Monday, December 20, 2010

A Different Christmas Poem

A poem written by Michael Marks...


The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
a lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light.
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam,'
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?"
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.

Text courtesy BLACKFIVE: A Different Christmas Poem
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2012/12/a_different_chr.html

Video courtesy of C2C Media
http://www.c2cmedia.net/

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sixpence None The Richer

Leigh Nash of the band Sixpence None The Richer describes the origin of the band’s name:

“It comes from a book by C.S. Lewis called Mere Christianity. A little boy asks his father if he can get a sixpence -- a very small amount of English currency -- to go and get a gift for his father. The father gladly accepts the gift and he’s really happy with it, but he also realizes that he’s not any richer for the transaction. C.S. Lewis was comparing that to his belief that God has given him, and us, the gifts that we possess, and to serve Him the way we should, we should do it humbly -- realizing how we got the gifts in the first place.”

Here’s Leigh singing ♫ Breathe Your Name


Lyrics ♫
It's every day
I'm in this place
I feel this way
I feel the same
It's every day
I'm in this place
I feel this way
I feel the same

Is it all inside my head
Is it all inside my head
I'll view the list
And take my pick
I view my faith
And make a choice
'Cause it's nobody else's but mine

But you are in my heart
I can feel your beat
And you move my mind
From behind the wheel
When I lose control
I can only breathe your name
I can only breathe your name

So many days within this race
I need the truth
I need some grace
I need the path
To find my place
I need some truth
I need some grace
The part of you
That's part of me
We'll never die
We'll never leave
And it's nobody else's but mine

You are in my heart
I can feel your beat
And you move my mind
From behind the wheel
When I lose control
I can only breathe your name
I can only breathe your name

You'll view the list
And take your pick
You'll view my faith
And make the choice
'Cause I'm nobody else's but yours

And you're in my heart
I can feel your beat
And you move my mind
From behind the wheel
When I lose control
I can only breathe your name
I can only breathe your name
I can only breathe your name
I can only breathe your name

What makes Liberals dangerous...

I’ve always believed this RFK quote sums up Liberals:

“There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”

Now, you can still believe in the nobility of that quote and appreciate its depth -- and that would be only human. But when most are confronted by reality, we choose NOT to use this as the guiding principle in how we make tough decisions. By necessity, we force ourselves to “look at things the way they are and ask why?” Liberals don’t. In fact, substituting “government” for the individual in the latter half of that quote identifies EXACTLY who Liberals are and what they believe in! That's what makes them dangerous.

The Fourth Estate becomes the Fifth Column...

We had to know America was in trouble when we found out the “O” in Journ“O”List stood for “O”bama. Every single name listed below should have an asterisk* by it for the rest of (what should be) their short-lived career -- that asterisk* forever identifying them as being complicit in helping elect Obama. Their conduct and lack of ethics was treasonous. Case closed.

The Journ“O”list (157 names confirmed with organizations):
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2573077/posts
  1. Spencer Ackerman - Wired, FireDogLake, Washington Independent, Talking Points Memo, The American Prospect
  2. Thomas Adcock - New York Law Journal
  3. Ben Adler - Newsweek, POLITICO
  4. Mike Allen - POLITICO
  5. Eric Alterman - The Nation, Media Matters for America
  6. Marc Ambinder - The Atlantic
  7. Greg Anrig - The Century Foundation
  8. Ryan Avent - Economist
  9. Dean Baker - The American Prospect
  10. Nick Baumann - Mother Jones
  11. Josh Bearman - LA Weekly
  12. Steven Benen - The Carpetbagger Report
  13. Ari Berman - The Nation
  14. Jared Bernstein - Economic Policy Institute
  15. Michael Berube - Crooked Timer, Pennsylvania State University
  16. Brian Beutler - The Media Consortium
  17. Lindsay Beyerstein - Freelance journalist
  18. Joel Bleifuss - In These Times
  19. John Blevins - South Texas College of Law
  20. Eric Boehlert - Media Matters
  21. Sam Boyd - The American Prospect
  22. Ben Brandzel - MoveOn.org, John Edwards Campaign
  23. Shannon Brownlee - Author, New America Foundation
  24. Rich Byrne - Playwright
  25. Kevin Carey - Education Sector
  26. Jonathan Chait - The New Republic
  27. Lakshmi Chaudry - In These Times
  28. Isaac Chotiner - The New Republic
  29. Ta-Nehisi Coates - The Atlantic
  30. Michael Cohen - New America Foundation
  31. Jonathan Cohn - The New Republic
  32. Joe Conason - The New York Observer
  33. Lark Corbeil - Public News Service
  34. David Corn - Mother Jones
  35. Daniel Davies - The Guardian
  36. David Dayen - FireDogLake
  37. Brad DeLong - The Economists’ Voice, University of California at Berkeley
  38. Ryan Donmoyer - Bloomberg News
  39. Adam Doster - In These Times
  40. Kevin Drum - Washington Monthly
  41. Matt Duss - Center for American Progress
  42. Gerald Dworkin - UC Davis
  43. Eve Fairbanks - The New Republic
  44. James Fallows - The Atlantic
  45. Henry Farrell - George Washington University
  46. Tim Fernholz - American Prospect
  47. Dan Froomkin - Huffington Post, Washington Post
  48. Jason Furman - Brookings Institution
  49. James Galbraith - University of Texas at Austin
  50. Kathleen Geier - Talking Points Memo
  51. Todd Gitlin - Columbia University
  52. Ilan Goldenberg - National Security Network
  53. Arthur Goldhammer - Harvard University
  54. Dana Goldstein - The Daily Beast
  55. Andrew Golis - Talking Points Memo
  56. Jaana Goodrich - Blogger
  57. Merrill Goozner - Chicago Tribune
  58. David Greenberg - Slate
  59. Robert Greenwald - Brave New Films
  60. Chris Hayes - The Nation
  61. Don Hazen - Alternet
  62. Jeet Heer - Canadian Journolist
  63. Jeff Hauser - Political Action Committee, Dennis Shulman Campaign
  64. Michael Hirsh - Newsweek
  65. James Johnson - University of Rochester
  66. John Judis - The New Republic, The American Prospect
  67. Michael Kazin - Georgetown University
  68. Ed Kilgore - Democratic Strategist
  69. Richard Kim - The Nation
  70. Charlie Kireker - Air America Media
  71. Mark Kleiman - UCLA The Reality Based Community
  72. Ezra Klein - Washington Post, Newsweek, The American Prospect
  73. Joe Klein - TIME
  74. Robert Kuttner - American Prospect, Economic Policy Institute
  75. Paul Krugman - The New York Times, Princeton University
  76. Lisa Lerer - POLITICO
  77. Daniel Levy - Century Foundation
  78. Ralph Luker - Cliopatria
  79. Annie Lowrey - Washington Independent
  80. Robert Mackey - New York Times
  81. Mike Madden - Salon
  82. Maggie Mahar - The Century Foundation
  83. Amanda Marcotte - Pandagon.net
  84. Dylan Matthews - Harvard University
  85. Alec McGillis - Washington Post
  86. Scott McLemee - Inside Higher Ed
  87. Sara Mead - New America Foundation
  88. Ari Melber - The Nation
  89. David Meyer - University of California at Irvine
  90. Seth Michaels - MyDD.com
  91. Luke Mitchell - Harper’s Magazine
  92. Gautham Nagesh - The Hill, Daily Caller
  93. Suzanne Nossel - Human Rights Watch
  94. Michael O’Hare - University of California at Berkeley
  95. Josh Orton - MyDD.com, Air America Media
  96. Rodger Payne - University of Louisville
  97. Rick Perlstein - Author, Campaign for America’s Future
  98. Nico Pitney - Huffington Post
  99. Harold Pollack - University of Chicago
  100. Katha Pollitt - The Nation
  101. Ari Rabin-Havt - Media Matters
  102. Joy-Ann Reid - South Florida Times
  103. David Roberts - Grist
  104. Lamar Robertson - Partnership for Public Service
  105. Sara Robinson - Campaign For America's Future
  106. Alyssa Rosenberg - Washingtonian, The Atlantic, Government Executive
  107. Alex Rossmiller - National Security Network
  108. Michael Roston - Newsbroke
  109. Laura Rozen - POLITICO, Mother Jones
  110. Felix Salmon - Reuters
  111. Greg Sargent - Washington Post
  112. Thomas Schaller - Baltimore Sun
  113. Noam Scheiber - The New Republic
  114. Michael Scherer - TIME
  115. Mark Schmitt - American Prospect, The New America Foundation
  116. Nancy Scola - Personal Democracy Forum
  117. Rinku Sen - ColorLines Magazine
  118. Julie Bergman Sender - Balcony Films
  119. Adam Serwer - American Prospect
  120. Walter Shapiro - PoliticsDaily.com
  121. Kate Sheppard - Mother Jones
  122. Matthew Shugart - UC San Diego
  123. Micah Sifry - Sunlight Foundation, Personal Democracy Forum
  124. Nate Silver - FiveThirtyEight.com
  125. Jesse Singal - The Boston Globe, Washington Monthly
  126. Ann-Marie Slaughter - Princeton University
  127. Ben Smith - POLITICO
  128. Sarah Spitz - KCRW
  129. Adele Stan - The Media Consortium
  130. Paul Starr - The Atlantic
  131. Kate Steadman - Kaiser Health News
  132. Kay Steiger - Center for American Progress
  133. Jonathan Stein - Mother Jones
  134. Sam Stein - Huffington Post
  135. Matt Steinglass - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
  136. James Surowiecki - The New Yorker
  137. Jesse Taylor - Pandagon.net
  138. Steven Teles - Yale University
  139. Mark Thoma - The Economists' View
  140. Michael Tomasky - The Guardian
  141. Jeffrey Toobin - CNN, The New Yorker
  142. Rebecca Traister - Salon
  143. Karen Tumulty - Washington Post, TIME
  144. Tracy Van Slyke - The Media Consortium
  145. Paul Waldman - Author, American Prospect
  146. Dave Weigel - Washington Post, MSNBC, The Washington Independent
  147. Moira Whelan - National Security Network
  148. Scott Winship - Pew Economic Mobility Project
  149. J. Harry Wray - DePaul University
  150. D. Brad Wright - University of NC at Chapel Hill
  151. Kai Wright - The Root
  152. Holly Yeager - Columbia Journalism Review
  153. Rich Yeselson - Change to Win
  154. Matthew Yglesias - Center for American Progress, The Atlantic Monthly
  155. Jonathan Zasloff - UCLA
  156. Julian Zelizer - Princeton University
  157. Avi Zenilman - POLITICO
Related links:
Jonah Goldberg: Journolist exposes ugly liberal conspiracy
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-goldberg_27edi.State.Edition1.2946a6b.html

Documents show media plotting to kill stories about Rev. Jeremiah Wright
http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/20/documents-show-media-plotting-to-kill-stories-about-rev-jeremiah-wright/

Absence of integrity characterized Journolist scandal
http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/22/absence-of-integrity-characterized-journolist-scandal/

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Obama's New Slogan???

Prior to our petulant prez punching out from his own presser, I said his “D is for Drive, R is for Reverse” slogan was even more lamer now because bringing Bubba back is going backwards. But with Obama in full meltdown and him self-ejecting, I suggest he try a new slogan:
“D is for Ditched and B.O. Bailed Out.”

The handwriting was on the wall...

This video was made the night before the 2008 presidential election. The handwriting was on the wall...

“Obama on Redistribution and the Constitution: Are We Ready for Change?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDUWpLnS63M

Mark Levin exposes Obama for the evildoer he is.

God help us...

Yesterday, at a press conference of his OWN choosing, we saw the President of The United States lose control of the White House -- the petulant child that he is. And as Derek Broes said, it may have produced “the single greatest Drudge Headline I have seen to date.” I would agree!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1672393350#!/photo.php?fbid=158927847485614&set=a.106206766091056.3797.100001051981122

If you haven’t seen video of the incident yet, here it is:
“Obama Ditches Tax Cut Presser After Bill Clinton Takes Control”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPtZIgUJS44

Unbelievable! Obama “takes off” and Clinton “takes over” for almost THIRTY MINUTES of impromptu question-taking?! WTF?!?

The teleprompter must’ve told Obama to “Excuse yourself now and get the HELL out of here QUICKLY, you Loser.”

Ladies and gentleman, we have a dangerously narcissistic and pathologically lying adolescent in the White House. God help us.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

I call it lies...

I don’t trust any numbers Obama puts out.
Every time some new figure is released, some previously released figure gets (quietly) revised. And never in our country’s favor, as was the case again today.
In each instance, the updated info paints a worse picture than the original info indicated. And the correction (naturally) won’t receive the same attention the initial data did.
Call it smoke and mirrors. I call it lies...

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Obama: Know more with “less”

Flying 7000 miles to talk 15 minutes on the phone? Senseless.
Wearing a BRAND NEW “Look, I’m a tough guy” bomber jacket?
Pointless.

PS- Use“less” memo to Obama:
Add hopeless, clueless, witless, feckless and worthless to your résumé. And don’t forget gutless. AND spineless...

President Obama’s Leather Jacket Has New-Car Smell
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/12/president_obamas_leather_jacke.html
Obama: Miles Away From Reality
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th2iVZiO9YA

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Bad news for START is good news for America

Bad news for the new START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is good news for America. Is it that unreasonable to expect an informative debate over a complex treaty like this???
It is when the sand's running out on the lame duck Dems...
and Obama wants his trophy -- national security be damned!

The Gun is Civilization

The Gun is Civilization by Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret)

Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that’s it.

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force.

The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we’d be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a [armed] mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger’s potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat–it has no validity when most of a mugger’s potential marks are armed.

People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that’s the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.

Then there’s the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser. People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don’t constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level.

The gun is the only weapon that’s as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply wouldn’t work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn’t both lethal and easily employable.

When I carry a gun, I don’t do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I’m looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don’t carry it because I’m afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn’t limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation… and that’s why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=83629783989&topic=14216

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

“They loved Obama”

*SPOILER ALERT* An alternate ending for George Orwell’s 1984:
“The Democrats gazed up at the enormous face. It had taken them scant seconds to fall in love with it -- the sneers behind the ears -- the snob behind the mob. O wondrous rapture as tears trickled down mindless faces, their joy so overwhelming. Because everything was all right now . . . because everyone was now Left! With nothing!!! The big “O”. Their cities in decay. These soulless zombies weak-in-the-knees, their struggle was now over. They had won the victory over themselves. They loved Obama.”
________________________________________________________________

The above was inspired by RightChange’s “1984 - Big Brother Obama”
Based on Apple’s 1984 MAC commercial that marked a new era in computers, and based on George Orwell’s book 1984, RightChange introduces our closing argument on Obama and the 111th Congress. This is also RightChange’s Kick-off for the 2012 Presidential Cycle.
The New Politizoid “1984 - Big Brother Obama” may be our best yet!
CAST: Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, George Soros, Maxine Waters, Moveon.org and Louis Farrakhan in their own words.
Yes. THESE ARE THEIR ACTUAL WORDS!
http://vimeo.com/16398466