Housing and Transportation, Oh My !

The somewhat unexpected announcement of the demise of two of my favored restaurant chains starts me into a rambling somewhat indirect political statement this morning – but bear with me, I will try to get to the point by the end.

I find that Wall Street frequently exhibits a herd mentality (they don’t let me use the term Lemmings around here) that seems to defy logic.  The reluctance to help the economy pull out of the current tailspin is perhaps a case in point.  So many gloomy predictions become self-fulfilling prophecies. 

I am looking for a cheerleader-in-chief who can find an optimistic vision of America and sell it to the voters.  One of my criticisms of my President is that he has not aggressively packaged and sold his policies to the American public.  I believe many of his policies – including Iraq – have been correct and undertaken with a sincere belief in the justice and necessity of the programs.  But he has been unable or unwilling to do what was necessary to sell the product to the man (or woman) in the street.

However, all that said, there are several systemic problems that concern me.  First, the creation of real estate collateralized securities has taken the current housing difficulties into other areas of the financial sector and will now magnify the impact of the problem  far beyond just lending institutions.  Chairman Bernanke at the Fed has tried to ease the credit markets with lower interest rates but has weakened the dollar in the process. 

If we view oil as a commodity priced in terms of gold rather than dollars, we see that oil prices have been remarkable stable,  It appears that the falling value of the dollar has been a major component in rising oil prices.  So the infection has spread into the transportation sectors as airlines, trucking, farming and individual commuters are all shocked by the rising gas and petroleum based product prices. 

The Congress has spent the past two years on a witch hunt where “getting Bush” has been their major agenda item.  Now they are using the energy crisis to push their own environmental agendas rather than trying to take steps to solve the problems.  Pelosi and Reid would have fiddled right along with Nero as Rome burned. 

And by the way two new victims to the changing economy filed for bankruptcy this week.  National chain restaurants have been caught in a vise of rising food prices on one side and dining consumer budget cuts on the other.  Bennigans and Steak and Ale bite the dust in the current shakeout.  I would expect franchise locations for Bennigans to remain open for now – but company stores are expected to close.  Read the story in the NYT <here>.

Candidate McCain – you need to be getting behind a set of bold steps to stimulate and revitalize the economy and get the government out of the way of the market engines.  You need to sell the ideas to the public and you need to get all Congressional candidates on board with a campaign of programs that will excite the public.  It is going to come down to decisions for tax cuts and economic incentives versus tax increases and entitlement programs.  There is no more fundamental difference between conservatives and liberals and NOW is the time to decide.

See ? I told you I would get there.

 

 

 

Mr Obama's Excellent Foreign Adventure

It has been a pleasure to be personally acquainted with Larry Thornberry, a writer living in Tampa, for more years than either of us would be willing to disclose.  Larry is a contributor to the American Spectator and other outlets and brings edgy op-ed prose to a level that I enjoy.  I have frequently featured his articles in these pages and enjoy sharing his thoughts, along with my own, with my readers and friends (that isn’t supposed to be two separate groups – its a syntax thing)

Writing more about the Obama Safari to the vacations spots of the world is becoming redundant (I am told you can’t be too redundant).  The media coverage was, at best, excessive.  I will let Larry cover the high points while I concentrate on the low points.

It is widely covered that the embryonic Commander in Chief did not make his appointment to talk to wounded soldiers in the hospital in Germany.  Whether from arrogance, inept advisors or just his own combat fatigue after a year of concentrated and deadly confrontation with Hillary, Mr Obama couldn’t be bothered to visit the troops and spent his time in the health club at his posh hotel instead.  Shame on you, Senator.

What is less reported is that the elitist behavior is consistent with several instances of treating American military personnel as the hired help in other garden spots like Afghanistan.  Candidate Obama raced from the plane to the armored car, speeding directly to his meeting with the local commander – ignoring large contingents of troops on the tarmac that had gathered to see and talk with him.  On exiting his meeting, he again brushed past groups of troops and went directly to his scheduled photo-op on the basketball court.  E-mail messages from several serving soldiers to family back home have been circulated on the internet describing these additional snubs of the boots on the ground.

And it is unlikely that the candidate paid very close attention to the opinions of commanders in Afghanistan or Iraq since he delivered his detailed plan for the theaters of conflict prior to his leaving for his factfinding trip.  You have to admire the liberals for their consistency – don’t confuse them with facts, they have already made up their mind.  When I was involved in any sort of policy making, the process was fact find – then decide.  (kind of like “Pillage then Burn” advice in the Viking comic strip Hagar the Horrible).  There is a reason the process flows in only one direction. 

But I digress… Larry Thornberry’s view of the Senator’s trip is provided directly from the author.  Enjoy.

Barack’s Day Off
By Larry Thornberry

                                      Ich Bin Ein Pretender

    Last week Barack Obama piled up more frequent flyer miles than in most campaign months. But did he win any votes by photo-opping and crooning his way across the Mideast and Europe in a week-long game of Let’s Play President?

   Well, some. The initial polls taken concurrent with and after Obama’s trip reflect this conclusion. Obama gained a little during the week, finishing at 49-40 over McCain, according to Gallup. This is Obama’s largest lead over McCain, demonstrating that a well-planned hustle will almost always net you something. But the old fighter jock actually gained a small amount of ground in some battleground states during Obama’s absence. Not everyone buys Obama as President of the World. 

   Of course the purpose of the trip was to try to repair the perception, based on reality, that Obama is very weak in the areas of security and foreign relations. American media types, ever eager to advance the Obama cause, mostly rose to the bait. One Sunday morning yak-yak host kicked off the show asking, “Can we take off the ‘inexperienced’ label” (from Obama)? Another talking head opined that the week (a week!) “put Obama on the stage with world leaders.”

   Well, he was indeed on the stage with leaders, many of whom, playing the odds, decided to go along with the gag. But then the sound techs who made sure the microphones were live were on the stage too, and we probably shouldn’t make one of these president either.          

   Obama’s speeches during his recent excellent adventure were the same re-cycled intellectual empty calories we’ve heard from Obama stateside since his debut at the 2004 Democratic convention made him a rock star. His vacuous sonorities in Berlin were the sorts of things that make transnational hearts (the kind with only left chambers) go pitty-pat. But these folks were already on the Obama team.

   German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Obama’s Berlin speech “a positive signal.” But a signal for what she didn’t say. (Hit and run, perhaps – which is what Obama’s overseas experience amounts to.) And the speech had to be a species of non-sequitur, as he’s not running for office in Germany, though perhaps he should be. If the EU had a post of commander in chief it might be just the thing for Obama. It would put Obama at the head of a military of abut his own dimensions. Since WWII, Europe has spent about as much on its own defense as Imelda Marcos spent on shoes.          

   To be fair, Obama did say in his Berlin speech that Europe and Germany need to be more supportive of the war on terrorism and be more cognizant of how Europe’s and America’s interests coincide in this area. But he didn’t press these points. And there was little else in his remarks to comfort red meat Americans who suspect Obama belongs in a New Age pulpit more than he belongs in the Oval Office. Mostly it was thumping banalities like, “Now is the time to reclaim our children’s future.”  

   The fact that 200,000 people turned out in Berlin to hear Obama sing a couple of choruses of “We Are the World” only demonstrates that Europeans, who have long since lost the taste both for liberty and for hard work, have a lot of time on their hands and are not very discriminating in the entertainment they choose. For a long time it has been no secret that Obama and his brand of socialist, pacifist politics have been very popular in Old Europe. Perhaps it’s time we traded Obama to the EU for two croissants and a used Volvo. (It would be one of those trades that benefit both teams. Europe would get a guy they adore, and we would get something of value.) 

   And by the way, doesn’t Obama have things out of sequence? JFK and RR both made well-regarded speeches in Berlin (both containing more substance and more testosterone that Obama’s). But they waited until after they were President to go there. Obama, getting ahead of himself and everyone else, has put the victory lap before the victory.

    Ich bin ein pretender.

When I looked at Mike Jones' (on ActiveRain.com) intriguing piece on perspective < link >, I was reminded of one of my favorite wildlife photos.

It usually takes folks a second look to realize we are directly overhead with zebras and what we thought we were looking at are merely shadows.

I try to spend a few minutes of quiet time occasionally (but always near the computer) browsing photo sites to see the brilliance of the photographer in his (or her) skill with the camera and his good sense to be at the right place at the right time.

No site is more dramatic and visually astounding week after week than pizdaus.com. (Thanks to MinnesotaStan) Take a look at at least the current page whenever you need a lift (and the other more than a thousand pages when you have the time). They usually do not provide enough information for me to give proper credit to the artist. I will merely say that the images are not mine, though I might wish they were. I am merely a guest in the gallery with you today. Enjoy.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Even Conservatives go to the Movies

I don’t typically do movie reviews in these pages but I am a long time fan of Ben Shapiro, a young conservative columnist that I have enjoyed for several years and have quoted on a number of occasions.  Ben is 24.  He graduated from high school at 16 and attended UCLA.  He was a syndicated columnist at 17 and is still, I believe, attending Harvard Law School. So even when Ben goes to the movies, I pay attention.  As an aside, I note that Ben Shapiro was married last week to the cumulative best wishes of his many readers.

So Ben writes this week for Townhall.com of The Dark Knight, the sequel to the brilliant Batman Begins. Director Christopher Nolan brings back Christian Bale, Michael Caine and others from the previous cast with a stunning final performance by Heath Ledger, a young actor whose flame burned a bit too brightly and went out earlier this year.

So sit back while Ben Shapiro, writing for Townhall.com, talks about the highest first weekend grossing film of all time – with his usual political twist.  Pass the popcorn, Please.

My source: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/BenShapiro/2008/07/24/the_greatness_of_the_dark_knight

Thursday, July 24, 2008
The Greatness Of "The Dark Knight"
by Ben Shapiro

Last Thursday night, my wife and I went to a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight" (warning: there will be mild spoilers). I'm normally an early-to-bed early-to-rise type, so our decision to view the new Batman movie during the witching hour was not an easy one. I was not a fan of comic books growing up, so it wasn't a decision bred by obsession, either. We saw the first showing of "The Dark Knight" because Christopher Nolan is the most talented director on the film scene today, Christian Bale is perhaps the most talented actor alive not named Russell Crowe or Daniel Day-Lewis, and their first collaborative effort, "Batman Begins," was terrific.

We weren't disappointed. For all its gritty violence -- and there are several scenes that left us gasping -- "The Dark Knight" is a masterful reworking of the Batman myth. In "Batman Begins," Nolan gave audiences a serious origins story for the hero. But "The Dark Knight" goes further: It gives audiences a serious look at sociopathic evil and points out that, when fighting such evil, true heroes must get their hands dirty.

Heath Ledger delivers a frenetic, hauntingly sickening performance as the Joker. Nolan, who cowrote the film with his brother, takes particular care not to humanize the Joker. The Joker is a pathological liar, a sadistic murderer, a brutal masochist and an unmitigated sociopath. His origins are never reliably explored -- he gives at least two explanations for his disfigured face -- and his motivations are not explained beyond the most honest and simple explanation: He engages in evil for the pure pleasure of it. "Some men aren't looking for anything logical," says Alfred, Batman's butler and mentor. "They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."

In order to fight the Joker, Batman must engage in means he abhors. He must allow others to make sacrifices. He must shoulder blame for deaths. He must violate rights in order to save lives. He can do this because as Batman, Bruce Wayne wears a mask, and so his alter ego can do what no public person in Gotham can. As Alfred puts it, "[T]hat's the point of Batman: He can be the outcast. He can make the choice that no one else can make -- the right choice."

Over the weekend, "The Dark Knight" raked in an astonishing $155 million, making it the largest weekend opener in the history of cinema. That jaw-dropping figure is due to many factors: great reviews, word of mouth, a tremendous marketing campaign, star power, the hubbub surrounding Ledger's untimely death and the success of "Batman Begins," among other reasons.

One of those factors -- perhaps the largest factor -- is the fact that Americans love Nolan's reinvigorated Batman. We love the idea of a leader willing to take risks, a leader willing to make unpopular choices. We want a leader who will make the hard choices.

We do not elect our leaders on the basis of their continuing popularity; being president is not an exercise in self-congratulation. Winston Churchill was unceremoniously tossed from office after World War II. Harry Truman almost lost the presidency to Thomas Dewey. Abraham Lincoln came within weeks of losing the White House to George McClellan. Great leaders do not please all the people all of the time.

Great leaders are great leaders because they stand tall when times get tough. We elect leaders because we know, based on their past action rather than empty slogans, that they will stand for our ideals when the hurricanes begin blowing. That is why we love Nolan's Batman, and that is why we love great leaders. And that is why I hope "The Dark Knight" continues to garner millions of viewers.

 

Louisiana Governor as McCain pick for VP ?

The Press Trust of India, of all places, has an article yesterday about Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal being on Senator McCain’s short list for Vice President and his running mate for the November race.  Senator McCain is traveling to Louisiana today to meet with the Governor.  < link to article >

The article talks about the favorable comments from Rush and Newt on Governor Jindal as a good choice for Senator McCain. 

I disagree.

Governor Jindal is a smart and charming politician and is clearly a rising star for the Republicans.  But McCain’s greatest challenge to Democrat Obama is his age and inexperience.  Clearly,  McCain at age 72 must run with a VP candidate that can act as President if necessary.  If McCain takes a 37 year old running mate with 3 years in Congress and one year as Governor, aren’t we giving Senator Obama a pass in the experience department ?  How can McCain press the “ready on Day 1” button when he is clearly offering Bobby Jindal as his “ready on Day 1” pick.

That said, there is much to admire in Governor Jindal and he will be a factor in Republican Presidential politics in the future, if not the present.  He is the son of Indian immigrants who arrived in the USA from Khanpura, India in 1970.  Their son, Piyush Jindal – he has been called Bobby since the age of four – was born in Baton Rouge in 1971.

Jindal graduated from Brown University and received his Masters degree at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.  He is married with three children.

in 1996, Jindal was appointed by the Louisiana Governor to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals.  At the time, the agency represented approximately 40% of the state budget.  Jindal as Secretary took Louisiana Medicaid from being on the ropes with a 400 million dollar deficit to three years of surpluses in excess of 200 million dollars.  He had the courage to close some local clinics to balance the budget and took some flack in his political campaigns from Democrats for his decisions. 

Jindal was President of the University of Louisiana system and was appointed by President Bush as Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation, unanimously confirmed by the Senate (who couldn’t agree on the Sermon on the Mount).

Jindal ran for Governor of Louisiana, losing to Kathleen Blanco in 2003. He was elected to Congress in 2004  and 2006 – resigning to run for Governor with success in 2007.

Biographical data and photo from Wikipedia – full article < link here >

Newt Gingrich calls Bobby Jindal the most transformational Governor in America.  Read Newt’s article (July 8, 2008) < here >

You can hear Bobby Jindal’s victory speech (20 October 2007) when he was elected Governor < here > 

Bobby Jindal gets high marks for financial management and ethics reform.  He is bright and articulate and will be a Republican asset now and in the future.  Whether he is ready for prime time for this election cycle is another question.  To coin a phrase, we report, you decide.

 

 

Senator causes bank Failure

Many of us have read about the failure of the IndyMac Bank headquartered in Pasadena, CA.  The decision to close the $32 billion dollar financial institution was taken by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) who acts for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Many financial institutions have been classed as “troubled” as a result of the sub prime mortgage market collapse and the housing situation in general.  But most will survive if permitted to restructure their operations to meet the demands of the current financial industry climate.

So what happened to IndyMac? It seems likely that the proximate cause of the collapse is traceable to the specific thoughtless and stupid actions of Charles Schumer, senior Senator from New York.  The idiot Senator, for political reasons wrote a letter to the OTS expressing his professional and wonderfully qualified opinion that the IndyMac Bank – headquartered, by the way in California – three thousand miles away from the Senator’s state of New York – was not viable.  Then he released the letter to the press and started an 11 day run on the bank that brought it down. 

Lets be clear – all banks loan out far more money then they actually have on deposit – it is called pyramiding reserves.  NO BANK IN THE COUNTRY MAINTAINS CASH RESERVES SUFFICIENT TO COVER A SUSTAINED RUN ON THE BANK BY DEPOSITORS.

The press release from OTS < link here > specifically lays the blame for the crash on the Schumer letter and the resulting demands of depositors who had lost faith in their bank because of Schumer’s careless and public statements. The specific paragraph is quoted here – follow the link for the full press release from OTS.

“The OTS has determined that the current institution, IndyMac Bank, is unlikely to be able to meet continued depositors’ demands in the normal course of business and is therefore in an unsafe and unsound condition. The immediate cause of the closing was a deposit run that began and continued after the public release of a June 26 letter to the OTS and the FDIC from Senator Charles Schumer of New York. The letter expressed concerns about IndyMac’s viability. In the following 11 business days, depositors withdrew more than $1.3 billion from their accounts. “

Schumer could have voiced his concerns, if it was even remotely his responsibility to do, privately to regulators.  He chose to make his letter public for political gain and directly caused the collapse of a major institution.  In the 11 days following his letter, and an inflammatory headline in the Pasadena Star News “IndyMac appears close to collapse” based upon the Schumer letter, depositors withdrew more than $100 million dollars in cash from the bank.  Prior to the letter, the Bank was receiving a net positive cash flow from depositors.

The opinion writers have not picked up on this yet.  I expect outrage from conservative writers who will be shocked and appalled that a sitting US Senator can do this kind of damage to the economy at large and then hide behind his immunity for his “official” actions. Senator McCain has an excellent campaign issue if he moves decisively to take advantage of it. (yeah, right…)

For more details, see the Wall Street Journal article < link here >.

Senator Schumer was irresponsible and politically motivated.  He should face sanctions and possible impeachment.  I will hope to see civil actions filed against him by shareholders and depositors to test the immunity of this questionably “official” action. 

 

 

 

 

Our Changing World

I have watched as the Japanese purchase vast holdings in US real estate, the Chinese have established a significant presence in our financial institutions and the Germans purchased a major American auto maker.  But now they have gone too far. 

Belgian based InBev NV has announced their agreement to purchase the Anheuser-Busch Companies in a 52 billion dollar deal.  < details>

Anheuser-Busch and their banner product Budweiser has positioned themselves as an American institution for generations.  It bothers me to see a foreign takeover of the company. 

I can’t help but think that the current political and tax climate in this country is a disincentive to entrepenureal ownership and expansion.  I believe the major families who have built great corporations here are deciding that it just isn’t worth it anymore and are cashing out.

This is not a healthy trend for the USA.  I have read that Senator Obama views the takeover negatively – but it is, in my view, his possible election and the Democrat Congressional majorities that make August Busch IV view this business deal as an idea whose time has come.

When I think of an America Tradition, I think of the sentimental and moving Budweiser ad spot in response to 9/11 found on You-tube.com (video is 1 minute).  I wonder how this fits into InBev’s advertising concept.

My source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlaE5a-SI4

 

 

Dr Michael DeBakey dead at 99

I note with interest the death of one of the true pioneers of modern medicine, Dr Michael DeBakey, at the age of 99. 

Dr DeBakey will be remembered for innovation and accomplishment in the treatment of coronary disease.  He invented groundbreaking artificial heart devices, numerous instruments and procedures and gave life and hope to several world leaders and countless other patients great and small.

Read the detailed article in USA Today

 

Someone in the Media gets It

Every so often somebody in the clannish community that we refer to as the Media surprises me by telling the truth – and impresses me by telling it well. This week it is Michael Barone. Michael appears on Fox News as a contributor and is a senior writer for US News and World Report. He is also a contributor to Townhall.com, where today’s gem appeared. Michael is a graduate of Harvard and Yale Law School and from time to time, it shows.

While the media is whining about the price of gas or the gloomy economic forecasts and still hasn’t figured out that the events in Iraq have been, in many ways, positive for a while, Michael tells a story from history (well it is during my lifetime, so I should be careful about my use of that word) of American tenacity, political courage and the attitude of We can do this ! that was once the hallmark of American Society.

Michael tells the 60 year old story of the Berlin airlift – of President Truman’s refusal to accept the advice of his generals to walk away and of the President’s simple policy: “We are not leaving Berlin”.

The resulting delivery of food and materials necessary to sustain the city of Berlin was a logistical nightmare that the experts said couldn’t be accomplished until a leader in the office of President told them to do it anyway.

Read this article with interest and pride and remember that this is the way we used to do things around here. The article is not just about President Truman, but about every pilot, mechanic, officer and American citizen and what can be accomplished by the American Spirit if we can just remember where we put it.

Thanks, Michael for the memory and the reminder.

My source: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelBarone/2008/07/12/were_not_leaving

Saturday, July 12, 2008 We're Not Leaving by Michael Barone

Sixty years ago this month, the top story in campaign year 1948 was not the big poll lead of Republican nominee Thomas Dewey or the plight of President Harry Truman. It was the Berlin airlift.

On June 23, the Soviets cut off land access to West Berlin. Gen. Lucius Clay, the military governor in Germany, called for sending convoys up the autobahns, but Allied troops were vastly outnumbered by the Red Army, and everyone feared they would overrun Western Europe unless the United States retaliated with the atomic bomb.

Air Force generals said that there was no way planes could ferry the 8 million pounds of food and coal Berlin would need every day. Secretary of State George Marshall and Joint Chiefs Chairman Omar Bradley, two of America's most respected generals, felt Berlin was indefensible and we should withdraw. One man disagreed. President Harry Truman, in one crucial meeting after another, said, "We're not leaving Berlin."

And we didn't. Truman had no idea how Berlin could be supplied. But Clay persuaded him to order the Air Force to send more planes that it wanted to keep, pristine and at the ready for other missions, at home. Air Force Chief of Staff Hoyt Vandenberg, at the prompting of Gen. Albert Wedemeyer, appointed Gen. William Tunner, who had run the airlift "over the hump" from Burma to China, to run the airlift in Germany.

Tunner imposed brute efficiencies so that a plane landed and took off every 90 seconds, and the pilots working under him devised ingenious ways to increase payloads and gain favor from Berliners by dropping handkerchiefs full of candy to the children lining the runways at Tempelhof Airport.

This tale of American expertise, ingenuity and generosity is told vividly by Andrei Cherny in his wonderfully readable book "The Candy Bombers." Today, we know how it ended: how the airlift supplied West Berlin all winter until the Soviets opened up land access in May and how Truman was re-elected to almost everyone's surprise in November. But Truman couldn't know those things in those first days in June and July. He only knew that we weren't leaving Berlin.

There are lessons aplenty in this story for us today. One is that the kindness of American soldiers -- the candy bombers -- can be a national asset. There are many similar stories out of Iraq and Afghanistan, even if today's media, unlike the media of 1948, are not disposed to tell them.

Another is that presidential determination to avoid defeat and retreat can prevail against the advice of experts. Just as Truman's Pentagon opposed the airlift, so George W. Bush's Pentagon mostly opposed the surge strategy in Iraq. In late 2006 and early 2007, the advice from experts, notably the Baker-Hamilton Commission, was the same as that Marshall and Bradley gave Truman: get out with whatever fig leaf you can. The surge, like the airlift, was said to put undue strain on the military, to degrade the readiness of men and materiel for other missions. All these claims were plausible and, in the case of the surge, dominated press coverage and were supported by the incoming leaders in Congress.

But Bush, echoing Truman, said, at least in effect, we're not leaving Iraq. He embraced the proposals for the surge, which had been worked up by retired Gen. Jack Keane and American Enterprise Institute scholar Frederick Kagan. He found a commander, Gen. David Petraeus, who had rewritten the Army's manual on counterinsurgency and who had the character and skill to put the surge into effect.

As was the case with Tunner, the men and women serving under him showed unexpected ingenuity and the ability to adapt to unpredicted turns of events, like the Anbar awakening, which enabled them to convert Iraq's deadliest province into a friendly, peaceful territory. And, I am sure we will find out sooner or later, those troops also performed acts of generosity, which made their task easier and will produce goodwill that will last, as the candy bombings did, for decades to come.

The lessons are clear. Stand fast. Put the right men in charge. And never doubt the capacity of the men and women of the American military, when given the right orders, to perform far better than the experts predict.

Do Words Matter ?

I like words - as those of you who wade through my posts will know.  Carefully used, I can paint an image with words and my readers can see the same image when they read the paragraph.  It is what we call communication.  Use the wrong words and a disconnect can occur where your readers take away a different meaning than you intended.

So I was interested to be listening to XM radio channel 130 yesterday (POTUS 08 - 24/7 Presidential politics - I was in the car driving - OK?)  while Senator Obama was speaking of his Fourth Of July family celebration in Butte, Montana.  He suggested that after the fireworks and the family cookout that there would be time to reflect about the enormity of the American accomplishment...

What is wrong with this picture ?  Take a moment to pick up your dictionary and look it up (Maybe Senator Obama should have done so)... I'll wait.

"Enormity" means great wickedness as in the enormity of the crime. 

Happy Fourth of July, Senator.

Freedom Never Cries - backstory

I posted the you-tube video for Freedom Never Cries as a salute to the military for the Fourth of July.  I didn’t want to clutter the post with any unnecessary words – but there is a story to be told.

There are several video versions of the song on you-tube, but the one I posted is the original from the artist (John Ondrasik of the band Five for Fighting). 

The better site to view the video is John’s own: (one of his charity sites)

http://www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/videos/view/id/706270

Although the You-Tube versions have limited play statistics, John’s web site version has been viewed more than 600,000 times.

According to the Wikipedia article on Five for Fighting, John is a UCLA grad with a degree in applied science and mathematics. The band name is a reference to ice hockey (when a player receives a five minute penalty for fighting).

As usual with modern music, I am coming late to the party.  But I saw the video and was moved by the haunting melody and the powerful graphics and the message of the story. 

As I read about John, I want to recognize his efforts for the cause of the military.  He has toured for the USO and worked to provide  music cd’s and mp3 free downloads for military personnel.

I have posted several items for the Fourth of July that talk about the high cost of freedom and the fact that it is our military forces and their families that are most frequently called upon to pay that price for all of us.  It was clear to me when I saw the Freedom Never Cries video that John Ondrasik “gets it” and I commend him for his efforts to remind us of our obligations.

So it was no surprise to read Michelle Malkin’s excellent interview with John which is published on Townhall.com today.  John talks about the left views of the entertainment industry and the few entertainers who have a different view (himself included).  And he talks about his motivation to pass on his message about freedom, the military and America.  Great article, a fine reminder of the meaning of the Fourth of July and an introduction to a remarkable American entertainer – John Ondrasik.

My source: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichelleMalkin/2008/07/02/interview_with_a_hollywood_patriot

Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Interview with a Hollywood Patriot
By Michelle Malkin

Let us not, on this Independence Day weekend, dwell on the political pretenders to patriotism rushing to out-proclaim their love of country. Nor let us pay heed to the sneering movie directors and journalism pooh-bahs allergic to red, white and blue.

Instead, I'd like to share a bit of a special interview with a true Hollywood freedom-lover. Last week, my friend Melanie Morgan of Move America Forward and I co-hosted a special Internet telethon on Ustream.tv to raise money for care packages to send to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The effort yielded more than $1.1 million, thanks to thousands of generous donors across the country. Among the special guests who contributed time and resources was musician John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting.

New Yorkers have a special place in their heart for Ondrasik's work. His poignant song "Superman (It's Not Easy)" became an anthem for the first responders on the frontlines during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Military families across the country have adopted his song "Freedom Never Cries" as their own anthem. Ondrasik, who has participated in several USO tours, has produced and donated thousands of CDs for the troops -- as well as supported several pro-military charities through his website, www.whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com.

Plain-spoken and humble, the multi-talented Ondrasik told us why he was motivated to get involved in supporting American troops: "I think it's as important now to recognize our troops now that they're kind of off the front page and not the main story. I think whether it's wartime or peacetime, we have to constantly recognize their efforts, their families' efforts -- and music is one way to do that."

Where did his sense of patriotism come from?

"I have no family members who are in the military and not a lot of friends who've joined the military. Frankly, to me, it's just common sense. In our business, we make a living off liberty and freedom of speech. The world my children are going to grow up in, their opportunit[ies], their lives, their safety, are dependent on folks like our soldiers and their families. It's common sense to me. They provide us with everything that we take for granted a lot in this country. You know, that "Freedom Never Cries" video, I think the message of that video, at least for me, is that look, freedom is not free. There is a price that is paid for freedom, and we have to constantly acknowledge that. If we accept that freedom is free and that it's no big deal, I think we're in trouble. And I do think there is some of that mentality pervasive not only in the United States, but in Europe as well."

Ondrasik spoke frankly about anti-Americanism in Hollywood:

"To be honest with you, at times, I'm embarrassed to be part of this industry. There are people [who] do support the troops. A lot of them are under the radar. You don't hear a lot about them because they're going over to Iraq without a camera crew, and they're doing the right thing. Go down the line -- Gary Sinise, Kelsey Grammer, Patti Heaton, folks like that. But as an industry, I do think there's a lot of shame to be left at the doorstep of Hollywood. They make films that disparage the troops. Which is their right. Our troops are very stoic. They understand that. But they're human beings, too. And the art that comes out of Hollywood, the music, affects our perception in the world."

"People across the world are seeing films being made about troops that disparage them, and they're going to think, 'Hey, if they're saying that about themselves, it has to be true.' And I wouldn't be so bothered about it if there were the counterarguments -- you know, films basically showing the good side. You don't see that, and it's frustrating. I think it's to our detriment. And I think we pay a price for that ... I think people do take our troops for granted. They take our freedom for granted. I don't think we have the clarity we need as a country going forward."

Speaking as an American entertainer, Ondrasik talked about his duty to express gratitude for his country and those who defend it: "It is our job, our obligation. We can't pick up a gun, can't drive a tank or fly an aircraft, but I can write a song, and I can speak up, and I think it's important for people to do that."

Hear, hear. Happy 232nd birthday, America. For every blessing of liberty secured by our forefathers and defended by our men and women in uniform on the front lines, we thank you.

 

 

How others view America

The internet is truly an amazing creation – fully on a par with the Gutenberg printing press in another time.  I continue to marvel at the places the web can take me, if I but let it do so.  As I am fond of saying, I might learn something, if I am not careful.

This morning’s journey to me to Great Britain to an article written by Andrew Gimson for the www.Telegraph.co.uk website in 2006.  He describes his observations on a family trip to the United States and develops a view of our national character which is worth repeating as we pass through the July 4^th holiday.  And I wonder, again, why we must turn to people from other countries to remind us of things about ourselves that we should already know

My source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/08/11/do1102.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2006/08/11/ixopinion.html

Americans will die for liberty
By Andrew Gimson
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 11/08/2006

As we took off from London for New York a few days ago, our three over-excited children asked if there was any chance of the plane being blown up. I explained that the likelihood of that happening was virtually zero, and wondered how we were going to maintain some semblance of order during the flight. One did not wish the sedate American passengers by whom we were surrounded to form the impression that British parents are unable or unwilling to impart the rudiments of good manners.

Luckily, American Airlines had provided a screen on the back of the seat in front of one's own, on which one could watch old movies. There was also a map showing how far we had gone, on which places of interest were marked. It began by showing only two places: London and Chartwell.

The Americans are more old-fashioned than us, and what is equally admirable, they are not ashamed of being old-fashioned. They know Churchill was a great man, so they put his house on the map. There is a kind of Englishman to whom this sort of behaviour seems painfully unsophisticated.

We are inclined, in our snobbish way, to dismiss the Americans as a new and vulgar people, whose civilisation has hardly risen above the level of cowboys and Indians. Yet the United States of America is actually the oldest republic in the world, with a constitution that is one of the noblest works of man. When one strips away the distracting symbols of modernity - motor cars, skyscrapers, space rockets, microchips, junk food - one finds an essentially 18th-century country. While Europe has engaged in the headlong and frankly rather immature pursuit of novelty - how many constitutions have the nations of Europe been through in this time? - the Americans have held to the ideals enunciated more than 200 years ago by their founding fathers.

The sense of entering an older country, and one with a sterner sense of purpose than is found among the flippant and inconstant Europeans, can be enjoyed even before one gets off the plane. On the immigration forms that one has to fill in, one is asked: "Have you ever been arrested or convicted for an offence or crime involving moral turpitude?" Who now would dare to pose such a question in Europe? The very word "turpitude" brings a smile, almost a sneer, to our lips.

The quiet solicitude that Americans show for the comfort of their visitors, and the tact with which they make one feel at home, can only be described as gentlemanly. These graceful manners, so often overlooked by brash European tourists, whisper the last enchantments of an earlier and more dignified age, when liberty was not confused with licence.

But lest these impressions of the United States seem unduly favourable, it should be added that the Americans have not remained in happy possession of their free constitution without cost. Thomas Jefferson warned that the tree of liberty must be watered from time to time with the blood of tyrants and patriots. To the Americans, the idea that freedom and democracy exact a cost in blood is second nature.

We went to the fine new museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, devoted to the American Civil War. It was the bloodiest war in American history. Americans slaughtered Americans in terrible numbers before the North prevailed. You can look up the names of soldiers on a computer, and I found to my slight surprise that a man called Joseph Gimson served on the Union side as a private in the 37th Regiment of Coloured Infantry, and was "severely and dangerously wounded" in the battle of Northeast Station on February 22, 1865.

We stood at Gettysburg, scene of the bloodiest battle of all, on a field covered with memorials to the fallen. Here Abraham Lincoln gave his great and sublimely brief address, ending with the hope "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth".

Again some Europeans will give an unkind smile. All this sounds so Puritan, so naïve and so self-righteous. We cannot help feeling that the Americans ought to have been able to settle their quarrel without killing each other, and, while we cannot defend the institution of slavery, we wonder whether the North had the right to impose its will by force.

These are vain quibbles. The North went to war and was victorious.

The Americans are prepared to use force in pursuit of what they regard as noble aims. It is yet another respect in which they are rather old-fashioned. They are patriots who venerate their nation and their flag.

The idea has somehow gained currency in Britain that America is an essentially peaceful nation. Quite how this notion took root, I do not know. Perhaps we were unduly impressed by the protesters against the Vietnam war.

It is an idea that cannot survive a visit to the National Museum of American History in Washington, where one is informed that the "price of freedom" is over and over again paid in blood.

The Americans' tactics in Iraq, and their sanction for Israel's tactics in Lebanon, have given rise to astonishment and anger in Europe. It may well be that those tactics are counter-productive, and that the Americans and Israelis need to take a different approach to these ventures if they are ever to have any hope of winning hearts and minds.

But when the Americans speak of freedom, we should not imagine, in our cynical and worldly-wise way, that they are merely using that word as a cloak for realpolitik. They are not above realpolitik, but they also mean what they say.

These formidable people think freedom is so valuable that it is worth dying for.

 

Freedom Never Cries

Not much to say about this one.  I have seen a number of versions of the video.  This one is my favorite. The musical artist is John Ondrasik.

For this Fourth of July and many more to come – May God bless America.

(video is 4 min 23 sec – its worth it)

My source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzmmQ74LzjU

Energy independence Day

I have written in support of the Newt Gingrich project entitled “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less”

The petition drive has attracted more than 1.2 million signatures. To add your voice to mine and 1.2 million of our closest friends, click here for the American Solutions petition site.

The video included here is a message from American Solutions, which is totally appropriate for the Independence Day spirit. (video is 1 min 23 sec)

My source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9g_HlFaMHw

Independence Day 2008

On certain holidays (Memorial Day, Veterans Day and the 4^th of July) and whenever the need arises, I seek to affirm some of the great principles upon which this great nation was founded.

It is an example of political expediency that this nation based upon the language of the Declaration of Independence (“all men are created equal”) in 1776 continued to endure the disgrace of slavery for generations longer. As the nation grew and the social and economic institutions of the regions of the country became more strained, the resolution of the issue of slavery became unavoidable. The political institutions were not up to the task and the Supreme Court failed in the Dred Scott case.

It fell to a new President from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln. whose faith in the union of the American States was to be tested, to preserve the nation at the expense of more than 600,000 American lives in the Civil War.

The final outcome of the war was not yet determined when President Lincoln arrived to deliver his Gettysburg address in November of 1863 at ceremonies to commemorate the battlefield that had been Gettysburg in July of that year. Following a 2 hour oration by a politician who is all but forgotten, President Lincoln rose and spoke for less than three minutes – 10 sentences, 267 words – which will be remembered as long as there is a United States of America.

Lincoln was re-elected in 1864, based largely upon good news in the war of Sherman’s victories in Atlanta. The great Civil War ended with the surrender by General Robert E. Lee to General Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. By April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was dead by an assassin’s bullet.

The Gettysburg Address of President Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania…

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.