The United States Non-Existing Energy Policy

By Semperpapa

Just as many other sectors of the federal government, the National energy policy of Washington is practically a no-show policy.

From the President on down, the message has been one of striving for energy independence, but in reality, anything that has come out of Obama’s mouth and from his minions has been nothing more than a charade of lies and misrepresentations.

Since the British Petroleum cataclysmic oil spill of last Summer in the Gulf of Mexico, there has been a plethora of action on the issue of deep water drilling and any other kind of drilling of national reserves.

A moratorium on all drilling was instituted by the Interior dept. and its little puppet Secretary Ken Salazar.

The moratorium was the death nail for many companies and for thousands of jobs in the Gulf area. Even as a federal judge deemed the moratorium illegal and ordered the federal agency to begin issuing new permits, the administration disregarded the injunction and, since late last year, issued one single drilling permit. Ironically such permit was given just last week to a company that is a subsidiary of BP. It is my guess the administration is intent on securing more campaign donations from the oil giant.

The current unrest in the Middle East is just another opportunity for the federal government to drive a stake through the heart of an industry that is openly vilified by those in power. Just another crisis that should not be allowed to go to waste.

Historically, president Obama has been a supporter of high oil prices, as he declared his elation for increasingly high gasoline cost at the pump. The agenda is clear: higher gasoline prices will push the American people to support the government’s pursue of its “green policies” including the destruction of thousands upon thousands of jobs in favor of failed technologies like solar and wind alternative energy.

It is not that such alternative technologies are a failure in themselves, but they are nowhere near able to substantially replace the oil derived energy. And popular support for "green policies" will allow the government to push for more tax burden on the people, taxes that they will expertly channel to their own pet projects and pockets.

The attempt to push electric vehicles down the throat of the American people also appears to be another failure, as the Government Motors Chevrolet Volt is demonstrating nothing more that a castle of cards for the administration. From an abysmal sales record to technological issues, the Volt is nothing more than another failure of a failed policy.

So now there are certain politicians who are suggesting that, in response to the skyrocketing price of fuel, the country should tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to inject oil supply into the economic stream.

It is my understanding that the SPR is basically there to supply the Nation's need in the eventuality of a major disruption of the usual supply sources (read: Middle East).

Considering that the supply has not been altered by the events in Egypt and especially in Libya, Saudi Arabia increased its production to make up the supply lost from Libya, there is really no reason to even consider tapping into SPR. The pricing of crude oil is going up not in response to the laws of supply and demand, but mostly because the speculation that national and international commodity brokers are engaged in; that is where the blame must be placed for the volatility of pricing at the crude oil level.

The suggestion of utilizing some of the SPR to bring down the price at the pump is nothing more than the attempt on the part of the political elite to avoid the real issue of our dependency from foreign oil supplies. The real problem is the total absence of an energy policy at a national level, absence that is not due to incompetence or ignorance, but to a concerted attempt to punish the country for its economic dependence on a commodity that Obama and his environmental terrorist supporters want to destroy.

Tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve now would also be the worse type of knee jerk reaction we could have. Witnessing the turmoil that is expanding in the Middle East, there is the possibility that the strong armed stability enjoyed by Saudi Arabia could dissipate on short notice. That is when the SPR would come in handy to supply the country.

Ultimately, a fairly simple solution would be that the federal government would heed to the decision of Judge Martin Feldman who ordered the Obama administration to halt the enforcement of the drilling moratorium. As the government demonstrate its open rejection of federal judgments that do not fit its agenda, the conditions of our energy policy is near to moribund, on life support. While Obama and Salazar take it upon themselves to decide an entire nation's economic stagnation as the high cost of energy affects every single aspect of our economy, the rest of the political leadership just does nothing, catering to the forces of irrational environmental terrorists. We are sitting on a ticking bomb but we do what we must to get re-elected!

Just my thoughts!

Why Are Ralph Nader And Jessi Jackson Not Criticized For Inciting Violence?

By Semperpapa

Following the shooting massacre in Tucson in January, the Left got on the high horse of civility in political discourse. Virulent verbal attacks were perpetrated by the regime media and by the Left in general against talk radio, Republicans, Conservatives, TEA party members and anyone else who was not part of the Left propaganda machine.

A new era of civilized political discourse was declared, where hinting of strong political opposition was declared unacceptable. Of course, the only unacceptable political dissent was the one shown toward progressives and their agenda, while the vitriol against anything Conservative was willingly accepted as a demonstration of free speech and free sharing of opinions.

Opposition to Obamacare, for example, buys a label of racism, equaling the utter destruction of the entire health care system in our Country to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. The stories of the almost 1,000 waivers granted by the Obama administration to companies and unions financially friendly to the president’s campaign coffers, only appear on few media outlets, Fox News being one of them, and immediately these outlets are attacked and ostracized from the common discourse. The rest of the media is just ignoring these clear indications of preferential treatment, obviously too busy attacking dissent to have any time for unbiased reporting.

So, while political civility is being shoved down the throats of Conservatives, while even the government is looking for ways to silence opposition via labeling methods and unconstitutional means, members of the Left are free to express whatever they so desire, with no repercussion.

This is the case of two members of the American Left who last week engaged in a clear campaign of incitement to violence which was not much publicized by the so called media.

During some sort of question-answer session with college students, Ralph Nader was asked by one of those brainwashed students present if he saw the need for revolution.

The answer from the multiple failed presidential candidate was an eye opener. His response was that “a non-violent revolution is long overdue” because, as he sees it the government has been taken hostage by giant corporations.

To cover his track, Nader spoke the words “non violent” but then proceeded to ask the rhetorical question of why don’t the American people learn from their history and from what is going on in the Middle East.

I personally fail to believe that the man really is calling for a non-violent revolution when he tells students that the example they should look at is the type of revolution occurring these days in the Middle East.

Is Nader suggesting that the American college students should engage in the same actions we are witnessing in Libya? Or the images reaching us from Yemen? Or those we saw from Cairo?

If that is the case, the man’s notion of 15-16 millions college students and graduates taking to the streets is, in effect, a call for a general uprising of the college population. Moreover, if he calls for students to take inspiration from the events from the Middle East, he must also mean that he is exhorting them to seek the removal of the current political leadership in favor of the Marxist model of social justice, which theoretically means the removal of king Obama too. Interestingly, Nader has been hibernating for the first two years of the Obama regime, and only now that a more Conservative tendency is sweeping the Nation, he is coming out from his complacency and inciting revolution. It almost appears as if he is disturbed by the National trend toward Conservatism, maybe unhappy of what may seem a derailment of his political side’s move toward Marxism, agenda he has been pursuing his whole life.

To such goal, it is now time to excite the masses against the government. The Left was successful at such move as liberals were able to capture Congress first in 2006 and the White House in 2008. The mid-terms of 2010 were unexpected and deserving of a renewed level of sedition. It is time now to foment popular uprising, be it from the union thugs or the college students.

Another character who has been practically silent for the last two years was Jesse Jackson. With the exception of some off microphone statements about Obama’s testicles, the good reverend has been satisfied by the Obama march toward Marxism, sure that at the end of the road there would certainly be a slice of power for himself, to insure that the self-appointed leader of blacks and his immoral lifestyle would be assured. That is the ultimate goal of tyranny.

Good old Jackson joined Nader in calling for a student revolution that would stop the counter-revolution. This is an interesting choice of words, even coming from the speech impaired Jackson. In order to call for a revolution to stop a counter-revolution, Jackson is silently admitting that there was an initial revolution being conducted. A counter-revolution, by definition, needs an initial unrest against which to operate.

If Jackson is referring to the actions taken by liberal progressives over the last 40 years, I am in agreement with him. The left has been conducting a covert revolution under the unsuspecting and unwilling nose of the American people. The ever growing intrusion of government in the lives of the people has been the mode of operation of unscrupulous politicians, from both Parties, by the way, to undermine the principles of our country in favor of increased personal power.

And the American people have allowed it to happen, thanks to the fear of being labeled as opposing “social progress” and fairness. The political climate created by Jackson and Sharpton and Kennedy and Nader and Obama and Clinton is one where social and political extortion reigns supreme. Cower your opponents into a corner when the dissent by personal attacks and character assassination. And it has worked as we witness some so called Republicans in power being not too far in their support of progressive ideas.

The main issue today remains the declarations of Nader and Jackson. Why are they not chastised in the public forum for their incitement to violence? It is a fact that as much as Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Michelle Backman, Sean Hannity and Allen West have clearly expressed their dissent against the Obama/Pelosi/Reid regime, there has never been a word of incitement to violence on their part to realize their agenda.

Even if they have been accused of the contrary, the reality is that the message from Conservatives in the public forum has been one of using the US Constitution to return the Country to its principles. Yes, there has been a counter-revolution conducted by Conservatives against the wrong direction taken by our country, but it was never suggested that the TEA party rallies across the Nation would be the beginning of a violent popular insurrection against the policies of an increasingly tyrannical government. Yet the Media has been relentless in depicting the grass movement as vitriolic as insurgency, while remaining absolutely silent about an open invitation to violence from the Left.

It would be easy to chuck it as just hypocrisy, but it would also be simplistic and inaccurate. It goes beyond hypocrisy, being instead a clear demonstration, once more, that the conspiracy to take down our country is more widespread that we even realize.

Just my thoughts!

Phony Is Worst Than Disgusting

By Semperpapa

I have come across people who have distaste for the Military of this country and for their sacrifices. They have been overwhelmingly people who have been brainwashed by the anti-American posturing of the 1960s and the nest of anti-Militarism that are Universities and colleges in America.

I find myself looking at these individuals as the bottom of the American cultural barrel, deserving of all my contempt and disgust.

But as low as these form of life can be, I can still look at it as a guaranteed right of opinion. Years of conscientious effort on the part of those who were revolutionary students in the 1960s and who are now professors at the very same universities they received their indoctrination, is paying a dividend with a new generation. It also has not helped the infusion of foreign activists into the faculties of most institutions of higher learning. Radicals from the Middle East crowd the rooms of these institutions, injecting upon the young brainless masses a profound feeling of rejections for our Military.

In the whole scheme of disgusting, though, there is still a class of individuals who take an even lower place in the “disgusting” classification: the phonies.

These are folks who, by their very own actions, demonstrate rejection and contempt for members of the Military and their families. They have no understanding or compassion, but express their undying support via an onslaught of phony words.

Words are very cheap. We can almost all put a sequence of words together in somewhat of a coherent manner. It is not rocket science, but just a way to put our feelings into words.

But words alone remain empty and phony when the actions of an individual do not match the content of his expression. I can easily state that I support the Military and their families, but if I do not offer an ear, a shoulder to cry on, a gesture of compassion, my words mean absolutely nothing.

For most Service members and their families, the time spent in combat is extremely intense and tasking. This is also the time when extended family and friends truly show the strength of their bond and compassion. Unfortunately this is also the time when some people’s true moral sense manifests itself, to the permanent detriment of relationships.

Yes, those who are openly anti-Military are disgusting folks, but those who are and yet put on phony faces are much worst.

Just my thoughts!

My Occasional Hollywood Waste Of Time

By Semperpapa

Does not happen often, but at times I waste my time by commenting on the Hollywood weirdoes and their ever present effort to demonstrate their innate stupidity.

First in line is the always entertaining Michael Moore. The very large film director gave an interview with some obscure TV channel, Grit TV, where he shared a little of his wisdom to solve the economic situation in our Country.

According to the portly millionaire, the cash wealth of America is not property of those who accumulate it, but national property. Basically, if you work hard and are skilled and lucky enough to make a good living and accumulate personal wealth, that wealth is not yours to keep, but should become property of every person in America. It should be taken away by the government and distributed to those who do not have it.

This is coming form a guy who lives very high on the hog, no pun intended, and who just sued to get more millions of dollars he claims are due to him form one of his movies. A guy who is notoriously stingy with the people who work for him. In other words a typical liberal hypocrite.

If he is so adamant to take away the wealth of people who worked hard to achieve financial security, he should be the first in line to write a big fat check to the government.

I understand that for Mr. Moore the idea of leading by example is completely abstract, nevertheless I am hoping that he will contact me and send me a check, just for sake of leveling the economic field.

Hey Michael, one million dollars would set me up for the rest of my life, buddy!

Next in line is Charlie Sheen. Probably the best description of this man’s current situation may be “train wreck”. It is really too bad that someone slightly talented like Sheen is at a point in his life where things start to crumble around him.

The actor from the movie Platoon and the sit-com Two and a half men is obviously in a death spiral from which, from a mere human point of view, I hope he will recover. If nothing else for the sake of his children.

Some may think that he is living the life: money, fame, drugs and two porn stars to keep him “happy” but the reality is that, as a father, I believe that all those “perks” amount to nothing when your children are taken away from you.

The man has gotten a pass by the justice apparatus for years, with the result of a life out of control. There are no doubts that, as an individual, he has the right to live his life the way he wants, but when behavior affects the lives of others, especially children, my tolerance for bad behavior disappears.

And I cannot avoid mentioning those around him, from his famous father, who surely is blaming Bush for the shenanigans of Charlie, to the women who married the guy. It looks to me as if Charlie’s life has been guided by the notion that he could do anything he wanted at any time and never have repercussions. And the women who married him and procreated, knowing very well who he is, have to share the responsibility for protracting the lie. But they are now victims. Right!

Lastly, there is the pinnacle of brilliance Matt Damon.

In an interview on CNN, the actor was supposed to be promoting his new movie, but the conversation moved to politics. Damon, a fervent supporter of Obama in 2008, is now expressing his disappointment with Lord Barak. Some of Damon’s quotes show that the actor is disappointed about the accomplishments of the president.

“No, I really think he misinterpreted his mandate” and “I no longer hope for audacity” appear to outline Damon’s unhappiness with Obama. Yes, he did not go far enough to destroy America!

Just like Moore, Damon is obsessed with the lack of government intervention against poverty, Damon even criticized the State of the Union speech on that subject.

Considering that Matt Damon is one of those millionaires Moore is accusing of hoarding cash, I expect a check form him too.

What remains remotely amusing to me is the interest of the American people toward the political views of actors and actresses. These are people who have various degrees of talent in entertaining the masses and, in such capacity, they could be a cultural asset and play an important role. But in the context of politics, economics and national security, they do not offer much wisdom.

This is now enough about Hollywood. Much time wasted…

Just my thoughts!

Man Made Disaster

By Semperpapa

Two United States Air Force members were killed in Frankfurt, Germany, yesterday by an Islamic terrorist from Kosovo. Two others were wounded, one critically, when the terrorist opened fire on a USAF bus. All those hit were Air Force personnel.

As usual, the immediate reaction on the part of the State Dept. was the uncertainty of the terrorist nature of the attack, but the revelation that the gunman was yelling Allah Akbar as he was pulling the trigger sort of made it impossible for the federal cronies to ignore the fact that this "man made disaster"was another one of those pesky Islamic terror attacks.

According to the latest investigation, the man appears to have acted alone, that he has no connections with any specific group of Islamic terrorists. But the investigation is still developing.
President Obama said he was saddened and outraged.

It is obvious that our Military members are very vulnerable to such attacks, both abroad and here at home, as we saw at Ft. Hood with Hasan. I believe it is imperative that such conditions have to be analyzed and counter measures taken.
In the meantime, it would be a good first step if the "sadness and outrage" expressed by the president would translate into the man admission that America and the West has an "Islamic radical terrorism" problem.

As of right now, all that is left to do is to extend our condolences to the families of the victims and the hope and pray for a recovery of the wounded.

Just my thoughts!

When Justice Is Hard To Swallow

By Semperpapa

The Supreme Court handed down an 8-1 decision today regarding the case of Albert Snyder vs. the Westboro Baptist Church, siding with the now infamous cult-like religious sect on grounds of First Amendment rights.

In 2006, Albert Snyder's son, U.S. Marine Matthew Snyder was killed in Iraq. As the family was burying their son, members of the Phelps family protested outside the church the service was being held at, sporting signs with statements like "God hates fags" and "thank God for dead soldiers".
The message being advanced is that the small pseudo-Christian congregation believes that the dead soldiers in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan are punishment from God for the tolerance toward homosexuality on the part of the American society.

Albert Snyder filed a law suit against the WBC after he found a poem on their web site celebrating the death of his son. The grounds of the legal action were, if I recall, invasion of privacy and emotional distress.
A lower court had originally sided with Mr. Snyder but a appellate court threw the decision out on the basis of protection of free speech.
Today's decision, which saw only Justice Alito dissenting, granted the WBC special protection under the First Amendment guaranteed right to free speech.

The decision has sparked a volley of criticism and outrage from every corner of our Country, even uniting people from both sides of the political spectrum. The actions of the so-called church are appalling and disgusting to say the least.
The Topeka, Kansas, group identifies itself as a Christian congregation, but in reality their actions have very little or nothing in common with Christianity. In fact, they are much closer with the intolerant ideology of Sharia and radical Islam than anything else. Only the methodology is different, so far.

Allow me to premise my thoughts. I am a Patriot Guard Rider; I have personally seen the scum of the WBC in action and was forced to keep my emotions in check; I would like nothing less than to be able to personally sends the miscreants to face the Final Judgment. These are vile, disgusting, revolting individuals who are deeply deserving of being at the receiving end of any sort of violence, but the United States is still a Nation guided by the rule of law and by the Constitution.

The decision of the SCOTUS was the only one that the court could take, especially these days when the US Constitution is under direct and relentless attack on the part of the ruling elite.
Saved the issues of invasion of privacy and emotional distress, the ability of individuals to voice their opinions, as vitriolic they may be, cannot be curtailed.
The comparison with yelling FIRE in a crowded room does not apply, because the awful actions of the Phelps is technically not endangering the safety of anyone person. As a matter of fact, they are in more danger of retaliation than the people they strive to hurt.

Prohibiting these inbreds from speaking is the proverbial slippery slope.
We are incensed by the continuous attempts of Al Sharpton to silence Rush Limbaugh; by the relentless attacks against Glenn Beck; by the open push to silence Fox News. Allowing the law to be swayed in favor of curtailing the freedom of speech of the WBC gang would be a giant step toward legislation against the ability of every American to speak his mind.

This is one of those cases where emotions have to be kept under control, just as I had to control my instinctive need to hurt those WBC people I had the misfortune to see, and instead look at the big picture. At face value, the decision of the SCOTUS can be seen as a failure of the judicial system to protect the dignity of those who have died in the service of the Nation and their families, but in reality, the decision speaks to me as a gesture that, in effects, protects the American people from the manipulation of the Constitution.
Contrary to the opinion of the progressive thinking, the Constitution is not a "living document" there to be "adapted" to every circumstance.

Then there is the cultural part of this whole issue. When such type of hate surfaces, so does the ever present American Spirit.
When the WBC started to show up at Military funerals, it was a Veteran and member of the American Legion Riders who decided to do something about it. With a group of other Veterans from the ALR and the participation of truck drivers, they started to counter-protest against the Phelps by covering them with the large vehicles and drowning their offensive chanting with the sound of their motorcycles.
Soon it became clear that the spontaneous response of the ALR was attracting a growing number of folks, many of them non-Veterans, so a new organization was created: the Patriot Guard Riders.
The PGR caught fire across the Nation. Every state of the Union has a presence. The part that is most amazing is the inclusiveness of the group which only requires that the participants display the proper respect for the Fallen and their families, show up only when invited by the family and do not engage in any political discourse while on missions.
Our mission is to shield the families from the additional pain of seeing or hearing folks like the Westboro Baptist Church miscreants.

There are many ways that American society can combat such hate by using the laws governing local municipalities regarding protest permits and by exercising the same constitutional rights that allow the WBC to spread their vitriol.
There is no doubt that some times the application of justice can be hard to swallow. This case it is filled with emotional connotations, which, as a Marine dad, I can deeply understand and share, but in the long run, in the general context of our society, I have to agree with this decision, while always searching for contingency plans.

Just my thoughts!

AG Holder Can’t Take The Truth

By Semperpapa

I have written in the past about the flat refusal on the part of Attorney General Eric Holder to exercise the duties of his position.

The obvious racial leaning that the AG has institutionalized in the Department of Justice has been open and well documented by the shear inaction that the department has made its very own modus operandi since the election of Obama to the Presidency and the installation of Holder at Justice.

Nothing seems to be working in the case of the Black Panthers voters’ intimidation violation, a case that Holder’s Justice dismissed after deeming it not offensive enough (surely the outcome of that case would have been different had it been KKK folks that day in Philadelphia).

The attitude of the whole department has also been disclosed by a whistleblower, whom has come out and clearly stated that the racial preferences are the name of the game for the Department. But the Left has done its homework to sweep that whole thing under the rug (oh the good old days when whistleblowers were the heroes of the Main Stream Media!)

Even Congressional official letters were not enough to force the AG to divulge the reasons for the immature dismissal of the charges leveled against the BP going back to Election Day 2008.

Eric Holder was not too happy when, during an appearance in front of an appropriation sub-committee, was confronted by Rep. John Culberson of Texas about Holder’s preferential treatment of the Black Panthers.

As he was accused of his failure to cooperate with the Civil Rights Commission investigation, Holder got really testy in his answer

“Think about that, When you compare what people endured in the South in the 60s to try to get the right to vote for African Americans, to compare what people subjected to that with what happened in Philadelphia, which was inappropriate….to describe it in those terms I think does a great disservice to people who put their lives on the line for my people,”

Adding:

“To compare that kind of courage, that kind of action, to say some Black Panther incident is of greater concern to us, historically, I think just flies in the face of history,”

What really flies in the face of history is the behavior of this man. In his capacity, Holder is tasked to run a Justice Department that is equally responsive to all American people, not just “his people”.

Actions like these on the part of such a high ranking, not elected, official is a direct insult to the principles of our Nation.

I am not making a point of disregard for the trials and tribulations that the black people of America had to endure in the past, but that does not justify, under any circumstance, the condoning of criminal behavior today.

There is absolutely no doubt, even in respect to the revelations of people inside the department, that Mr. Holder is running an agency that openly engages in the same racist tactics that people like Holder or Sharpton or Jackson preach to have been fighting against.

The attitude is appalling. It is a demonstration that the agenda of Holder, obviously supported by his boss Obama, is one of institutional pay back against the injustices of the past. The position of Attorney General is quite a powerful one, and the Left has made it a career in attacking past officials who had been appointed by Republican presidents. John Ashcroft was one of those who got the excoriating treatment, even as he was tasked for a daunting job in the days following the 9-11 attacks.

So, while Holder got his skivvies in a twist when confronted by the truth, some of the leftists went to his aid. One of such creatures was the Philadelphia Representative Chakah Fattah, a Democrat of course, who while stating that the Black Panthers should not have been there, he had to stick the usual apologetic “but” when he stated that the “incident” did not really amount to anything worth of national attention and that it had been overblown by Republican partisanship.

He stated:

“The most unethical thing a person can do is make allegations based on absolutely nothing, The only issue of race is singling out this particular decision…That this rises to national significance is bogus on its face.”

Basically accusing the GOP of using the race card. And this coming from individuals who have made a career, and a lucrative one at that, from the exploitation of the black population.

Once again I ask: would these characters be so dismissive if it had been two KKK thugs in Philadelphia or anywhere else?

But the MSM is silent on any of these matters. No Chris Matthews charging, or Paul Krugman foaming at the mouth; no Schults ranting or Andrea Mitchell twisting her ugly face in disgust.

Ironically, as Holder was getting so grumpy for being confronted by the truth, Charlie Rangel was comparing the attempt of state governors to abolish collective bargaining for government employees’ unions to an attempt of Republicans to re-establish slavery. But I am sure someone will look at the good old Rangel’s comparison as legitimate. Go figure.

Just my thoughts!