Guest Commentary – Is the Government Murdering Us?

Alrighty, I know that the title above already has a few people shaking their head yes and a few other people shaking their head no and yet another group of people rolling their eyes. I will admit that I had to really sit and think about whether I would run this article or not. It certainly isn’t because of the source. The author is a valued contributor to SUFA and credible in what he finds. I struggled because I know this is a contentious subject. And I know that for some folks, the idea that there is a giant plan of evil somewhere is just too much to accept. In the end I decided that I would use the article because I have seen the effects of two different wars on my family. My father dealt with Agent Orange poisoning. I personally witnessed Gulf War Syndrome, although I still haven’t reached a conclusion as to whether I suffer from anything. I will offer my thoughts as one of the comments as soon as I have time.

Initial Thoughts on “The Summit”

I could literally sum up my entire thoughts on the health care summit held at Blair House yesterday with just a line or two. They would be: The was nothing more than theater put on by the two parties. There was nothing accomplished and this was a complete waste of time and money. Of course if I summed it up in two sentences like that, this would not be a very interesting blog to read now would it? I am simply not prepared to dissect the entire 7 hours worth of bullshit that went on there quite yet. And I am not even sure that it is worth dissecting. However, if after this short piece, you would like me to delve further into what went on, I will. I live to serve. Instead I am going to offer some very quick observations and thoughts on what I saw of the summit. I watched a good portion of it. Morbid curiosity. It was big news so I feel like I had to at least touch on it tonight. But I will keep it short. Because it is guest commentary night and I don’t want to take away from the article that was submitted.

Great Response From Dallas Tea Party

Just saw this posted by MadMom on facebook. Thought I would share it. Way to go Dallas!

Tuesday Night Open Mic for February 23, 2010

We come to open mic not a moment too soon! It seems the topics the last few days have lit a fire behind some people and the discussions have been great. There are obviously some fundamental differences in the starting points for different folks in the conversations. I hope that in the future we have the opportunity to discuss those starting points specifically, rather than lightly flushing them out in order to make a point on something else. For example, the taxes are or aren’t theft discussion is one that I will write about soon and we can have a whole day dedicated to that debate. Should be interesting. For the upcoming few articles I have some plans. Now that I can see Mathius is back among us, I will finish the answer to his post as promised. I will also be starting the series I have been promising. My thought is Thursday night for the Mathius article, unless a guest commentary article shows up in my inbox. And then Sunday night for the beginning of the series. For open mic tonight, I am posting fewer topics initially, simply due to time constraints. So there will only be two to start. But I will add others as time permits. Perhaps not until Wednesday afternoon.

Charity and Sacrifice in a Free Society

With no time to write this evening I offer instead an article I read a while ago on the American Thinker website. We often talk of how the poor suffer in this country. And we obviously differ in our approaches as to how to deal with this situation. Those on the left tend to believe that it is government’s duty to prop up the weakest among us. Those on the right tend to believe in Charity. Black Flag believes government shouldn’t exist and that charity would suffice to solve the problem should the government no longer be in the way. While I don’t share BF’s desire to see zero government, I do share his belief that charity can take care of the issues that plague our poor. There is no need to for a government handout program, which is what welfare has become. I share the article and invite discussion around it because I believe that the article succinctly lays out the consequence of the altruism that today’s politicians bring to bear on the American public.

GOP Wants to Deny Human Rights

We begin another week with me wondering what exactly is the path forward for the United States. There are so many wrongs and only a few rights lately. The tough part is that the wrongs are often being committed for the “right” reason. Just a quick look through the sites I frequent tonight show me the President looking to take action against financial institutions, which I understand, but it will have horrible consequences. I will be writing about this coming soon. Another article talked about using reconciliation to pass health care. Again, I have and will continue to write about this subject (The tough part here is that so few details are actually being offered by the administration or Congress, leaving the argument “there is no bill to criticize” on the table for all who want to avoid the debate). But I ran across this article last week. It didn’t get a lot of press that I saw. But I felt that it must be covered, because this is an instance where, in my opinion, we are wrong and for the wrong reasons. At what point to we become no better than those we denounce?

Another Two Articles for Your Perusal

I don’t have a guest commentary on this fine Thursday night. So instead I figured I would take the opportunity to hit on two different articles that I felt would make for some interesting commentary. I have a belief, and I will write more on this later, that national security will become once again one of the focus issues in the upcoming congressional election cycle. In fact, it may be the defining issue, even surpassing deficit spending and the economy. But overall, and again I will cover this in a full article coming soon, I believe that we may be more vulnerable in terms of national security than we have been in a very long time. These two articles play into this concept, but not completely. However, I am interested in hearing the take on these topics because we have not gotten into the subject of the first one very much and the second is a reversal of previous claims that our own resident pirate used in his argument against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. So here they are. Feel free to discuss away. I will do my best on Friday to jump in fairly often and offer my thoughts as well. and as always, you can use this thread to post articles that you want to talk about as well.

Tuesday Night Open Mic for February 16, 2010

Tonight we have a bit of a theme in our open mic topics, at least in the ones that I am providing. Those who add other subjects don’t have to stick to any theme. The theme seems to be partisanship. Evan Bayh says it is the reason he is leaving. Robert Reich says it has been the big obstacle. The DNC is using partisan rhetoric that is ridiculous against the GOP states that accept stimulus funds. And finally, Obama is doing something that I feel is a centrist move by investing in nuclear power. In three of the four articles, we see partisanship overcome or discussed as a negative by influential figures. Are we looking at a situation where the people in positions of power are beginning to understand that the partisanship is Washington is causing the majority of Americans to lose faith in the entire system? Or are these outsiders simply a few enlightened folks who see the issues and want to deal with them. Interesting day in the news cycle, none-the-less. So on to the open mic…

Man-Made Climate Change Exposed

So I am flipping through the Fox News articles this evening and I stumble across one that states simply, “Top Climate Scientist Drops Bombshell.” I thought to myself “this should be interesting.” I had no idea what kind of bombshell it might be or who is now considered the top climate scientist, but I figure if it is a bombshell, I have to read it. Imagine my surprise to find out that the top scientist they are talking about is none other than Phil Jones, former head of the Climatic Research Unit at East Anglia University. The same guy who had the email “hiding the decline” and “performing tricks”. But I was even more floored when I read what he had to say in an interview with BBC television. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t like the guy turned over and admitted that he made it all up, but he admitted to several things that, in my opinion, make the Anthropogenic Global Warming alarmists look a bit foolish.

It Isn’t the Volume… It’s the Song

I have spent the better part of the last 15 months reveling in the sound of my own voice as I write a blog, hoping to change the world. Or at least the world of politics as we know it. Or at least the minds of a few people who can be reasoned with and who accept logic when it stares them in the face. For the record, I include all the readers of SUFA in that category. Not because we all agree and sing cumbayah together, obviously. But because we have come together, people of different points of view, and rationally discussed issues that matter to us. I believe that most Americans want the same things, albeit in different ways. Sure we have our moments of contention, but overall, I think the vibe here is good and we are making progress in understanding each other, and more importantly, in understanding Washington DC and the mess it has become. Don’t get me wrong, we have a long way to go in America. I need about 150 million reading SUFA to really make things change. Give me time…..

MadMom on Cavuto

I thought I would share this with everyone here. Many of you who have been around for a while at SUFA have debated and read the thoughts of MadMom. She has been a vocal supporter of the Tea Party Movement and has worked hard to make a difference in Rhode Island and other parts of New England, including Massachusetts. Having spoken with Colleen in the past, I can speak to the passion and integrity that she brings to the process of politics, which is something that we all know is lacking. Recently she was on the Neil Cavuto show on Fox News to discuss both Massachusetts and the growing movement in America to get our voices heard in the halls of Washington DC. I figured that I should share the link with everyone here. Congratulations Colleen on all you have accomplished thus far. I know you are far from finished. I can only speak for myself, but I am really proud of what you are doing and proud to call you a friend.

Two Quick Articles for Your Judgement

With tonight’s guest commentary being posted I don’t want to take away to much of the attention away from it. But there were two articles that caught my attention and I wanted to post them in the open mic format so that folks can give their thoughts on them. The first falls into the Twilight Zone peripheral while the second falls more into the WTF are we doing area. As a side note, I have postponed the article responding to Mathius until he returns. He had asked for some thoughts on the elitist attitude from both sides and I have begun writing it. But it makes no sense to post the article he requested while he is not here to be a part of the discussion. So rest easy, Mathius, you won’t miss it. And enjoy your time away. Because you know we will all be waiting here to tear up your arguments when you come back

Guest Commentary: Glenn Beck is a LIAR!

Tonight’s Guest Commentary is one that I am interested to hear the discussion around. Over the course of the last couple of months, we have seen several folks use Politifact as kind of the “unbiased truth” around the statements made by folks on the political stage. Just the other night, I was presented with Politifact’s evaluation of Sarah Palin’s speech to the Tea Party Convention. I have read over there enough that I can see that there is a bias to what they check and what they don’t, as well as the way they present it. That is fine, but I do have to take their evaluations with a grain of salt because of it, much like those who disagree with me take my evaluations with a grain of salt. The sad thing is that there isn’t a BETTER place to go for an unbiased evaluation of what folks on both sides of the aisle are saying. If such a place existed, I imagine it would be one of the most visited sites around. I also imagine that there would be a lot of “Pants on Fire” ratings on both sides of the aisle. Because an unbiased evaluation would show that about 99% of what comes out of Washington DC is bullshit… I’m just sayin.

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…