Mar 28, 2009

Behind Closed Doors: What Obama Learned

When Obama ran for office people flocked to his notion of change. Never mind that just about all the presidential candidates going back to Washington have used the word “change” at some point to promote themselves, Obama seemed to have the corner market in the minds of voters. He won and then came the meetings of reality. During the meetings with President Bush, I can only assume that Obama learned things he never suspected. He must have learned also from those secret meetings that sometimes a president has to tell what one Obama supported called “little lies” to the American public for the sake of national security. He must also have learned that not all of his campaign promises could be kept as quickly or even as Obama might have liked. Consider the following:
I will close Guantanamo Bay – Not yet, nowhere to keep the terrorist
I will end the war in Iraq – Where’s the media coverage of this promise?
I will end the war in Afghanistan – 17,000 more troops, 4,000 more and money
Non-emergency bills posted five days before signing– 3 bills have failed this test

What Obama has learned is clear. Just as McCain and Bush were saying, there is no quick, easy fix for Afghanistan or Iraq. So what do you do when you learn that you can’t keep all your campaign promises? Well, you lie. To be fair, I haven’t seen a president yet who has not lied to the country over something. You already know of the big lies from our party, so let’s be fair and say a few of them. Here’s a short list:
I am not a crook (Nixon) – In that case, yeah you were
No new taxes (Bush) – unless you’re forced to do so by Congress
Hostilities have ended (Bush) – well, they didn’t get the message

So, yes, presidents do lie to the American public. Whether they want to do so, are forced to do so, or simply do so for political gain, presidents lie. After Obama became aware that the President knows a lot more than what is released to the press, he too joined this elite group of leaders who are sometimes forced to tell, “little lies”. Welcome to office Mr. Obama. My advice to you is simple; just make sure you steer clear of having to say “I did not have sex with that woman.” It strikes me with Michelle that you might spend the remainder of your term at the Biden’s.

Mar 18, 2009

Republican Leadership Needs To Listen (Read)

Okay, I’ll face the facts. The odds of the Republican leadership reading this blog are slim at best. I doubt that there is anyone at the RNC scanning through these blogs that might remotely say, “Hey, this Texarkanagop.blogspot.com blog has some good ideas.” But what can I say, I’m going voice my outlook whether they listen or not.

First stop sending out polls with obvious questions to the Republican faithful asking what we can do to improve the party or what Republicans should do. I mean do you think questions like “Do you think America should focus on a strong defense against terrorist” is going to draw a “No” answer? Really, let’s get down to the core values. If you want to know what the problem is with the Republican Party, don’t ask the Republican Party. The loyal Republicans will have different views about what cost the elections, what we should do, and how we can improve. That’s great, but without the miracle of Ronald Reagan’s resurrection, I doubt any of the Republican faithful have a clue as to what is wrong with the party. Get yourself a list of Democratic donors, young voters who supported Obama, and Republicans who have left the party for the Independents or Democrats. Once you have that list, ask them what is wrong with the party. That is the only way to get an unbiased answer to the question of what is wrong with the party.

The second thing the party needs to do is stop pointing fingers and do something. So many of the Republican representatives are busy pointing fingers at the Democrats that they never take time to do anything. We have to be a party of action, not talk. I believe Reagan would tell you that talk without action will get you nowhere. What if he had just run around in 1980 and said, “We have an economic problem” and then never did anything about it? He would have been a one-term president and he would have faded into history like so many others. Take action. AIG is a prime example. Republicans need to be pushing for legislation to punish groups who take government money and abuse it. American’s are struggling to make payments, buy groceries, and just survive from day-to-day, but groups like AIG aren’t trying to help the economy, they are trying to help their own employees.

Finally just spend a little time on the Internet. For example, read the blogs (like this one), read some outrageous ones, and work at the core. If you pay attention to the small groups like The Miller County Republican Committee in small towns you’ll hear the truth. As I have mentioned before, this group has already increased by ten plus members. That may not sound like a lot, but if you multiply that by all the various small groups around, imagine the voting power and support the party could obtain through supporting the smaller groups and just listening to what they have to say and what they see on a daily basis.

Mar 17, 2009

Obama-Nation Open to Tax

Hello again Americans we are all one big happy nation and apparently we can now call that nation Obama-Nation. During the drive to become President, Obama criticized McCain for a proposal that would tax some health care benefits. Naturally, Obama FAILED to mention that McCain was proposing some tax credits to families to help offset the health reform needed. Now that Obama-Nation is in full swing, apparently the swing goes back and forth. Obama is now considering a tax on health care benefits. I guess this is what he calls working with Republicans. Oh, and that McCain tax break to help offset the reform of the health care system…Obama still isn’t mentioning it. This must be a new way to stimulate the economy, take already high medical cost and high insurance premiums and add additional taxes to them (psst...Obama-Nation). Don’t you wish elections had a do-over clause?

Thanks Wesley for pointing out this great article:MSNBC.Com

Mar 14, 2009

Obama Set to Free Terrorist Supporters?

Watch out fellow Republicans and Democrats who would like to be safe. The Obama Administration is rewriting the rules regarding “enemy combatants”. This rewrite could be the first in several sets to close Guantanamo Bay, a goal of the Obama Administration. Their basis for the entire push is that an enemy combatant is from a nation armed against another nation, so those rules don’t apply to terrorist.

Under these new guidelines, terrorist would be charged or they could not be held without specific “substantial” evidence against them. That could mean that just being a part or a contributor to a terrorist organization would mean that the U.S. government could not hold a person. Someone could financially contribute to the purchase of a bomb, guns, or even let’s say flying lessons (that should remind you) and not be held accountable for his or her actions. The defense? “Oh, I didn’t blow up those Americans, I only sent some money online.” Sorry, a contributor, member, supporter, etc involved with a terrorist organization is just as guilty as the one who did the actual act. If we do not take this stand, then the organizations will continue to be supported and held up by those people hidden behind laws meant to protect us. This new stance will be a green light to anyone wanting to support terrorism either emotionally, financially, or any other means.

In Texas an interesting thing happened at the Battle of San Jacinto. Sam Houston’s troops rallied to the battle cry of “Remember Goliad” and “Remember the Alamo”. Many of Santa Anna’s troops ran and yelled to the Texans “Me no Alamo”. Guess what? The Texans shot them anyway or took them prisoner. Why? Because they wore the uniform of Santa Anna’s military, they supported him, ate with him, and were emotionally tied to putting down the revolution in Texas. To me, that sounds an awful lot like someone who might support a modern day terrorist. They would certainly be yelling “Me no 9/11” even if they had cheered the day Americans died.


CNN.Com Article Source