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.

A Fresh Face for Maryland – A Candidate We Can Believe In

I have something a little different for everyone today. Many of you have a lengthy history at Stand Up For America. And during that time we have had some fairly in depth discussions and debates about what it will take to begin the process of taking back our country from a government that is growing too fast and spending too much. We have always concluded that change is going to have to begin at the local and state level, with candidates that truly care about getting America back on track. Candidates that truly care about serving the people that elect them to do so. I agree completely that the local landscape is the place where the people must begin to make a difference. Tonight I offer a look at one of those candidates that meet all the criteria we have discussed over the last year.

One Year of Standing Up For America

So here I sit on Novermber 11, 2009. It was one year ago today that I began writing this blog. It seems so long ago, yet the time has passed quite quickly. I remember discussing the decision to write a political blog with Rani, who you all will soon know as a viable candidate for office, and telling her that I just want a place to discuss political issues where the people will treat each other with respect, where the issue can be debated on merit, and where we can figure out a path forward for this country. My only option, we decided, was to create that site myself. And ‘Stand Up For America’ was born on that day in that conversation. It was slow going at first, but soon there were many coming to discuss things in an environment where different opinions were respected. The site grew. So as I sit tonight writing this article, as I have done for 3-4 hours every night for the last year, I want to take the time to acknowledge the people here, the tremendous amount of support that I have received, and hand out a few “awards”

Tuesday Night Open Mic for November 10, 2009

Tuesday night comes to us again. Alas this is the last night that I will be writing this week (at least I think so, I may have the ability to write tomorrow night, but the articles for Thursday and Friday are already written). I have to let everyone know exactly how dedicated I am to writing this blog. All of my friends are playing the new Modern Warfare 2 game, and I left them high and dry to come and write tonight! I know it doesn’t mean much to many of you, but it was the biggest game release ever. Lines out the doors at retailers and all. The reality… gaming is fun, and a nice way to blow off steam, but political discourse is my passion. I love writing this blog. After a 30 minute walk with Doggie Weapon in the pouring rain, I am ready to begin the open mic articles. As you can all see I have written a second article this evening for Veterans Day. I wanted to take a moment and thank those who served. I have done so in the other article.

Thank You Veterans

I wanted to take a moment on Veterans Day to give my heartfelt thanks to all of you who have served or are currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. As a veteran myself, I consider you all to be part of a brotherhood of people who I am proud to belong to. Service to our country began over two centuries ago when the Colonial Army was formed and George Washington led them to victory and our eventual Independence. Thus, patriots of the 18th century began a long tradition, by standing for what the United States of America had the potential to be. In the 200+ years since then, American men and women have carried on the tradition of working to serve the country that has afforded them so many great opportunities and privileges. There is but one day truly set aside as a day to honor those who serve. And today is your day….

Health Care Part 6 – A Right or a Privilege

Allow me to first apologize that I was still unable to get through all of the health care bill passed by the House of (Non)Representatives on Saturday night. I am working through the first half of the week preparing for my business to run without me for the second half of the week. Never an easy task. Please remember all that I will have articles set to post for the second half of the week, but I will not actually be here posting them. I will attempt to jump in whenever possible to take care of any moderation, but can make no promises. I will return home after the memorial services on Monday and should be back in full swing then. For tonight I am going to focus the health care discussions on the premise stated in the title. Just a Citizen posted an interesting interview last night and when I watched it I was reminded of the right versus privilege debate. It seems that at the center of the health care debate is the debate over whether health care is a right, and it is time for us to discuss this….

Yet Another Excuse to Attack the 2nd Amendment

I know that many of you were expecting that I would be talking about the travesty that occurred Saturday night in the House of Representatives. Fear not, I am going to tackle that, but not tonight. I want to finish reading the bill that passed before I begin commenting on it. I will say I am very disappointed that it passed, and thus far I am under the impression that the Democrats in Congress are interested in passing a health insurance reform bill, but have no concern with whether it will actually be a good bill or an effective bill. But enough for tonight, I am hoping to make the newly passed bill the topic tomorrow night. For tonight I offer some thoughts from over there at the Huffington Post. It seems that the tragic events at Fort Hood have become yet another excuse for those on the far left to clamor about taking people’s guns away yet again. I will offer you all the opportunity to read what this particular person had to say, and then weigh in with my own thoughts…

Guest Commentary – Limits on Knowledge

Guest Commentary comes to us once again. It has been a really good week for discussions this week. The discussions around health care were especially good. They were, at times, a bit frustrating. Not because of the directions that any of the people took, even when some of them were completely off base. I was more frustrated because of the fact that I was unable to jump in and actually participate in the discussions in a substantive manner, which means I missed out on having some good debates with some of you. I especially was interested in discussing things with “Buck”, so I hope that he will continue to hang around and discuss things with us! As many of you know, next week will be a big week for spending time with family as we deal with the services and taking care of things. So I may not be real engaged next week, but I intend to be far more engaged in the conversations in the weeks to come.

The False Emotional Appeal of Health Care Reform

As I monitored the comments to yesterday’s article on the public option, I was saddened to see some of the folks who discussed things fall into the common trap of using an emotional appeal in order to attempt to win a debate. Unfortunately, the entire health care reform debate has become little more than an emotional argument along the same lines of so many other political topics and debates. I won’t attempt to say that the GOP arguments are not also just as emotional in their “appeals”. The GOP is just as guilty in this tactic as the Democrats are. I am going to point out a few emotional appeals that are flawed positions from the GOP. And then I am going to delve in to the health care discussions here lately, and point out the emotional appeals. I will also point out where a few of them are fatally flawed. But what I would like to do is point out to everyone that these emotional appeals are quite effective rhetoric, but completely useless against those who use reason and logic as their starting point.

Health Care Part 5 – Understanding the Public Option

And just like that, I am back to writing about the health care madness that is sweeping the United States Congress. As anyone following this debate can see, the major point of contention in the health care debate is the inclusion or exclusion of some form of a public option. The problem that I see when I talk about this with folks is that there are many who don’t understand the public option very well. And that gets compounded by the fact that there are so many different versions of a possible public option being floated out there. I will come right out and say that I would be OK with the most limited form of a public option that is possible. I will discuss what I mean below. But thus far, I have seen nothing in the offerings that even comes close to meeting my standard of what a public option should be. I will also remind everyone up front that I oppose all of the health care reform as it currently stands. I think the ideas being pursued are both Constitutionally illegal, and for the most part completely self serving for the federal government. The stuff being discussed out there will do nothing to make things better for anyone involved. They will only make things worse.

Tuesday Night Open Mic for November 3, 2009

Good Morning fine readers of Stand Up For America. As I begin writing this evening I am in a fairly good mood. Tuesday night open mic is upon us again and it seems that the very elections we discussed yesterday are dominating the news cycles tonight. I am going to avoid open mic’ing the big governor’s races and the “message sent to Democrats” nonsense that seems to be dominating the airwaves. I will touch on some of the election night news in some different ways, however. I am excited to be working on what I think are some good upcoming articles and I have been discussing a few things with some of the folks that read here daily for future ways to get us back to discussing the things we need to be discussing. I do have a request of everyone though… If you have any guest pieces that you are thinking about, I am in need. I have one from Black Flag that I plan on posting this week, and I know many of you have been anticipating that one. But I have a specific need here…

What is the REAL State of the Political Landscape?

Tonight I sat here and thought for quite a while about what I wanted to write about for tonight’s topic. I read all kinds of articles, and hadn’t decided on a topic as of 1:45 am. But I did notice a common theme in articles throughout the different news sites and blogs out there. There were a ton of articles that discussed the upcoming elections that are occurring as you read this. And they all had an opinion one way or another as to what the results from this election will mean going forward. Obviously the results will be interpreted and then given a biased spin by all sides. But the key question seems to be whether what looks like it could be a bad day for Democratic Candidates is a sign of the future or a message being sent to the Democrats. I find that interesting. What message exactly do the national folks think it sends when the races are being determined by such a small percentage of the national population?

Will 3rd Parties Shake Up Future Races?

I was attempting to drown my disappointment with Mountain Dew this evening. The Phillies let me down. Brad Lidge, you are now on my list of guys who should not be a closer. Maybe that is just the disappointment speaking. As a Sawx fan, I certainly find it tough to root for the Yankees. But I would actually be OK with them winning if it weren’t for the fact that A-Rod and Joba Chamberlain will get rings. I would have preferred to see them both never get one. But at least Alex has earned it this year. But a Phillies win would have made it a series! Instead we now have to see three wins in a row to make it happen. Disappointing. So I went on to check on how things are going with the big Governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia. I stumbled across this article and thought, “Hey, let’s take a pulse on the site and see what people think.” They were basically discussing the fact that 3rd parties are having some gain in the current elections and speculating that 3rd parties will have an even bigger impact on the 2010 and 2012 elections.