One has to wonder if voters in the urban areas of BC realize what Carole James' moratorium on all power projects will mean to their fellow citizens in the province?
Labels:
British Columbia,
electricity,
infrastructure,
NDP,
video
1 comments
This new article from Lorrie Goldstein is more than a little disturbing. It shows a growing class system evolving in Canada, separating highly protected public sector employees from private sector employees who face a very different reality.
Based on the figures outlined in the article, I've produced two pie-charts illustrating how much tax has to be paid by Canadians:
On many social issues I'm actually fairly liberal, to a point. But on the issues of Law & Order, Fiscal Responsibility, and Self Responsibility I'm extremely conservative. In the Canada of 2009 this makes me a "right-wing nutcase" in the eyes of many on the Left (if the hate mail I receive is any gauge).
Like many of you who have also not overdosed on the Kool Aid of the Far Left, I have plenty of friends on the Left. Living here in Vancouver, it's pretty much unavoidable! I would never say that any of them are stupid and in fact, on a typical IQ test, I'm fairly sure they'd do quite well. But most of them seem to be more driven by emotion rather than intellect & logic, especially when it comes to political & social matters.
I've thus come to the realization that if someone is so driven by emotion to be compelled to constantly want to make "quick fixes" then they are absolutely incapable of appreciating the Law of Unintended Consequences.
This seems to be extremely emblematic in the Obama Administration. What's happening now with the CIA is beyond appalling and I fear will be extremely dangerous for us in the coming years & decades. Fred Thompson shares his thoughts.
He's right - Obama, a man of total naivete, lack of experience, coupled with 'unbelievable arrogance and ineptitude' has indeed unleashed a pandora's box in Washington.
But he operates by emotional manipulation. His campaign was all about emotional manipulation, based on the amorphous emotions of 'hope and change' - without details of what enabled these emotions to exist. His campaign was geared to emotions, such as 'anti-Bush' and racism, where he defined himself as possibly, subject to racism is a white person rejected him ...Remember his tale of his white grandmother being 'afraid of big black men'.
Recall how he dealt with the public anger at the AIG bonuses; he inflamed and inflated it, setting up a lynch mob hysteria! And then, he was exposed as agential in that his administration actually wrote those bonuses into, and agreed to them; they were legal.
But Obama didn't tell the public that; instead, he misinformed and manipulated them, using them as part of his Campaign Against The Middle Class; against entrepreneurship, against setting up businesses to make money.
The Democrats were stunned by the Tea Parties. They tried to deflect them by denigrating them, by suggesting they were 'all planned' by FOX, by the Republicans etc. This didn't work; they know another one is planned for Sept 12.
So, Obama has resorted to his usual emotional manipulation, where he sets up class vs class, race vs race - and people vs people. This diverts from his pork spending, his take-over of private corporations, his funding of leftist socialist agendas.
Now, he's using his Bash Bush tactic, one that he's used before. He's trying to define ALL Conservatives, ALL people against the Iraq, Afghanistan, Terror Wars - as criminals. This is a massive attack.
He released that DHS memo - the day before the Tea Parties; this memo, a travesty of bigotry, defines anyone who questions and dissents from the left - in issues on abortion, on immigration, on security - as 'extreme right winger prone to violence'. It defines any member of the military returning from service as a 'right winger' and 'susceptible to violence'.
Notice - the military is criminalized.
Dissent and questions on left wing policies are criminalized.
Then, his next step was to attack Bush and his era as criminals. He claims they are torturers. This has backfired on him because it's been shown that the Democrats knew and approved of these interrogation tactics.
Now, he's going to release photos of psychological manipulation in the prisons - to further divide American citizesn..and to take the heat off those Democrats who supported 'harsh interrogation'.
Result? He's viciously divided and weakened Americans, focusing their attention on the past and on Bush, diverting their attention from his extreme socialist policies. He's weakened questions and dissent from 'the right', by his definition of anyone on the right as 'an extremist prone to violence'; as an enabler of torture; as an abuser, etc etc.
That's on the domestic side. Abroad - what has he done? Denigrated and belittled the USA, insulted close allies, cosseted and fawned over declared enemies, equated democracy to dictatorships, ignored American bounty and generosity to the world and declared that his pride in his country is only because he comes from there and is expected to support it but has nothing to do with any value of the USA.
All, in 100 days.
I share ET's concern(the DHS document has changed my life and views). If I was an American I would fall into the "threat to security" category. For what? I'm an atheist, I'm pro-choice and pretty liberal on most social issues. My crime, I support small and decentralized government. One could make the argument that religion, abortion and GW are not political issues, but you can't as far as I can tell argue that "type of government" isn't a political issue.
I foresee a day where people are being imprisoned for not towing the government line. I thought it was all jokes and fun when we were busting Suzuki's chops for suggesting what at the time seemed ludicrous. Today I'm not so sure. From BO's civilian police force, to thought police at universities, to Joo's being banned and harassed publicly, to being declared a threat to national security, and finally the media suppressing the truth and actually creating a new truth about the Tea Parties; I'm not so sure we're joking anymore. The media has shown they are quite capable of covering-up anything; so, what if the government started rounding up people and jailing or executing them for political views? Can the media be trusted to keep the public informed and not indoctrinated?
The people have been identified, the eyes and ears of the population have been compromised. So what comes next?
It appears to me that war has been declared on those that would oppose the Democrats and the new President. War has been declared on millions of people with diverse views, but all sharing that one common thread. No view or ideology is sacred, you must adjust on the fly, only government is constant. As it stands now, we're a move or two from check-mate.
One cannot fight a war without a leader. Soon the time will come when we must disperse and keep our mouths shut for self-preservation's sake.
A biomedical research group out of Pittsburgh is maintaining a public map of the Swine Flu outbreak. You can view it here. Let's all pray (or hope if you're an atheist) that it doesn't get too "colourful".
View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map
Labels:
maps,
public health,
swine flu
0
comments
"Here's a video of a U.S. Navy SEAL Extraction. It was filmed from inside an MH-47 Chinook helicopter.. The pilot has lowered the ramp, dipped the tail end into the water to partially flood the compartment (a maneuver that requires quite precise flying) and awaits the Navy SEALs to board in their F470 Zodiac."
Labels:
helicopter,
military,
Navy Seals,
ocean,
US Navy,
video
0
comments
Here's a collection of photos recently taken in North Korea. Make absolutely no mistake: this is the kind of society that the Left is shaping us into. It's probably not their intention, but it's where we're heading nonetheless as our free speech is clamped down upon.
Columnist Mike Adams has a tongue-in-check list of 10 rules that seem to be in place on some university campuses regarding free speech.
Labels:
free speech,
freedom,
North Korea,
tyrants
0
comments
On this video I just received the following message from this guy:
If you conclude from one car accident that drivers in Vancouver are out of control then you sir, are a fucking retard.
So I sent him/it this message:
Labels:
hate,
Internet,
intolerance,
mental illness,
rudeness
0
comments
I wish I could lay claim to taking this photo but alas it was taken by my Seattle friend, Mike. He drove up to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Click on the thumbnail to get the full effect. More photos to come soon!
Labels:
flora,
photography,
tulips
0
comments
First Ray Lam withdraws because the Liberals found some so-called "racy" photos on his Facebook page. I publicly stated on here and elsewhere that this was ridiculous for him to leave the race. Let the voters in his constituency decide if they want him as their MLA.
Then the NDP digs up something that Marc Dalton said 13 years ago. More to the point, nothing he said was hateful, he was just expressing his views of homosexuality at the time. Whether or not you or I agree with him is not the point. What is key is how many people in our province have so completely dismissed the concept of Free Speech. I can't decide whether to view them as more Pathetic or just Downright Scary.
Now there are cries for John van Dongen to withdraw because he has too many speeding tickets. It would be most interesting to look into the personal histories of those making such demands to see how incredibly perfect they are!
Mark Steyn : The End of the World as We Know It
Barbara Kay : The Left's need to believe in utopian tyrannies
Lorrie Goldstein : How to go green, Soviet-style
George Jonas : And God created morons
Jonathan Kay : 9/11 truther extraordinaire
Labels:
newspaper
1 comments
Labels:
fans,
hockey,
NHL,
playoffs,
sports,
Vancouver Canucks,
video
0
comments
This a must read to understand why the Big 3 Automakers are in so much trouble.
Listen to Bill Good, Vaughn Palmer, and Keith Baldrey discuss what has been happening with the BC Election Campaign by clicking here (at 7:30).
I've rewritten my piece for a predominantly American audience. I'm most interested in all intelligent comments, whether you agree or disagree.
The ongoing gay marriage debate is a perfect example of the tactics used by elites on the Left to change society into their vision of nirvana. The majority of citizens have quite the opposite view of but feel powerless to stop it. The neverending drive toward this nirvana is powered by what Mark Steyn calls the "Drip, Drip, Drip" of slow, incremental, but relentless change.
For the record, I've long felt that:
Canada provides an interesting preview of what will likely transpire in America. Gay marriage became legal across Canada on July 20, 2005, via a vote in the federal House of Commons. Prior to this, hundreds of thousands of letters were sent by concerned citizens, beseeching their Members of Parliament to vote 'No'. But they were ignored and the Gay Marriage bill became law.
Now in 2009, the same thing is happening in America. Polls contantly show that the majority of citizens do not support the concept of gay marriage. In fact, even in the very liberal state of California, an actual referendum echoed the same opposition. Is it correct to infer that most Americans are thus misguided ignoramuses, homophobes, and/or religious zealots? Anyone who believes this truly needs to seek the help of a psychologist to cure themselves of such narcicissm.
So, realizing that there's immense opposition to their views, do Left elites give up? Of course not! In their minds, not only are they right on this issue, they're also on a righteous crusade! In point of fact, on every issue the elites on the Left believe their views are both righteous and superior to everyone else's.
So to effect the change they desire, they ridicule and mock anyone who has the "audacity" and "stupidity" to publicly state that marriage laws should not be changed. This is done on news shows, on entertainment shows, in newspaper & magazine articles, in the political & legal arenas, and even at beauty pageants! The messages are three-fold:
What then happens? Any meaningful debate is silenced; not just a little but absolutely. Average people, knowing that there's nothing to be gained from expressing their opinions out loud and so much to lose, shut their mouths and get on with their lives.
Also - and this is key to the Left's success on every issue - because such changes do not directly & immediately affect the lives of most people, what's to be gained by expending a lot of energy fighting any such issue? Most people then, make what appears to be the best decision at the time and get on with their lives, working hard and paying their taxes. Ironically, these tax dollars then contribute to the next social change down the road which these same taxpayers also disagree with! On & on it goes, like a snowball rolling down a hill.
What's the problem then? Simply this: In the long term, are these incremental changes healthy for our society? I don't particularly want to get slammed for my thoughts about whether there's a causality between promotion of gay marriage and a longterm reduction in [very necessary] population replenishment, but I suspect it may very well be the case.
After opposition to gay marriage is silenced, what do you think will be next? I predict that by no later than 2020, polygamy will be fully legal in Canada; soon after that in the U.S. Based on historical evidence, this will often mean 50+ year old men with multiple teenage wives. Is that a healthy thing for our society?
After the opposition to polygamy is silenced, what do you think will be next? I have several suspicions but will leave it to your imagination to speculate on a few.
Final thoughts:
Labels:
gay marriage,
liberal elites,
secular left
7
comments
There was an interesting discussion on SDA this evening about a new poll that will soon be published in Macleans magazine. Here's the comment I left:
To Snowbunnie et al: Let me expand further on what you're saying and get your thoughts . . .
The entire gay marriage issue is a perfect example of how the Left changes society via what Mark Steyn calls the "Drip, Drip, Drip" of slow, incremental change.
I've long felt that:
Robert W.: "Do liberal democratic societies like ours have a built in self-destruction mechanism?"
Yes, and especially when one of the most prevalent characteristics of a "liberal democratic society" is secular humanism. Secular humanism is completely wrong about human nature. Secular humanists insist that we are all "good" and have the best of intentions for our fellow human beings and society, and as such, "equality" means that there is no difference between religions or cultures. There is no "good, better, best," just equality.
That view of human nature is completely erroneous and wrong-headed; just look what it's led to in the past century: the most horrendous loss of human freedom, dignity, and life in history.
If liberal democratic societies throw out, with gay abandon, the Judeo-Christian faith and values upon which their democracies were built, then, yes, they have built in a self-destruction mechanism.
And we're watching the self-destruction right before our eyes and seem very reluctant to diagnose the problem.
Posted by: batb at April 24, 2009 7:40 AMIt's been obvious for a very long time that the average Joe isn't buying into the nonsense of the leftard elite.
Why do you think they need charter-crushing HRC's? Thought police are required in order to force people into publicly pretending that up is down. People will always know better but if they are afraid to speak out, the state gets to do what it wants and those who see the truth are marginalized and irrelevant.
It starts in schools. They terrorize the students from a young age that non-elite opinion will be persecuted mercilessly - unlike actual criminal behaviour which is to be dismissed. In fact, if a principle DARES kick a bad seed out of the school, they are forced to take another school's bad seed in return.
One of the central tenants of Marx was that in order to create the new utopian society, the "old order" had to be destroyed ("swept away" in commie-talk.) This is the elites creating their own, top-down version of Marxist idiocy through the back door in increments. It's slow-motion communism. They clearly didn't learn from the other attempts.
Posted by: Warwick at April 24, 2009 12:33 PM
Labels:
future,
gay marriage,
politics,
social engineering,
society
0
comments
Here's an e-mail I just sent to Jon McComb at CKNW:
Jon,
On your website right now is a poll question asking who won the debate.
In this New Age Kumbaya World that we now all co-habitate, is it really proper to keep score any more? In picking out winners & losers, might we not be damaging the psychological self-esteem of our political leaders?
And come to think of it, still calling them "leaders" really isn't appropriate either, is it? They're more like guides, showing us through the Forest of Life.
<>
Oh sorry, Jon, I don't know what got into me just a moment ago. I do recall walking past the Art Gallery on 4/20 and lingering there a bit longer than I should have. :-)
Looking forward to your show today!
Robert W.
Labels:
British Columbia,
election campaign,
humour,
polling
0
comments
"Barney Frank would love to kill every entrepreneur out there." - Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot
A very disturbing trend of intolerance is sweeping across America at an alarming rate. And the source is not where many might expect it. What is clear is that when the Left takes over something, diversity of opinion is not tolerated.
Dennis Prager dissects the latest example: the shunning, mocking, & ridiculing of a woman simply because she politely and compassionately disagrees with the concept of gay marriage.
In his landmark book, America Alone, Mark Steyn predicted that something like this, albeit much more widespread and more violent, would eventually break out.
Who are the protesters, mostly young men, that we see in the video? Well, the UK media and the British government will tell you that they are BNP supporters, racists, and neo-nazis. I wonder if that's true.
While there are undoubtedly some true zealots there, my guess is that many, if not most, are average young men who are fed up with all the traditions of their nation being thrown away in favour of "multiculturalism" and political correctness. In practice this means that the British traditions and values are no longer paramount IN BRITAIN. That is sheer lunacy and a sure recipe for the destruction of any nation.
Labels:
America Alone,
Mark Steyn,
protesters,
UK,
video
0
comments
After you read this then watch this:
Labels:
liberal elites,
liberal hypocrisy,
racism,
video
0
comments
Lest we forget, the NDP fully desired for Canada to participate in this conference:
Labels:
anti-semitism,
hate mongering,
NDP,
racism,
socialist rhetoric,
UN,
video
0
comments
Dennis Miller, on the accusation that the recent 'tea parties' were full of zealots:
"Zealots? Are you kidding me? I don't know about you, but I've seen more zealots in a line-up at my local deli!"
Labels:
America,
liberal hypocrisy,
protesters,
tea party,
zealots
0
comments
My friend, Mike, has kindly allowed me to share some more photos with you!
This is the Morgan Stanley building:
This is a window recovered from one of the planes involved in the attack:
Labels:
architecture,
jazz,
NYC,
photography,
World Trade Center
0
comments
Honolulu - Saipan man sentenced for urinating on fellow airline passenger
Federal Court judge Leslie Kobayashi yesterday sentenced a 28-year-old man from Saipan to 21 days in prison for assaulting a fellow passenger on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Jerome Kenneth Kingzio had pleaded guilty. The incident took place on March 21. U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said court documents show the victim, a 66-year-old woman, was watching the in-flight movie when Kingzio stood next to her and began urinating on her.
One has to wonder if "Human Rights" Commission Employees throughout Canada aren't angry that this didn't happen on a Canadian flight. For then surely Mr. Kingzio could have claimed a Lack of Multicultural Understanding, successfully suing both his fellow passenger and the airline in our Kangaroo Courts. With the money he would have been awarded he could have taken a vacation to Hawaii!
Please pay careful attention to when he states that he ALSO protested against George Bush!
Labels:
America,
free speech,
media bias,
political views,
video
0
comments
I strongly encourage you to visit this discussion thread on SDA. Scroll down a bit (or search) and find the entries by a Radical Leftist who goes by the moniker of 'philboy'. You'll then get a quick education on what it is like to try to debate folks of his ilk these days. Might remind you of Susan Roesgen! Shown below is the comment I left.
Labels:
financial crisis,
free speech,
radical left,
tea party
3
comments
Worth clicking on this thumbnail to see the larger photo:
Labels:
architecture,
night,
NYC,
photography,
Times Square
0
comments
Fellow Travelers [Cliff May]
My column this week looks at the curious and unholy alliances being forged between the Left and militant Islamists. I took pains to point out there are people and institutions on the Left who would never condone terrorism or apologize for radical Islam. Even so, I received a flurry of hate-mail from people who took offense and called me names— though not one of them disputed a fact or seriously debated a conclusion. (Of course, probably unhelpful was the headline one newspaper put on my column: “Liberals Hate America.” You think the editor who wrote that was trying to be subversive? Or is stupidity the more likely explanation?)
In today’s Wall Street Journal, David Horowitz has an op-ed on the various campus groups that routinely attempt to shut down free speech, cheer when they hear the word “communist,” and openly align with Islamists. Among those groups
the International Socialist Organization, whose goal is the establishment of a "dictatorship of the proletariat" in the United States; Iranians for Peace and Justice, supporters of Hezbollah and Hamas; and Campus Progress, the unofficial college arm of the Democratic Party.
One of the local members of Campus Progress had written a column in the campus newspaper attacking me in advance of my talk, and defending Sami Al-Arian as a victim of political persecution. The conservative students who invited me to the University of Texas told me that organizations such as the Muslim Students Association routinely join with College Democrats in protests against the state of Israel.
There have to be grownups in the Democrat Party who are uncomfortable about all this. More of them have the courage to say so. Memo to DNC Chairman Tim Kaine: Shouldn’t you get the ball rolling?
Labels:
free speech,
Islamic terrorism,
radical left
0
comments
I came across this editorial in the Calgary Sun. It is both half-baked and extremely disingenuous. I couldn't resist sending the newspaper this letter:
Michael Den Tandt states that Canada must follow Barack Obama's disastrous Cap and Trade policy because "the politics and the math are unavoidable".
Really? An obvious alternative is to just offer our precious oil for sale to other countries. There will immediately be instant takers the world over.
Last year Canadians were given the opportunity to cast their vote on the political views espoused by Stephane Dion and Michael Den Tandt. They were rejected. Vehemently!
The will of the people seems to mean little to their ilk. Neither do they have any real concern for the prosperity and health & welfare of Western Canadians. For without a doubt, should such suicidal economic policies be followed, there will be major negative consequences abound.
Labels:
Cap and Trade,
editorial,
environmentalists,
liberal elites,
oil
1 comments
Only time will tell the real meaning of this photo:
Labels:
America,
Barack Obama,
Hugo Chavez,
Venezuela
2
comments
I enjoy reading news sources from around the world, including this one from Israel.
Here's a snippet:
Obama's Washington believes America can live with a nuclear-armed Iran – a decision probably taken first under the Bush presidency. But Israel cannot, and may have no option but to part ways with the Obama administration on this point. As a nuclear power, Iran will be able to bend Jerusalem to the will of its enemies, make it unconditionally give Syria the Golan plus extra pieces of territory, tamely accept a Hamas-dominated Palestinian West Bank louring over its heartland and let the Lebanese Hizballah terrorize Galilee in the north at will. All three would make hay under Iran's nuclear shield, while Tehran lords it over the region in the role of regional power conferred by Obama's grace and favor.
Labels:
America,
Iran,
Israel,
nuclear weapons
3
comments
Empire State Building, from the base on 5th Avenue
Labels:
architecture,
NYC,
photography
0
comments
CKNW has created a non-partisan Facebook group on which to discuss the upcoming BC Election. If you're a Facebook member, do check it out!
Labels:
British Columbia,
facebook,
politics
0
comments
The original Boston Tea Party was so-called because it took place at Boston Harbor, which I gather is a harbor somewhere in the general vicinity of the Greater Boston area. So there would appear to be what I believe the journalism professors call a "local angle" to Wednesday's re-enactment. Might be useful for a publication losing a million bucks a week and threatened with closure by a parent company that, in one of the worst media acquisitions of all time, paid over $1 billion for a property that barely a decade later is all but worthless.
Full article
Labels:
liberal elites,
Mark Steyn,
media bias,
tea party
0
comments
Premier Luongo & co. defeat the Blues 3-0
Labels:
hockey,
playoffs,
sports,
Vancouver Canucks
0
comments
Susan Roesgen is a "reporter" for CNN. With all due respect that "R" word has to be in quotes. She is emblematic of how so many in the mainstream media have strayed far away from any semblance of ethical & professional journalism. The majority of the Americans who took the time and made the effort to peacefully protest their displeasure at the massive amount of debt their government is racking up are not "extreme right-wing nutbars" like Roesgen and her colleagues would have you believe. Yet she could not hold back her personal disdain for all of them, including the man she started to "interview" but then rudely interrupted when what he was saying didn't fall into line with her own political views. What kind of REAL journalist would do that?
The United States of America was founded by citizens just like you see here in Chicago, who were angry at an unaccountable, uncaring government that had grown deaf to their very legitimate concerns. Is history repeating itself? Make no mistake, these people are angry at both political parties and the politicians within. This is not so much a protest at Barack Obama, as it is against the irresponsibility of government as a whole.
As a thought experiment, imagine Susan Roesgen transported back to 1776, shoving her microphone into the faces of the citizens of the original colones and asking them why they were revolting. Then, when not getting the answer she seeketh, pulling away and screaming, "What dost though protest against?! The King of England hath given you so much!"
Jonah Goldberg has published an excellent article documenting how Obama & co. have already politicized and corrupted the Department of Homeland Security.
Labels:
Barack Obama,
corruption,
Homeland Security
1 comments
Here's an interesting factoid from the Drudge Report, that shows how Americans are obtaining their news from cable channels. These stats were from the primetime 8 - 11 pm time period, earlier this week:
FOXNEWS 3,390,000
MSNBC 1,210,000
CNN 1,070,000
CNN HEADLINE 909,000
FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,980,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 3,239,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 2,947,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,740,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,401,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 2,185,000
COMEDY DAILY SHOW 1,777,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,499,000
COMEDY COLBERT 1,446,000
CNNHN GRACE 1,336,000
CNN KING 1,292,000
MSNBC MADDOW 1,149,000
CNN COOPER 1,021,000
Labels:
America,
cable news,
ratings,
TV
0
comments
This is a follow-up video to the earlier one, showing what happened after Roesgen's hit piece. I defy anyone to explain how "Susan Roesgen" and "Ethical Journalist" can be used in the same sentence.
Mark Hemingway shares his thoughts on this despicable "reporter". (That last word has to be in quotes.)
Labels:
CNN,
corruption,
liberal elites,
media bias,
video
5
comments
Susan Roesgen is NOT a reporter. She's a "prime example" of how "journalists" have given up any semblance of impartiality and instead are just de facto spokespeople for the Obama Administration.
I do hope that YouTube lasts for a long, long time because videos like this will be prime exhibits for historians to document the corruption and downfall of the once honorable profession of journalism.
Labels:
corruption,
history,
journalism,
liberal elites,
tea party,
video
2
comments
Here's an editorial written by my Philadelphia friend and published in the Philadelphia Enquirer. You can read more of her thoughts on her Midnight Blue blog.
For change that counts, it's tea party time
Guest Opinion
By Tania Ciolko
"Here, sir, the people govern, here they act by their immediate representatives."
Can we say that the words spoken centuries ago by Alexander Hamilton ring true in America today?
Prominent pollster Kellyanne Conway noted voters meant it when they voted for change this past election cycle. She further points out the voters themselves did not want to be change makers, instead delegating that responsibility to Barack Obama. Who can forget the iconic video of Peggy Joseph tearfully proclaiming that voting for Obama meant she would not have to work to pay her mortgage or gas bill?
An important lesson learned from the recent presidential election is that your vote has consequences. Whose vision of change included a $7.5 trillion spending spree that will financially burden our children and grandchildren? I strongly suspect the voters' idea of change did not encompass a commander-in-chief of GM's used car division.
These voters are now waking up to the cold reality of reckless spending, increased taxation and rewarding of unsound financial behavior by our immediate representatives.
In February, CNBC's Rick Santelli sounded the call for a Tea Party, and ordinary citizens responded by organizing tea parties across the nation. The "tea" being tossed around the country today is an acronym for "Taxed Enough Already."
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a Tea Party in West Chester organized by the Pro Troop organization, American Sheepdogs. The event brought together nearly 400 citizens troubled by the irresponsible spending and the specter of oppressive taxation. The people I spoke with expressed a betrayal of their trust by Congress and a renewed sense of activism.
One woman admitted this was the first rally she has ever attended, and she was grateful to have the opportunity to express her concerns at a Tea Party. A pair of toddlers held signs that stated, "We are only 2 and 4 years old and we owe China $80,000 - Thanks to Congress."
The crowd was populated with everyday citizens who pay their taxes, bills and mortgages on time. They are not ones to frequent rallies of this kind, yet several hundred of them put down their silence and picked up a sign at the Tea Party in West Chester.
A talented DJ named Kalaya spun uplifting, patriotic music to entertain the crowd as they milled around with their homemade signs and American flags. A high point of the Tea Party featured speeches by local political officials and an impromptu speech by a passer-by named Alek.
State Rep. Curt Schroder, a Republican, spoke passionately on the bailout fiasco and the chill wind of an Employee Free Choice Act attack on the secret ballot.
U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, a Republican, detailed the reckless spending spree in Congress while ordinary Americans are tightening their own budgets. Alek had much to discuss regarding the devilish details of socialism. All in all, it was a well run event that was inspiring and cathartic to those who attended.
As the consequences of our November vote hits home, Americans are rediscovering their ownership of this nation.
According to the Tax Day Tea Party Web site, there were more than 500 confirmed Tea Parties set for April 15. If you have the opportunity to attend one in the future, please do so and be witness to a grass-roots movement that is sweeping the nation.
With any luck, one fine day I hope to say: "Here, sir, the people govern."
Labels:
America,
editorial,
financial crisis,
Philadelphia,
politics,
tea party
2
comments
This is the woman who is promising to deliver Hope & Change to British Columbians. She has also promised fresh new ideas and a new political discourse. Yet today we see her on a somewhat more familiar tack. Pathetic. Actually, beyond pathetic.
Labels:
BC,
Carole James,
election campaign,
politics
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Robert W.: "I don't know what the polls revealed in Canada when the laws were changed here but I am confident that the majority of Americans today would vote 'No' to gay marriage."
Apparently, Robert, members of Parliament received an overwhelming number (hundreds of thousands) of letters and e-mails from Canadians before the vote here -- more than any other issue had elicited -- saying "no" to gay marriage.
What did the reigning Librano$ do? They ignored Canadians' wishes and brought the issue to a vote in the HOC. As we know, the "yes" option won by the narrowest of margins, even though it would appear that the vast majority of Canadians were against it. We know which way the leftards and the MSM wanted the vote to go, and they got their way by ramming this legislation through.
If this issue was ever allowed to go to a referendum, it's pretty clear that Canadians would vote the way the Americans did. Look at California!
Posted by: batb at April 24, 2009 7:32 AM