jeffreymark

THE SUPREME COURT AND OBAMA CARE

All the cards point toward a day of reckoning when the Supreme Court will eventually rule on Obama care. Below Uncommon Knowledge features two well known constitutional scholars who hash the subject out.

 

WHY THE INSIDERS OPPOSE NEWT

Curious thing, these demons Ann Coulter exposes so effectively and thoroughly. They seem to drive the emotions of those who think they stand above such bane. This legion I speak of takes on the name "establishment predetermined to elect Romney." That demon so enfolded all us conservatives we saw no other alternative. I always liked Newt-thought he walked and talked like a true conservative. But, he carried baggage in the form of marital infidelity. Conservatives don't like infidelity and rightly so. Principled people know that cheaters cheat period. They cheat their families, friends, business associates and nation. They can't be trusted. Therefore, we ruled Newt out. He can't win, we passionately declared. So we went with Romney.

And, Mitt looks Presidential. He's articulate, handsome, and the all American boy; the quintessential Boy Scout. Your grandmother loves him because he stays out of trouble. Yet, we conservatives keep the skeptical cards once out there close to our vest. In other words Romney used to make us nervous. His health care reform in Massachusetts, his waffling on abortion, and his Mormonism, not exactly orthodox Christianity, all paint a portrait of a dubious candidate.  In fact Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post, did a little fact checking on Governor Romney and offered this bit of information:

 

A review of the record shows that Romney has shifted his position on abortion numerous times since 1994 when he first ran for federal office as senator for Massachusetts. His August 5, 2007 claim that "every action I have taken as governor of Massachusetts" appears to be undermined by his October 15, 2005 decision to sign a bill seeking a federal waiver to expand family planning services in the state.

I am trying to develop as full a chronology as possible of Romney's gyrations on abortion. Let me know of any twists or turns I may have missed. Most recent update: December 20, 2007. (see the full chronology here)

Since Massachusetts days Mitt adamantly declares he saw the light. All right, I want to give him the benefit of the doubt on that one. Of course he offers several explanations depending on the month, as to why he did what he did and finally saw the light. For one, he insisted that governing in a Ted Kennedy ruled domain he had to do things a bit differently. So, what must we make of this gimpy excuse. Did he sell his soul for a high place in the Kennedy palace? If so, do we really want a sellout? Or if we trust his conversion why can't we judge Newt by the same face value standard? Newt says he made mistakes, implying he fooled around. His new found Catholicism, however, authenticates his repentance, at least in his own world. Even his daughters publicly forgive him. 

Indeed, I sort of take him at his word. Furthermore, I do not seek a meek Sunday School teacher to hold the highest office in the land. I want a conservative with a proven CONSERVATIVE record who can both possesses a big vision and clearly articulate the same. Plus Newt Gingrich appeals to a broader scope of voters than Romney. Mitt looks stilted, wealthy, and made up. Gingrich inspires the informal, realness in us all. His policies clearly favored capitalism in the past while his raising eyebrows at Romney's Bain Capital strikes a positive chord with blue collar workers. In addition, Newt's southern roots impel his easy demeanor. People connect with laid back southern dispositions. 

In the long run establishment institutionalist types get the tea leaves wrong. They then end up scratching their heads and perceive, "We misunderstood the American people." Most common hard working Americans want a person outside the good old boy network where tradeoffs and back room deals become the scriptures for the day. Newt may work because he knows the back room and seems to publicly rise above it. Americans like that.

A NEWT ENDORSEMENT

I like Newt Gingrich. I have always liked Newt. For most of us in the Republican camp our choices may essentially reflect our feelings more than ideology or logic. Nevertheless, Newt certainly deserves little of the criticisms leading conservatives hurl at him. Their insults reflect their shallowness and weaken their credibility. I'm referring to people I respect such as Ann Coulter. Man of letters Thomas Sowell likes Gingrich and makes a formidable case for his ability:

Much depends on whether you think the voting public is going to be more interested in Newt Gingrich's personal past than in the country's future. Most of the things for which Gingrich has been criticized are things he did either in his personal life or when he was out of office. But, if we are serious, we are more concerned with his ability to perform when in office.

Even some of those who believe that Gingrich would devastate Obama in head-to-head debates on substantive issues nevertheless claim that all Obama has to do is come back with questions about Newt's work for failed mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac.

But, even at the personal, point-scoring level, Barack Obama can open up a can of worms by going that route, since Freddie Mac at least never planted bombs in public places, like some of Obama's political allies.

There are no guarantees, no matter whom the Republicans vote for in the primaries. Why not vote for the candidate who has shown the best track record of accomplishments, both in office and in the debates? That is Newt Gingrich. With all his shortcomings, his record shows that he knows how to get the job done in Washington.

Read Sowell Here.

 

RON PAUL THE NUT JOB

Do we really want another American apologist in the White House? This from the W$J (Wall Street Journal):

Hear Dr. Paul on the subject of the 9/11 terror attacks—an event, he assures his audiences, that took place only because of U.S. aggression and military actions. True, we've heard the assertions before. But rarely have we heard in any American political figure such exclusive concern for, and appreciation of, the motives of those who attacked us—and so resounding a silence about the suffering of those thousands that the perpetrators of 9/11 set out so deliberately to kill.

Continue reading here.

A NON TABLOID LOOK AT NEWT

Man of letters and economist Thomas Sowell writes a more objective piece about Newt than I have read in quite a while. In light of Obama's European Socialist thinking Sowell addresses the tabloid thinking of many so called conservatives who attack Gingrich:

Against this background, how much does Newt Gingrich's personal life matter, whether we accept his claim that he has now matured or his critics' claim that he has not? Nor should we sell the public short by saying that they are going to vote on the basis of tabloid stuff or media talking points, when the fate of this nation hangs in the balance.

When comparing Gingrich to Romney Sowell opines:

Romney is a smooth talker, but what did he actually accomplish as governor of Massachusetts, compared to what Gingrich accomplished as Speaker of the House? When you don't accomplish much, you don't ruffle many feathers. But is that what we want?Can you name one important positive thing that Romney accomplished as governor of Massachusetts? Can anyone? Does a candidate who represents the bland leading the bland increase the chances of victory in November 2012? A lot of candidates like that have lost, from Thomas E. Dewey to John McCain.

Read Sowell here.

THE CONSERVATIVE MOB

Ann Coulter, who loathes the demonic mob, recently let that demon in when she, along with other mainline conservatives took on the bash Newt mantra. They now sadly look like the very liberal pundits they so vehemently despise. Master of pen eloquence, Peggy Noonan, basically implies that Newt disturbs her. This is the same woman who inferentially endorsed Obama as a sort of political breath of fresh air. Excuse me! Newt disturbs you. Many might feel a little frightened at the mindset that deemed Obama a fresh start. Yes, Newt has infidelity issues. Yes, he throws bombs. But, most take him out of context. He thinks outside the box. That bothers cultural prophets like Coulter and others who can brilliantly read the tea leaves yet, fail to comprehend a blueprint. Newt Gingrich majors in blueprints, not predictions.

And, proof is in the pudding. Mr. Gingrich was the last practical CONSERVATIVE to LEAD congress into some formidable changes. Thus, impelling President Clinton to move right. Perhaps before conservative hormones drive them to despair they ought to take an objective look at Newt's 21st Century Contract With America. I defy anyone to watch the presentation below and label this man a left wing progressive as many, including Glenn Beck, have done. 

Conservative pundit Brent Bozell, makes some salient points concerning this hate Newt phenomenon when he opines:

It brings us back to Angelo Codevilla’s piece last summer in The American Spectator on “America’s Ruling Class.” What Codevilla called the “country class” – the party of freedom, as opposed to a “ruling class” that resents the country’s input – has rarely captured the GOP flag. The GOP rulers sabotaged Barry Goldwater and ultimately were stuck with Ronald Reagan. Contrary to quaint historical rewrites, they were not in his camp, and instead bogged Reagan down with establishmentarian deal-makers and principle-shredders.

The country class is demanding the GOP choice be independent of the GOP establishment and confrontational with the radical Left. It is why both camps are now united in their desire to tear this man down. He is a threat.

 This blogger is greatly disappointed with conservatives whose myopic vision for America seeks to destroy a true creative conservative genius. 

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS RIP

British writer turned American citizen Christopher Hitchens, remained committed to his atheism even during his tragic battle with cancer. I liked Hitchens because he made me think. He bowed to no one, including partisan politicians and corporate interests. He made fools of his debating opponents who failed to do their homework-a lesson all witnessing evangelical Christians must consider. Hitchens eternally fancied himself a modern day Edmund Burke who zealously defended our historical American rights. I will miss his passionate patriotism, penetrating intellect, and mesmerizing accent. In the end I pray he found peace with God. (Read Vanityfair's tribute below)

Christopher Hitchens—the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant—died today at the age of 62. Hitchens was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in the spring of 2010, just after the publication of his memoir, Hitch-22, and began chemotherapy soon after. His matchless prose has appeared in Vanity Fair since 1992, when he was named contributing editor.

“Cancer victimhood contains a permanent temptation to be self-centered and even solipsistic,” Hitchens wrote nearly a year ago in Vanity Fair, but his own final labors were anything but: in the last 12 months, he produced for this magazine a piece on U.S.-Pakistani relations in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death, a portrait of Joan Didion, an essay on the Private Eyeretrospective at the Victoria and Albert Museum, a prediction about the future of democracy in Egypt, a meditation on the legacy of progressivism in Wisconsin, and a series of frank, graceful, and exquisitely written essays in which he chronicled the physical and spiritual effects of his disease. At the end, Hitchens was more engaged, relentless, hilarious, observant, and intelligent than just about everyone else—just as he had been for the last four decades.

“My chief consolation in this year of living dyingly has been the presence of friends,” he wrote in the June 2011 issue. He died in their presence, too, at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. May his 62 years of living, well, so livingly console the many of us who will miss him dearly.

 

THE TRAGIC STATE OF BLACK LIBERALISM

Liberal black leadership has no shame. Their goal is to keep the black community eternally bound to emotional, political, and economic slavery. Below is the film, offered by a reader, that black liberals do not want you to see. 

TEA PARTY STEALTH

I repeatedly and openly posit the hunch to my friends that the Tea Party seriously provides the tools for our nation's salvation. Or, salvation in terms of her traditional character. Some believe because the latest Republican front runners failed to kiss the Tea Party ring that this movement has petered out. Not so! The unique movement knows how to win the end game. All politics is local. Tea Party gurus everywhere now invest more in local organization than national. Ascension from the grassroots works. In fact, most paradigm shifting radical movements work like seeds in a garden. The plant grows and one by one pollinates other plants, which in turn pollinate more plants etc... Church leaders get it and even our own Savior knew this. He took a small band of grassroots ragtags, invested his life in them, turned them loose, and look what happened.

Meantime, those frustrated with our current candidates must exercise cautionary patience. Rome does not get built in a day. It took one hundred years (beginning with Teddy Roosevelt) for progressives to get to their icon Obama. One hundred years of enlightenment education, unchecked idealism, and bratty affluence to get where we stand today. Washington Post columnist Dr. Milton Wolf gets it when he opines:

First, however, conservatives must face reality and choose one of these three options: (1) Decide between Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Romney, (2) devise some near-magical electoral path in the 11th hour that leads to a different nominee or (3) brace for Barack Obama’s second term. A rule to remember: Manage the situation you have, not the one you want, or someone else will manage it for you.  

That's it, plain and simple. To compromise ones pace does not mean they must concede their principles. Conservatives often want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. If they mindlessly sabotage the two front runners this writer predicts they will tragically dig a deeper pit for conservatives to rise out of. The recent barrage of criticisms toward Newt Gingrich in particular, provide nothing more than fodder for the Dems. To be sure, they have remained relatively quiet, keeping their salivating rhetorical attacks clandestine. Dr. Wolf offers compelling wisdom at this point:

It’s time for conservatives to quit playing checkers and start playing chess. Stop sabotaging our own candidates and instead create a path that rewards conservatism no matter who our nominee is. Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are both smart enough to know that while the Tea Party lights a path to the White House, the harsh reality follows that should one of them receive its support and betray it, his presidency would be over before it began.

Kudos to Dr. Wolf. Our movement needs more politically astute voices like his. 

THE GOOD AND BAD ABOUT A MORMON POLITICIAN

Although Christopher Hitchens is a self proclaimed, committed atheist, I respect his intellectual and political acumen. He nails the essence of Mormonism in the paragraph below. Yes, they possess a bizarre history; yes, mainline Christians view the religion as a cult; indeed Mormons propagate an exclusivist salvific message; true, they sport weird underwear. But, they stand with conservative evangelicals in the social arena. I can vote for Mitt Romney as a Mormon because his Mormon social values parallel mine. I do not, however, like his waffling from a big government governor to a now eternally repentant conservative Presidential candidate.

To give some examples. The founder of the church, one Joseph Smith, was a fraud and conjurer well known to the authorities of upstate New York. He claimed to have been shown some gold plates on which a new revelation was inscribed in no known language. He then qualified as the sole translator of this language. (The entire story is related in Fawn Brodie’s biography, No Man Knows My History.* It seems that we can add, to sausages and laws, churches as a phenomenon that is not pleasant to watch at the manufacturing stage. Edmund Wilson wrote that it was powerfully shocking to see Brodie as she exposed a religion that was a whole-cloth fabrication.) On his later forays into the chartless wilderness, there to play the role of Moses to his followers (who were permitted and even encouraged in plural marriage, so as to go forth and mass-produce little Mormons), Smith also announced that he wanted to be known as the Prophet Muhammad of North America, with the fearsome slogan: “Either al-Koran or the Sword.” He levied war against his fellow citizens, and against the federal government. 

POSTMODERNISM AND THE CHURCH

Like most of my contemporaries my secular education consisted of enlightenment laced curriculum neatly packaged in a diploma which reads Texas Tech University. Yet, a funny thing happened on the way down from the ivory tower-enlightment died years ago and postmodernism took its place. Postmodernism, supported by major cultural influencers today, is both skeptical of and open to all philosophies, faith included. The emergent church gets this and has jumped on this openness to faith as a door into redemptive ministries. I plan to spend more time learning how one can share their faith within this context.

JAZZ RIP (2003-2011)

Lost Jazz my 8 year old Border Collie yesterday. Vet said she had an inner ear issue so deeply embedded that it finally took her down. Border collies characteristically display a toughness second to none in dogs. So, by the time their sickness shows it's really bad. She had a sweet disposition like no other dog I have owned. And, she tolerated my wife's punk Yorkie. She slept in my 8th grader's room every night. The Jeffreymark family will miss her greatly.

JESUS AN ASSASSIN?

Watch out all you evangelicals. The left and mainstream liberal media's template is to weave such atrocities into their belabored narrative-one which incessantly convicts conservative christians of fostering this sort of hallucinatory behavior. (via USA Today)

"It's not just a coincidence that I look like Jesus," Ortega says in the rambling 20-minute video. " I am the modern day Jesus Christ that you all have been waiting for."A witness told FBI agents that Ortega wanted to "hurt" Obama and referred to him as "the anti-Christ." 

Need I say anymore? The kind of "guilty by"...well...by relentless false assumptions, reveals the left's flawed progressive fundamentalism. Yes, that's right. Lefties sport fundamentalism in the most extreme way. They cannot think outside their narrow, prefabricated, narcissistic, philosophical box. Once conservatives instinctively realize this, then the shock and awe factor of liberal radical accusations subsides, becoming nothing more than predictable drivel. 

VETERAN'S DAY SALUTE

This day I remember and salute the men of the USS Apogon. She was a Balao-class submarine launched March 10,1943. The Apogon may not represent the most prolific submarine in WWII, yet she made a tremendous impact while patrolling the Mariana islands. Seen in the first picture is the mascot. The second photo shows a few brave Apogon submariners standing in front of the score.  My father, first on the reader's left, spent two years aboard the sub as a Radioman First Class. Read more about this warrior sub's adventures here.

MORE AMAZON CHRISTMAS SPECIALS

Shop Amazon for Holiday decor, tableware, and entertainment

SANTA ALREADY AT WORK

Shop Amazon's Holiday Toy List

ONLY IN LUBBOCK

Spring dust storms are to Lubbockites what ungodly humidity is to Austinites. We've grown accustom to sand in our teeth, ears, and eyes. Take a look below. (from the Lubbock AJ)

 

SONG FOR ADAM

Jackson Browne remains one the most underrated minstrels of our times. He combines sensitive, yet subduing lyrics with haunting melodies to deliver emotionally coercive masterpieces. His Song For Adam stikes a devastating, but comfortable blow in my heart. Because, my son Adam met the same fate as Browne's friend Adam met many a year ago. Listen to this master poet's voice and the crying viola accompaniment.

 

DISPARAGING HISTORY

I majored in history. I love it more now than ever, because history provides memory. What miserable gutter migh we wake up in if we fail to zealously embrace the past as a road map to the future. Our forefathers majored not only in religion and philosophy, but history as well. They grasped the intricacies that created and destroyed both the Greek and Roman empires. They studied the long sordid history of evil atrocities hurled upon mankind by evil players. These founders were no dummies. And, now for our elitist universities to disparage America's founders as if they comparatively had no sense is intellectual suicide.

Once again the master of political cartoons, Michael Ramirez, profoundly demonstrates that a picture paints a thousand words (of truth in this case). (click on picture) 

CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES 101

The Gipper, in kicking off his first presidential campaign, offers our adolescent Republicans a lesson on how to win an election. He did not mince words. Reagan incessantly laid the blame for Carter's misery index at the feet of Jimmy Carter. Time once again for Republicans to get some ca hones and tell it like it is. Obama's policies have failed the American people even more so than Carter's did back in 1980.  Listen to the Gipper below.

WATCHING THE REPUBLICAN DEBATE

Perhaps we ought to call it the "Let's Run for President" show. Are we kidding? I took debate in college. This is s Hollywood or CNN glitz and glamour production. Each candidate is in a free for all feeling forced to get a word in edgewise. The platform turns everyone of them except Newt Gingrich into robotic statistic spewing machines. Newt, the most idealistic and creative of the bunch (and might I add by far the most brilliant) looks at ease because he has been the center of attention before as Speaker of the House. The man knows history and when he speaks he often makes so  much sense that his is the final word. But, he has one looming shadow that may eternally dog him. He cheats on his wives. 

THE BOOK OF MAN

CAMELOT AND THE HUGE CHINK IN ITS ARMOR

He was young, dashing, and refreshing. JFK brought youthful idealism to the very core of our nation. Woman swooned; men opined; children dreamed. In Paul Simon's words, "Time it was and what a time it was. A time of innocence. A time of confidences." But, author Joseph Conrad, who made it his devotion to warn others concerning the imprudence of idealism, might turn over in his grave at the obsession with the Kennedys.

And, I learned as a child that Camelot had a huge chink in its idealistic armor. I was 6 years old when the Cuban missile crises took place. I recall those tense moments on television that sent my young emotions into a tailspin. My dad, however, a WWII veteran, always assured me that the Russians were as afraid of us as we were of them. Years later he declared that Kennedy failed to get all those missiles out of Cuba and that he should never have allowed the Berlin wall to go up.  

Author Frederick Kempe recently published a book declaring Camelot to be not so Camelot. I'll let Beldar explain the matter and link readers to the book.

Most of you have read books or watched movies about the "Missiles of October," and for the last half century those have nearly uniformly depicted the Kennedy brothers as smart, calm, and shrewd actors who saved the world from disaster. Well, this book is the other half of that story — how those two brothers were culpably responsible for taking the world to the brink of that disaster, and indeed, how they took the U.S. from a position of overwhelming strength and unquestioned strategic superiority under Eisenhower to a full-scale retreat from American commitments around the globe in less than two years. You will definitely be better informed about world history, and particular about the Cold War, after you finish this book. And you'll probably wince the next time you hear anyone refer to Camelot.

Bismarck said that "God has a special providence for fools, drunks, and the United States of America." I hope that's true, but this book suggests that He certainly had a special providence for a hard-drinking, drug-addled, skirt-chasing young Irish-American fool who managed to become POTUS when he didn't have a clue how to perform that job responsibly. This book further convinces me that it was only by divine grace that the world survived long enough for me to see my fifth birthday.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE REWRITE

Sadly, Michael Ramirez went yard today. I've been opining about this sad state of moral affairs in our nation for quite some time now. If we don't get over ourselves we may encounter some very hard times-times that make today's headlines look like an invitation to Disney World. Sadly, the horizon looks a little bare in the leadership department. Even our Republican candidates look as though they are debating on a horse and pony show. It's a joke. I'm afraid if we discovered a true leader we might crucify him for telling us what we need to hear.

In the mean time, a cartoonist-a cartoonist for God's sake, has sounded the clarion call. Let Mr. Ramirez's piece serve as a prophetic word to all who will listen. (click on picture)

CHEECH AND CHONG'S BROWNIE AD FOR BOOMERS

We boomers remember the magic dust, brownies, and freaky imaginary police raids that Cheech and Chong introduced us to. Now, they're pushing brownies off again-brownies baked with aging boomers in mind.  (Via Althouse)