Blog @ MoreWhat.com

On the Nomination (Confirmation of Cass R. Sunstein, of MA, to be Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget )

The announcement above is from the US Senate and relates to, among other things, the popular discussion of President Obama and his appointment of ‘czars’ and other staff to his administration. No doubt as much dismissal of the process is uttered by liberal sources as concern about the process is voiced by the loyal opposition. So it all becomes a little silly. Or is it? Below is what appears to be an example of trying to dismiss the concern on the czar/appointee thing.

Get This Rat a Lawyer!

Glenn Beck says Cass Sunstein wants to give animals the right to sue humans. Really?
By Christopher Beam
Posted Monday, Sept. 14, 2009, at 8:49 PM ET

But, if you believe Fox News host Glenn Beck, it could happen here too.

Glenn Beck may be regarded as flamboyant by some critics or worse by left-leaning analysis. But he wasn’t wrong on the ACORN story was he? And he is correct on many things which means this blog is only leaving the door open in case he has been wrong on something. But when it comes to Cass Sunstein, the czar epidemic and the liberal response there is at least one evaluation of Mr Sunstein which is disturbing.

If Slate wants to downplay criticism of the Sunstein appointment it might be best to leave the whole thing alone. Even in their article referenced above they essentially agree that Sunstein believes animals have legal rights. And that leaves the door open for some really bizarre legal battles based on human history. Things could get out of hand considering humans EAT animals. Is there a need to say anymore on that topic?

What is of more concern regarding Cass Sunstein is the longer list of his publishing resume’. Of note is a book entitled, ‘ The Bill of Rights and the Modern State’, co-editor with Geoffey R. Stone and Richard A. Epstein, (University of Chicago Press 1992). One of Sunstein’s contributions to the book quotes Alexander Meiklejohn.

Meiklejohn is known as an advocate of first-amendment freedoms and was a member of the National Committee of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Meiklejohn was selected by John F. Kennedy to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was presented by Lyndon B. Johnson shortly after Kennedy’s death.

Sunstein’s quote of Meiklejohn is presented below.

The radio as it now operates among us is not free. Nor is it entitled to the protection of the First Amendment. It is not engaged in the task of enlarging and enriching human communication. It is engaged in making money. And the First Amendment does not intend to guarantee men freedom to say what some private interest pays them to say for its own advantage.

The radio, as we now have it, is not cultivating those qualities of taste, of reasoned judgment, of integrity, of loyalty, of mutual understanding upon which the enterprise of self-government depends. It corrupts both our morals and our intelligence.

Sunstein proposes ‘a New Deal with respect to speech’, freedom of speech, that is. You know, the First Amendment. For those of you concerned about the Fairness Doctrine and the liberal agenda to shutdown talk radio. You’re not crazy. Here’s what Sunstein says.

It applies much of the reasoning of the New Deal attack on the common law to current questions of First Amendment law. Such an approach would produce significant changed in existing understandings of the nature of the free speech guarantee. It would call for a large scale revision in our view of when a law ‘abridges’ the freedom of speech. At a minimum, it would insist that many imaginable democratic interferences with the autonomy of broadcasters or newspapers are not ‘abridgments’ at all.

And more of what the left may care to ignore on any discussion of Cass Sunstein is the remainder of his publishing resume’ which includes the following selections:

The Second Bill of Rights: Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Unfinished Revolution and Why We Need It More Than Ever, (Basic Books 2006)

The Partial Constitution, (Harvard University Press 1993)

Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech, (The Free Press 1993)

Free Markets and Social Justice, (2002)

The Cost-Benefit State, (American Bar Association 2002)

Radicals in Robes: Why Extreme Right-Wing Courts Are Wrong for America (Basic Books 2005)

After the Rights Revolution: Preconceiving the Regulatory State, (Harvard University Press 1990)

(end of list)

And the left would also like to dismiss that vast right wing conspiracy focused on the free speech threat of the Fairness Doctrine. Conservatives are more than a little concerned the current liberal majority has some sinister plans in mind that include destroying free speech and the remainder of the founding documents. Maybe all that talk of socialism is not so far fetched after all. Of course this blog never thought it was in the first place. The information above certainly supports that notion. But those of us who do not support the liberal agenda are labeled racists or Nazis or some other pejorative. Thanks libs.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

A relevant discussion of the 2008 US Prresidential election can draw comparisons from a recently published book. As with any opinions on history there is plenty of room to debate. But a few excerpts from the book suggest 1959 also had much in common with 2008 in terms of politics. The following certainly disagrees with popular notions that the ‘hippie’ generation is responsible for the turbulent sixties.

(from the report below)
But it wasn’t the Baby Boomers, born after World War Two, who lit the fuse, Kaplan says. “It was a people who grew up through the Depression and World War Two, and who were dissatisfied with the state of things.” They had expected things would change after the war, he notes, and they didn’t.

And then the JFK election success can be compared to that of BHO.

For Kaplan, the “New Frontier” Kennedy meant was the 1960s. “It was the future; it was tomorrow. So there was this sense of ’something is new over the horizon’ and there was this appetite for it.”

Learning from history or not the thought of being doomed to repeat it comes to mind. It might be fair to characterize the author of the book as left-leaning or liberal based on his resume’. But at least in this case he provides an interesting analysis solely based on the report presented here.

In thinking about a comparison between JFK and BHO that was initiated by the fawning liberal crowd during the 2008 election the following piece may be of interest. Particular attention should be paid to the ‘letter’ portion. Media Malpractice: Tom Brokaw’s World Implodes

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Most Americans associate seismic cultural upheavals - like women’s liberation and rock ‘n roll - with the 1960s. But a new book asserts that those changes were actually rooted in the supposedly drab 1950s, and by end of that decade, they had come to a head.

Even half a century after its release, Miles Davis’ 1959 album, Kind of Blue, retains a whiff of the avant-garde. By ignoring the classic scales of jazz, the renowned trumpeter expressed the daring experimentalism that suffused many areas of life that year in areas as diverse as art, politics, social relationships, and science.

Beginning of space age

“You look at 1959, there was an enchantment with the new,” says Fred Kaplan. The Pulitzer Prize winning author of 1959: The Year Everything Changed points to aviation as one area that embodied the high flying spirit of the year. 1959 saw the first transatlantic passenger jet flight. It was also the year America’s Mercury astronauts were chosen.

Fred Kaplan is a journalist and contributor to Slate magazine. He is a native of Hutchinson, Kansas, and graduated from Oberlin College and has a Ph.D. in political science from MIT. In the late 1970s, he was the foreign and defense policy adviser to Congressman Les Aspin.

Indeed, Time magazine seemed to express the public’s “gee whiz” enthusiasm most ebulliently in a publisher’s note following the Soviet Union’s launch of Luna 1 rocket on January 2, 1959. It was the first human artifact to escape Earth’s gravity.

“It hailed the achievement as ‘a turning point in the multi-billion year history of the solar system,’” Kaplan says, “in that ‘a creature of the sun had evolved to a point where he could break free of his planet’s gravity.’”

That event seemed to epitomize what was going on at the time, the author says. “It’s all kinds of people in different walks of life breaking free of the gravity that had been holding their predecessors down.” That, he says, “created the world that we came to know over the next half century.”

Breaking barriers in literature and entertainment

Kaplan says events of 1959 led to the blurring of lines between public and private, literature and pornography that we see today in the Internet Age.

In 1959, publisher Barney Rosset successfully sued the United States Post Office for confiscating copies of D.H. Lawrence’s sexually explicit novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover. It was also the year American writer Norman Mailer published Advertisements for Myself, which fused literature, personal confession and social commentary in new ways.

1959 also saw the first mainstream record release by iconoclastic comedian Lenny Bruce, and his first appearance on national television. “Lenny Bruce would talk about politics and the church and sex and race in ways that nobody had ever spoken before in public,” says Kaplan. “And anything you see now of this sort - HBO or Comedy Central or Showtime or George Carlin - all stems directly from Lenny Bruce.”

John F. Kennedy was preparing to run for the presidency in 1959, promising a “New Frontier”

Many Americans think of the 1960s as the 20th century’s most explosive era. But it wasn’t the Baby Boomers, born after World War Two, who lit the fuse, Kaplan says. “It was a people who grew up through the Depression and World War Two, and who were dissatisfied with the state of things.” They had expected things would change after the war, he notes, and they didn’t.

In 1959, John F. Kennedy was preparing to run for president. He was Catholic and young, and so, many thought him unelectable. Yet Kennedy attracted young idealists in great numbers. He promised a “New Frontier” where “the torch would be passed to a new generation of Americans.”

For Kaplan, the “New Frontier” Kennedy meant was the 1960s. “It was the future; it was tomorrow. So there was this sense of ’something is new over the horizon’ and there was this appetite for it.”

New inventions

1959 was also the year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Birth Control Pill. By freeing women from the fear of getting pregnant, the Pill ushered in the so-called Sexual Revolution of the 1960s. It also allowed women to enter the workforce without concern that their careers might be cut short by unplanned motherhood. That put women on the road toward social and economic equality. It’s a cultural change we’re still adjusting to today.

The invention of the microchip set the stage for the era of computerized technology

Fred Kaplan also emphasizes the importance of another invention of 1959 - the microchip. One microchip was crammed with enough electronic circuitry to replace tens or even hundreds of thousands of transistors, the state of the art technology at the time.

Microchips made high-speed computers possible, Kaplan says. “[Without microchips,] you couldn’t even have a handheld calculator, much less a high definition television or space communications.”

Of course, 1959 marked the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, and many of that year’s technological innovations enhanced our capacity for destruction, as well creation. As Fred Kaplan points out in his book 1959: the Year Everything Changed, we are still coping with, as well benefiting from, many of the changes set in motion a half century ago.

from September 11, 2008

At the dedication of a memorial at the Pentagon, President Bush remembered those who lost their lives there on September 11th, 2001. (Sept. 11)

Never Forget

Here’s another good reading list but there’s no good ONE.  They’re all good.

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/07/friend-or-foil

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/07/acorns-labor-pains

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/07/us-versus-them

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/06/rhinocare-rinos-a-us-chamber-o

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/06/serfs-up

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/06/demolition-derby

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/05/the-great-socialist-takeover

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/05/asterisks

American Thinker: Two Hundred Days of Hope and Change

American Thinker: Doing the Obama Hustle

American Thinker: The Real Climate Agenda

American Thinker: The Decline in July Unemployment…

American Thinker: Obama the Polarizer

American Thinker: Obama’s Black Panther Scandal

American Thinker: WH Declares an End to the War on Terror

American Thinker: NYT Averts Its Eyes on Mary Robinson

As long as Americans are once again shifting to the right this blog might as well assist the public with conservative reading lists.  The American Spectator and American Thinker are two fine places to spend some time reading.  But that’s just the opinion on this know-nothing blog.  See, this blog is so cool it even comes supplied with its own liberal insult so as not to unfairly challenge weak minds.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

The best use of the internet is simply locating information. That comes with the often ignored caveat which requires one to vet the information they find. An example of a simple search anyone might perform is relevant information on an author. The initial author name will remain undisclosed. It is sufficient for purposes of this post that an author unfamiliar to this reader was selected. The reason for such an inquiry might be ‘who is this person and why should I care about what they have to say’?

The author’s name was entered in the search engine. The search was intended to provide a list of books or other works to indicate the author’s marketability. That may suggest whether anyone else finds the author or the work worthwhile. To this point the data provided several book publishings in the last few years. One book was selected and an Amazon search was used. This lead to the Amazon bestseller list or rankings. The book selected from the author list had a modest ranking at best which caused a review of the ranking list for comparisons and of course the top of the list is what figures prominently when one views this list at Amazon.

So now the search entered a subsequent inquiry as the original question had been answered satisfactorily. It was remembered that on the last visit to this location the attraction was the performance of Mark R Levin’s book Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto. The book had made a splash due to its astonishing rise at least for this venue. (Amazon). It was noted today that the book has a current rank at Amazon of #19. After browsing the list it was noticed that Michelle Malkin’s just released book, ‘The Culture of Corruption’ is currently number three on the list. Disappointingly, a book on French cooking is currently number one. Well, it’s summer. Sad that a second book on French cooking was on the list as well. The saving grace is the inclusion of one about Julia Child.

But better news was Glenn Beck’s book, ‘Glenn Beck’s Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine’ currently resides at number four. You can see where this is going. An initial inquiry to learn about an author unknown to this reader. Noticing the relative rank of books on public affairs or more specifically written by conservatives. Remembering reports on polls that America is once again coming to its senses and shifting to the right. So how about a post on this topic looking at what America is reading based on some bestseller lists?

So browsing the NYT bestseller list could not be avoided.

Hardcover Nonfiction

Top 5 at a Glance

1. CULTURE OF CORRUPTION, by Michelle Malkin
2. LIBERTY AND TYRANNY, by Mark R. Levin
3. OUTLIERS, by Malcolm Gladwell
4. CATASTROPHE, by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
5. UNMASKED, by Ian Halperin

Paperback Nonfiction

Top 5 at a Glance

1. GLENN BECK’S ‘COMMON SENSE’, by Glenn Beck

That’s right. The list just above indicates the top five but only number one is presented. No sense cluttering up the post with entries requiring more inquiry. If it really nags at you, go check the lists on your own. The point is the two conservative books topping the hardcover, non-fiction list above and also promoted on this blog for no fee and not by request suggest America is shifting to the right once again. Apparently the desire to try something new and vote for hope and change is not working out so well.

It is interesting to note that while Levin’s book is now #19 at Amazon it is holding at number two on the list above. This suggests that not everyone buys their books at Amazon.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Snarking at conservative books (Michelle Malkin)

It is not uncommon these days to hear people quip it is time for a revolution. This frequent reaction during casual conversations about the state of the nation is presented with overtones of humor as most would agree that thoughts of revolution do not conjure images of reasonable solutions. While participants in such social intercourse may strain from the the effects of the current plague of political and economic dysfunction their desire is more a longing for a renaissance than a revolution.

OMG, another ‘French’ word enters. The Renaissance (French for “rebirth”; Italian: Rinascimento, from re- “again” and nascere “be born”)[1] was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. Well that settles it. Rinascimento is more appealing. Besides, when you think of the French and ideas like revolution eating cake and off with their heads comes to mind. And there’s way too much of that going on these days. So, Rinascimento it is.

Hope and change was the sole product and latest offering from campaigns feeding on the stagnant realm of politics in America. The only result thus far that can be stated with any certainty is hope is disappearing and the only change has been the majority and minority status of the two dominant political parties in Washington DC. And the fourth estate, aka the mainstream media or MSM, unintentionally bears this out with the recurring theme of POLS ‘defending’ their respective positions on issues and lackluster actions to solve them. Even the MSM’s unqualified support of the liberal agenda has waned since the 2008 Presidential campaign that featured a continuous stream of fawning and adulation over then candidate Barack Obama. It appears even the media has limitations on how silly they are willing to look in the face of mounting evidence they have been duped.

We probably do not need a Rinascimento identical to that of centuries ago. And we certainly do not need a revolution that bears any resemblance to those documented historically as major events in world history. Whether a Rinascimento, a rebirth or a new beginning we may simply need enough people to share in an epiphany of sorts to get the ball rolling. Not to borrow the term ‘epiphany’ in its religious connotation rather ‘the sudden realization or comprehension of the (larger) essence or meaning of something.’

What are some of the concepts dealing with discussions of the Rinascimento relevant to our current needs? As a cultural movement, it encompassed a resurgence of learning based on classical sources, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform. Traditionally, this intellectual transformation has resulted in the Renaissance being viewed as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Modern era. Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual pursuits, as well as social and political upheaval, it is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who inspired the term “Renaissance man”.

We have the ’social and political upheaval’. Some may even suggest we the gradual if not widespread educational reform. But the only evidence of ‘a resurgence of learning based on classical sources’ comes from the conservatives among us. If it is true that the Rinascimento was a bridge between the Dark Ages and the so-called Modern era it could be that conservatives are the Renaissance Man of the next rebirth to a new age of prosperity and enlightenment. Not to exaggerate the significance of conservative thought in America with a comparison to Renaissance Man but it appears the best hope for our nation given the current situation and other historic periods in history where extreme shifts allowed tyrants and their allies to prevail.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Ignore for a moment the troubles described in the news of the day. We sometimes forget the reasons for which we fight the good fight. A little taste of Americana can help us give pause and appreciate that which warms the heart. One of the most prolific artists to demonstrate aspects of American life was Norman Rockwell. The thought provoking and indelible images produced by Rockwell serve as a visual record that define a place and time in our country’s past. For those old enough to remember the Saturday Evening Post and other Rockwell venues like Boy’s Life the images are a welcome trip down memory lane.

Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was a 20th century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States, where Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over more than four decades

Rockwell was involved in many projects and not all were light-hearted enterprise. The mindset of public service was not lost on the artist as he acted on the sense of duty in time of war as described in the brief excerpt below.

During the First World War, he tried to enlist into the U.S. Navy but was refused entry because, at 6 feet (1.83 m) tall and 140 pounds (64 kg), he was eight pounds underweight. To compensate, he spent one night gorging himself on bananas, liquids and donuts, and weighed enough to enlist the next day. However, he was given the role of a military artist and did not see any action during his tour of duty.

Images presented below provide a glimpse into the story that is Norman Rockwell. His contributions in many ways are immense. Feel free to suggest other similar examples of Americana, a topic which we could all review with more frequency.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

(a photographic portrait of Rockwell)

(Rockwell later in life)

A Red Cross Man in the Making by Norman Rockwell (1894–1978), his first en:Boy Scouts of America calendar in 1925, originally published in 1918 in The Red Cross Magazine. Retitled A Good Scout when re-used in the 1925 calendar.

Typically millions of people visit TJ every year. But this is turning out to be not every year. Economics and financial turmoil have wreaked havoc on the entire planet. Most would say this is something of a natural or cyclical event. But that probably doesn’t mean much to small business owners in Mexico or anywhere else. This blog expresses firm support for immigration enforcement and disdain for those who violate the orderly process of relocating from one country to another, not just in the US.

With that in mind a story is in the news describing the hard times felt by those who operate businesses in Tijuana, Mexico.and it is no less dramatic than other stories of this kind. It is important to address those who believe legal immigration advocates are xenophobic or have some other malady or dysfunctional attribute in order to set the record straight. While there may be xenophobes, racists or hate mongers walking the planet those who genuinely understand the critical importance of strong immigration enforcement in no way lack sympathy for the citizens of Mexico who especially now are dealing with an inordinate amount of difficulty.

In Tijuana’s poorest neighborhoods, known as colonias, people like Socorro Villavicencio struggle to earn a living. She is an indigenous Mixteca Indian from Southern Mexico, 39 years old, with seven children. She sells beaded necklaces and bracelets to tourists, buying her materials with loans from the Christian charity World Vision.

Many people in Mexico operate on a scale and set of circumstances most of us can only imagine. Annual incomes, standard of living, political corruption and an escalation in the drug wars present a level of risk to the average Mexican few have as a challenge in the United States.

“How shall I say it? There are a lot of thieves,” said Socorro Villavicencio. “That’s why the police in the U.S., I see on the news, that they don’t let the Americans cross the border because they say Mexico is dangerous.”

Well, Socorro, it IS dangerous. The danger may be higher these days but it has always been a problem. Personal experience of this blog author can attest to that fact. And again, the other fact is no matter the situation in Mexico it in no way obligates Americans to be labeled xenophobes or worse for their interest in border security and immigration enforcement. It would be nice if people would concentrate their focus on correcting Mexico’s problems rather than allowing those problems to be dumped on American soil for the answer.

You can read the rest of the story of course by following the links provided.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Is America fat? Are you fat? How many members of your family are fat? How many of your friends are fat?

The report below is published in a ‘journal’ named Health Affairs. Some non-profit named the Research Triangle Institute and the Center for Disease Control produced a ’study’. If you can look in the mirror and have responded to the questions above in a manner indicating most of the people you know are fat why do we need a study to tell us what we should already know?

Is there any valid reason for being fat? If this report and others like it are true, what does it say about a country with so many fat people. And who really believes that some people cannot help being fat?

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

New research shows that obesity and the cost of treating obesity-related illnesses in the United States rose dramatically between 1998 and 2006.

The study was published Monday in the journal Health Affairs. It said obesity-related health spending was estimated at $147 billion a year in 2006, roughly double the $74 billion estimated just eight years earlier.

Researchers from a nonprofit group, the Research Triangle Institute, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in their study that obesity-related health conditions, including diabetes and heart disease, now account for 9.1 percent of all medical spending. That’s up from 6.5 percent in 1998.

The report says obesity itself rose 37 percent in that time, and nearly a third of Americans are now considered to be obese.

The CDC says the United States must bring down its obesity rates to reduce health care costs. It recommends that communities fight obesity by promoting healthy eating and physical activity.

The study also was released at the Weight of the Nation CDC conference in Washington on health and obesity.

The video speaks for itself. As for another take on Sgt Crowley, there’a a piece in the media that deserves a read. And for some the story will simply be another opportunity to criticize someone who appears to be doing their job.

The Cambridge cop prominent Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. claims is a racist gave a dying Reggie Lewis mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in a desperate bid to save the Celtics superstar’s life 16 years ago Monday.

Yesterday, Lewis’ widow, Donna Lewis, was floored to learn the embattled father of three on the thin blue line of a national debate on racism in America was the same man so determined to rescue her husband.

“That’s incredible,” Lewis, 44, exclaimed. “It’s an unfortunate situation. Hopefully, it can resolve itself. The most important thing is peace.”

The take from this blog suggests Mr Gates had choices. Given Mr Gates’ apparent resume’ if he felt he was being mistreated would it not have been more practical and sensible to pursue the issue after the night in question? If he is in fact a respectable and capable member of the academic world at Harvard which seems to be the fact, why pitch a fit or act the drama queen after a neighbor, the police and/or others respond the way most of us would appreciate if the same scenario occurred at our own homes?

That’s the real question. Not whether or not Sgt James Crowley is a racist.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

The community organizer who is friends with the domestic terrorist William Ayers, hate monger Jeremiah Wright and hires friends from the most corrupt political machine (Illinois) has the audacity of something other than hope to reference the founding fathers and call on the public to support his agenda that is anything but American.

Like mutually exclusive terms President Obama insults the meaning of this nation’s Independence Day when he tries to connect the principles of the founding with his socialist agenda. Those who have dismissed the idea that his agenda is socialist overlook nationalizing private industry, spending and government expansion with the intent of complete government control that will render this great country into nothing more than a banana republic.

Addressing our dependence on foreign energy by taxing all we use rather than a transition approach that draws on our own fossil fuel resources until alternatives become viable in a free market is counter to American ideals which rely on the innovation of a free people. Expecting the public to buy into a universal or socialized, government-run healthcare system rather than encouraging free market solutions also runs counter to American ideals. With these two examples only God may know what the Obama agenda has planned for education, immigration and the remainder of his ideas for transforming the United States into another socialist country like some in the EU and others in this hemisphere.

And then we have the impotent GOP. Based on the report below the Senator who lost an election to the community organizer was chosen to give the opposition party response to ObamaGov. While we can all debate whether or not it would have been wise to have a united response from the US regarding turmoil in Iran the larger issues of our own nation under the leadership of Barack Obama seems more to the point or at least an issue of primary importance. We can do little to help others if we cannot help ourselves and the GOP response appears to be a continuance of Republicans being lost in the wilderness.

Will someone please find a way to encourage this nation’s leaders to remove their collective heads from their collective hind quarters and return sensible government to a young nation which just observed its 233rd birthday.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Pres. Barack Obama

On U.S. Independence Day, President Barack Obama is calling on Americans to remember the spirit of the nation’s founders, and to embrace his domestic initiatives. Republican Senator John McCain, meanwhile, wants stronger U.S. language against Iran’s violent crackdown on protesters.

President Obama, in his weekly address, asks Americans to remember the sacrifices and achievements of the men who voted for independence 233 years ago.

“We are called to remember how unlikely it was that our American experiment would succeed at all; that a small band of patriots would declare independence from a powerful empire; and that they would form, in the new world, what the old world had never known - a government of, by and for the people,” he said.

In July, 1776, the representatives of 13 British colonies in America, gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, voted to declare independence from Britain and formed a new nation. At the same time, colonists in hastily-organized and poorly-financed militias battled the British Army for several years, until London officially recognized U.S. independence.

Mr. Obama called on Americans to recall those patriots’ spirit and support his plans to reform the U.S. education, health care and energy policies.

“We are not a people who fear the future,” he said. “We are a people who make it. And on this July 4th, we need to summon that spirit once more. We need to summon the same spirit that inhabited Independence Hall 233 years ago today.”

The president is celebrating Independence Day with a traditional barbecue and fireworks on the White House lawn, with 1,200 military families invited to attend. He is also celebrating his daughter Malia’s eleventh birthday. Mr. Obama leaves late Sunday for a week-long trip to Russia, Italy and Ghana.

Sen. John McCain (file photo)

In the weekly Republican Party message, Senator John McCain of Arizona is also paying tribute to the nation’s founding fathers, who he says “stood up to a powerful oppressor and claimed their natural right to liberty.”

McCain is also invoking the patriots’ spirit as he calls on the Obama administration to speak out more forcefully in support of the anti-government protesters in Iran.

“They did not ask us to arm them or come to their assistance with anything other than public declarations of solidarity and public denunciations of the tyrants who oppress them. We have a moral obligation to do so,” he said.

Senator McCain is rejecting earlier White House claims that a more vocal response by Washington would have supported the Iranian government’s claims of U.S. interference.

“Do they really believe Iranians do not know why they are protesting, and who is oppressing them? Do they think Iranians whose votes were discarded, whose voices have been ignored, whose lives have been threatened by the regime they wish to be rid of, will think America has put them in that position?” he said.

U.S. Independence Day is traditionally celebrated with picnics, parades, concerts, fireworks displays, and readings of the Declaration of Independence.

There is no real need to publish a post encouraging Americans to celebrate the birth of our nation.  As is the case with this and other official holidays in this country the public interest in exploiting ‘free’ time for leisure activities is self-sustaining.  What does need to be addressed and encouraged is the underlying importance of the Fourth of July in the United States.

The passing of time and the fading memories of current events and issues in the public mindset serves to demonstrate that much older historical facts and events regardless of their importance are lost in our daily lives.  This condition poses a danger that we may find ourselves at risk of losing what is represented by this very day. Freedom, independence and all the other benefits of living in this great country were of course provided by the discipline, commitment and sacrifice of those who came before us as well as many who currently carry on that tradition on our behalf.

This is still a very young nation.  That most of us have enjoyed the liberty we celebrate does not guarantee its survival.  The words used above, discipline, commitment and sacrifice describe what is required to protect this nation.  Just as we all share in the benefit of being Americans we all have a responsibility to honor those who gave us this legacy by sharing the burden and adhering to the principles that have guided this nation for more than two centuries.

We are by no means perfect.  We have differences which cause disagreement and have been responsible for some of the darker moments in our history.  It is the founding of this nation, the wisdom of the founding fathers, the documents that provide our road map and the ability to return to these principles when we stray that have allowed our survival as a free people.  No matter the circumstance let us all do our part for this great country.

God bless America.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

On this Fourth of July you may wish to read related docs which are under the ‘Pages’ heading at the top of the right sidebar.  You may also enjoy the articles linked below.

Philadelphia Home of American Independence

Britain Finds Original Copy of US Declaration of Independence

Americans Get Early Start to July 4 Holiday

Is it time to discuss illegal immigration?  It is always time to discuss illegal immigration.  As the calendar approaches the anniversary of American independence there is no better time to concern one’s self with this problem.  If you are an American and want to abandon your country or surrender your liberty do nothing about illegal immigration.  If you think that is an overstatement on the problem continue reading and check your ignorance at the door.

Your Shamnesty leader will further weaken our nation and place more burden and risk on American citizens if allowed to continue unchecked. President Obama’s plans for opening borders beyond the current broken status and continuing to provide an immense array of benefits at your expense to those here illegally.

(from the middle of June 2009)

President Obama keeps saying he is serious about fixing immigration. You can expect him to say it again at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington on Friday morning. He will likely say it again next week, if his twice-postponed meeting with Congressional leaders to discuss immigration reform finally takes place.

He owes it to the Hispanic voters whose overwhelming support helped push him into the White House, and to the undocumented immigrants whose lives have been made miserable under a cruel, ill-conceived enforcement crusade that was concocted in the last administration and survives into this one.

Just like the Islamization of the European Union the reconquista planned by many illegals from south of the border as well as those of power and influence in Mexico poses a stunning risk to the future of these United States. No crap opinion pieces from the likes of the NY Times alter that fact.  But they try.

As they wait for a legalization bill, they are suffering under unjust laws, corrupt policing and a detention and deportation system that routinely suppresses their rights. American citizens who are Hispanic, and are all too frequently victims of racially-driven sweeps, are also suffering. Mr. Obama and his Homeland Security secretary, Janet Napolitano, must do much more to curb those excesses.

No where in the MSM will you find a call for the defense of America or Americans from the tide of illegal immigration.  But as above you will find the liberal call to protect rights of those who are here illegally.  Try to present an argument where that makes any sense.

(06-29) 15:15 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco judge ordered a 22-year-old alleged gang member Monday to stand trial in the slaying of a father and his two sons, citing the testimony of a surviving family member who said he got a good look at the defendant’s face as he opened fire on an Excelsior district street.

Although the Salvadoran immigrant was not in this country legally, juvenile justice officials did not report him to federal authorities, under their interpretation of a city law granting sanctuary to illegal immigrants.

An illegal immigrant and MS=13 gang member who is accused of killing three based on mistaken identity after targeting someone for retribution is just one example of what is wrong with failing to adequately protect the public from illegal immigration.  There are thousand of stories like this one.  LIberals choose to ignore them.

As socialists on the latest new left attempt to bond illegal aliens and the working class as allies, as something called New America Media did last week, it would be nice if they would take a moment and explain how making citizens of international gang members and killers is good of America.

Here are just a few examples of felonies allegedly involving some of the aliens who would be protected under laws Democrats and cowardly illegal advocates are promoting. (read more)

This bloggers own blue home state has lost its collective mind if the following proposal is successful along with other liberal insanity planned on these issues.

Residents who could not prove they are legal U.S. citizens would receive the cards from the Department of Transportation if they passed driving and eyesight tests. The cards would state in bold letters they could not be used purposes other than driving and would not establish U.S. residency.

A 2006 law making illegal immigrants ineligible for driver’s licenses “has made the roads where I drive unsafe,” said dairy farmer John Rosenow of Cochrane, in western Wisconsin. And the Senate’s rejection of the cards was another blow to dairy farmers and the large number of immigrants who work on their farms, he said.

Rather than stem the tide of the illegal onslaught invading this land many are willing to surrender the nation others are sworn to protect.

Here’s a bit of promotion for one simple action anyone can take.

March 10, 2003
How To Report Illegal Aliens - Updated DHS Version!

WikiAnswers - How do you turn in illegal immigrants in US

Turn in employers who hire illegal aliens

Turn in illegal aliens

As a final note to this post, how come so many proponents of illegal immigration and shamnesty belong to groups who promote the vested interest of illegals rather than that of legal immigration.  It’s the reconquista stupid!!  (based on the now famous slogan from liberal extraordinaire, James Carville, ‘it’s the economy, stupid’)

Either you believe in the founding documents of this nation or you do not.  If you do not you support shamnesty and giving away the United State to illegals.  Otherwise you believe in controlled immigration and the rule of law.  Be here legally or don’t be here at all.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

An exclusive interview and/or ‘townhall’ on ABC with a title featuring the cute phrase ‘prescription for America’ are just two items which indicate this contrived media event. With that introduction out of the way President Barack Hussein Obama wasted what began as one of the more compelling attempts in his brief tenure as Commander-in-Chief of the United States even with the scripted, tightly managed public relations and political promotion that was broadcast.

If memory serves the last question from the hand-picked audience came from someone who once ran Medicare or HHS or something related to the program’s topic. The question described a set of revenues and expenses that left a bit of a hole and asked the President how that would be resolved. Obama quickly moved his response from what should have been a direct answer to campaign rhetoric. The woman asking the question should have used the reply from the character ‘Danny’ in a West Wing episode, ‘ I’m sure that was the answer to someone’s question Mr President but it wasn’t the answer to mine.’

The content of the program was not all bad. Obama’s reply on what he termed ‘end of life’ care was not really on point to the part of the discussion in which he used it but it had some items relevant to the general topic. There were a few other instances where the President made some lucid points. However, the bulk of the program crafted a display of information that may be characterized as common knowledge or obvious truths used to put the public’s mind at ease. But an equally and poorly crafted attempt to use rhetoric and generalizations as a detailed explanation of the issue of healthcare reform was a major insult and waste of time. The advertisers should ask for a refund and the public should hold both ABC and the White House accountable for this sham performance.

Another example of misleading information is Mr Obama’s repetitive mention of people being allowed to keep the coverage they have assuming they like it. Sure, great selling point Mr Obama, the problem is that any current or future ‘plan’ may not be offered. Terms of any government healthcare reform may adversely affect the private sector to a point where private health insurance as we know it will no longer exist. There is a feature in worse case scenarios whereby the private sector would cease doing business in health related insurance. Then the scary public option that is being avoided in all these discussions would be the only plan.

The real point is this is not unlike any other political debate. There are many players in this game. From politicians to corporations to the medical community and the public at large. Everyone has a stake in it and everyone will be playing from their own personal opinion. That is the problem. A critical part of the debate that is not available is a detailed and specific proposal with all the necessary information. Until that is produced it is fair to believe the government entities involved in this healthcare scam are trying to sell you something that doesn’t exist yet.

You should also remember that even if the day comes when the information is available and the unlikely outcome that we all sign on to a ‘program’ or proposal offered it will be subject to constant change in future years and what you agree to may never see the light of day for more than its initial appearance. That is why like it or not the free market idea of healthcare is superior to government programs. What we need to do is repair the system we have not invent an entirely new one ultimately controlled by government beauracrats.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Here is a link to the written report