Wednesday Night Open Mic for December 30, 2009

Since there was no open mic for Tuesday Night I figured I would do one for Wednesday night this week. And in doing so we have the final open mic night for 2009. A tumultuous year to say the least. I mean let’s face it, it was the absolute worst year for politics since…. 2008! I continue to spend time with my son, which is awesome! Last night we watched District 9, and I was not blown away the way I hoped to be. Tonight it was “Public Enemies” with Johnny Depp. I have to admit that he is one of my favorite actors. Extremely talented, very versatile, and in a showing of how messed up the academy is, devoid of the honor of winning an Oscar. He is, in my opinion, the most talented actor to not have an Oscar, and there are tons that have one that are not nearly as talented as Depp. The movie was good. Another glorification of a criminal, which is nothing new in Hollywood. But a good movie, and Depp was good.

The Blame Game, Reversed

I return for this evening with a short article giving my thoughts on the recent terrorist attempt on Christmas day. I certainly appreciate everyone’s patience as I spend the holiday week with my son. Time with him these days is so very limited, so it is nice to be able to appreciate it while I can. Before I know it he will be married with a family of his own, and spending time with dad will become a secondary priority. It seems to me that the Republicans are too eager to jump on both the President and his administration, along with the security agencies, in respect to this failed attempt to bring down another plane. I am not sure that I can get on board with that assessment. I don’t blame the President for this breakdown. And I don’t think the calls for his head because he is on vacation are warranted. So I figured I would weigh in…

Open Thread for December 28, 2009

As I figured might be the case with my son home for the holidays, I have been spending all my free time hanging out with him. Tonight consisted of a long discussion on liberty and what things the government can do that thwarts liberty from both ends of the political spectrum. It is interesting to help him learn the world of politics. It is also difficult, because I am trying to teach him to think on the issues, find what he really believes, and let him make up his own mind and come to his own conclusions. A difficult task for someone as opinionated as I am. But these are important discussions to have. A generation of dependent citizens may be raised by today’s public education system, but my son will not be one of them. As promised, on the nights that I don’t write, I am offering a simple open thread so that whatever discussions people may like to have can be done without simply adding to whatever the last thread is.

Merry Christmas to All…

Allow me to take just a few minutes to wish everyone who reads and participates here at Stand Up For America a happy holiday, or more specifically, a Merry Christmas. I don’t mean to dismiss those who don’t celebrate Christmas, but being in the non-secular world today, I am still put off by the idea that Merry Christmas is somehow offensive to someone. Can’t say it in the business world, might offend someone who isn’t Christian. To that I say bah, humbug. That someone would be offended by a well wish using the greeting that is pertinent to 70% of Americans is both childish and ignorant. SO I am saying Merry Christmas and if you don’t like it, tough. But I will say some for the rest of us too. And offer some Christmas Cartoons to boot!

Tuesday Night Open Mic for December 22, 2009

Another Tuesday night, or as it has come to be, Wednesday morning, and that means that it is the night for our Open Mic conversations. There has been a ton of interesting news out there that is not health care. So I am glad that we will be discussing it. Additionally, there were some really interesting conversations that were happening throughout the day on Tuesday. Specifically the conversations about the change in tone here by SUFA commenters and the discussion about compromise being a necessary thing in a pluralistic society. So I have commented on them below as well. My hope is that we find time to continue those conversations. Other open mic topics for the evening (morning) are the new Rock the Vote campaign, another Senator making an ignorant statement, and Obama’s claim that we are now being more fiscally intelligent. There is also a topic from Cyndi that involves the “Evolve” group. I hope everyone enjoys….

Better Than Nothing? I Don’t Think So…

After listening to reactions all day to the fact that the Senate is on the verge of passing what is called a “monumental health care bill,” I have come to some conclusions about how delusional the folks who follow the madness have become. First allow me to say that the Dems are correct, it is a monumental bill. A monumental mistake. The more I dig, the more I find what I don’t like. But I do realize that this is simply a stepping stone for them. This gets the foot in the door. Once passed, they will be able to quietly tack on whatever they like on the backside of appropriations bills or stimulus bills or energy bills. They will never again have to wrestle with a “health care” bill. But that is not the topic for tonight. The topic is, instead, the mindset of today’s political pundits and the folks that follow them.

Another Step Towards Senate Madness

Here it is 2:20 am and I am just beginning to write for tonight. It lends itself, as many of you know, to my offering my opinions on something rather than a well researched article. Tonight will be no exception. I ate up over an hour of the night watching the health care debates in the Senate on CSPAN, and then watching them pass a cloture vote 60-40 to end debate on the additions to the health care bill from Senator Reid. Then I spent an hours discussing health care on facebook with a few of Rani’s friends, while simultaneously being insulted by another friend of hers. It was quite comical as he continued to spout that I was stupid, ignorant, uninformed, and talking out my ass. He accused me of being a Republican, perhaps the biggest insult of the night, and summed up my invitation to the other two to come and debate here by saying that any asshole can write a blog. What he never did was offer a single fact for debate. Not one. The entirety of his argument was that I was a stupid Republican and my writing a blog doesn’t mean anything (the one point that I agree with). I don’t imagine he will attempt to come here and engage any of us here. But I certainly hope that he does…

A Look in on a Long Time Reader Here….

As I continue down the path of retail madness during the busy month of December (A December that has not been nearly busy enough to suit my fancy, for the record), I find yet another night where I have struggled to find the time to research and write. And because I didn’t write last night, I find it unfathomable that I would not have anything to offer two nights in a row. In continuing my reading I came across this article from an author who takes the time to visit and enter into the discourse here when he finds the time. And his insight is always well thought out and valuable. I read his blog regularly, and am ashamed to admit I don’t comment there as often as I should. So tonight, I offer the first part of an interesting series of articles that he has undertaken recently. I also take this time to wholeheartedly endorse his blog. It is a fine read, and always well thought out. I highly suggest that when you aren’t reading mine, you take some time to read the articles that he has published.

Tuesday Night Open Mic for December 15, 2009

Tuesday night is upon us, and with it comes the ever popular open mic. I do have a bit of a request for folks who post articles for open mic, or on other days, for that matter. If you want to post an article here, that is welcome and great. It is sharing information. But add to the conversation when you do. Help those of us here to understand why that article is pertinent, important, or interesting. As you can see, with each topic I offer, I attempt to add some thoughts of my own, a synopsis or analysis of what I am reading. It helps folks to weed through it all. We have hundreds of comments here daily. Without understanding the importance or relevance of an article, many folks may simply skip over it and miss out! I appreciate the patience everyone has had over the last two weeks with my sporadic participation. Busy and long days for me. I feel good about the amount of articles I have managed to post, but I know that it is disappointing for some when I have a day where there is nothing new to discuss or comment on. I greatly appreciate the extra things others have added during discussions that help make up for my December shortcomings!

Financial Regulation – A Banker’s Perspective

As I mentioned to all of you a couple of weeks ago, this busy season will sometimes leave me with little time to research and offer a quality article of my own making. On those nights I will sometimes not have anything at all, but on other nights I will offer something written by someone else. Tonight I give you the latter. We have had plenty of discussion here about the roles of Wall Street and the big banks in the current economic situation. I was over at the Huffington Post reading around, and I found this article from a banker, who offered his perspective on the situation we face. It isn’t very often we are going to sit around and watch the finance committee hearings to hear what the bankers have to say. So I thought it appropriate that on the day when the President brought the bank CEO’s in and “laid the smack down” on them, we get a little bit of opinion from someone on the other side of the issue.

A 20 Year Old College Student Runs the World…

There I was, skimming the political news this evening, still smarting over winning my final 4 games in fantasy football only to not make the playoffs because of one win on the final day by the team I needed to lose to enable me to get in. As I contemplated the repercussions in the fantasy world of finishing with a better record than two of the 4 teams that made the playoffs (they won their division, last place in my division would have won their division), I stumbled across the “grade” that Barack Obama has given himself for his first year in office. It was an interview with fellow sham town hero Oprah, and he exclaimed that he feels he earned a “solid B plus” for his first year. As I chuckled to myself, I realized that The Obama administration is just like every single graduate of a college with a business degree as they enter the workforce.

Guest Commentary – Regulation’s Unheralded Effects

Friday night again and this week I have a submission for guest commentary! I have to say, as I always do, that I love when other folks become passionate enough to write about a topic and share their thoughts and research with all of us here at Stand Up For America. Over the last couple of weeks, I have read a lot of comments that espoused the idea that we have to begin taking action. I hear those calls, and I certainly echo them. There is much to be said for action. We must make sure that our actions are in line with our philosophical discussions in order to ensure that the results are what we want. But action is needed now. For all those who read here regularly, I urge you to write an article that outlines the actions that you believe we need to be taking. That allows all of us here to read the plan, evaluate it, and make sure that it falls in line with the principles and values that we all commonly share. The first step to action is a plan. I understand this. I wish that I, as the author of this site, had all the answers to cure the ills of America, but alas I do not. But I have thus far gathered an impressive group of folks. I am sure we can compile and implement action items if we can just get them into the discussion realm. So get writing patriots!

America… Tighten Your Belt….

… So that we can loosen ours. This is the message from the United States government. The word came today from the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Pelosi had a press conference today where she laid out her plan to not only get the money ceiling raised, but to do so by attaching it to the Iraq/Afghanistan spending bill that has already been pushed through both chambers of Congress. I could sit here and pretend to be surprised, but we all know that wouldn’t be accurate. The out of control spending in Washington continues on a daily basis. And now that the credit card bills are coming due, Congress is in a position where they have to rush through some legislation that will raise the debt ceiling for the United States government. The bass-ackwards way that Congress is behaving with America’s purse strings is just another example of why we can be assured that they have zero clue as to how to help with the struggling economy.

Tuesday Night Open Mic for December 8, 2009

Another Tuesday is upon us already. And that means open mic. I will use my first topic to respond to Black Flag on his rant on the Iran being a threat article. This time of year I often struggle to find the time to dole out the responses at the appropriate times and with necessary detail. When I devote an entire article to one person’s point of view, I at least should ensure that I find the time to answer that person. Such is the case here. On top of this topic, there are some other compelling ones for tonight. We have more climate madness. We have the Senate Majority leader inserting foot into mouth quite well. We have the possible dropping of the public option altogether on the health care bill (including why I don’t think this is a good thing). And finally, we will have a quick hit on the fact that Obama’s poll numbers are now below 50% for the first time.

Laying Down “The Law”

I hope today finds everyone well. Don’t forget, only 16 more shopping days to get out there and get your favorite blogger a Christmas gift! Tonight I am going to be doing something a little bit different in terms of what I offer. This doesn’t fit quite into the category of philosophy or into the category of commentary. But I think it is a good, and important read. I want to offer a bit of wisdom written many years ago, and subsequently translated from French to English. The author is Frederic Bastiat. And the piece that I am going to discuss here is a work called “The Law.” This essay by Bastiat is a brilliant dissertation on, you guessed it, the law. It is available via Amazon and many other avenues. I humbly recommend that everyone pick it up and read it, twice if necessary, until you understand it well. It is short, only 54 pages, and at last check was only $7.95 at Amazon. Such a short book to read, but one with tremendous impact on those that take the time to read it.

Have Republicans Fallen Out of the Mainstream?

A happy new week to all! Tonight I am going to offer the first of what will be my “fall back plan” during the holidays. As many of you are aware, I run a sales operation. As such, I am in the busiest 5 weeks of the entire year. A little over 30% of the entire year in sales is accomplished between Thanksgiving and Christmas. What that means for me is, as the boss (and the best at what goes on there ), I end up with a lot of long days and nights where I need extra sleep. As a result, I am unable to research and write as normal. However, I think there are so many important things going on, I want to ensure that we are still maintaining our edge and having important discussions. So my plan is, on the nights when I am unable to write as usual, I will offer perspectives on what is written by others, allowing some discussions to happen on the subjects in a different way.

Rejecting Iran’s Possible Dangers

There is no guest commentary submitted for this evening so I told Black Flag that I would respond to his comments about Iran as the topic for tonight. This is not going to be a long post, as we have hashed out Iran as best we could in past debates. We have, frustratingly, not agreed on much, as it seemed to me one side of the argument pointed out Iran as a danger, and the other was intent to instead point out the US as a danger. I will address that fact quickly below, and then move on, as re-hashing it will serve no purpose for us here. As for the topic, I know there are many here who are not interested in this topic. Feel free to use this thread throughout the weekend to discuss any topic you like. I will monitor when I can to respond to whatever subjects you bring up. If you would like to peruse the last discussion that we had on this subject in October, you can do so by clicking HERE (will open a new window). So on to the quick discussion topic…

Obama Speech

Thursday night and I am back in the mix. Sorry to all that I was unable to write last night. I had a lot to do around the house the last couple of days, putting lights up, making the house like Christmas. I know that D13 has offered an analysis on the Obama speech the other day. I have intentionally not read his post on it. I have also intentionally not listened to any Fox News or anything else for that matter on the subject. I wanted to offer an analysis that was mine and mine alone. Without any thoughts from the MSM clouding my mind and making me pay attention to the parts that I don’t think are important. I have watched the speech, and I have read the speech twice. I will say up front that I think that the strategy and the speech were failures in my eyes. And I can honestly say that I don’t feel that it is simply because I don’t like Obama and nothing he would have said would have been good enough. I was looking for a few things from him. I didn’t get them.

Tuesday Night Open Mic for December 1, 2009

We enter December, the time for Holiday cheer and Congress debating bills that will ensure future Christmas days will be filled with disappointed children with no presents because all the money was spent by the reckless federal government. Watching some of the debates in the Senate are literally sickening. Nothing like watching future prosperity being bickered away by two groups who are desperate to ensure their own financial futures. Tonight was the President’s speech on the plan for Afghanistan. I listened to what I could and will listen to the rest tomorrow. I am not happy with the speech thus far. Tonight’s speech and the whole issue of Afghanistan will be the topic for tomorrow night, as I have plenty to say and not near enough time to both review the speech and offer my thoughts tonight. As for the topics below, I will attempt to participate in the conversations today in between errands and I may offer an additional topic or two throughout the day. As always I encourage everyone else to add as well!

And Now the Data Disappears?

I have to admit that I am quite surprised to see how the world of man causing global warming, or even climate change, is disintegrating right before my very eyes. You have to admit that the build-up was impressive. They really did a good job of snowing everyone, forcing compliance, and bullying anyone who dared to question the “facts about global climate change.” But over the last month, the revelations have been coming fast and furious. And the panic that is starting to appear in the global warming folk’s ranks is providing for some awfully good comedic relief. I am pretty sure that Al Gore is sitting at home attempting to come up with a plan. “If I could covertly detonate 43 nuclear warheads, the earth would surely have to heat up a little bit and we can get my money-making pyramid scheme up and running again in no time!”

Is Obama in Trouble?

Whew…. What a weekend. As many of you know I run a retail business. And that means that this was a big weekend. I can’t speak for where the economy is headed, but there were a ton of folks out this weekend spending money. Tonight I ran across an especially passionate lady who, once started, was fired up about politics as anyone here. I didn’t intend to get into a political conversation, as I try to keep those separate from work. But she sucked me in and I invited her here. I hope she joins us as I would love to have yet another passionate voice eager for action in a positive direction. I mention her because I see more and more folks like her every day. Incensed with the direction of this country. Not just the Democrats in Congress, although she certainly could see their ills at the moment, but with both sides, with bigger government. With an out of control Congress that is working to tax and spend everything, right up to breathing at this point.

Enjoy the Holiday with Those Who Matter

No topic tonight. I imagine no one would read it anyway, as most of you will be spending time with family and friends, giving thanks for all that we have. I am thankful for all of you, who allow me to rant and rave on a subject that is near to my heart, liberty. Politics is a passion that you all allow me to participate in, in my own small way. I am thankful for my health, my family, and my wife, who puts up with far more than she should have to bear. I am thankful for my puppy, the gargantuan cat, and a son who is my pride and joy. I am thankful for all that I have, as there are so many struggling to get by these days. Remember those folks today. Set aside your distaste for whichever side of the political spectrum you are on, make a plate of food from your leftovers, and go out and find someone who was going to go without. It will make you feel better, and it will make their holiday a little more bearable. For any who visit today, post away below on whatever subjects you want to discuss. Remember there will be no article written Thursday night.

Tuesday Night Open Mic for November 24, 2009

Well, the open mic comes as we prepare to take a couple days for Thanksgiving. I will be taking some time off the blog as well. There will be no post on the night of Thanksgiving and I will do a guest commentary if I have one on Friday night, but if I don’t have a guest commentary submitted that night I will do either an open mic or not have an article. As many of you know, Friday begins my season of madness that lasts through Christmas. I will post as often as I am able, but there may be some nights with very little. I appreciate everyone understanding, as the season really is pure madness for me. The last couple days have been good conversations, but I do have to say that I am missing JAC and BF (Hope you feel better my pirate friend), especially on that first post this week about the path forward. I may have to rehash that article again later so that they can participate. I think we need to begin formulating a plan for what we can do. Tonight’s open mic has some good stuff, so I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say.

UN Climate Change Treaty

As many of you are aware, this December Denmark will be the site of the United Nations Climate Conference. Several weeks ago there was a video posted on this site, I don’t remember who posted it, by Lord Christopher Monckton. He was giving a speech at Bethel University and was discussing the upcoming conference, the treaty that was being discussed, and the ramifications of such treaty for the United States. I remember watching the video and wondering, “how much of what he says is real and how much of it is ‘Glenn Beckish’ in its conclusions?” So I began to read more, study more, and figure out what I could about the upcoming conference and the treaty being discussed. I was stunned to find that Lord Monckton was pretty accurate with what he was saying. And I decided that I was going to write about the subject. I have been attempting to gather information in the weeks since then. I am now ready to present to all of you what I found. Because there are only 12 days to this insane conference…

Where is Our Path Forward?

I was reading through the comments the other night and saw that some have increased their call to action. I feel like this is a good thing and I want to address it. I forget who said it or the exact wording (and going back and finding it again is a time consuming task), but the gist was that we have all of these smart folks gathered here on the site and we are all obviously disheartened with the direction of America. Some are unhappy with the Democrats, some with the Republicans. But I think the majority are unhappy with both, unhappy with the direction of America, unhappy with what life has become here in what is supposed to be the most free country on the planet. And with that unhappiness comes a desire to act, at least for many. I hear the calls to take back Washington. I hear the calls to start a revolution. I am all for a revolution. But a revolution in the right way. Simply going back to “the Founder’s principles” isn’t going to get it done. So what are we to do?

And So the Rationing Begins?

I first heard this story the other night while driving on our long road trip. I, at least initially, didn’t think that the story meant much. They were discussing the fact that the guidelines for breast cancer screenings were changing from annually after 40 to annually after 50. The report stated that the “hazards” of annual screening before 50 were not worth the risk. I simply listened to the story and thought, “that sure seems like a weird reversal in recommendations.” The next day I was sitting around thinking, because it simply didn’t make any sense to me. The more I heard the story, the more puzzled I became. And then the idea hit me that this is really convenient timing while so much debate is going on around health care reform. So I decided to dig into the story a little more. I began to research and read the articles that were flying around about the new guidelines. I was surprised with some of the things that I found. And I realized that this could be the first step in conditioning the American public to accept less health care in the future.

NYC Trials: Politics or Justice?

I have to admit that this story is getting far more traction than I initially thought that it would get. At first I was really at a loss in understanding why it was getting such outrage from the Republican network. But the more I see the less I like, and I am beginning to see why there seems to be such an outrage. I can certainly also understand why New Yorkers are so against the move made around the trial. What I am failing to understand is how anyone from the left is able to support such a move being made by the administration. I can see no valid arguments being made by those on the left that would justify the Attorney General moving the trial to a civilian court in NY instead of a military tribunal in Cuba. None-the-less, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, along with 4 others will be tried in a civilian court in New York rather than in a military tribunal. And I am not pleased that this is the case.

Tuesday night Open Mic for November 17, 2009

Open Mic is upon us once again. I have to say tha tI have liked the idea of open mic since we have started doing it regularly. It certainly gives me a slightly easier night for writing. But i am a bit disappointed in the fact that the original intent has not been nearly as realized as I had hoped. Certainly I want to foster discussion, and thus offer 4 short topics that can get some discussions going. However, I really thought that there would be more of folks offering topics of their own, as opposed to simply replying to mine. So don’t be afraid to post the things that you want to discuss as well as my topics. Or pull topics over from other days that you didn’t get to finish. That was the idea for open mic, a chance to tell me what we are going to discuss today, hitting the important things to you rather than me. None-the-less, we have some interesting topics this week. We have gay marriage, taxing the rich, and government agencies attempting to control the message.

Geithner… Just Another Crook Doing What Crooks Do

A night where I almost didn’t write. I have had a full day of travel, returning from travel this afternoon to a dog that had chewed the corner of the wall in the kitchen during the six hours he was alone, drywall and all. After cleaning the mess up, and setting up his new cage for sleeping in at night, I quickly showered and headed to work. And tonight I spent a good hour lying on my back in the cold watching the Leonid meteor shower. I can never pass up the opportunity to watch a meteor shower, I just love all forms of nature. But I decided that I hadn’t written while traveling last night (I literally didn’t get to a hotel room until 4:30 am) so I was kind of obligated to do so tonight. So I left the meteor shower and came in to write about something. I was determined to not write about the Fort Hood stuff tonight or the idiotic move to bring the 9/11 conspirators to NY for a civilian trial. So the night was as much me avoiding certain subjects as finding one… then I stumbled on to this article at the top of the Huffington Post home page.

I’m a Travelin’ Man

As many of you know I am traveling today for the memorial service for my grandmother. While doing so (roughly 14 hours of driving each way), I obviously won’t be able to write a new article for this evening and I didn’t have a guest commentary ready to go for the night. For the record I may also not be able to write on Sunday night as I will be traveling home. But I didn’t want to leave everyone hanging so I figured I would add another open mic night to the site for Friday night. I will hit two topics quite quickly below and then all all of you to add your thoughts and start your own discussions on the topics you want to discuss. It also means that I will be a little unable to get in as much as normal to do things like moderate comments, so if something goes into moderation, it might take a little longer before it gets approved. I appreciate in advance everyone understanding my time limitations for the weekend.