Herman Cain at Americans for Prosperity Forum

By Proof

Can we say "dark horse candidate" and still be politically correct?

Give a listen. This guy is good!

More at The Other McCain

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Photo: Mitt Romney The Day After Getting Elected President

By: Wes Messamore

After Mitt Romney's lack-luster, unofficial debut in the 2012 presidential race at a New Hampshire forum on jobs and the economy, I'd just like to remind you that this poser isn't a genuine conservative Republican, but a big-government Republican In Name Only, who pursued a policy of expanding government as Massachusetts' governor and author of RomneyCare, which formed the blueprint for ObamaCare.

If you honestly want more of that, please just stay home during the Republican Primaries and vote for Obama in the general election. Otherwise, we're going to end up with this...



Hat tip: Memeorandum

Wes Messamore blogs at his libertarian website

Divided We Fail

By Chris W
The Libertarian Patriot

If you are a supporter of liberty, anti-war and anti-state you may have noticed the growing divide among supporters of former NM Governor Gary Johnson and TX Rep Ron Paul. Both men, Johnson who has announced he is running and Paul who has formed an exploratory committee, want to be the next President of the United States and will run on the platform of shrinking the federal government, increasing personal liberty and ending our foreign policy of international intervention along with getting our military out of the unconstitutional wars we are now involved in.

Sounds great, two candidates who's views are different from what will be the usual slate of big government, anti-liberty, neo-cons running for the highest office in the land. But herein lies the problem; instead of rallying around both men, there is a rift developing among their supporters.

Those who see Dr Paul as the one true libertarian who can turn our republic around question Gov Johnson's libertarian credentials, often calling him a "beltway libertarian", saying that he does not propose cutting Leviathan enough and that his record as a two-term Governor of NM proves this. I've even seen where it has been thrown out there that Johnson is indirectly being supported by the Koch Brothers.

Some Johnson supporters, on the other hand, question whether Ron Paul is electable enough. They point out that while he has name recognition, the ability to raise large amounts of money and a large base of support especially among younger voters, that has not translated into votes. They also claim that the public perception of him being outside of the mainstream, and a pariah within the GOP, greatly hinders his chances of winning the race.

Both side claim that the movement is not big enough to support two candidates with the same libertarian message and all that will be accomplished is that they siphon votes from each other. [In actuality if this is true, we have no chance of winning anyway so wouldn't two voices for liberty on the stump be better than one?] To this end, some supporters of both men even go as far to say that the other should step down and throw his weight behind the other. [And these people call themselves pro-liberty?]

This is exactly what the establishment wants us to do. Whilst we argue among ourselves over who is more deserving of the libertarian mantle for 2012, they get to focus attention on the other dozen or so potential candidates who will talk a good game, promise us the world and do nothing but grow government, continuing us down the path of destruction that we are currently heading.

There is room in this race for both men. I'm not saying that we can't have our favorite, I happen to think Gary Johnson is the better choice but Ron Paul is deserving as well, but we cannot tear down the other in the process. It's us (libertarians) against them (the establishment) and we can't forget that for a minute. We should promote the virtues of both candidates and rally their collective message of pro-liberty, anti state against the forces that are in opposition to it. Only then will we win.

In the words of Rodney King, "Can't we all get along?"

Whoops! Mitt Romney gaffes in New Hampshire, proposes to "hang" Obama

You can bet this is going to hurt his electability in a general election, and that we're going to have a long and ugly "racist Romney" smear campaign over the next news cycle. Watch:



Hat tip: Memeorandum

Black Chamber of Commerce President Blasts Obama as Anti Business and a Brown Shirt

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Cknservatism

Harry Alford, president and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, tore into President Obama yesterday on The Laura Ingraham Show calling his administration anti business. Mr. Alford referred to the president as a neophyte, saying he is dangerous, and is wrecking the country. That and a whole lot more.



Indeed Mr. Alford. You are spot on.

Cross posted to Rational Nation USA

Via: Drudge Report
Via: Real Clear Politics

Liberals Who Vote Like Trump. Liberals Who Don't Vote Like "Cops"

By Proof

Remember that old saying "You are what you eat"? Maybe today it's also true that you are what you watch? National Media Inc. did a demographic study of who watches what on TV, based on their party affiliation and tendency to vote.

Surprise, surprise when I saw a number of my favorites in the upper right hand, Republican who vote quadrant! Celebrity Apprentice, on the other hand, with The Donald, was the show deemed most popular among the most liberal in the audience. Never seen it myself! "Wive Swap", which, in the spirit of full disclosure I have also not seen, was popular with the most liberal in the audience that tends not to vote.

Curious, I thought, was the presence of "Cops" in the more liberal less vote crowd. Isn't this show on (whispers) Fox*? Maybe among liberals who sit home on election day, there is also a fascination with seeing themselves,their friends and their neighbors on TV??

One other surprise was "House". I like the show and would have thought it would have skewed more right, but then, the show did lose some conservative viewers after Lisa Edelstein did that pro-abortion PSA.

I could show you that, but instead, I'll show you one of the reasons some of us still watch, in spite of that:





*Sometimes called "Pox" by those who love it, watch it every day, but are embarrassed to admit it in front of fellow liberals.

Update: Democrat voters watch measurably more television than Republican and swing voters. According to National Media Research

You can also see the cable trends here.



H/T I Own the World
Cross posted at Proof Positive

Gallup: Americans Put Deficit Blame on Wasteful Government Spending

by the Left Coast Rebel

This just in from Gallup:

PRINCETON, NJ -- The large majority of Americans say spending too much money on unneeded or wasteful federal programs is to blame for the federal budget deficit, while 22% say the deficit is a consequence of not raising enough in taxes to pay for needed programs.

These poll numbers are very hopeful but miss a key part of the deficit picture: our woes are necessarily caused by wasteful spending but that wasteful spending is given free reign because of a government that has no bearing on our founding and sensible, limited government. In order to reign in wasteful spending, we must first realign that which we expect of our government and send those to Washington DC that reflect those values (hint: Rand Paul, not John Boehner).

Until that day, the idiots in DC will argue about nibbling at the fringes of our destructive and illegitimate government-with-no-restraint but lose the big picture and put us all at the same national bankruptcy endgame. We simply ask too much of our government and have been bribed with looters that have no intention of paying the bill.

Are you willing to give up any and all the goodies to save the idea that used to be America?

I sure as hell am.

Via Memeorandum.

(VIDEO) Drunk Verger named Ben Sheward Does Cartwheels in Westminster Abbey After Royal Wedding

by the Left Coast Rebel

We didn't blog or discuss the Royal Wedding yesterday although I found myself incredibly tempted to do so when I saw footage of a Royal Horse royally heading for the Royal Family or Royal Peoples (actually, "commoners", lo and behold).

"Events" like the Royal Wedding don't hold my fleeting interest. I just have a weird personality. For instance the Rose Parade here in California makes my eyes glaze over and develop one of those inner eyelids that sharks have (also known as a nictitating membrane, don't ask how I know that).

Now, if a runaway military tank came barreling down the rose parade avenue, then you would have captivated my hard-to-earn interest (it actually happened here in San Diego, years ago and no, it wasn't affiliated with a parade, just some idiot with inner-working knowledge of an M60 Patton that thought he could terrorize the area with a tank. He died and nearly killed a bunch of people in the meantime).

But, I just can't help myself: I've been that way ever since I was a kid. Some call it ADHD, I call it the 'curse of the overactive mind' or just being a plain-and-simple weirdo (my wife agrees).

Why do I mention any and all of this? Well, I have to blog about the Royal Wedding, or at least something that happened right after the ceremony: video of a priest (actually a verger named Ben Sheward) doing cartwheels at Westminster Abbey, posthaste:

Now that's funny!

But, I wonder if he will be beheaded for his transgression? Remember, not so many hundreds of years ago, King Henry VIII had his wife Anne Boleyn beheaded on the charges of adultery, incest and plotting to murder the king (and with no proof and not necessarily in that order).

And yes, she had 6 fingers on one hand and a large goiter on her neck.

Cross posted to LCR and Proof Positive.

Glenn Reynolds: Blogs Bring in New Information

By Sam Foster

Glenn Reynolds once answered the most important element of having a successful blog:



Make sure you watch the whole interview, Glenn Reynolds gives away the trick of getting his attention for a link.

However, there is a real art to blogging that most new bloggers, including myself when I was new, simply don't understand. Blogging is about 95%, adding new information. If you have the writing prowess of Robert Stacy McCain, you could write about any silly, goofy thing you want and still get readers. For 99% of bloggers, we simply are not skilled enough at the written art and won't be for another 20 years.

But, there is hope for us. News outlets act as modern day heralds. They just run around the masses in the slowest pace imaginable, shouting out a headline. There is no investigation and no coverage of the saucy alternative view points. In short, the MSM makes it so any story could go a lot of ways.

Bloggers are successful, when they take a story of great interest and add something of great interest to it.

This means two things for a blogger. One, timing is important. All news stories have a shelf-life. If you want someone to read your article, you need to write it when people are searching for more information on the topic. Second, it means you need to add some interesting information. That usually means using the great researching tool known as the google machine or if you have expertise, use it.

If you can add interesting information to an interesting topic, and on a regular basis. Your future as a big-time blogger is secured; your ascendancy is only a matter of time.

This also leads to a third nugget of wisdom for bloggers. If this is how you get readers, you can stop wasting blog space with what ever else you've been blogging.

If you aren't bringing new information to the table, your blog is just another mess of text sitting out on the web.

President Barack Obama: Meet President Bill Clinton

by Frank Hill, Telemachus

You know, we have been following the whole 'birth certificate issue' of President Obama with a shaker of salt.

Until his press conference last Wednesday.

As he was speaking, the 'hit rewind' button in our mental VHS started whirring and all we could think was: 'We have seen this show before'.

First of all, we thought his handlers said they couldn't find the 'long-form' a long time ago. And that President Obama had revealed all he was ever going to reveal on his birth certificate so that was it, over and out!

Recall in 1998, President Bill Clinton made the following forceful statement on national television denying his involvement with Monica Lewinsky:

Bill Clinton’s ‘Monica Lewinsky’ Denial Statement, January 26, 1998

'Now, I have to go back to work on my State of the Union speech. And I worked on it until pretty late last night. But I want to say one thing to the American people. I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again: I. did. not. have. sexual. relations. with. that. woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never. These allegations are false. And I need to go back to work for the American people. Thank you.'

We were struck by some of the same-sounding phrases and sentence constructions found in President Obama's statement on Wednesday about his birth certificate. See if some of the similarly-highlighted passages below don't sound like they were taken from the same playbook:

THE PRESIDENT: As many of you have been briefed, we provided additional information today about the site of my birth. Now, this issue has been going on for two, two and a half years now. I think it started during the campaign. And I have to say that over the last two and a half years I have watched with bemusement, I've been puzzled at the degree to which this thing just kept on going. We've had every official in Hawaii, Democrat and Republican, every news outlet that has investigated this, confirm that, yes, in fact, I was born in Hawaii, August 4, 1961, in Kapiolani Hospital.

We've posted the certification that is given by the state of Hawaii on the Internet for everybody to see. People have provided affidavits that they, in fact, have seen this birth certificate. And yet this thing just keeps on going.

Now, normally I would not comment on something like this, because obviously there’s a lot of stuff swirling in the press on at any given day and I've got other things to do.

But two weeks ago, when the Republican House had put forward a budget that will have huge consequences potentially to the country, and when I gave a speech about my budget and how I felt that we needed to invest in education and infrastructure and making sure that we had a strong safety net for our seniors even as we were closing the deficit, during that entire week the dominant news story wasn’t about these huge, monumental choices that we're going to have to make as a nation. It was about my birth certificate. And that was true on most of the news outlets that were represented here.

And so I just want to make a larger point here. We've got some enormous challenges out there. There are a lot of folks out there who are still looking for work. Everybody is still suffering under high gas prices. We're going to have to make a series of very difficult decisions about how we invest in our future but also get a hold of our deficit and our debt -- how do we do that in a balanced way.

And this is going to generate huge and serious debates, important debates. And there are going to be some fierce disagreements -- and that’s good. That’s how democracy is supposed to work. And I am confident that the American people and America’s political leaders can come together in a bipartisan way and solve these problems. We always have.

But we’re not going to be able to do it if we are distracted. We’re not going to be able to do it if we spend time vilifying each other. We’re not going to be able to do it if we just make stuff up and pretend that facts are not facts. We’re not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers.

We live in a serious time right now and we have the potential to deal with the issues that we confront in a way that will make our kids and our grandkids and our great grandkids proud. And I have every confidence that America in the 21st century is going to be able to come out on top just like we always have. But we’re going to have to get serious to do it.

I know that there’s going to be a segment of people for which, no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest. But I’m speaking to the vast majority of the American people, as well as to the press.

We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We’ve got better stuff to do. I’ve got better stuff to do. We’ve got big problems to solve. And I’m confident we can solve them, but we’re going to have to focus on them -- not on this.

Thanks very much, everybody.'

President Obama’s ‘This is My Birth Certificate!’ Statement, April 27, 2011
There are tons of things very pressing at the moment; the national debt; Iraq; tornadoes in the South...you name it, we got it. But we were struck like by a sledgehammer with the following realization:

'If it was that 'easy' to present the long-form birth certificate to the American people last Wednesday, where was this 'real' thing 2.5 years ago when it all first started to swirl in the primary battle between Obama and Hillary Clinton?'

If this was not such a 'big deal', why didn't President Obama just present it during the 2008 campaign and wash his hands of the whole thing then and there?

To top things off, there is the very inconvenient issue of Lt. Colonel Terry Lakin. LTC Lakin, who is a highly-decorated 18-year Army doctor, refused to be deployed overseas because of his view that the lack of a valid birth certificate by President Obama negated his ability to be Commander-in-Chief. Because of his very strong beliefs, he was court-martialed in December, 2010 and subsequently sent to prison for the past 6 months.

Now this 'real' birth certificate magically appears out of nowhere after he has been languishing in prison for the past 6 months....a decorated American military officer, in prison, for the past half a year? What is this honorable military officer supposed to do to get those 6 months of his life back now that President Obama has supposedly presented his 'real' birth certificate 'this time' out of his magic hat as opposed to not doing so previously which led directly to LTC Lakin's incarceration?

There may be an entirely plausible reason why President Obama's parents wanted to get his birth announced in the Hawaii paper in 1961 if he had, in fact, been born overseas. They might have wanted to insure that he was going to get the benefits of being an American citizen regardless of whether he ever ran for President and won. (What were the chances of that happening anyway? They should have called Las Vegas as well at the same time) Remember, Hawaii only became an official US state in 1959 and the operations of the new state could hardly have been very efficient or thorough without computers back in those days.

We get that. His parents might have been doing what any other caring parent back then, or even today, would have done: Try to insure that their offspring gets to enjoy life with American citizenship status. That is still golden in the eyes of most of the world.

Our take is that elected leaders should just put the truth out there and not try to get too cute with it all. The American people can 'handle the truth' but they have a very hard time accepting repeated lying. Bill Clinton could have accepted his responsibility in the Lewinsky matter at his first press conference instead of wagging his finger at us all; avoided an impeachment process and asked for the American people's forgiveness...and they would have given it to him.

We are a very forgiving society that extends second- and third-chances like no one else and America loves it when people get off the ground, straighten up and fly right and make momentous comebacks.

This sort of extended delay, legal maneuvering and clever statement-giving on the part of President Obama and his team just brings to mind the following scene:

'Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English)' when she fell into Wonderland.

Same thing must happen when people get elected to the White House. It is just plain 'weird'.

(Editor's Note: Frank Hill's resumé includes working as chief of staff for Senator Elizabeth Dole and Congressman Alex McMillan, serving on the House Budget Committee and serving on the Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform. He takes on politics from a fiercely independent perspective at the blog Telemachus).

Delicious Irony: Redneck Global Warming Skeptics Terrorized and Killed By Tornados

By RightKlik

When I drove to work on Wednesday night, I was buffeted by violent winds. I had left home early because the weather forecast called for tornadoes, and the in-motion radar images were ominous. The storm was headed for my path, but I arrived at my destination safely.

In the building where I work, dozens of people who lacked access to safe shelter spent the night huddled in the hallways. Back home, the rest of my little family spent the night in a closet while golf ball-sized hail bombarded the house and the booming sounds of exploding transformers could be heard in every direction.

When I made my way back home at daybreak, what I saw triggered a burst of expletives. The road was clear, but landscape was now barely recognizable. Guard rails were strewn around and crumpled like flimsy ribbons of aluminum foil. Homes and businesses had been reduced to piles of splinters and toothpicks. Cars where scattered along the side of the road like toys dropped from a toddler's clumsy hands. Several 18-wheelers had been pounded, mangled, and dumped in piles of their own contents.

In my home town, 95,000 EPB customers had lost power.

Hundreds of people across the South are now dead. Photographs cannot accurately capture the magnitude of the devastation. Fortunately for me, the lights are back on where I live, my home is in one piece, and all of my family members in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama are clean, dry and intact.

The roads where I live are now jam-packed with friends and strangers rushing in to help the victims and clean up the mess...

Meanwhile, the loathsome toads at Think Progress think they've drawn a clever connection between the weather's wrath and the political views of the victims:

Storms Kill Over 250 Americans In States Represented By Climate Pollution Deniers

Today, news agencies are still tallying reports of deaths from the most devastating storm system in the United States in decades...

The congressional delegations of these states — Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Virginia, and Kentucky — overwhelmingly voted to reject the science that polluting the climate is dangerous. They are deliberately ignoring the warnings from scientists.

True to their grotesque form, left wing zealots are defending the indefensible in response to this unwashed tripe.

It's a new twist on the Pat Robertson model of Divine Justice... "Since the south has rejected the climate change hysteria, clearly they’re just asking for the wrath of Gaia, and should expect to be demolished."

Here's how you can help victims in need:

• Red Cross, or text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to relief efforts
• Samaritan’s Purse
• Text “Give” to 80888 to give $10 to Salvation Army relief efforts.

FLASHBACK:

“I root for hurricanes. When, courtesy of the Weather Channel, I see one forming in the ocean off the coast of Africa, I find myself longing for it to become big and strong — Mother Nature’s fist of fury, Gaia’s stern rebuke.”

– James Wolcott, “An Ignoble Confession,” Sept. 2004

Hat tip: McCain

Tornadoes whipped up by wind, not climate

More discussion at Memeorandum

Obama Administration Grants Citizenship to Three Convicts with Links to Terrorist

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplaces of Independent Conservatism

Either the Obama administration is completely inept, or it is completely inept. The Government Accounting Office (GAO)recently released a report on Criminal Alien Statistics: Information on Incarcerations, Arrests and Costs, showing the three convicted criminals with ties to international terrorism were granted U.S citizenship. After they were convicted.

This administration can't be for real. Can it? I must be dreaming this.

(CNSNews.com) -- Three people convicted of crimes as a result of a terrorism-related investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) were later naturalized as U.S. citizens by the Obama administration, according to federal auditors.

The March 2011 audit (released on April 21, 2011) by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), entitled Criminal Alien Statistics: Information on Incarcerations, Arrests and Costs, shows that three individuals were among “defendants where the investigation involved an identified link to international terrorism but they were charged with violating other statutes [not directly related to terrorism], including fraud, immigration, drugs, false statements, and general conspiracy charges,” referred by DOJ as Category II terrorism-related cases.

The three individuals in question can be found in a DOJ list of unsealed terrorism-related investigations conducted from Sept. 11, 2001 through Mar. 18, 2010. There are 403 defendants on that list of which, according to the GAO, at least 43 percent were aliens--both legal (26 percent) and illegal (17 percent)--at the time they were charged with crimes.

Staff members of GAO's Homeland Security and Justice team who worked on the audit told CNSNews.com in an e-mail that the three individuals were naturalized as U.S. citizens under President Barack Obama.

“One of the individuals was naturalized in late 2009. The other two were naturalized in 2010,” says the e-mail from the GAO. (Read More}

Unbelievable, simply unbelievable the rank incompentence!

Cross posted to Rational Nation USA

Via: Memeorandum

There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplave of Independent Conservatism

America is becoming a nation whose populace is dependent on government entitlements in ever increasing numbers. The percentage of Americans that earn their income through work is declining. This is a sure recipe for the eventual collapse of our {semi} capitalist economic and social structure. The very structures that built this nation and made it the greatest and most prosperous the world has ever known.

"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" was written by C. Jeffery Small. He does an excellent job of confronting the issue of entitlemnts, the ethics which they breed, the subsequent erosion of the work ethic, and the ultimate cost to society.

"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." — Robert Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

When Heinlein wrote these words, he was simply referring to the obvious fact that you cannot get something for nothing. Everything consumed must first be produced and everything bought must be paid for. For previous generations, this was a common-sense observation with which all reasonable people agreed. However, these days, that is far from the case, and whether the adage is applicable or not depends upon just exactly what type of person you happen to be.

You really cannot blame the citizens in our entitlement culture who think that they can have their lunch and eat it too. After all, look at the example that their legislators are setting as they coast along on their own free-lunch wagon, creating whatever programs they desire, and then printing paper dollars out of thin air to back them up, with no foreseeable source of revenue in sight — and all the while ignoring the looming debt, the unsustainable deficits, the unresponsive economy, and the rising outcry of protest from the remaining minority of citizens who do understand that there is indeed no free lunch and that the coming catastrophe is going to ultimately be borne on the backs of their productivity.

It's enough to make a grown person shrug.

Read the rest of the article.

C. Jeffery Small blogs at Small Thoughts for a Complex World.

Artwork: Photobucket

Cross posted to Rational Nation USA

NY-26 Poll: Jane Corwin is winning by only 5 points, but the gulf is huge

By Sam Foster

Via WSJ:

The Siena College poll released Friday shows 36 percent of likely voters supporting Corwin and 31 percent favoring Hochul. With the May 24 special election about a month away, Tea Party candidate Jack Davis received 23 percent and Green Party candidate Ian Murphy trailed with 5 percent.

The first and perhaps, one of the only polls, we’ll see on NY-26 is out and it looks like a close race. TPM wants it to mean that NY-26 is in play:

In a potential replay of the 2009 NY-23 special election that saw a third-party candidacy turn a red-leaning district blue, a Tea Party candidate is threatening to hand Democrats an upset in the race to replace resigned Republican Rep. Chris Lee in NY-26.

But, just to give you an idea how lost their analysis is:

In a parallel to the NY-23 race, the Republican candidate's more moderate positions -- Corwin is pro-choice -- have left an opening for attacks from her right.

Both Corwin’s opponent’s Jack Davis and Kathy Hochul are far larger pro-choicers, thus pro-choice is not really an issue in the race.

In reality, there is a lot about this poll that is interesting and much more so than the punditry is going to tell you.

First of all, Kathy Hochul is running a campaign strictly as a referendum on the Paul Ryan budget. The problem is that the Republican plan is creaming the Obama plan. According to the poll, 53-36 people want to see the next NY-26 candidate support the Republican plan. This includes a 55-31 split for Republicans amongst Independents.

Second of all, it would appear that Jack Davis isn’t only bilking Jane Corwin on votes, but he’s doing lot’s of damage to Democrat Kathy Hochul; particularly in the area of Independents. Green Party Ian Murphy is also stealing from Hochul. Republicans over Democrats, slightly favor Davis more by about 4%. A pretty small margin even though Davis is taking 23% of the vote.

Finally, Hochul’s biggest problem is in the undecided category. Only 5% of Democrats are undecided to 11% Republicans and 9% independents. At the end of the day, it might be a closer race between Jack Davis and Jane Corwin.

Siena NY26 Poll Crosstabs



According to WSJ, Republicans have a 7 point edge in the enrollment for the district and Corwin is up by 5. That gives you an idea how little impact Davis is really having on Corwin.

The truth is, this race is not as close as the media would like to bill it.

Surprisingly Good Piece on Allen West in the New York Times

by the Left Coast Rebel

I just finished reading a piece at the New York Times, "Conservative Congressman’s Star Power Extends Beyond Florida District".

Excerpt:

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Often, the most interesting thing about a person is the characteristic that lies beneath, that hidden thing that bobs up along the waves of time.

But the most compelling part of Representative Allen B. West of Florida is his own biography, there for all to see: an African-American Tea Party activist Republican congressman and ally of hard-right Israelis who, after his beloved career in the Army ended under a cloud, defeated the sitting Democrat in a largely white, politically polarized district here and quickly became one of the right’s most visible spokesmen.

Mr. West’s fans in his district, which stretches over two counties along the east coast of Florida, are both numerous and loud; hundreds fill his town hall-style meetings, many of them favoring T-shirts bearing his image. At a recent Tea Party rally in Washington, supporters flocked to him like sea gulls to a crust of baguette. Among the 87 House Republican freshmen, he ranks third in the latest fund-raising period for his re-election campaign; his $433,551 haul came largely through individual donations.

Mr. West’s popularity among conservatives goes far beyond South Florida. He was chosen to give the keynote speech in February at the Conservative Political Action Conference, and is frequently featured on the Fox News Channel and in other conservative settings where he enjoys explaining, reiterating or unleashing any number of incendiary remarks concerning what he often calls “the other side.”

There was his recent observation that liberal women “have been neutering American men,” and that the president of the United States is a “low-level socialist agitator.”

Mr. West scoffs at the notion that he has become a sensation. “I don’t drink my own tub water or read my own press,” he said in a brief interview before a town hall-style meeting here this week. “I tell the truth and I stand on convictions and you know what you’re getting.”

While Mr. West’s decision to cast himself as an iconoclast has made him a conservative star, it is unclear how well it will serve him as he seeks re-election next year in this swing district, where far more voters are likely to come out for a presidential election than in the midterm cycle.

Here's West sayin' it like it is, referring to Obama as a 'low-level, socialist agitator' on Greta Van Susteren's show:

Indeed.

Donald Douglas points to the fact that West's victory last year came down to a pretty tight margin and that the far-left has him in their crosshairs, so we should donate to his campaign going forward.

Via Memeorandum.

Headline of the Day: "Feds' yearlong investigation of Amish farmer selling milk; meanwhile government borrowing $188 million per hour"

by the Left Coast Rebel

At the same time our government is bankrupting us it is prosecuting us and violating our natural rights at a breathtaking pace....

LCR's good friend Milton Wolf has the story befit only for the Orwellian times that we live in.

Related: At Memeorandum, Washington Post, "Debt Ceiling: More Democrats threaten to vote against the borrowing limit."

(VIDEO) Trump Drops F-bomb Several Times During Speech

by the Left Coast Rebel

Trump is trumping China and raising the anti-trade rhetoric (sounding oh-so presidential):

"Listen you mother f***ers we're going to tax you 25 percent"

I'm no prude; but seriously, folks? A serious candidate wouldn't have gone there.

NSFW video of Trump's speech in Las Vegas wherein he drops the f-bomb, referencing the Chinese:

It's good to see that Trump has moved on from the birth certificate to the taxing-the-hell-out-of-the-Chinese and "take-their-oil" dual platform of unconservative, unlibertarian, populist ideas. Of course it's entertaining, but serious thought and a serious platform?

Of course not.

Maximum result for minimal effort = throwing around the f-bomb during a speech. Trump is clearly enjoying himself and basking in the sunlight of his notoriety.

But, the guy is peaking already and this may be one of his last headline-grabbing hoorays.

Hat tip Memeorandum.

Molested by Government: Miss USA Susie Castillo

By RightKlik

Hat tip to Libertarian Republican for this story:

...former Miss USA Susie Castillo has a new platform: overly diligent TSA agents, one of whom she said “molested” her during a pat down at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport earlier this week.

Castillo, an actress and former MTV VJ, made a YouTube video of her ordeal, tearily complaining that a female screener repeatedly touched her inappropriately during a full body frisking.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that this would make me cry,” she said in the video. “I’m really really upset that, as an American, I have to go through this. I do feel violated. This woman touched my vagina four times.”

I'm sure the highly trained government official had a very good reason for abusing this suspicious-looking terrorist wannabe...

Don't miss the quote at the end of the video. Castillo is definitely not a mindless Hollywood liberal.

Update:

To be quite honest, I almost didn't post this video and blog because I kept asking myself, "Am I just being a baby?" I'm also not one to stir up controversy. In fact, I do my best to live a very positive and healthy life. However, in the situation I'm about to describe, I felt truly violated and believe I should let my voice be heard. Ultimately, I hope others will do the same. Mahatma Gandhi famously said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." So, that's what I'm doing by sharing this experience:

On my flight back to Los Angeles last week after hosting the red carpet premiere for "Fast Five" in Rio De Janeiro, I connected in Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) where I had the misfortune of being selected to go through one of those full body scanners that emits radiation. Now, if you don't fly very often, you might not worry about it. But I'm a frequent flyer and don't wish to be irradiated more than I already am on flights (we get a pretty large dose of radiation while flying due to our proximity to the sun; the longer your flight, the more your radiation exposure) and in life in general (we're exposed to radiation all day every day; it's called "background radiation"). So I will always "opt out" of going through these body scanners, especially since the long-term effects of radiation are quite well documented: it mutates our cells, often in irreversible ways, and causes cancer. I'm all set with that!

Anyway, after "opting out," I proceeded to follow a very nice older female TSA employee to the "pat down" area. It was an inconvenience, but I thought, "No biggie. I just went through this at LAX for the first time and it wasn't too bad, so let's just get it over with."

Well, this pat down was completely different. It was MUCH MORE invasive than my first one at LAX, just a week before. To say that I felt invaded is an understatement. What bothered me most was when she ran the back of her hands down my behind, felt around my breasts, and even came in contact with my vagina! Honestly, I was in shock, especially since the woman at LAX never actually touched me there. The TSA employee at DFW touched private area 4 times, going up both legs from behind and from the front, each time touching me there. Was I at my gynecologist's office? No! This was crazy!

I felt completely helpless and violated during the entire process (in fact, I still do), so I became extremely upset. If I wanted to get back to Los Angeles, I had no choice but to be violated, whether by radiation or a stranger. I just kept thinking, "What have I done to deserve this treatment as an upstanding, law-abiding American citizen?" Am I a threat to US security? I was Miss USA, for Pete's sake!

Besides, is this procedure really protecting us? I remember hearing about an Al Qaeda terrorist successfully evading security detection by placing a bomb in his rectum. All in an attempt to assassinate Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef. So what if that happened in the US? Would we then be subjected to random rectal exams in addition to x-rays and being groped by strangers? How far is this going to go? More specifically, how far will WE let this go? As they say, if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. I think it's time to stand up for our personal liberty.

As a frequent flyer, I knew getting a "pat down" was inevitable, but I never expected it to make me so upset. When it was over, I grabbed my things, walked over to my husband who was waiting for me, and was completely overcome with emotion.

I have never felt more violated in my life than I did that morning at DFW, and I've heard of others feeling the same way after these "pat downs." Just a couple weeks ago, a video of a six-year-old girl being patted down by TSA made headlines. Talk about unjust and unacceptable. So I decided to speak to a TSA supervisor about how I felt, and make a video about what happened to post on my blog.

This "pat down" is a total violation of our rights (we shouldn't be searched this way without probable cause or a search warrant), therefore I will be filing a complaint via phone, online and also in writing with the TSA to complain each and every time for as long as the TSA is violating my rights.

Californians May Be Okay With Higher Taxes

by Left Coast Rebel contributor Barrel Rider

Governor Jerry Brown -- A.K.A. Moonbeam -- has a plan to balance the California budget by cutting 12.5 billion in spending and increaseing revenue by 12.5 billion through a combination of new taxes and an extension on the tax rates currently set to expire in June.

Recent polling of Californians regarding Governor Brown’s proposal of new or renewed tax increases and both the current and future economic outlook has produced some interesting results.

For instance, 52 percent of those polled are in support of Brown’s tax proposals. To Brown's credit, he has made what I believe is an earnest effort to reduce spending.

Unfortunately the state of affairs in California have become so ridiculous that it may very well take a temporary extension of taxes while the state methodically and systemically reduces spending over the next few years and legislates the reductions to be long-term or permanent in nature.

Of course, I cannot and will not forget how our government has wasted and continues to waste our hard earned money with ludicrous spending year over year. In the past, throwing more money to Sacramento has almost always had negative results. As I look into the near to intermediate future it seems that the State of California is at a point of inflection in the social and economic path of the state. The wrong decisions in Sacramento will likely result in a gradual yet permanent decline in economic growth, competitiveness and standard of living.

Although I think he is trying to reduce spending, Brown has hardly communicated the particulars of his extension of taxes and how it relates to spending. Once again we get the old 'tax' plea from our Representatives and the spending seems to be the secondary priority, the two should be reversed.

At the risk of being vilified by my LCR brethren, I am open to the idea of extending the taxes that were recently increased (which I opposed at the time). I would only support this with conditions. The tax renewals would have to be put to ballot and passed by the voters, not legislated by the democratically controlled state senate. One of the unintended consequences of a Republican ballot block could be some sort of backdoor legislation by the Democrats to increase or extend tax rates with no vote. Any renewed tax would have to have a specific time period attached to it, which I think should include a tapering off. For example, if the taxes were extended for two years, they would drop 50 percent after year one and then to previous levels after year two. Anything over two years would not get my vote. Without a short-term time frame and annual decrease, the incentive for our government to cut would be hindered.

I would not support any ballot with new taxes added on to any extension (there, now I'm not completely insane, am I?). We are tapped out as employers, employees, consumers and property owners in the Pyrite State. We are already overtaxed and under-serviced by our elected officials.
Just as important, I think aggressive spending cuts need to be attached to any tax renewal, if you are keeping my taxes excessive, the state must also make increased cuts year over year. The Government should base its future budgets on current income, taking into account the two-year tax decline to previous levels.

I think it is important to get the officials to pass or to allow we voters the opportunity to pass forced spending cuts that are in writing and cover particular programs and line items throughout the budget. We need to make sure that there is a paper trail, a bill that forces spending cuts or we will be screwed once again by a state that has a track record of over-spending and increasing spending year over year. There should also be a complete freeze on any automatic annual spending increases in all areas of the budget, this has played a role in the overspending and systemic increase in spending that has dug the state in such a deep hole. Tax renewals will only be effective if they are done in tune with spending decreases. Spending cuts should be long-term and tax renewals short term.

I'm disappointed that Governor Brown is not more vocal and detailed in his plan. The state is in a crisis and the future may be permanently damaged without great leadership and actions. Without formal measures to include spending cuts I will not support any type of tax extension, but with the above and similar actions I think that a short term extension could help build a brighter long-term bridge for the state to move past its terrible mistakes of the past, but its a dicey proposition for certain.

A recent poll of San Diegans shows that a majority feel the economy is poor and the state is heading down the wrong track. About half of San Diegans feel the job opportunities are poor and nearly a third rate them as fair. Two-thirds of the San Diegans polled still rated California as a good place to live. I think they subconsciously mean San Diego.

What are your thoughts on how to get the California budget permanently under control in the near to intermediate future?

(VIDEO) Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek Round Two

by the Left Coast Rebel

Hat tip to San Diego Tea Partier Dawn Wildman.

Updated: Via Memeorandum, Gallup:

PRINCETON, NJ -- More than half of Americans (55%) describe the U.S. economy as being in a recession or depression, even as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) reports that "the economic recovery is proceeding at a moderate pace." Another 16% of Americans say the economy is "slowing down," and 27% believe it is growing.

When the smoke clears… A closer look at Gary Johnson for President

by Scratcher, of Makes My Brain Itch

The current crop of Republican hopefuls leaves me feeling uninspired.

No, no... That's far too mild.

The list of Republicans being discussed as our "options" in the beltway and the media leave me with a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's something like despair. Or the intestinal flu. I want to ask "Is this really the best the GOP can do? Really? I have to hold my nose and vote for one of these people?"

(If I want to see Obama go home as a one-term President, that's exactly what I have to do.)

So I was really excited to see that Gary Johnson had announced he's running. I've long been an admirer. He has a proven record, an understanding of our situation (and don't dismiss that as unimportant - our current administration has no grasp whatsoever on the situation and that's why it keeps getting worse), and Johnson holds to the ideals of smaller government and personal liberty so dear to the conservative heart.

Yet most of what I've read about his announcement refers to him as "best known" or "famous" or "most recognized" for his stance on marijuana and the War on Drugs. And very little I've read gave him the most remote odds of winning.

Yes, Gary Johnson has some controversial views on the drug war, and marijuana in particular. But he's famously best known and most recognized for those views because the media (old and new) highlights the controversial. (What a surprise that he's viewed in the way he's repeatedly been depicted.)

But if conservatives would give Johnson a shot on the issues and not write him off as the stoner candidate, I believe they'd like what they see. So please, let's put his stance on drugs to the side a moment (we'll come back to it, and I believe you'll see it's perfectly in line with conservative principles) and look at what else he's about.

In other words, let's let the smoke clear and see what's really there...

As Governor of New Mexico, Johnson cut taxes fourteen times and left not only a balanced budget, but a surplus. He was responsible for New Mexico's longest ever stretch with no tax increase. He cut the size of state government and privatized part of the prison system. He cut government growth by half. He fought for a school choice program. He vetoed over 750 pieces of legislation, 200 of those in the first six months. He used the line item veto thousands of times, often to remove spending from bills. He reformed Medicaid, and got the state's costs under control. He hired private companies to build highways.

That's not what he's talked about or what he's promised us or what the polls tell him we want to hear. That's what he's done.

(As an aside, he's also climbed Mt. Everest... oh, and Mt. McKinley, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Elbrus. He's also competed in multiple Ironman Triathlons. How's that sound after a coupla years of watching President Mom Jeans embarrass himself trying to act sporty?)


So that's a taste of what he's done. If elected President, what else would he like to do? A lot of what the grassroots conservatives are calling for.

Government spends too much because it does too much... We should start by reassessing the role of the federal government, and always asking the question: Should the government be doing this in the first place?

Johnson advocates balancing the budget. Immediately. With trillions in cuts across the board, and entitlement reforms. He also wants to eliminate the corporate income tax, thereby making it less expensive for a company to create jobs in America.

The problem is public education in America is now doing less with more. This is unsustainable for our pocketbooks and, most importantly, unfair to our children.

Johnson wants to abolish the Department of Education and return education decisions to the parents and local school systems.

So Johnson is right in line with some of the conservatives' major concerns. The economy, taxes, education, restricting government growth...

Now, about that marijuana thing.

Gary Johnson wants to end the drug war as we know it. He also wants to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana. But that doesn't mean his campaign slogan is "Party hearty; Die high!"

On the contrary, although Johnson readily admits a personal history of pot smoking, it's not something he does now or thinks others should be doing. In a 2001 Reason interview, he said:

Marijuana is a handicap. So is alcohol... But in spite of being a handicap, it shouldn’t be criminal.

But if Gary Johnson doesn't want to change the law so he can toke up in the Oval Office, what's his motivation? Why push for an end to the drug war?

I’m a cost-benefit analysis person: What are we spending and what are we getting? My premise is the war in drugs is a miserable failure. I don’t know of a bigger problem in every single state, or a bigger expense that might actually have alternative solutions. Drugs account for half of law enforcement spending, half of prison spending, half of court spending. What are we getting for it? We are arresting 1.6 million people a year in this country on drug-related charges, and it’s a failure.

I can't see how any small government constitutional conservative can argue the point.

I consistently have... disagreements with conservatives who want smaller government but are perfectly fine continuing to fund the War on Drugs. While I believe that on some level they accept it because it feels like a war on sin, it goes against every conservative principle.

It's expensive. Enormously expensive. It's an abject failure that we keep throwing money at... similar to the failing public school system, but most conservatives are on board with an education shakeup. It's an affront to personal liberty and, frankly, smacks of the nanny-statism that usually sets conservative teeth on edge. And it has actually caused underground criminal enterprise, much as alcohol prohibition created and strengthened the original gang problems.

But I hope it's clearer... while Johnson definitely advocates major changes to our drug policy, he's not looking to be President Chong. He's coming at the issue from a small-government, common sense, conservative viewpoint.

I urge my fellow conservatives (That's inaccurate. This is nearly begging, but I'm fine with that. Looking at the other Republican wanna-runs, there's that feeling in my gut again.) to take another look at Gary Johnson... to wave away the clouds of smoke and actually learn something about the candidate.

Reason magazine offers excellent roundups here and here, and their 2001 interview is here. Race42012 collected Johnson's public answers to questions posed on Twitter, offering further insight. The Boston Globe wrote about his legalization ideas here. And his campaign site is here.

Johnson's biggest obstacle at the moment might be low name recognition. While I'm hoping to help correct that, it's not the end of the world. In my congressional district, an almost unknown candidate destroyed the Republican party's chosen candidate in the primary, then went on to close within single digits of the sitting Congressman with a huge war chest and major connections. In the age of the TEA Party, being a relative unknown isn't as much of a handicap it used to be.

So, please... have a look at Gary Johnson. And if he can't be accepted as the conservative candidate, someone explain to me why. With the notable exception of Herman Cain, he's the only candidate I can feel passionate about so far.

Now I just have to convince the rest of you...

(Editor's Note: A cynic; a smartass; a small-L libertarian; and an antisocial conservative, Scratcher guest posts at Republican Redefined and blogs regularly at Makes My Brain Itch. Language warning applies to all of Scratcher's posts as does an ample dose of required thinking.)

Obama: a citizen of America, not a citizen of Reality

By: Wes Messamore

In my latest Jack Hunter-style video op ed regarding the whole embarrassing (m) "birther" controversy, I provide a short, sweet, and to-the-point analysis of the real reason Barack Obama isn't qualified to be President of the United States.

Text version here.

Obama's Birth Certificate -Layers and Layers of Deceit?

By Proof

I had heard that layers upon layers could be seen in the White House pdf if one had Adobe Illustrator.

H/T Black and Right

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Obama's Birth Certificate a Scam? It Gets Worse...

By Proof

Having been attacked as a "birther" now, and having my judgment questioned for daring to challenge their veracity of anything produced by this administration, on further examination, it looks worse.

In a former life, I used to be employed by a company that manufactured microfilm cameras and printers. I'd tell you that they were manufactured in Minnesota, but you should stop when you got to the third "M".

A number of things affect the quality of microfilm:
*The density, clarity and contrast of the original image.
*The exposure settings on the camera
*The maintenance and cleanliness of the camera
*The quality and processing of the film
*Proper storage of the processed film
*The maintenance and cleanliness of the microfilm printer

Now, we're going to look at the dog who did not bark, to borrow from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. First look at the copies from the Honolulu Advertiser. (Click here for larger image)

See the milky white patches in the background of these "negative" prints? That means that for some reason, those patches were underexposed, which would result in a bit of gray haze or background on a positive print. Now look at the copy provided by the White House:



Hokey smokes! Pristine! Clean as a whistle! No haze, no background. If I may be so bold as to say it, almost perfect! Now, even if we were to assume that these documents were recorded within days of each other, it would not be unreasonable to assume that when they were transferred to microfilm, they would have been photographed within seconds of each other!**

Why the dramatic difference in the quality of the film? You can see in the White House "copy", the slight shadow of the curvature of whatever book they were bound in, same as the other two. But miraculously, there is none of the clouding or underexposure of the film which would have produced some background, as if the Magic Microfilm Fairy miraculously healed any deficiencies in the system to help illuminate that shining light that would become our President! (And then, probably let it revert back for all you common people!)

Yeah. Right.

Again. Don't shoot the messenger, but this appears to be yet more evidence that whatever the White House is passing off as genuine, is not.


**And almost undoubtedly on the same roll or cartridge of film. I suppose it is theoretically possible that the documents would be on two different rolls, but highly unlikely. And then the conditions of the film and the filming still would not be that dramatic, IMHO.

Update: I don't know if this will help the hopeless to see what I'm talking about, but I thought I'd give it a shot!



Cross posted at Proof Positive

50 Obama Issues More Important than the Birth Certificate

by the Left Coast Rebel

Brilliant and spot on, I just saw this list over at Wolf Files: 50 issues that are far more important than the birth certificate issue.

Drumroll....

1.Obamacare

2.Drill Here Drill Now

3.High Taxes

4.High Deficit

5.Gun Control

6.Unemployment

7.China our arses

8.Oil Prices are too high

9.Lousy Relationship With Europe

10.Appeasing Terrorists

11.Protecting the Borders

12.Enforcing the Law the same way for Caucasians and members of the New Black Panther party.

13.Enforcing the Law against ACORN

14.Enforcing the Law against CAIR

15.The Pigford Scandal

16.Favoring Muslims Over Christians and Jews

17.The Stupid War in Libya

18.Leading From the Back

19.Energy Taxes

20.Giving Money To Brazil To Drill For Oil

21.Treating Our Ally Israel Like a Rogue Nation

22.Federal Funding For Abortion

23.Ending Subsidies for Big Oil

24.Not Ending Subsidies For Electric Cars

25.Not Ending Subsidies For Farmers Who Don't Farm

26.Not Ending Subsidies For Ethanol

27.The Wasteful Stimulus Bill

28.Cap and Trade

29.The EPA's Regulation of Exhaling (CO2)

30.The FCC's Attempt to Take Over The Internet

31.Favoring Unions over The General Public

32.Getting Involved With Local (Wisconsin) Issues

33.Telling a Guy With 10 Kids To Buy a New Fuel Efficient Car And Then Using Air Force One to Fly to Chicago (on our dime) Simply to Appear on Oprah

34.Forcing All Stimulus Construction Contracts to be Granted to Union Shops or to Shops That Raise Their Wages/Benefits to a Union Level Even Though Only 14% of Construction Companies Are Union--Causing a 20% Increase In The Cost To The American Public

35.Being the Most Divisive "Unifying" President in the History of America

36.Lying About His Health Plan Not Forcing People To Change Insurance Providers

37.Lying About His Promise For A Transparent Presidency

38.Having Different Rules for Syria and Libya

39.Announcing The War On Libya and Instead of Staying In Washington to Show Support for the Troops in Harm's Way, running off to Brazil With Your Family Before The Ink Was Dry on The Orders

40.Not Meeting With General McChrystal When He 'Was Formulating Strategy in Afghanistan, But Hosting Richard Trumka Over and Over

41.QE 2

42.The Auto Bailout

43.Your Half of the Banking Bailout

44.Ignoring the BP Disaster for the First Two Months

45.Refusing The Offers of Allies to Help With The BP Disaster Until The Public Complained

46.Going Against Honduras When They Tossed Their President, Even Though Honduras was Following Their Constitution.

47.John Holdren, Science Czar

48.Cash For Clunkers

49.Trying to Intimidate Insurance Companies When They Told The Truth About Obamacare

50.Bashing The Chamber of Commerce For Exercising Their Right to Free Speech While Being Silent About Government Unions Spending As Much or More on Campaign Donations as the Chamber

--And this list only scratches the surface of Dear Leader's two-year record on the dismantling of this nation.

He's laughing all the way to the bank as this issue chugs along. Come on, people, focus, focus, focus!

More at Memeorandum, here, here.

Both of you are fired!
Image c/o Media Bistro

Rep. Allen West Tells the Truth on Medicare, Left Reacts Predictably

by the Left Coast Rebel

Tea Party Representative Allen West (Future POTUS-FL) has been in the news a lot lately, and that's a good thing.

West -- in my humble opinion -- may just one day be President of this country. Trust me, the guy has a bright future and the sky's the limit. Also, if patriots like Allen West were in the mix in the GOP 2012 hopeful field, there would be a lot more excitement than there is at this time -- and he's the real deal and not a publicity-whoring charlatan with anything but a conservative or libertarian track record.

Anyway, the congressman doesn't mince words (which is just what we need today), talking candidly about the program that has the highest unfunded liability going forward and is the ultimate third rail in American politics: Medicare.

Florida's WPTV reports:

BOCA RATON, Fla. - If those opposed to U.S. Rep. Allen West have their way, the 2012 election will be fought on his recent vote to privatize Medicare starting in 2023.

They got loud during a town hall meeting the congressman held Wednesday night in Boca Raton.

The man designated to read questions from audience members read one word a lot: "Medicare."

And if you know Congressman Allen West and what he thinks of Medicare, the program that delivers health care to 38 million seniors and that national polls say is largely supported, his response was what you'd expect.

"I gotta tell you something: if you support Medicare the way it is now, you can kiss the United States of America goodbye," said West.

Here's video:

Look for the Demonrats to demagogue the heck out of West's honest statement (check Soros-funded Think Progress for this) but West is correct: Medicare alone spells the end for the United States as we have all known, loved and cherished it (as in a prosperous and free nation, wherein one retains the majority of one's earnings and is left alone and able to pursue happiness).

Michael Tanner at Cato tells us why we are facing impending doom and her name is Medicare:

Social Security faces unfunded liabilities of more than $15.8 trillion. And while that sounds like a lot of money, it is dwarfed by Medicare's looming budget shortfall of between $50 and $100 trillion, depending on which accounting measure is used. Because of its funding mechanisms, Medicaid does face the same type of accounting shortfalls, but it will soon add hundreds of billions of dollars to federal, not to mention state, spending.

As the full force of entitlement programs kicks in, the federal government will consume more than 40 percent of GDP by the middle of the century. Half of that will be taken up by just those three entitlement programs. From there, it only gets worse.

Sobering, especially when you consider that the Tea Party and limited government movement achieved such a huge victory in November yet the fools that got us into this mess are still in GOP leadership positions and ready, able, and willing to sell their souls for a few pieces of silver.

We need more straight talk like that of Allen West, aka Mr. "you're not going to intimidate me...."

Updated: I'm not the only one thinking of Allen West in the White House, stop by this Draft Allen West for President in 2012 Facebook page. There's also a great site set up exclusively for the effort to draft Allen West for President, 2012: draftallenwest2012.com.

Via Memeorandum. Cross posted to LCR contributor sites.