Marcus Tullius Cicero Nails It With Commentary On State Of The Union Address

Ecclesiastes 1:9 (New International Version)
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

“A nation can survive its fools and even the ambitious, but it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. The traitor, however, moves among those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not to be a traitor. He speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep within the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, to infect its body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear.”   -Marcus Tullius Cicero 42 B.C.

(I didn't say which State he was talking about)

Why Post About The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Almost One Year After It Was Passed?

I have had many questions about why I followed the State Of The Union Address (SOTU) with a post about The American Reinvestment And Recovery Act ("The Stimulus") when it is "old news".  I do not agree with this because not only is "The Stimulus" still affecting each and every US Taxpayer, it will affect serveral GENERATIONS of US Taxpayers to come. 

"The Stimulus" funds will be liberally distributed in the States and Districts of Members Of Congress who are up for re-election in 2010 IF THEY ARE DEMOCRAT.  Think that it is an outrage that the entire USA is paying for Medicaid in Nebraska?  Well, the funds of the entire USA are being used to support the re-election of Democrat candidates.  Please pay attention as you will see funds from "The Stimulus" being announced publicly when they are applied to projects.  When the election cycle begins in earnest, you will hear the candidates using the projects that are funded by "The Stimulus" as evidence that they are helping "get jobs" for the people in their respective districts and states. 

Many pundits on the Republican side or on the Conservative side (no, these are not the same) are wondering out loud "If Barack H. Obama is so smart why is he doing this and that".  When you hear this or a variation of it, you are hearing someone who is giving the POTUS the benefit of the doubt while wallowing in ignorance.  Barack H. Obama is intelligent and is also committed to the Left's Agenda, and Barack H. Obama KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE IS DOING.  Barack H. Obama KNOWS that this time period of his Presidency presents an opportunity to fundamentally change the USA from a Constitutional Republic to something else.  The first step in this process is to make the USA a de facto Socialist State, even if The Constitution is still paid Lip Service as part of the transformatory indoctrination of the American People. 

The Democrat Party now has "The Stimulus", of which part is dedicated to cementing their agenda by winning elections for long enough to not only place laws that will weaken and fundamentally change the USA, but also to cause a downward spiral of Free Market Capitalism such that Socialism can step in and fill the void.  By using funds from "The Stimulus" as bullet points in elections campaigns, the goal of The Left is to continue to have effective majority control.  By the sheer amount of money that is needed to be obtained for the US Government to spend to fund "The Stimulus" (increased taxes, both direct and indirect while also increasing the money supply), the desired economic vulnerability will be created thus allowing the opportunity to push the USA deeper into Socialism than it is now. 

SUMMARY:  If  for the promise made by the POTUS that our unemployment would stay below 8% we then MORTGAGED OUR FUTURE in The American Reinvestment And Recovery Act (mortgaging our future for this-why would anybody buy such an idea?), and it definitely FAILED in light of current unemployment and trends, why would anyone be unwise enough to follow any similar course of action? 

This is why I posted on "The Stimulus".  We're already deeply in trouble, people!!! The cost of "The Stimulus" has not even hit our pocketbooks yet, and like a thief with a stolen credit card, we are not even giving a second thought to paying the bill for all of this.  The bill WILL be paid, both in terms of economic and political stablility, and if we forget the damage that has been done already we will only be fooling ourselves. 

You may ask: where are The Democrats going to get the actual voters to vote for them in order to be re-elected?  Did you hear the noise that Barack H. Obama made in the SOTU about "immigration Reform" and "securing our borders"?  The idea there is to grant "Amnesty" i.e. make instantly legal all of the illegal immigrant population in the USA (20-30 million, possibly more), and propel all of the voters in that population to support Democrat candidates as a grateful response for that "Amnesty", which "Amnesty" surely will include "government benefits" as an incentive for those votes. 

/rant off

Stimulus Wasted And Most Americans Know It

H/T Gregg Knapp at BIG Government:  Stimulus Wasted and Most Americans Know It

"Maybe people are a little ticked over how some of the “stimulus” money has been spent.

Some of your money has gone “to help fund nude simulated-sex dances, Saturday night ‘pervert’ revues and the airing of pornographic horror films at art houses in San Francisco.” (I guess that does “stimulate” certain Americans.)

$2.3 million has gone to help the hair stylists, nail technicians and massge “therapists” of tomorrow. (Americans won’t get their “happy ending” out of that one.)

Your hard earned money has been spent on toilets, rental cars, sediment removal and more!

Very little of the “stimulus” does much of anything to grow the economy and create jobs. Here’s a rundown of where the money has gone so far. This type of government spending never works. Government doesn’t create wealth. Every dollar they spend they have to take from you or borrow from our future.

We should cut income taxes across the board, cut corporate taxes so we go from the second highest in the world at 39.54% to the lowest in the industrialized world at 10%, and (for the next two years) cut capital gains taxes to ZERO. Watch capital and company headquarters flood America. Jobs will follow.

Less government. More freedom. Allow people to keep, spend and invest more of their own money. Let failing companies fail and stop trying to reinflate the housing bubble. It ain’t rocket science."

Rocket Science it certainly is not, to phrase it as Sarah Palin might.  Barack H. Obama complained in the SOTU address that he was being unfairly characterized as a Communist or a Socialist.  So what should he be portrayed as, a Capitalist? 

Bachmann And Blackburn Decide Not To Speak At National Tea Party Convention

H/TAmerican Power: Bachmann Bails on National Tea Party Convention

"In another sign that controversy is taking a toll on next week’s National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tenn., two of its top attractions — Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) — have decided to opt out of their prior plans to speak at the event.

The high-profile blows to the convention come as several sponsors have backed out and organizers are struggling to sell tickets to Sarah Palin’s keynote address amid controversy about the convention’s unusual finances.

 

As first reported by POLITICO, the convention is being run by a for-profit Tennessee corporation called Tea Party Nation, registered to a little-known Tennessee lawyer whose efforts to position himself as a national tea party leader have put him at odds with some state tea party activists. The lawyer, Judson Phillips, intended to turn a profit from the convention, with the stated goal of seeding a so-called 527 group that would air ads praising conservative candidates or criticizing their opponents, though he now concedes he’s hoping just to break even and has tabled the 527 idea."

 

I don't know for sure what to make of this.  I've got an account at TEA Party Nation and I know a lot of other patriots do as well.  If anyone has any insight as to what is happening here, please share it.  I'll post an update if I can vet the information you give me. Thanks! 

Arrogance Seems To Be A Problem With Barack H. Obama

When Barack H. Obama openly and publicly criticized the Supreme Court decision to overturn McCain-Feingold it was an arrogant and precedent-setting thing to do so from the "Bully Pulpit".  After that, I figured that there would be no mention of this in the State Of The Union Address, because he had already dealt with this issue in his typical over-the-top Chicago Big-Stick style, right?

Wrong!  Barack H. Obama delivered his first State Of The Union Address last evening and among many other things, raked the SCOTUS over the coals publicly in a forum where they can do nothing but sit there and grimace.  To me this shows evidence of the arrogance and elitism that is so much a part of who Barack H. Obama is in his very essence. 

The jousting of ideas can be found HERE and HERE and in many other articles so the specifics of the SCOTUS decision and Barack H. Obama's opposition to it are not going to be discussed in this post. 

The whole point of what I am saying is that Barack H. Obama has no respect for the USA, for the office of the POTUS, for the protocols of government, and most of all Barack H. Obama has no respect for the citizens of the USA who he is elected to serve. 

Arrogance is an issue here.  The basic root of it seems to be that We The People are not as smart nor as educated as Barack H. Obama, so we should simply shrink back quietly while Barack H. Obama runs each and every aspect of our lives for us.  Oh, and the Supreme Court's function to determine the Constitutional Standing of Laws and serve and a Check and Balance to the two other branches of US Government?  People, please...we have Barack H. Obama as POTUS now! 

(sarc on)If we would only listen to Barack H. Obama and nobody but Barack H. Obama, then everything will be perfectly clear.  Government is complicated, citizens!  Pay no mind to the fact that the Constitution mandates a simplified federal government.  Just stop listening to all of the different sources that are out there and focus only on your President.  If you do that then you won't be confused.  Flash back to the election of 2008 and repeat over and over the natural and logical extension of "Hope and Change" until your eyes become glassy with clarity: "Trust Barack!"(/sarc off)

I'll end the post with a take on arrogance by Alfonzo Rachel:

ZONATION: Arrogance Cost Left Massachusetts

Barack H. Obama Reads Something From His Teleprompter That Attacks The SCOTUS Overturn Of McCain-Feingold

H/T Breitbart TV

I cannot recall a POTUS ever making a public statment like this with the purpose of attacking a SCOTUS Ruling.  He wants congress to develop a "forceful bipartisan response" and he wants to make sure that "the most powerful voice in Washington belongs to you" which reminds me of all of the other stuff that he reads from that teleprompter of his.  It all seems to have a simple translation: "Prepare to give up more of your Constitutional Rights as we fix this 'Crisis' for you."

Twenty Things To Know About Scott Brown Plus He Is More RINO Than He Is Conservative But That Is Still Better Than The Alternative

Twenty things to know about Scott Brown - Times Online

1 Mr Brown owns a truck, a 2005 GMC Canyon pick-up, with 200,000 miles on the clock.

2 At the age of 22, as a law student in Boston, he was named America's Sexiest Man by Cosmopolitan magazine. He posed naked as its centrefold in its June 1982 issue. He is now a practising real estate attorney.

3 He has two daughters: Ayla is a college basketball champion and former American Idol semi-finalist; Arianna is a pre-med student at Syracuse University.

4 Mr Brown is also a basketball player. At Tufts University he was known as Downtown Scotty Brown, possibly for his long-distance jumpshots. 

5 At the age of 12 he was caught shoplifting but returned to the straight and narrow after a judge made him write a 1,500-word essay on why his brothers and sisters would not want to see him play basketball in jail.

6 He has been married for 23 years to Gail Huff, a reporter at WCBV-TV in Boston.

7 His parents divorced when he was a toddler; both have remarried three times.

8 Mr Brown joined the Massachusetts National Guard at the age of 19 and rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel before he reached the mandatory retirement age of 50 in September last year.

9 He has served as a defence lawyer for the Guard and has also been deployed to Paraguay and Kazakhstan.

10 The Senate seat he won was occupied by John F. Kennedy, before he came president, and then, for almost 47 years, by his brother, Ted Kennedy.

11 He ran a web-savvy campaign, raising $1.3 million in a single day in an online "money bomb". Portraying himself as a hard-working, regular guy, he drove his truck everywhere during the campaign.

12 Barack Obama told voters in Massachusetts: "Anyone can own a truck."

13 Mr Brown first won public office in 1992. He was elected to the Massachusetts state senate in March 2004.

14 He is widely seen as a liberal Republican: he supports legalised abortion but opposes same-sex marriage.

15 In Massachusetts, he backed state healthcare reform. But he has promised to oppose Mr Obama's nationwide healthcare reforms because he says they would cost too much.

16 He is a champion triathlete, who gets up to train at 5am.

17 He worships at a Protestant chapel in Franklin but has raised over $5 million for an order of Cistercian nuns in Wrentham, Norfolk county.

18 He told his victory party: "I'm Scott Brown. I'm from Wrentham. I drive a truck. And I'm nobody's senator but yours."

19 He also decided to introduce his two daughters to his supporters and announced that they were "both available", but was quickly reminded that Arianna had a boyfriend. "Arianna's definitely not available but Ayla is," he added.

20 Mr Brown received a congratulatory phone call from Mr Obama after his victory. He said that he had offered to drive his truck up to Washington for a two-on-two game of basketball on the White House court.

The election of Scott Brown can be summarized as a Miracle.  The Commonwealth Of Massachusetts is as blue as the toes of one of George Washington's foot soldiers on Christmas Day in 1776.  The Senate Seat that Brown won had been occupied by John F. Kennedy prior to when Edward M. Kennedy held it, so yeah, a Republican winning the seat is epic.   Many who are wiser than I have expounded on the details and significance thereof in regard to this stunning election result, so I will spare you my take in that regard.

I have this irritating habit of checking out what a candidate stands for, and that is what I have done with Scott Brown.  What did I find out?  Well, Scott Brown will likely cause Barack H. Obama and The Democrat Party to change their plans somewhat, but that does not mean that they will not try some other means to impose their Socialist Agenda on the USA - Democrats still enjoy what amounts to One-Party Rule.  Scott Brown is WAY BETTER than Martha Coakley from my point of view, but he still is not a Conservative, although he does fit the Big Tent Republican mold of Newt "Vote for the "R" in NY-23" Gingrich and Michael "Let's have a meeting in Hawaii" Steele.  Scott Brown is, politics-wise, a younger version of John McCain (although their  respective RINO Points are different), and the best that I can say about John McCain is that he would have been a better choice than Barack H. Obama, but only because the choice was between those two.  

Oh, and who exactly is behind the "Brown For President" fluff that I'm reading?  People, we currently have a POTUS who has a little over two years of experience as a US Senator after being a State Senator-we DO NOT need another one of those!

So let us thank God for the Miracle Of Massachusetts, keep praying, and let us realize that we have a LOT of work to do.  Oh, and DO NOT stop calling and writing your Senators and Representatives; they would love for us to forget about what they are doing while we smugly celebrate Scott Brown's election. 

Fannie Mae Agrees To Sell Foreclosed Homes To The State Of Ohio for $1 Each

From The Columbus Dispatch

A proposal that would allow Franklin and 27 other Ohio counties to acquire foreclosed properties to repair and sell before speculators snatch them up goes before the Ohio Senate in the new year.

The bill would give counties a new mechanism -- countywide land banks -- to take control of vacant and abandoned properties plaguing neighborhoods by issuing bonds to acquire homes.

Fannie Mae has agreed to sell its foreclosed homes to the land bank for $1 each. Fannie Mae also will pay up to $3,500 to demolish homes too far gone to be fixed.

Under the legislation, the county could foreclose on properties with delinquent taxes without having to go through sheriff's sales, where speculators could grab them up,Leonard said.

But Columbus City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr. said counties then have to do something with the houses they acquire. The land bank could buy properties in Columbus.

"Now you own the property. Who has the resources to develop it into a productive use?" Pfeiffer said.

Leonard said nonprofit housing groups could do that.

State Rep. Peter Ujvagi, one of the House bill's two main sponsors, said the early success of the Cuyahoga County program prompted legislators to pursue similar land banks for their communities.

 

"It's a property-rights issue," the Democrat from Toledo said. People don't want to live near vacant homes dragging down the value of their houses, he said.

 

So Fannie Mae has agreed to sell foreclosed properties to Local Government Entities, and even pay to have buildings demolished if they cannot be recovered?  They are going to bypass Sheriff's Sales altogether, which has been the traditional route to dispose of foreclosed homes for as long as I can remember.  

Something about this whole thing makes me uneasy.  I agree with the State Representative who is quoted that it is a Property-Rights issue.  It seems to me that it sets a precedent that is questionable and is troubling.  

What if sometime down the road, Fannie Mae decides that, in order to compensate the nations who are capitalizing our debt that they will start selling properties to those nations for $1 each? 

The Ghost Of Edward Kennedy Speaks To Steven Crowder

H/T PJTV

Heh.  Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

Barack H. Obama and The Democrat Health Care Takeover Strategy: Seek Forgiveness Instead of Permission.

H/T Kyle Olson at Big Government
Dems’ Health Care Strategy: Seek Forgiveness Instead of Permission

(CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE)

"Consider this irony: Democrats and their special interest allies are in the fight of their lives to keep the seat formerly held by the champion of socialized medicine in the bluest of states. Democrats should be tap dancing on the foreheads of Republicans in Massachusetts. But instead, they’re racing against the clock for a deal on health care reform because they run the risk of losing their critical 60th vote in just a few days.

So the Democrats strategy is clear: seek forgiveness of American voters in November instead of permission now because the probable message from Tuesday’s election will not be in favor of ObamaCare. Democrats are “hoping” to have an overall deal on health care reform, the tax-dodging Ways and Means committee chairman Charlie Rangel told NationalJournal.com, just in time to avoid the Tuesday Massachusetts vote."

"The Huffington Post quoted SEIU vice president Anna Burger as saying, “Let’s go on and actually pass this bill.” Anna’s wish is, of course, this White House’s command.

The special election this week in Massachusetts can easily be viewed as a referendum on Obama, his policies and specifically government-run health care. And in a state that is navy blue, it’s a dog fight, with SEIU stepping in to plop down over $600,000 for TV ads savaging Republican candidate Scott Brown. And RedState.com reported House Democrats are spending beaucoup bucks to elect a Democrat to the Senate. It’s pure panic time for Democrats in Washington."

A view of Arlington, Virginia, a suburb of Washington DC

"But they’re working as fast as they can to make health care reform a non-issue by the time the newest senator from Massachusetts is seated.

And worse still, more giveaways are emerging from Washington, DC but this time, not to lawmakers but to campaign-funding special interest groups. News broke Thursday afternoon that Democratic leaders had “negotiated” a compromise with labor leaders over the so-called “Cadillac” tax. They must have made him an offer he couldn’t refuse."

A Pair of Kings

"The New York Post said it well in Friday’s edition:

Big Labor got some big love from President Obama and congressional Democrats yesterday after they agreed to exempt union workers from the whopping “Cadillac tax” on high-cost health-care plans until 2018.

The sweetheart deal, hammered out behind closed doors, will save union employees at least $60 billion over the years involved, while others won’t be as lucky — they’ll have to cough up almost $90 billion.

So Andy Stern can go back to his members and say, “See what our $60 million investment in electing Obama got us?”

An Illustration of the frustration level of We The People

"And CNN.com reported that, “AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka has made looking out for all workers — not just union members — a big part of his platform.” What a peach! That must be why benefits negotiated through collective bargaining were exempted but not those for non-union workers. Way to look out for everyone, Richie!"

Some of the Backoom Cheese

"The New York Post also reported:

Powerful unions were well-represented around the bargaining table.

Participants included AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Andy Stern, head of Service Employees International Union; Anna Burger, head of Change to Win [and SEIU vice president]; and the leaders of unions representing teachers, government workers, food and commercial workers, and electricians.

Isn’t that great? Obama’s pledge to rid the special interests from the halls of power seems to be more than a little phony these days – it’s bordering on insulting.

This Christmas Tree for campaign funders and liberal groups is the skunk at the garden party for Americans. And the bad thing for Democrats is this time, Americans know it. And in all likelihood, the Democrats know it too and that’s why they’re scrounging up a compromise because the wheels may fall off Tuesday."

Barack H. Obama FLASHBACK VIDEO: "Real Reform Means Giving The Public Access To Now Secret Conference Committee Meetings" (Unless I Become President And Then Union Members Will Get Secret Special Deals)

Breitbart.tv » Obama Flashback: ‘Real Reform Means Giving the Public Access to Now Secret Conference Committee Meetings’

Barack H. Obama never promised "Real Reform", even though he gives a definition of "Real Reform" in this video from the then-candidate Obama while on the campaign trail.  All that Barack H. Obama promised was "CHANGE" AND "HOPE". 

We now have a One-Party Government, so that is certainly CHANGE. 

Someday the USA may again in fact become a Constitutional Republic.  One can always HOPE, anyway. 

Time Lapse Map Of Progressive Unemployment Rates By County From January 2007 through October 2009

Notice the counties around the District Of Columbia are among the few counties East Of The Mississippi River that are in the 5.0% to 5.9% range or below.   Do you think that the federal employees, whose salaries are high and raises are frequent, will vote for continued expansion of government or not?

There is a version of this time-lapse video with better detail HERE. 

The "Stimulus" was supposed to keep the national average unemployment rate BELOW 8%.  WE MORTGAGED THE FUTURES OF THE NEXT MANY GENERATIONS FOR THAT MODEST GOAL, WHICH HAS NOT BEEN REACHED.  NOT ONLY THAT, THE CURRENT PROPOSAL IS TO DO ANOTHER "STIMULUS" BECAUSE THE FIRST "STIMULUS" DID NOT WORK!!!

Today's GOP Does Not "Get It" When It Comes to TEA Party Movement But The Original Republican Party May Have Understood TEA Parties

H/T Warner Todd Huston at Big Government
Old GOP Doesn't Get Tea Parties

"Neil Cavuto of Fox News had a visit with former Vice President Dan Qualyle on Jan 13. Ostensibly the interview was about the earthquake in Haiti and the efforts that Quayle was saying needed to be made for the victims there, but Cavuto also asked the former veep about his feelings about the Tea Party movement. Quayle’s reply was revealing in that he proved that he really didn’t know how to think about the Tea Partiers. I think that Quayle is in exactly the same confused state that most of the old guard GOP is. They just don’t get it."

"First of all, Mr. Veep, the Tea Party movement is in no way a “traditional” populist movement. All traditional populist movements of the past were more or less one issue movements and few were so grounded in traditional Constitutional theory as are the Tea Parties. Anti-liquor folks were just anti-liquor, silver bug folks were all about setting the monetary standard to silver, women’s suffrage were only about getting women the vote, etc. etc. Few of these populist movements had much interest in a greater array of issues once you got past their one, big issue."

"But the Tea Party movement is not merely anti-bailout, or just low taxes, small government, pro-Constitutionalists, or anti-communists. They are all these things and more. It should be pointed out that all of the issues that the Tea Partiers stand for are traditional American concepts, not sudden populist issues that may or may not be grounded in Constitutional theory and American tradition like most other populist movements in the past have been."

"Additionally, Quayle speaks about the Republican Party as if it has been about small government, less regulations,and the rest. But it has not. Not since Reagan has the GOP been about those things. This is why the Tea Partiers are saying that they are just as mad at the GOP as they are the Democrat Party.The Tea Party folks do not want to just meekly return to the Republican Party if it continues in the Country Club, big government vein in which it has been operating since 1989."

READ THE REST OF THE STORY

Hudnall And Lash Cartoon Obama Nation: 2010 Obviously Bush's Fault

H/T Big Hollywood
James Hudnall and Batton Lash: Obama Nation: 2010


                                                         (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

HERE IS THE NON-CARTOON ROBERT GIBBS IN ACTION.  CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE?

Most of DownStream Media Yawns And Rolls Over As Largest Union Theft In History Goes Largely Unreported

H/T Brian Johnson at Big Journalism
Most of MSM Yawns, Rolls Over As Largest Union Theft in History Goes Largely Unreported

While the mainstream media swarmed all over Bernie Madoff, AIG and corporate billionaires, the gentlemen of the press, who are so proud of fighting for the Little Guy, were mostly out to an expense-account lunch when Melissa King allegedly made off with $42 million rightfully belonging to members of the Laborers International Union of North American (LIUNA).

In what is being called the largest union embezzlement in American history, the LIUNA Local 147 (New York) office administration was apparently unsatisfied with her meager $500,000 a year paycheck.

THE REST OF THE STORY.

$500,000.00 In Stimulus Funds Given To ClimateGate Professor And Meanwhile Danny Glover Blames Haiti EarthQuake On Global Climate Change

H/T Mike Flynn posted at Big Government
Hide the Job Decline: $500k in Stimulus Funds to ClimateGate Professor

The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (the Stimulus Bill) has been such an epic failure, that even the mainstream media has started to notice. The White House has tacitly acknowledged this and recently announced that it would no longer ‘count’ jobs ‘created or saved’ by the Stimulus. The basic problem is that the bulk of the spending went to programs or projects that have nothing to do with economic growth.

The latest example of this is a $500,000 grant to Michael Mann, Professor at Penn State University and unintended c0-star of the ClimateGate e-mail scandal. The leaked e-mails revealed collaboration among scientists to stifle dissenting views on the extent of man-made global warming.

Mann is also the creator of the “Hockey Stick” graph, which purported to show a sharp increase in recent temperatures. That work has been thoroughly discredited by researcher Stephen McIntyre. Yet, in June 2009, the National Science Foundation awarded Mann a three-year $500,000 to further study the climate’s response to human activity. According to the grant award:

"The broader impacts involve supporting postdoctoral scholars and graduate students and contributing to the understanding of abrupt climate change."

 

So, the research is supposed to give us a better ‘understanding of abrupt climate change.’ Mind you, the research isn’t to determine whether there is abrupt climate change occurring. Given that Mann is known for using “tricks” to finesse his data, the National Science Foundation will not be pleased with the results.

Actually, this particular grant is special, even by the low-bar set by other spending. Most of the Stimulus funds are simply wasted with no real impact on the overall economy. However, Mann’s “research” will presumably be used to further justify cap-and-trade legislation or other draconian regulatory actions. Either of these will have a very negative impact on the economy, retarding growth for years to come.

 

We may be paying for this $500,000 for a very long time.

Meanwhile, in Commentary from a Member Of The Greater Scientific Community Of Believers In Global Warming, Actor Danny Glover adds his $0.02 worth:

 

As more and more comes to light, the whole scenario around this scam to tax and further enslave citizens with the "Global Warming" and/or "Global Climate Change" Canard becomes increasingly a strain on credulity. 

 

Throwing $500.000.00 at the Professor above?  With Obama Math, Half A Million Dollars is made to seem like small change.  To put it in perspective, I could have supported my family on this much money over the past 10 years.  Over the next 10 years, maybe not so much, especially when I figure in how much the cost of survival would go up if The Obama Regime and The Denizens Of The Leftist Agenda have their way. 

To Those In Military Service and Peace Officers: Oath Keepers Have Orders That They Will Not Obey And Principles That They Will Not Compromise

I attended a meeting of one of our local 9/12 groups last evening, and met a friend I had not seen for a while.  He shared information about Oath Keepers with me, and I am sharing it here in turn. If you currently serve in The Military or are a Peace Officer, please remember your oath, and please consider joining Oath Keepers.  If you know anyone who serves in any of these capacities, please ask them to consider Oath Keepers.

Oath Keepers

Orders We Will Not Obey

“The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be, Freemen, or Slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their Houses, and Farms, are to be pillaged and destroyed, and they consigned to a State of Wretchedness from which no human efforts will probably deliver them. The fate of unborn Millions will now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this army” -- Gen. George Washington, to his troops before the battle of Long Island

Such a time is near at hand again. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this Army -- and this Marine Corps, This Air Force, This Navy and the National Guard and police units of these sovereign states.

Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, peace officers, fire-fighters, and veterans who swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic … and meant it. We won’t “just follow orders.”

Below is our declaration of orders we will NOT obey because we will consider them unconstitutional (and thus unlawful) and immoral violations of the natural rights of the people. Such orders would be acts of war against the American people by their own government, and thus acts of treason. We will not make war against our own people. We will not commit treason. We will defend the Republic.

Declaration of Orders We Will NOT Obey 

Recognizing that we each swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and affirming that we are guardians of the Republic, of the principles in our Declaration of Independence, and of the rights of our people, we affirm and declare the following:

1. We will NOT obey any order to disarm the American people.

The attempt to disarm the people on April 19, 1775 was the spark of open conflict in the American Revolution. That vile attempt was an act of war, and the American people fought back in justified, righteous self-defense of their natural rights. Any such order today would also be an act of war against the American people, and thus an act of treason. We will not make war on our own people, and we will not commit treason by obeying any such treasonous order. Nor will we assist, or support any such attempt to disarm the people by other government entities, either state or federal.

In addition, we affirm that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to preserve the military power of the people so that they will, in the last resort, have effective final recourse to arms and to the God of Hosts in the face of tyranny. Accordingly, we oppose any and all further infringements on the right of the people to keep and bear arms. In particular we oppose a renewal of the misnamed “assault-weapons” ban or the enactment of H.R. 45 (which would register and track gun owners like convicted pedophiles).

2. We will NOT obey any order to conduct warrantless searches of the American people, their homes, vehicles, papers, or effects -- such as warrantless house-to house searches for weapons or persons.

One of the causes of the American Revolution was the use of “writs of assistance,” which were essentially warrantless searches because there was no requirement of a showing of probable cause to a judge, and the first fiery embers of American resistance were born in opposition to those infamous writs. The Founders considered all warrantless searches to be unreasonable and egregious. It was to prevent a repeat of such violations of the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects that the Fourth Amendment was written.

We expect that sweeping warrantless searches of homes and vehicles, under some pretext, will be the means used to attempt to disarm the people.

3. We will NOT obey any order to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to trial by military tribunal.

One of the causes of the American Revolution was the denial of the right to jury trial, the use of admiralty courts (military tribunals) instead, and the application of the laws of war to the colonists. After that experience, and being well aware of the infamous Star Chamber in English history, the Founders ensured that the international laws of war would apply only to foreign enemies, not to the American people. Thus, the Article III Treason Clause establishes the only constitutional form of trial for an American, not serving in the military, who is accused of making war on his own nation. Such a trial for treason must be before a civilian jury, not a tribunal.

The international laws of war do not trump our Bill of Rights. We reject as illegitimate any such claimed power, as did the Supreme Court in Ex Parte Milligan (1865). Any attempt to apply the laws of war to American civilians, under any pretext, such as against domestic “militia” groups the government brands “domestic terrorists,” is an act of war and an act of treason.

4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state, or to enter with force into a state, without the express consent and invitation of that state’s legislature and governor.

One of the causes of the American Revolution was the attempt “to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power” by disbanding the Massachusetts legislature and appointing General Gage as “military governor.” The attempt to disarm the people of Massachusetts during that martial law sparked our Revolution. Accordingly, the power to impose martial law – the absolute rule over the people by a military officer with his will alone being law – is nowhere enumerated in our Constitution.

Further, it is the militia of a state and of the several states that the Constitution contemplates being used in any context, during any emergency within a state, not the standing army.

The imposition of martial law by the national government over a state and its people, treating them as an occupied enemy nation, is an act of war. Such an attempted suspension of the Constitution and Bill of Rights voids the compact with the states and with the people.

5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty and declares the national government to be in violation of the compact by which that state entered the Union.

In response to the obscene growth of federal power and to the absurdly totalitarian claimed powers of the Executive, upwards of 20 states are considering, have considered, or have passed courageous resolutions affirming states rights and sovereignty.

Those resolutions follow in the honored and revered footsteps of Jefferson and Madison in their Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, and likewise seek to enforce the Constitution by affirming the very same principles of our Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights that we Oath Keepers recognize and affirm.

Chief among those principles is that ours is a dual sovereignty system, with the people of each state retaining all powers not granted to the national government they created, and thus the people of each state reserved to themselves the right to judge when the national government they created has voided the compact between the states by asserting powers never granted.

Upon the declaration by a state that such a breach has occurred, we will not obey orders to force that state to submit to the national government.

6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.

One of the causes of the American Revolution was the blockade of Boston, and the occupying of that city by the British military, under martial law. Once hostilities began, the people of Boston were tricked into turning in their arms in exchange for safe passage, but were then forbidden to leave. That confinement of the residents of an entire city was an act of war.

Such tactics were repeated by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto, and by the Imperial Japanese in Nanking, turning entire cities into death camps. Any such order to disarm and confine the people of an American city will be an act of war and thus an act of treason.

7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

Mass, forced internment into concentration camps was a hallmark of every fascist and communist dictatorship in the 20th Century. Such internment was unfortunately even used against American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II. Whenever a government interns its own people, it treats them like an occupied enemy population. Oppressive governments often use the internment of women and children to break the will of the men fighting for their liberty – as was done to the Boers, to the Jewish resisters in the Warsaw Ghetto, and to the Chechens, for example.

Such a vile order to forcibly intern Americans without charges or trial would be an act of war against the American people, and thus an act of treason, regardless of the pretext used. We will not commit treason, nor will we facilitate or support it.”NOT on Our Watch!”

8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control” during any emergency, or under any other pretext. We will consider such use of foreign troops against our people to be an invasion and an act of war.

During the American Revolution, the British government enlisted the aid of Hessian mercenaries in an attempt to subjugate the rebellious American people. Throughout history, repressive regimes have enlisted the aid of foreign troops and mercenaries who have no bonds with the people.

Accordingly, as the militia of the several states are the only military force contemplated by the Constitution, in Article I, Section 8, for domestic keeping of the peace, and as the use of even our own standing army for such purposes is without such constitutional support, the use of foreign troops and mercenaries against the people is wildly unconstitutional, egregious, and an act of war.

We will oppose such troops as enemies of the people and we will treat all who request, invite, and aid those foreign troops as the traitors they are.

9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies, under any emergency pretext whatsoever.

One of the causes of the American Revolution was the seizure and forfeiture of American ships, goods, and supplies, along with the seizure of American timber for the Royal Navy, all in violation of the people’s natural right to their property and to the fruits of their labor. The final spark of the Revolution was the attempt by the government to seize powder and cannon stores at Concord.

Deprivation of food has long been a weapon of war and oppression, with millions intentionally starved to death by fascist and communist governments in the 20th Century alone.

Accordingly, we will not obey or facilitate orders to confiscate food and other essential supplies from the people, and we will consider all those who issue or carry out such orders to be the enemies of the people.

10. We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

There would have been no American Revolution without fiery speakers and writers such as James Otis, Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, and Sam Adams “setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”

Tyrants know that the pen of a man such as Thomas Paine can cause them more damage than entire armies, and thus they always seek to suppress the natural rights of speech, association, and assembly. Without freedom of speech, the people will have no recourse but to arms. Without freedom of speech and conscience, there is no freedom.

Therefore, we will not obey or support any orders to suppress or violate the right of the people to speak, associate, worship, assemble, communicate, or petition government for the redress of grievances.

— And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually affirm our oath and pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
                                         -Oath Keepers

The above list is not exhaustive but we do consider them to be clear tripwires – they form our “line in the sand,” and if we receive such orders, we will not obey them. Further, we will know that the time for another American Revolution is nigh. If you the people decide that you have no recourse, and such a revolution comes, at that time, not only will we NOT fire upon our fellow Americans who righteously resist such egregious violations of their God given rights, we will join them in fighting against those who dare attempt to enslave them.

NOTE: please also read our Principles of Our Republic We Are Sworn to Defend

Scott Brown Versus Martha Coakley For The Open Senate Seat In Massachusetts. Coakley Has Thugs Who Wear Purple Shirts Under Their Coats And Who Protect Her From Challenging Questioners. Brown Is Running For The People's Seat.

H/T BostonHerald.com Reporter roughed up outside Coakley fund-raiser
UPDATE: Red State has background on the Big Guy With The Purple Shirt Under His Coat.

Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. - 1Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 16

Martha Coakley proves that she is an inside-the-beltway Democrat by: 1) being clueless when asked a foreign policy question of any substance and 2) using thug-politics.  Since she is running for a seat held for many years by The Late Edward M. (Teddy) Kennedy, who was an unindicted vehicular homicide perpetrator, maybe she is just trying to fit into the proper profile in order to be elected.   Candidate Coakley was in Washington DC for a fund-raiser for her campaign with representatives of Big Pharma, among other groups, and some drama ensued.    

According to a reporter from The Weekly Standard, John McCormack, he asked Martha Coakley a question:

"Attorney General Coakley, you said last night that there are no terrorists in Afghanistan--that they’re all in Yemen and Pakistan. Do you stand by that remark?

COAKLEY: I’m sorry, did someone else have a question?

John McCormack wrote that after Coakley finished her answer he followed her and asked her why health care industry lobbyists were supporting her at the fundraiser. He said she did not reply.

Apparently, As he continued to walk down the street, he said a man who appeared to be associated with Coakley’s campaign pushed him into a freestanding metal rail.

“I ended up on the sidewalk. I was fine. He helped me up from the ground, but kept pushing up against me, blocking my path toward Coakley down the street,” he wrote.

McCormack said in an online post that the man asked him whether he was with the media and he responded that he was with the Weekly Standard.  His online report includes a YouTube video of the incident.  He said Coakley's staff told him that they don’t know who pushed him.

Here is a photo of the incident that was posted online.  The assailant is much larger than the reporter and you can see what looks like a purple shirt or vest underneath the coat.  Is this big guy the prototype SEIU thug?  I don't have the answer, but who would be surprised if this was the case?

It looks like Martha Coakley would fit in just fine with the Democrat Culture Of Thuggery that has been prevalent in Washington DC since Late January of 2009.  

Martha Coakley is running for "Ted Kennedy's Senate Seat".  The Republican in the race, Scott Brown, is running for "The People's Seat": 

 

It is the same seat that they are both running for, the currently-vacant US Senate seat from Massachusetts, which is a seat that had previously  been occupied by The Late Ted Kennedy for years. 

It seems as though there may be a difference in perspective between Martha Coakley and Scott Brown.  That difference is not only important to the citizens of Massachusetts but to all the citizens of the USA. 

That what happens in this State will affect the rest of the USA is nothing new. In fact, if I recall correctly, events occuring in The Commonwealth Of Massachusetts have been affecting others in this country even when it was still a British Colony and not yet The USA.