Be John Galt

What’s on your mind?

• Arizona immigration decision?
• 2010 election?
• Remaining 2010 primaries?
• 2012 potential candidates?
• The soaring national debt?
• LOST via executive order?
• Elana Kagan?
• The “Ground Zero” Mosque?
• Journolist and media dishonesty?
• Charlie Rangel? Should he step down?
• The war in Afghanistan (July had the greatest number of Coalition casualties in 9 years)?
• Will Barack Obama and Janet Napolitano try to enact amnesty without Congress?
• Andy Griffith pimping ObamaCare?
• “The Fonz” and Fred Thompson pimping reverse mortgages?
• Chelsea Clinton’s Wedding: were you invited? If so, are you going or do you have something more important to do (like wash dishes)?
• Is Sarah Palin a RINO?
• Are Michele Bachmann and Jim DeMint RINOs?
• Are you a RINO?
• Who isn’t a RINO?
• Does Barack Obama know who Snooki is? Do you know who Snooki is? Do you care who Snooki is?
• How do you like the way the baseball season is shaping up?
• Is there any chance the Detroit Lions won’t finish last (other than a scenario involving a plane crash)?
• Who  do you think will win the NBA crown? Do you really care who wins the NBA crown?
• Does the WNBA still exist?

In the form of a “Path to Citizenship”….. sigh…..

From the O Reilly Factor July 9, 2010..

PALIN: We’re not going to give them a free pass.

O’REILLY: So you make them register with the federal government.

PALIN: We’re not going to reward the bad behavior.

O’REILLY: And if they don’t register with the — say you gave them 60 days to register with the federal government. There’s a form at the post office they have to send in like a Census form. All right, say they didn’t do it.

PALIN: You deport them.

O’REILLY: OK.

PALIN: You have to get them out.

O’REILLY: So the ones that don’t…

PALIN: We don’t reward their continued bad behavior.

O’REILLY: …after period of time. OK, after a period of time…

PALIN: Yes.

O’REILLY: …the ones that don’t cooperate, you catch them, they’re gone.

PALIN: Right.

O’REILLY: Now, you have these people that register. You’re going to have millions of them. Then they register and they say, OK, we obeyed what President Palin told us to do. Then what? Do you give them green cards to work right away? What do you do with them?

PALIN: You know, there has to be that expectation that they will work and that they will contribute. Bill, it makes me uncomfortable that we’re even going down that path so far…

O’REILLY: You have to though.

PALIN: …when — no, no.

O’REILLY: You have to go down the path because it’s going to come up.

PALIN: American citizens who are here lawfully, they need to be the ones with the first shot at getting these jobs. We cannot make it easy on those who have chosen to be illegally here to disobey our laws. No.

O’REILLY: No, we can’t make it easy, but they’re here. And we can’t starve them to death. And if they can’t work, if they don’t have a green card to work, they’re going to be hosed. I mean, they got to pay rent, they got to buy groceries…

PALIN: Well…

O’REILLY: …this, that and the other thing. So this is where it gets very complicated, governor. You know, it gets very, very complicated…

PALIN: No.

O’REILLY: …because you are rewarding bad behavior. You’re letting them stay in the United States. And they came in illegally.

PALIN: Then let’s keep it — then we won’t complicate it anymore. Let’s keep it simple. And let’s say no, if you are here illegally, and if you don’t follow the steps that at some point through immigration reform we’re going to be able to provide, and that is to somehow allow to you work. If you’re not going to do that, then you will be deported. You will be gone.

That’s righty hero Sarah Palin coming out for a path to citizenship for current illegals, which would turn FL, NC, and VA permanently blue. Texas too. Goodbye, conservatism….

This is what I mean when I glumly state that the right in America is not ready to save us. They are clueless in fact.

We have all had the experience of someone describing a recent purchase (or holding up the object in question) and proudly asking: “How much do you think I paid?” 

Whether it’s the new XYZ-2250 Transmogrifier (with Turbo), a weekend at the Awesomeness  Spa, or a new outfit from  SoSnooty Clothiers, we are bound to disappoint them if we have absolutely no idea what the general  value of the object is question would be.  Their coup at obtaining the XYZ-2250 Transmogrifier for only $7,400 is wasted if we look at them and say: “I dunno…50 bucks??”

Knowledge of the value of a thing is necessary in order for us to know how much we would pay, what we would do, or what we would endure to obtain or keep the “thing” in question. 

“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; ’tis dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as Freedom should not be highly rated.”   – Thomas Paine

Make no mistake, it is in the interests of those who would get something from you that you NOT understand its value.  If they’re offering you a trade then they want you to undervalue what you are trading (e.g., personal choices for health care). Or they may try to convince you that what you have is bad (e.g., the right to bear arms), and thus convince you to throw it away.  Or they may just denigrate what you have so that when they steal it from you you don’t feel it’s worth getting upset about or even reporting the crime (e.g., blogging at sites like this one).

Many, indeed most, Americans throw the word “Freedom” around way too casually anyway.  As long as they personally aren’t being hassled, prevented from doing something they like to do, or forced to do something they don’t want to…they feel free. It is especially upsetting (ok, infuriating) to be around someone who reacts to OTHER people’s freedoms being taken away with a dismissive: “That’s ok, I don’t _______ anyway”.     I have personally had conversations with people where the blank section of that statement above was filled in with:

-          Own guns

-          Listen to TalkRadio

-          Watch FoxNews

-          Blog

-          Attend Tea Parties

-          Vote

I’ve had all 6 of those…including the “Vote” statement…thrown back at me.  So the fact that those things may well be suppressed, compromised or outlawed altogether, bothered them not at all.

To many of these people the 4^th of July is just the date that keeps  the 3^rd and 5^th of July from slamming together.  Oh…and they get a free day off work!  Plus there’re fireworks (for some reason they can’t comprehend), and hot dogs (which they may or may not eat).  They have no real understanding of what  the date signifies, and certainly don’t feel compelled to learn (hey, they’re FREE!).

In fact, a growing portion of our population is getting free-er all the time!  Free from taxes, free from having to work, free from having to think!  Someone else can work and pay taxes…and the JournOlists (among others) will happily tell them what to think.  And what they tell them is that the so-called “Freedoms” those scary Tea Party people are all upset about aren’t really all that important to begin with.

Our incestuous Government/Media portrays ObamaCare and Cap&Tax not as looming massive intrusions into (and restrictions on) our lives, but rather as wonderful things for our health, and the health of the planet.  The erosion of the liberties granted us by the Bill of Rights is portrayed as “exaggerated for political purposes”.  And, among many other things, we’re told  that the massive government expansion, and attendant corruption, is pretty much none of our business!

The people who swallow all that (and much more) are not really free: they’re just controlled in a way that they find pleasant enough…and they’re pretty much left alone for now.  But when all that changes, and the freedom they never cared to put a value on, or invest in any way in, disappears, what then??  They’ll whine and wonder “What happened?”

“Freedom” is like Transmogrifier …if you don’t know what it is, what it TRULY is, you don’t know what it is worth.  A “Transmogrifier” is a made up construct from a comic strip, of course, but the freedoms our nation was founded with and on are very real…and very much in danger.

As I stated at the top, knowledge of the value of a thing is necessary in order to know how much we would pay, what we would do, or what we would endure to obtain or keep the thing in question.  When the “thing” is question is Freedom in all its forms, then the knowledge of the value brings us face to face with the price we will have to pay to retain it.  The price, I’m afraid, will be very high…very high indeed.

Amnesty without Congressional approval?

According to an internal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services memo going the rounds of Capitol Hill and obtained by National Review, the agency is considering ways in which it could enact “meaningful immigration reform absent legislative action” — that is, without the consent of the American people through a vote in Congress.

“This memorandum offers administrative relief options to . . . reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization,” it reads.

Also: “In the absence of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, USCIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations, exercising discretion with regard to parole-in-place, deferred action and the issuance of Notices to Appear (NTA), and adopting significant process improvements.”

In recent weeks, Sen. Chuck Grassley and others in Congress have been pressing the administration to disavow rumors that a de facto amnesty is in the works, including in a letter to Department of Homeland Security head Janet Napolitano. “Since the senators first wrote to the president more than a month ago, we have not been reassured that the plans are just rumors, and we have every reason to believe that the memo is legitimate,” a Grassley spokesman tells NR. (NR contacted DHS, but a spokesman did not have a comment on the record.)

Read more.

Hat tip: NRO

I’d like to let you know how the ROTC scholarships are faring for this coming school year.

My son has a 4.0 GPA at his university.  He works hard.  He is in Air Force ROTC, and his detachment won awards this past year.  We have been waiting the entire month of July to hear about scholarships.  He told me this evening that he has been told there is no money nationwide for any scholarships.  I do not know if this is true only for the Air Force ROTC program or if it extends to all branches of the military.

I will be calling both my Senators and my Congressman tomorrow to confirm this.  If this is true, I will let you know as soon as I can, and I will ask you at that time to please call your Senators and Congressional Representatives.

The Democrats should all be voted out of Congress this fall.

The ACLU is one of the most powerful leftist groups in the country. Sure, it will occasionally back a group like the KKK for public relations purposes, but don’t be deceived. The ACLU is not about protecting the constitution or First Amendment rights. It was originally founded by leftists, many of whom were communists and its goal was -and has always been – the same as Barack Obama’s: to fundamentally change the United States of America into a socialistic state in which its citizens have fewer rights and the government has greater control.

The ACLU is funded by leftist, including many left-leaning foundations and extremist lawyers who work on a “pro bono” basis. Through intimidation, the ACLU has been successful in driving religion – except Islam – from the public square. It is now using its muscle to intimidate any states or municipalities who wish to enforce laws regarding immigration.

Two of the summer’s most controversial local immigration laws have just been rendered almost useless because of the threat of impending lawsuits.

Earlier today, a federal judge in Arizona ruled to block some key measures in the state’s immigration law. While the overall law will still go into effect at the scheduled time — Thursday at 12:01 a.m. — the portion that requires police officers to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws has been put on hold.

According to the ruling, the judge found that the legal challenge by the Obama administration that certain parts of the law are unconstitutional is likely to be upheld in court.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton also ruled to temporarily ban sections that require immigrants to carry documents at all times and that criminalize illegal immigrants looking for work in public places. The ban will be in place until the courts can determine the legality of the law, while wading through litigation.

“This fight is far from over,” said Arizona Governor Jan Brewer in a press release. “In fact, it is just the beginning, and at the end of what is certain to be a long legal struggle, Arizona will prevail in its right to protect our citizens.”

Brewer continued: “I will battle all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary, for the right to protect the citizens of Arizona. Meanwhile, I also know we still have work to do in confronting the fear-mongers, those dealing in hate and lies and economic boycotts that seek to do Arizona harm. “

In a related story, the city council in Fremont, Nebraska voted Tuesday night to suspend an immigration law that they passed last month in the face of legal pressure from interest groups opposing the law.

Read more:

If you wish to financially support Jan Brewer and the people of Arizona  donate to http://www.keepazsafe.com – the state’s legal defense fund.

Hat tip: The Daily Caller

Well, I guess it shouldn’t really be a surprise that a federal judge would block the Arizona Immigration Law.

PHOENIX — A federal judge, ruling on a clash between the federal government and a state over immigration policy, has blocked the most controversial parts of Arizona’s immigration enforcement law from going into effect.

In a ruling on a law that has rocked politics coast to coast and thrown a spotlight on the border state’s fierce debate over immigration, United States District Court Judge Susan Bolton in Phoenix said some aspects of the law can go into effect as scheduled on Thursday.

The parts of the law that the judge blocked included the sections that called for officers to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws and that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times. Judge Bolton put those sections on hold until the issues are resolved by the courts.

The judge’s decision, which came as demonstrators opposed and supporting the law gathered here and after three hearings in the past two weeks in which she peppered lawyers on both sides with skeptical questions, seemed unlikely to quell the debate.

The ruling came four days before 1,200 National Guard troops are to report to the Southwest border to assist federal and local law enforcement agencies there, part of the Obama administration’s response to growing anxiety over the border and immigration that has fed support for the law.

Read more.

Hat tip: New York Times

What do you think? Where do we go from here?

Oklahoma is sure to have its first female governor as Lt. Gov. Jari Askins won the Democratic nomination and one of Sarah Palin’s Mama Grizzlies  - Congresswoman Mary Fallin – secured the GOP nomination. Can you tell which one is Jari and which is Mary?

In Politico, Roger Simon writes about Journalist – something most of the Mainstream Media won’t do and quotes Chuck Todd:

Or that is what an article over at The Hill implies –

House Republican leaders intend to keep their powder dry as the public ethics trial of embattled Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) unfolds.

Throughout the 111th Congress, House GOP lawmakers have offered measures targeting Rangel. But don’t expect one this week.

Republicans are employing a don’t-get-in-the-way-of-your-enemies-when-they-are-destroying-themselves strategy, the same game plan Democrats employed as Republicans grappled with ethics scandals in 2006.

According to several leadership sources, top-ranking Republicans hope that the former Ways and Means Committee chairman fights charges of ethical wrongdoing.

The fact is waiting this time might be the best course of action. But the GOP does need to prod it along some. Best timing would be to have Rangel finished by say early October, one way or the other. Either way this is eye candy for the airwaves from a political sense. ‘Most Ethical Congress Evah!’ just rolls off the announcers tongue.

The GOP has to be careful however. 2006 was not that long ago that the voters have not fogotten that it was the GOP that was in this problem. So if they want to use this they really need to tie in Rangel’s chair of Ways and Means and its role in the TARP and public financial disasters. And tie Rangel to Pelosi, the Speaker. All the while preventing/beating back the ‘they did it too’ rebuttal.

Is the GOP smart enough to figure it out??