Trump On Colin Powell

Colin Powell has always struck me as a useless POS over the years.

The clincher was when he supported Barack Obama over John McCain (even though McCain was never a favorite of mine, but Obama is a socialist).

This week, Powell announced that he's supporting Biden for president.

Well, whoop-de-do!

President Trump's reaction today says it all:

Trump Signs Executive Order On Healthcare Price Transparency

In a White House ceremony today, President Trump signed an executive order giving people access to pricing on medical care. (This will likely be ignored by the media.)

According to the Washington Examiner:

President Trump has signed an executive order meant to help patients shop for medical care, revving up for a reelection campaign in which he plans to cast himself as a champion of healthcare despite presiding over an increase in uninsurance and trying and failing to undo Obamacare [We can thank late Sen. John McCain for that. - A]. 

The executive order signed Monday will lead to doctors, hospitals, clinics, and other medical providers making their prices publicly available so that patients can see how much they can expect to pay before they receive care. 

"This is a very big thing that is happening right now and it’s pretty much going to blow everything away,” Trump said.

To read more, go here. 

John McCain's Pallbearers: Only 2 Republicans

It is interesting to note in the list of pallbearers for Sen. John McCain, except for Phil Gramm and Tom Ridger, no other Republicans are listed among them.

Pallbearers at McCain’s funeral in DC on Saturday will include:

—Warren Beatty
—Joe Biden
—Phil Gramm
—Michael Bloomberg
—Russ Feingold
—Carla Eudy
—Tom Ridge
—Gary Hart
—Mark Salter
—Fred Smith
—Sheldon Whitehouse
—Vladimir Kara-Murza

Actually, it really shouldn't be a surprise. McCain has been a RINO for most, if not all, of his political career. In 2008, my vote for the McCain-Palin ticket was primarily for Sarah Palin. If she wasn't chosen as McCain's running mate, I would have held my nose and voted for McCain anyway as Obama was a Marxist.

John McCain

Above, President Nixon welcomes ex-POW John McCain home in 1973.

The passing of Sen. John McCain has left me with mixed feelings.

I have full sympathy for his family and friends over his passing. But, I also remember some of the things he did as a self-described "maverick", most recently for being the one vote against repealing ObamaCare, which leaves us with much of it today.

He was strong on defense, but he always seemed ready to inject American troops in world hotspots.

While I think he would have been a far better president than Barack Obama, my 2008 vote was mainly for his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin.

McCain's career will be examined in the years ahead by historians and others. I'll just leave it at that.

The GOP Civil War

We are less than a month away from a very important election. Yet, the candy-ass traitors of the Republican Party such as House Speaker Paul Ryan, Sen. John McCain and others would rather risk an all-out civil war within the party instead of being team players to defeat Hillary Clinton.

I have been politically active for over 44 years and never have I ever seen such disgraceful displays of party disunity in my life.

Right now, my positions in this are:

If Trump loses and we lose one or both houses of congress, conservatives should leave the GOP and re-register Democrat and take over that party to make it a Jeffersonian party again. Or,

Leave the GOP and after, hopefully, conservative leaders form a new party, I will join it. I've had enough with the establishment GOP leadership.

There has to be a major sea change within the next few days for me to remain in the Republican Party.

The 11-year-old recordings of Trump is nothing but a phony excuse by the establishment to undermine his candidacy. The real reason? They want Trump to lose, because if he wins, there will be a major shake-up in Washington, D.C. (go to the link below for the Rush Limbaugh Show).

We have a country to save, assholes!

To see what Rush Limbaugh thinks of the current state of affairs, go here.

UPDATE (10/12/16):

I have since cooled down a bit. I posted this late last evening on different threads on Facebook, including one of David Gold's:

The Republican National Committee should get Paul Ryan, Donald Trump John McCain and everybody else who's got gripes to sit down and work something out so that we can have a united party for the remainder of the campaign.

Donald Trump and the Self-Righteous Prigs

Above, self-righteous prig John McCain.

It is amazing at how the so-called Republican "leaders" such as Senator John McCain, House Speaker Paul Ryan and others are distancing themselves from Donald Trump.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said this morning they and others should re-think all this. Trump is running for president, not Pope.

These lily-livered "leaders" should be subjected to primary challenges during the next election cycles and defeated. Screw 'em!

For years, as Rush Limbaugh pointed out this morning, the Republican establishment has been complaining about and trying to drive out those of the "religious right" from the Republican Party while claiming that their issues such as morality and abortion are "non-winners". Now that they got what they got what they wanted in Donald Trump, they are heading for the tall grasses. These self-righteous prigs are showing their hypocrisy for all to see.

The left-wing Democrat Party is likewise showing their hypocrisy. They have been clamoring for a secular, non-moral nation and defended their "rapist-in-chief" Bill Clinton for actions (including those while he was president) that makes the locker-room talk of Donald Trump of eleven years ago greatly pale in comparison. Suddenly, they pile on Trump. Their indignation is totally bogus.

Remember those anti-Palin t-shirts from 2008? This ought to jog your memory:

In a column at P J Media titled, "America, You Have No Right To Judge Donald Trump", D. C. McAllister put it best:

From the moment the tapes were made public, the drumbeat to Trump's personal walk of shame began. Politicians who formerly endorsed him fled in terror, not wanting the soiled stain of sexual stigma attached to them. NeverTrumpers descended in holier-than-thou glee as they declared how noble and right they've always been not to support such a despicable man. And the left has been howling like puritanical wolves, condemning him for his immorality and sexist treatment of women. 

I find this reaction to Trump's private conversation rather ironic. It's ironic coming from a secular culture that long ago declared objective morality dead. It's ironic coming from politicos and media bottom-feeders who defended the abusive and disgusting behavior of Bill Clinton, not when he was a private citizen but when he was a sitting president.

To read more, go here.

Stabbed In The Back By Vichy Republicans

Okay, the House passed the Senate budget bill and President Obama signed it and all the federal workers furloughed will be back on the job today.

It has been an interesting exercise in seeming futility for the House GOP. If it weren't for the sabotage by RINO (or Vichy) Republicans like McCain, Corker, McCain, Graham and others, we might have been able to squeeze some important, and necessary, concessions out of the Democrats and Obama.

Although many find fault with House Speaker John Boehner on many things (as I do), at least he put up a fight this time instead of immediately caving in.

I know what I am going to do. I will be contributing to conservative challengers to the turncoat Republicans in the Senate who are up for re-election in 2014! These Vichy Republicans have got to go!

On the plus side, it appears that I should get a check from the Department of Agriculture for the farm program I'm in. It'll probably be 2-3 weeks late, but at least it will be coming (probably at about the same time the crop check comes in).

Right about that time, it looks like I might be going to a mandatory settlement conference on a claims job. So it looks like the cash will be flowing mightily in November. It'll come in handy when I start sending in those campaign contributions.

No More Vichy Republicans!

This post at Twitter by Chuck Wollery gave me an idea. So I decided to have some fun with it.

The Vichy French collaborated with their German Nazi masters.  The RINO Republicans are the same.  The two most prominent Vichy Republicans in the Senate are Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain.  

I am not the first to come up with term Vichy Republican. It has been around for a while.  

Eric Erickson wrote in the Free Republic in 2009:

The ground has not shifted to the left. They have shifted to the left. They have become Vichy Republicans — not Republicans in Name Only. The difference is that they stand on their bona fides as Republicans, patted on the back by other Republicans of unquestioned party affiliation, to sell out the party by collaborating with the Democrats. 

McCain has been working closely with the White House and a handful of Democrats in the Senate in recent weeks. Graham's collaboration with the Democrats on immigration reform has ticked off the GOP base enough that he might face a primary challenge.

Then I came up with this:

Romney Needs To Approach Debates As A Fighter

The first of three presidential debates between President Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney is coming up this week.

If Romney is to make any inroads in this campaign, he has to go in as a fighter, not as a lamb as Sen. John McCain did in 2008.  McCain blew opportunities to put Obama away.

Romney has the advantage going into next week's debate as he had several debates during the Republican primaries and became a better debater and candidate as a result (although some within the GOP ranks are grousing that he is still a "poor" candidate).  Frankly, I think Romney's skills as a candidate are far superior than McCain's.

But we shall see as the debates begin.

Romney Locks Up GOP Nomination

Former Senator Rick Santorum effectively ended his presidential bid today when he announced that he's suspending it.  This pretty much clears the path for former Massachusettes Governor Mitt Romney to secure the GOP presidential nomination.

Romney is not the "perfect" candidate.  Who is?  But he has the experience in private enterprise and in government to turn this country away from the socialist policies of the Obama and the Democrats.  In 2008, I preferred Romney over John McCain.

It is time to get on board the Romney campaign to defeat Barack Obama this November.   Go to www.mittromney.com to volunteer or donate.  Get involved!

Hayworth Challenges McCain For GOP Senate Nomination In Arizona

J. D. Hayworth, former congressman and currently a conservative talk show host, is challenging Sen. John McCain for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in Arizona.

Hayworth's campaign website says this about him:

J.D. Hayworth has been a radio and television personality, business management consultant, and public policy advocate. Still, most of Arizona knows J.D. from his time spent in Congress, to which he was elected as part of the Republican Revolution in 1994. While in the House, he built a stellar record as a Consistent Conservative. He maintained an “A” rating from the NRA and a 100% Pro-Life voting record. J.D. also compiled a lifetime rating of 89 from Citizens Against Government Waste and a lifetime rating of 98 from the American Conservative Union.

During his twelve years in the House, J.D. became the first Arizonan to serve on the Ways and Means Committee where he helped write the Bush Tax Cuts of 2001 and 2003. He also was the lead sponsor of the new Education Land Grant Act, which instituted a uniform way for rural school districts to obtain non-environmentally sensitive federal land for school construction, and he helped expand the boundaries of the Walnut Canyon National Monument.

In 2003, J.D. accepted an invitation from residents of Southern Arizona to visit the border and see first hand how illegal immigration and the flow of drugs and violence north across the U.S. border impacted their lives. This eye-opening experience encouraged J.D. to get more involved in the fight against illegal immigration, and within a short while he was a national leader in the effort. He even authored a book, Whatever It Takes, that is widely considered the definitive source on how to combat illegal immigration and improve border security.

Hayworth is a true conservative, unlike the RINO McCain who cozies up to Democrats and attacks conservatives behind-the-scenes. Currently, McCain's re-election campaign is conducting a sleazy campaign against Hayworth with money from political action committees (PACs).

Read Hayworth's campaign website and see if you agree with him on the major issues.

To see Hayworth's website, go here.

Colin Powell, A RINO Phoney

Gen. Colin Powell claims that he's a Republican. Yet he supported neo-Marxist Barack Obama for president.

Powell says that the GOP needs to be a "big tent." Powell claims the reason he supported Barack Obama for president last year was that he believed Obama was "best-qualified" to lead.

What do you think of "hope and change" now, General? Obama quadrupled the national debt; essentially took over the auto and banking industries; is dismantling the safeguards that the Bush Administration set up that protected this country from terror attacks for seven years; and now he wants to nationalize health care (that will usher in rationing).

John McCain was a moderate Republican presidential candidate that was tailor-made for the Colin Powell/Nelson Rockefeller/Hugh Scott/Gerald Ford/John Rhodes wing of the Republican Party. Yet he abandoned McCain and supported Obama. Powell essentially pissed on the grave of Ronald Reagan, who he brown-nosed his way to the top through.

Reagan appealed to moderates, independents and Democrats without sacrificing principle. Reagan welcomed those who didn't agree with him on everything. He always said, "Part of a loaf is better than no loaf at all." He won them over on his terms. The moderates of today have no principles. You can call them RINO (Republican In Name Only) or "Democrat Lite". What do they stand for? They embraced the socialist policies of Obama. They would prefer that the march towards socialism go at a slower pace, but they still embrace it.

Look how successful the moderate wing of the GOP has been. They can't win elections. If it is a choice between a "Democrat Lite" and the real thing, Democrats and some independents will vote for the real thing. Get a strong articulate conservative as a nominee, the liberals will have their clocked cleaned.

As for Powell's "big tent", a poster at the American Spectator said it best:

If you think it's okay to kill babies, get out of my tent.

If you think that gay marriage is anything other than an abrogation of natural law, get out of my tent.

If you think that persons entering this country in defiance of its laws should be granted amnesty, financial assistance, or the right to vote, get out of my tent.

If you offer aid, comfort and compromise to the sworn enemies of our country, get out of my tent.

If you think that the Constitution is an archaic document that can be ignored at the whim of a political agenda, get out of my tent.

If you think it's fiscally responsible to bankrupt our country, get out of my tent.

If you think the community organizer-in-chief has a clue about national security, economics, democracy, business or morality, get out of my tent.

I don't care if I'm the only person left in my tent, at least I can cling to my guns, my Holy Bible and my Constitution.

Media Bias For Obama Admitted

Above, my favorite political cartoon on 2008 media bias.

Not that it comes to any surprise to those who closely followed the 2008 presidential campaign, but Time Magazine's Mark Halperin admits that the media's coverage of Barack Obama was clearly biased in Obama's favor.

Cover-ups of Obama's radical and corrupt associations, hit pieces against Cindy McCain and puff pieces for Michelle Obama are just the tip of the iceberg of media bias.

Newsmax.com reports:

The mainstream media's support for Barack Obama's presidential campaign was so biased that even major insiders are now admitting they were shocked by its depth and depravity.

Last week, Time magazine's Mark Halperin called the media's performance during the campaign simply "disgusting."

Halperin told a panel of media analysts at the Politico/USC conference on the 2008 election, "It's the most disgusting failure of people in our business since the Iraq war."

He added, "It was extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama coverage."

Small wonder Obama won the election. Besides reneging on his pledge to take public financing, Obama outspent John McCain by 2 to 1. That, plus the media's biased reporting, the only way Obama would have lost the election was if he made a major gaffe.

In an earlier blog, I noted that 2008 would be known as the death of journalism. Now we are getting confirmation of this. The media will never be trusted again by Republicans and conservatives.

To read the full article, go here.

Obama Bought The Election

Barack Obama bought the presidency. He outspent John McCain by a 3-to-1 margin. After stating his support for public financing of campaigns and telling the world that he would discuss campaign finance with McCain, he broke his word and opted out of the campaign finance system without discussing it with McCain as promised. He is the first presidential candidate to do so since the system began with the campaign of 1976 between Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.

KCCI.com reports:

Obama, a first-term Illinois senator, attracted a flood of donations. He raised more than $600 million during his 18-month bid, shattering the previous record of $357 million that President George W. Bush raised in 2004. In September alone, the Obama campaign took in more than $150 million.

The war chest enabled Obama to advertise aggressively and create extensive campaign operations across the nation, even in states where Democrats have fared poorly for decades. Obama, whose general election spending was expected to top $300 million, capped his ad blitz a week before the election with a more than $3 million, 30-minute infomercial on major television networks.

Arizona Sen. John McCain chose to accept public financing for the general election, limiting his spending to $84 million.

Obama, who during the primary season promised to accept the public financing spending limit, later chose to opt out. He was the first major presidential candidate to forgo public money during the general election since 1976.

McCain and other critics said Obama's record spending shows that the campaign finance system is broken. The system, created in 1974 as part of post-Watergate government reform, was to level the playing field and limit the influence of rich, well-connected donors in presidential elections.

Obama and his supporters have countered that his fundraising has been a healthy expression of democracy. The campaign points out donations came from millions of Americans, who often gave small sums. In September, for example, the average donor gave $86, the campaign reported.

The Obama campaign took in money wherever they could get it. It has been reported that illegal foreign money was taken in. The safeguards of Obama's donation section of his website was disabled, thereby allowing questionable donors to pump in cash. People were finding unauthorized charges for the Obama campaign on their credit cards. The Obama campaign's fundraising could make Watergate pale in comparison for abuses, only I doubt that the Democrat-controlled Congress would bother to investigate their Messiah.

If the public campaign finance system is to work, it has to be made mandatory with no opting out. If this is not done, then the GOP has no choice but to permanently opt out. The GOP should not allow its candidate to be so outspent in the future. It is obscene to allow one candidate to outspend another by a 3-to-1 ratio.

Where Are You Senator McCain?

Gov. Sarah Palin denounced the "unnamed McCain campaign sources" as being "unfair" and "cowardly" over the attacks published after the campaign ended in defeat.

From the Associated Press:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is striking back at critics of the high-priced wardrobe she wore as the Republican vice presidential candidate.

As she returned to the governor's office in Anchorage on Friday, Palin said all she ever asked for was "a Diet Dr. Pepper once in a while."

Palin says the expensive outfits were purchased by the Republican National Committee and they belong to the committee.

She called her critics cowardly for speaking to reporters about her anonymously.

Republican Party lawyers are still trying to determine exactly what clothing was purchased for Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, what was returned and what has become of the rest.

This matter has festered since Wednesday and John McCain has yet to make a statement denouncing these attacks. I Googled around and there was nothing indicating that McCain has spoken out about these attacks. Where are you, Senator?

UPDATE (11/12/08):

John McCain appeared last night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Newsmax reports:

LOS ANGELES — John McCain said Tuesday that Sarah Palin did not damage his presidential bid, and he dismissed as typical campaign sniping anonymous criticism aimed at her following their crushing defeat.


"I'm so proud of her and I'm very grateful she agreed to run with me. She inspired people, she still does," McCain told Jay Leno during an "Tonight Show" interview taped for broadcast Tuesday night. "I couldn't be happier with Sarah Palin."


Asked by Leno about griping about Palin from unidentified McCain operatives in the days following the election, the Arizona senator said, "These things happen in campaigns.


"I think I have at least a thousand, quote, top advisers," he scoffed. "A top adviser said? I've never even heard of ... a top adviser or high-ranking Republican official."

Palin Attacks By McCain Hacks

As frequently happens after a losing campaign, blame finger-pointing by campaign staff has begun by McCain campaign aides. The target of their ire is Gov. Sarah Palin.

The Guardian (U.K.) posted this article:

Sarah Palin has returned to Alaska following her whirlwind 68-day exposure to the national political scene, but the controversy over her vice-presidential candidacy shows no sign of abating.

As the governor of Alaska stepped off a plane onto icy tarmac in Anchorage on Wednesday night, she faced fresh allegations over her behaviour on the campaign trail and renewed attacks about her lack of readiness for the White House. Much of the attacks were clearly emerging from disgruntled aides within the campaign of the Republican presidential candidate, John McCain.

The most piercing allegations concerned Palin's ignorance of foreign affairs, which were depicted to be even more extreme than already thought; and her spend-thrift actions in kitting herself and her family out with a wardrobe fit to appear before television cameras.

Fox News, a broadcast channel that until election day had been generally flattering in its coverage of the "Palin phenomenon", reported that aides were astonished when they learned she was unaware that Africa was not a country but a whole continent. She was also said to be unable to name the three states that belong to the North American Free Trade Agreement: the US, Mexico and Canada.

Unnamed McCain advisers, their ire no longer constrained by campaign discipline, complained that the Alaskan governor had been unco-operative. The New York Times reported the McCain circle was angry about her independent decision to talk directly to the French President, Nicholas Sarkozy, which then turned out to be a prank from a Canadian radio station.

She was also said to have resisted offers of help preparing for interviews with Katie Couric, which also proved to be highly damaging.

The most colourful new information concerned Palin's spending spree on the campaign trail. Newsweek reported that she ended up splurging far more than the $150,000 that was already known about; with up to $40,000 being lavished on her husband Todd.

A wealthy donor who had offered to foot the bill was shocked when he got the bill from such top-notch addresses as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, according to Newsweek. In a phrase that is likely to go down in US electoral folklore, one McCain aide characterized the episode to the magazine as: "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast."

Palin refused to address the bombardment of accusations directed at her. She said: "If they're an unnamed source, that says it all. I won't comment on anyone's gossip based on anonymous sources. That's kind of a small of a bitter type of person who anonymously would charge that I didn't know an answer to a question. So until I know who's talking about it, I won't have a comment on a false allegation."

She now faces a difficult few months rebuilding relations in Alaska, and fending off investigations against her over the so-called Troopergate affair in which she has been found guilty of breaching ethics guidelines in a dispute over the employment by the state of her former brother-in-law.

The Guardian apparently hasn't heard that Gov. Palin was already cleared days ago of any wrongdoing involving "Tasergate" (that they refer to as "Troopergate").

These hacks making the attacks (hey, that rhymes!) are nothing more than some moderates who are out trying to save their own skins so they can get future campaign work. The talk shows will dig further into this and if their names are found out, they will be outed. Once outed, their efforts in future campaign work will be more difficult. Nobody wants to hire liars and turncoats.

John McCain needs to speak out and denounce these attacks. Thus far, he hasn't.

UPDATE:

From Fox News:

Palin spokesperson Meghan Stapleton released a written statement Friday calling the charges "unfortunate and, quite honestly, sickening."

"The accusations we are hearing and reading are not true and since we deny all these anonymous allegations, there is nothing specific to which we will respond," she wrote. "We have the highest regards for Senator John McCain. Governor Palin was honored to be chosen as McCain's running mate."

Newsweek also reported that Palin may have spent "tens of thousands" of dollars more on wardrobe expenses than the $150,000 that was reported in the days before Election Day. The money allegedly went toward clothes for her and her family from high-end stores, even though she was originally told to buy just three suits and hire a stylist for the Republican National Convention.

One aide called the spree "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," according to the magazine. Palin also reportedly asked to speak at McCain's concession speech Tuesday, and was denied.

McCain adviser Nicole Wallace defended Palin on NBC's "Today Show" Friday morning, saying the Alaska governor "did nothing wrong."

"She is, perhaps, the most un-diva politician I've ever seen," she said. "The only thing I've ever seen her ask for is a diet soda."

Palin said right after the election that she's sorry if she cost McCain even "one vote."

But some are tired of what they say looks like scapegoating.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum told FOX News that McCain himself needs to come out and put a stop to the Palin criticism.

"She's the one that energized the base, she's the one that got the crowds out. ... She's the one that comes out of this without any scars and now they're trying to give her some," Santorum said. "John McCain should come out and say, 'This is ridiculous,' and set the record straight."

As of this writing, John McCain has not come out to refute the allegations.

Election Day...Finally!

Win or lose, today marks the end of the longest presidential campaign in history. Regardless of the outcome, it will be a relief to see it end.

There are reports that police departments in different cities are "girding their loins" (thanks, Sen. Biden) for possible voter unrest. This could mean that sore losers or jubilant winners may take things to extremes. It could also mean an uprising over voter fraud. It could mean all the above.

No matter who wins, both sides need to keep cool heads. There will be plenty of time to digest the outcome.

I just hope the voters choose wisely.

Obama Gives McCain The Bird

There he goes again! Brack Obama gave his opponent the bird, this time to John McCain.

Back in the primaries, Obama was caught giving Hillary Clinton the bird or, as we used to say, "The Rockefeller Salute."

Never a dumb Democrat?

Guest Editorial: Never a dumb Democrat?

by J. D. Lees

The massive media bias against U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is disgusting but predictable. Much has been made of Palin's inexperience, given that she'll be a heartbeat away from the presidency. Meanwhile, Barack Obama’s far thinner resume has been virtually ignored as he prepares to assume the world’s top job.

Then there are Obama's other "qualifications": rogues gallery of crooked former associates (political and otherwise), friendly connections with unrepentant domestic terrorist William Ayres, racist pastor and mentor for 20 years, most left-wing voting record in the U.S. Senate, socialist/collectivist plans to confiscate wealth and redistribute it... all forming merely the tip of a largely unexamined iceberg.

The mainstream media have failed to shine much light on Obama's unsavory aspects, having been intensely preoccupied with portraying Sarah Palin as an unqualified redneck airhead. It's a familiar refrain, one that the media never stops recycling. Strange, too, that it's always Republicans that are said to lack the requisite brainpower for public office.

Gerald Ford had a solid 25-year congressional career (including eight years as minority leader) before becoming vice president and then president. Nonetheless, the media made him out to be a clumsy "doofus" who, in Lyndon Johnson's well-publicized estimation, couldn't "walk and chew gum at the same time."

Ford was narrowly defeated by the reportedly brilliant Jimmy Carter, who swiftly regulated the U.S. into an energy crisis that generated filling station line-ups, at least when gas was even available. Carter's policies were so intelligent that inflation and unemployment skyrocketed simultaneously.

Carter was challenged by Republican Ronald Reagan, another "amiable dunce" according to the media. But after Carter's diplomacy produced 52 American hostages in Iran and his personally planned rescue mission failed disastrously, the allegedly dumb Reagan restored the U.S. economy and won the Cold War, freeing the peoples of Western Europe, in Margaret Thatcher's words, "without firing a shot."

Bill Clinton was another brainy Democrat. He wound up impeached by the House of Representatives and resigned from the Supreme Court bar to avoid certain disbarment, all because he allowed the wrong piece of anatomy do his thinking.

According to conventional wisdom, George W. Bush is the dumbest Republican yet. But to the dismay of his defeatist critics, Bush’s "surge" seems to have turned the tide in the Iraq War. Furthermore, for the past four years Bush warned all those "smart" Democrats in Congress that their sub-prime interest pyramid scheme was headed for collapse.

The media gleefully pounces on every Palin mistake, but her Democrat counterpart Joe Biden’s frequent gaffs go mostly unreported. For example, he stated that FDR used TV to reassure Americans after the 1929 stock market crash. FDR was first elected in 1932, and TV hadn’t yet been invented.

We don't really know much about Sarah Palin, but the people of Alaska do. As their governor, she has the highest approval ratings in the nation. This she shares with Bush and Reagan; both were successful governors, both were re-elected by record margins. Simple common sense says that stupid people don't become highly effective state governors.

Palin may be a novice on the national stage, but she’s plenty smart. Equally important, she exhibits a sense of life that is upbeat, forward-looking, and grounded in solid American values.

In private, Obama sneers at those who “cling to guns or religion” because they're “bitter.” Palin, a gun and Bible-totin' “frontier” woman refutes Obama’s cynicism because she is the exact opposite of bitter. Her spirit is the spirit of America, a can-do attitude of optimism, grit and inspiring self-reliance, all excellent qualities for a potential leader of the free world.

J. D. Lees is a high school teacher in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada and is editor and publisher of G-FAN magazine and writes a weekly column for his local newspaper.

An Election View From Asia

An American friend working in Tokyo, Japan sent out his annual holiday message and has a perspective on the election from there. I asked him if I may share it here and he agreed.

This is a mass mailing, intended for a good number of family members, relatives and friends, far and wide. If you get caught up in it for some reason, I hope you will let it slide as I promise I will not "spam" again. It is just that due to the time sensitive nature of the information, I went to my address book and just sent out the messages in bulk. I do invite you to look over the content of the message, however, because I believe it to be of vital interest to all who are concerned about the future.

Most end-of-the-year seasonal letters and e-mails start with something like this: "Frank just finished his third year of college", or "we had a great week at Disney World in the spring, here are some pics", or "the littlest one is now on the drill team" or "George finally got around to fixing our pool this month". That kind of stuff. So it may come as a bit of a surprise to get one like this, which is anything but typical. I hope you will read it through to the end and take appropriate action.

I am here in the Tokyo-area in Japan as you know. As I speak, there are several thousands of short, intermediate and long-range missiles including dreaded "Scuds" and "Taepodong" pointed in my direction and at thousands of US military in bases thronged around where I write at this moment in the Tokyo/Yokohama area. In these scuds are weapons of mass destruction--agreed by all observers and claimed by the North Koreans themselves--not the least being terrible chemical agents, biological nightmares, and of course, possibly nuclear explosives. Not much of a fun Christmas message, you will say. Well, read on. It gets worse.



These weapons are at the control of every whim of Kim Jong-il, the Dictator of North Korea - as demented, cruel and delusional a tyrant as the world has ever known. As you know, North Korea is just next to Japan and considers Japan, outside of the United States, as "Enemy Number One". That is why I write.

You see, just the other day, Senator Joseph Biden, Senator Obama's running mate, made an incredible statement now widely recognized as a major slip of the tongue. It just about knocked me out of my chair. It was actually brutally honest and chilling and showed what he was really thinking. I am convinced that Biden, who is a senior foreign policy figure, who has access to high-level government briefings as to what are the current or near future threats to the United States, knows that if Barack Obama is elected President, we can expect a serious, "generated" provocation against the United States within six months, because of his youth and perceived inexperience. Now people are trying to spin it that he said any new President will be tested. But if you read closely, he clearly said--before getting caught and revising himself--this will happen only if Mr. Obama is elected, comparing Obama to John Kennedy and back during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviets tested him due to age and inexperience. This "generated crisis", this test, could come from Iran. It could come from al-Qaeda. It could come from Russia. It could come from North Korea. From wherever. It could come from more than one of them. The fact is, sitting from my perspective here in Japan, I do not dismiss this as pessimism or paranoia - Senator Biden must know something I do not know. He even buttressed his dire prediction several times by saying "mark...my....words".

If you have not made up your mind regarding this 2008 Presidential election, I ask you and I plead you to a) vote next month; and b) take this threat seriously to heart. You may have many other reasons to vote the way you will. Economy, pensions, job loss, taxes, whatever - I am sure they are all legitimate. For example, everyone is on edge over the economy.

But would you do me one favor and at least think of this situation out here for me? And for the over 47,000 of our American troops stationed in Japan (and 48,000 of our American private citizens like me also over here--not to mention the Japanese people themselves) whom are currently targeted by North Korea's irrational and aggressive leadership which could in fact make any kind of Cuban Missile Crisis- style miscalculation to test an untested Senator-turned-President? I just have read a chilling Japanese news analysis article by Yoshihisa Komori this past weekend which shows clearly that Kim Jong-il and his successors strongly prefer Obama to be elected over McCain. With one, they think they can get away with something; and with the other one, they have respect for his having endured and overcome torture in Asia (something they themselves are experts in) and his overall military grasp, policies and professional staff.

Consider also, if you would, the broader implications to the United States and the free world should such an attack occur. The economic destiny of America and Japan are interwoven to such a degree that a devastating attack on Japan could have shock-waves that we cannot begin to comprehend. This is a National Security issue every bit if not more serious than if Great Britain were to be threatened with mass destruction.

If this e-mail has convinced you that a vote for Obama could invite the most serious consequences and in fact WILL INVITE A "TEST" OF HIM--just as Sen. Biden predicts, please act and also please forward this message to three other family or friends whom you have heard in the last few days might be still "undecided". Don't just do it for me, do it for your country. I and many thousands of Americans here in Japan will thank you - for sure.

I hope next Christmas/Holiday season I will be able to write you a little more upbeat of a letter, but right now, these are the facts and this is how things stand out here in Asia.

Overseas, Stationed in Japan