A Quick Note On Airline Safety - Part 2

I mentioned yesterday that there was a simple solution to preventing exploding terrorists from getting onto airplanes. Dogs.

Janet Napolitano famously said "the system worked" and then began backpedaling furiously. Apparently someone pointed out to her that the terrorist was not in fact stopped by Sky Marshal Chuck Norris, and instead was stopped by a his own inability to set his crotch-bomb on fire and some Dutch guy.

Perhaps, if we aren't going to get dogs to search passengers, and if we aren't going to coordinate intelligence between agencies who are fervently waving red flags, we should try another approach.

I suggest TSA hire these guys:
It would've prevented this attack.

A Quick Note On Airline Safety

The Terrorists' Secret Weapon
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-12-30/the-terrorists-secret-weapon/full/

The article mostly laments the TSA's inability to deploy some magical supertechnology that searches for airborne particles that indicate the presence of the explose compound PETN.

The article discusses the tech solution and at one point hints at the simple solution, but doesn't ask why it isn't used.

Let me make this as simple as possible:

From the article, where the writer doesn't seem to see what he just wrote:

Bomb-sniffing dogs can also detect PETN. Well-trained dogs can also sniff out particles left on a bomber’s clothing or body from having handled the powder.

Dogs and handlers work. Searches on people in the US are forbidden by the Supreme Court as government intruding into an individual's reasonable expectation of privacy.

The same does not hold true for people entering the United States. Nor do the airlines, who are allowing people access to their services, have to abide by the same rules as govt. If an individual voluntarily enters a service contract with the airline where the airline states "we reserve the right to sniff you with a dog", the problem is solved. Why? It's not the government (the dog and handler as extensions thereof) doing the sniffing. It's the private entity and the private individual entering the contract.

TSA, as a government institution, is by its very nature incapable of using dogs inside the US in such a fashion. TSA also doesn't check passengers and planes coming from Nigeria, Holland, or anywhere else outside the US.

The problem with this is that airlines will face the same nonsense that they did with the Flying Imams, a bunch of islamic agitators out to test airline security and sue anyone who said "yeah, those guys shouting "Allahu akbar!" are kinda suspicious". They were terrorists attacking us with legal means as well as physical means. They hoped to terrify us by accusing us of prejudice.

They hoped to make us feel shame for singling them out when they attack us. I'll liken it to having a toddler steal a cookie, and when the parent corrects the child (time-out, spanking, etc.), the child then accuses the parent of being mean. Any parent worth their salt will be an authority figure and not put up with that. A parent completely devoid of self-assurance will bend to their child's opinion of them and the child will have run of the house while the parent is devoid of will.

Note that these aren't statesmen, diplomats, negotiators, businessmen, or anything other civilized men (I'd say "and women", but Islam demeans and subjugates women). These aren't representatives of a state or a people asking for redress of greivances. These are fucking terrorists who want to kill people who've done them no harm. They're the toddler lashing out at their younger sibling because they know that hurts the parent.

But seeing as how dogs, like dancing, music, women, beer, short-sleeved shirts, men without beards, gays, lesbians, bacon, images of people (especially the rapist of Aisha), and pretty much everything offends muslims, there'll be some kind of outcry, and maybe a lawsuit terrorist (like the libel tourists) who come to sue with their multi-bazillions stolen from their people by being hereditary sheiks and princes.

If we ditch the "what will the terrorists think of us?" whimpering and just do what works, this problem would be dealt with.

Dogs are superb at detecting explosives, and especially with good handlers, provide for a very dynamic response to terrorism.

Even with all the other failures of the system - despite Janet Napolitano saying "it worked" when a terrorist failed to detonate his explosives because he was jumped by a Dutch guy - the addition of another line of defense would help to make it work - a dog would've found this. If everyone's so afraid of making a judgement call that they won't say "this dude's a terrorist" - even when the terrorist's father says "my son's a terrorist", then we need another line of defense.

Dogs work. Dogs aren't bigoted, dogs don't mistake a peaceful Sikh for a terrorist Muslim, dogs don't discriminate between humans - they won't overlook a white British convert to Islam and they won't harass any little old ladies. Their nose works just the same if it's Irshad Manji or Wafa Sultan they're walking past or if it's John Walker Lindh or David Hicks. They discriminate based on who's a terrorist carrying bombs and who's not.

Lt. Colonel Allen West

Lt. Colonel Allen West, U.S. Army (Ret.) is running for office in Florida's 22nd congressional district. Lt. Colonel West has a masters degree in political science. You can learn more about Lt. Colonel West at his campaign website. The following is an excerpt form a speech he made at the American Freedom tour in Fort Lauderdale, Florida:

America, this man is the type of people we need running for office.

Wreaths Across America

I had the pleasure this morning to attend a Wreaths Across America ceremony sponsored by the local Civil Air Patrol. The ceremony took place at Tyler Memorial Cemetery in Tyler, Texas. It was raining and cold, despite the weather, the ceremony boasted a decent turnout. Around 200 wreaths were laid on veteran's grave stones. Next year they are planning to lay over 1,000 wreaths, which will account for every veteran currently laid to rest in that cemetery.

The goal of Wreaths Across America is to:

Remember the fallen,

Honor those who serve,

Teach our children the value of freedom.

Being a combat veteran myself, I was allowed to participate in the ceremony by assisting other veterans place several wreaths on a memorial dedicated to fallen World War 2, Korean, and Vietnam veterans. After the ceremony was officially over, the attendees were allowed to assist veterans and the Civil Air Patrol in laying the 200 wreaths that were donated to the cause.

To view pictures of the event feel free to visit our Facebook site here.

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The Unconstitutionality of Government Healthcare

Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution delineates what the Congress of the United States can do in a legal sense. No where in this area, or in any area of the Constitution is health care mentioned as a right.

However, Article 1, Section 8.1 of the Constitution of the United States reads as follows:

"The Congress shall have the power... to provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States...."

This clause known as the general welfare clause, is the clause that the leftist in Washington hang their hat on whenever they feel the need to pass laws that by nature are unconstitutional. However, James Madison, in writing The Federalist #41, said the following:

"It has been urged and echoed, that the power 'to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States,' amounts to an unlimited commission to exercise every power which may be alleged to be necessary for the common defense or general welfare."

Madison goes on to say that that very idea that congress can legislate whatever it wants is a "misconstruction" that:

"Had no other enumeration or definition of the powers of the Congress been found in the Constitution, than the general expressions just cited, the authors of the objection might have had some color for it; though it would have been difficult to find a reason for so awkward a form of describing an authority to legislate in all possible cases."

The "no other enumeration or definition of powers of Congress" Madison was writing about is the rest of Article 1, Section 8, which tells us exactly what the Congress can do. There was no need to put into the constitution what the Congress couldn't do, all that needed to be present was what it could do, every thing else was to be off limits to the Congress.

Further explaining himself Madison, defends his idea by stating:

"Nothing is more natural nor common than first to use a general phrase, and then to explain and qualify it by a recital of particulars."

So, he is saying it is a natural thing to make a general statement and then to further define it by adding specifics. Which means that if anything falls outside of those specifics, that it should not be considered part of the broader, previously made statement.

The two points to consider are that:

1. The constitution does not specifically allow the Congress to legislate health care.
2. Just because it isn't an enumerated power granted to Congress by the constitution does not mean that Congress can legislate healthcare under the general welfare clause.
   

So how does one then legally legislate health care? This is a good question to be asking your representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senators in Washington D.C. Rasmussen polls suggest a majority of Americans do not want anything to do with the House's or Senate's version of healthcare reform. Why don't they listen to us? Why do they insist on fundamentally changing the best heathcare system in the world?

Because our president told us:

And that my friends is EXACTLY what they intend to do, unless we as Americans unite against these socialist that are now in power and vote them out of office starting in November 2010, and cleaning up the rest of the mess in November 2012.

Manbearpig vs. Sooners

Manbearpig cultists and profiteers who've made their academic careers based on grants they receive by issuing chicken little warnings, and the Al Goreans who are already investing in the "carbon credit" market of artificial currency are busily assaulting those who've called East Anglia on their bogus non-science.

Even (Un)Scientific American is getting in on the advocacy journalism:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=scientists-respond-to-climategate-controversy

With all the "hot air" surrounding climate change discussions, none has been hotter in recent weeks than that spewed over a trove of stolen e-mails and computer code from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia in England. Longstanding contrarians, such as Sen. James Inhofe (R–Okla.), who famously dubbed climate change a "hoax" in a 2003 speech, has pointed to the stolen e-mails as information that overturns the scientific evidence for global warming and called on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson to halt any development of regulation of greenhouse gases pending his investigation into the e-mails.

Now, there's something hidden in there that most folks outside of the central United States won't notice. Senator James Inhofe is from Oklahoma. A coworker from Oklahoma pointed out to me some time ago that global warming is simply ignored there. Anyone going on about global warming is treated much the same as someone who insists the moon is made of green cheese or that Lord of the Rings is real. They're simply dismissed as harmless, deluded, and as though they are "slow" children.

Why?

The Dust Bowl.

People in Oklahoma have, within living memory of their elders, seen their state obliterated by heat and turned into a desert overrun with locusts and jackrabbits. A major climactic shift took place there. The same holds true for parts of Kansas, Nebraska, and a few other swaths of the great plains.

They've seen natural climate change. While some types of farming practices contributed to the Dust Bowl, its existence didn't come solely from a relatively tiny population of farmers (relative to the landmass) with mules and plows, or even the few tractors, scarring the landscape.

It came from devastating drought.

There are such things as climactic shifts. They exist. Using better farming techniques and greater irrigation can and has lessened the impact of the smaller droughts since the Dust Bowl. But those whose state heritage is one of having lived through such a climactic shift are a lot more difficult to fool, especially when the statist/liberal fascist who knows what's best for us all is willing to lie to us and trick us in order to get their way.

Nor has the fundamental physics of the greenhouse effect changed: CO2 in the atmosphere continues to trap heat that would otherwise slip into space, as was established by Irish scientist John Tyndall in 1859. "There is a natural greenhouse effect, that's what keeps the planet livable," noted climate modeler Gavin Schmidt of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) during a Friday conference call with reporters organized by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. "Without it, we'd be 33 degrees Celsius colder than we are. That's been known for hundreds of years."

It's a good thing that the leftist advocacy groups haven't seized on medical science from the Civil War era, like they have on climate science. Well, except for rationing and triage for soldiers. But I digress...

Were it not for the natural greenhouse gases, the earth would be a lifeless ball of rock, according to the chosen scientists in a conference call with the Center for American Progress...

From DiscoverTheNetworks.org:
The Center For American Progress

The Center for American Progress (CAP) describes itself as "a nonpartisan research and educational institute" aimed at "developing a long-term vision of a progressive America" and "providing a forum to generate new progressive ideas and policy proposals."

Robert Dreyfuss reports in the March 1, 2004 edition of The Nation: "The idea for the Center began with discussions in 2002 between [Morton] Halperin and George Soros, the billionaire investor. … Halperin, who heads the office of Soros' Open Society Institute, brought [former Clinton chief of staff John] Podesta into the discussion, and beginning in late 2002 Halperin and Podesta circulated a series of papers to funders."
...
An April 2009 CAP report stated that the United States had a moral obligation to spend massive amounts of money to help poorer nations deal with the effects of the "global warming" that allegedly was being caused by industrialized nations like the U.S.

Hmm.

Suppose their self-appointed position as a global moderator to push for redistribution of wealth has anything to do with this?

Or perhaps the impetus of global-warmers to stop American growth and natural resource development has other reasons?

One example maybe has something to do with the $10,000,000,000 of US taxpayer money sent to Brazil to fund offshore oil drilling in their coastal waters? Perhaps because grifter George Soros, who funded Center for American Progress, is getting that $10,000,000,000 into his pocket.

He and his leftist cronies force guilt on everyone, then they cash in when idiot leftist politicians start handing them money. They lie and tell us the world will die because of our cars and our prosperity, and they set themselves up as the recipients of the carbon indulgences we're forced to buy, and the payoffs for guilt that our politicians submit to.

Oklahomans can see it's bullshit. How about the rest of us open our eyes?

Or should we listen to Michael Mann and Scientific American explain to us how things like the trick to hide the decline is really scientific jargon that us stupid rubes from flyover states can't understand?


In fact, nothing in the stolen e-mails or computer code undermines in any way the scientific consensus—which exists among scientific publications as well as scientists—that climate change is happening and humans are the cause.

For example, the word "trick" in one message, which has been cited as evidence that a conspiracy is afoot, is actually being used to describe a mathematical approach to reconciling observed temperatures with stand-in data inferred from tree ring measurements.

Sea levels may or may not be rising, but the level of bullshit coming out of global warming advocates who pretend to be scientists sure is.

Media Blackouts

Climategate is being furiously hushed up by the big media to the point where typing it into google revealed no auto-populating suggestions. You could type in climateg and get "climate guard" and then all the way to climatega and still get "climate guard" and "climate guatemala". Typing in the entire word "climategate" resulted in a blank suggestion form.


Google's main page has changed this as of 12/04/09 @ 1631 EST. But their browser-integrated search engine still shows yesterday's hush-up.

Sounds almost conspiratorial, but as it registers some 6-20 million hits, it's a pretty big thing to disappear. Contrast the other suggested results, as well as the stories about it on various tech-savvy blogs.

http://talkingabouttheweather.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/google-gate/
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/11/28/climategate-surpasses-global-warming-on-google-autosuggest-still-blocked/
http://rantingstan.blogspot.com/2009/12/curious-case-of-climategate-and-auto.html
And a parallel here:
http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2009/11/googlegate.html

---
Now on to the new blackout, this one from Washington:

Riehl World picked this up a couple days back, and HotAir mentioned it, but beyond that, I haven't heard this elsewhere. I certainly haven't seen it in any major media outlet. Perhaps that shouldn't be a surprise, since it's leftists trying to ensure that they control all that you see and hear.

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2009/12/feinstein-durbin-seek-to-limit-citizen-journalism.html

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/12/03/democrats-criminalizing-dissent/

S.448 Title: A bill to maintain the free flow of information to the public by providing conditions for the federally compelled disclosure of information by certain persons connected with the news media. Sponsor: Sen Specter, Arlen [PA] (introduced 2/13/2009) Cosponsors (10) Latest Major Action: 12/3/2009 Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee on the Judiciary. Date of scheduled consideration. SD-226. 10:00 a.m.

AMENDMENTS intended to be proposed by Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. DURBIN )

Viz:

In section 10(2)(A), strike clause (iii) and insert the following:

(iii) obtains the information sought while working as a salaried employee of, or independent contractor for, an entity—

(I) that disseminates information by print, broadcast, cable, satellite, mechanical, photographic, electronic, 1or other means; and

(II) that—

(aa) publishes a newspaper, book, magazine, or other periodical;

(bb) operates a radio or television broadcast station, network, cable system, or satellite carrier, or a channel or programming service for any such station, network, system, or carrier;

(cc) operates a programming service; or

(dd) operates a news agency or wire service;

In section 10(2)(B), strike ‘‘and’’ at the end.

In section 10(2)(C), strike the period at the end and insert ‘‘; and’’.

In section 10(2), add at the end the following:

(D) does not include an individual who gathers or disseminates the protected information sought to be compelled anonymously or under a pseudonym.
---
Short version - citizen journalists like O'Keefe & Giles, and anonymous bloggers who like to practice some degree of OPSEC - can find themselves targets.

Perhaps I should change my legal name to Format C:.

Their attempt at using the law to criminalize citizens' first amendment rights not only violates their oaths of office, will be rendered unconstitutional, and is making leftists do even more mental gymnastics than usual to assert that Feinstein and Durbin really aren't statist thugs - but this law, the attempt to make it, and the intent with it is a violation of 18 USC 242. (It just so happens to be my favorite statute.)

Manbearpig out of the bag - I'm super serial!

For those late to the party, the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia was hacked a few days ago by some unknown Russians. A large datadump hit the internet very soon after, which included some 60mb composed mostly of text files - including a huge number of emails between Anthropogenic Global Warming proponent "scientists". Many of the emails between the "scientists" were instructions and suggestions to other scientists to hide or otherwise obfuscate data, outright lie, delete dissenting information, and paint an all-around picture of AGW proponents as simply manufacturing data to support their frenetic quest.

Many snippets of the emails with links and summaries here:

http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2009/11/20/climate-cuttings-33.html

Often referenced in the East Anglia emails and data is Michael Mann. Michael Mann is the individual responsible for the so-called "hockey stick" graph used in Al Gore's propaganda film "An Inconvenient Truth".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hockey_stick_controversy

Which, naturally, was in large part fabricated.

Among the complaints and concerns were that the data (much involving tree ring samples) was not shared or objectively reviewed. No one outside the priesthood of global warming was allowed access to the data, and heretics were actively squelched. Furthermore, their efforts at doing real research were stymied as the criterion for "peer review" were modified.

The short version: you need to be peer-reviewed to be viewed as a reputable scientist. So in order to prevent reputable arguments against global warming canon, heretics were simply denied peer review. Ta-da! No more "reputable" scientists coming out against global warming... even though some 35,000 have signed petitions against it.

See how easy it is to make it look settled when you simply control the data?
From the AGW site: More specifically, 97% of climate scientists actively publishing climate papers endorse the consensus position.

With no recognition from the church of global warming, dissenters were all heretics spouting apocrypha. And of course, as the data is shown to be manufactured, it's very easy to dispute.

Now I'll do it:


All scientists are opponents of anthropogenic global warming. And in order for any counterclaim to be reputable and worthy of consideration by science, you'll have to be published in a peer-reviewed professional blog. Namely this one. See how easy it is to manufacture consensus?

The myriad of individuals showing up in the datadump also get more interesting as time goes by:

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/199741.php

Remember him?

--

All of this would be simply entertaining academic infighting were it mathematicians bickering over solving Fermat's Theorem.

But how it applies to all of us out here in the non-academic world is that right now there are international discussions about Cap & Trade and Carbon Tax. The idea behind those is that governments regulate the amount of carbon emissions that individuals can put out. That's how much you breathe, how much you burn, how much your business emits. If you accept the fallacy that carbon dioxide is a bad thing, it starts to sound like a good idea.

Some of the facts are that carbon dioxide levels rise after temperature increases. And plants need it to breathe.

The sun influences global temperatures much more than does the amount of CO2 that humans put into the atmosphere, and the recent solar cycles have been of notice to both those who follow climate (and aren't blinded by their orthodox theology) and those who are concerned about the solar ebb for the last few years.

But the most important words were two paragraphs ago: governments regulate.

The idea is that governments must control the amount of CO2 produced. AGW theory supposes that all CO2 is bad, and therefore must be controlled. This gives governments a new control mechanism, all "for our own good." It is one where if governments don't begin to act in a dictatorial fashion, we will all die, and thus those powerful men in government know best for us, and they know they must act - even against us - for we are too stupid to see the truth that they must lead us.

Reread genocidal maniac Holdren's email. I'll wait.

AGW theory creates a zero-sum game for the world, and creates a system by which global government, whether through treaties or outright, is created in order to "save the world". The do-gooder intentions of those masters of men then becomes to "save us" from their fabricated crisis. In order to not have great sections of the world simply revolt - i.e. developing nations - they establish global carbon credits, by which poorer developing nations are simply paid to halt their development. They're given unearned riches and wealth simply for being poor, while their development of their people is retarded, but certainly rewarded for their rulers.

The global carbon credit market will also benefit those businesses (like GE), who are the first in bed with government. This is why GE has been conducting such propaganda scams as "Green Week" on NBC, and why GE is now producing the CFL light bulbs (in China, of course) that the US govt. has mandated for us.

Were this about saving the environment, everyone would get behind it. Why? Because it's good sense. If it weren't about handing over govt. power, people would go out of their way to do more environmentally friendly activities in their daily lives - people bend over backwards to recycle.

(It is economical and ecologically friendly in the case of metals, but that's about it.)

People want more fuel-efficient cars because it's cheaper. Everyone wants more energy-efficient homes because they cost less in the long run. Everyone wants to pay less and use less (it leaves more for other things), and a lot of people are willing to go the extra mile to keep Iron Eyes Cody from crying (even if he wasn't a Native American and was a fraud).

If the science were actually discussed (rather than hushed up) and we didn't simply tolerate the lie spouted by modern-day orthodox druids who advocate Malthusian exterminations, forced abortions, and sterilization to "save the planet", and we didn't put up with the propaganda spouted by a company that serves to make millions from our tax dollars, this would be an important issue. Right now, it's an eggregious example of science, government, and business collaborating to force things upon not only citizens of the US, but of the entire world.

-

For one parallel example, right now, we put up with things like ethanol, which cost 3 gallons of petrochemicals to produce 4 gallons of ethanol, plus the added economic and environmental cost of further refinement and production, at a return of 10% or less gas mileage and with added damage to automotive components. Thus, it destroys cars which take more economic and environmental assets to maintain, and it pollutes at a higher rate due to the loss of gas mileage. There's also the loss of food production, both in sweet corn and in feed corn.

The local government stooges benefit by reelection by bribing their constituents at the expense of the nation, the constituents and their businesses in bed with the govt benefit from having the force of government behind the government mandated sale of their product, and environmentalists get to claim victory and advance politically, even though they do so detrimentally to the planet. The winners are the conspirators. The losers are everyone else.

2000 Words

"You guys make a pretty good photo op," the president said.

Hero of the Day

Give 'er one! Kill!



From the AP.

The gunman was struck four times by a civilian police officer who also was wounded herself. Authorities said Kimberly Munley fired on the suspect just three minutes after the gunfire began, and base officials said her efforts ended the crisis. Munley was recovering Friday at a hospital and was in stable condition.

"It was an amazing and aggressive performance by this police officer," Cone said.

Reminds me quite a bit of Jeanne Assam at the New Life Church shooting in Colorado.

I already liked Penn Jillette's idea of arming every woman in the US (because women don't cause violent crime). Now I like it even more.

Obviously Officer Munley knows what makes the grass grow.

Putting rounds on target, she almost made Major Maliki Nadal Hasan a good jihadi.

Reverend Wright: A Shaper of Obama

Here is a good reason why Americans need to question everything about their federal government. The following are a collection of Reverend Wright's comments from a speech he gave at the Monthly Review. Here we go:

"This magazine unflinchingly has tackled the tough issues from McCarthyism to militarism, from the Chinese revolution through the Canadian revolution to the Cuban revolution, from the lies told by United States presidents to the lies told by the United States media. We celebrate tonight six decades of dedicated service."

The Monthly Review is a socialist magazine here's the link.
I guess progressives make sure to celebrate six decades of service for all socialist endeavors see:

Wait there's more:

"You stayed up front. Your starting point is, quote, no nonsense Marxism, unquote. But you dispel all the negative images we have been programmed to conjure up with just the mention of that word "Socialism" or "Marxism."

Great so we have a news publication that pushes Marxism, I have no problem with free speech but we need to remember who this guy preached to for 20 years. If you need a reminder Rev. Wright preached to the Obama family for 20 years.

More Rev. Wright:

"Grateful for the opportunity to bring you a word of Thanksgiving from those who don't ordinarily get a hearing unless they go along with the program, sing in tune with whatever is the popular tune and stay in lockstep with the political pundits who tell us what is politically correct, what is permissible and what will be tolerated from a person of color in this land, the land of the greed and the home of the brave excuse me, the land of the greed and home of the slave."

If he feels this way he's free to leave the country. I certainly won't keep him here if he hates America so much. America has always been about making your own mark and doing whatever it is that makes you happy. We have the unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Unfortunately, the pursuit of happiness doesn't always result in happiness and I, for one, can attest to the fact.

More from the Reverend:

"For the people. My work with liberation theology, with Latin American theologians, with the Black Theology Project and what the Cuban Council of Churches taught me 30 years ago the importance of Marx and the Marxist analysis of the sociology's of the vulnerable and the oppressed who were trying desperately to break free of the political economies undergirded by this country that were choking them and cutting off any hope of a possible future where all of the people would benefit. My exposure to the FMLN in El Salvador, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and my presence at the 15th Jamahiriya in Libya taught me what I have read in the pages of the Monthly Review which is as Joshua Stanton says, though we need not always agree with one another, we must do the work necessary to at least understand one another.

Only in America can we not always agree with each other yet still have the freedom to do so. Try making your ideas known in Communist China, or in Cuba and see where it gets you. Most likely in prison or shot I would think. All those places Rev. Wright mentions try making your opinion known there. I would also like to see him show me a model of a Marxist Utopia. It doesn't exist nor can it exist. Marxism is about control, it suppresses free thinking, the economy, and religion.

A utopia is funded upon the idea that every person can be the same. When I say same I mean have the same interest, the same aptitude, the same emotional response, the same belief, the and same religion. A common sense, rational person can tell you this can never be. People are different. We all have different interest, beliefs, emotional responses, mental aptitudes and different religions. The Founding Fathers knew this to be the case. That is why they made America to be a land of opportunity. It might not be possible for us all to be a Bill Gates, however, that one Bill Gates gives the American economy thousands of jobs and provides unlimited services to the American population as a whole.

The fact is Reverend Wright doesn't espouse the views of the Founding Father's. He wants to handcuff the many so that the needs of the few are met. His policies are designed to destroy this country's greatness and turn us all into wards of the all powerful state. A member of his congregation for 20 years now sits in the Oval Office as President of the United States. Through our Czar Wars articles you have seen first hand what type of people our president has surrounded himself with in his administration. Now you have had a more in depth look at a man who helped shaped the views of President Barrack Hussein Obama.

What will you do now America. Today votes are being cast across the nation. Whose side are you on? The Founding Fathers or on the side of the totalitarian progressives?

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Czar Wars Episode VI: Return of the Eugenicists

Well-known blogger Zombie has done a better review of this man than anyone around, and first I must give acknowledgment to that blogger (who is deep behind radical lines in San Fran):

http://zombietime.com/john_holdren/

Direct quote from John Holdren's book "Ecoscience" pg 837:

To date, there has been no serious attempt in Western countries to use laws to control excessive population growth, although there exists ample authority under which population growth could be regulated. For example, under the United States Constitution, effective population-control programs could be enacted under the clauses that empower Congress to appropriate funds to provide for the general welfare and to regulate commerce, or under the equal-protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Such laws constitutionally could be very broad. Indeed, it has been concluded that compulsory population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution if the population crisis became sufficiently severe to endanger the society. Few today consider the situation in the United States serious enough to justify compulsion, however.


Note also that the "usual suspects" are utilized by leftists here. The general welfare and interstate commerce clauses are cited, as well as the 14th Amendment. They're often used as end-runs around the Constitution.

The general welfare clause is limited by the enumerated powers that follow - otherwise the Constitution would just say "govt. can do whatever means well".

The interstate commerce clause, was intended to allow the federal govt. to prevent individual states from interfering with commerce. For example, if a good was being sold and shipped from Georgia to North Carolina and South Carolina chose to tax it along the way, the federal govt. could step in to ensure that commerce was protected.

I fail to see how "equal protection" includes forced abortions and sterilization, but I'm not a liberal advocating what amounts to genocide to "save the planet".

From page 838:
Individual rights. Individual rights must be balanced against the power of the government to control human reproduction. Some people—respected legislators, judges, and lawyers included—have viewed the right to have children as a fundamental and inalienable right. Yet neither the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution mentions a right to reproduce. Nor does the UN Charter describe such a right, although a resolution of the United Nations affirms the "right responsibly to choose" the number and spacing of children (our emphasis).

"Our emphasis" is Holdren & Ehrlich's.

Consider that first sentence: "Individual rights must be balanced against the power of the government to control human reproduction." Really?

The argument for abortion is that it's a woman's right to her own body. The argument against is that the fetus is a human life, and therefore deserving of equal protection under the law.

The argument here is that the woman has no right to her own body against the govt's power to murder its citizens, and the fetus has no right to exist against the power of the govt.

For once, pro-choicers and pro-lifers should have something to fundamentally agree on.

More from 838:

It is often argued that the right to have children is so personal that the government should not regulate it. In an ideal society, no doubt the state should leave family size and composition solely to the desires of the parents. In today's world, however, the number of children in a family is a matter of profound public concern. The law regulates other highly personal matters. For example, no one may lawfully have more than one spouse at a time. Why should the law not be able to prevent a person from having more than two children?

There's quite a bit more at Zombie's blog. I direct you readers to read it there - as s/he went to the trouble of scanning pages of the book to show you exactly what was written. You can look at it in context, and read full quotes.

The man spent a lot of time seriously deliberating how to get around the Constitution to start sterilizing you and me. We're an overpopulated animal on the planet to him.

Is this the kind of man you want as the advisor and regulator on science policy? Because he's the Science Czar you have.

Much like Levar Burton on Reading Rainbow would say: "Don't take my word for it."

Another collection of info on John Holdren can be found here, including a video of Holdren at an event advocating zero-growth:

http://www.lonelyconservative.com/2009/09/08/dont-forget-about-radical-science-czar-john-holdren/

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Now, why is all of this terrifying? Well, according to the leftist propaganda site Media Matters, which is funded and supported by major leftist groups, this is all smear and taken out of context.

Except you can go and read it in context. All of it.

The man's written a blueprint of how he thinks - everything from advocating forced sterilization of women to releasing sterilizing chemicals in the water supply to a global regime to mandate the population.

May as well just get these ready:


If any one of us - you, me, JBH, any member of your family, your friends, your boss or your teacher - were to write a 900-page scholarly treatise on how a certain race needed to be exterminated, we'd probably have difficulty getting a government job. If your name were attached to "Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment and Eskimos", we'd be done for. You couldn't advocate extermination of a race. Sure, Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright, who married he and his wife, can say vile things about "the JOOOOOS", and that's okay. But were he to actually write a 900 page book on how the Danes must be sterilized by poisoning their drinking water, he probably would've encountered some difficulty.

John Holdren escapes this by being in academia. Academia is notable for being insulated from the real world, as academics are funded by grants and free money, where all they have to do is talk to earn a living. Their ideas are tossed around, and are mostly meaningless, and they're insulated from the effects of their nonsensical ideas due to being subsidized by alumni and those seeking tax breaks on their grants; and of course by govt. grants that never have any strings attached. Also of note, when discussing something in great detail that doesn't matter one whit, folks will use the phrase "It's all academic anyway" - saying that it's a meaningless discussion with zero effect on reality or decisionmaking.

But when these eerily progressive ideas get out, they rapidly metastasize into something far worse. The "academic" ideas of phrenology and eugenics back in the 1800s and 1900s led to the conclusion that there were "superior races" and led to continued injustice against blacks in the US, who were considered subhuman by "scientists" like John Holdren. These crackpot theories dreamed up by men of letters led to entire schools of racial purity in Europe, and beyond the murder of 6-12 million and a war that killed millions more, there were also the forced abortions and sterilizations of "undesirables."

John Holdren, like many leftist tyrants, believes in equality. All races are equally worthless to him - and he believes in egalitarian misery.

His statements of a shrinking world and Malthusian overpopulation are from the world of a zero-sum mindset. There are only so many resources and they must be divided equally, so says he - to the point that growth cannot be sustained and populations must be culled to manage resources.

Mankind are not deer on a hunting ranch or cows on a feed lot. This ignores the free market, where the individual has limitless capacity to produce and benefit everyone else in the system as well. The only limits on resources available for production (or consumption) are those placed by government.

Forced abortions. Mass sterilization. A "Planetary Regime" with the power of life and death over American citizens. The tyrannical fantasies of a madman? Or merely the opinions of the person now in control of science policy in the United States? Or both?

Go and read it all.
http://zombietime.com/john_holdren/

---

A while back I got into a discussion with someone over government health care. I was in the midst of reading a lot about government control of people's lives, and rather than bring up how rationing of resources results in poorer care, I mentioned the power aspect of it. You can have "know what's best for you" monsters in charge with government-run health care, and that of itself is terrifying.

We now have one such monster as science czar.

The main problem is one that is endemic on the left - it's a worldview that sees life as a zero-sum game. It sees overpopulation as a problem and children as a punishment -

- and the world as "lifeboat" with fixed resources.

This cynical, cold worldview is one that allows leftist/statist/collectivists to believe that they are best to be in charge because they should distribute the resources. The cynic among them is watching out for himself and putting himself in a position of power, and the do-gooder believes himself above the masses and in need of the indulgences he takes by being in power as necessary for the "greater good". Both of them concur that they are more important than "the masses" and thus they should dictate how the world will run.

But murdering millions is of course, for the greater good - according to such masters of men.

---
Reality check, folks: this shit is real. We have a man who's entirely similar to the mass-murdering supervillains in both Tom Clancy's novel "Rainbow Six", who seek to obliterate humanity (except for themselves) for the good of the planet, and the water-poisoning semi-spoof supervillains of "The Tuxedo".

The difference is that John Holdren is a real person in a real position of power to really impact your life (or the termination thereof) through his mandates. He's already looked for end runs around the rule of law to get away with it so that he can't be punished.

Everyone everywhere who's ever been the victim of this kind of madman has said "it can't happen here". Then when it happens, "there's nothing we can do about it."

Spread the word. Raise your voice. Get this man and all his enablers, supporters, and his appointers removed from any office of power.

I don't want to be saying "I told you so" and wandering the wasteland looking for gasoline for my Pursuit Special.

Czar Wars Episode 5: An Overabundance of Mao (not the condiment)

There seems to be a lot of "Mao" in the air recently in Washington D.C. Between Anita Dunn, the White House Communications Director and the "Manufacturing Czar," Ron Bloom, one would almost think the Obama administration would celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Communist China(oh wait, they did).

Anita Dunn's proclamation came in a speech to a group of high school seniors, "...two of my favorite political philosophers, Mao Zedong and Mother Teresa. See for yourself below:

She goes on to say that he is one of the two people she turns to most. She uses both Mao and Mother Teresea both being advocates of being able to make choices for one's self. Mao Zedong was a demagogue who enforced his views at the barrel of a gun (more on that later) and didn't give a whole lot of choice to his opponents politically. So, to use him as a proponent of having individual choice doesn't make a lot of sense.

It gets better....

Ron Bloom, the "Manufacturing Czar" is on the record for saying things like:

"Generally speaking we get the joke. We know that the free market is nonsense."

and things like:

"We know this is largely about power, that it's an adults only, no limit game. We kind of agree with Mao that political power comes largely from the barrel of a gun. And we get it that if you want a friend, you should get a dog."

So, for our beloved manufacturing czar (where's the jobs by the way) political power is enforced by the barrel of a gun, just like Chairman Mao used to do. If you think you can't believe what your seeing watch here:

It would see to me and to most others that there is a "Mao" infatuation at the White House. Well what have they shown us so far? They have shown us it is alright to get involved in the private sector by nationalizing banks, General Motors, Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae, by attacking dissent by attempting to alienate Fox news. Here is what makes it OK to do all of these things, its their choice, just like it was Mao's choice. Its their choice to politically strong arm corporations, news services and the citizens of the United States, and if necessary, according to the manufacturing czar they will use the barrel of a gun to do it just like their hero, Mao Zedong did. They don't believe in the individualism and personal freedom that was set into the Constitution written by Founding Fathers, they believe it is the supremacy and power of the federal government to regulate and provide for the citizenry that matters. To them government "choice" is the imperative, not your individual freedoms.

If the thought, "What would Mao do?" is the mindset at the White House it is going to be a rough 3 more years. Mao style politics have the FCC working on regulating the Internet and reimposing a newer, stricter version of the fairness doctrine or even raising the possibility of bringing the news media under federal control (see Czar Wars Episode 2, they sure wish that would happen).
Mao style politics have Fox News under the gun politically because they air news stories that are not commensurate with the agenda of the Maoist-in-Chief. Mao style politics have tremendous amounts of political pressure falling on other news services to not disseminate news stories that originate with Fox News. Mao style politics are responsible for grass roots, pro-constitution organizations being labeled as racist, astorturf, birthers, and tenthers.

As a nation and free people we need to ask, "What would the Founding Fathers do?" We need to do those things, we need to get back to the basics of the constitution, return the federal government back to its constitutional limits, elect people of integrity and honor to office, and rediscover our moral compass. Only then can we can America back on its feet and reestablish ourselves and the leader of the world.

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Czar Wars Episode 3: Cass Sunstein: Regulatory Czar

Image via Wikipedia

Our most daunting task to date is going to be giving you all the information when it comes to Mr. Cass Sunstein, one of the few "Czars" who has been confirmed by the senate. From proposing a 2nd bill of rights to advocating that our pets are entitled to representation, Mr. Sunstein offers us a look of what it means to truly be out of touch with reality.

Mr. Sunstein is a "constitutional" (I use the term loosely) lawyer. He is on record for the following statements made either in print or in the media:

On terminal patients: "the state owns the rights to body parts of people who are dead or in certain hopeless conditions, and it can remove their organs without asking anyone's permission.... Though it may sound grotesque, routine removal is not impossible to defend.... In theory, it would save lives, and it would do so without intruding on anyone who has any prospect for life."

My question is since when does anything having to do with my body belong to the state? If I want to be a donor that is all fine and good, after I am dead take what you need. If I am still breathing hands off the scalpel and keep trying to save my life.

Sunstein is also on record for saying things like:

"(the) socialist movement (never took hold because of the)...."smaller and weaker political left or lack of enthusiasm for redistributive programs."

No kidding this is America.

"If the United States agrees to participate in a climate change agreement on terms that are not in the nation's interest, but that help the world as a whole, there would be no reason for complaint, certainly if such participation is more helpful to poor nations than conventional foreign-aid alternatives."

Again this is America we don't believe in this type of thinking. Any charity we give comes from donations to non-profits or volunteering our time.

Sunstein also believes:

"The absence of a European-style social welfare state is certainly connected with the widespread perception among the white majority that the relevant programs would disproportionately benefit African Americans (and more recently Hispanics)...."

So every white man or woman out there is a racist and that is why we do not want socialism? Are you serious? He also lends support to communism by stating:

"During the Cold War, the debate about [social welfare] guarantees took the form of pervasive disagreement between the United States and its communist adversaries. Americans emphasized the importance of civil and political liberties, above all free speech and freedom of religion, while communist nations stressed the right to a job, health care, and a social minimum.... I think this debate was unhelpful; it is most plausible to see the two sets of rights as mutually reinforcing, not antagonistic."

Really, so how do we pay enough taxes to ensure everyone has a home, a job, health care, a decent wage? Also the Soviets weren't big on free speech nor religion because they wanted to replace religion that involves the soul with a religion that involves the state, and to accomplish that they could not afford to have people professing their beliefs freely so they also heavily suppressed freedom of speech.

Sunstein has also proposed a 2nd Bill of rights which entitles the following:

"The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation" -- Ok. What if I don't have the proper skill set or intelligence to be of use?

"The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation." -- Define adequate are we talking Latrell Sprewell ( the Minnesota Timberwolves offered Sprewell a 3-year, $21 million contract extension, substantially less than what his then-current contract paid him. Insulted, he publicly vented his outrage, declaring, "I have a family to feed.") adequate? Or are we talking Jed Clampett before he discovered oil?

"The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living." -- Again please define "decent living" are we talking barely surviving or living in style? Who do we fund it?

"The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad." -- In the free market business rise and fall based on the decisions of that leadership. We have no business leveling the playing field. If a person can corner the market by supplying a better product at a cheaper price, more power to him.

"The right of every family to a decent home." -- Aren't we in trouble from this right now? Isn't the federal government in charge of making loans through Freddie and Fannie? --Wasn't that part of Barney Frank's progressive agenda?

"The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health." -- Heath care is a service, it is not a right. If you can't afford it, consider changing your life style or by getting a better job.

"The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment." -- What does this entail? Don't we already have Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security? Does it mean that I have the right to protection from defecating on myself when I am 100 years old?

"The right to a good education." -- This one is a tough one to argue but in this day and age there are already several programs that help people go to university and get a degree. Does it really need to be legislated?

So after taking all of that in it is fairly clear that government is supposed to control and decide all the issues of your life. Do you trust them to do a good job if the 2nd Bill of Rights gets implemented? I don't.

Cass also has interesting views on abortion like:

"I have argued that the Constitution ... forbids government from refusing to pay the expenses of abortion in cases of rape or incest, at least if government pays for childbirth in such cases.... There would be no tension with the establishment clause if people with religious or other objections were forced to pay for that procedure (abortion). Indeed, taxpayers are often forced to pay for things – national defense, welfare, certain forms of art, and others – to which they have powerful moral and even religious objections."

So, not only does he espouse federal funding of murdering unborn children but he expects the average citizen to be forced to help pay for it.

He is also a fan of dismantling free speech:

"purely commercial (television) stations (should) provide financial subsidies to public television or to commercial stations that agree to provide less profitable but high-quality programming.... worthwhile to consider more dramatic approaches as well."

Like:

"compulsory public-affairs programming, right of reply, content review by nonpartisan experts or guidelines to encourage attention to public issues and diversity of view.... It seems quite possible that a law that contained regulatory remedies would promote rather than undermine the 'freedom of speech,'

Really, so Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and other would be forced to present "both" sides of the issue or be forced off the air. If they chose to comply and couldn't find an "opposing" viewpoint then they would be unable to air the story or segment. How do you like that for freedom of speech?

Last and possibly the most interesting is his views on animals and their "interest:"

"If we focus on suffering, as I believe that we should, it is not necessarily impermissible to kill animals and use them for food; but it is entirely impermissible to be indifferent to their interests while they are alive. So too for other animals in farms, even or perhaps especially if they are being used for the benefit of human beings."

While I have never advocated the mistreatment of animals do they deserve legal representation? Sunstein thinks so:

“We could even grant animals a right to bring suit without insisting that animals are
persons, or that they are not property. A state could certainly confer rights on a pristine area, or a painting, and allow people to bring suit on its behalf, without therefore saying that that area and that painting may not be owned. It might, in these circumstances, seem puzzling that so many people are focusing on the question of whether animals are property. We could retain the idea of property but also give animals far more protection against injury or neglect of their interests.”

Wow, I mean wow, really? So how would my dog, if she became distraught because I only give her a cup of dry dog food instead of a can of "wet" dog food retain that lawyer?

If your interested in finding out more on Cass Sunstein here is a PDF file full of quotes.

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Czars Wars Episode 2: Mark Lloyd, FCC Diversity Czar

Mark Lloyd, Diversity Czar. Here is some rhetoric from Mr. Lloyd from the National Conference on Media Reform in 2008:


So we have a "diversity" Czar who thinks Hugo Chavez is a great guy, and thinks that it is great that Chavez has a strangle hold on the news media within Venezuela. Mr. Lloyd makes it clear that he supports an avowed communist's policies towards the news media.

Mr. Lloyd also has several connections throughout the United States in the academia and through the organization The Free Press. One of which is Robert McChesney, a self avowed Marxist, according to the Glenn Beck Program. Mr. McChesney's website summary says:

" From 2000 to 2004 he served as co-editor of Monthly Review — www.monthlyreview.org — the independent socialist magazine (my emphasis) founded by Paul Sweezy and Leo Huberman in 1949."

Mr. McChesney also is a co-founder of Freepress, a organization dedicated to:

"...working to foster public policies that promote media diversity, strengthen laws and regulations to support minority ownership, eliminate institutional biases in media content, and ensure fair and accurate representation for all communities."

Last I checked anyone with enough capital can start their own news service. I haven't spend any money on the Patriot Perspective and I have close to 160 followers now as a result of expanding this blog to free community services such as Twitter and Facebook. One of these days, if I and my contributors feel as if it would be worth it we may try to put some capital into this project of ours. The point is opportunities are out there and media tycoons aren't made overnight.

On the Glenn Beck Program, guest Seton Motley has the following to say about Robert McChesney and Mark Lloyd:

"Robert McChesney is an avowed Marxist. So when he founded an organization (The Free Press) predicated on tenets regarding Marxism and then they start having large influence and holding great sway in the development of policy for the Obama administration, I believe one should care about what McChesney has to say."

He goes on to say:

"McChesney has a very distorted view of the first amendment. He views the media marketplace in the same way that Mark Lloyd, the chief diversity officer... at the FCC views the media marketplace, meaning he doesn't like any private ownership of media. His quote with regard to the First Amendment is a little disturbing. To the extent commercial activities are given First Amendment protection, it makes the rule of capitalism look increasingly off in the political debate and government regulation. In my view progressives need to stake out a "Democratic," remember how Lloyd used "Democratic" to describe Chavez's revolution interpretation of the First Amendment and do direct battle with the Orwellian implications of the ACLU's commercialized First Amendment. So when you are to the left of the ACLU, how far from the path have you strayed?

Good question I think. Motley goes on to explain that:

"Every time they say Democratic, think Marxist because that's what they mean.... don't forget, at the FCC when Commissioner Michael Copps was acting chairman awaiting the confirmation of Genachowski, he started a notice of inquiry which is the first step in a notice of rule making at the FCC.... They want to look at top to bottom the business of radio and television and print journalism and how the government can probably play a greater role in making it into our "Democratic" process.

So the process has started it seems. Beck then makes a comment that the FCC is now looking into making regulations to protect people from "unscrupulous bloggers" Motley replies:

"Yes, that's the view that McChesney has, that Mark Lloyd has, that all of these people have, that you can't decide for yourself. You can't look at the landscape and pick and choose what you believe, what you think, what you see as true. They're going to do the choosing for you. And that's where when you start regulating bloggers, your next step is net neutrality then your next step is regulate the entire Internet...."

So we have Mark Lloyd (Diversity Czar, Hugo Chavez sympathizer), Robert McChesney (Free Press co-founder and former Marxist nmagazine editor) and Mark Lloyd's boss, Julius Genachowski (employs former free press Jen Howard as his press secretary and also a Hugo Chavez sympathizer) favor shutting down and breaking up several news agencies, independent journalist and bloggers in the name of diversity.

Never before in the history of the world has news been more plentiful. Thanks to the Internet, television, radio and printed publications a person can virtually have whatever information they are looking for at a moments notice. The current administration wants to put a strangle hold on information by nationalizing the news media outlets of the country by making them more diverse, and by diverse they mean anything that does not agree with their agenda.

As Americans, it is our duty to write, email, and visit your congressional representatives and all of your elected officials. The type of people exposed above have no business trying, "to fundamentally change America." Yet that is exactly what we are allowing them to do.

For more on Mark Lloyd use our custom google search engine.

A Black Man's Conservative Manifesto: Frederick Douglass

Many times one is asked to take historical literature and put it in a modern context in how it applies today. One could argue that, if alive today, Frederick Douglass would be a conservative, leaning toward more liberties and less government tyrannies. The fighting spirit and frustration that Frederick Douglass felt lives on today and is probably best summed up in his words:

“I saw nothing without seeing it, I heard nothing without hearing it, and felt nothing without feeling it. It looked from every star, it smiled in every calm, breathed in every wind, and moved in every storm (Douglass).”

There are many passionate American citizens who feel this way. They watch, read, and discuss politics with such passion and search for resolve in what they stand against.

When Douglass wrote Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, he was “between twenty-seven and twenty-eight years old.” This was an estimate because he was never given the luxury that one might take for granted - knowing his birth date. It is interesting because his age is similar to many young Americans now who are making their names heard in society and the work force. Given the circumstances Douglass was dealt, he was still able to get on the path of productiveness at a similar age to other young adults in America back then.

An imposing question one could ask is: if Frederick Douglass was alive today he would resent the class-warfare that has spurred debates? In his narrative, he wrote about being a mulatto child of a slave owner and that “the master is frequently compelled to sell this class of his slaves out of deference to the feelings of his white wife.” Now clearly this is in the context of selling children for slaves; but is there any validity that our current administration resents a certain class of people based on their family and social connections? President Obama’s preacher and mentor have made tirades towards America and white people in his sermons (Wright). Also, in President Obama’s book he stated “I knew as well that traveling down the road to self-respect my own white blood would never recede… (Obama)”

Another modern correlation, and the only real way one could relate, may be with the paradox of having an unfit master. Where as one would not want to have a master at all but a master who is incompetent could be even worse. Frederick Douglass encountered a slave holder that he described as;

“His airs, words, and actions, were the airs, words, and actions of born slave-holders, and, being assumed, were awkward enough. He was not even a good imitator. He possessed all the disposition to deceive, but wanted the power. Having no resources within himself, he was compelled to be the copyist of many, and being such, he was forever the victim of inconsistency; and of consequence he was an object of contempt (Douglass).”

Many people feel this way about the current politicians and administration that has been inconsistent and poor imitators of a leader. The owner of Douglass marrying into the situation of owning slaves had similar inexperience to a senator who served barely a year in office becoming president.

Another source of Frederick Douglass’s contempt was the hypocrisy of the Southern slaveholders. They used religion as a platform and justification for many of the horrible things they did. Assuming that Frederick Douglass was true to his creed one would be hard impressed to imagine him approving of “In God We Trust” removed from silver dollar coins. Yes, people who lean to the left are religious, but conservation of religion is usually more of a right-wing stance.

Many Americans hoped that the President’s stance on being a Christian would make him more morally sensitive to religious issues. This is just like Frederick Douglass, who “hope(d) that his conversion would lead him to emancipate his slaves, and that, if he did not do this, it would, at any rate, make him more kind and humane (Douglass).” In both cases one could argue that there is not enough Christian conservatism to meet the liking of Frederick Douglass.

Many people feel that politicians marginalize minorities into categories and usually get frustrated when minorities step outside those lines. Recently the leader of the Black Chamber of Commerce spoke out against Senator Barbara Boxer and said “She loves poor black people in their place (Alford).” In comparison, Frederick Douglass spoke of his master’s ideology towards slaves when he said,

"If you teach that nigger [speaking of myself (Douglas)] how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy (Douglass)."

One could say this is a prime example of some politicians’ mindsets when they assume they know what is best for the people they represent. The marginalizing lies in that when a black person or Hispanic has more conservative ideals, they are often chastised and challenged by other minorities in their communities. In comparison, Alford was commenting on Senator Barbara Boxer’s attempt to pit NCAAP against the Black Chamber of Commerce and how it was like in the south white plantation owners would pit one black preacher against the other (Alford).

The comparisons go on and on because under a socialist country, which is where many believe the United States is headed, it needs its citizens to be reliant on the government to work properly, much as a slave owner needs the slaves to rely on him or her. There are many people that resist the tyranny that can take away certain liberties and freedoms. The quote from Douglass that says, “ In learning to read, I owe almost as much to the bitter opposition of my master, as to the kindly aid of my mistress (Douglass),” Could be a metaphor for Americans who resist ruling powers, but use it’s loopholes of law as its “mistress of aid.”

Douglass envied other slaves who did not have the knowledge of the persecution of which the establishment of slavery was made. He wished at times that he did not know all that he knew because it consumed him. In this envy he still felt it upon himself to spread the knowledge of the truth because it was important that other slaves knew of the tyranny involved.

Many people under the George W. Bush administration felt purpose against the administration and used their voice and stood together to make a change. Americans voted on a new ruler but discovered that there was not more freedom - and some think less freedom. The bickering between Republicans and Democrats is similar to two slaves debating which slave master is better. Douglass realized that the real issue was the establishment of slavery as some Americans believe that government is becoming an establishment of tyranny.

The spirit and emotion that Douglass portrayed is truly inspiring to read. Douglass was a proud man, he knew the best master is being ones “own master (Douglass).” It is hard to fathom that Douglass would tolerate being overly taxed when he showed outrage in this passage from his book:

“I was compelled to deliver every cent of that money to Master Hugh. And why? Not because he earned it,--not because he had any hand in earning it,--not because I owed it to him,--nor because he possessed the slightest shadow of a right to it; but solely because he had the power to compel me to give it up (Douglass).”

Ultimately, perhaps all Americans will, sooner or later, value hard work and the liberty and freedom that is bestowed upon the individual. Probably no one put it better than Frederick Douglas himself:

“Hard work for me; but I went at it with a glad heart and a willing hand. I was now my own master. It was a happy moment, the rapture of which can be understood only by those who have been slaves. It was the first work, the reward of which was to be entirely my own. There was no Master Hugh standing ready, the moment I earned the money, to rob me of it. I worked that day with a pleasure I had never before experienced.”

Works Cited

Alford, Harry. The Factor with Bill O'Reily Bill O'reily. 20 July 2009.

Douglass, Fredrick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. NY: The Anti-Slavery Office, 1845.

Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father. New York: Random House, 2004.

Wright, Reverend. Chicago, 5 January 2006.