on his car radio, learning that Scott had some outstanding warrants, Scott took off on the run. Slater pursued him, and they scuffled; Scott was tasered at least once, and ran off again. Officer Slater fired eight shots at Scott, hitting him five times, once fatally in the heart. The officer’s initial report said he “feared for his life” because Scott had taken his taser, even though Scott was unarmed.
An eyewitness, Feiden Santana, recorded the incident on his smart phone. He released his video recording when police reports contradicted what he saw. According to Santana, Scott never took the taser, and was in fact fleeing to avoid being tasered again.
The shooting received considerable national publicity in the wake of allegations of police excesses in Missouri and New York. The Charleston Police Dept. fired Scott four days later, and the community rallied to prevent what could have been an ugly backlash. Officer Slate was subsequently charged with murder.
This ugly incident was quickly and appropriately dealt with by local officials, but the South Carolina legislature took the matter a step further, passing the “Walter Scott” bill – a law that requires all South Carolina law enforcement officers to wear body cameras. Governor Nikki Haley said, “This is going to strengthen the people of South Carolina. This is going to strengthen law enforcement, and this is going to make sure Walter Scott did not die without us realizing that we have a problem.”
We do, however, still have a problem: coming up with the funds to pay for the newly-required technology, estimated at $23 million over the first two years. The South Carolina legislature has yet to fully fund the plan.
Meanwhile, law enforcement officials across the country are ready to make the move to body cameras, should a source of funding become available. The Reporters Committee has compiled a list and map of states showing their status on the body-camera issue.
Congressman Tim Scott (R-SC) hopes to provide federal funding for that purpose, proposing his “Safer Officers and Safer Citizens Act”, which would allocate $500 million federal dollars over five years to help local agencies acquire body-camera technology. Scott said,
“Across our nation, too often we are seeing a lack of trust between communities and law enforcement lead to tragedy. While rebuilding that sense of trust will take time, I believe that providing law enforcement agencies with the resources they need to equip officers with body-worn cameras is an important step. We have seen that body-worn cameras can keep both officers and citizens safer, and that video can help provide clarity following an altercation. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a thousand pictures.”
Congressman Scott’s bill offers what many call a common-sense solution to a nagging problem: how to balance the effectiveness of police officers with the rights and safety of citizens. Like all federal solutions, its fate lies in the ability to muster enough support to win an appropriation of funds.
I am the eye in the sky
Looking at you
I can read your mind
Eye In the Sky – Alan Parson Project
With a smart phone in every pocket, the “Eye In the Sky” is inescapable. I can’t explain why I have always loved this song. As a musician, there are just a lot of things going on here that excel.
As a democratic republic, it is our duty to know what’s going on in the world and to direct our government to protect our interests. Unfortunately, these days our leaders only give us the “mushroom management” treatment, and the news media follows in tow. If you don’t know what “mushroom management” is, check here.
While we gnash our teeth over the latest headlines – who Donald Trump offended today, what flag is flying where, and whether we will be sued if our barbecue smoke wafts over the neighbor’s fence – there is real international news taking place about which we are kept clueless. Here’s a sampling of news items you did not hear about today:
In a recent three-week period the Shanghai composite stock market lost a third of its value, and after a short reprieve, it dropped another 8.5% yesterday, as China’s economy shudders through a slowdown and a crisis of investor confidence. The 21-day loss in value exceeded four trillion dollars. Meanwhile, we are fixated on Greece, whose entire annual GDP is around $200 billion. If China’s economy craters, it could have a profound effect on our own economy. Wouldn’t it be nice if somebody told us what’s going on? Do we even have diplomatic relations with China?
Nigeria’s exports dropped 27% from the same period last year due to declining oil prices and the “unpredictable political environment.” The Nigerian government continues to battle Boko Haram, the Islamist extremist group, while simultaneously trying to restore its police services and pay its teachers for months of back wages. Meanwhile, reports emerged that a former Nigerian minister stole $6 billion of public money. Life in Nigeria is rough these days.
Russia’s arms manufacturers are enjoying rapidly growing revenues despite western sanctions and a weak economy. President Vladimir Putin’s drive to modernize his military and the booming trade in arms exports has provided a double-digit annual growth windfall for Russia’s defense industry. Simultaneously, China continues to build military facilities and claim ever-greater chunks of the South China Sea for economic and military purposes. While our adversaries expand their forces, the Obama administration announces further cuts in US military power.
We know that the news business is not what it used to be. It is naive to think that anything other than the most salacious and shallow headlines will ever appear above the fold. Nor can we expect our government to keep us enlightened. A few of us are blessed with representatives who go out of their way to keep constituents informed and involved. Most federal officials are only concerned with their re-election and power, and our money. So it’s all the more crucial that we make the extra effort, as citizens of the still-greatest nation on earth, to be informed about what’s happening in the world.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Daddy is a rare millionaire
I don’t care
Yeah you got the muscle
I got the news
It’s another crazy day today in Washington, DC as the President, Congress, and lobbyists wrestle for votes on the very contentious TPA (Trade Promotion Authority) bill. The phones on Capitol Hill ring off the hook, while servers at Twitter and Facebook whiz and whirr, disseminating the enormous traffic in political opinion.
Right now the prevailing wisdom among those who are “into” politics and want to have an impact on policy is that volume rules. We are encouraged to call our congressmen, tweet our opinions, write to our editors, and make our voices heard. Volume means more. And louder.
I guess the thinking is if a congressman gets 1000 phone calls today in support of a bill, and 800 calls in opposition, he or she will carefully tally the messages and vote accordingly. If that were the case, we would not need congressmen – an app on our smart phones could just ring up everybody in the country and ask if want the TPA or not. Add ’em up.
Communicating with our elected officials is a vitally important responsibility in a democratic republic. They need to know the will of their constituents in order to represent us. Ultimately, we ask that they use the information they receive and their best judgment to make decisions that benefit the nation as a whole.
Unfortunately, a massive barrage of phone calls and e-mails to their 18-year old aides on the day of a vote is not going to accomplish anything. In fact, most congressional aides who man the phones are instructed to not divulge anything. If you call your representative’s office to ask for his or her position on a bill, the odds are very strong that you will hear this:
“The Congressman has not taken a firm position on that issue yet. He is evaluating input from his constituents. I will relay your message to the Congressman.” Click.
There are a number of reasons for the use of this tactic. One, the 18-year old aide has no clue what you are talking about. Two, the Congressman may not want to commit to anything, because his vote might yet be bought at the last minute by the Speaker or a well-heeled lobbyist. Okay, that’s pretty cynical, but it’s a bad old world out there.
The only practical way to have a genuine impact on policy is to have an ongoing working relationship with our elected officials. The time to make one’s wishes known is long before the day of the vote. A polite and thoughtful letter early in the process will be more influential and appreciated than a last second telephone demand. Our attendance and participation at a congressman’s town hall meeting is very effective, and then when we do write a letter or make a call about an urgent matter, it will carry much more weight if the congressman actually knows us and trusts our sincerity and authenticity. If we voted for and financially supported the congressman, all the better. Whether we agree on an issue or not, it is important that our relationship is businesslike and honest.
I don’t think “volume” is the key to good communication and influence. Our congressmen are pulled in a thousand directions every day. Everybody wants a piece of them and just a minute of their time. Some members are more accessible than others – thankfully, mine is exceptional in that regard. Some are corrupt and we need to do whatever it takes to get them out of office. But most are honest and sincere. They are human beings, after all, and they will respond more readily to people they know and respect.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Call me!
Don’t be afraid, you can call me!
Maybe it’s late, but just call me!
Tell me, and I’ll be around.
“There’s that truck again,” I remarked to my wife. I always had to smile when I saw the black GMC with the big flags flapping in the wind.
Peyton Robinson, a senior at York Comprehensive High School in York, SC, has been driving his truck around our end of York County with two large flags attached to the bed – an American flag and one that honors POW/MIAs. Yesterday, he was pulled from class and sent to meet an administrator in the parking lot, where he discovered his flags had been removed and placed in the bed of his truck. He was told by school officials, “Do not return to school with these flags.”
Robinson is the kind of guy you hear about in modern country songs. He not only drives a truck, he also works at Tractor Supply, is a volunteer fireman, an avid hunter, a devout Christian, and is into bull-riding and Chris LeDoux. When word got out around York and Robinson’s hometown of McConnells that one of their own good guys was going to take a stand for the American flag, folks came from every direction to support him.
An impromptu parade of more than 70 vehicles filled with flag-waving friends, classmates, and local patriots made its way through town and then parked in front of the school for a demonstration, country-style.
The story topped the news all over this mostly conservative South Carolina county, and was soon picked up by national media.
Robinson told a radio reporter that school officials gave him three different reasons for their anti-flag action. “First they told me that somebody had complained about it,” he said. “Then they said there was a rule against flags. Finally they said it was a safety hazard.”
The school’s superintendent, Vernon Prosser, cited a ‘standing policy’ against flags, but Robinson said no official policy was ever produced, and flags are neither mentioned in the student handbook nor on the school’s website.
“I’d understand if it was the Confederate flag or something that might offend somebody,” Robinson told WBTV news. “I wouldn’t do that. But an American flag? That’s our country’s flag. I have every right to do it.”
Today the school district waved its own white flag, issuing the following statement on its website:
Over the last 24 hours, an issue has been brought to light regarding our policy of flags not being allowed on our students’ vehicles in the student parking lot. Due to the outstanding display of patriotism through peaceful demonstration, it is apparent to us that many are not happy about this policy. School officials have reviewed the standing policy regarding flags and have decided that an exception will be made for the American flag, as long as the size of the flag(s) does not create a driving hazard.
As administrators of York Comprehensive High School, we are extremely passionate Americans and have deep seeded feelings of patriotism. We promote the good citizenship in our classrooms, fly the American flag in our rooms, in front of the building, and on our athletic fields. We have a student lead the pledge of allegiance every morning.
We appreciate the passion and pride of all who have called or come by YCHS over the past 24 hours. America was founded by Patriots who led positive change in a myriad of ways. We believe today is a great example of peaceful demonstration leading to positive change. This is the very process we advocate in our Social Studies classrooms and the fabric of American citizenship. Thank you for helping us as we educate the students of our community.
Our state employees always answer the phone with the sunny greeting: “It’s a Great Day in South Carolina!” And today WAS a great day. A patriotic young man stood up for his principles. His community rushed to support him. And the school district made a good decision based on input from its constituents.
Last week yet another race-related uprising wounded a US city, and President Obama’s promise of a “post-racial America” is a distant memory. Who is to blame?
“So when I hear that Baltimore has been run by the Democrats for the last 50 years, I don’t hear a ‘diss’ on the Democrats. I hear: ‘Republicans have SUCKED for the last 40 to 50 years!’ We can all agree that the progressive ideology is destroying America. It breeds death, destruction, and poverty. How bad do Republicans have to be to LOSE to death, destruction, and poverty!?”
Sonnie Johnson – hip, young, black, and female – just smacked her fellow conservatives upside the head. Her talk at the RightOnline digital media conference last weekend was a wake-up call, to say the least. The Bloggers,Tweeters, Facebookers, and other new-media writers and thinkers who attended got a blistering, take-no-prisoners, Breitbart-style tongue-lashing, the effects of which will not wear off for some time.
Republicans and conservatives seem to have given up the African-American community as a lost cause. In the face of media reporting of near-monolithic black support of liberal Democrats, it seems that right-wing political leaders don’t believe they have a chance to win black voters.
“For years I have been trying to tell Republicans and conservatives that there is a real anger brewing in the black community . . . way before Baltimore, way before Ferguson. If we don’t do something our cities are going to be set on fire . . . and there is no excuse for burning down your own city. There is no damn excuse!”
Like many conservatives, I have never understood identity politics. Voting for somebody because of skin color makes no more sense to me than voting for somebody because they are right-handed. But then I was not born into a culture that had been perennially subjugated, lied to, and used.
“Is the black community perfect? No! But I still live there. It is still worth fighting for. I see black people and I love them. I love being black. I love black people. I love black culture. I love hip hop. I love fried chicken, watermelon and sweet tea! I can go from zero to ghetto in a heartbeat! But I can also point to the intellectual need to destroy the progressive ideology in America. What better place to start than the wasteland that we have ignored for decades?”
What we don’t understand, we can sometimes still accept. In the Obama era, African-Americans have endured higher unemployment, deeper poverty, poorer education, and little of the “hope and change” that was promised them. Still, Republicans don’t often publicly challenge black support for the liberal ideology that has failed them. Sonnie Johnson has given up on some of them, too.
“We can’t, nor would I want to, reach the people who want to “Kill Whitey”. To reach the people who WANT to live in section 8 housing – who WANT to collect food stamps – who WANT to be dependent on the government for everything – these people are perfectly fit to be Democrats! And the Democrat party can have them! “
Conservatives recognize and celebrate the common aspirations and values of all Americans, regardless of skin color. Surely African-Americans want the same quality of life and opportunities for their families that all other Americans do.
“There is a section of black America that has a ‘get up, get out, and get something’ attitude . . . they wear hoodies – they dress in all black – they walk with a swag in their step – they are not “thugs” just because they are in tune with their culture – they are the black conservatives you have been looking for, but refuse to see!”
Democrats have long taken the voting loyalty of African-Americans for granted. Can Republicans and conservatives ever expect to turn that ship around?
“This is about more than just gaining new voters – it’s about losing the black conservatives we have. It’s the government’s responsibility to provide housing, jobs and food? And the citizens are told not to think for themselves but to blame the color of their skin and accept the shitty hand that has been dealt to them? For 50 years Republicans have allowed that ideology to grow and fester. Democrats want to be the party of the poor. In order for that to happen they have to keep you POOR!”
“So when you hear black people screaming to be heard, it’s because they know the people who govern them are not listening. They want American government to fail because they HATE what progressives have done to them. Where is the conservative solution?”
Who is to blame? Everybody, according to Sonnie. Several days after her passionate speech, and having had time to think about the stir it caused among her conservative audience, she told me, “I wanted to tell the black community: ‘The same people that set your trap, designed your circumstance, let your cities burn…now want you to protest for $15 an hour to flip burgers for a lifetime, and [protest about] global warming, and LGBT rights and equality. That’s more hope and change that you will never see.” But she takes square aim at conservatives, too. “ I think the black community is waking up, but there is no safe place on the right for them to ease into conservatism. Saying to them ‘we’ll accept you, you just have to change everything about yourself and your culture’ isn’t really inviting. If there were more people that focused on themselves instead of society as a whole, society would be better for it.”
African-American conservatives are ready to leave behind the failed liberal policies of the last 50 years. All they need is leadership. They have that in Sonnie Johnson.
I know every generation thinks their time in history is the most challenging, the most significant, the most “historic”. I will not claim that today’s challenges rise to the level of World War II, or the fall of the Roman Empire, or the bubonic plague of the Middle Ages.
Still, these are trying times. And the issue of our day is the rapid advance of extremist Muslims across the globe.
What baffles non-Muslims is how moderate (non-violent) Muslims seem to tolerate the horrendous violence of their radical brethren.
Our own president, who attended a Muslim elementary school, gives moderate Muslims a pass. In a CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria, President Obama said, “I don’t quibble with labels. I think we all recognize that this is a particular problem that has roots in Muslim communities. But I think we do ourselves a disservice in this fight if we are not taking into account the fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject this ideology.”
If an “overwhelming majority of Muslims” reject terrorism, why don’t they do something about it? Have you heard anything about moderate Muslims speaking up against the beheadings, murders, and abuse of children and women?
They don’t. I’m pretty sure that’s because they are AFRAID. Extremist Muslims murder moderate Muslims all over the world with glee and abandon. Would you be willing to make yourself a target of these maniacs?
European Jews were abused and murdered by the millions during World War II. Weighing heavy on the minds of Gentiles who weren’t there is the question: Why didn’t they put up a fight?
Of course, many Jews did. But many more left their homes, boarded the trains, and followed the orders of the Nazi murderers because . . . they were AFRAID.
Who wouldn’t be? It’s so easy for those of us who are not a target to diminish those who are, but who don’t put up a fight. And it’s so easy to disengage from the conflict and mind our own business.
If history teaches us anything, it is this: we must fight evil, wherever it surfaces. Not some of us, all of us. Tyranny, violence, and oppression is wrong, in any language and in any true religion. And while it’s hard for an individual to fight the power, it is much easier and more effective if we bring our numbers to the battle.
The Jews in World War II and all those who face extremist Islam today – Christians, Jews, moderate Muslims, and any unlucky soul who strays into the path of the evil Muslim mayhem – share the need to stay alive. Pity those who shrink from the task at hand.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Keep yourself alive, keep yourself alive.
It’ll take you all your time and money, honey you’ll survive
Keep yourself alive
Paul Ryan attended the University of Miami (Ohio) where he got a degree in economics and political science and worked for John Boehner’s congressional campaign. After graduation he immediately moved to Washington, DC and became enmeshed in the Republican machinery. But for a short stint selling hot dogs, Ryan has never held a non-government job. In 1998 he ran for Wisconsin’s first district congressional seat, and won. Since then he, like most incumbents, has been repeatedly re-elected, and in October of last year he replaced his old friend Boehner as Speaker of the House, causing a uproar among grassroots conservatives. He promised to bring “regular order” back to Congress, whereby the budget would be broken into spending bills which would by voted upon individually. Instead, he 
My kids grew up with 
Last week yet another race-related uprising wounded a US city, and President Obama’s promise of a “post-racial America” is a distant memory. Who is to blame?
Tom Balek - Rockin' On The Right Side 