Some Christmas advice . . . and Merry Christmas to you!
(music and video by me for my grandkids)
Tom Balek – Rockin On the Right Side
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Those Wacky Guys at Pravda
Today’s headlines:
You may have already guessed that these headlines are from Pravda, the Russian news source. I have been quick to criticize our US news media, blaming the demise of our fourth estate for many of America’s ills. We no longer have an informed populace. Much of our nation gets its news from the Comedy Channel, and it’s probably just as well. Yes, the state of our news industry is grim.
But it could be worse.
Every once in a while, just for grins, I pop over to Pravda’s English-version website. I can’t quite figure out what the Russian writers are up to. Their “news” stories are all editorials, without any pretense of impartiality or need to present facts. I’ll bet the journalism classes at Moscow University are a hoot.
This exerpt from a typical Pravda hard-news story is an example of the unbiased and fact-driven reporting Russians enjoy with their morning coffee:
How can the disaster of a genocidal war in Gaza be prevented? In last 4 days they (Israel) have bombed non-military targets in Gaza killing 41 Palestinians, among them 28 civilians including eight children and a pregnant woman, had been killed in Gaza since Israel began operations. Three Israeli civilians were killed by a rocket on Thursday. The world will have to make a choice. One way to put Israel into its place might be the decision of the UN to support the demand for an independent Palestinian state. This would give the Palestinians security and a standing in the world to speak for themselves. It definitely would contribute to peace in the region and the World.
The funny thing is, Pravda also includes an “Opinion” section.
You know, maybe we should check the college transcripts of the staff over at MSNBC – any U of M (Moscow) grads, do you think?
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
I’m living a life of constant change
Every day means the turn of a page
Yesterdays papers are such bad news
Same thing applies to me and you
Yesterday’s Papers – the Rolling Stones
Finally – Romney and Obama Make Sense
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Ugly Racism – Randy Newman Votes By Color
A few weeks ago I posed the question: Do You Vote By Color?
Today I learned, sadly, that Randy Newman does. It’s a bitter pill – Newman is a great songwriter, a thoughtful man, and a champion of the little guy. I have always loved his musical craftsmanship, and he seems to get better with age.
But now it turns out that Newman chooses his political leaders by skin color. Purely based on race, nothing else. No consideration of experience, knowledge, leadership abilities, economic dexterity, or understanding of the nation and its citizens.
Just pigmentation.
Newman’s new song “I’m Dreaming of a White President” is an attempt to skewer people who may have voted for someone only because he (all past presidents, inferred) is white – which is reprehensible. But in doing so, he advocates voting for someone only because he (Obama, inferred) is black. Just as reprehensible.
Mr. Newman, Obama got elected. The race card is no longer valid. Please burn yours and start thinking about the future of the nation and your grandchildren instead of the harm done to blacks many generations ago. You do no one any favors by fanning the flames of racism, or revealing your own.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
And now a child can understand
That this is the law of all the land
All the land!
Black and White – Three Dog Night
Michelle says: I – I – I am j – j- just like you!
I couldn’t help but notice Michelle Obama stammering her way through her speech at the DNC last night. About every second or third sentence began with a stutter (for example, check out the first 30 seconds of this clip). And these stumbles were not the least bit accidental. The words “I – I – I’ve seen it in – in people . . . ” may have appeared on the teleprompter to remind her.
You see Michelle, and her husband Barack, have been coached to stutter when speaking to the wretched masses. President Obama started using the fake stutter tactic a few months ago – more recently, his favorite is “uh”. It is intended to make them seem more common, less imperial. The theory is that if they sound a little less polished, you might forget Michelle’s extravagant lifestyle and her husband’s considerable wealth. You might think they are just like you.
I’m not saying the Obamas should be ashamed of their wealth, mind you. But I am annoyed that Michelle, in her speech, sought pity for their humble roots when, in fact, both were pampered rich kids who never knew a day of financial stress. Barack’s mother was a well-paid federal employee; his adoptive father, Lolo Soetoro, had a management job with Union Oil, and his grandmother was a well-connected bank vice-president who left him an inheritance of perhaps a half-million bucks in stocks. Michelle’s father enjoyed a fat government paycheck thanks to his Daley connections in Chicago – $50k plus in the early 1970’s, the equivalent of $250k today.
Both attended tony private high schools and exclusive colleges, including Barack’s years at two expensive Ivy League universities with no visible means of support. Even if they were financed with loans and scholarships, it’s hard to shed any tears. Their careers reek of patronage as well.
It really doesn’t matter. I rather doubt Mitt Romney regularly irons his own “Costco” shirts, either.
There is only one thing that matters to me in the upcoming elections, at every level and in every locale: do you understand simple mathematics and economics? Will you make the hard decisions it will take to save our nation from financial ruin? If so, I support you. If not, then you are just like pretty much every other political leader currently in office, and God help us all if you are elected.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
The ballad of Barack and Michelle –
Together we can make it baby –
From the poor side of town . . .
60s and 70s Protest Music – It’s Relevant Today
Country Joe McDonald at Woodstock
Ah, the great music of our youth – all those protest songs extolling the virtues of Freedom, and railing against government corruption. Songs about how a person shouldn’t be judged or given favors because of the color of his skin.
It was a time when the Leftist youth of our nation took us all by the sleeve and cried out for peace, and justice under the law, and tolerance for others who might have a different point of view. “Let us run the world!” they sang. “We’ll make it all better!”
And now, the Leftists are in power. They got their wish. They do rule the world.
Funny thing is, I listen to those lyrics and they still ring true today – only the players have changed. Our government is more corrupt than ever, picking winners and losers based on contributions and voting blocs. Our laws are a shambles as our administration chooses which ones to enforce and which to ignore. Racial and social divides continue to widen as self-serving politicians separate us into groups to pit against each other.
Now it’s the aging Tea Party people who cry out for Freedom from a government that has turned its back on the Constitution. It’s the grandparents who fear that government corruption will destroy their life savings and the economic futures of their grandkids.
I can’t make the case any better than Pete Townshend did in 1971 (below).
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
There’s nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight
I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again
We Won’t Get Fooled Again – the Who
“First Class” Travel? Or “Government Class?”
Just a few random ideas for cutting government spending . . .
- Require all government employees to travel in coach with the rest of us. There was an effort to clamp down on first-class and business-class travel by government employees several years ago, but it appears that this perk has quietly become acceptable again. Next time you are herded with the other cattle back into those crowded coach seats, take a good look as you walk through the comfy first-class cabin. There’s a good chance most of these passengers are there on the taxpayer’s dime.
- Take a good look at the use of expensive “smart phones” by government employees. Most government employees would be adequately served by inexpensive “dumb” cell phones, and in fact most employees already have, or would purchase, their own cell phones. I’ll bet the cost of this item, including air time for web surfing, is shocking.
- Stop paying government employees for all of their accumulated “sick pay” when they retire. You should get sick pay when you are sick. That’s why they call it “sick pay!” Or maybe take sick pay out of the employee’s retirement account. Some government employees receive six figure checks for accumulated sick pay at retirement in addition to a fat guaranteed pension plan.
This is just a start. The notion that government costs can not be reduced is ridiculous – give me a room full of retired, miserly old accountants and we could cut the budget by a third in no time, without reducing services. And for crying out loud, could we please at least pass a budget?
Sorry, I Wrote Off California
As a conservative, and living in beautiful Montana, I admit I wrote off California a long time ago.
I had grown so tired of the lunacy that oozes from the Golden State on a daily basis – sanctuary cities, more-than-equal-rights for gays, barrio gang warfare, brainless Hollywood celebs, Pelosi and Waters and Boxer – I decided that if an earthquake shook the whole state into the sea, oh well.
I have an ex-Montana friend who lives in the Central Valley, and he was sending me daily S.O.S. messages, as his own government officials sold out the entire valley, trashing its economy and destroying thousands of jobs and businesses, by shutting off their water to protect a tiny fish.
I shook my head as the scandals piled on – Solyndra, small-town-mayors with monstrous salaries and pensions, and the $16 billion deficit.
But last month my wife and I took a short trip to California and I had a change of heart.
We found many good, hard-working people there, who were just as baffled and upset about the state’s problems as the rest of us are. It’s a beautiful place, and in spite of its travails, California still has much talent, energy, and resources to offer the nation and the world.
If the USA is a family, California is our crazy, misguided, hyper little brother. He might end up a superstar, or could be lying in a gutter soon. There’s not much the rest of us can do to save him – he will have to learn on his own that he can’t spend money he doesn’t have, and he will have to get a haircut and get a real job.
Either way, he’s still part of the family and we should all keep trying to teach him what’s right.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On The Right Side
“We are all just prisoners here, of our own device.” Hotel California – the Eagles
cartoon courtesy of Tony Branco – see more of his great work here.
One person CAN make a difference!
A few months ago Judy Tankink was struggling. She had been asked to reorganize and reinvigorate a Tea Party organization that was, well, sagging. And she worried that she was in over her head. She didn’t know if she was tough enough.
But Judy was so firm in her resolve that something had to be done, she threw her whole heart and soul into it.
She bought a new computer and installed web design software. With help from a Tea Party friend (me!), she built a new website. And then she rolled up her sleeves and went to work. Judy started attending local government meetings. She read and studied and learned about the tactics of the left, and their misguided intentions. She organized meetings and presentations about important topics, from local (the exploding wolf population in Montana) to international (Agenda 21).
Then she learned that her city council was about to implement the Agenda 21 “Complete Streets” program. Judy mobilized her troops, rallied at a series of presentations and city council meetings, and got the program rejected. She single-handedly turned an expensive, freedom-threatening, heavy-handed government program on its head against all odds.
Judy, you are an inspiration!
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On The Right Side
Ain’t That Tough Enough?! – the Fabulous Thunderbirds
RightOnLine ROCKS!
Oh yeah! Sarah Palin, Michelle Malkin, Scott Rasmussen, Jonah Goldberg, James O’Keefe, me . . . all of us conservative superstars (well, some of us are wannabes!) were beaming last weekend at the beautiful Venetian in Las Vegas.
It was educational, inspirational, motivational and a hell of a lot of fun.
Tears were shed and glasses raised in memory of Andrew Breitbart. New citizen journalists were given swords and marching orders. Veteran conservative bloggers shared war stories and compared beards. Except the blog-ettes, of course.
Michelle brought down the house, coyly recalling her smackdown of Juan “I’m a reporter, not a BLOGGER!” Williams. Sarah cut the competition’s knees off with her incisive, on-the-button analysis of failed policies and missed opportunities. And James O’Keefe – if you have seen any of his expose’ videos, you know the only thing worse than his pimp costume is his Scottish / Irish accent. Hilarious and devastating in equal measure.
The Montana contingent included AFP/Tea Party/talk radio raconteur Henry Kriegel, Voices of Montana star Aaron Flint, Bozeman radio ace Mark Allen, legislator and new AFP-Montana chief Joe Balyeat, and yours truly – the newbie blogger and trouble-maker Rockin’ On The Right Side.
Everything good was there in abundance – the rooms were huge and beautiful, the food was magnificent, all of the speakers and presenters were top-notch. But best of all was the abundance of Optimism. We learned that the conservative new media is winning on all fronts. And it is driving the effete liberals and the inside-the-beltway good-ole-boys and the dead-tree-writers and the I’m-not-a-blogger pundits CRAZY!
Everyone left the conference energized and motivated. Hell, I’m so motivated I started a new blog, and you’re the first one to read it!
TOM BALEK – Rockin’ On The Right Side
THE HEAT IS ON! – Glenn Frey
Tom Balek - Rockin' On The Right Side 