The Breastplate of Sanity

You may get a million people to march in the streets and chant that 2+2=5.

You may get the highest court to rule that 2+2=5 is now the law of the land.

You may even require everyone who wants to keep their job, any job, to publicly affirm that 2+2=5.

But there are two things you may never, because you can never, do.

No matter how hard you try,

You can never actually make two plus two equal five.

And no matter how much coercion you bring to bear,

You cannot make me deny that 2+2=4.

 

[written with a grateful nod to George Orwell]

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Before You Vote…

An appeal to my reasonable conservative friends:

Important: if you are not reasonable and open-minded, don’t read any further. I’m not looking for “zots.” I’m looking for reasonable people who are serious about making the right choice. When I know I’ve chosen wisely, I feel at peace, without doubt in my mind, and start to get excited – like Chrissy Mathews, I get “that tingle.” How do you feel when you know you’ve made the right choice?

At this point, you’ve been following the primary race for months, and that means you are looking to make the right choice. Are you aware of how important making the right choice is in this primary process? I agree, and that’s why it is important to keep an open mind. That’s why you’ve read this far, so you might as well hear me out.

Obama has made it clear that he is pinning his reelection efforts on class warfare. So, think about whom you would want the GOP nominee to be if you were Obama, and you needed a target for class warfare? I agree – Mitt Romney. Understand that Obama uses Alinsky tactics, and Alinsky tactic 13 is “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Simply put, it is much easier to attack an organization or an idea if you can ‘put a face on it’. If you can find a single individual who both represents your opponent, and who, given the right spin, can be portrayed as the face of evil, you can use this person as a proxy for your attacks on your adversary. What face would you put on the 1%? Mitt Romney.

You may think that Mitt Romney is a great guy, and a great example of success, and I agree with some of that (and certainly applaud his success), and I would add that you should have no doubt in your mind that this is exactly what Obama will do (stick a big, fat 1% on him), and you can imagine that he is licking his chops in anticipation of doing it. If Mitt Romney is the nominee, this is what the general election will look like. Click Here. No matter what he says or how well he says it, he will not be able to shake that label. How does that make you feel about Mitt? And it doesn’t help that he has a habit of making mistakes and saying the wrong thing. Click here. Even Romney booster John McCain no longer believes Romney can win. Click Here. Moving on.

Obama’s second trick is throwing “red meat” distractions to keep us from discussing the areas where he is most vulnerable, such as economic and foreign policy. The biggest distraction so far has been the contraception controversy. And Rick Santorum took the bait- big time. Rick Santorum is a great father with great moral values, but he is also a one trick pony. Social issues are important, but he just can’t stop talking about them, and that has gotten him in a ton of trouble. The issue isn’t that he talks a lot about social policy, the issue is that he just can’t change gears quickly enough to avoid the damage caused by Obama’s intentional deceptions and sleights-of-hand. Consider how many distractions Obama will throw out there if Rick is the nominee. We’ll be talking about birth control all the way through November. By the time Rick manages to shift the debate back to Obama’s weak points, it may be too late.

Rick also tends to make serious, and very public, mistakes. For example, he loses his cool very quickly. Click Here. Cringing? He also gets confused regularly – in this instance, he gives Obama credit for CREATING jobs, publicly, on CNN! Click here. Just imagine if he makes even ONE mistake like this in the months between the nomination and the general election. Understand the very real risk with Rick. How do you feel about that, given the stakes?

Please understand that all of this is just fact, and I understand that some of you will now feel a bit disturbed and unsure at this point. But, I digress.

Newt is a flawed man, but recognize that his flaws are less subject to substantive attack. For example, Freddie and Fannie? It may be a big deal in the Republican primary, but Democrats do NOT want to go there! Yes, he’s had multiple marriages, but how many times has Rush been married? Do you still listen to Rush, at least here and there? And, of course, Democrats cannot launch credible attacks on the subject of adultery – we can go there. Before I close, I urge you to do one thing, and one thing only… please watch this video – click here. You’ve read this far, so another minute or two won’t kill you. Click here. Now, how do you feel about this man going up against Barack Obama?

The above letter from J.M. Stein at Red Side of Life is so good, as is, that I chose not to break up his text with my comments.

Indeed, Stein makes a very compelling case. But if there is still any doubt in your mind, please consider a few additional facts:

• Besides the “1%er” card that Stein says will be played against Romney, the Democrats also have their old favorite: the race card. Mitt is a very committed member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, aka the Mormons, and until 1978, Mormon theology relegated blacks to a kind of second-class membership in the church. After considerable social and political pressure, the church’s “living prophet” declared a new “revelation” changing the previous position which had been held since the church’s inception. Already, many on the Left are raising a stink about this. We can be sure that if Mitt were the nominee, this ugly issue would only get uglier — much uglier. The Democrat-Media Complex will make sure of that.

• The issue of contraception is problematic for Santorum not only for the reason Stein explains — namely, that the Left is skillfully and shamelessly using it to sidetrack discussion away from Obama’s staggering malfeasances in both foreign and domestic policy — but also because the driving force behind Obama is the “Shadow Party” funded by George Soros, who has an obsession with population control. Soros and other Agenda 21 promoters believe that world population must be reduced by literally billions of people. Santorum, the father of seven children — one of whom has Trisomy-18, a genetic disorder for which many Leftists believe abortion to be the only appropriate response — has the Left’s bull’s-eye on his back.

• The Left surely will demonize Newt just as viciously as they would Romney or Santorum. That’s what the Left does — to anyone who opposes them. A key difference, however, is that Newt fights back. Like the late, great Andrew Breitbart, Newt is a “happy warrior” who both understands the Left, and loves taking them on. Plus, like Breitbart, Newt understands that Big Media is every bit as much our opponent as is the Democratic Party. He is smart, articulate and confident enough to be able to answer their attacks on the spot, without hemming or hawing. People in media continually try to nail Newt with their “gotcha” questions — but they never succeed.

• America’s survival is threatened not only by terrorism and rogue states outside our borders, but by two major enemies within: communism and radical Islam. Yet, no other candidate besides Newt even mentions Saul Alinsky, Bill Ayers and George Soros. Newt is the only one who seems to recognize — or at least, will publicly say — that Obama is not a misguided incompetent with well-meaning intentions, but rather a Marxist radical who believes America is more evil than good, and who is committed to destroying the freedoms that have made America great. As for radical Islam, while Rick Santorum recognizes the threat from Iran, and is very knowledgeable on national security matters, only Newt recognizes — and openly talks about — the giant strides that sharia (Islamic law) has already made right here in the U.S., thanks to CAIR, ISNA, ICNA, MAS, MSA and the whole alphabet soup of Muslim Brotherhood-spawned groups that, despite proven connections to Hamas and other terror groups, are presented as legitimate “moderates” in our media and have infiltrated our government at high levels, including within the Department of Homeland Security.

• We can look around and see the perfect storm of economic collapse, national-security threats and inflamed social passions that is converging on us. America is — whether or not we yet realize it — in as much danger now as Britain was in the spring of 1940. Almost too late, the British people finally recognized that Winston Churchill — whom they’d previously despised as “impulsive” and “arrogant,” whom they’d castigated for his “poor judgment” and “grandiose ideas” — was actually the best man, perhaps the only man, who could lead them through the crisis. I’m not saying Newt is Churchill — but having studied Churchill, I am struck by the remarkable parallels between the two. Just as Churchill saw who Hitler really was long before most of his countrymen woke up, Newt understands the dangers to America that many people have so far been unable or unwilling to see. Newt will help open their eyes — because, like Churchill, Newt has a gift for explaining things in ways people can understand. Just as importantly, Newt has the bulldog tenacity and unabashed can-do attitude that the nation needs in its leader if we are to make it through the tough times ahead. As we saw so clearly during the South Carolina debate — when standing ovations kept erupting as Newt spoke — Newt has, as Churchill did, the power to inspire.

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Join the Sticky Note Campaign!

I just love grassroots, outside-the-box political activism.

Here’s something we all can do — and all you need is some post-it notes!

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A Facebook page has been set up for this campaign. The people behind it are encouraging people to send in photos of their own like the ones above.

To borrow a line from an old leftie, “…and, friends, they’ll think it’s a movement!”

By the way, I like the emphasis on food and gasoline, since  the official Consumer Price Index does not include — are you ready for this? — food and energy!

Grocery prices increased 6.5% in March from early January, an annualized increase of 26%, according to a report from Consumer Growth Partners. The group called the rise the “sharpest in a generation.”

…A 25% increase in gasoline prices this year combines with higher food costs to take $18 billion out of monthly household spending on discretionary items… Consumer Growth said in its report, which compiles data from Target, Walmart and Aldi stores in four U.S. states.

No word on whether the price of sticky notes has gone up significantly. If we all do our part, however, demand should skyrocket!

Hat tip: Doug Ross

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Young black teacher demolishes Bill Ayers

I’ve got goosebumps from this video.

In it, we see a young woman do to Bill Ayers what Andrew Breitbart does to leftist demonstrators.

She takes him down with two simple things:  questions and facts.

Appropriately enough, it comes courtesy of Breitbart TV:

* * *

Call this Lesson 2 in “How Republicans Can Stop Being the Party of Stupid and Start Being the Party of Git-r-done!” (Lesson 1 being, of course, this.)

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You can volunteer to risk your life for us; but don't expect us to count your vote

J. Christian Adams is the brave former Dept. of Justice attorney who blew the whistle last year on the DOJ’s corrupt practices with respect to voter intimidation cases. Since resigning in protest from DOJ, he has become a uniquely knowledgeable and avid campaigner against anything and everything that impedes fair and honest elections in America. Among other things, he blogs at Election Law Center, and also at Pajamas Media, where he posted this disturbing story about non-enforcement of the MOVE Act, which is supposed to guarantee the voting rights of our men and women in uniform:

Data in: Military voters were disenfranchised in 2010

PJM covered the mess and delays associated with military voting during the 2010 election.

The first set of Congressional hearings to investigate the failures of the Department of Justice to monitor the implementation and compliance with the MOVE Act are scheduled for Tuesday [today].  Accuracy-challenged Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez takes the stand to put lipstick on the DOJ military voting enforcement pig.  The hearings should be full of fireworks, especially given the release of a study by the Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF). The study confirmed many of the issues raised by me, as well as the Military Voter Protection Project (MVP), about the implementation of the MOVE Act and the Voting Section’s tepid enforcement of the law.

In particular, the survey demonstrates (despite multiple warnings from military rights groups such as the MVP) that over one-third of all overseas citizens were disenfranchised in the 2010 election. The OVF survey also revealed that the MOVE Act had not been fully or uniformly implemented in numerous jurisdictions across the country.  That falls on DOJ for a variety of reasons. Amazingly, 97% of the respondents to the survey were overseas citizens (think, student at the Sorbonne) with 25% living in Canada and Great Britain and the survey did not include overseas military voters.  Military voters operating in war zones find significantly more challenges in receiving and returning absentee ballots.

Why has the Department of Justice let a private non-profit do its investigative work and reveal gaps in a statute they should be enforcing?  Perhaps the whole business should be outsourced from DOJ – by giving soldiers the right to sue instead of only Eric Holder.  The blame for the lack of uniformity and implementation of the MOVE Act rests fully on the Voting Section. [That’s the same DOJ section that dropped its own slam-dunk case against the New Black Panther Party members who’d threatened voters outside a Philadelphia polling place during the 2008 election.  –ed.]  Despite the clear mandate of Congress, the Voting Section has other priorities, like playing solitaire and coffee breaks (because no work is being done.)  While Tom Perez blustered about what a great job DOJ did, over a third of overseas voters were disenfranchised.  The blame for the lack of uniformity and halting implementation of the MOVE Act rests fully on the Department of Justice Voting Section, and the people there in charge.

The first hearing on this matter is today. Contact your Congressperson and let him or her know that you want to make sure that the men and women who are serving our country in uniform are protected in their most basic right as citizens — the right to have their votes be counted!

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Allen West lights the way at the Americans Against Hate conference

Somehow, in the busy days leading up to Christmas, I missed this. Did you?

On December 12, Americans Against Hate, a predominantly Jewish group dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism with truth, bestowed its “Protector of Zion” award on Allen West. There are so many choice lines in West’s awesome acceptance speech that I kept wanting to pause the video and write down his words!  Here’s a good one:

There is nothing wrong with standing upon the Judeo-Christian faith heritage that we find in the United States, that we find in Israel, that we find all across Western civilization.

Talk about politically incorrect! No wonder the Left hates him so much!

We have got to recognize who the enemy is. Because my fear is that right now we are standing in a 1930s Neville Chamberlain moment.

Yessir, and you, Congressman West, are our Winston Churchill!

Readers, take a few minutes to watch the whole thing, because this warrior-scholar-leader packs more insight into nine minutes than anyone else I can think of.  As many of Allen West’s speeches as I have watched, and as many books as I’ve read about Islam, I still learn some new fact or gain some new insight from this man every time I hear him speak.  He is simply amazing.

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The Christmas gifts our children really need

This wonderful piece ran at RedState on Christmas Day (“What I really want for Christmas, you can’t wrap with a bow”). The author talks about not being able to think of anything when people asked him what he wanted for Christmas. But on Christmas Eve, as he was putting his children’s presents under the tree, it struck him — what he really, really wanted:

I want my children to grow up knowing that America can once again be the land of the free;

I want my children to know that, whether they live richly or poorly, they have a nation that lives by its founders’ principles;

I want my children to have a government that fears its people, not the people fearing the government;

I want my children to live a country that does not hate and punish success, nor reward mediocrity or failure;

I want my children to grow up knowing that no matter how high or low they set their sights, they still live in the land of opportunity, that nothing (except themselves) can hold them back from achieving their dreams;

I want my children to live in a country where wealth is created and produced and not stolen by some redistributive petty bureaucrat;

I want my children to grow up without being saddled with the debt accumulated by whorish politicians and the masters they serve;

I want my children to live in a country where politicians do not sell themselves to the highest bidder and whose sole responsibility is to respect the Constitution;

I want my children to know that, win or lose, for all these things we fight for, we have not and will not give up, that we will continue the fight until the end;

I want my children to know that, even if it means we tear it down and rebuild it with our own hands, living free is far greater than living under the yoke of a tyrannical state;

I want my children to know that, should we lose, there once stood the greatest country on this earth, a nation that was toppled only by the avarice of its politicians and the apathy of its citizenry; and,

I want my children to know that, should we lose, America was once the shining city on a hill for millions of people throughout the world, a land where Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are and always be inalienable rights and that these are self-evident truths.

I wish, when I’d been asked over these past few weeks what I want for Christmas that, instead of saying “nothing,” I would have answered bluntly: I want my children to grow up knowing that America is secure. But, of course, these are things that cannot be wrapped with a bow, nor placed under a tree.

These are things that my children don’t yet understand, but I do…and so do you.

How Washington and his men spent Christmas night, December 25, 1776

In your heart of hearts, you know, like I do, that 2010 was the easier fight. You know that the next two years (and beyond) are going to require greater actions, greater coordination and greater sacrifice, if we are going to save this nation for your children and my children.

In a week, we need to start 2011, hopefully, refreshed and renewed, but start we must. The fight over the next few years will be more brutal, as the stakes for them and for us are so high. But, it is a fight that must continue until either they lose, or we lose and America is lost forever.

Now that the mid-term elections are behind us, the battle must begin at the precinct level. If you are not involved in your precinct, then that is the place to start. With the majority of precinct committee positions vacant, if we are to save the nation, we must first have a ground game and that ground game begins and ends at the precinct level.

The other side has a ground game that has already been proven successful. It will be used again. Their coordination (even among rivals) is ahead of ours. Their boots on the ground, their voter registration programs, their phone banks and precinct walks, are all ahead of ours.

The first step for you, for us, must be filling the unfilled precinct committees. Over the last couple of months, Ron Robinson has been significantly expanding Procinct….

Our nation is far from secure, our children’s futures far from certain. We are the generation on whose shoulders this falls. No one else will do it for us, or for our children. We must do it—all of us.

[Now that] all the toys have been unwrapped, take a moment to pause and look at your children. Do you think that in 10 years they’ll still appreciate that new X-box or doll house more than a free nation? In 20 years, do you think they’ll still be squealing in delight over unwrapping that toy made in China, or will they be crying in anguish over a nation lost?

As you ponder this, think about how hard you work to provide material things for your children throughout the year. What good is any of it without a nation? Perhaps instead of watching that football game [on TV], you could spend an hour reading Ken Blackwell’s plan for a Conservative Resurgence. Perhaps instead of working that extra hour of overtime, you could take an hour or two per month and spend them at a precinct committee meeting.  Don’t assume there is someone else doing it for you or your children—because there probably isn’t.

[As you settle down with your family for dinner today], take a moment to talk about how you can help save this country for all of our children. Make a solemn vow, together, to do what is necessary and right to get involved in 2011 and beyond. If you can take action and help save this country, it will be worth more than any present [from under the tree].

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This Marine has high hopes for his fellow Warrior, Allen West

“Let Them Fight or Bring Them Home!” is the blog of John Bernard, a veteran with 26 years service in the U.S. Marines.

In his latest post, he bemoans the lives lost in Afghanistan due to the extremely misguided policies of the leftists who have been running things in Washington.  He takes the policymakers to task for their complete lack of understanding of Islam and what motivates Muslims. It is a sad, realistic, frustrating missive — and then, in the last few paragraphs, it suddenly changes tone:

Enter Colonel Allen West. Colonel West, soon to be Congressman West, has been selected to serve on the House Armed Services Committee. Given the content of his campaign speeches and especially those dealing with this particular issue, it is apparent, for the moment, that he could be the greatest ally our Warriors have inside the Beltway; someone knowledgeable of the military, the battlefield, Islam and with the tenacity of a dog with a bone. My encouragement to Colonel West is to never forget ‘your first love’ and never forget that an appointment inside the Beltway by reason of a won election is first, foremost and always, service. You must never forget that service comes with a cost to the one serving – and always be prepared to pay the price.

You will be dragged out and scourged as a hate-monger.

You will be reviled by those of lesser character and lesser understanding of the issues.

You may find yourself only serving one term because the electorate is fickle and largely without intestinal fortitude.

Compromise is the forte of the unprincipled and in this case will get Warriors killed – for political gain as it has been doing for far too long!

You will, however, be held in the highest esteem by the only group that really counts right now, especially during a time of war and that is, the Warrior community. Those who have chosen to put their collective backsides where their beliefs and hearts lie are in the end, the only ones that matter because their lives are the only ones truly at risk for the benefit of us all.

You can, in fact, be the one person in that miserable place we have dubbed ‘the Dark City’ that can turn this around and in the process, save lives – American Warrior’s lives and maybe, just maybe, in the process hand to the American people the one thing they have forgotten counts in time of war; a victory.

God Speed!

Semper Fidelis;

John Bernard

My dear patriots, we need to stand with Allen as he stands with our brave warriors!

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The 3-minute challenge!

Well, 3 minutes, 24 seconds, to be exact.

This just might be the most important tool in the Allen West in 2012 toolbox.  Try it out and see what you think.  Take “The 3-Minute Challenge”!

Here’s how it works:

No matter how many times you may have seen it already, go ahead and watch it again, because we’re going to do a little comparison afterward.

Here’s what many people may not know when they watch this video (I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t know until just yesterday!):

That man at the far end of the panel who gives that embarrasingly pathetic response is none other than…

Richard Myers.  General Richard Myers.  The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff!  Does that give us a clue as to how far Islam has succeeded in intimidating even our military leaders?

And what does it tell you when the next man over from Myers, the great Andrew McCarthy — who’s one of the best anti-Islam warriors we’ve got — on this occasion just cops out by making a joke?  “I’d say, take the fifth!”

Contrast those men with Allen West, whose response begins at the 1:40 mark.

Now here’s the 3-minute challenge: 
I challenge everyone who loves this country to watch this three-minute video and then tell me honestly that you don’t yearn to have this man as your next President.

Start passing it around, folks. Email it to your friends, post it on Facebook — just get it circulating.

Ask everyone you know to take the 3-minute challenge.

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