Tuesday Night Open Mic for February 9, 2010

Open Mic night returns once again and this week we have some interesting topics and some conversations that we are continuing from other days. I wanted to discuss the Sarah Palin speech from the other night, but it didn’t warrant an entire article so it is a topic here. Additonally, I was planning on discussing Mathius’ contribution yesterday written from the perspective that liberals are elitist and he wondered aloud what one written from the other side would look like. I have instead decided that I will make that its own article instead of giving it small legs here. I think it will be a good discussion to focus on. That should be Sunday night’s article since there will be a guest commentary this week. For the record, I really liked that last week there were some folks who posted open mic topics of their own. That is more what I envisioned this to be. I provide a few topics to get us started and then others provide the things that they want to talk about.

Climate Change… Government Scope or Government Nope

Today we had an announcement from the White House that the President has ordered the creation of a new agency to study climate change. I read the headline and immediately rolled my eyes and thought, “here we go again.” Then I stopped myself, reminded myself that I must view the article before I form an opinion. So I did read the article. And then I went, “here we go again.” In light of the events of the past few months in the world of climate change I find myself wondering what is real and what is not. Man-made global warming was a passion of mine for quite a while, as I saw the consequences of government intervention as bad and wanted to understand if it was as dire as the talking heads tried to convince us it was. Regular readers here are already well aware of my opinion on Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW= the “man-made” myth). But I remain, as always, open to the discussion and thus open to changing my opinion if anyone can give me the facts to force me to do so. After all, to not change my mind in the face of real facts would be illogical. However, I am not interested in simply hearing how I am stupid while the premise of the article is completely ignored…..

The Audacity of Hope and Change… Lost?

Before I begin tonight’s article, let me just say that I really enjoyed watching the Super Bowl this evening. I was rooting for the Saints (Baltimore Raven fans do not root for the Colts… ever). I was impressed with how they played. The best compliment that I can give them is that from about the middle of the second quarter on, it was easy to completely forget that Peyton Manning is one of the best quarterbacks of our generation. And the onside kick to start the second half was a brilliant call. So congratulations to the New Orleans Saints and to the city of New Orleans. That city deserved something good happening for it. For tonight’s article, I want to throw out there the question of what has gone wrong with the Obama administration’s plans for America. I think that it is a fair statement to say that, thus far, the Obama Presidency has been a complete failure. It’s been over a year. No longer can we blame Bush or claim that we need to give him time. We can see that the first year has been a complete failure. The question is why?

A Country Moving Towards the…

Left. Right Center. Who Knows. We all know what the different factions tells us. The left says the country has moved to the left, and as such their extreme left agenda is what the people want and need. The right tells us the country is on their side. Scott Brown proved it after all. A lot of pundits tell us that the country is primarily in the center, with dwindling numbers the further away from that median you you get. Who to believe? I say believe what you want. It does not matter what they say or what we believe. At least… it shouldn’t matter. We find ourselves in today’s world arguing incessantly about which direction the country needs to move. Political pundits preach the virtues of either cutting taxes or increasing them. And a support of a single issue is constantly considered an endorsement for that entire ideal. And that, dear readers, is a small microcosm of the problem with today’s non-representing representatives. That they represent the people or thier party is a constant debate. What is not part of the debate is whether they represent a solution. And for the record, I am going back to the Open mic tonight to answer some posts from Ray and others, so check that out too.

Tuesday Night Open Mic for February 2, 2010

Tuesday night open mic comes to us yet again, and to be honest I am somewhat surprised that I have even made it to this point in the week! Some health scares (a nice way to describe what this weekend was like) for Mrs. Weapon had us spending the majority of the last 4 or 5 days either in an emergency room, a doctor’s office, or at home with my watching over her. Fortunately, I had written Monday morning’s article on Friday night so I didn’t have to worry about writing ( I simply wouldn’t have written). And now as things settle into a more stable environment for a bit, I find myself exhausted and really just wanting to sleep for about 2 days. But alas! There is writing to be done and subjects to be covered! So here I am, as dedicated as ever, with my beautiful wife soundly sleeping and feeling much better. An interesting aray of topics for tonight. This week we get to discuss the BCS, China threatening Obama, our shrinking democracy, and of all things… Keith Olbermann :shudder:

Using Populist Appeal to Change the Rules

Mr. Smith Filibusters

This article actually began as an open mic night topic last week (as you will be able to tell by the format I offer it in), when I initially read the story. As I began thinking about it, I realized that it was something that was going to take a little bit more time to cover than was usual for an open mic topic. That is mostly because I want to expand the discussion into a broader one, focused on more than just this one instance. The article that I am linking to below is written by Senator Tom Udall from New Mexico. This freshman Senator is setting his sights on eliminating the the ability for the Republicans to block legislation through the use of the filibuster in the Senate. And his rationale for doing so is the Constitution. Now I am not a Constitutional scholar, but I understand it pretty well and I have studied it extensively, both as a supporter and a detractor. And what I see from the Senator is yet another attempt by members of government to find a “loophole” to accomplish whatever they want to accomplish, our freedom be damned…

Don’t Ask. Don’t Tell. Don’t Care?

I noticed that there were some discussions beginning on this subject in the threads today so I figured I would take the night to quickly open the subject for discussion. It is an area we have not tackled previously, and to be honest it is a subject that I have not had the time to research in depth. I had figured to cover it in the next couple of weeks since the President mentioned it in the State of the Union. But since I had no guest commentary submitted for this week, I figured I would throw it out there rather than simply going without another article until the beginning of next week. I am, as you can probably guess from the title, talking about the President’s promise to eliminate the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on homosexuals in the military. I know it can be a sensitive subject, and one that is often fought on lines of very different perspectives (veterans have a far different perspective on this than those who haven’t served). But perhaps we can discuss this without allowing the religious aspect of things to cloud the discussion?

State of the Union? Same old Crap….

So I have finished watching both the State of the Union and the Republican rebuttal. I thought both were weak. I thought both were full of bulldookey. I am not going to address every single thing that the President said tonight, but I am going to address some of the things that jumped out at me. Because in the end, I felt like he was right back in campaign mode, but more importantly, he was right back to claiming one thing while doing something completely different. I am sure that Black Flag will say “what did you expect?” I would answer that I expected exactly what I got. I am simply pointing out my disappointment that I was not surprised. And there are just so many things that I have to rebuke, if nothing else for the plethora of facebook posts from all manner of my friends saying how great Obama was and how awesome it is that he is on our side and how proud they are to be Democrats tonight. It literally almost drove me mad. Had I not had a few Raptor hybrids that D13 sent me to test out, I wouldn’t have had anything to kick and might have gone out and attempted to remove the pom poms and springs from Nancy Pelosi’s hindquarters. By the way D13, they really are as trainable as you promised.

Tuesday Night Open Mic for January 26, 2010

Another week of discussions is well underway. I have to say that I was disappointed initially with the way the discussion went on the bank regulation article. I was really hoping that we would hear some ideas for how this could be accomplished without government putting regulations in place. I would really like to find an alternative solution. As we move forward in discussions, we have to accept that reality is what it is, but I would really like to begin to formulate some actual ways to remove government from the vital areas that they currently inject themselves into. There was a little too much “regulation is needed” and too little explaining why. Alternatives exist, so I want to find them. Aside from that I offer a warning to Mathius, as I recall that he drives the same exact vehicle that I do (at least I think so, Infiniti G35S). I ran over a piece of metal today that blew my tire. Seemed like a small thing. But no, the simple flapping of my tire apparently cracked the wheel in three places. Total cost for a new wheel and new tire? $1500! Watch where you drive my friend. Owning luxury comes at a heavy cost for repairs! How that small event ruined my day is an epic tale or woe and dismay…..

Government Meddling or Necessary Regulation?

News came down last week that the President, in his haste to shift the focus away from a quickly diminishing chance at health care reform, will now re-focus on regulating the big banks in an effort to prevent them from becoming “too big to fail” again. I have already written on the fact that, despite the fact that the banks were too big to fail before TARP, they have comntinued to get even bigger. You can read about that HERE . I also shared a banker’s perspective on what regulations need to happen that I had found on the Huffington Post. You can read that HERE . So this isn’t a new subject. But the President was pretty strident in stating that he was going after these regulations, even going so far as to say if they (the big banks) are looking for a fight, he is ready and willing to give them one. Now, I know that you are all aware of where I stand on the idea of government regulation of private businesses. But I am willing to report what I am reading and keep an open mind to the fact that I could be wrong in some way.

Guest Commentary – A Trip to Oz

We have guest commentary moved to a different night. I took some of the advice that was offered and moved the guest commentary to a different night in order to give the writings of others a little more exposure. Tonight we get to hear from a long time reader and active participant at Stand Up For America. But in an interesting twist on topics, he has offered up an article that takes a look at one of the big conspiracy theories that are out there. He compiled a lot of information that was out there and linked some things together. The point in presenting such an article is not to make folks panic or even to espouse a belief that they are true. He merely offered the article as a look into one of them for folks to peruse and consider. I have to be honest and say that I was unsure whether this was a topic that I wanted covered at SUFA, but in the end, I have decided that it isn’t my place to determine the answer to that. While I may be the creator of this site, I am still here to serve all of you. And that means that you get to discuss what you want to discuss.

My Take on What Scott Brown’s Win REALLY Means

As everyone is aware, Massachusetts held their special election on Tuesday and shocked the system by electing a Republican to fill the seat vacated by the late Ted Kennedy. From the moment he was declared the winner in the race against Martha Coakley, all of the news outlets, political pundits, politicians, and spin masters, including the White House, have worked to tell America what this monumental upset means. Is it the beginning of the end for the Democratic party? Is it nothing more than a rebuke of a candidate that thought she was entitled to the seat and, therefore, didn’t bother to work hard at winning an election? Is it a statement made by Massachusetts voters that America is not happy with the direction of the Obama administration and the progressive movement that is afoot in Washington DC? Is it a statement that Americans do not want the health care legislation in its present form? Is it a statement that the back room deals, sweetheart bribes, and partisan games in Washington have finally proven too much for the average American to tolerate?

Tuesday Night Open Mic for January 19, 2010

Ah the first week with the new writing schedule has thus far been a nicer pace for me thus far. I was able to participate in the discussions from my Sunday night/Monday morning post at a much higher level, which makes me feel more like I am a part of the discussions. Some good thoughts were put out there on my general lack of liberty post. I realize that there was not a real “topic” there to discuss, but I have to admit that I was surprised that there wasn’t more that people wanted to say! Don’t worry, the topics will get better! I found a couple of articles on the Huffington Post for tonight’s topics. I hope you will all go and read the original articles in their entirety, as they are interesting. We also will welcome a longtime friend to the world of blogging his thoughts and discuss the madness that was a result of the Patriot Act, and wonder when Obama will get around to repealing that abhorrent piece of “legislation”.

I Don’t Want to Tame Big Government….

So as you awaken to the beginning of yet another week in today’s America, I offer today a bit of a pep talk, a bit of a rallying cry, and a bit of a further explanation for where I want to go, both personally and with Stand Up For America. I can tell you all that the last 14 months has been a tough time for me. Challenged by many of you, those faithful readers that have digested my daily thoughts, and then took off your kid gloves and smacked me around, I have spent the last 14 months challenging myself. I found that the paradigm that I had been living for so very long….. was not entirely flawless (yeah, I know… Shocker). I found that while I still am smarter than the average bear, I still make mistakes, find contradictions in my conclusions, and stumble as I attempt to find the path to personal freedom, individual liberty, and personal responsibility. My most shocking conclusion (at least most shocking to me) came in my conclusion about government in general.

What I found is that I have absolutely zero interest in taming big government…. I want to kill it.

Massachusetts… Battleground State Deluxe

I figured as my final article for this week, this topic is the right one to cover. As many of you are now aware, the special election to fill the vacant Senate seat that was once held by Senator Ted Kennedy is being held on Tuesday. It is a pivotal election, as a GOP win would drop the Democrats majority to only 59 in the Senate, meaning that they would be unable to stop a Republican filibuster on health care or any other illegitimate legislation that they are attempting to ram through Congress with 1:00am votes and limited debate allowances. The seat is being held temporarily by Paul Kirk, a Kennedy family friend and former Democratic National Committee Chairman. The Massachusetts legislature allowed Governor Deval Patrick to appoint Kirk as the interim Senator back in September. Kirk’s vote has been a pivotal one over the stretch of time since then.

Nothing New… But There are Questions

As all of my long time readers have found, I am a many of many words, and also a man of habit. For the last 14 months I have written articles either 4 or 5 nights a week. I have found it a pace that I cannot continue while simultaneously being an active participant on the site. I find my lack of participation unfair. I make my points and the idea is to debate them. When I don’t have time to respond, I feel like I am not a participant in the way that I want to be. The last 6 months or so I have been writing an article 4 or 5 nights a week. What I am proposing is that I write a new article 2 nights a week, and thrown in the open mic and guest commentary as well. New articles to read on Monday morning, Wednesday morning (open mic thread), Thursday morning, and Saturday morning (Guest commentary). It would allow two days of discussion on each of my main topics. I could thus participate more often in the conversations.

Tuesday Night Open Mic for January 12, 2010

Tuesday night open mic comes to us and I have found some interesting articles. I did intentionally avoid the “Sarah Palin coming to Fox” story. I prefer to wait that one out and see what she brings to the table before offering my opinion on the move. She may be great… she may be horrible. Time will tell. However, I do bring some global warming change to mini ice age, some “solutions” to unemployment, and the mortal threat of deer to our existence. Plus a little lapse of individual liberty from, of all places, Texas. I am sure you have all noticed that I have not written as much lately. I am sure you understand the holiday season for me and what made it so. I am also contemplating some changes to my writing schedule that would be more permanent. I will post my thoughts and get everyone’s opinion of them once I flesh them out in my own head. What I would like to do is get to a point where I have the time to be more active in the discussions again. I miss the debates!

Harry Reid: Racist or Window on America?

I Bet Spike Lee Thinks its Racist

There appears to be quite a flap over the comments that Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, made in reference to then Presidential Candidate Barack Obama. I understand the remarks and I am not yet convinced that they were meant to be taken in the way that many in America will take them. But I guess the real question for me is whether the remarks make him a racist, at least in the form that the word is used today, or whether the comments that Reid made really are nothing more than a brief look into the true heart of the average Congressional member, or for that matter, into the heart of the average American citizen. Because while I don’t necessarily believe that the average American is a “racist” in the sense of the word as it is normally meant, but that does not mean that the average American has yet gotten to the point where they do not see color at all.

If Only Temporary… The Death of the Death Tax

I was going to touch on the article I will have below on the open mic thread the other night. But I decided against it because I wanted the idea of the estate tax to be given its fair due in debate here at SUFA. For those that are unaware, if you are wealthy, and want to pass that wealth to your heirs, then you may want to ensure that you find a way to die during the year 2010 (Perhaps you could sign up for government health care!). Because for 2010, and 2010 only, the Estate tax has been suspended. As of January 1, 2010, a “temporary repeal” of the estate tax occurs. For all of 2010, there will be a 0% estate tax assessed. However, come January 1, 2011, the estate tax goes back into effect and the top rates of up to 55% will once again be assessed. Were we exceptionally wealthy, 2010 would be the year that Mrs. Weapon and I try every daredevil thing we have ever dreamed of attempting. After all, we don’t think the federal government has a right to what we have earned.

Tuesday Night Open Mic for January 5, 2010

Open mic returns to its regularly scheduled night. Last week was a Wednesday, but the discussions were just as good. I would still like to see more of folks using the format that I do to bring their own topics to the table. I know discussing my chosen topics is fun and all, but with all the multitudes of brainpower here at SUFA, I know there are tons of other interesting stories and thoughts out there that we are missing. The same goes for the guest commentary pieces. I haven’t seen nearly enough of them lately. I know the holidays are a busy time with family. But now it is time to get back to business and begin hearing everyone’s thoughts on how things are and how we can make them better. It is no fun to just talk about what I want to talk about. So bring it on!

I’ll Pay You $5 To Beat Up That Guy

Fresh off some very interesting (although full of doom) conversations yesterday, I offer an extension of a discussion that we started a week ago. We were discussing the increase in rhetoric around Yemen and the fact that I was hoping this was not a precursor to yet another military operation in yet another muslim territory on yet another Al Qaeda is a threat to the world charge. I still believe that this is the precursor to increased involvement in Yemen. And that is disappointing to me, because I don’t want us involved in another cat-fight in ANY other country (including Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, or Nigeria). As I perused the news this evening I find this little gem of an article on the Fox News political site. It probably started on the main news page but wasn’t there for long. The article was titled: “The Other Terror War: Pentagon Eyes Foreign Aid to Fight Al Qaeda.” And I found myself even frustrated with this simple premise that most Americans won’t bat an eye at…

Much Criticism… But Is There a Solution?

I was reading yet another article this evening on the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and his ranting about increasing regulations in order to limit the ability of speculators to create a bubble that can throw the economy into crisis. As many of you can guess, I am almost never in favor of increasing regulations on anything. I think the government uses the words regulation to mean control, and not in a good way. And hearing the FED Chairman talk about it, as if the FED had nothing to do with the housing troubles we saw, was nothing more than another level of the blame game in my opinion. As I have often stated here, I am a smart guy, but I am not an economist. I understand economics, and my common sense fills in for those big words. But there are those who understand it better than I do on this site, so I hope they will offer their thoughts as well. The big question that I have at this point is whether there is a good solution to the problems we see in the economy?

WE ARE…. PENN STATE!!!!

And the game goes final. Penn State Nittany Lions 19, LSU Kitty Cats 17. Big Ten Rules!

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…