Newt Lost Florida

Yes, indeed, you read that correctly. The results are not all in, but there were enough votes for Romney, giving him enough of a lead, that that’s all she wrote for Florida.

What’s next for Newt?  Who knows?  It’s likely that he’ll stay in for a few, and see how the next couple of states go, but this was a huge loss, and he may just decide to throw in the towel.  I think that’s a little premature at this point, and there is still a change he could do something. 

Of course, I’ve been saying all along that Romney was going to be the guy.  God-awful, possibly the worst pick on the stage, so naturally the GOP is going to pick him.

Me?  I’ll be at the GOP Caucuses for my district on March 3rd, and I’ll be voting for Ron Paul.  I know there’s no chance, but why should I vote for people that I know can’t do the job, just because the majority of voters are too stupid to understand the issues or the candidates?

Might I suggest you all do the same?  Get involved, get to your caucuses, and try to make a difference.  If everyone who believed Romney was NOT the choice went to the Caucuses, we would get someone besides Romney. 

Just don’t give me that damned theocrat Santorum.  Get Ron Paul up there so we can have a real President, for a change.

Newt and Mitt are at it again

Indeed, today is yet another day of verbal diarrhea for the world of politics.  Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich both had several events today scattered around the State of Florida. 

Each and every event, they took shots at each other.  Until the very last event.  Magically, Mitt started out being nice, and got through his entire little speech without being a dick to Newt once. 

It gets stranger.  Newt then returned the favor, and got through HIS last campaign speech of the day with no digs on Mitt.  What in all seven hells is going on here?  Can it be that not one, but TWO politicians managed to have their Fiber One today, and get in a better mood? 

As much as I hate to say it, there is a valid reason why there is so much smack talking and slander in politics, especially at the Federal level.  It works.  Plain and simple.  If you try to be the good guy, you won’t win, and nobody will remember you.  You need to take a jab occasionally.  Frequently is even better.  The more jabs, and the meaner they are, the more likely it will be covered by the news, and spread all over the place.  That, combined with the sheer audacity of what you said or did, will make it stick in the minds of “the people” (those morons that watch too much television and can’t be bothered to learn anything useful about politics), which then makes it more likely they’ll vote for you (hell, if you’re the only name they recognize on the ballot, you’ll get their vote). 

Dirty politics is obnoxious, and it really ticks me off.  It is not going anywhere.  Until the voters stop being simpletons and figuring who they’ll vote for based on the network news shows, things are not likely to change, because he who slaps hardest and most frequently gets the most face time on television, and will be recognized by the voters when election time comes.

Illegal Immigration

Illegal immigration seems to be such a polarizing issue.  The arguments we hear are “we have to secure our border” and “you’re racist”.  Seems like the people that want our nation to actually be secure are evil, insensitive, racist bastards that hate Mexicans.  Or so the morons on the other side of the argument would have us believe.

First, let’s get passed that.  There is nothing, what-so-ever, even remotely racist about wanting to prevent people from entering our nation illegally.  If that’s the best you can come up with, just shut your mouth and go watch American Idol.  You’re too ignorant by half to participate in the political process, and I beg you to not breed or vote.  Ever.

On to the other argument.  It seems like everyone who wants to try to stop illegal immigration is yelling the same thing.  Secure the border.  Build a fence.  Fly the drones.  Blah, blah, blah.  They’re only looking at half the problem.

The entire problem isn’t that people are streaming across the border in droves.  Those people are (mostly) coming up here in search of a better life for their families and themselves.  Who can blame them for that?  Still, we cannot allow people to simply stroll across the border into our country. I also don’t sleep with my front door wide open.  Sounds like a stupid idea.

What needs to happen is a two fold solution.  First, we need to make it extremely easy to come to this nation LEGALLY.  The biggest influx of illegal immigrants seems to be from Mexico.  There are a lot of political and economic reasons why a Mexican citizen might want to get the hell out of there and head North. I’m not going to get into that.  You want to know more, do a little research.

So set up border checkpoints. Every mile, you put in a shack with 3 armed guards.  They are tasked with two jobs.  First, they are to watch the surrounding area for any sign of illegal activities.  Like people running across the border.  Anyone running across the border is identified as a national security threat and shot on sight.  It is an act of war to have large volumes of people crossing into another nation.  Treat it as such, and the rest will be more reluctant to come running. 

Second, anyone who approaches this shack and asks for permission to come in as either a guest working (for the large group of migrant workers the come up in the spring and summer) or as a more permanent resident, shall be questioned briefly, and if they have any form of ID that will be taken.  They will be finger printed, run through the FBI database to verify that there is no known criminal activity associated with that person, and they they will be admitted into this country.  They will be given a resident worker card, which expires in one year.  During their year, they can work anywhere that will hire them, and will collect their checks (with the proper amount of taxes withheld) and live their lives as they see fit. 

If during their year they are caught in the commission of a crime (after proper due processes have been observed) they are immediately deported, and the database is updated so that their fingerprints will be flagged as no reentry.  If at the end of their twelve months they haven’t presented themselves at another border station to go home for at least 6 month or applied for citizenship, they are added to the no reentry list and a bench warrant shall be issued for their immediate arrest and deportation.

Anytime during their initial twelve month visit, they can apply for citizenship.  The application for citizenship will automatically extend their privilege to stay in the United States for the duration of the process.  If they are turned down for whatever reason, their permit to be in the US will expire 60 days after such rejection.

The problem with illegal immigration is caused, in large part, by the simplicity of coming into this nation illegally, compared to how complicated and time consuming it is to get here legally.  The simple solution, then, is to make it extremely difficult and dangerous to try to come in illegally, while at the same time making it easy and quick to come here legally.  People will pick the easy method every time.

It seems this is a rather elegant solution, and fairly simple to implement.  So why the hell don’t any of the politicians that are up their screaming and yelling at each other about immigration have a similar plan in the works?

State of the Union Address–Jan 24, 2012

Once again, Obama was on stage, yapping away about nothing.  By my count, he said “I” 45 times (not surprising) and “fair” only 7 times (very surprising).  Of course, he used the words “freedom” and “liberty” once each.  Not surprising, but highly disappointing for people like me who believe this country was founded to ensure freedom and liberty for her people. 

Guess what?  I’m not the only one that thinks his speech was crap.  No, indeed.  According to the Flesch-Kincaid readability test, this fine speech came in at about an 8th grade reading level.  The third most “dumbed down” State of the Union blathering of any President since they started tracking this stuff in 1934.  Congrats, Mr. Obama, another new record to be proud of. 

In case you missed it, the full text of the speech can be found at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71920.html.  Don’t worry, it’s an easy read, just a little long winded. 

I’m truly curious why the speech was so low on the scale.  There are only 3 possible options I can see.  First, Obama and his speech writers just suck that much.  I don’t think so.  Obama is a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them.  Ignorant of a lot of things, but not stupid for sure.

Next, it was intentionally dumbed down to allow our dear President to more easily read it off the teleprompters.  I can believe this.  Even though it was a low reading level speech, he still managed to screw up.  For instance, in the last few months, we’ve added 2 point 2 million jobs, not 22 million jobs (pretty easy to miss a decimal, so I’m not going to pick on him TOO much, but if he’d actually read through the speech and practiced like we all had to do in Middle School, he likely wouldn’t have made that mistake).  That also ignores the 5 million jobs that we lost in that same three month time period, for a net loss of 2.8 million jobs. 

Lastly, it was dumbed down for his target audience.  Again, I can believe this.  EASILY.  Target voters for Obama aren’t going to be the brightest group of people.  If they were, they likely would be able to see through some of the bullshit.  I think this is by far the most likely of the three, and therefore I’m going with this one.  Our dear President believes (correctly) that his voters are stupid and will buy into his bullshit and lies.  Like Buffett paying less in taxes than his secretary, or how we need more taxes and more regulations in order to grow this economy and get everyone jobs.  HA!!  If you buy that, I’ve got a bridge for you.

If you’d like to read about Obama’s low readability score, you can do so at http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/01/state-of-the-union-registers-at-th-grade-reading-level-112236.html.

SOPA Protest hits hard–is Congress listening?

Today, the protest against SOPA and PIPA got really heated up.  Several major websites, including Reddit, Google, Wikipedia, and Craigslist, have all blacked out or partially blacked out their pages today.  They are presenting users with a message describing the bills that are in the US Congress right now, as well as encouraging people to write or call their representatives and make a difference. 

If you haven’t done so yet, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page to learn about this great threat to your freedom and what you can do about it.  Wikipedia has made it very easy to contact your representatives, too.  Type in your zip code and click the button, they will bring up a page with your Congressional Representative, your State Representative, and both of your Senators listed with contact information about. 

Tell your representatives, tell the world, and stop this ridiculous threat once and for all.  Hands off the internet, Congress.  You’ve made a mess of the real world, you don’t need to destroy the virtual one as well.

To see other sites participating in the protest, go to http://sopastrike.com

Huntsman out of the “Running of the Bull?”

Well, it’s been rumored last night, and still unconfirmed as far as I’m aware, that John Huntsman is dropping out of the race and endorsing Mitt Romney. 

There was apparently some information provided to CNN via a Huntsman Campaign staff member, that he would be making an announcement to that effect today.  What does this mean for the race?

Everything.  Huntsman doesn’t have a lot of supporters, but there are enough to make a difference. I’ve already said, more than once, that Romney would be the nominee.  The other other person I see with the drive and willingness to fight for it is Ron Paul, who has been finishing strong everywhere, but not strong enough. 

Adding Huntsman’s numbers to Romney’s will make that lead even stronger.  And what happens when the others start dropping?  Perry, Gingrich, Santorum…. they will be expected to toe the line like Huntsman did, and pledge their support the the anointed one of the GOP.

Once again, establishment politics is shown to work in all it’s wonderful dysfunction.  My prediction is one step closer to coming true, as Romney gains more support and pulls a little further ahead.

Might just as well vote for Obama.  Nothing is going to change with Romney in the White House, and Romney can’t beat Obama anyhow.  Why bother.  If Paul goes for a third party ticket, I’m voting for him.  If not, I’m voting for the Libertarian or Constitution Party candidates.  Whichever one is more qualified.  Anything else is a vote for continued wastefulness, deception, and government “as usual.”

Jails and Prisons–WTF?

Anyone else notice anything disturbing about jails and prisons?  I’m seeing several things that really bug the hell out of me, but nobody seems to really think it’s an important issue.  I’m wondering if it’s just me, or if people in this nation are so conditioned to ignorance that they can’t fathom the issue.

Here it is.  Prisoners eat fairly well.  They aren’t gorging on steak and lobster, but they aren’t being fed gruel, either.  They eat better than a lot of lower middle income families in this country do.  They have cable television.  Prisons have internet access and frequently offer classes which the prisoners don’t have to pay for.  Your medical needs are taken care of.  You don’t have to pay rent.  You don’t have to pay electricity.  You don’t have to pay for anything.

Somebody tell me why in the hell people who have violated the law to land themselves into prison get treated so well?  Seriously.  Our dear rulers (notice they are NOT leaders anymore) tell us how we need more money for this, more money for that, and more money for the next thing.  They steal from the Social Security fund because they don’t have the ability to stop spending money left and right, leaving the retirements of millions of people who were told, forced even, to rely on Social Security, in jeopardy.  Meanwhile, criminals are well taken care of.  WTF?

I have an idea.  It will save BILLIONS across the country every year.  It will be implemented in a series of 3 steps.

1) No cable TV, internet, college education provided.  Meals are bare minimum requirements for sustainable, nutritional living.  I don’t give a flying fornication what it tastes like.  Books will be provided by local libraries (if they desire to be a part of it) and donations.  Any televisions or radios on site will be ones that were provided by guards, family, friends, and random donations.

2) No more incarcerations for BS crimes.  If the crime didn’t hurt anyone other than the criminal in any way, and didn’t violate any rights of another person, they will not do time for it.  There can be monetary penalties all you want, even supervised probation.  No jail time.  Get a job and feed yourself, pot heads and petty crooks!

3) Anyone convicted of Murder, Rape, or Child Molestation (what I refer to as the unholy trinity of criminal acts) gets the death penalty.  No ifs, ands, or buts.  No automatic appeal.  365 days from the guilty verdict being returned, you are brought up before the judge.  If there is no new evidence in your case, a six person panel of judges will confer, determine if there are any extenuating circumstances, and if 4 of the 6 agree, you are taken immediately out back and hanged. 

This is the way you run a prison system.  As it is, you can rape, murder, and pillage.  The worst you’ll likely get is the rest of your life not having to pay rent or any other bills, while enjoying AC, heat, electricity, internet, television, and radio.  All provided by folks that obey the law.  How can anyone be dumb enough to think this is even remotely sustainable?

Iowa, New Hampshire, and Ron Paul

There’s some folks out there who seem a bit confused about this whole thing, so I want to clear up a couple of small details.  I’ve heard many people express opinions about the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries which vary from “they mean nothing” to “they mean everything”, and anything you can imagine in between.  I’ve heard every ridiculous opinion of Ron Paul that you can imagine being spurted forth by more people than I could believe.  Time to clear the air.

First, Iowa and New Hampshire ARE important.  They are NOT everything.  The reason they are important is the same reason why polls are important.  It’s a gauge.  You can see how much support each candidate has in a state setting.  Mitt Romney won both states this year.  We haven’t had a GOP contender take both states since Gerald Ford in 1976.  He barely beat out a relatively unknown ex-governor by the name of Ronald Reagan.  Similarly, Mitt barely beat out Santorum in Iowa, but beat the snot out of his competition in New Hampshire.  Ron Paul had a strong showing in both states, taking 3rd in Iowa and 2nd in New Hampshire.  Santorum shocked everyone in IA, and did slightly more than nothing in NH. 

A lot of people are saying Romney has it in the bag.  I don’t believe that for a minute.  A lot can change, in very little time.  I think Romney is the inevitable GOP nominee, but it could easily be lost if the right (or wrong, depending on your perspective) circumstances present themselves.  Then there’s Ron Paul.  I’ve heard people call him an Isolationist.  I’ve heard them saying he wants to make abortion illegal.  I’ve heard them saying his foreign policy would leave us vulnerable to attack, and without the ability to defend ourselves effectively.  To those people, I say read between the lines and stop regurgitating the crap that’s fed to you by liberals and morons.  He would do none of those things, and likely none of the other horrible things that scare you so much (unless you fear Government and your tax bill both shrinking).

Ron Paul wants to lead this nation in doing the right thing, by the law and Constitution that Presidents are sworn to uphold, and so often fail at.  The abortion issue is him saying that the Federal Government has no right to deal in abortion at all.  He’s right.  It’s a state issue.  Isolationist nations have no dealings with other countries.  They close their borders and don’t participate in trade or diplomacy.  He want’s us to stop butting in to other nations problems, stop telling them what to do, and stop telling them how to do it.  We would still maintain foreign relations and trade, and we would still defend our allies, or assist them in joint ventures that they/us/we may be interested in.  That’s not isolationism.  Check the dictionary.

Lastly, the rumor that Ron Paul would consider a 3rd party run.  While there has been no definitive answer on this from Paul, there are two schools of though.  First, most people I know believe it would be like the Clinton/Bush/Perot debacle of the 90’s.  Paul would suck up part of the GOP vote, while the Dems laughed and elected their guy.  I don’t believe that.  Others say that Ron Paul would kick some butt, take some names, and draw enough support to win it.  I don’t believe that either. 

Here’s what’s going to happen for sure.  Romney is going to be the GOP nominee.  Romney is not capable of beating Obama.  What’s the difference between the two?  An R and a D?  That’s not enough to get people out of their house to pretend to care.  It simply does not matter.  Obama will have a second term.  BUT, there are two ways this election can go. 

With just Obama and Romney, the Republicans come out looking like fools (face it, Romney makes the GOP look stupid).  Additionally, nobody really learns anything.  The debates suck, because it’s two Liberals poking at each other.  People don’t tune it.  Nobody cares. 

OR, Ron Paul runs as a third party major candidate (yes, he’s got the funds to do this – Paul still has a ton of support) and makes things interesting.  While I strongly believe that Paul as a third party has a chance of winning, more so than anyone ever has in the history of this nation, I don’t believe he will, but I think he would have a very strong showing and a semi decent chance, because he would be taking some votes from Dems and some from the GOP candidate, as well as a large block of swing voters.  Even better, Ron Paul would continue having his message heard.  His message is “get the Federal Government out of the things it has no business in, and run this nation according to the laws of this nation.”

Oh, what a grand notion.  Following the Constitution, the governing document, the highest law of the land.  Instead of just ignoring it like every other politician.  As shocking as that would be, I would love to be alive to see it happen. 

Hopefully that clears up something, but if you only take one small piece of information away from this article, take this.  You need to prepare yourselves, because Obama is going to be a 2 term President, but be ready for 2016.  I doubt Ron Paul will run again, but Rand Paul will be President someday, and I strongly believe that he will at least make an attempt in 2016.

Yes, I’m back–unlike a decent GOP candidate

Well, after having been busy for Christmas and New Years, needing to send my laptop back to HP for repairs, and the subsequent delays from FedEx, I am finally back on the ball and ready to post.

In the time since my last real post, Mitt Romney has won both Iowa (barely) and New Hampshire.  What does this mean for the Republicans this year? 

I hope nothing.  Mitt Romney as a candidate is easily beatable by Obama.  Obama would stomp him.  Romney is a liberal Republican.  That means the real Conservatives won’t even bother to come out and vote.  The majority of liberals are Dem, so they’ll be out and already voting for Obama.  Independents don’t like Romney either.  The so called “swing vote”?  Half won’t bother to swing either direction, and the majority of those who do will swing squarely towards Obama.  Better the moron we know than the mystery putz. 

My prediction.  Mitt Romney will be the GOP nominee.  Ron Paul will choose not to run a 3rd party campaign.  Barrack Obama will get a second term.  And I will be voting for the Libertarian Candidate (likely to be Gary Johnson).  I hope it doesn’t go that way, but I’m willing to put money on an Obama win, if not the exact details.

Thanks for your patience.  Due to the Holidays, followed by the death of one of my computers, I haven't posted anything for a while.  Starting next week, you will be getting regular posts once again.  I'm getting antsy, and have lots of things to say.  Hopefully you're looking forward to reading them as much as I'm looking forward to writing them.

Mike