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J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.comBlogger262125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-19687505923171536262015-03-12T22:38:00.000-05:002015-03-12T22:38:43.826-05:00Hiatus Over! Visit the New Black and Red at www.blkandred.com<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-51642481848256887852013-07-14T23:16:00.000-05:002013-07-14T23:16:07.732-05:00"Yellow Journalism Strikes Again"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<u><span style="font-size: x-large;">Yellow Journalism Strikes Again</span></u></h2>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
By: J. Hunter</h3>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span></span>n the wake of the conclusion to the George Zimmerman case,
the media insists on stirring racial animus with another story of “injustice.”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="mso-endnote-id: edn1;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span></span></span></a>
This story, also set in Florida and also involving the state’s controversial “Stand
Your Ground Law,” is more than a year old but has recently resurfaced in order
to draw parallels to the Zimmerman case and to infer a legal double standard
that discriminates against blacks. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9CCALyhbrrg/UeN3ArjxPzI/AAAAAAAADt0/9Bdi8KGo57o/s1600/MarissaRally2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9CCALyhbrrg/UeN3ArjxPzI/AAAAAAAADt0/9Bdi8KGo57o/s320/MarissaRally2012.JPG" width="214" /></a>The headline by CBS News reads “Florida Mom Gets 20 Years
for Firing Warning Shots.” Marissa Alexander, the story says, claimed to have
been defending herself against her allegedly abusive husband. Alexander was
charged with attempted murder and sentenced to 20 years after she rejected a
plea deal for a 3 year prison sentence. </div>
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The story refers to Alexander by her first name when quoting
her 11 year old daughter who said that she “<span style="color: cyan;">really <span style="color: white;">[felt]</span> hurt</span>” by the verdict.
It notes that Alexander had never been in trouble with the law before, and that
she fired the warning shot “<span style="color: cyan;">to escape a brutal beating.</span>” Her attorney says that
“<span style="color: cyan;">she was clearly defending herself and should not have to spend the next two
decades behind bars.</span>” The story ends by stating that her case has drawn support
from domestic abuse advocates who compare her situation to that of George
Zimmerman. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Zimmerman is free. Alexander is behind bars. Has an
injustice occurred? One would think so after reading this story and most of the
1190 comments it has inspired on the CBS News website. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The truth, however, paints a very different picture of what
happened and implicates the media’s far more sinister plot to boost ratings at
any cost.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span>he facts of the case are public and available for any
journalist to uncover.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="mso-endnote-id: edn2;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a>
Marissa Alexander had not been living in the family home for 2 months before
she suddenly came home and spent the night. The next morning, her husband came
home with his two sons and made breakfast for the family without incident.
After eating, Alexander gave her phone to her husband to show him pictures of
their still hospitalized newborn baby and went to the bathroom. While looking
through the phone, the husband found suspicious texts between Alexander and her
ex-husband which prompted her current husband to question the paternity of the
baby. He told the children to get dressed because they were leaving. Alexander
went to her car, retrieved a firearm, reentered the house and aimed it at her
husband and two sons. They raised their hands, begged her not to shoot, but she
did anyway—not vertically into the ceiling, but horizontally toward her husband’s
head (narrowly missing his head, according to court records). The husband and
children ran away and dialed 911. Alexander did not call the police and was
arrested.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Alexander posted bond and was instructed not to contact her
husband. She did anyway, in order to talk him into changing the story in order
for her not to be prosecuted. She visited him at his home—not the family home—and
attacked <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">him</i> causing injury to his
face. Again, he called 911. She did not. She was thereafter arrested anew on
new charges.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nlxkvKhHUIo/UeN3AhREzEI/AAAAAAAADt4/1qhxSO0UQnc/s1600/rob-liano-warning-shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nlxkvKhHUIo/UeN3AhREzEI/AAAAAAAADt4/1qhxSO0UQnc/s320/rob-liano-warning-shot.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>U</b></span></span>pon reading the court record of the facts of this case, it
hardly sounds like Alexander was in fear for her life and safety. She did,
after all, go to her husband’s house multiple times. She also did not escape
when she claimed that he was going to attack her, even though he appears to
have been leaving rather than engaging her. Finally, and most importantly, most
people think of a warning shot as one that is fired into the air, not at
someone. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This Florida “mom” is a pawn in the media’s attempt to stir
racial discord by comparing a distorted version of her case to the Zimmerman
case and implying that the state’s Stand Your Ground Law is not equally applied
to blacks as it is to non-blacks. This, like the media coverage in the Duke Lacrosse
case and the initial coverage of the Zimmerman case, is just another example of
shameful modern day yellow journalism. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="mso-element: endnote-list;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Article Sources:</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><hr size="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" width="33%" />
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="edn1" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[i]</span></span></span></span></a> http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57433184/fla-mom-gets-20-years-for-firing-warning-shots/</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="edn2" style="mso-element: endnote;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[ii]</span></span></span></span></a> http://www.scribd.com/doc/89763383/States-Motion-in-Opposition-of-Defendants-Motion-for-Immunity</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo Sources: "Marissa Alexander Rally" from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkeBrd1dtIDngzy3H5ULXYAF4HgVanTjOPvub3Nd1VGa5KoYetdxUpNLGh6aR6uLleFrouxXnBH-rziBq-h2n_s2a_BKPWrpIePLo0qRfSg0rMrgBtN5ycvKcieIrK-tngQtXAswRV_9U/s640/MarissaRally2012.JPG; "Warning Shot" from http://robliano.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/rob-liano-warning-shot.jpg</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-33938213302018902512013-04-01T18:40:00.000-05:002013-04-01T18:40:30.292-05:00"Political Science"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u>"Political Science"</u></span></h2>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">By: J. Hunter </span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>C</b></span></span>onservatives are criticized for
being “anti-science,” a charge that grew stronger last month when the American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a policy statement affirming that children
living with same-sex parents “<span style="color: cyan;">receive similar parenting whether they are raised
by parents of the same or different genders.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> This
claim purports to be evidenced by science, which, if true, would contribute to
the left’s argument that conservatives reject rationality whole cloth. Of
course, though, AAP’s findings are unscientific and continue a liberal
tradition of using science as a propaganda tool to further political ambitions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4y7Hl33N_O0/UVoZ8_Rvy6I/AAAAAAAADgI/guNcVgL23Gs/s1600/dnews-files-2013-03-gay-parents-660.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4y7Hl33N_O0/UVoZ8_Rvy6I/AAAAAAAADgI/guNcVgL23Gs/s320/dnews-files-2013-03-gay-parents-660.jpg" width="320" /></a>Peter Sprigg, a senior fellow at
the Family Research Council, criticizes AAP’s statement saying that it is
“<span style="color: cyan;">clearly driven more by political correctness than by the actual state of
research on [the] issue.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> “<span style="color: cyan;">An
overwhelming body of social science research has shown conclusively that
children raised by their own biological mother and father, committed to one
another in a lifelong marriage, are happier, healthier, and more prosperous
than children in any other family structure,</span>” according to Sprigg. Perhaps it
is this “<span style="color: cyan;">overwhelming body of research</span>” that has informed American courts for
years and inspired them to favor biological parents over foster and adopted
parents.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Echoing Sprigg’s claims, the
American College of Pediatricians (ACP) issued a statement rejecting AAP’s
conclusion. “<span style="color: cyan;">The American College of Pediatricians reaffirms that the intact,
functional family consisting of a married (female) mother and (male) father
provides the best opportunity for children…The College, therefore, disputes the
AAP claim that supporting same-sex unions promotes the ‘well-being of
children.’</span>” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
ACP even criticizes the scientific
research that undergirds the AAP statement. President Dr. Den Trumbull says,
“<span style="color: cyan;">No one concerned with the well-being of children can reasonably ignore the
evidence for maintaining the current standard, nor can they or we ignore the
equally strong evidence that harm to children can result if the current
standards are rejected.</span>” </div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c4olnJCo5Ts/UVoZ8rLimkI/AAAAAAAADgM/I_4z9x_68co/s1600/gay-parents-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c4olnJCo5Ts/UVoZ8rLimkI/AAAAAAAADgM/I_4z9x_68co/s320/gay-parents-3.jpg" width="320" /></a>Equally strong evidence that harm
may come to children raised in same sex households? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>A</b></span></span>n ACP report on Homosexual
Parenting claims that domestic violence in same sex households is two to three
times more common than in households with married heterosexual couples.
Same-sex partnerships are “<span style="color: cyan;">significantly more prone to dissolution</span>” than
traditional marriages, “<span style="color: cyan;">with the average same-sex relationship lasting only two
to three years.</span>” Furthermore, the tendency for homosexuals to experience mental
illness, engage in substance abuse, exhibit suicidal tendencies, and live
shortened life spans than heterosexuals is not a function of societal disdain
of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the homosexual lifestyle, but exists,
too, “<span style="color: cyan;">at inordinately high levels among homosexuals in cultures where the
practice is more widely accepted.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Clearly, despite the AAP’s
claims, the science is not settled on same-sex parentage. But, is it clear that
same-sex marriage would be devastating to child welfare?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Dr. Jason Richwine, of the
Heritage Foundation, writes that “<span style="color: cyan;">the main challenge to research on the
children of parents in same-sex relationships has been simply finding enough of
them to analyze in the first place.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
The ACP seconds that notion: “<span style="color: cyan;">Data on the long-term outcomes of children placed
in same-sex households is sparse and gives reason for concern.</span>” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yUpg9FCLibU/UVoZ87ma5UI/AAAAAAAADgQ/6ge2_LshyAg/s1600/6985657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yUpg9FCLibU/UVoZ87ma5UI/AAAAAAAADgQ/6ge2_LshyAg/s320/6985657.jpg" width="320" /></a>Given what is available, though,
the data contradicts AAP’s basis for endorsement. “<span style="color: cyan;">Studies that appear to
indicate neutral to favorable child outcomes from same-sex parenting have
critical design flaws,</span>” says the ACP. In 2005, the American Psychological
Association (APA) stated that no study has found children reared by homosexual
parents “<span style="color: cyan;">to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of
heterosexual parents.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a>
Mark Regnerus, a sociologist at University of Texas, challenged that sweeping
claim when he released a study in June of 2012 that used a large nationally
representative dataset. Regnerus’ study found that “<span style="color: cyan;">children from same-sex
households experienced more negative adult outcomes compared with children from
intact biological families.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a>
Regnerus’ study was met with “<span style="color: cyan;">remarkably hostile and unscientific backlash.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span>he AAP, and those who attacked
Regnerus’ work on grounds other than his methodology, have done a disservice to
the name of science and to its place in American discourse. For the political
left to try to use science as a tool to bludgeon its opponents can be
expected—politics is blood-sport, after all. Those of us outside of the
political realm are political animals nonetheless, scientists included. But it
is wrong for scientists to bend research to support a political agenda as
appears to be occurring on the issue of same-sex parentage. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Furthermore, the slander that
conservatives are, by definition, against science is an onerous and pernicious
lie. Conservatives in many cases fight the use of science as a propaganda tool,
and unfortunately their skepticism of some realms of the scientific community
is warranted. The nation suffers when politics so pervades science that
political factions become the watchdogs determining scientific validity.
Liberals and conservatives can peaceably disagree about political philosophy,
but they should not live in separate planes of reality. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span>Article
Sources:</span></b> <span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2013/03/18/peds.2013-0376.full.pdf+html</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> http://cnsnews.com/news/article/american-academy-pediatrics-announces-support-same-sex-marriage</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> http://www.acpeds.org/the-college-speaks/position-statements/parenting-issues/homosexual-parenting-is-it-time-for-change</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn4">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[4]</span></span></span></span></a> http://blog.heritage.org/2013/03/22/academy-of-pediatrics-endorses-same-sex-marriage-but-science-not-so-sure/</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn5">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[5]</span></span></span></span></a> http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/parenting-full.pdf</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn6">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[6]</span></span></span></span></a> http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0049089X12000610/1-s2.0-S0049089X12000610-main.pdf?_tid=bb3b5d98-9b16-11e2-9396-00000aab0f27&acdnat=1364853450_3600ea01431414200c84828a9e7d70c2</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[7]</span></span></span></span></a> http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/10/the-regnerus-study-social-science-on-new-family-structures-met-with-intolerance</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: yellow;"><b>Photo Sources:</b> "Same sex <span style="font-size: xx-small;">fathers 1" from http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/blogs/dnews-files-2013-03-gay-parents-660.jpg; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">"Same sex fathers 2" from http://blog.lib.umn.edu/meyer769/myblog/gay-parents-3.jpg; "Mark Regnerus" <span style="font-size: xx-small;">from http://chronicle.com/blogs/percolator/files/2012/07/6985657.jpg</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-79794255164937145072013-03-18T01:34:00.000-05:002013-03-18T01:34:09.988-05:00"Wild Speculation Offers Insights about 2016"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>"Wild Speculation Offers Insights about 2016"</b></span></u></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">By: J. Hunter</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kCyV7rMRJO4/UUa0XIBPcfI/AAAAAAAADe4/R1e6YFyffMU/s1600/Hillary-Michelle-2016-97618348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kCyV7rMRJO4/UUa0XIBPcfI/AAAAAAAADe4/R1e6YFyffMU/s320/Hillary-Michelle-2016-97618348.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>W</b></span></span>ith Presidential elections
beginning ever sooner, Republicans and Democrats have already begun weighing
potential tickets. Democrats have successfully broken the color barrier with
President Barack Obama, and are eager to break the gender “Glass Ceiling” post
haste. Republicans, in need of a win, are searching within the conservative
tradition to find candidates who best champion more attractive elements of the
tradition without surrendering past hard-fought political gains. However wild
it is to speculate so early on the 2016 race, early predictions offer
interesting insight into the respective movements’ thinking.</div>
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Paul Bedard of the Washington
Examiner posits “<span style="color: cyan;">the ultimate Grrl Power ticket</span>” will be manifested in 2016 by
Former New York Senator and State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton and
first lady Michelle Obama.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
“<span style="color: cyan;">It’s not just talk,</span>” Bedard writes. “<span style="color: cyan;">Bumper stickers
reading...‘Hillary-Michelle 2016’…saw a 60% increase…with the largest uptick in
March.</span>” He cites Democratic strategists who call Clinton “<span style="color: cyan;">a lock to get into
the race</span>” and who herald her “<span style="color: cyan;">strong donor network from her 2008 campaign.</span>”</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PBj1DSLPCC8/UUa0W8lAhzI/AAAAAAAADes/LUu8Ekf9srQ/s1600/hillary_clinton_michelle_obama_2016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PBj1DSLPCC8/UUa0W8lAhzI/AAAAAAAADes/LUu8Ekf9srQ/s200/hillary_clinton_michelle_obama_2016.jpg" width="200" /></a>Elspeth Reeve, writing in The
Atlantic Wire, says of Michelle Obama that the only thing keeping her out of
elected office is Michelle Obama, herself.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
“<span style="color: cyan;">The only argument against Obama running is that she doesn’t want to; that
disappears if she just…changes her mind.</span>” </div>
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A Clinton-Obama ticket would go
far to show a Democrat commitment to the Party’s women, according to strategist
Chris Lehane and former Al Gore campaign manager Donna Brazile. Lehane is
quoted as saying that the ticket “<span style="color: cyan;">reflects the growing awareness that it is
time for the glass ceiling of the last old boys club to be firmly shattered,</span>”
and Brazile relishes “<span style="color: cyan;">a day when a woman can run for the presidency without so
much parody and fanfare.</span>”</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span>hat said, there is a striking
irony in the proposed ticket that does not escape me even as it appears
illusive to its advocates searching for Democrats to make a strong feminist
statement. Unlike the prominent women in the Republican Party like South
Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Hillary Rodham and Michelle Robinson owe their
political good fortunes to men, their husbands in particular. <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
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Moreover, this ticket would only
further expose the thin bench on the Democrat side. Whereas the GOP appears to
be the Sherman Tank of politics, always ready with credible candidates to replace
old ones. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mfFrvIrjBDI/UUa0XEI1iaI/AAAAAAAADe0/wp5Xgp2TeW4/s1600/randpaul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mfFrvIrjBDI/UUa0XEI1iaI/AAAAAAAADe0/wp5Xgp2TeW4/s320/randpaul.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>O</b></span></span>n the subject of the GOP, the
recent news is the CPAC poll that chose Kentucky Senator Rand Paul as the
conference’s presidential preference.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> Stephen
Dinan and David Sherfinski of the Washington Times note that the poll of 2,930
attendees “<span style="color: cyan;">skewed toward younger conservatives</span>”—41% of those polled were
students.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
Austin Alexander, a 26 year old conservative quoted in Dinan and Sherfinski’s article,
volunteered for Rand Paul’s father—Texas Congressman Ron Paul—and welcomes a
more libertarian streak in the Republican Party.</div>
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On the other hand, Gary Kim, 62,
supported the poll’s close second, Florida Senator Marco Rubio. “<span style="color: cyan;">Marco’s just a
terrific messenger…People get his life story, he’s Latino. So it’s a strategic
decision…[he’s] as good a shot as we’ve got.</span>”</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f9hsPuA1XM8/UUa0XilPGGI/AAAAAAAADfA/4BrTtj4jfr8/s1600/151014817_custom-8bff63961185274b85a544cb711ae0d90b29b193-s6-c10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f9hsPuA1XM8/UUa0XilPGGI/AAAAAAAADfA/4BrTtj4jfr8/s320/151014817_custom-8bff63961185274b85a544cb711ae0d90b29b193-s6-c10.jpg" width="320" /></a>At the heart of Kim’s comment is
an understanding that the Republican Party is failing to include enough people
in its ranks to grow. Indeed, growth requires more than just presenting
candidates that look like the constituency the Party wishes to court. Forging a
more inclusive ideology is part of the growth strategy. Paul spoke, at CPAC,
about the Republican Party focusing on individual liberties above all, a
message that worries social conservatives fighting for traditional marriage and
rights for the unborn. Rubio, on the other hand did not shy from social issues
and was even compared positively to Rick Santorum. The contrast highlights the
conversation within the Republican Party that has raged without resolve since the
days of Fusionism—is libertarian objectivism compatible with traditional conservatism
beyond issues of free markets?</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>W</b></span></span>ith the 2016 election years
away, and interrupted by a crucially important midterm election in 2014, any
predictions about the 2016 are obviously premature. That said, the reflexes of
the two Parties indicate their priorities and a taste of what is to come.</div>
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<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Article Sources:</b><br clear="all" />
</span></span><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
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<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
http://washingtonexaminer.com/2016-hillary-michelle-dream-ticket-floated/article/2524072</span></span></div>
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</span></span><div id="ftn2">
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<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/03/will-michelle-obama-lean-in/63056/</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/16/cpac-straw-poll-results-2013_n_2856972.html?utm_hp_ref=politics</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/16/rand-paul-washington-times-cpac-2013-straw-poll/?page=all</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources</b>: "Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama" from http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/images/stories/large/2013/03/14/Hillary-Michelle-2016-97618348.jpg; "Clinton-Obama 2016 Sticker" from http://socialismisnottheanswer.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/hillary_clinton_michelle_obama_2016.jpg?w=500; "Rand Paul" from http://www.ronpaul.com/images/randpaul.jpg; "Marco Rubio" from http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/02/06/151014817_custom-8bff63961185274b85a544cb711ae0d90b29b193-s6-c10.jpg </span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-38926008595001393722013-03-12T01:37:00.000-05:002013-03-12T01:37:21.781-05:00CPAC Missteps Harm Conservative Cause<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>"CPAC Missteps Harm Conservative
Cause"</b></u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>By: J. Hunter </i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span></span>f conservatives have learned
anything at all from the movement’s success, they should have learned that tone
matters—perhaps even more than substance. That the cruelty that is liberal
policies is ever mistaken for benevolence can be credited to liberals’ regular
coupling of said policies to compassion. With that in mind, conservatives who
care about winning hearts and minds to the cause argue the moral case for
Republican ideas ceaselessly, as they should.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> Unfortunately,
the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) has made two decisions this
year that make it much more difficult for these conservatives to highlight our
big hearts.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VcBxukeOQik/UT7MbQ0uVPI/AAAAAAAADdA/Th1sfr2O6yU/s1600/chris_christie_150893439_fullwidth_620x350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VcBxukeOQik/UT7MbQ0uVPI/AAAAAAAADdA/Th1sfr2O6yU/s320/chris_christie_150893439_fullwidth_620x350.jpg" width="320" /></a>First, CPAC has conspicuously not
invited New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie to speak. Christie was a Republican
darling who took on New Jersey’s various unions, healed some of the state’s
fiscal woes, and served as the kind of articulate Republican firebrand for whom
many in the movement have clamored. Not long ago, serious conservatives dreamt
that Christie would enter the Presidential nomination and perhaps even
represent the Party as the nation’s top Republican. We waited eagerly for his
speech at the GOP convention (not knowing that it would be something of a
flop).</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now, though, as reflected by CPAC’s
omission, Governor Christie is treated as something of a pariah. Christie went
a long way to help President Barack Obama win reelection by lavishly lauding
Obama’s leadership during Superstorm Sandy a mere week before the election.
Christie subsequently irked Republicans by attacking House Majority Leader John
Boehner for not approving billions of federal dollars to New Jersey for storm
cleanup, at a time when Republicans had been sounding the horn of fiscal responsibility
fueled by states’ independence from Washington. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
No conservative can say that
Christie is infallible, but infallibility is not a prerequisite to being
respected and accepted in the GOP. By ostracizing Christie, CPAC is sending a
message to the country that conservatives demand absolute fealty at all times,
or else we will forget any good that you have done and turn our backs on you.
How’s that for compassion?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Vo0mAMGkrs/UT7MbRrZRzI/AAAAAAAADc8/iQ75vE7xcyQ/s1600/goproud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Vo0mAMGkrs/UT7MbRrZRzI/AAAAAAAADc8/iQ75vE7xcyQ/s320/goproud.jpg" width="320" /></a>Second, on the subject of turning
our backs, that almost happened in the 2000 Republican Convention when the
Texas delegation planned to walk out in protest when Arizona Representative Jim
Kolbe was scheduled to speak on free trade.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
Kolbe is openly gay, much to the chagrin of that Texas delegation, and as it
happens, the Texans did not turn their backs on him and walk out after all.
This year at CPAC though, gay Republican group GOProud has been excluded from
participation in the conference.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This is a mistake for 2 reasons.
First, GOProud is a very conservative group that was allowed in years past to
participate at CPAC. The group is an ally. Second, excluding GOProud sends the
message that conservatives place sexual orientation over all other principled
agreement. This is the negative stereotype that Democrats accuse of us—and CPAC
is playing right into it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>L</b></span></span>uckily, conservative writers
like Jonah Goldberg and the editors at National Review are speaking out against
CPAC’s poor judgment, and are offering what ought to be (if it isn’t already)
the mainstream conservative view of Chris Christie and of gay conservatives.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a> If
welcoming debate is what the conservative movement is all about, then Chris
Christie should be allowed to face his conservative detractors and be praised
for his achievements at CPAC. If conservatives really do oppose gay marriage
and not gay people, then GOProud should be allowed to participate at this year’s
conference. Behaving otherwise is a surefire way of contracting the Party and
ensuring electoral failure.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Article Sources:</b><br clear="all" />
</span></span><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324338604578326350052940798.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> http://archives.cnn.com/2000/LOCAL/pacific/08/01/azc.kolbe/index.html</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/07/17227281-goproud-going-to-cpac-well-sort-of?lite</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn4">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[4]</span></span></span></span></a> http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/341939/cpac-border-guard-jonah-goldberg</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[5]</span></span></span></span></a> http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/341948/cpac-s-empty-chairs-editors</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources:</b> "Chris Christie" from http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/08/29/chris_christie_150893439_fullwidth_620x350.jpg; "GOProud Logo" from http://lesbianconservative.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/goproud.jpg</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-91770830719065149402013-03-04T01:35:00.002-05:002013-03-04T21:12:52.783-05:00"Why Mainstream Media LIkes the Right Wing Fringe"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><u><span style="color: white;">"<span style="font-size: x-large;">Why Main<span style="font-size: x-large;">stream Media Likes the Right Wing <span style="font-size: x-large;">Fringe"</span></span></span></span></u><b> </b></span></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>By: J. Hunter</i></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2uh8ltf1hPM/UTQ_c38WHdI/AAAAAAAADbw/iAtlGjQz7KU/s1600/Corbis-LM002074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2uh8ltf1hPM/UTQ_c38WHdI/AAAAAAAADbw/iAtlGjQz7KU/s320/Corbis-LM002074.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>E</b></span></span>ric Alterman, writes a piece, posted at the Center for
American Progress, on a fascinating topic—the media’s love affair with
“<span style="color: cyan;">conservative crazies.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> I
have a personal interest in this theme, as liberal hyperbole and (frankly)
insanity did a great deal to push me out of the fold and into the welcoming
arms of the political right. For that very reason, though, I am especially
terrified when “<span style="color: cyan;">conservative crazies</span>” find a public venue from which to
discredit the cause. Alterman, too, claims to be bothered by this phenomenon,
however I find his sentiments phony, leading me to question why he bothered to
write the column at all.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The crux of Alterman’s argument is that the mainstream media,
because it is in the pocket of “<span style="color: cyan;">right-wing reality denying</span>” entities, unquestionably
promotes conservatism. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As an example,
Alterman cites CNN’s Deb Feyerick saying that Ted Nugent possessed “<span style="color: cyan;">a very deep
connection with the facts</span>” needed to effectively debate 2<sup>nd</sup>
Amendment issues. Alterman obsesses over Nugent, but he also defames other
Republicans up to and including Rush Limbaugh. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
When you consider the ludicrous argument that the mainstream
media is in the pocket of any right wing interest, and that Alterman goes on to
equate Eric Cantor, Ted Cruz and Rich Lowry with “<span style="color: cyan;">conservative crazies,</span>” it is
easy to identify his piece as just another shallow liberal hit job on all
conservatives. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
That said, one must ask how aged rocker, Ted Nugent, earned
the right (over, say, John Lott) to represent the conservative view of the 2<sup>nd</sup>
Amendment. Alterman justifiably highlights some of Nugent’s past statements including
one about chopping off the heads of the President, Vice President and others. How
did conspiracy theorist and charlatan, Alex Jones, earn the right to sit
opposite Piers Morgan and defile the name of conservatism? Why did Donald Trump
garner so much media attention leading up to and during the Republican
Presidential Primaries with his insane prating about President Barack Obama’s birth
certificate? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-90M-Jz0VFe4/UTQ_cjYXb_I/AAAAAAAADbs/d9EqTL2Pggg/s1600/jones9.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-90M-Jz0VFe4/UTQ_cjYXb_I/AAAAAAAADbs/d9EqTL2Pggg/s320/jones9.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>I</b></span></span> can think of two possible reasons why true “<span style="color: cyan;">conservative
crazies</span>” may have been media darlings during times of intense national debate,
none of which have anything to do with media outlets being powerless to
contradict their right-wing overlords. First, media liberals may not actually
know where to find intelligent conservatives—a product of their own biases. Second,
and most compelling, media liberals wish to promote “<span style="color: cyan;">conservative crazies</span>” so
to conflate the entire movement with its most disreputable members in the minds
of the American public. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Those in the media have a record of Ted Nugent’s statements,
and they know that he is powerless to shape national policy. By interviewing
him as an authority on any topic, as a spokesman for the conservative
viewpoint, there is a great chance that he will say something inflammatory that
will discredit himself and the conservative argument. Piers Morgan sat with
Alex Jones knowing that Jones would do exactly what Jones does—embarrass every
American who he claims to represent.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NZc6dwnAIU0/UTQ_clyTRmI/AAAAAAAADb0/y9fBBmBSj38/s1600/joe_biden--300x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NZc6dwnAIU0/UTQ_clyTRmI/AAAAAAAADb0/y9fBBmBSj38/s200/joe_biden--300x300.jpg" width="200" /></a>Eric Alterman, too, writes this thinly veiled criticism of
the mainstream media as an attempt to promote those he names “crazies” to “<span style="color: cyan;">conservative
thought leaders.</span>” Alterman’s attack piece represents the liberal hatred and
utter disrespect for conservatives. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
While I wish that Nugent, Jones, Trump and others would fade
into obscurity, I am comforted by the fact that they are not the intellectual
leaders of the conservative movement. They’re private citizens, musicians, entrepreneurs,
authors—and marginal. Vice President Joe Biden, though, is in the Democrat
mainstream. He and many other true “liberal thought leaders” have a litany of
idiotic statements that would dwarf those of Nugent, Jones and Trump combined. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>M</b></span></span>aybe the Republican cabal that controls the mainstream
media would do well to highlight them more often.</div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br clear="all" /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Article Sources:</b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><br />
<hr size="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" width="33%" />
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><br />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[1]</span></span></span></a> http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/media/news/2013/02/14/53431/the-mainstream-media-is-gobbling-up-conservative-crazies/</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources</b>: "Ted Nugent" from http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2013/01/Corbis-LM002074.jpg; "Alex Jones" from http://static01.mediaite.com/med/wp-content/uploads/gallery/alex-jones-greatest-hits/jones9.png; "Joe Biden" from http://www.nypost.com/rw/nypost/2012/10/06/oped/web_photos/joe_biden--300x300.jpg;</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-19507423287020844352013-01-28T01:33:00.002-05:002013-01-28T20:54:58.167-05:00"A Libertarian in My Kitchen"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u>A Libertarian in My Kitchen</u></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
By: J. Hunter</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>L</b></span></span>ast night I threw a small party
at our apartment to celebrate my wife’s birthday. Some friends came over to
enjoy the cocktails, and the food that chained me to the kitchen employing
multiple burners and an oven—preparing complex dishes as a one man assembly
line. My wife and I are blessed with good friends, one of whom braved the
hellish inferno to chat with me and keep me company. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 87.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ftB9du1f0g/UQYaiANZqvI/AAAAAAAADYU/GP4l5Aryk7o/s1600/Tenu+de+soiree-7942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ftB9du1f0g/UQYaiANZqvI/AAAAAAAADYU/GP4l5Aryk7o/s320/Tenu+de+soiree-7942.jpg" width="320" /></a>On the one hand, he was, for a
time, the only other man in the apartment. Perhaps that helped compel him to
withstand the heat and abide my conversation that slowed unpredictably and seemed,
at times, to wander while I smashed fried plantains into roundish <i>tostones</i>. I tilted
my head examining them as they sizzled in hot oil waiting for them to turn
golden. <i>Tostones</i> turn from golden, crispy and perfect to too brown, burnt and
brittle in an instant. One must be paranoid and discerning to cook them
successfully.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
As he sipped his icy, yellow, “grown-up
drink” (my three year old daughter, Lucy, covetously (and futilely) asked for
sips of what we were drinking) the plastic cup glistened with condensation. This
brave man kindly stood in the least comfortable place in the apartment to show
appreciation to his busy host. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">W</span></b></span>hat does one talk about with me?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
For most of you reading this, you
probably think that I am a political beast that thinks about partisan conflict
incessantly—you’re right. And so we talked politics. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
It occurred to me then that
he and I had never talked about politics directly. He didn’t even know I had a
blog. He is my wife’s friend’s husband—in effect, I inherited our acquaintanceship
by default. He’s heard me talk to others about our political views and thoughts
on current events, but he and I never squared off, looked each other in the
eyes and took on that subject that is expressly forbidden to encroach polite
company. As it happens, he leans libertarian—which is a relief to me, as it means
that he’s thought things through and isn’t just your typical Chicago brain-dead,
reflexive, Democrat Party liberal boot-licker. Libertarians, I can enjoy.
Liberals, I tolerate.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JY0xF1nTbOA/UQYahS7L8gI/AAAAAAAADYI/5dFo4fShVqI/s1600/IMG_6469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JY0xF1nTbOA/UQYahS7L8gI/AAAAAAAADYI/5dFo4fShVqI/s320/IMG_6469.JPG" width="320" /></a>Of course, though, when talking
to libertarians, I find that we seem to always have the same conversation about
how similar yet different we are. It’s like a black American meeting a black
Cuban for the first time—the two sharing similarities, but also separated by
language, culture and worldview. We share a mutual disgust for liberal
disregard for a limited State, yet when he turns on me for Republicans who
staunch the growth of government rather than actually pruning Leviathan’s
fruitless branches, he lands a punch that I can only counter by chiding
libertarians’ damage to the argument by suggesting we cut federal departments
and programs that are actually worthwhile—like defense, the Federal Reserve and
the DEA. In all, it’s a profitable discussion that leads us both to nod in agreement
even as a few <i>tostones</i> escape salvation. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">O</span></b></span>ne thing I noted that intrigued
him was a difference I found among liberals, libertarians and conservatives: Libertarians
argue for freedom as a virtue in and of itself. Whatever comes from choice, so
long as it does not limit another’s, is good because it was freely elected.
That places libertarians on an island—detached from liberals and conservatives
who fight with each other about competing moralities and about how those morals
should best be promoted. Conservatives rely on Judeo-Christian moral codes and
tolerate philosophies and other religious values that do not stray too far from
this ideal. What that means for the consistency of policy positions
notwithstanding, we smile favorably on blue laws, abstinence clauses in foreign
aid monies, and faith-based initiatives. Morality, to us, is a personal matter,
but where there is mutual aggregation of values, the government should reflect
the consensus. Liberals, on the other hand, believe that morality is staunched
by immoral (and furthermore, obsolete) traditions. Morality must be promoted by
government. The mutual aggregation of values compels citizens to elect or
recall politicians who are outside the mainstream of American morality. Even
more, where the people uphold an immoral belief—invariably the product of some
sexist, racist, ancient tradition—enlightened agents of the State will enforce
proper morality and shame dissenters into catching up with progress.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
My friend raised his eyebrow
slightly at my assertion—his invitation for me to make this charge about
liberals more clear.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jHZoDKS6NvA/UQYahVtNuTI/AAAAAAAADYE/B9WTKa4qtew/s1600/6a00d8341c630a53ef00e5536a33308833-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jHZoDKS6NvA/UQYahVtNuTI/AAAAAAAADYE/B9WTKa4qtew/s320/6a00d8341c630a53ef00e5536a33308833-800wi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I did, by arguing that it is this
view of morality and how morals should be promoted that leads liberals to
distrust business more than they distrust government. In the liberal view,
business buys indulgences by selling amoral products. That the Chick-fil-a
owner does not abide same sex marriage is a threat that must go unanswered as
long as people like their chicken sandwiches. That Forever XXI endorses the
religion of a tribal ancient society (Christianity) by printing a Bible verse
on each of their yellow bags must be tolerated as long as women shop there. Business,
unlike government, is allowed to heretically flout the Left’s moral codes and
attempts at enforcement. The bigger and richer a business is, the greater the
opportunity for the entity to go rogue by pandering to the myths of the masses
in order to grow ever larger and ever more powerful. This keeps liberals up at
night. That conservatives and libertarians support business, makes us their
moral enemies. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
That libertarians have no input
on the conversation of morality relegates them to mute bystanders in a street
fight.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
He nodded in thoughtful agreement. I appreciated the chance to talk shop. And as I've replayed the conversation in my head since we chatted, I would wager that he's done the same.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></b></span>he party went on without a
hitch: liquor flows with ease at our parties, like in Prohibition Era Chicago.
The burnt <i>tostones</i> were exponentially outnumbered by the perfect ones. And for
a moment, I had a conversation worth writing about—I hope, worth reading about
as well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources:</b> "Cocktails" from http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080730223029/recipes/images/6/69/Tenu%2Bde%2Bsoiree-7942.jpg; "Tostones"from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUBnch-B_ZbjSZc9Z2B5cLR2VpNBXOVy0lSjcVsl9b-0wWQj2Nxtw1Diq5Mo6dJtGxKAwWI0BAoGQMzMbOPZdGHGwWOy0-2CfKsGTzgqBRQU2j0V9xbxrzMggXiTReBs5t1zT-Z3YfDQc/s1600/IMG_6469.JPG; "Forever 21 bag" from http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/06/23/forever.jpg </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span>J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-45630514182482501652013-01-16T21:07:00.000-05:002013-01-16T21:07:01.525-05:00"The Free Exchange"<div style="text-align: center;">
<u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>"<span style="color: red;">The</span> Free <span style="color: cyan;">Exchange</span>"</b></span></u></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>C</b></span></span>onservatism’s strength emanates from its penchant for robust debate.
“The Free Exchange” is a series of articles aimed at highlighting and
broadening the debate at Black and Red. When you comment on essays you read at
this site, I will respond to you via this blog series. If you wish to send an
email for consideration in an upcoming “Free Exchange” article, please email me
at <a href="mailto:blkandred@gmail.com">blkandred@gmail.com</a> and write “The
Free Exchange” and the title of the article you are commenting on in the
subject heading. Hopefully, the free exchange of ideas will prove beneficial to
readers and participants. Thank you for reading and thank you so much for
commenting.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">-J. Hunter</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This week, Lester Dixon and an Anonymous writer went back and forth
about “Our Stolen Generation: Brenda.” </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: orange;">Lester’s comments are in orange.</span> <span style="color: yellow;">Anonymous’ are in yellow.</span> <span style="color: lime;">Mine are in
green.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708" name="_GoBack"></a></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: yellow;"><u><b>Anonymous:</b></u></span></span> </span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">She does indeed have the abortion if you've read any of the
follow ups about Brenda .</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span><b><u>Lester Dixon:</u></b> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">No she doesn't have an abortion if you watched the film
the police officer told boo-boo that "she was no longer missing, and she
gave birth to her child" It's sad how drug's ruin people lives, this documentary
was important because it didn't show a black person's addiction, which is the
norm, but rather a cast of white crack heads so it home with me more because
drugs are like bullets they have no name in the life it destroys. R.I.P to all
those who have passed due to drugs...</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: yellow;"><u><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Anonymous:</b></span></u></span> </span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">You act like she had all of these great morals considering
abortion but clearly you weren't paying attention in the film. I believe she
would have had the abortion had she not spent all of her money on crack. Did
you not hear her say "Let's see if it's young enough to slaughter" in
the film? How about that she abused crack and heroin during her entire
prengancy. Abortion was on her "to-do list" of which nothing she got
done simply because she's an addict. Did I feel bad for her? Yes. Does she have
good morals? No, you've got to be kidding yourself.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Lester Dixon:</u></b></span> </span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: orange;"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ok
you talking about what you believe, let's talk fact's. how many babies are born
to addiction? a whole lot you writing on a computer look it up. i looked up
"Brenda's Baby" from the movie and indeed she had the baby. and a
baby born to a crack mother may not be a healthy baby but they do exist. what
morals did she have every thing she said she was going to do she didn't follow
thru. she's leaving boo boo, never did that. she's going to rehab, never stuck
with that. got an abortion, never go it done. and to be honest she didn't
impact my life what so ever. what she did do was show me what not to do. so not
to be harsh but really who's kidding who. because i'm not kidding myself... </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Anonymous:</b></u></span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Let us not judge Brenda for being a drug addict and
prostitute. Why not judge the men who used her services, are they not more to
blame? Brenda left this world after having her baby. she chose life for her
baby instead of death. It may be the one good and morally correct she she has
ever done.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span>hank you for commenting and for making “Our Stolen Generation: Brenda”
one of the more popular articles in the series. The resulting conversations
have offered me the wonderful opportunity to reiterate what I found so
compelling about the film, “High on Crack Street” and about Brenda in
particular. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: lime;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Brenda was a crack-addicted prostitute who accidentally got pregnant—a natural
result of a life spent fornicating for drug money. Though she was uneducated,
and rejected so many moral codes, she instinctively knew what many university
professors and liberals claim not to know—that abortion as birth control is
immoral. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: lime;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">She is far from a pillar of virtue (Who, amongst us, isn’t?) That’s
hardly germane. What matters is that liberals insist that the road to morality
is rejecting that morals exist at all—that they are a construct foisted upon us
by conservative forces. My point is that basic morality is within reach of even
the most ignorant and damaged among us. Brenda was both, ignorant and damaged,
yet she knew instinctively that killing her own child—even to spare him from a
life of destitution—was horribly wrong. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: lime;">
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<br /></div>
<span style="color: lime;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I look forward to future discussions about this and about other topics
on the site.</span></span></div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-56475828704100562522013-01-07T22:12:00.004-05:002013-01-07T22:12:59.163-05:00"The Free Exchange"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">"<span style="color: red;">The</span> Free <span style="color: cyan;">Exchange</span>"</span></b></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
With the whirlwind that is my life, I have not been keeping
up with “The Free Exchange” as I should have been. To make up for it, though, I
plan to address all of the comment left on the blog until I have answered each
and every one. At that point, then I will continue with regular articles. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>C</b></span></span>onservatism’s strength emanates from its penchant for
robust debate. “The Free Exchange” is a series of articles aimed at
highlighting and broadening the debate at Black and Red. When you comment on
essays you read at this site, I will respond to you via this blog series. If
you wish to send an email for consideration in an upcoming “Free Exchange”
article, please email me at blkandred@gmail.com and write “The Free Exchange”
and the title of the article you are commenting on in the subject heading.
Hopefully, the free exchange of ideas will prove beneficial to readers and
participants. Thank you for reading and thank you so much for commenting.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
-J. Hunter</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>This week, Yukio Ngaby and Sheldon comment on <a href="http://blkandred.blogspot.com/2012/11/republicans-get-schooled-but-what-did.html">“RepublicansGet Schooled: But What Did We Learn?”</a> BJ weighs in on <a href="http://blkandred.blogspot.com/2012/12/gun-control-delusions-why-newtown.html">“Gun-Control Delusions:Why the Newtown Massacre Fails to Ameliorate the National Debate,”</a> and <a href="http://blkandred.blogspot.com/2012/12/my-fellow-americans.html">“MyFellow Americans?”</a> Finally, an Anonymous commenter offered thoughts on <a href="http://blkandred.blogspot.com/2012/03/our-stolen-generation-brenda.html">“OurStolen Generation: Brenda.”</a></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow;">Yukio’s comments are in yellow.</span> <span style="color: orange;">BJ’s are in orange.</span>
<span style="color: cyan;">Anonymous’ are in blue</span>, <span style="color: magenta;">Sheldon’s are purple</span> and <span style="color: lime;">mine are in green.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b><span style="color: yellow;">Yukio Ngaby: </span></b></u></span></div>
<span style="color: yellow;">Hard to say what happened. It's so close, I just can't get
rid of a nagging feeling that there's more to this. I can't find what that
"more" was, what that little push was. </span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: yellow;">Maybe we'll know more tomorrow. And remember to look at the popular vote count.
That's a good indication on what the next two years are going to be like. And I
don't think it's going to be pretty.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span>hank you for commenting Yukio. As I’ve written since the
election, I don’t know what happened in November. I’ve heard so many rationales
offered for what went wrong that I don’t know what to believe—none of them seem
to make any sense to me. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">The one thing that appears to be undeniable is that
liberalism is on the rise in America. This was the one reality that I feared in
2008 with the Democratic electoral power grab. The Supreme Court is already
more liberal with the addition of Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. I expect another
vacancy in the next 4 years that could result in a very liberal replacement.
Obamacare is here to stay—a reform that further perverts the American character
by telling folks that they are no longer responsible for their individual
health insurance costs. Spending is out of control in Washington, with no sign
of cessation.</span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">It feels like everything is wrong in this country—and the
feeling is widespread. Polls show that Americans are much more pessimistic
about the country, now, than they have been in quite some time.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
Furthermore, Republicans (74-24) believe that the country’s best years have
come and gone.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">The nation is awash in pessimism and I understand that. I
just don’t understand why we elected the pessimistic choice in November. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: magenta;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Sheldon: </b></u></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: magenta;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It has been a long time, and for
that, I apologize. However, I knew that after Tuesday night's results I would
find the needed salve here with your blog. It is often hard to know exactly
what the electorate as a whole wants especially when we are left with a
situation as gridlocked as the one with which we are now stuck. I know that the
so-called moderates that tend to be the prize of the day for either party tend
to be less ideological than people with principled disagreements on either
side, so I would like to hope that especially after four more years of
lackluster leadership and economic performance, 2016 (and perhaps the midterms
in 2014) will be a time ripe for the taking...That being said however, with the
ever-increasing percentage of people reliant on the government to solve their
ills, I do worry about what will happen when that number eclipses 50%. I fear
that it is possible that there may be no going back to the days of
self-reliance. Alas, we will have to see, but it is always nice to know that
there are those like yourself who share my beliefs. Thanks for letting me vent
as well as for your wonderful blog! </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span>hank you for venting here, Sheldon. I’m glad to know you’re
still fighting out there. I wish I could offer something more optimistic, but I
haven’t anything like that to offer. We share the same fears. The election ended
months ago, but I still feel hurt and worried and confused. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">I used to believe that America was rugged and that it
rewarded and revered hard work and self reliance. Now, she seems weary—unable
to fight wars, to balance her books, or learn from her mistakes. The Fiscal
Cliff “compromise” taught us that the government will hold the entire nation
hostage just to take a swipe at successful people, regardless of whether doing
so would solve any portion of the economic woes facing the country. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">I guess, Sheldon, that the one bit of good news is that if
we continue to support ourselves and our families, we will always be better off
than those who give up and go the easy route. We will be happier. Our lives
will have more meaning. Even more, we will be able to do more for ourselves and
for our families than can the government. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">All this will remain true until, as you mentioned, the scale
tips to where 50% of the country is on the dole, and wants to take more from
the other half.</span></div>
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<span style="color: lime;">God forbid.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: orange;"><u><b><span style="font-size: large;">BJ:</span> </b></u></span></div>
<span style="color: orange;">I'm grateful for your honest and heartfelt writing. I have
been in a similar place. I simply don't understand what happened. However for
whatever reason, I feel more energized and enthusiastic than ever. I have been
slowly and painfully writing an essay on what exactly happened. Obviously I
don't pretend to know all. But this process has been enlightening. I'll send it
to you whenever I finish it. Until then, it's good to rest and recharge. We're
going to need you more than ever during these difficult times.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>B</b></span>J, you must know that you have been absolutely instrumental
in keeping me in the game. Every time I think about closing this site and
fading into the masses—watching baseball and turning my attentions to my
immediate personal goals—I think about the many talks we’ve had where you have
convinced me not to go that route. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">Sometimes, it’s just useful to have someone with whom to
mourn and emote. I know that I’ll feel better, but I don’t regret feeling
dejected for all this time—too many things are going wrong to feel any other
way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">One thing that gives me hope is comparing this election
defeat to the one in 1964 against Lyndon Johnson. The Republican Party and
conservatism survived after that abysmal cycle, and that was nothing like what
we just came through in November. In other words, as bad as it feels, we’re not
a dead movement, we’re just down and out right now. That perspective is the
only thing sustaining me these days.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">As for your findings on what happened in November, I look
forward to reading your thoughts. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: orange;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>BJ: </b></u></span></span></div>
<span style="color: orange;">Amen. Well said and welcome back. I agree that the real
issues are mental health (& growing government to accomodate that) and gun
owners securing their guns. We need greater penalties for people who don't do
this and stricter trainings/laws on this before people can buy guns. Well said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="color: lime;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span>hank you, BJ!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">You’re right—a focus on assisting people with mental health
issues, and finding ways to serve those among us who need mental health
services is a helpful addition to this conversation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">In my view, beyond that, events like this seem to elicit a
laundry list of pet peeves that are offered under the umbrella of stopping
tragedies like this from occurring again. This is not a criticism, I do it too,
but it is exactly what the society needs to avoid. It’s related to the “Do-Something”
disease that urges officials to do something—whether it is useful or not—to deliver
us from bad situations. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">What you and I both know is that humanity is fallen. We do
horrible things to each other and we preoccupy ourselves with ways to do even
worse. No government policy can change that without being equally cruel (we can
all be chained to stakes and left in seclusion).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">There is room for conversations about how firearms are to be
secured, about the responsibility to report stolen weapons, about the rules of
private firearms sales and other aspects of an individual right to firearms
ownership. What I fear, though, is intervention in an aspect of our freedom that
is gratuitous, or worse, infringing. These interventions are always meant to be
helpful and they always appear right after a tragedy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">My answer is understandably unsatisfying: we mourn the loss
of innocent life. We abhor the perpetrator. We examine what happened, look for
patterns and look into our own tradition, heritage and values for answers—all the
while accepting that the best course forward is to simply shake our heads and
sit on our hands. Anything more can be harmful.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">As always, I look forward to your further thoughts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: cyan;"><u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Anonymous:</span> </b></u></span></div>
<span style="color: cyan;">come on! - you really think this documentary is a good
argument to be pro- life, if anything I would have wished she could have had
services available to her, lets face it no one with a heart feels good about
having an abortion, but she wasn't healthy enough to give any quality of life
for a child, and if you paid attention, the documentary does not suggest that
she is neccessarily uneducated, but actually suggests her family has some
money- "we are not asking my mother for money Boo Boo" or something
like that I believe was what she said, and then she ended up almost going to go
have one of those horrible partial birth abortions in New York because services
were not made available to her to terminate the pregnancy -earlier on - had she
gone through with that it sounds like something that would fuck her up and
traumatize her more than she already was AND then they recessitate the poor
baby to a life that sounds horrible- and I personnaly think her and boo boo
were addicted to drugs with or without each other i wouldnt blame him for her
addiction or her for his addiction- i stumbled across this site cuz i was
actually hoping maybe they both got their shit together and the kid ws alive
and well somewhere cuz although i may not be a radical prolifer I just try to
use common sense, harm reduction and look at the individual situaition, -but I
digress, as I was saying I stumled across this site looking for info on what
happened to these people after the documentary and could immediately tell I had
stumbled onto some sort of prolife conservative website that was taking this
documentary and using it out of context to further their own positions with
politics. I would also like to say that I am not a fan of abortion but more see
it sometimes as the lesser of two evils no one ever thinks that getting an
abortion is a cool thing to do unless they are sick in the head- I also thought
it was about time someone came forward about going through all the shit that
Brenda went through in the documentary -i mean came out in the open and didnt
try to hide it under the rug so to speak- i think she really did a service
bringing a lot of societal issues to the surface, I just thought I would add
that I do not think she sounds unneducated or stupid - she sounds down and out
- and i really felt bad for boo boo too when i watched him looking all over the
place for her- but dont assume because you make an ass out of you and me- </span><br />
<span style="color: cyan;">i also believe that the soul leaves the body of the fetus and moves to a new
body in a new womb one that is ready to incarnate for whatever bigger reason
the universe may have i dont have all the answers</span><br />
<span style="color: cyan;">good night</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></b>hank you for commenting Anonymous.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">You’ve provided a lot for me to talk about so I will do my
best to address each of the issues you raised. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">First, “High on Crack Street” is not a pro-life movie, per
se. The only point I wanted to make about the film is that I was struck by how the
logic of the pro-life argument is so visceral that it could grasp and motivate even
someone who spent much of her life destroying her brain and her human spirit.
Furthermore, I would like to completely disagree with you that only the
heartless feel good about abortions. I’ve had professors and met people who
argue that an abortion should be a complete nonevent. They even argue that the
only reason people feel bad about aborting a child is societal pressure that
should not exist. I would not call them heartless, but they’re missing a
different vital part of their body, located atop the central nervous system.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">Second, Brenda is doubtlessly uneducated. However, I think that
her lacking further emphasizes how pro-choice proponents must tie themselves
into knots to teach people how to unlearn what comes naturally to her and to
each of us. Nor am I convinced that she comes from money. She lives in Lowell,
which is a forgotten industrial town. Assuming, as you did, that because she
could ask her mother for abortion money, that she comes from money, makes no
sense to me. Abortions are surprisingly cheap. Moreover, she may have been
reticent to ask her mother for money because she didn’t want to deal with any
more shame. There are many reasons why that line may have been spoken.
Surmising that it reveals that she comes from money is nonsensical.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">Third, I disagree that this documentary illustrates a need
for more access to first or second trimester abortions. I am against abortion in
nearly all instances: rape, incest and when the mother’s life is at risk are
the general exceptions. That one will be born into a bad circumstance is not justification
to kill him—even if one believes, arbitrarily as you do, that the fetus’ soul
will effortlessly enter into some other body. The implication of the view you’ve
promoted makes all murder victimless and tragic deaths less tragic. I don’t buy
it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: lime;">Finally, though we disagree (rather, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">because</i> we disagree), I’m glad that you’ve found this site. I hope
you return and continue to engage with me and with the other readers who
frequent Black and Red. I’m glad that you could tell immediately that you
stumbled across a conservative pro-life website. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br clear="all" />
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Article Sources:</b></span></span><br />
<hr size="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[1]</span></span></span></a> http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/01/2013-poll-finds-americans-weary-and-wary/1802885/</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[2]</span></span></span></a> http://www.gallup.com/poll/159596/americans-unsure-best-times-past.aspx</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-81466284486663010582012-12-26T17:56:00.000-05:002012-12-26T17:56:06.498-05:00"My Fellow Americans?"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">My Fellow Americans?</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">By: J. Hunter</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span></span>t is impossible for me to deny that I am still depressed
about the November election results. As you probably noticed, the blog has been
virtually silent since Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan were rejected by the few
voters who bothered to show up on November 6<sup>th</sup>. If I were a
dispassionate political nerd, the election would be fodder for countless essays
and articles. I’m not though. I’m a conservative Republican political nerd. And
as such, the election has done nothing but demoralize me. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2tZYZ3WZUqk/UNt_hQX899I/AAAAAAAADXM/6mkAtuNjctM/s1600/tumblr_md4u7iQOO71rkd8gso1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2tZYZ3WZUqk/UNt_hQX899I/AAAAAAAADXM/6mkAtuNjctM/s400/tumblr_md4u7iQOO71rkd8gso1_500.jpg" width="400" /></a> </div>
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Conversations since the loss have called on Republicans to
rethink their ideology—an impulse I mostly reject. That said, I cannot help but
admit that I have lost faith in a belief that is central to conservative
ideology—that the American people can be trusted to do what is right. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span></span>n the summer before the election, someone dear to me asked
me why he should vote for Mitt Romney rather than Barack Obama. This person is
an Army veteran, a right-leaning independent voter, and someone who in many
ways epitomizes the American mean. I gave a full-throated rebuke of the Obama
presidency and explained how Romney was the right man at the right time to fix
America’s woes. I was respectful of the president, as I am generally, and did
not oversell Romney by complementing his shortcomings with my own policy
preferences. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Just a few days ago, I spoke to this person for the first
time since the election. He told me that he voted for Obama because John Sununu
(not the Republican nominee) purportedly said something incendiary about the
President. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This person went on to decry a laundry list of troubling
trends he sees in the country—things that President Obama and the Democrats
support. Indeed, he raised his voice crying out against the idiocies of the
Democrat Party while I nodded and fueled the fire. When we exhaled, though, I was
bitter because he was complaining about the very thing that his vote endorsed. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>L</b></span></span>eading up to the election I wrote a series of articles for
a particular first time voter to dissuade her from voting for Obama and
convince her to choose the Republican alternative. <a href="http://www.blkandred.blogspot.com/2012/10/to-particular-first-time-voter.html">These essays are available<i><span style="color: black;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></b></span></i>on the blog for you to read and to decide whether my tone was disrespectful or condescending.</a>
I contend that it was not. Nonetheless, this voter, a friend of mine, still
voted for Obama, and has admitted to regretting her choice from the moment she
walked out of the polling place. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Furthermore, as a college student in the liberal stronghold
of Chicago, Illinois, I knew surprisingly few liberals who were enthused to
vote for Obama, and not a single one who would even attempt to defend the
prospects of a second term.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>N</b></span></span>ow, one could counter that I have only offered anecdotes
that should not convince me to lose faith in the electorate on a whole. If that
were my only evidence, I would agree. However, there are two more issues
outstanding that fuel my pessimism: First, the momentum for the last three
weeks of the election was clearly in Mr. Romney’s favor.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
Second, voter turnout was abysmally low.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tosH1kIrvZI/UNuACddMVyI/AAAAAAAADXU/if54OGgm1m0/s1600/romney-sad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tosH1kIrvZI/UNuACddMVyI/AAAAAAAADXU/if54OGgm1m0/s400/romney-sad.jpg" width="400" /></a>From these facts I deduce that though Americans largely
believed that the country was on the wrong track, that President Obama was not
doing a good job in his post, and that Obamacare was not good for the country,
it appears that eligible voters who held these views either voted for Obama
anyway or just stayed home altogether. If this is the case, then the American
people failed in November—and I hold them in contempt for doing so.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Don’t tell me that I believed something that the polls weren’t
saying—Nate Silver points out that the polls largely leaned Republican.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a> I
just read what was out there. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Don’t tell me that Mitt Romney was not conservative enough—he
was inarguably more conservative than John McCain, and McCain performed better
in 2008 than any other conservative on the ticket that year.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Don’t tell me that Romney was not specific enough—whatever
he lacked in plans, he made up for in his record. Meanwhile, the President had
no plans to overshadow his own lousy record.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This simply hasn’t made sense to me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>S</b></span></span>ince the night of the election, I have ached to understand
what went wrong with the election and with my fellow citizens who screwed up
big time. As a result of their actions, we’re stuck with a president who
continues to be unserious about the fiscal cliff and federal spending, a president
who exploits tragedies like the Newtown Massacre to push silly ideological
policies that will not solve the problem, a president who got caught deceiving
the country about Benghazi and then tried to reward an ambassador for lying for
him, and a president who, above all, is smaller than the office he serves.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Yes, I’m still depressed about November. If you are a
conservative who stayed home on Election Day, stay the hell out of my way—I have
nothing but contempt for you. If you’re an independent, chances are you voted
for Mitt Romney.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a>
If you’re a liberal, I think I now know how you felt in 2004.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Conservatives cannot be conservatives without perspective,
and with that in mind, I know that Republicans have fared worse—like in 1964. I
plan to get back on my feet and continue this blog and advocating for our
timeless principles starting now, but this election has wounded me and I’m not
quite ready to remove the bandages. Nothing hurts more than my shaken faith in the
American public, though. I feel like I don’t know my neighbors, my countrymen,
my tribe. Conservatism relies on the natural wisdom of the non-professional
political class to guide this nation to ever increasing greatness. For this
reason, I pray my sentiments change.</div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br clear="all" /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Article Sources:</b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><hr size="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" width="33%" />
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn1" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
http://www.humanevents.com/2012/10/15/swing-state-report-momentum-romney/</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn2" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/10/31/new-poll-shows-romney-with-momentum-in-pennsylvania/</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn3" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/24/opinion/bennett-final-debate/index.html</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn4" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/turnout-steady-in-swing-states-and-down-in-others-but-many-votes-remain-uncounted/</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn5" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a>
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/11/less-people-voted-than-in-2004-or-2008.html</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn6" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a>
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/which-polls-fared-best-and-worst-in-the-2012-presidential-race/</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn7" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a>
http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelmedved/2012/12/19/how-to-run-ahead-of-the-ticket-n1469671/page/full/</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div id="ftn8" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a>
http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-romney-independent-vote-polls-moderates-election-2012-11</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources:</b> "Sad Patriot" from http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_md4u7iQOO71rkd8gso1_500.jpg; "Sad Romney" from http://jeenyuscorner.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/romney-sad.jpg </span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-31740374969856724032012-12-26T17:43:00.000-05:002012-12-27T09:25:20.542-05:00"Gun-Control Delusions: Why the Newtown Massacre Fails to Ameliorate the National Debate"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Gun-Control Delusions:</span> </h2>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Why the Newtown Massacre Fails to Ameliorate the National Debate</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">By: J. Hunter</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I9GjPSmldB8/UNt6SkvEwsI/AAAAAAAADWc/KlJqCfQ1P2I/s1600/674483d8822644e0bdfd93495c3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I9GjPSmldB8/UNt6SkvEwsI/AAAAAAAADWc/KlJqCfQ1P2I/s400/674483d8822644e0bdfd93495c3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>E</b></span></span>ven in light of the monstrous
mass killing in Newtown, Connecticut, arguments advancing assault weapons and
handgun bans are ridiculous. In general, the “debate” following mass shootings
is always predictable and inane. I suppose, though, that if one considers the
equally mindless and reflexive media reporting on mass shootings, not much more
can be expected. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In an article titled “9 Facts
about Guns and Mass Shootings in the United States,” Ezra Klein makes an honest
and valiant attempt to inform the gun control debate<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>.
Lamenting critics’ protests that the politicization of gun control routinely
starts before victims’ bodies have been buried, Klein writes, “<span style="color: cyan;">If roads were
collapsing all across the United States, killing dozens of drivers, we would
surely see that as a moment to talk about what we could do to keep roads from
collapsing…If a plague was ripping through communities, public-health officials
would be working feverishly to contain it.</span>” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Indeed, I agree that the federal
government, and Americans in general, tend to craft policies in the wake of
alarming news to avoid future tragedies (for the record, this has not always
been a positive impulse). Moreover, the nexus of gun violence and gun control
legislation works much differently than the other coupled problems and policies
that Klein presents. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
For starters, there is no policy
ambivalence or moral component to solving collapsing roads: engineers can test
roads and determine what should be done to prevent collapse. Natural rights
remain intact throughout the process. Likewise, plagues are equally clear cut:
a disease is identified and remedies are prescribed. No rights or moral codes
are violated. As for mass shootings, though, the gun banning debate is centered
on eliminating a natural right to self-defense and a Millian right to be
allowed freedom that does not infringe upon others’.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
To the best of my knowledge, Mr.
Klein does not favor either a handgun or assault weapons ban, but the
unfortunately daft national conversation about mass shootings always starts
there. In Illinois, Governor Pat Quinn, Senator Dick Durbin and Chicago Mayor
Rahm Emanuel are urging for a statewide and national assault weapons ban in
light of the Connecticut shooting.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>
California Senator, Dianne Feinstein, vows to introduce a ban on the first day
of the 113<sup>th</sup> Congress.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
Lawmakers in Maryland want an assault weapons ban—one focused on the Bushmaster
brand AR-15—an iconic American rifle.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
The list of politicians signing on to such a wrongheaded policy is pages long,
and predictably includes the sitting President, Barack Obama.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cLX6T1ue9kw/UNt7RL_-vHI/AAAAAAAADWo/bTqiq5m8fbA/s1600/guncontrol.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cLX6T1ue9kw/UNt7RL_-vHI/AAAAAAAADWo/bTqiq5m8fbA/s400/guncontrol.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Gun control advocates either do
not understand, or will not accept, that firearms are to mass shootings what
cars are to drunk drivers. Just as cars should not be banned because drunk drivers
kill numerous people every day, it would be equally ineffective and silly to
propose an assault weapons ban or handgun ban. Politicians, though, are rarely
dissuaded from doing what is ineffective or silly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>A</b></span></span>sking what should be done about
mass shootings is not invalid. In fact, one of the bright spots of this recent conversation
includes rethinking how we care for our mentally ill: conservatives must be
willing to grow government to this end, and liberals must be willing to allow others
to commit people who demonstrate risk. Likewise, Americans must understand that
liberty has a dark side—for every million people who act responsibly, there is
one who acts monstrously. No legislation can eliminate the negative aspect of
freedom without eradicating freedom itself. Therefore, let the debate continue
sans efforts to ban handguns, assault rifles and the individual natural right
to keep and bear arms.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><br />
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Article Sources:</b><br clear="all" />
</span></span><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><br />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></a>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/nine-facts-about-guns-and-mass-shootings-in-the-united-states/</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><br />
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></a>
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-12-17/news/ct-met-school-shooting-illinois-politicians-1218-20121218_1_assault-weapons-quinn-and-emanuel-gun-control</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><br />
<div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span></span></a>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/dianne-feinstein-assault-weapons-ban_n_2311477.html</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><br />
<div id="ftn4">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span></span></a>
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-12-17/news/bs-md-guns-20121217_1_gun-control-assault-weapons-bushmaster</span></span></div>
</div>
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><br />
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></span></span></a>
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/politics/obama-assault-weapons/index.html</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Source:</b> "Mother Crying in Newtown" from http://timenewsfeed.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/674483d8822644e0bdfd93495c3.jpg?w=360&h=240&crop=1; "Anti-Gun Control Poster" from http://www.newsgab.com/attachments/politics/242076d1267045654-gun-control-around-world-where-do-you-stand-issue-where-do-you-live-guncontrol.jpg</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-84851725556517539632012-11-22T12:30:00.002-05:002012-11-22T12:30:35.753-05:00Happy Thanksgiving<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>A</b></span></span>s a citizen of the greatest nation known to man, there's always so much for which to be thankful.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jsbRj2R0iHc/UK5fGd0uF1I/AAAAAAAADVs/N3-fOFiew60/s1600/thanksgiv-day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jsbRj2R0iHc/UK5fGd0uF1I/AAAAAAAADVs/N3-fOFiew60/s640/thanksgiv-day.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>I</b></span> wish you and your family a warm and restful Thanksgiving.</span></div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-68068063173320870712012-11-07T03:07:00.001-05:002012-11-07T09:44:33.831-05:00"Republicans Get Schooled: But What Did We Learn?"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">"Republicans Get Schooled: But What Did We Learn?"</span></h2>
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By: J. Hunter</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span></span>’m beyond dry heaving at this point—just retching, gasping
for air and washing my face with a cold washcloth. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YCVtIL2ceho/UJoWK-MxXgI/AAAAAAAADUA/5mWmJpuGYHM/s1600/A-man-with-a-hangover-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YCVtIL2ceho/UJoWK-MxXgI/AAAAAAAADUA/5mWmJpuGYHM/s400/A-man-with-a-hangover-001.jpg" width="400" /></a>What the hell just happened?</div>
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<br /></div>
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I thought we had it all—the right medicine for what ails us:
a turnaround artist as a candidate at a time when the country desperately needs
a turnaround. </div>
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<br /></div>
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We had the incumbent on the ropes, talking more about “Romnesia,”
“Binders,” and “Big Bird” than his own dismal record. </div>
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<br /></div>
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We had momentum. Democrats appeared depressed and angry with
their candidate while Independents and Republicans were breaking for Governor Mitt
Romney.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Or was it all an illusion? Or “DE-lusion?”</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>I</b></span></span> talked many conservatives off the ledge, looking at
polling internals, quoting Michael Medved’s book “The Odds Against Obama,” and
telling anecdotes. Even though I read the New York Times, listen to NPR and
follow Ezra Klein on Twitter, I wouldn’t have been surprised by a Romney
landslide or a slim Romney victory. What they predicted, what actually
happened, shocked me. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
As the confused emotions subside, I hope to find a lesson in
a moment of clarity. This is some of what I think we should have learned:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<u>Politics is Bloodsport: Nice Guys Finish Dead</u></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>W</b></span></span>ednesday Morning Quarterbacking the election events brings
me to some of the conversation after the debates when Democrats came out feisty
and Republicans appeared “gentlemanly.” Obama got away with Benghazi,
Sequestration, and general condescension while Joe Biden mocked his way through
his debates. Our guys took the high road. The electorate just left us at the
ice cream parlor for a leather jacketed motorcycle hunk named Slick.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
We can be forceful without being jerks. Let’s throw a few
more elbows next time around.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<u>Polls and Punditry</u></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span>he raw numbers showed an Obama victory. People who trusted
the polls were vindicated by the results. Those of us who looked into the
internals and came to a different conclusion (myself included) connected dots
that turned out not to be there. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Pollsters are getting better at predicting. We must
recognize that and react accordingly. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
On that note, can we finally dismiss Dick Morris?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<u>Messenger Matters</u></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span></span> may be the only person in America, besides Ann, who gets a
warm fuzzy feeling with Mitt Romney. The Democrats successfully painted him as
a cold, detached businessman who can’t empathize with regular people (Not that
the 47% comment helped). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
By contrast, Barack Obama came across as…not Mitt Romney.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<u>More Navel Gazing Needed</u></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sIOzfyh-sC0/UJoVAFOsNZI/AAAAAAAADT4/2Joi9HqUCac/s1600/Obama-partye-time.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sIOzfyh-sC0/UJoVAFOsNZI/AAAAAAAADT4/2Joi9HqUCac/s320/Obama-partye-time.jpeg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>R</b></span></span>epublicans have lost the popular vote in the last 5 presidential
elections. After the hard loss in 2008, Republicans turned inward, a good
instinct that I expect us to do this year too. However, we still have difficult
internal issues to work out: What does Republican foreign policy look like post
Iraq and Afghanistan? What is our strategy to make headway in minority communities?
Are the critics right when they say that the Republican Party has purged itself
into isolation? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span></span> hate to lose—especially to a weak opponent. The election
results are painful, but as an optimist, I like to think of pain as "weakness
leaving the body." </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Let’s be strengthened by this experience, and continue
standing athwart History yelling “Stop!”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Source:</b> "Hungover" from http://onwardstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/A-man-with-a-hangover-001.jpg; "President Obama" from http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-snj2SNeStq8/UArmcghZ62I/AAAAAAAABLk/Z_zj8SgxqtU/s1600/Obama-partye-time.jpeg </span></span></div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-42391640108526131462012-11-05T14:45:00.000-05:002012-11-05T14:45:21.105-05:00"To: A Particular First-Time Voter 3"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span>“To: A Particular First-Time Voter</span></b></span></h2>
<h2 align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span>From: A Republican Friend”</span></b></span></h2>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
By: J. Hunter</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l8dHEuuLE6s/UJgWfRhhCsI/AAAAAAAADTU/CF65oAYwVIY/s1600/axx-romney-100days_002-4_3_r560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l8dHEuuLE6s/UJgWfRhhCsI/AAAAAAAADTU/CF65oAYwVIY/s320/axx-romney-100days_002-4_3_r560.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span>omorrow is the election. You
will be voting for the first time. Because we spend so much time talking about the election I
have learned that you take politics seriously. To give you my perspective on
how you should come to whatever decision you choose, I have written the
previous 2 letters to you. This letter, the last, is my appeal for you to vote
for Governor Mitt Romney for President of the United States.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The arguments for why you should
vote against Barack Obama are best described and organized on a great site
called “My Mustard Seeds.” (<a href="http://www.mymustardseeds.com/obama-administration.html">This is the link to the site's Obama Material.</a>) I will
propose why you should not vote for Mr. Obama, first, and then follow up with
why you <i>should</i> vote for Mr. Romney.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Nobama</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>A</b></span></span> 19<sup>th</sup> Century German
politician, Otto von Bismarck, is the source of one of the most prescient political
quotes: “<span style="color: cyan;">Politics is the art of the possible.</span>” When Barack Obama ran for
president, he made claims about what was possible—within his power to control.
He promised to cut the deficit, to close the prison at Guantanamo, to lower
unemployment, to restore our standing around the world and to work with
Republican interests and constituents. America elected him, even though he had
little executive experience and a murky legislative record. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
He came to power with all the
tools necessary to enact his grand vision: huge Democrat majorities,
overwhelming national support and optimistic fervor. Having not even been in
office a year, Mr. Obama earned a Nobel Peace Prize. During the 2008 campaign, Republicans
across the country were running ads highlighting Obama’s likeness and speeches—ready
and willing to work with the popular first black president. The art of the
possible looked to be the art of the inevitable. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
He ruined that though. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>M</b></span></span>r. Obama failed to do what was
possible because he is not the inspiring change agent he portended to be. He
is, instead, a petty politician. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-usK1aJmLfOU/UJgWfrv_srI/AAAAAAAADTg/rcwrRLFP1FY/s1600/r-FRANK-RICH-OBAMA-FAILURE-large570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-usK1aJmLfOU/UJgWfrv_srI/AAAAAAAADTg/rcwrRLFP1FY/s640/r-FRANK-RICH-OBAMA-FAILURE-large570.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
With no political opposition, <b>he
failed to end the Bush Tax Cuts</b>—the same cuts that he argues are detrimental to
the middle class and serve only the wealthiest Americans. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>He failed to close the prison at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.</b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>He failed to cut the deficit</b>, and
has instead, doubled it with a Stimulus Package that did not stimulate the
economy and a health care reform that no one wanted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Fewer Americans are working today
than were working when Mr. Obama took office.</b> Furthermore, unemployment
skyrocketed in spite of his policies. Significantly more Americans are using
food stamps and other government entitlements than were previously. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Worldwide, we are not more
popular or more respected.</b> The President’s first tour to Western Europe to
focus on global economic policy was a wash. The Middle East detests America more
than ever—as evidenced by polls in places like Egypt and Israel. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Most depressingly, <b>Mr. Obama
refused to work with Republicans.</b> Instead, he blamed all of his failings on his
Republican predecessor and on the Republican legislature that would never have
existed had he met with GOP leadership to craft his signature legislation
before the 2010 election. At a State of the Union address, he admonished
conservatives on the Supreme Court for adjudicating differently than he would
have preferred—an unprecedentedly ugly and small thing for a sitting American
President to do. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In a nutshell, Mr. Obama has
presided over a failed presidency—a presidency that squandered all of its
goodwill and hope on the same small politics that you see today in his vitriolic
campaigning.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
The Republican Alternative </h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>S</b></span></span>ay what you will about Governor
Mitt Romney, the man embodies success. His life—as a father, husband, servant
of God, businessman and politician is nothing short of exemplary. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
He made his reputation as a
turnaround artist, one who purposefully seeks broken financial ventures and
turns them into profitable realities. So good, he was at this, he was sought to
tackle the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The Olympics is notoriously
expensive and leaves cities saddled with debt for decades after the closing
ceremonies. Romney turned the Games into a success by cutting waste. Because of his involvement, Salt Lake
City is one of few locales that did not go bankrupt as a result of the Olympic
Games. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1z59RE1hvbw/UJgWez_7YUI/AAAAAAAADTQ/pe3JADn_WhU/s1600/20120808-romney-600x-1344870038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1z59RE1hvbw/UJgWez_7YUI/AAAAAAAADTQ/pe3JADn_WhU/s400/20120808-romney-600x-1344870038.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
As Governor of Massachusetts,
Romney faced a Democrat legislature and population. Still, though, he worked
with them to make the state a success—balancing the budget, cutting taxes and
growing jobs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>M</b></span></span>r. Romney has not run a sleazy
campaign in 2012, either. He was accused of killing a man’s wife, of cheating
on his taxes, and of bullying a gay classmate in high school. None of these
charges levied by the Obama Administration and its allies are substantiated.
More importantly, though, no negative campaigning done by the Romney camp is
comparable to the smears made against him. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In other words, Mitt Romney is not
only a successful example America should wish to project to the world, he is
also a decent man who would lower the temperature of partisanship in
Washington.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span>hat mitigation of partisan bitterness
will be central to his success if he is elected president. Liberals can rest
assured that their interests will not be wholly ignored the way
conservatives’ were, and both liberals and conservatives can find relief that
our common aspirations will be enacted by an administration led by a man who
gets results. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Since the Republican primary
season, I have been impressed with Governor Romney. After a tumultuous six
years, he has made me very proud to be a Republican. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I am virtually certain that if
you vote for him, you will be proud of your vote. If he wins this election, you
will be proud of your president.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>C</b></span></span>ongratulations on your first
time voting.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources:</b> "Obama v. Romney" from http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/theOval/2012/10/15/axx-romney-100days_002-4_3_r560.jpg?f061b7ce9937c38b702e6f308816ac2a14e2a4ec; "Obama" from http://i.huffpost.com/gen/301467/thumbs/r-FRANK-RICH-OBAMA-FAILURE-large570.jpg; "Romney-Ryan" from http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/blog_entry/1000x600/20120808-romney-600x-1344870038.jpg </span></span></div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-85331266586989832522012-11-05T00:37:00.000-05:002012-11-05T00:37:27.104-05:00"To: A Particular First Time Voter 2"<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>"To: A Particular First-Time Voter</b></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>From: Your Republican Friend"</b></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
By: J. Hunter</div>
<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span></span>n a few days, you will be casting your very first
vote in a presidential election. You’re 18 years old. You’re bombarded with
advice, pressures and demands that challenge your intellect, morality and patriotism.
As well, you believe in the hallowed importance of voting and you want to <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708" name="_GoBack"></a>do this right. In the last letter I wrote, I gave you advice
as to how you should vote. This time, I’d like to tell you how you should not
vote. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Do Not Vote Based on How "Your Group" Votes</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Y</b></span></span>ou and I have something in common—we’re both members of
minority groups. Even more, we’re members of minority groups that demand a
certain political alliance—namely to the Democrat Party. As such, we get a lot
of grief from others in “our tribe” for electing an errant political identity.
We’re “sellouts,” “stupid” and “traitorous” if we do not vote like the group
demands.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C3vF6KqDq3o/UJdNxfCfw0I/AAAAAAAADS8/gvjg3skbP5k/s1600/vote.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C3vF6KqDq3o/UJdNxfCfw0I/AAAAAAAADS8/gvjg3skbP5k/s320/vote.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
To this, I say, resist the urge to find satisfaction in group
conformity when your intellect, conscience and sense of patriotism lead to an
alternative decision. Resist the notion that the group is wiser
than you are, as an individual.<br />
<br />
Consider the “black vote” for example: if you look at
predominantly black neighborhoods and cities, they are run exclusively by
Democrats. Consistently, though, black unemployment is higher than that of
other groups. So, too, with poverty, crime and other negative indicators. Still, though, allegiance to the Democrat Party is seen as intrinsic to "blackness." The
point is, group political allegiance does not always correlate to group
success. Furthermore, that a group votes unquestionably and reliably for a
certain party is not evidence that the party acts in the group’s best interest. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Discover <i>your</i> interests and vote accordingly. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Do Not Let Gaffes Sway Your Vote</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span>he media loves gaffes. They’re simple reminders that even
the most serious people misspeak. However, too many people try to extrapolate
secret meanings and draw non-sequitur conclusions from gaffes. Do not fall for
this trick.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Joe Biden recently said, “<span style="color: cyan;">There’s never been a day in the
last four years I’ve been proud to be his [President Barack Obama’s] V.P.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p1p9Xxc2gKE/UJdNxLN4WdI/AAAAAAAADS0/K07kbyFUc3c/s1600/gaffe4-400x270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p1p9Xxc2gKE/UJdNxLN4WdI/AAAAAAAADS0/K07kbyFUc3c/s320/gaffe4-400x270.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
While silly and funny, we know that Biden did not mean the
quote the way it came out. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Barack Obama, before he was president, famously claimed to
have visited “<span style="color: cyan;">57 states</span>” with more to see.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
No doubt, he knows how many American states there are.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Likewise, (too) much was made of Mitt Romney’s “<span style="color: cyan;">Binders full
of women</span>” comment in a debate. However bored spin-doctors tried to
conceptualize the phrase, nothing revelatory can be found in that statement.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Deep examination of gaffes is mastubatory—joyful however
pointless. Focus on what a candidate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">means</i>
to say, rather than the occasional goofy things he or she manages to utter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Do Not Vote for Third Party Candidates</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span></b></span>t may be tempting to vote for a third party candidate.
Perhaps you believe that the Two-Party System is broken—inefficient. Perhaps
you do not like having to place yourself, full of complexity and nuance, into a
single political camp. Perhaps, even, you agree with a third party candidate
more than a candidate from either the Republican or Democrat Party. Whatever your urge, do not give in. Third Party candidates
are despicable losers and those who encourage them are not far behind. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Voting
for a third party candidate is like answering “Basketball” to the “Soup or
Salad” question. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Sometimes, third party candidates are perennial offerings—Ralph
Nader, Jesse Ventura, Roseanne Barr, Lyndon LaRouche. In these instances, they
lose routinely, proving that after seeing their names on the ballot for years,
virtually nobody believes in their ideas.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QyOKBHPc9eI/UJdNwkEaJMI/AAAAAAAADSs/fywzsTRzD4g/s1600/crazyperson.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QyOKBHPc9eI/UJdNwkEaJMI/AAAAAAAADSs/fywzsTRzD4g/s1600/crazyperson.jpeg" /></a></div>
When they don’t fall into that category, they are spinoffs
from failed major party campaigns—Virgil Goode, Gary Johnson, Chuck Baldwin. In
these cases, voting for them means getting less of what you want, because the
mainstream choice that is closest to your ideals, and has a chance to win, receives
fewer votes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In all, third party candidates usually receive .01% of the
vote nationally. The successful candidates may earn close to 1%. In an election
as close as this one portends to be, your vote may really matter. A vote for a
third party candidate is a waste.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In closing, I hope this viewpoint helps you on your journey.
In my final piece to you, I will make my case for why you should vote for Mitt
Romney to be President.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Article Sources:</span></b></span><br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></a>
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2227209/Joe-Biden-gaffe-Biden-says-Theres-day-years-Ive-proud-VP.html?ito=feeds-newsxml</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span></span></a>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources: </b>"Black Voter" from http://www.thevillagecelebration.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/vote.jpeg; "President Obama" from http://youoffendmeyouoffendmyfamily.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/gaffe4-400x270.jpg; "Crazy Man" from http://wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/crazyperson.jpeg</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-70917486721730229872012-10-22T18:30:00.001-05:002012-10-22T18:30:12.118-05:00"To: A Particular First-Time Voter<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">To: A particular first-time voter</span></h2>
<h2 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">
From: Your Republican friend</span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
By: J. Hunter</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Y</b></span></span>ou’re 18 years old. You’ve watched the debates. You’ve considered
your family and friends’ advice about for whom you should vote, but you know
something isn’t right. Unsurprisingly, your family and friends are all liberal
Democrats living in the Progressive bastion of the Chicagoland area. Because
this is your first election, you want to make a mature decision and you know
you can’t do so hearing only one side of the debate. </div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EhOvrTHKPOw/UIXU3v7tqzI/AAAAAAAADSI/ZDzD6g80QKk/s1600/114440284.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EhOvrTHKPOw/UIXU3v7tqzI/AAAAAAAADSI/ZDzD6g80QKk/s200/114440284.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
That’s where I come in.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
For better or for worse, the main conservative viewpoint you
hear is from me—and by your own admission, my “brand of conservatism” sounds
reasonable and convincing. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I take your political growth very seriously and am writing
this blog series first, to thank you for opening up to me and engaging in the
conversations we’ve had so close to the November election. Secondly, I would
like to give you advice on how to vote in your first election. Finally, I would
like to offer why I think you should vote for Governor Mitt Romney for
President. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<h4>
<u>How to Vote in Your First Election (Part One)</u></h4>
<h4>
<br /></h4>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<h4>
When voting for a candidate you should weigh the following: </h4>
</div>
<ol>
<li><h4>
What
issues are most important to me?</h4>
</li>
<li><h4>
Gathered
Information.</h4>
</li>
<li><h4>
Are
the candidate’s policies good for the nation—even if they are not good for me?</h4>
</li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<h3>
<u>Determining Important Issues</u></h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span>o discover what issues are important to you, I suggest you
take a long drive alone—I do my best thinking while driving. Think about what
matters to you regardless of what is being discussed in the campaign. Remember
those issues.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7w81OF166B8/UIXU4G_LNdI/AAAAAAAADSQ/JmyytmukP7o/s1600/super_tuesday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="96" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7w81OF166B8/UIXU4G_LNdI/AAAAAAAADSQ/JmyytmukP7o/s200/super_tuesday.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Next, think about what the candidates are fighting over.
Even though the debates can focus on esoteric policies, there are some
overarching themes that you can glean pretty easily. Decide which candidate’s
message most resonates with you. Which candidate comes closest to creating a
society in which you would like to live? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Take the issues that you deemed important, but are not being
discussed in the campaign, and make it your business to explore them over the
next 2 years. These issues are personal, but have little bearing on the
national conversation. That is not to say that they are not dire, it is just
recognizing that life is about priorities. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
With the remaining issues—those that you care about and are
being discussed in the presidential race—study each candidate’s position and
history. As you can see, we are entering the “Information Gathering Stage.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<h3>
<u>Gathering Information</u></h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Y</b></span></span>ou may not be exactly sure what President Obama and
Governor Romney are talking about when they mention the fiscal cliff, or
closing tax loopholes, or the federal deficit as a percentage of GDP. That’s
fine, though. You will. Political issues become more important as you age and
gain more life experience, so I’ll spare you a crash course in public policy. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Instead, I simply advise you speak to partisans about their
candidate’s position on the issues. In other words, don’t ask independents or
the politically apathetic for their views on the race. Partisans are open about
their political leanings and will unabashedly offer you advice from a clear
point of view. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<h3>
<u>Considering the National Good</u></h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5V6tdXF-RD8/UIXVm1ItgTI/AAAAAAAADSY/K_OxIeCECnw/s1600/2008_0620_flag_bh_m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5V6tdXF-RD8/UIXVm1ItgTI/AAAAAAAADSY/K_OxIeCECnw/s200/2008_0620_flag_bh_m.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>F</b></span></span>inally, the hardest part (which is, of course, the most
important): Judging whether a candidate’s policies are good for the nation even
if they are not good for you. This selfless act usually requires a simple first
question: “What if everyone did x?” What if, for example, everyone paid 50% of
their earnings in taxes? Would that be good for the country even if it meant
that I would get more government benefits?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In a similar vein, you must ask yourself if, for example,
taxes should be lowered to spur the economy, even if that means that you lose
some particular federal benefit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
A voter who sets out to vote for the good of the country
over his own immediate interest is a better, more mature voter. In fact, I’d go
so far as to say that one unable or unwilling to do so does not belong in the
voters’ booth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I hope this helps; there is more to come.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources:</b> "Young Voters" from http://files.dosomething.org/files/styles/blog_landscape/public/pictures/114440284.jpg; "GOP/DNC" from http://www-bgr-com.vimg.net/wp-content/uploads/Image/super_tuesday.jpg; "American Flags" from http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2008_0620_flag_bh_m.jpg</span></span></div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-36572256344746979712012-10-17T14:05:00.000-05:002012-10-17T14:05:06.199-05:00"Right in the Main"<!--[if !mso]>
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<br />
<h2 align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span>“Right in the Main”</span></span></h2>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
By: J. Hunter</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ignore: vglayout;">
</span></div>
<table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td height="15" width="47"></td></tr>
<tr><td><br /></td><td><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b> </b></span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OnyOqHeGJos/UH7-vP2xYSI/AAAAAAAADRc/36APAlsu55Q/s1600/Libya-US-embassy-Benghazi-burns-091112-by-STR-AFP-Getty-Images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OnyOqHeGJos/UH7-vP2xYSI/AAAAAAAADRc/36APAlsu55Q/s400/Libya-US-embassy-Benghazi-burns-091112-by-STR-AFP-Getty-Images.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span>his morning, after the second
Presidential Debate, the story about Candy Crowley’s revealing intervention is
receiving the expected partisan spin.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
Democrats claim that President Obama named the 9-11 attacks in Benghazi an act
of terrorism. Republicans argue that Governor Mitt Romney was correct, and that
Mr. Obama (and the Obama Administration on a whole) was slow to blame terrorism
for the attacks in Libya.
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“<span style="color: cyan;">Get the transcript,</span>” Obama
challenged.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> Thanks
to the internet, we can do just that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
First, though, let’s examine the
claims methodically:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Romney Charged That:</h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>“<span style="color: cyan;">There
were many days that passed before we knew whether this was a spontaneous
demonstration, or actually whether it was a terrorist attack.</span>” Furthermore,
“<span style="color: cyan;">five days later…the ambassador to the United Nations went on TV to say that
this was a demonstration.</span>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>“<span style="color: cyan;">On
the day following the assassination of the United States ambassador…the
president…flies to Las Vegas for a political fund-raiser, then the next day to
Colorado for another event…</span>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In summation, Romney is
critiquing the garbled message about the Libya attack that came from the White
House, and challenges the president’s priorities by criticizing his campaign
trips in the wake of the attack. Romney implies that the unclear messaging from
the White House was intentional—to lessen the political fallout of an
intelligence failure and a terrorist attack occurring so close to the election.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Obama Countered Thusly:</h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>“<span style="color: cyan;">The
day after the attack, governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the
American people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what
happened. That this was an act of terror and I also said that we’re going to
hunt down those who committed this crime.</span>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span>“<span style="color: cyan;">And
then a few days later, I was there greeting the caskets coming into Andrews Air
Force Base and grieving with the families…the suggestion that anybody in my
team…would play politics or mislead…is offensive.</span>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In summation, Obama counters
Romney’s first claim, stating that he did, indeed, name the Benghazi attacks an
act of terror—the very next day in the Rose Garden. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Obama fails to answer the second
claim—that he flew to a Las Vegas fund-raiser the day after the attack, but
argues against the implication that he prioritized politics over the attacks.
Whether or not the suggestion, that his administration would play politics or
mislead, actually offends him is too subjective to measure.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
EXAMINING CLAIM ONE</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span>o check the first claim, we turn
first to the President’s September 12<sup>th</sup> Rose Garden speech, in which
he says, “<span style="color: cyan;">No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation…</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
The Administration now argues that this is the President naming the Benghazi
attacks an act of terror. However, that is not what this statement says at all.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zTJFTFvQPW0/UH7-yk0FU3I/AAAAAAAADR0/w72CulROVGU/s1600/ObamaRoseGarden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zTJFTFvQPW0/UH7-yk0FU3I/AAAAAAAADR0/w72CulROVGU/s320/ObamaRoseGarden.jpg" width="320" /></a>The president’s quote is an
independent statement about how the nation reacts to terrorist attacks. Nothing
in that phraseology links it specifically to the Benghazi attack, and this careful
wording is common and intentional in politics. Had Mr. Obama said, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This</i> act of terror will not shake the
resolve of this great nation,” his counterclaim would be credible. He did not,
thus his it is not.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Furthermore, the Administration’s
messaging about the event reinforces Romney’s claim that the Administration’s
messaging was unclear.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span></span>n a devastating piece that
appeared in the Washington Post, Glenn Kessler chronicles the timeline and
statements put forth by Administration officials about the attack.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
The evidence, here, shows that messaging was at least, intentionally vague, and
at most, denied terrorism as a possible explanation for the attacks. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
On September 12<sup>th</sup>, an
unnamed senior administration official, briefing reporters on a conference
call, characterized the aggression as “<span style="color: cyan;">a complex act.</span>” White House Press
Secretary, Jay Carney, linked the events to a “<span style="color: cyan;">movie that has circulated on the
Internet (The Innocence of Muslims).</span>” Two days later, he said, “<span style="color: cyan;">We were not
aware of any actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S.
mission in Benghazi was planned or imminent.</span>” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
On September 17<sup>th</sup>—6
days after the attack—State Department Spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, refused to
“<span style="color: cyan;">put labels</span>” on the attack when asked directly whether it was an act of
terrorism.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
It was not until September 19<sup>th</sup>
that the Administration began to shift its narrative toward terrorism. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span></span>f the President’s supporters are
correct, and Obama definitively named the Benghazi attacks an act of terror,
then he was out of step with his own administration—a separate, but equally
curious, issue. The evidence is overwhelming, however, that he chose his words
carefully, and commanded administration officials to downplay the terrorism
angle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
EXAMINING CLAIM TWO</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V0hZ8Q-S-5s/UH7-ukeDotI/AAAAAAAADRU/M2CF6uu-ahA/s1600/2012-02-27T010549Z_185652743_GM1E82R0PJG01_RTRMADP_3_OBAMA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-V0hZ8Q-S-5s/UH7-ukeDotI/AAAAAAAADRU/M2CF6uu-ahA/s320/2012-02-27T010549Z_185652743_GM1E82R0PJG01_RTRMADP_3_OBAMA.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>A</b></span></span>s for the second of
Romney’s claims, that the Obama Administration willfully suppressed the
terrorism narrative for political gain and traveled to Las Vegas and Colorado
to collect campaign funds, the evidence is, again, in Romney’s favor.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Kessler begins his chronicle with
a damning indictment of the Obama Administration’s post-attack action and aims.
“<span style="color: cyan;">The September 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi…is a case
study of how an administration can carefully keep the focus as long as possible
on one storyline—and then turn on a dime when it is no longer tenable.</span>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Kessler continues, “<span style="color: cyan;">For political
reasons, it certainly was in the White House’s interest to not portray the
attack as a terrorist incident, especially one that took place on the
anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Instead the administration kept the
focus on what was ultimately a red herring—anger in the Arab world over
anti-Muslim video posted on YouTube… We will leave it to readers to reach their
own conclusion on whether this is merely the result of the fog of war and
diplomacy—or a deliberate effort to steer the storyline away from more
politically damaging questions. After all, in a competitive election, two weeks
is a lifetime.</span>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span>his reader agrees with Mr.
Romney’s charge. In spite of Crowley’s arrogant denial of error, and Obama’s
revisionist desire to “have it both ways,” the evidence is clear: Obama did not
name the Benghazi attacks a terrorist action, nor did his administration for days.
The language was intentionally crafted. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The implications, however “<span style="color: cyan;">offensive,</span>”
deserve serious consideration.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span>Article
Sources:</span></b></span></span>
</div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/moderator-candy-crowley-became-focus-of-debate-when-talked-turned-to-libya/2012/10/17/4417b04c-1810-11e2-a346-f24efc680b8d_story.html</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/2012-presidential-debate-full-transcript-oct-16/story?id=17493848&page=8#.UH7JYmeuo7c</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/09/12/transcript-read-president-obamas-remarks-on-american-deaths-in-libya-attack/</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[4]</span></span></span></span></a> http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/from-video-to-terrorist-attack-a-definitive-timeline-of-administration-statements-on-the-libya-attack/2012/09/26/86105782-0826-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_blog.html</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources:</b> " Benghazi Attack" from http://sfbayview.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Libya-US-embassy-Benghazi-burns-091112-by-STR-AFP-Getty-Images.jpg; "Obama in Rose Garden" from http://www-tc.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/files/2011/09/ObamaRoseGarden.jpg; "Obama at Fundraiser" from http://sandiegopatriots.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2012-02-27T010549Z_185652743_GM1E82R0PJG01_RTRMADP_3_OBAMA.jpg</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-39004093502328258672012-10-17T02:49:00.000-05:002012-10-17T08:58:51.259-05:00"Debate 2: Less about Crowley, More about Credibility"<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">"Debate 2:"</span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Less about Crowley, More about Credibility</h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
By: J. Hunter</div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>L</b></span></span>ast night’s Presidential debate featured a cagey, desperate
incumbent; an optimistic, energetic challenger; and a moderator who tried, but
ultimately could not hide her own bias. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QY8ZhzgBYH8/UH5iDYptPZI/AAAAAAAADQo/9eTCeDVK2q4/s1600/1004-us-aohioan_full_600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QY8ZhzgBYH8/UH5iDYptPZI/AAAAAAAADQo/9eTCeDVK2q4/s320/1004-us-aohioan_full_600.jpg" width="320" /></a>What will surely be the news of the day (if not the week) is
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>how Candy Crowley advanced the President’s
assertion that he had called the 9-11 Benghazi attacks “acts of terror,” the day
after they occurred, at a Rose Garden news conference. Immediately following
the debate, Crowley was forced to admit the obvious, that she erroneously
fact-checked Governor Mitt Romney’s powerful charge, and cannot erase how her
lack of discipline clearly affected the debate: Obama scored undeserved
vindication points (celebratory cheers from the audience were audible) and Mr.
Romney lost all the sting of his devastating criticism of the President’s most
recent foreign policy blunder.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
Furthermore, the second point that Romney tried to make, about Obama’s
continuing on to his campaign fundraising event in Las Vegas the day after the U.S.
ambassadors were murdered, was lost in the moment, again, thanks to Crowley’s
mistake. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--fUrVovgQlw/UH5iEbgaHiI/AAAAAAAADQ4/UgXpQ7CK_VQ/s1600/r-CANDY-CROWLEY-large570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--fUrVovgQlw/UH5iEbgaHiI/AAAAAAAADQ4/UgXpQ7CK_VQ/s320/r-CANDY-CROWLEY-large570.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Despite that blunder, though, the debate was an important
one as it highlighted the defining distinction between the two candidates:
credibility.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A</b></span></span>s can (unfortunately) be expected, neither candidate has
been completely honest about his rival. Mitt Romney does not support special
tax breaks for companies that move overseas. His tax plan does not allow the
rich to “play by different rules.” On the other hand, Obama has not declared a “war
on oil,” nor on coal.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> </div>
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That said, President Obama has run a particularly negative campaign
out of necessity. His character-distortion tactic unsuccessfully attempts to
hide his greatest weakness, one that cannot be erased by slick stump speeches
or moderator-enhanced debate performances: his 4-year record. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Before Obama was elected president, he could afford to run
the kind of campaign he’s running now—one light on detail and critical of his
opponent’s plans. Today, though, while he criticizes Romney’s “budget math,” he
cannot escape the fact that his tenure saw the national debt double after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">his</i> math calculated that his policies
would cut it in half. </div>
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<br /></div>
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He cannot escape the fact that on his watch, more Americans
applied for food stamps. On his watch, fewer Americans are working today than
were working when he took office in 2009. On his watch, the recession, which officially
ended in June of 2009, preceded months of sluggish economic growth. </div>
<br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4fKqvkvvCLY/UH5iD88R--I/AAAAAAAADQw/48Zs2ZiIzac/s1600/636_obama-sad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4fKqvkvvCLY/UH5iD88R--I/AAAAAAAADQw/48Zs2ZiIzac/s320/636_obama-sad.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>S</b></span></span>urely, this is why it is rare to hear President Obama tout
his own policies. The Stimulus Package, Cash for Clunkers, Cash for Caulkers and
Obamacare remain not only unpopular, but they serve as symbols for the pathetic best
this president had to offer. With his record in clear sight—the strongest
talking point available to Mr. Romney--President Obama has lost all credibility
on solving the greatest problem facing the nation—the economic crisis.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Democrats would like to believe that more Bidenesque finger-wagging and desk-pounding will convince voters that Obama has a plausible plan
for prosperity. The truth, and the poll numbers, continually show Romney as the
more credible candidate in this regard.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></span></span></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Article Sources:</b></span></span></div>
<hr size="1" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px;" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[1]</span></span></span></a> http://youtu.be/FUWm5CQ3bDY</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[2]</span></span></span></a> http://www.cato.org/multimedia/daily-podcast/scant-evidence-claimed-obama-war-oil</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[3]</span></span></span></a> http://www.cato.org/multimedia/daily-podcast/romney-obama-war-coal</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">[4]</span></span></span></a> http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/16/CNN-Poll-Romney-Wallops-Obama-on-Economy</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources</b>: "Obama/Romney" from http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2012/1004-us-aohioan/13944443-1-eng-US/1004-us-aohioan_full_600.jpg; "Candy Crowley" from http://i.huffpost.com/gen/810352/thumbs/r-CANDY-CROWLEY-large570.jpg; "Barack Obama" from http://nation.foxnews.com/sites/nation.foxnews.com/files/styles/dv1/public/636_obama-sad.jpg</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-8239760798714369392012-10-14T23:01:00.000-05:002012-10-14T23:01:04.094-05:00"Why I Will Not Vote for Obama (and Neither Should You) pt.3"<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">"Why I Will Not Vote for Obama (and Neither Should You)"</span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Part Three</h3>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">By: J. Hunter</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Y</b></span></span>ou realize that your roof has a hole in it, so you hire a
roofer. The roofer arrives, talks a great deal about his unmatched abilities,
mentions that he’s relatively new at the roofing business, and promises to fix
the problem quickly (which is important, because meteorologists are predicting
a particularly nasty storm on the horizon). You hire him at a base cost of
$490,000. Though it’s expensive, he promises that it’s absolutely necessary.
You pay.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NI7SKwoNBpk/UHuIgfuOXQI/AAAAAAAADQM/l-m2rRpSn9A/s1600/roofers-Nashville.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NI7SKwoNBpk/UHuIgfuOXQI/AAAAAAAADQM/l-m2rRpSn9A/s320/roofers-Nashville.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a week, you notice that the hole in the roof is even larger,
so you check back with the roofer and question him about it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“It was even worse than I thought,” he replies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“So, you didn’t know how bad it was before you took the job
and charged me all that money?”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Slow, down! In honesty, I should’ve charged you even more.
This is a big job that will take a lot of time to fix.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“What have you been doing in the meantime?” you ask.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Well, I cut the circular hole into a square hole, so it’s
bigger, but I’ve washed your dishes and vacuumed your rugs.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“But I didn’t want you to do that—”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“You wanted dirty dishes and a dirty rug?” he says
interrupting.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“No, I want my roof fixed. I paid you a lot of money to fix
the hole in my roof and now it’s bigger. Besides, I can take care of my own
dishes and rug. In fact, I wouldn’t have spent that much money on clean dishes
and clean rugs.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Oh, the dishes and rugs will cost you extra, but when this
is all done, you’ll have a dream house.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“So, will this be done before the storm arrives,” you ask.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“What storm?”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nDEgcndsZYA/UHuIg0EcZmI/AAAAAAAADQU/g1mdGUXqQZo/s1600/u_s_president_barack_obama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nDEgcndsZYA/UHuIg0EcZmI/AAAAAAAADQU/g1mdGUXqQZo/s320/u_s_president_barack_obama.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>T</b></span></span>his allegory is a simple representation of why we should
not re-elect President Barack Obama. Before the financial collapse in 2008, Senator
John McCain and then-Senator Barack Obama were running close in the polls. Mr.
Obama blamed the collapse on his predecessor and argued that he was the best
choice to solve the problem. We hired him, despite his flimsy resume, and after
4 years he failed to fix the one problem he was tasked to do. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Instead of fixing the economy, he used Congressional
majorities not to eliminate the Bush Tax Cuts (a policy he claims is
contributing to the national debt), but to instead grow the federal government
and increase our debt in the form of the Stimulus and Obamacare. The president
and the Democrats in Congress forced the health care entitlement upon us despite
our fevered resistance (see Scott Brown election, mass demonstrations, polls
and 2010 election results for evidence). </span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In fact, his policies were so unpopular that Americans took
away his Congressional majorities in the biggest Republican electoral sweep in
American history—just to stop him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yet, he wishes to be re-elected.</span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>I</b></span></span>f you wouldn’t rehire a roofer who makes the hole in your
roof larger, loses focus and performs other tasks you do not want done at even greater
expense, then you should not rehire President Obama.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I elect not to. You should
join me.</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources:</b> "Man being rained on" from http://www.precisionpropertyrestoration.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/roofers-Nashville.jpg; "President Barack Obama" from http://media.salon.com/2009/09/u_s_president_barack_obama.jpg</span></span></span></span></div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-59257279190271566682012-10-07T22:48:00.000-05:002012-10-07T23:30:24.210-05:00"Why I Will Not Vote for Obama (and Neither Should You) pt.2"<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">"Why I Will Not Vote for Obama (and Neither Should You)"</span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Part Two</span></h3>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
By: J. Hunter</h4>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Aw_tjjrhYxA/UHJLDsN8UkI/AAAAAAAADPg/8YGg4wE0GCk/s1600/121007073918-ryan-biden-split-horizontal-gallery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Aw_tjjrhYxA/UHJLDsN8UkI/AAAAAAAADPg/8YGg4wE0GCk/s320/121007073918-ryan-biden-split-horizontal-gallery.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>C</b></span></span>onventional wisdom states that a
Vice Presidential choice tends not to help a Presidential ticket, but can cause
serious harm. This time around, Paul Ryan, I argue, serves as a boon to the
Romney campaign. Furthermore, his expertise will make him an important asset to
a Romney White House as it tackles the most pressing issues our nation faces: a
sour economy, dramatic tax increases and a burdensome new health care
entitlement program that effectively threaten economic recovery. In light of such
dire circumstances, Mr. Ryan shows himself to be up to the challenge and deserving
of every American’s vote as he is, by any measure, a marked improvement over
our sitting Vice President, Joseph Biden.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Currently, Ryan serves as
Chairman of the House Budget Committee and as a senior member of the House Ways
and Means Committee. As such, he deals primarily with the federal budget,
taxation and implementation of national fiscal policies—fitting abilities
considering the looming crisis. Before he became such a visible leader in the
Republican Party, Mr. Ryan enjoyed bipartisan praise. His 2008 attempt at
crafting a national budget, the Roadmap for America’s Future, sparked healthy debates
that sent him around the country—speaking at town halls and think tanks—about how
its specific recommendations would ameliorate the nation’s fiscal crisis while also
championing an ethical and sustainable role for the federal government. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rO8ZCW170UQ/UHJLEhh9lVI/AAAAAAAADPw/NSIGU43VUuI/s1600/P1-BH798_LIONDO_DV_20120827192547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rO8ZCW170UQ/UHJLEhh9lVI/AAAAAAAADPw/NSIGU43VUuI/s400/P1-BH798_LIONDO_DV_20120827192547.jpg" width="265" /></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ron Haskins, writing for the
nonpartisan (but left-leaning) Brookings Institution, lauds Ryan for his “<span style="color: cyan;">vast
knowledge of the federal budget</span>,” and notes that even his “<span style="color: cyan;">controversial</span>”
budget plan has august liberal supporters, namely Oregon Democrat Senator Ron
Wyden, and Brookings’ economic policy analyst, Alice Rivlin.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>R</b></span></span>yan’s bipartisan acumen will
play a crucial role in solving America’s economic crisis. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As was Governor Mitt Romney, Ryan is a
Republican representing an otherwise Democrat polity. He has been reelected to
represent Wisconsin’s reliably Democratic 1<sup>st</sup> District 6 times by no
less than 57% of the vote. More importantly, his commitment to problem-solving visibly
outweighs his political ambitions.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">After debating his 2008 Roadmap
with the country, for example, Ryan sat down with Senator Wyden to fix some of the
proposal’s weak points—namely its Medicare reform prescriptions. Together, the
pair created “Roadmap 2.0”—an even better and less controversial fiscal plan to
solve the economic crisis. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">William Galston, Senior Fellow of
Governance Studies at Brookings, believes that Ryan will act as the congenial bipartisan
pragmatist that President Barack Obama once promised to be. Noting that the
Vice President is often tasked with being a campaign’s “attack dog,” Galston
writes Ryan “<span style="color: cyan;">will elevate the debate by forcing the real issue back onto the
agenda…We’ll get the real debate we need, and…the country will be better off.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>W</b></span></span>hat can be said of the alternative—current
Vice President, Joe Biden? Volumes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ROEEy4v8iv8/UHJLEABnVxI/AAAAAAAADPo/HrrqTOsq_tU/s1600/Biden_120719_05425x283.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ROEEy4v8iv8/UHJLEABnVxI/AAAAAAAADPo/HrrqTOsq_tU/s400/Biden_120719_05425x283.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-weight: normal;">Biden, unlike Ryan, could never
have entered the White House on his own: his presidential bid in 2008 was
anemic at best. Benefiting from the bitter feelings and hurt egos in the
aftermath of the contentious Democrat primary race, Biden lucked himself into
higher office on the coattails of the first black president. Since then, he has
largely embarrassed the country with phenomenal gaffes and moronic statements.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">As president of the Senate, he
presided over the partisan Obamacare fight and upon its infamous passage,
referred to it publicly as “<span style="color: cyan;">a big f—king deal.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a> Biden
openly supported same-sex marriage ahead of the White House, creating a
messaging fiasco for the president and his spokesman, Jay Carney.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn8;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[8]</span></span></span></span></a></span> </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Indeed, Biden’s ineptitude even
heartened America’s former enemy, Osama bin Laden, who proclaimed Biden to be
more useful to al-Qaida alive than dead.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn9;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[9]</span></span></span></span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Without a doubt, Paul Ryan would
be a welcome and refreshing change in American national politics in regards to
tone, substance and ability. With past performance serving as the predictor of
future performance, Ryan paints a contrast with Biden that could not be
clearer. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>I</b></span></span> cannot, if for these reasons
alone, support an Obama/Biden re-election. Neither should you.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Article Source</span></span></b></span></span>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></span>
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[1]</span></span></span></a> http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2012/08/13-ryan-game-changer-haskins</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[2]</span></span></span></a> http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2012/08/14-ryan-demagogue-galston</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[3]</span></span></span></a> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VAzOIT4Ef8&feature=related</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[4]</span></span></span></a> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxdj-ZwKNZ0&feature=related</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5">
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[5]</span></span></span></a> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hZtW_q_6Ug</span></span></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[6]</span></span></span></a> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mmWZRWE-1M&feature=endscreen&NR=1</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[7]</span></span></span></a> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHKq9tt50O8</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[8]</span></span></span></a> http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/vice-president-bidens-gay-marriage-gaffe-is-mess-for-white-house/2012/05/07/gIQAOzFw8T_story.html</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[9]</span></span></span></a> http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57399077-503544/report-bin-laden-thought-biden-unprepared-to-be-president/</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources:</b> "Paul Ryan/Joe Biden" from http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/121007073918-ryan-biden-split-horizontal-gallery.jpg; "Paul Ryan" from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444812704577607322255381692.html; "Joe Biden" from http://www.usnews.com/pubdbimages/image/34211/Biden_120719_05425x283.jpg</span></span></span></div>
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</div>
</h4>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-78053916739576540472012-09-30T12:44:00.001-05:002012-09-30T12:44:57.130-05:00"Feeling Demoralized?"<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">"Feeling Demoralized?"</span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Why Mitt Romney Actually Leads Barack Obama</h3>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
By: J. Hunter</h4>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--7STUw-xZr4/UGiEURiKaoI/AAAAAAAADPE/6xAjh2EomOM/s1600/obama-down-nose-smile1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--7STUw-xZr4/UGiEURiKaoI/AAAAAAAADPE/6xAjh2EomOM/s200/obama-down-nose-smile1.jpg" width="178" /></a><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: red;">S</span></b></span>o, you’re ready to oust the
feckless President Barack Obama and are either excited about or content with
voting for Governor Mitt Romney as his replacement. Your campaign signs are in
your windows. Your Romney-Ryan decals adorn your car. You’re greeted by first
name at the local Romney-Ryan Victory Center. Still, though, when you listen to
the news or check in with the polls, you feel panicked. According to the Real
Clear Politics graphics, President Obama has secured 265 electoral votes,
Romney only 191.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a> In the
battleground states of Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, Pennsylvania, North Carolina
and Florida, Obama leads—sometimes considerably.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a> </div>
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<br /></div>
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Is this 2008 all over again? Are
we really doomed to 4 more years of dithering? Is the Republican Party
finished?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The answer to each of those
questions is a resounding “No!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Here’s why:</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
The Polls Showing Huge Obama
Leads are Phonies.</h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>D</b></span></span>aily Caller writer, Brandon
Gaylord, tackles the specifics of the recently heralded Obama-friendly polls.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“<span style="color: cyan;">Romney is not behind in the
polls because liberal Republicans are being turned off or independents are
moving toward Obama…Romney is dropping in the polls because pollsters are
predicting a Democrat edge in turnout that will make 2008 look like a good year
for the GOP.</span>” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-INiCecOkwho/UGiETHc2RvI/AAAAAAAADO0/pUWOEraROz0/s1600/620491_10151022971536121_2124989314_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-INiCecOkwho/UGiETHc2RvI/AAAAAAAADO0/pUWOEraROz0/s400/620491_10151022971536121_2124989314_o.jpg" width="400" /></a>As an example, Gaylord singles
out the NYT/CBS/Quinnipiac poll of Virginia—a battleground state that Obama
carried in 2008. The poll shows Romney carrying Republicans by 92 points and
Independents by 11. One should note that Virginia voted for the Democrat in
2008 for the first time since 1972—in other words the state is conservative.
With Romney leading Republicans and Independents with those margins–margins
that the poll, itself, shows, Virginia is solidly in his grasp. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Why, then, do the pollsters call
Virginia for Obama? Because this September poll, unlike the August poll that
showed the race much closer, disproportionately samples Democrats. Furthermore,
it undersamples evangelicals assuming that they will not vote for a Mormon
candidate. “<span style="color: cyan;">If the poll were weighted the same way that the August…poll of
Virginia was weighted, Romney would be leading Obama.</span>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: red;">D</span></b></span>ean Chambers at Examiner.com
finds a similar trend of polling inconsistencies.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a>
When a national Rasmussen Reports poll predicted a Romney lead earlier this
month, an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll contrarily showed Obama up 5 points.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a>
Digging deeper into the latter poll, Chambers noted that its sample included
32% Democrats and only 25% Republicans. About the findings Chambers writes,
“<span style="color: cyan;">Unskewed, the data for this poll shows Romney leading seven points, 51% to
44%.</span>” He finds, too, that other much-heralded polls showing an Obama rise are
equally suspect—namely a CNN/ORC poll that predicts a 6 point Obama lead.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn6;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[6]</span></span></span></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>F</b></span></span>inally, in an indispensable
article at Politico, writers, Ed Goeas and Brian Nienaber, relate the results
of a Politico-George Washington University Battleground Poll that shows Romney
leading Obama with 2 of the most important electorate groups in the
country—Catholics and Middle Class voters<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn7;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[7]</span></span></span></span></a>.
Romney leads among the middle class by 14 points—55% to 41%. Of these voters,
62% believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, 51% hold a favorable
view of Romney, 54% disapprove of the job Obama is doing as president, and these
voters strongly prefer Romney on issues like taxes, the economy, foreign
policy, jobs and spending.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rozop3HdM0A/UGiETufB8xI/AAAAAAAADO8/UIJo4BQYZWk/s1600/Romney+Ryan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rozop3HdM0A/UGiETufB8xI/AAAAAAAADO8/UIJo4BQYZWk/s400/Romney+Ryan.jpg" width="400" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Goeas and Nienaber note that in past
presidential elections, Catholics have been “<span style="color: cyan;">one of the most predictive
demographic groups of the eventual outcome.</span>” In battleground states, Romney
enjoys majority Catholic support—51%. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Despite the Democrats’ attempt at
mischaracterizing Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan on Medicare, more than 6
out of 10 Seniors in battleground states prefer the Romney-Ryan ticket.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Mitt Romney is doing fine.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>S</b></span></span>o, why would media polling
agencies intentionally misinform, and why would major media outlets report these
results without reporting the obvious sampling anomalies?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Because the media is, by and
large, committed to helping the President win reelection.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Yes, it sounds conspiratorial,
but it’s true. Obama’s supporters in the media know that his presidency has
been imperfect, and they know that voters have noticed. The best bet for Obama
supporters is to demoralize potential Romney voters by convincing them that a
Romney vote is a wasted vote. If these suspect polls turn out to be disproven, their
promoters can argue that the debates (or some other event) led to the President’s
downfall. If Mr. Romney loses the election, then the demoralization tactic will
have proven successful.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The most important thing for
Romney supporters to do is to continue supporting the ticket and continue
making the case, to anyone who will listen, that Mr. Romney is the best choice
to lead the country to prosperity. Regardless of what tricks some pollsters employ,
the Romney-Ryan ticket needs each of us to advocate for, donate, and vote. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Do not be demoralized. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Article
Sources:</b> </span></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[1]</span></span></span></a> http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/2012_elections_electoral_college_map.html</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[2]</span></span></span></a> http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/2012_elections_electoral_college_map.html#battlegrounds</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[3]</span></span></span></a> http://dailycaller.com/2012/09/25/why-the-polls-have-an-obama-bias/</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[4]</span></span></span></a> http://www.examiner.com/article/barack-obama-boosted-by-skewed-nbc-news-wall-street-journal-poll</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[5]</span></span></span></a> http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/A_Politics/_Today_Stories_Teases/September_WSJ_NBC_Poll.pdf</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[6]</span></span></span></a> http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/pollingcenter/polls/3055</span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[7]</span></span></span></a> http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81584.html</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: yellow;"><b>Photo Sources: </b>"President Barack Obama" from http://ncrenegade.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/obama-down-nose-smile1.jpg; "Virginia Romney Supporters" from http://redalexandriava.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/620491_10151022971536121_2124989314_o.jpg?w=625; "Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan" from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vJK6erb7ec8d85xo5PoH2kiH6fGGfHxIILPMrjbwzg0eX6beQthGo2STWsMmBkQpHulIxiVE1ux_WTfblJ8cvzb2rX6gL3nGfFWI3gJ-A0Aj4Mx6PDITY3K_ZBPWVI9I0AHK1GGUFJo/s640/Romney+Ryan.jpg</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-52603084379075547342012-09-24T03:06:00.001-05:002012-09-24T09:54:11.817-05:00"Why I Will Not Vote for Obama (and Neither Should You)"<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<h2 align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">“Why
I Will Not Vote for Obama (and neither should you)”</span></b></u></span></h2>
<h3 align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By:
J. Hunter</span></h3>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SKgcmTm4pws/UGAT3lQcozI/AAAAAAAADOg/qJh4tj2ot3A/s1600/obama_2008-winner-chicago.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SKgcmTm4pws/UGAT3lQcozI/AAAAAAAADOg/qJh4tj2ot3A/s320/obama_2008-winner-chicago.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>P</b></span></span>resident Barack Obama came
to office championing a theme of renewed bipartisanship. In practice, though,
he has done a deplorable job at fulfilling this promise. As a direct result, the
2010 election saw the greatest Republican electoral gain in American history,
and the President has lost his credibility on this issue. Regardless of the Congressional
outcome this November, a re-elected Obama must rely on bipartisan goodwill to
ensure a successful second term—goodwill he has failed to foster.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The common rejoinder of the
president’s defenders is to highlight the infamous words of Senate Minority
Leader, Mitch McConnell: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<span style="color: cyan;">Our top
political priority, over the next two years, should be to deny President Obama
a second term.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
Democrats fallaciously argue that this statement is the verbal representation
of Republican attitudes toward the president since his inauguration. This
assertion is provably false.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Simply by examining the
Senator’s quote, it should be clear that the comment was made in 2010. Before
the quote, President Obama had already done more than his share of denigrating
his Republican predecessor, had avoided holding a single meeting with
Congressional Republican leadership, and had purposely shut out Republicans in
designing and passing a massive government takeover of American healthcare. The
latter fomented the Republican ire that fueled the historic landslide election
in 2010 and broadened the battle line between President Obama and Republicans. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">President Obama burned the
bipartisan bridge and shows no desire to extinguish the flames.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p1eSsc-9M9c/UGAT3I6Vp0I/AAAAAAAADOY/_vtysA2MWcg/s1600/angry-obama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p1eSsc-9M9c/UGAT3I6Vp0I/AAAAAAAADOY/_vtysA2MWcg/s320/angry-obama.jpg" width="234" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span>o be sure, the President always
lacked the experience one would expect of someone capable of working across the
aisle. His previous employment included lecturing at the University of Chicago,
working as a community organizer in Chicago and serving as an Illinois State
Senator. None of these jobs connote bipartisan bona fides: University
professors tend to be absurdly hostile to conservatism (and to conservatives,
themselves). Community organizers almost exclusively work on behalf of liberal
causes. And Illinois is such a Democratic-controlled state, Mr. Obama hardly
had to learn the art of bipartisan compromise. In short, before his election to
the Presidency, Mr. Obama could not point to any legitimate instances in which
he compromised with Republicans out of understanding, respect or even
necessity. His 2008 promise to upend the concept of Red and Blue States and serve
a United States working together to address its mutual national challenges was simply
empty campaign rhetoric—a Chicago politician’s hot air contribution to the town’s
Windy City moniker. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For the second election in a
row, now, Mr. Obama’s opponent can boast of bipartisan achievement, whereas after
his first term in office, the President himself cannot. Senator John McCain was
so bipartisan, for example, that his first choice in a vice presidential
running mate was Democrat Senator Joseph Lieberman. Furthermore, McCain was
approached in 2004 to be the running mate for Democrat presidential challenger,
John Kerry. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mitt Romney served as the
Republican governor of the most liberal state in the Union, where, despite casting
more than 800 vetoes, he worked with the Democrat legislature to cut
Massachusetts’ unemployment rate, eliminate the state’s $3 billion deficit and
raise a $2 billion dollar surplus without raising taxes once.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"><b>T</b></span></span>oday, the country’s
challenges are dire and palpable. They are also ultimately surmountable if a
leader committed to bipartisan cooperation, rather than self-serving political
ambition, is elected in November. President Obama’s history—and now, his
rhetoric—indicate that he is not the right man for these times. I cannot, if
only for this reason alone, support his re-election. Neither should you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Article Sources:</b></span></span>
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: #cccccc;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span></span></a> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-A09a_gHJc</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources</b>: "President Obama in 2008" from http://millecaratteri.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/obama_2008-winner-chicago.jpg; "President Obama Angry" from http://waznmentobe.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/angry-obama.jpg </span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-1801340237873728782012-08-27T21:40:00.001-05:002012-08-27T21:40:43.996-05:00"Purchasing Your First Firearm (Purpose: Home Defense)"<!--[if !mso]>
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<br />
<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">“Purchasing Your First Firearm
(Purpose: Home Defense)”</span></h1>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-size: small;">By: J. Hunter</span></i></div>
<table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b>S</b></span>ince the Supreme Court affirmed
an individual right to firearm ownership, citizens, as well as state and local
governments, are still coming to terms with the decision’s implications.
So-called Gun Culture in Illinois
is growing, and as such, I (myself a firearms owner) find myself fielding more
questions about first purchases and about firearms in general. In an attempt to
answer the common questions, and to provide a single place where new
questioners can be directed, I offer this series of articles.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; text-align: justify;">
<b>The Disclaimer:</b> Growing up, we
are taught not to talk about politics or religion in mixed company. Add
firearms to that list. For some reason, stating a preference for an AR-15 over
an AK47 is akin to rejecting the Virgin Birth. That said, along with everything
that appears on Black and Red, these opinions are my own—supreme only to me—but
hopefully, they prove useful. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; text-align: justify;">
I am not a soldier. I am not a
law enforcement officer. I am not a prepper. I am simply a law-abiding,
firearms owning citizen with a keyboard and internet access. My opinions have
been formed through the experience I have gathered and through conversations
held with people I trust. Disclaimer over.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b9T0H2KYABg/UDwudyRZD5I/AAAAAAAADNw/TDCAnkCVFjI/s1600/MossbergM590A1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="129" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b9T0H2KYABg/UDwudyRZD5I/AAAAAAAADNw/TDCAnkCVFjI/s320/MossbergM590A1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mossberg 590</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span>he very first question one must
ask when considering a firearm is its purpose. Is this a home defense system?
Is this a concealed carry system? Is this a target shooting system? Firearms
are tools. Just as a wrench is not the ideal tool for hammering in nails, an
AR-15 is not the ideal firearm for conceal carry.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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In the event that the firearm you
wish to purchase is for home defense, I recommend a 12 gauge pump shotgun.
While automatic shotguns may be solid, reliable firearms, the pump shotgun offers
a distinctly unique characteristic that aides in non-violent home defense—the
unmistakable sound of the pump action. That sound, of the shotgun cycling a
round, is understood around the world as a precursor to pain—exactly the
message you want to send to an unwanted intruder. The sound of the shotgun
cycling may be enough to cause an intruder to leave. This is preferable,
because most of us are not mentally prepared to engage in an armed firefight,
nor deal with the carnage that ensues. Armed conflict is not trivial.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TQaTNMBX7xY/UDwueAIfXtI/AAAAAAAADN4/G5FfGudJoDI/s1600/ShotgunAmmo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TQaTNMBX7xY/UDwueAIfXtI/AAAAAAAADN4/G5FfGudJoDI/s320/ShotgunAmmo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shotgun Ammunition Types</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
There are three basic kinds of
shotgun ammunition, target shot, buck shot and slugs. Target shot consists of
tiny lead balls, like BBs, that release from the shotgun in a scattered
pattern. This pattern is not entirely arbitrary, of course. Imagine spraying a
mist of glass cleaner onto the surface of a mirror. Most of the cleaner lands
in a central location—where you aimed—some strays though and lands a great
distance from your intended target. Such is the case with target shot as well.
If you live in a home or apartment with rooms separated by drywall, though, I
recommend this type of ammunition over buck shot or slugs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Buck shot is fewer, heavier balls,
anywhere between 5 and 21 pellets per ounce. When fired, these tend to
penetrate drywall and have the potential, in a home defense situation, to damage
objects or loved ones on the other side. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Slugs are single, heavy lead
chunks. One slug is fired from a cartridge at a time. Sometimes, the slugs are
rifled, meaning that they have spiraled grooves cut into them that help them
rotate in the barrel and stabilize in flight. Slugs are powerful rounds that
can surely penetrate drywall in the event of a missed shot.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Each of these ammunition types has
its role, but target shot is best for indoor home defense.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wdw6yWlME4k/UDwul3wXECI/AAAAAAAADOA/RjBeFu5_9sM/s1600/IMG_2564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wdw6yWlME4k/UDwul3wXECI/AAAAAAAADOA/RjBeFu5_9sM/s320/IMG_2564.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Shotgun (Remington 870 Tactical)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
As for actual shotguns, the
models and brands are seemingly endless. I chose the Remington 870 with a full
stock and a door breach. The full stock simply feels sturdier to me, than a
pistol grip with no stock. The advantage to a pistol grip, though, is that in a
home defense scenario, it is easier to turn corners. As for the door breach,
this is simply a crowned fitting with holes at the end of the shotgun that
allows the shooter to bury the gun into a wooden door and fire without the
blast traveling back through the barrel of the gun and damaging it. The holes
allow the blast to diffuse parallel to the door. In making my decision, I chose
the 870 over another fine shotgun—the Mossberg 590—because I did not like the
feel of the Mossberg, and I liked the heat shield even less. The feel of the
shotgun is completely subjective, but I argue that the heat shield serves no
functional purpose. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b>W</b></span>hen shopping for a home defense
shotgun, I recommend reading online forums, talking to friends you trust, going
to gun shops to get a tactile sense of the firearm and if possible, putting
some rounds through some potential purchases. Hopefully, this cursory overview
will shed some light on a big decision and offer some guidance.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: yellow; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources: </b>"Mossberg 590" from http://emptormaven.com/img/MossbergM590A1.jpg; "Shotgun Ammunition Types" from http://herohog.com/images/guns/ammo/ShotgunAmmo.jpg; "My Shotgun (Remington 870 Tactical)" from www.blkandred.blogspot.com;</span></div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-1905652245093019842012-08-19T23:52:00.003-05:002012-08-20T08:49:06.207-05:00"Democrats Face Imminent Crisis"<br />
<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
“<u>Democrats Face Imminent Crisis</u>”</h1>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>By: J. Hunter</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ignore: vglayout;">
</span></div>
<table align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td height="15" width="47"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><br /></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pfERdcduUVk/UDHBwxVTazI/AAAAAAAADNc/p8EvQQbPlbM/s1600/tumblr_lvrgzgaR2Z1qli4oko1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pfERdcduUVk/UDHBwxVTazI/AAAAAAAADNc/p8EvQQbPlbM/s1600/tumblr_lvrgzgaR2Z1qli4oko1_400.jpg" /></a><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>V</b></span>ice President Joe Biden, offered
a great deal of comic relief last week. At a campaign stop in Danville,
Virginia, Mr. Biden delivered his usual string
of idiotic statements, first, confusing Virginia
with North Carolina<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>,
and second, by delivering a patronizing warning, in a stereotypical affected
black accent, to a largely black audience, that the Republican presidential
ticket wants to “<span style="color: cyan;">put y’all back in chains.</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span></span></span></a>”
With the October 11<sup>th</sup> Vice Presidential debates mere weeks away,
Republicans can be seen wearing full-toothed grins in anticipation. Democrats,
on the other hand, appear not to be so comfortable. Writing for the Washington
Post, Alexandra Petri says Biden “<span style="color: cyan;">inspires the sort of discomfort one feels
upon introducing one’s fiancé to Grandpa after he has had a scotch too many.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[3]</span></span></span></span></a>
Daniel Halper, writing for the Weekly Standard, posits that the Democrats may
seriously be considering replacing Mr. Biden from the top ticket, a move that
would accentuate the President’s desperation.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn4;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[4]</span></span></span></span></a> “<span style="color: cyan;">Speculation
that Biden could be dropped has been rampant, despite denials from top
Democrats,</span>” Halper writes. His piece is adorned with a countdown clock to when
the Obama Campaign can legally drop Mr. Biden. Herein lies the greatest reason
Republicans have to be gleeful: whether Biden is removed or not (I suspect the
latter will be the case), the Democrats have very few viable candidates for the
national spotlight. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Halper argues that the best time
to replace Biden would be just before the GOP convention, and that the most logical
replacement would be Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, despite her vow to
leave the Administration after her term ends.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn5;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[5]</span></span></span></span></a> Mrs.
Clinton, is expected to run for President in 2016 at age 69, and cannot afford
to suffer serious reputational damage if she chooses to serve as Vice President
to President Barack Obama in his second term. Given that second terms for
presidents are, without exception, worse than first terms, the danger for Clinton, if she were to
accept such an offer, is even more certain. If Clinton declines, who would replace Biden and
be acceptable to Democrats? Moreover, if Obama loses re-election, who would the
Democrats run in 2016?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OvrwQGB8fu4/UDHBwYEPgEI/AAAAAAAADNU/NM5-GqL2QOc/s1600/barack-obama-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OvrwQGB8fu4/UDHBwYEPgEI/AAAAAAAADNU/NM5-GqL2QOc/s320/barack-obama-12.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">T</span></b>his problem would not plague a
Republican administration given the Party’s deep bench. In 2008, for example, Republican
Presidential candidates included, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Rudy
Giuliani, Ron Paul, Fred Thompson, Sam Brownback, Tommy Thompson, Duncan Hunter
and Tom Tancredo. When McCain won the nomination, any of his contenders could
have been his chosen running mate. Instead, he chose Sarah Palin, who was
(initially) a rising political superstar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of that primary field, Romney, Huckabee and Paul (arguably) went on to a
brighter political career—poising themselves favorably for another run for
president. In 2012, though, an almost completely new crop of Republicans
stepped forward. Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Hermann Cain, Newt Gingrich,
Rick Santorum, Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman were new additions to the Republican
presidential contest. Romney won that competition and chose as his running mate
Paul Ryan from a long list of party superstars. Big names like Chris Christie,
Bobby Jindal, Rob Portman, Mitch Daniels, Marco Rubio, and Condoleeza Rice made
up the VP short list. Any one of these mentioned would be acceptable GOP
nominees for President. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--eAZo8eL44A/UDHBwOr3xAI/AAAAAAAADNM/xxGz22PMSKw/s1600/ash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--eAZo8eL44A/UDHBwOr3xAI/AAAAAAAADNM/xxGz22PMSKw/s1600/ash.jpg" /></a>The Democrats, on the other hand,
face a different reality. 2008 saw them running a very weak field, save Clinton
and John Edwards. Mr. Obama was an inexperienced unknown, Dennis Kucinich
joined Mike Gravel on the Party fringe, and Joe Biden was, well, Joe Biden.
Since then, Bill Richardson dodged an indictment from a federal grand jury for a
pay-to-play scandal, and 2004 retread, John Edwards, lost his political future
to a sleazy sex scandal that would have made Bill Clinton blush. The next
generation of the Democrat Party remains conspicuously inconspicuous. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">S</span></b>o, if Mr. Obama were to drop Mr.
Biden from the ticket, who would fill the Vice Presidential slot? Evan Bayh?
John Kerry? Hillary Clinton? Indeed Mr. Obama would fill his ash tray mulling
over that decision. In the meantime, Democrats must continue tossing and turning
during the lead up to the Vice Presidential Debates.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Article
Sources:</b> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #cccccc; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<hr align="left" size="1" style="color: #cccccc;" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1" style="color: #cccccc;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">[1]</span></span></span></a> http://youtu.be/P3MwyGb6gF8</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="color: #cccccc;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">[2]</span></span></span></a> http://youtu.be/f7Q1I6PIIuY</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="color: #cccccc;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">[3]</span></span></span></a> http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/post/onion-joe-biden-wild-and-unchained/2012/08/14/94a6c2fc-e645-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_blog.html</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4" style="color: #cccccc;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">[4]</span></span></span></a> http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-has-22-days-drop-biden_650014.html</span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText" style="color: #cccccc;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">[5]</span></span></span></a> http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/hillary-clinton-says-shes-ready-to-step-off-the-high-wire-of-american-politics/</span></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<span style="color: yellow; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Photo Sources:</b> "Pic1" from http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvrgzgaR2Z1qli4oko1_400.jpg; "Pic2" from http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/barack-obama-12.jpg; "Pic3" from http://www.voont.com/files/images/edit/candle/ash.jpg; </span></div>
</div>
</div>
J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8013179745867016708.post-23816238506390445942012-08-13T14:07:00.000-05:002012-08-20T08:48:50.034-05:00“R2”<br />
<h2 align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">“R<sup>2</sup>”</span></h2>
<h3 align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>By: J. Hunter</i></span></h3>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bBkn9CaIjok/UClPhdFCsjI/AAAAAAAADMo/9EuCIZRgVgs/s1600/0811-paul-ryan-tea-party.jpg_full_600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bBkn9CaIjok/UClPhdFCsjI/AAAAAAAADMo/9EuCIZRgVgs/s320/0811-paul-ryan-tea-party.jpg_full_600.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="color: red;">O</b></span>ver the weekend, Governor Mitt
Romney delivered another sobering reminder that the election of 2012 is upon us
by finally announcing his Vice Presidential running mate—Wisconsin
Representative, Paul Ryan. The choice has politicos abuzz interpreting the
implications of the new (perhaps improved) Republican ticket. This conservative
is ecstatic to see Mr. Ryan serving “America’s Comeback Team” in this capacity.
As to be expected, though, his injection into the race comes with consequences
that must be considered—some good, some challenging, and some that should
engender serious thought on the political right.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
On the bright side, Ryan’s role
as Romney’s running mate helps to better focus a campaign that has been big on
promoting abstract values—freedom, personal responsibility, and American
exceptionalism—but lacking in specific policy proposals. Mr. Ryan has long been
lauded in political circles as a true, bipartisan “ideas man” who has almost
single-handedly formed the tip of the spear for Republican budget hawks. Though
Mr. Romney asserts that the Team Romney economic plan will derive from the top
of the ticket, collaboration with Ryan is an enviable position from which to
design policies that surely will be the focal point of the 2012 campaign. In
this way, too, Team Romney boosts its credentials as an august, practical policy-wonk
option to counter the Democrat incumbents whose rhetoric appears increasingly
reckless, mean-spirited and dogmatically ideological. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3IVcdW2XBrI/UClPhs4PjVI/AAAAAAAADM0/NpPspcLjt_E/s1600/romney-ryan-rolls-royce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3IVcdW2XBrI/UClPhs4PjVI/AAAAAAAADM0/NpPspcLjt_E/s320/romney-ryan-rolls-royce.jpg" width="240" /></a>Mr. Ryan also shares Mr. Romney’s
ability to work in a bipartisan fashion. Both men successfully operated as
principled conservatives in liberal strongholds—Wisconsin and Massachusetts
respectively. President Barack Obama, on the other hand, lacked the experience
of working with Republicans—having cut his teeth in the deep blue city of
Chicago, which is located in the deep blue state of Illinois. As a result, Mr.
Obama has found it difficult to build bipartisan coalitions, and has floundered
since his unilateral policies urged voters to replace his Democrat accomplices
with scorned Republicans. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Unfortunately, Mr. Ryan’s
bipartisan bona fides may not garner proper attention. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A regular speaker at the left-leaning,
nonpartisan Brookings Institution, Mr. Ryan faces the greatest criticism from a
Medicare fix he authored which threatened to increase the cost of Medicare
coverage for seniors. He has since revisited his plan, with the help of
Oregon’s Democrat Senator, Ron Wyden, and developed a solid plan bereft of the
original problems. This bipartisan plan—the Ryan-Wyden Plan—is what Mr. Romney
endorsed, and is what Democrats refuse to address—finding greater political advantage
in focusing on Ryan’s earlier incarnation of Medicare reform. The flexibility
and bipartisan acumen Ryan demonstrates is desirable in this time of acute
partisanship, but with an electorate mostly uninterested in politics until a
few weeks before an election, the attacks on Mr. Ryan may cause sufficient
damage to his reputation to secure Democrat victory in November.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-__3kUkmNEBw/UClPhZclq7I/AAAAAAAADMs/D5StvfTdvew/s1600/PaulRyan-TheAntidote-thumb-400x569-1236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-__3kUkmNEBw/UClPhZclq7I/AAAAAAAADMs/D5StvfTdvew/s320/PaulRyan-TheAntidote-thumb-400x569-1236.jpg" width="224" /></a>Finally, Republicans should note
a conspicuous absence on the Presidential ticket—foreign policy experience. Traditionally,
the GOP has been pegged as the Party of fiscal responsibility and foreign
policy expertise. After the unpopular military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and the economic collapse of 2008, the Party has had to work to rebuild its
time-honored image. The prodigal Obama Administration has eagerly relinquished
the fiscal argument back to Republicans, but has an acceptable foreign policy
record on which to rely—Iraq and Afghanistan are coming to a close with Osama
bin Laden killed by American military personnel. Egypt and Libya have gone
through violent restructuring without American intervention—events that
culminated in the death of another American foe, Muammar Qaddafi, and the
deposing of Hosni Mubarak. While Syria hangs in the balance with no clear
Democratic message on the violent situation, Republicans, too, offer no
definitive answer on America’s rightful role or stance in the conflict. Perhaps
this is an attempt by the Romney campaign to stay on message, focusing on the
most important issue of the election. Perhaps, too, though, the Romney-Ryan
ticket reflects a continuation of the right wing’s introspection after the misadventures
of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
All things considered, the Paul
Ryan VP choice reassures Republican voters that Mr. Romney is committed to
victory in November. In Ryan, Romney has chosen a charismatic, substantive,
young Republican leader who best articulates the conservative vision for the
country and the current political conversation: “<span style="color: cyan;">This election is about
American revival, stupid.</span>”<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span></span></span></a>
Paul Ryan is a welcomed addition and asset to Romney’s argument.</div>
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Sources:</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8013179745867016708#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[1]</span></span></span></a> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/opinion/cohen-saving-private-romney.html</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo Sources:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: yellow;">"Pic1" from http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2012/0811-paul-ryan-tea-party.jpg/13437250-1-eng-US/0811-paul-ryan-tea-party.jpg_full_600.jpg ; "Pic2" from http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/romney-ryan-rolls-royce.jpg; "Pic3" from http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/files/2011/06/PaulRyan-TheAntidote-thumb-400x569-1236.jpg; </span></span></div>
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J. Thomas Hunterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08485027628856577529noreply@blogger.com0