Book Of Man

Book of Man Readings on the Path to Manhood
by William J. Bennett 8/25/11 10:20 PM

New York Times best-selling author William J. Bennett uses stories, essays, historical vignettes, and contemporary profiles to explore and explain what it means to be a man.

Fashioning men has never been easy, but today it seems particularly tough. Boys need heroes to embody the everlasting qualities of manhood: honor, duty, valor, and integrity. Without such role models, boys will naturally choose perpetual childhood over the rigors of becoming a man—as many women, teachers, coaches, employers, and adults in authority can quickly attest. Too many boys and men waste time in pointless and soulless activities, unmindful of their responsibilities, uncaring in their pursuits. Have we forgotten how to raise men, how to lead our boys into manhood?

In The Book of Man, Bennett charts a clearer course, offering a positive, encouraging, uplifting, realizable idea of manhood, redolent of history and human nature, and practical for contemporary life. Like his classic, The Book of Virtues, Bennett uses profiles, stories, letters, poems, and myths to bring his subject to life, defining what a man should be, how he should live, and to what he should aspire in several key areas of life. Chapters include:

Man in War
Man at Work
Man in Play, Competition, and Leisure Man in the Polis
Man with Woman and Children
Man in Prayer and Reflection

http://tntradebooks.com/bookofman/
Book of Man by William J. Bennett 8/25/11 10:20 PM

Bill Bennett's Morning In America site

Generation Sponge

For review of Doug's new book shown (left), go here.


Generation Sponge
By Doug Giles


I was going to title this column "How to Stay on the Government's Tit Forever," but I was afraid that Chris Matthews might call me a sexist on his show tomorrow during his nightly roast of Michele Bachmann because of the breast reference.

Contrary to what I'd like to report, the socialists have succeeded in the United States-certainly not with our economy, nor with our health care, and definitely not with our borders-but they have made great strides in turning this generation into one big Baby Huey that expects never to be weaned and forever to be coddled upon the "free" mediocre milk that slowly drips from the government's sagging mammaries. Mammaries, like the corners of my mind. Misty watercolor mammaries, of the way we were.

Sorry. I got lost there for a second. Where was I?

The fact that this former nation of self-reliants has morphed into Pavlov's step-n-fetch dog has become so obvious that Andrea Bocelli wearing a welder's mask sitting in Ozzy Osbourne's closet can see it.

Our kids are more European than American. And, for your information, Europe ain't doing so hot. Don't believe me? Then just take an economic peek across the pond and see how Europe is now clipping along after having bought and inhaled the socialistic smack you're now smoking.

Still not convinced I'm spot on?

Then take this taste test, Slingblade: Waddle out to your local prison-esque public school and simply ask the first chunky goofball 8th grader who walks by what's wrong with our country, and he or she will tell you, as Marybeth Hicks points out in her recent tome, Don't Let the Kids Drink the Kool-Aid:

1. Socialism is better than the free market;
2. Christianity is of the devil;
3. America is the villain of world history;
4. Family does not mean marriage, and;
5. Human greed is destroying the earth.

Pass the weed.

Yep, the Greatest Generation is long gone, folks, and we have on our hands Generation Sponge that asks not what they can do for themselves, but what our country can do for them … dammit. And like, right now!

This government dependency has taken on a religious fervor. Americans used to look to God and personal elbow grease to get by, but now these slaves of the machine bow their knees to socialists as their El Shaddai.

Matter of fact, here's one of their prayers taken from their bible in the book of Pathetic 6:66 (The King Soros Version of Unholy Writ):

Our Socialists which art in Washington, hallowed be thy name.
Thy tedious control come, thy abysmal will be done,
In America as it is in Cuba.

Give us this day our daily bread (and our car, and our house, and our health care),
And forgive us our debts as we forgive other countries of the insane amounts of money they owe.

And please, lead us into temptation because that's about all we have going for us now in this mediocre, sucky world you've created.

For ours is the serfdom and yours is the power, and gory story forever and ever.

Amen.

Link to column: http://clashradio.com/column.html

Harry Reid Is Wrong

Harry Reid is Wrong
By Joanie Redman

Harry Reid is wrong in his belief that, “the Tea Party will disappear as soon as the economy gets better. And the economy is getting better all the time.” He fails to understand that it was not just the economy that was the catalyst to ignite the movement, but the steady usurpation of our liberties and the unconstitutional actions of a Progressive president and Congress that brought citizens together and gave us a strong voice.

The Progressive Left would love for the Tea party to physically dismantle, but we are not one physical group, but rather an electorate that shares the tenets of a small, limited Constitutional government for, by and of the people, we expect fair taxation and the right to be responsible for ourselves. Our goal is to protect our Democratic Republic from the Left’s insidious encroachment of socialism through the manipulation of infamous agenda serving laws.

We do not desire or need government regulating the US people through appointments who share the same Progressive/socialist/communist view for America . We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights and will no longer take for granted our liberty. We have awakened and will actively participate in our government and oversee that those whose are elected to uphold and defend our Constitution and NOT the ideology of their party. We have learned to use the power of our vote to weed out those that trespass against America .

So Harry, we will not go back to sleep ever again knowing the consequences of returning to apathy. What has disappeared is our blind trust and faith that elected official will act in good faith and with integrity. It may be wishful thinking on the part Harry that he believes the Tea Party is a flash in the pan, but our Founding Fathers had faith in their liberty loving progeny and would expect nothing less that we will persevere to the end and they are right!

Random Thoughts By Thomas Sowell

Random Thoughts
By Thomas Sowell (Archive) · Thursday, August 11, 2011

Random thoughts on the passing scene:

The next time a member of the British royal family gets married, I hope they elope and spare us all another 24/7 media orgy.

Does the "not guilty" verdict in the Casey Anthony child murder trial mean that the jury succumbed to the confusion between "beyond a reasonable doubt" and "beyond any conceivable doubt"? The word "reasonable" is not put in there just for decoration.

We seem to be living in an age when nobody can be bothered to answer their telephone, but everybody has a recorded message telling us how important our phone call is to them.

President Obama often talks about wanting to raise taxes on "millionaires and billionaires" but -- in his actual tax proposals -- higher taxes usually begin with couples earning $250,000 between them. Apparently that makes you a millionaire or a billionaire.

It doesn't seem very scientific to have a good-looking nurse taking a man's blood pressure.

As the British have lost their empire and, more important, lost their respect for laws and standards, Britannia has gone from ruling the waves to waiving the rules.

The difference between mob rule and democracy was never more sharply demonstrated than by labor unions' attempts to prevent the Wisconsin voters' elected representatives from carrying out their official duties at the state Capitol. What would it matter what the voters want if any mob can stop it from happening?

My favorite birthday card this year said on the outside, "Ageing is Inevitable" -- and, on the inside: "Maturity is optional."

Theodore Roosevelt said that his foreign policy was to speak softly and carry a big stick. Barack Obama's foreign policy in Libya has been to speak loudly and carry a little stick. Too often Obama's foreign policy around the world looks like children happily playing with fire.

Class-warfare politics is bad enough when it is for real. But often it is as phony as a three-dollar bill, when the same politicians pass high tax rates on "the rich" to win votes -- and then get financial support from "the rich" to create loopholes that enable them to avoid paying those high tax rates.

It is amazing how many people seem to think that, if you give them your phone number or e-mail address, this means that they are authorized to pass them on to others.

Three little words -- "We the people," the opening words of the Constitution of the United States -- are the biggest obstacle to achieving the political goals of the left. For that, they must move decisions away from "We the people" -- from individuals to government; from elected officials to unelected judges; and from national institutions to international institutions like the United Nations -- all safely remote and insulated from "We the people."

Some hotels have been called "historic." But to me that just means old. I don't like staying in old-fashioned hotels. There is usually a reason why those fashions went out of fashion.

Learned scholars still debate the reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Learned scholars of the future, looking back on our decline and fall, may simply be baffled as to how we could have been so stupid.

Awkward and uncomfortable hospital gowns for patients just add a needless complication to the problems of people who are already sick. Surely someone could design something less bothersome.

I have never believed for a moment that Barack Obama has the best interests of the United States at heart.

Many liberals who consider themselves friends or allies of blacks are usually friends or allies of those particular blacks who are doing wrong things, often at the expense of other blacks.

At one time, it was well understood that adversity taught valuable lessons, which reduce the probability of repeating foolish decisions. But, today, the welfare state shields people from the consequences of their own mistakes, allowing irresponsibility to continue and to flourish among ever wider circles of people.

Amid all the concerns about the skyrocketing government debt, a front-page headline in the Wall Street Journal said: "Families Slice Debt to Lowest In 6 Years." It is remarkable how differently people behave when they are spending their own money compared to the way politicians behave when spending the government's money.

COPYRIGHT 2011 CREATORS.COM

Obama Spreads False Claim That Thomas Jefferson Hosted First iftar Dinner At WH

Video Credit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/08/11/president-obama-hosts-iftar-dinner-celebrate-ramadan


Obama spreads false claim that Thomas Jefferson hosted first Ramadan iftar dinner at White House

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Creeping Sharia blog @
http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/obama-spreads-false-claim-that-thomas-jefferson-hosted-first-ramadan-iftar-dinner-at-white-house/

In other words, as we noted back in March, the White House is lying. Worse, they are rewriting American history to fit their Islamic agenda. Jihad Watch exposes the lie in, Obama spreads false claim that Thomas Jefferson hosted first Ramadan iftar dinner at White House.

The State Department retails the PC myth in this article, “Thomas Jefferson’s Iftar,” July 29. Nor is this the first time this falsehood has gone around: the State announcement quotes Barack Obama saying last year: “Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been a part of America. The first Muslim ambassador to the United States, from Tunisia, was hosted by President Jefferson, who arranged a sunset dinner for his guest because it was Ramadan — making it the first known iftar at the White House, more than 200 years ago.”

Longtime Jihad Watch writer Hugh Fitzgerald busted this myth in his piece “Barack Obama, The New York Times, that Iftar Dinner, and the rewriting of history,” which was first published here at Jihad Watch on August 26, 2010. Here it is again:

Barack Obama, The New York Times, that Iftar Dinner, and the rewriting of history
by Hugh Fitzgerald

“The first Muslim ambassador to the United States, from Tunisia, was hosted by President Jefferson, who arranged a sunset dinner for his guest because it was Ramadan — making it the first known iftar at the White House, more than 200 years ago.” — Barack Obama, speaking on August 14, 2010, at the “Annual Iftar Dinner” at the White House.

Really? Is that what happened? Was there a “first known iftar at the White House” given by none other than President Thomas Jefferson for the “first Muslim ambassador to the United States”? That’s what Barack Obama and his dutiful speechwriters told the Muslims in attendance at the 2010 “Annual Iftar Dinner,” knowing full well that the remarks would be published for all to see. Apparently Obama, and those who wrote this speech for him, and others who vetted it, find nothing wrong with attempting to convince Americans, as part of their policy of trying to win Muslim hearts and Muslim minds, that American history itself can be rewritten. A little insidious nunc pro tunc backdating, to rewrite American history. And that rewrite of American history has the goal of convincing Americans, in order to please Muslims, that the United States and Islam, that Americans and Muslims, go way back.
…

During the six solar months Mellimelli was here, the lunar month of Ramadan occurred. And as it happens, during that Ramadan observed by Mellimelli, but naturally unobserved, hardly noticed, by the Americans, President Jefferson invited Sidi Soliman Mellimelli for dinner at the White House. He probably during that six-month period had done it more than once. Mellimelli replied that he could not come at the appointed hour of three thirty in the afternoon (our ancestors rose much earlier, and ate much earlier, and went to bed much earlier, in the pre-Edison days of their existence). That time fell, for him, but not for Thomas Jefferson or anyone else in the United States of America, during the fasting period of the month of Ramadan. He replied that he could not come at the hour set, that is, at half-past three, but only after sundown.

Jefferson, a courteous man, simply moved the dinner forward by a few hours. He didn’t change the menu, he didn’t change anything else. And moving the dinner forward by a few hours hardly turns that dinner into a soi-disant “Iftar Dinner.” Barack Obama’s trying to do so, trying that is, to rewrite American history, with some nunc-pro-tunc backdating, in order to flatter or please his Muslim guests, is false. And, being false, is also disgusting. It is disgusting for an American President to misrepresent American history to Americans, including all the schoolchildren who are now being subject to all kinds of Islamic propaganda, cunningly woven into the newly-mandated textbooks, that so favorably misrepresent Islam, as here.

Now there is a kind of coda to this dismal tale, and it is provided by the New York Times, which likes to put on airs and think of itself as “the newspaper of record,” whatever that means. The Times carried a front-page story on August 14, 2010, written by one Sheryl Gay Stolberg, and no doubt gone over by many vigilant editors. This story contains a predictably glowing account of Barack Obama’s remarks at the “Annual Iftar Dinner.” Here is the paragraph that caught my eye:

In hosting the iftar, Mr. Obama was following a White House tradition that, while sporadic, dates to Thomas Jefferson, who held a sunset dinner for the first Muslim ambassador to the United States. President George W. Bush hosted iftars annually.

Question for Sheryl Gay Stolberg, and for her editors at The New York Times: You report that there is a “White Hosue tradition that, while sporadic, dates to Thomas Jefferson.” I claim that you are wrong. I claim that there is no White House Tradition at all about Iftar Dinners. I claim that Thomas Jefferson, in moving forward by a few hours a dinner that changed in no other respect, for Sidi Soliman Mellimelli, was not providing the first of the “Annual Iftar Dinners” that, the New York Times tells us, has since Jefferson’s non-existent “Iftar Dinner,” have been observed “sporadically.”

When, then, was the next in this long, but “sporadic” series of iftar dinners? I can find no record of any, for roughly the next two hundred years, until we come to the fall of the year 2001, that is, just after the deadliest attack on American civilians ever recorded, an attack carried out by a novemdectet of Muslims acting according to their understanding of the very same texts — Qur’an,Hadith, Sira — that all Muslims read, an understanding that many have demonstrated since that they share, not least in the spontaneous celebrations that were immediately held in Cairo, and Riyadh, and Jeddah, and in Ramallah, and Gaza, and Damascus, and Baghdad, and all over the place, where Muslims felt that they had won a victory over those accursed kuffar, those ingrates, those Infidels.

And it was President George Bush who decided that, to win Muslim “trust” or to end Muslim “mistrust” — I forget which — so that we could, non-Muslim and Muslim, collaborate on defeating those “violent extremists” who had “hijacked a great religion,” started this sporadic ball unsporadically rolling. And he did it, by golly, he did. He hosted an Iftar Dinner with all the fixins. It was held just the month after the attacks prompted by Islamic texts and tenets and attitudes on the World Trade Center, on the Pentagon, on a plane’s doomed pilots and passengers over a field in Pennsylvania.

And thus it is, that ever since 2001, we have had iftar dinner after iftar dinner.

But it was not Jefferson or any other of our cultivated and learned Presidents, who started this “tradition” that has been observed only “sporadically” — i.e., never — until George Bush came along, unless we are to count as an “iftar dinner” what was merely seen, by Jefferson, as a dinner given at a time convenient for his not-too-honored guest.

The Kids Are Going To Be Alright!

Feeling a lot better about these college students. The understand the concept when it affects them. They'll be just fine voters one day. They just don't know it yet.

Uninstalling....

Uninstalling ...Barack Obama..............
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Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh...

Installing ...Sarah Palin..............
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Coulter Slams Media For Never Vetting Obama

I'd also slam--if asked--Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean whose job it was to vet "The Candidate" before the media got a chance to swoon over The Bama. But that's just me....

Ann Coulter appeared on Fox News' "Hannity" show and made some excellent points comparing the way the media is treating the GOP candidates versus how they gave President Obama a pass in 2008.

Obama and Napolitano To Deport Illegals By "Priority"

Immigrant rights groups and community members call in Los Angeles Monday, Aug. 15, 2011, for an end to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Secure Communities program, which was created in 2008 and calls for police to submit suspects’ fingerprints to DHS so they can be cross-checked with federal deportation orders. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Well you gotta get voters one way or another I guess. And the other way isn't working for him. Now just waiting for the white guilt propaganda machine to begin again in earnest. Somebody should tell our President that it's too late. We LIKE people with other nationalities and backgrounds here in this country--mostly all of us come from somewhere else. We just like it when they move in legally.

Obama to deport illegals by ‘priority’

Case-by-case plan will curb numbers

By Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times Thursday, August 18, 2011

Bowing to pressure from immigrant rights activists, the Obama administration
said Thursday that it will halt deportation proceedings on a case-by-case basis against illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria, such as attending school, having family in the military or having primary responsible for other family members' care.

The move marks a major step for President Obama, who for months has said he does not have broad categorical authority to halt deportations and said he must follow the laws as Congress has written them.

But in letters to Congress on Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she does have discretion to focus on "priorities" and that her department and the Justice Department will review all ongoing cases to see who meets the new criteria.

"This case-by-case approach will enhance public safety," she said. "Immigration judges will be able to more swiftly adjudicate high-priority cases, such as those involving convicted felons."

The move won immediate praise from Hispanic activists and Democrats who had strenuously argued with the administration that it did have authority to take these actions, and said as long as Congress is deadlocked on the issue, it was up to Mr. Obama to act.

"Today's announcement shows that this president is willing to put muscle behind his words and to use his power to intervene when the lives of good people are being ruined by bad laws," said Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez, Illinois Democrat, who has taken a leadership role on the issue since the death of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy in 2009.

The new rules apply to those who have been apprehended and are in deportation proceedings, but have not been officially ordered out of the country by a judge.

Ms. Napolitano said a working group will try to come up with "guidance on how to provide for appropriate discretionary consideration" for "compelling cases" in instances where someone already has been ordered deported.

Administration officials made the announcement just before Mr. Obama left for a long vacation out of Washington, and as members of Congress are back in their home districts.

The top House Republican on the Judiciary Committee said the move is part of a White House plan "to grant backdoor amnesty to illegal immigrants."

"The Obama administration should enforce immigration laws, not look for ways to ignore them," said Rep. Lamar Smith, Texas Republican. "The Obama administration should not pick and choose which laws to enforce. Administration officials should remember the oath of office they took to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land."

Immigration legislation has been stalled in Congress for years as the two parties have sparred over what to include.

Republicans generally favor stricter enforcement and a temporary program that would allow workers in the country for some time, but eventually return to their home countries. Democrats want the legislation to include legalization of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants now in the country, and want the future guest- worker program to also include a path to citizenship so those workers can stay permanently.

Since 2007, when the issue stalled in the Senate, more than 1 million illegal immigrants have been deported.
Democrats said those deportations are breaking up families and that it's an unfair punishment for a broken system.

Hispanic voters are a key voter bloc as Mr. Obama seeks re-election next year, but many of them felt he broke his promise to them to work on legislation once he took office. Thursday's move already was paying dividends as Hispanic advocacy groups praised the steps.

"After more than two years of struggle, demonstrations, direct actions and other activities, the administration has signaled that they are capable of delivering direct relief for immigrant families," said Casa de Maryland, a pro-immigrant group. "We eagerly await confirmation from community members that their families can now expect to remain together."

Two years ago, some staffers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had prepared a draft memo arguing that the administration retained broad powers that could serve "as a non-legislative version of 'amnesty.' "

But agency leaders and others in the administration had argued that the memo was inaccurate.

It was unclear Thursday how many people might be affected by the new rules. Pressure groups said up to 300,000 people could be eligible. In fiscal year 2010 alone, the government deported nearly 200,000 illegal immigrants who it said did not have criminal records.

Given the case-by-case basis of Thursday's announcement, though, the groups said the actual number of people allowed to stay could be far lower.

In June, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that handles interior immigration law enforcement, issued guidance expanding authority to decline to prosecute illegal immigrants. The goal, ICE leaders said, was to focus on catching illegal immigrants who have committed other crimes or are part of gangs.

The chief beneficiaries of the guidance are likely to be immigrant students who would have been eligible for legal status under the Dream Act, which stalled in Congress last year.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, who asked Homeland Security this year to exempt illegal-immigrant students from deportation, said the move will free up immigration courts to handle cases involving serious criminals.

Rick Perry In Iowa And Michele Bachmann/David Gregory Sound Bites Via Rush Limbaugh

Photo Credits: The Rush Limbaugh Show Website

This comment and transcript is from Rush Limbaugh's post on Facebook, August 15, 2011. The entire Rick Perry speech in Iowa can be found at The Right Scoop here.

"Rick Perry scares the hell out of the DC establishment. He does because the elites in the Northeast hate Texas anyway. That's primarily 'cause of George W. Bush, and when they hear Perry, they think they're listening to Bush. That just ties 'em in knots."

Rick Perry Shakes Up the Race; Bachmann Rolling, Palin Lurking
August 15, 2011

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I mentioned honestly at the top of the program, rarely have I been this out of it, literally. I told you on the air Friday I was feeling feverish and so forth. I had a whole weekend planned in LA. I was gonna play golf on Saturday. I had a couple of nice places I was gonna take Kathryn to dinner with some friends on Friday and Saturday. The whole thing was blown, I was so ticked, I can't tell you how ticked off I was. Anyway, I finally gave up at six o'clock Friday, went to bed, and I woke up at about 9:30 Sunday morning and managed to get out of bed at noon to leave the hotel at two o'clock for the airport. So I missed Rick Perry's announcement. I missed everything that happened on Saturday, and so what we've got here is we've got some sound bites of Perry's announcement speech in Charleston, South Carolina. You probably have heard this. I haven't, and I need to. So let's just start here. We have four of them, and here we go. Here's number one.

PERRY: What makes our nation exceptional is that anyone, from any background, can climb to the highest of heights. As Americans, we don't see the role of government as guaranteeing outcomes, but allowing free men and women to flourish based on their own vision, their hard work, and their personal responsibility. We reject this president's unbridled fixation on taking more money out of wallets and pocketbooks of American families and employers and given it to a central government. Spreading the wealth punishes success while setting America on course for greater dependency on government.

RUSH: And here he hammers Obama on the recovery.

PERRY: Now we're told we're in recovery. (laughter) Yeah. But this sure doesn't feel like a recovery to more than 9% of the Americans out there who are unemployed. Or the 16% of the African-Americans, 11% of the Hispanics in the same position, or the millions who can only find part-time work, or those who have even stopped looking for a job. One in six work-eligible Americans cannot find a full-time job. That is not a recovery; that is an economic disaster.

RUSH: Right on. Right on. Right on. Now, we edited the applause. The applause went on and on and on. We edited it of course for brevity.

PERRY: For nearly three years President Obama has been downgrading American jobs; he's been downgrading our standing in the world; he's been downgrading our financial stability; he's been downgrading our confidence, and downgrading the hope for a better future for our children. That's a fact. It's time to get America working again. (applause) So get our citizens working in good jobs and getting the government to working for the people again. You know, page one of any economic plan to get America working is to give a pink slip to the current residents in the White House.

RUSH: Right on, right on, right on, right on. Here's the final bite that we have.

PERRY: America is not broken; Washington, DC, is broken. (applause)

RUSH: Right on, right on.

PERRY: I will not sit back and accept the path that America is on, because a great country requires a better direction; because a renewed nation --

RUSH: Right on.

PERRY: -- needs a new president. (applause) It is time to get America working again, and that's why with the support of my family, an unwavering belief in the goodness of America, I declare to you today as a candidate for president of the United States. (cheers and applause.)

RUSH: And there you have it, that's Rick Perry announcing on Saturday in Charleston, South Carolina. I have met Governor Perry at least once. By the way, the Washington Post fact-checked Perry's announcement speech. You remember how they fact-checked Obama's announcement speech. Well, that's because they didn't. That's why you don't remember it. I don't remember it, either.

This is kind of a funny story. This is probably two years ago now, and I have been requested to go to Texas to do a fundraiser. Now, as most of you know, I do not do fundraisers because if I do one, the floodgates open, and I try to keep my distance. However, this request I could not and would not turn down. So the minute it was determined, the minute it was known that I, El Rushbo, was going to Texas to do a fundraiser -- it was not for Perry; it was for a congressional candidate -- I started getting e-mails from people warning me, Republicans warning me that Rick Perry was gonna try to sneak into this thing and have his picture taken with me for the purposes of his own campaign. He was at the time being opposed by Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas gubernatorial campaign. And these e-mails are coming in from a lot of different people and from a lot of different places, warning me not to let this happen. "Do not let yourself be used."

So a little confused by this, I called my host, and I said, "Is there something I ought to know about what's going on at this thing?" "No, no, no, no, no, everything's fine, don't worry about it, everything's cool." So I went and Governor Perry was there. And not only was he there, but he was the one who introduced me. And I have to tell you, it was one of the most thorough and concise introductions of me that I can recall that was on the spur of the moment kind of thing. this is a bunch of people hanging around in a courtyard of a typical Texas mansion. Well, it was a fundraiser, what do you expect? But the crowd loved him. (interruption) How many acres was it on? I don't know. I didn't count the acres. No, no, no, no, drove in. Didn't helicopter in there. He was good, he was amiable, and he made some remarks himself that were very right down the line, right down the middle conservative.

I was duly impressed, which is why I said, I don't know how long ago it's been, a month or six weeks ago, there was something I saw on the Web that Perry was thinking getting in, and I said, if he does, he's going to shake it up, because he can talk the talk. And, lo and behold, here he's in it now. So the conventional wisdom now says it's a three-way race, it's Perry and Romney and Bachmann. That's what the conventional wisdom is. Tim Pawlenty gets out over the weekend. Newt's still there. Huntsman is still there. Santorem is still there. Herman Cain is still there. Yeah, it was May 18th that I said Rick Perry scares the hell out of the DC establishment. He does because the elites in the northeast hate Texas anyway. They don't like it, primarily 'cause of Bush, but whatever, they don't like Texas. And when they hear Perry, they think they're listening to Bush. Just ties 'em in knots. They don't like him.

So he's in. And of course the dark horse out there is Palin. Now, I happen to think, and I don't know -- I mean of all the people on the conservative side who know Palin, I know her the least. I've spoken to her twice, both in short little interviews, one for a newsletter and one on the air, too, for a book. Other than that I've never spoken to her. But she's a dark horse. If she gets in, then, folks, that's gonna be something to see, and I have absolutely zero knowledge about it. But she's taunting the media. She's showing up at the Iowa State Fair, and they're chasing her around, and Jake Tapper runs up to her, says, "Hey, I got a couple questions." She says, "Yeah, hang on, I gotta meet this heifer first." He says, "You gotta meet the heifer first?" She says, "Yeah, I gotta talk to the heifer."

Bachmann is just poised, is unflappable. She looks great. She sounds fabulous. She's got, I think, great command of things. A lot of people are... I don't want say surprised, but way back a year ago when people would call here and start talking and asking me about nominees, her name wasn't mentioned. So she's a surprise. In fact here she is, this is on State of the Union yesterday on CNN. Candy Crowley interviewed Bachmann and said, "Can you name me a big piece of legislation that you were a part of, that you compromised on? I mean that you voted for that was a compromise for you? Because I think the impression is Tea Party people or Tea Party activists or those who are supported by the Tea Party, they don't compromise. Where have you compromised in your legislative career?"

BACHMANN: Well, I stand on a core set of principles, but you want to continue to move in a positive direction. Sometimes you have to take steps, interval steps to get to where you want to go; and certainly you do that, and I've done that throughout my legislative career. On big issues, I don't compromise. I don't compromise my core sense of principles.

RUSH: That's a great way to answer the question because it's a set-up question. This whole notion of compromise equals giving up. "Compromise," that's exactly what these libs want to hear: "Okay, where will you give up?" That's what compromise means to them: "Where will you give up?" You know, lest we forget, Michele Bachmann had wanted to run for speaker of the House and everybody laughed. Everybody laughed. Here she is with David Gregory, badgering her on the debt ceiling. This is on Meet the Press yesterday. He says, "Let me ask you about the debt ceiling," Bachmann. "You were adamantly opposed to raising the debt ceiling. You voted against it! There are a lot of people who said that was an incredibly reckless thing to do for our economy."


BACHMANN: Hardly.

GREGORY: But wait, let me just --

BACHMANN: It was the opposite.

GREGORY: Let me just take you through it. It wasn't just the President of the United States. It was also the chairman of the Federal Reserve. It was the Treasury secretary. It was your entire --

BACHMANN: And they've done such a smashing job for us, haven't they?

GREGORY: If I can just finish the question: The entire Republican leadership thought that was the wrong thing to do. Major members of the business community in this country thought that was the wrong thing to do. Why should we trust your judgment that that was the right thing to do and not a reckless act --

BACHMANN: Because --

GREGORY: -- on the part of a congresswoman?

RUSH: Okay, so badgers her. That's his mission: Berate Bachmann on the debt ceiling. He can't wrap his mind around the notion that the Ruling Class could be wrong and the people could be right. Here's her answer.

BACHMANN: That's the judgment of the people of this country. The people of this country would love to weigh in, and they would love to say, "Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary? You're wrong. Mr. President, you're wrong," and that's why --

GREGORY: But this is why we have elected representatives, congresswoman --

BACHMANN: That's why --

GREGORY: -- who actually know the truly financial impact of a step like this.

BACHMANN: That's really --

GREGORY: Maybe people are against raising the debt ceiling, but the reality is bipartisan agreement in the business community, think, "You don't do that! You don't mess with the full faith and credit of the United States." Would you --

BACHMANN: That's right.

GREGORY: -- have voted same way if you were the deciding vote?

BACHMANN: That's right. You don't mess with the full faith and credit of the United States. That's why I introduced the bill that I did that would have prevented any form of default. It's President Obama who failed to put any sort of a plan forward. That's what led to uncertainty.

RUSH: I gotta take a break. We'll be right back.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Here is where you remember the Michele Bachmann bite answering David Gregory. "So public opinion will be the sole determination of how you vote on a particular issue," Bachmann, "is that what you're telling us?"

BACHMANN: Obviously President Obama's policies are failing the economy. We took the biggest punch to the gut this week that we have seen in our economy. This was a very bad week.

GREGORY: But, congresswoman --

BACHMANN: -- so the wrong thing for the president to do --

GREGORY: -- if you were the deciding vote on the debt ceiling --

BACHMANN: Let me finish.

GREGORY: Meh.

BACHMANN: So the wrong thing for the president to do, number one, is to come out and blame earthquakes, blame the Arab spring, blame everybody but his own policies -- and instead what did he do? The President called for more of what doesn't work. We've gotta spend more money we don't have. We've gotta increase taxes. He clearly doesn't have the result. That's why the markets are roiling right now, because people see that this president is flailing without a plan.

RUSH: Gregory gave it his best, but she held her ground.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: So you notice how rude the reporters are to conservative candidates? I mean, Gregory was just flat-out rude; intolerant and rude. They would never talk to Obama or Hillary that way. Never. (interruption) Who's paying for Obama's bus tour? The taxpayers are. The taxpayers are funding Obama's campaign tour. That's been established. Nobody's disagreeing with it. The regime is acting proud of it. You know, the one of the most telling parts of that Gregory and Michele Bachmann exchange: "All the people out in America said don't raise the debt ceiling. That's the problem with Washington: They're not listening to the people," and Gregory fired back, "Well, why does that make it the right thing to do?" That's the most telling part of that exchange. Michele Bachmann says, "All the people in America said don't raise it," and Gregory said, "Well, why does that make it the right thing to do? The people are stupid! The people don't know what they're doing or what they're talking about."

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Here's Eileen in Chicago. It's great you called from the great WLS, and great to have you on the program. Hi.

CALLER: Thank you, Rush. And you are on the mark regarding the media. I mean, they're such arrogant... Well, I won't say what follows that. They are a bunch of copycats. They get their talking points, spread it around and repeat them.

RUSH: That's right.

CALLER: I believe they're a bunch of racists also. They are completely ignoring Herman Cain. Do you realize that this man has degrees in math and physics -- and, of course, we have heard that the reason somebody didn't give him a straw vote is because he ran out of pizzas. That's ridiculous. I believe that actually "Cain is able." He's the only one to get the Chicago politics out of the White House.

RUSH: Well, it's up to him to get noticed. You know, this is the case of anybody running for office. You ask why is he being ignored. You know, the media is a bunch of presstitutes, and a black conservative, it just... (interruption) Damn right, they're presstitutes!

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Okay, so Bachmann wins the straw poll. I just saw a story, "Is it all going to her head now?" Is she surrounding herself with bodyguards and all these Secret Service types with wires and speakers and stuff coming out of their ears, and now does she have the gravitas? Did they ever ask that about Hillary after New Hampshire or Iowa? And they're jumping all over both Bachmann and Perry's bizarre Christian beliefs, bizarre to them, just like the way they got on Obama for being a member of Reverend Wright's church. I mean it's such a stacked deck out there, but we're here to even it out each day.

END TRANSCRIPT

Hello, SMIA Members! We need your help!

The flowers outside of AJ's On The Lake at our last meeting. Photo is copyrighted by Suze

Welcome SMIA, Smithville at the Shore Chapter and potential members! While this is a brand new blog, we aren't a brand new group. We've been meeting for 4 years now, sharing some wonderful food and great support and friendship!

We've helped each other through the times when we couldn't believe what our government was doing and how it seemed blind to the desires of We The People.

We've traveled to DC on buses, we've attended local Tea Party events together, and we've welcomed home those who have returned from war.

We've called each other on the telephone and said, "I need a meeting, are you free today?" In this group, the rule is anybody can call a meeting anytime.

We plan monthly meetings - usually on the second Saturday of the month although personal plans, kids, grandkids, out of town company, graduations, birthdays, holidays cause the standing Saturday to be pushed back or moved up to accommodate the majority of our members needs.

But it still stands, if any one of us finds ourself about to go around the bend because of the news of the day, always know that YOU can call a meeting! Pick up the phone or send out a message and somebody will be able to meet you for coffee, lunch, breakfast and talking it out!

I'd like you to come to this site to communicate with each other. Please sign up as a site member at the lower right side of the page. And use the links for the latest information. If you want a favorite link added, please comment on the site or send me an email by clicking on the little envelope at the end of each entry. This is our page and we want to keep it useful for all of us. Your comments can help us do just that.

If you find a news item you want posted, you can send the link to me via email. I'd like your input about using this site for our posting in lieu of my sending emails. Our Louisville KY SMIA Chapter uses their Facebook page this way and it works well for them. Get familiar with our SMIA page so we can make it our most useful tool--outside of our meetings--to keep current!

So take this for a test run! Send a message, make a comment, or try out the links. I'd like to know if anything isn't working properly so I can get it fixed. Welcome to our new site! Enjoy!

AJ's has THE BEST breakfasts! This was Joanie's breakfast choice at a recent meeting. Yum! Photo Is copyrighted by Suze

Tea Party Went to Washington

Photo Credit: F H Senatore.

Three of our members went to Washington in August 2009 for the biggest and most underrated rally we've ever seen!

There were at least 1.7 million people there according to the police on the ground at the scene. The Police were wonderful, the crowds were amazing: polite, friendly, neat (not a speck of trash remained after the event was over), enthusiastic, creative, and representative of the population in general.

You might have heard a different story, but this was the true beginning of a groundswell of support for the Tea Party movement in the USA! It wasn't the first rally, but it was the largest so far. This photo was actually used by the Washington Examiner in a story about the rally.

Smithville SMIA Goes To 912 Rally

Michele Bachmann Talks To Chris Wallace Her About Strategy Going Forward

Today in Iowa, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace spoke to the Ames Straw Poll winner Michele Bachmann. Bachmann said that America needs to reject the new standard of government spending that has been seen under the Obama administration. She also stated that she believes she can and will win the presidential nomination and is capable of beating Obama in 2012.
Tune into the full interview tonight on Fox News Sunday at 6p ET!


Source: 10:30 AM, Aug 14, 2001 http://foxnewsinsider.com/

How Did Saturday Morning In America Begin

Saturday Morning in America first started in Philadelphia, PA.

Janet and Jenny met at an event hosted by conservative talk show host Bill Bennett ("Morning In America"). They decided to get together for coffee and to talk politics.

Janet called the show to tell Dr. Bennett that the event had been wonderful and that she had made a new friend (Jenny). Janet said they planned to meet the next Saturday and invited anyone else who wanted to do so to join them. A number of us called the show saying that we wanted to join them for coffee and discussion.

So on Saturday August 25, 2007, about 20 of us met at a local diner for breakfast and bonding. We decided to meet once a month and call ourselves "Saturday Morning In America." Thus SMIA was born.

We now have 22 chapters all across the country. Most chapters meet the second Saturday of the month. Some meet for breakfast at a local eatery, some meet at the home of an SMIA member, but all of us meet to have fun, discuss political news and to find out what we can do to help those who, like us, consider ourselves Conservative.