In politics, the crisis game works like this: pet issues are turned into national concerns, which then become the object of study for social scientists. The media then substantiate the concerns by publishing the opinions of social scientists, and thus elevate the issue to the level of a crisis. Once concerns become crises, there are demands that something be done. These demands are quickly followed by legislative action that invariably leads to higher taxes, increased government regulation, a loss of liberty, and if the past is any indication, a remarkable increase in whatever was originally identified as a problem. Repeat the cycle.

First lady Michelle Obama has made childhood obesity her pet project. The media is full of reports on the dangers of childhood obesity, and the federal government is in full crisis mode.

There really is no secret to obesity. Obesity is the result of a poor diet and lack of exercise. The people most responsible for the diet and exercise habits of children are the children’s parents. Why should this concern the federal government? The answer is that obesity is a leading driver of healthcare costs. A study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the direct costs of obesity is $147 billion annually or 10% of medical costs. Those costs are expected to more than double over the next decade. As the federal government begins to pick up the tab for more and more of those costs they will also begin to demand a greater influence in what we eat and how much we exercise. Certainly, the fiscal health of the nation demands that government do something.

Worry not. (more…)

Uh oh.

Vicki: Mom, I just did a Tea Party speech in Washington, D.C.  I sang my song, “There’s a Communist Living in the White House!” 

Mom: Oh No!  I don’t want you to get shot! 

Vicki: You see what you just said?  That’s the problem.  “When the people fear the Government it’s Tyranny.  When the Government fears the people, it’s Liberty.”  Thomas Jefferson             

Mom: What?! 

Vicki: When Bush was President they called him horrible names, every day on TV; they even made a movie about him getting shot.  No one was afraid.  That was America; a rude, disrespectful, mean America, but a Free one.  Now, we are actually afraid of the Government, and… 

Mom: Let me get your Dad on the phone…JJJIIIMMM!!  (more…)

The other night I saw Ship of Fools again.

Today, as what I hopefully trust is evidence of the power within Oscar Werner’s acting, I feel as tired as that great actor’s character feels near the end of the film. It is just moments before he has his unforgettably real and excruciating heart attack on the deck of that ship of exceptional performances.

The most exceptional performance, of course … at least in my humble opinion … is that of Simone Signoret.

Where do I begin to describe the mystery of her genius as one of the greatest film actresses we will ever see?

With her own description of her own towering gifts.

“I don’t know about my acting being as great as they say,” she once offered. “But I do know one thing about myself. I am transparent.”

Transparent. (more…)

—–

And now… Ladies and gentemen, I give you Gary Graham…

[I gave an abbreviated version of this speech at a Tea-Party in Lake Forrest, California yesterday.]

It’s so nice to be back in Orange County where I grew up.  And it’s great to be surrounded by all of my fellow racist-extremist-morons.  Oh, you didn’t hear?  That’s how the mainstream media is labeling all of us T-party participants. 

It was a bit of a surprise to find out I was a racist-extremist-moron, as I try to deal with all my fellow humans with courtesy and respect.  But if I disagree with a president of mixed race, I am a racist?  Got it.  He’s half-black and half-white…and I’m white… Not sure exactly how that works…especially since one of my most oft-quoted heroes was a Black man.  I harken to the words of Dr. King in supporting a color-blind society.  A person being ‘judged by the content of his character rather that the color of his skin’ type of thing.

And I did pretty well in school, went to college, I try to stay up on current events, I read voraciously and have published a book and written over forty articles that have been published on the Internet, so it surprised me to find out I’m a moron. 

And…like all of you ‘morons’, I believe in the American Constitution.  I believe brilliant minds put it together with built-in limits of power that were meant to safe-guard the sorts of abuses we now see coming at us on a daily basis in Washington, D.C.  (more…)

I received my census form, dutifully filled it out and mailed it off. In the blank reserved for racial classification I wrote in capital letters, “HUMAN.” It was widely reported that for racial classification President Obama checked the box marked “African-American” as opposed to writing in “mixed race,” which would have been more factually correct, but wouldn’t have played well with black voters (or so he supposed). It is my considered opinion that if the President can make a political statement when filling out his census form I can as well. Obama chose to shore up his street cred; I chose to give voice to the conviction that this country will never move beyond race so long as the federal government continues to be in the business of race.

Yet we remain consumed even if we can no longer actually define what race is. What we lose in our attempts is any sense of ourselves as individuals created with unique gifts to offer an expectant world.

Is race in America a matter of pigmentation? DNA? Given the fact that most of us are “mutts,” how dark or light must one be and which ethnic distinction predominates? Our President is bi-racial and was raised by his white mother and grandmother, yet he describes his race as African-American. His choice seems to suggest that race is a matter of opinion; a man is whatever he believes himself to be. How then does one determine the authentic from the merely delusional? My friend Amy is married to a black man; she has black children and lives in a black neighborhood. She earnestly asks why she is precluded from becoming a member of the sisterhood. And what of all the blond, blue eyed “Native Americans” and their cousins in the black community that “have a little Cherokee on their grandmothers side of the family.” Are their opinions not as valid as our President’s? Are we prepared to give moral credence to the “one drop” rule of days gone by? Have we now determined that absent the idea of racial supremacy the one drop rule is in fact not racist and is civilly acceptable? (more…)

(more…)

—–

So our nation’s top high school paper, USA Today, just published a big poll on all things political. The conclusion: Americans hate everything.

They are, in a word, hatist.

For example, the favorable rating for Democrats has dwindled to 41% – the lowest since Gallup began asking the question nearly two decades ago -and its standing has dropped 14 points since the Great One’s election. That makes us shamefully Democrat-ist.

Also, 50% say the O-man doesn’t deserve re-election. According my figures, that’s half. But I’ll double check. (Yep, it’s half). That means half of America is not simply racist, but also Obama-ist, and electionist, two words I just made up and will tattoo on my thighs.

Meanwhile, three out of four folks say they are dissatisfied with the country’s direction. Three out of four. And they aren’t even dentists – but they are directionist. They make me sick to my stomach. I hate my stomach. I am stomachist. It blocks the view when I’m standing over a mirror. (more…)

This article was co-authored by Stephen K. Bannon.

This week, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released a report on President Obama’s 2011 budget that ought to shock every single American.  According to the CBO, the federal government’s debt, which was $56,000 per-household at the beginning of President Obama’s tenure one year ago, has risen to $72,000 per-household today, and is expected to skyrocket to $170,000 per-household by 2020.  Should the CBO’s estimates prove accurate, the federal debt would represent 90% of the Gross Domestic Product of the United States in less than 10 years. 

—–

For some incomprehensible reason, Washington politicians have their heads planted firmly in the sand and refuse to acknowledge the looming disaster.  Instead of addressing the problem, last week, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid looking on approvingly, President Obama signed a nearly $1 trillion health care bill into law.  We’ve gotten to a point that 65% of Americans believe that the federal debt is the greatest threat to America’s future. 

But we did not accumulate a $12 trillion dollar debt overnight. This is not a problem that can be laid solely at the Obama Administration’s feet, nor is it entirely the fault of the free spending Congress led by Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid.  America’s problems go far deeper than the policies of one administration – they are a result of a systemic rot that has eaten away at the financial foundation of our economy for decades.  It is the class of elite incumbents – politicians, bankers, and academics alike – that were reared in the self-indulgent 1960’s and who came to power in the 1990’s that have led us to the brink.  (more…)

I couldn’t believe what happened in the People’s House. It was like getting socked in the gut, all the wind was knocked right out of me. We tried everything to get the Congress to hear to us: letters, emails, faxes, and phone calls, and they just wouldn’t listen.

So we surrounded the Capitol on the morning of the vote. Rather than using the secure underground private subway taxpayers have graciously provided for their security, our “Representatives” arrogantly and defiantly marched right through the protest, just daring someone to step out of line. For the first time in my life, I fear for the future of this country, the last great hope of man.

I still don’t know how the Bill passed. Perhaps it had something to do with Nancy Pelosi saying a prayer to St. Joseph. It was probably so long since he heard from her, that he moved her priority straight to the front of the line. Of course, in her anxious haste, Nancy must have forgotten that St. Joseph is the Saint you pray to when you’re trying to get rid of the House. (I think we’re ALL onboard with that prayer.) (more…)

There was much laughter following the presidents signing of the health care bill. Democrats were positively giddy over having successfully secured America’s decline. There were fist bumps and back slapping; the champagne flowed.

Democrats were not alone in their celebration. Republicans too shook hands with constituents and lapped up attention and praise for, let’s face it, having done very little. But, hey, why let that spoil a good time? My fear is that not only will Republicans not “repeal the bill” should they take control of congress after the mid-term elections, but that in the very near future Republican candidates will also be running on promises to nurture it. Such is my confidence in the current GOP.

Inasmuch as we are toasting the expansion of the administrative state (and thus the demise of our American Republic) we should perhaps also raise our glasses to Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain. All these nations are on the verge of economic collapse due to their fiscal promiscuity. They too love their entitlements and are demanding them even as the ship of state sinks. Portugal is currently running a deficit that is 9.3% of GDP with a debt that is 80% of their GDP. Greece has a deficit of 13% and a debt of 113% of GDP. Just for laughs consider that they are appealing to the United States for financial aid. The U.S. currently carries a deficit that is over 12% and debt that is 94% of GDP. (more…)

I’m not crazy about congressional Democrats right now.

As I write this, Congressional Democrats are engaged in a furious partisan battle to pass their idea of healthcare reform. Alas it is an idea the majority of Americans do not share. It is in fact an idea that the majority of congressmen do not share, which is why President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are twisting arms, bribing, cajoling and threatening all manner of mischief in order to eek out a majority vote – or non vote — on a bill the people have made clear they do not want. They may succeed.

I am not all that enamored of Congressional Republicans either. It is painful indeed to listen to the feigned outrage of so many Republicans who spent years in office redefining the meaning of concepts like “limited Government,” and “fiscal conservative”. Surely they must realize that their inept stewardship over so many years not only opened the door for the leftist now in power, but also rolled out the red carpet for them.

The contract we strike with government holds that citizens will give up certain of our rights in exchange for government protection of our liberty and property. The foundation of that bargain is trust. And that trust must be guarded jealously. Men must trust that their wishes will be respected and that government will not over step its bounds. When that trust dissipates due to the contraventions of officials within the government, the actions of government lose their legitimacy. (more…)

So what did we learn this weekend? That the health care reform bill is such a big idea that it doesn’t matter what’s in it. It’s such a big idea, in fact, that that’s all those dopes voted for – the idea. Because they really don’t know what’s in the bill anyway. They couldn’t have – it’s 2,700 pages. This was, essentially, a “yes” vote on Shangri-la.

The argument was never about health care. It was about whether America can survive when strapped with another massive entitlement program, one in which we’ve been deceived about cost. Essentially Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama (Obamalosi, for short) looked at our crumbling economy, weighed down by three massive entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid), and thought: let’s have a fourth. Let’s go all in on unfunded entitlements.

The worst part? The lies. Seriously: How can anyone say this is going to save money?

I wanna show you a graph from Nick Gillespie’s great piece at Reason.com. (more…)

This past weekend I was proud to be part of “we the people” who came down to Washington by the thousands to voice their American rights and freedom to say “no” to what we all knew would change our great America into a socialistic America.  With this Obama health care, we will now face extreme hardships in every way and Obama is now more dangerous than ever. 

His ego has been fanned and he will stop at nothing to try to pass the cap-and-trade bill and he will force all union members to openly sign their votes.  We must never forget this blatant and dangerous arrogance by President Obama and Speaker Pelosi and every Democrat leader that voted for this destruction of our great country. 

Let us put memos everywhere to remind ourselves to vote all of these socialistic extremists out of office this coming November and thereafter. (more…)

But it was a bad night for Liberty.

Oh man.  I didn’t want to write a blog today.  Damn those Dems.  (And a special F-U to you twits who voted them in.)   A bad night for Liberty.

But it was a good night for Chicago politics.  It’s nice to know some things never change; that back-room arm-twisting, extortion, blackmail, bribes, and pay-offs can still work wonders when applied judiciously by Leftists Speakers of the House, Presidents (and their hatchet men), and Senate leaders.   Even ‘principled’ Democrats like pro-life Rep Bart Stupak folded like a proud jellyfish. (Any stupidly spineless act of Congress will henceforth be regarded as “a Stupak” as in, “Looks like those idiots on The Hill pulled another Stupak!”)

Yes, Lady Liberty took a serious kick in the teeth last night.  The health care bill will put one-sixth of the U.S. economy in the hands of the federal government.   But even worse than assisting further in the bankrupting of our economy, our freedoms are now seriously diminished. 

We Americans became considerably less free last night. (more…)