R.I.P. Freedom: July 4, 1776-March 21, 2010

Last night at the bar, a customer asked if we could put C-SPAN on as the Obamarxcare vote was set to start soon. The fact that we are a sports bar would usually discourage such requests, but we complied with the customer's wishes.

A myriad of people from all socio-economic groups of the American landscape watched intensely as the vote began. I stopped my work doing the weekly beer and liquor inventory to join my fellow Americans in watching freedom slip away.

As the votes started coming in, the chatter started. The majority of people sharing a moment in history were pulling for freedom to once again prevail. Of course, you had your few jagoffs applauding as liberty took its last breath, and there were also the "Who-gives-a-f***" people. A few more drinks, and things would've gotten ugly. I wasn't in the mood to break up a fight; I was in mourning.

The final tally appeared, and those who danced on the grave of freedom quickly finished their drinks and left. The rhetoric as they left was laced with the sarcastic rantings about finally defeating the policies of those mean Republicans. Yes, the entitlement crowd likes to stop at the bar for a few.

I went back to doing my inventory with a heavy heart and little concentration. I had just witnessed the symbolic burning of my beloved Constitution. I questioned whether the Founding Fathers were crying. They were. And their sacrifices and hard work were all for naught last night. I was ashamed of what this country has become.

I pray that a Constitutional challenge is filed posthumously on behalf of the victim here: freedom. It's going to be a long, hard challenge to resurrect freedom once again, but, just like the mythical Phoenix, liberty will rise from the ashes once again. For the sake of future generations, it has to.

One thing you can count on, though. Those who are celebrating today will make sure they're standing there with a fire hose to extinguish the rise of the Phoenix.

It's time to make our stand, folks.

Healthscare: A Felon's Creation

Big Government.com is now breaking the news that the game plan followed by the Dems to get socialized medicine passed was authored by a federal felon.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) has pushed for a public option within the healthcare debate. Now meet her husband, Robert Creamer.

From biggovernment.com:

Rep. Schakowsky’s husband, Robert Creamer, used to be the leader of Citizen Action/Illinois. He also founded its predecessor, Illinois Public Action, in which Ms. Schakowsky served as Program Director. He runs a political consulting firm, the Strategic Consulting Group, which lists ACORN and the SEIU among its clients and which made $541,000 working for disgraced former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.

Creamer resigned from Citizen Action/Illinois after the FBI began investigating him for bank fraud and tax evasion at Illinois Public Action. He was convicted in 2006 and sentenced to five months in federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, plus eleven months of house arrest.

Now while Creamer was in prison, he wrote a book titled Listen to Your Mother: Stand Up Straight! How Progressives Can Win (Seven Locks Press, 2007). In it he outlines how to get socialized medicine rammed down the throats of the American people.

The ten points outlined by Creamer:

• “We must create a national consensus that health care is a right, not a commodity; and that government must guarantee that right.”
• “We must create a national consensus that the health care system is in crisis.”
• “Our messaging program over the next two years should focus heavily on reducing the credibility of the health insurance industry and focusing on the failure of private health insurance.”
• “We need to systematically forge relationships with large sectors of the business/employer community.”
• “We need to convince political leaders that they owe their elections, at least in part, to the groundswell of support of [sic] universal health care, and that they face political peril if they fail to deliver on universal health care in 2009.”
• “We need not agree in advance on the components of a plan, but we must foster a process that can ultimately yield consensus.”
• “Over the next two years, we must design and organize a massive national field program.”
• “We must focus especially on the mobilization of the labor movement and the faith community.”
• “We must systematically leverage the connections and resources of a massive array of institutions and organizations of all types.”
• “To be successful, we must put in place commitments for hundreds of millions of dollars to be used to finance paid communications and mobilization once the battle is joined.”

That was easy, wasn't it? Think about all the games played by the Dems in this battle of socialist proportions. They've followed this almost step-by-step.

More on this story will be hitting the web soon. Please read the article at biggovernment.com. It speaks volumes.

Btw....Schlakowsky and Creamer were in attendance at the "crashed" State Dinner. Could it be another political quid pro quo?

About Last Night...

Last night, voters in this country let their voices be heard LOUD AND CLEAR. Make no mistake about it, folks. The message taken to Washington on 9/12 has been sent via the voting process.

New Jersey, a heavily blue state, elected Chris Christie as governor over the incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine. Message? We've had enough of high taxes and a tanking economy. No more.

In a state carried by Obama last year, Virginia also elected a Republican governor in Bob McDonnell. Message? No more hope and change. In fact, Virginia completed the trifecta by also electing a Republican lieutenant governor and attorney general.

Many exit polls this morning are saying that this was not a referendum on Obama's policies. Oh, but it was. Voters who stated that the economy was the issue of most concern to them sent the message directly to 1600 that we will have no more bait-and-switch economical policies. Though done on a local or state level, the message is surely being heard in Washington.


Also this morning, I read that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is now saying that it's doubtful that Obamascare will be a done deal by year's end as BHO had hoped. This says that ol' Pinky read the writing on the wall last night, and he is scared witless. The Dems are in a very precarious position right now, and their options are running out. If they pass the socialized medicine bill before year's end, they risk political backlash next year. If healthcare reform is carried over into next year, the issue becomes fodder for the cannons in an election year. Either way, they're screwed. How sweet it is!

Next year, half the Senate and all seats in the House will be up for grabs, and every political scumbag in D.C. is taking notice of last night's message. What we may have witnessed in last night's elections is the end to Obamascare, cap-and-tax, and the era of reckless spending in the name of "hope and change."

Also taking notice is the GOP leadership. They may not have come out and said it directly, but they noticed. Last night was also a message to them. No more moderates, no RINOs, and definitely no more of the Scozzofava genre of Republicans. No more "reaching across the aisle" only to get smacked down by the Dems. Conservatism is what is being called for.

Congratulations to the states of New Jersey and Virginia. You've helped spread the message we here in the blogosphere have been screaming for months. And you may have just fired the first shot in the new American Revolution.

Schumer and Reid: OOPS!!!

Openleft.com had this piece written by Matt Stoller on September 16, 2008. See if you can spot the differences between then and now.

Senator Chuck Schumer calls on McCain to release his medical records.

Senator Harry Reid calls on McCain to release his medical records.

John Aravosis noted that McCain didn't tell anyone he had cancer surgery during the Republican primary, but waited until after he won to admit he had surgery to remove cancerous cells. 1,954 doctors have already signed the open letter to McCain asking him to release his medical records (via KathyG). And I took video of Senator Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer calling on McCain to release his medical records. Here's the transcript:

Question: What do you think the relevance of John McCain's cancer is on this election?

Schumer: I don't know the relevance but I will say this. When you're running for President everything should be public including your full medical records. I believe in the right to privacy but when you're running for President which is such an important job the need of the public to know supercedes it. [Emphasis mine: bng]

I can't seem to upload Reid's video, the transcript is below. The video will be on our OpenLeft account on Youtube.

Question: What is the relevance of John McCain's cancer to this election?

Answer: When we're talking about the President of the United States, health issues are extremely important. We learned that going back a long time ago, when you guys weren't around, when Tom Eagleton because of his depression had had shock treatment. So this isn't something we just dreamed up, it's important, Eagleton had to drop out, and select a new Vice Presidential nominee. So I think there should be total transparency when a person is running for President of the United States. And it may be when President Bush went and had some things burned off of his head or John McCain a month ago had a little thing burned off his face. I think it's important. [Emphasis mine: bng]

[Blackandgold comment: Isn't it great when stuff like this can be used against them? :-D]

60? Maybe Not.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Yesterday, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Al Franken (D) stole...oops...I mean won the contested Senate race for that state. That makes Franken the 60th Senate Democrat, which would insure a filibuster-proof majority. Or does it?

The Senate DOES have 60 Democrats after Snarlin' Arlen Specter defected to the party earlier this year, but ramming through controversial legislation is not a given.

Many senators on that side of the aisle are sticking their fingers in the wind to ascertain just how politically-suicidal their vote may be. They know the American people are getting more and more fed up with being forced to live with policies the majority of people don't want. Also, the American people are catching on to the fact that we are being hoodwinked. If there's one thing the Dems love, it's power, and if they think they'll lose that power by voting for hot-button issues the wrong way, I think they'll save their own pudgy pink butts.

Toss into the mix that two very powerful Democrats have health issues that could make a 60-count vote iffy, and there may just be a fight on the Senate floor. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) have both had serious health issues. Kennedy's vote has been unreliable after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, and 91-year-old Byrd was just released from the hospital after a month-long stay for a staph infection. Both men have missed votes during their illnesses.

The only hope that Harry Reid (D-NV) has is this: Dems have to be as strongly united in their vote as the Reps are in theirs. If even one Democratic senator wavers, or, if Kennedy or Byrd are not well enough to vote, kiss that filibuster-proof majority goodbye. And the longer it takes to get a vote to the floor, the more time the American people have to get educated. And they REALLY don't want that.

One Week? No Way!!!

According to cnsnews.com, House Speaker Nancy "Pineapple Princess" Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry "Pinky" Reid (D-NV) will not give any of the American people one week to read any healthcare legislation up for a vote. Does this really surprise anyone?

“The issue of a public option is probably the most significant debate that we will have in the House on the legislation, as I see it now. But the bill will come forth under the regular order, and that's why the three chairmen put out the draft now,” she said. “They put out some principles earlier on. The President put out his principles. We had a month before the Memorial Day break for everyone to see what was happening there to take ideas from our members.

“So it was in the public domain, but not as a bill,” said Pelosi, continuing to respond to the question of whether she would give the public a week to review the final bill. “Now they have put out this draft which has been well received, and I'm very proud of the work. It's a well managed approach to how we go forward. And when we are ready with a draft then we will put that forth, but as I say, it will be under the regular order.”

Under regular order rules, the House can vote in three calendar days and the Senate within 48 hours after the drafts are posted out of committee. The three House committees working on the health-care plan have released what they call a “discussion draft” of the legislation. It is 850 pages long.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has produced its own 615-page draft that is missing key sections, including the section that would explain the “public option”—or government-run health insurance organization.

A final compromise versions would most likely be over 1,000 pages long. Does anyone out there truly believe that the members of Congress would be able to read this let alone the American people? It would be like me trying to read "Atlas Shrugged" before taking a comprehensive test on it 48-72 hours later. To read and understand something that large in a short period of time is about as possible as Obama producing the long-form birth certificate.

The same tactic was used by the House of Representatives on the recently-passed Waxman-Markey "Cap and Trade" bill. An amendment was inserted into the bill and made public at approximately 3 a.m. Friday morning with the final vote coming 16 hours later. The vote was supposed to have been only a mere 9 hours later, but since the Bolshevik Bitch saw she didn't have the votes she pushed the final vote back to 7 p.m. Even with seven extra hours, lawmakers did not have adequate time to read the entire bill before voting on it.

The mindset of Congressional leadership seems to be "Trust Us." They think the American people are probably too stupid to understand what these hideous bills really say, so why waste a week giving them an opportunity to read something they won't understand?

I, for one, am appalled. We are NOT stupid. In fact, we're smart enough to know that what they are doing in Congress is nothing but unethical and outrageous. But they feel no shame because they consider themselves above the rest of the American people. We, as American citizens, have EVERY RIGHT to know EXACTLY what is going into any piece of legislation. The level of arrogance is sickening.

While Pelosi, Reid, and the rest of the shysters on Capitol Hill keep playing their elitist games, the seeds of revolution continue to grow and flourish. One day, those seeds will come to complete fruition, and the American people will finally be heard.

Tea Party Attendees DO Have a Sense of Humor!!

This is a GREAT idea!! Hats off to the brainchild of this one. From worldnetdaily.com:

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A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA
Wee the people: Port-a-potty named for Pelosi
Tea partiers dedicate new thrones to Washington's 'imperial' leaders

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Posted: June 22, 2009
8:55 pm Eastern

By Chelsea Schilling
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Enthusiastic tea partiers in Virginia have decided to give "imperial leaders" in Washington a seat of power they believe they truly deserve – a portable toilet throne.

Tea party organizer Karen Miner Hurd told WND her group is expecting between 3,000 and 5,000 people at the upcoming June 26 protest at Chesapeake City Park in Chesapeake, Va. While she is excited about the turnout, Hurd has a predicament: She must raise funds for 30 portable toilets on a shoe-string budget.

"How do you tell people you need money for bathrooms?" she asked. "Does that excite or inspire anybody? Not very much."

So Hurd asked taxpayers to sponsor commodes and name them with their least favorite politicians.

"It started growing, and once people started seeing the list of people who were named, I got more and more requests," she said. "People started to love it."

At a June 16 tea party, the group loaded 10 portable johns into trucks and paraded them through three cities – complete with names of politicians who they believe are trying to flush the nation down the toilet.

The "Don't Flush U.S." campaign was born.

Now she has asked the public to send in their nominations and help sponsor toilets for the next party by sending donations. The following are just a few of the names 34 currently under consideration:

• Nancy Pelosi's Throne

• McCain, John

• U.S. Congress – Our #2 Problem

• ACORN john (Always Cr-ppy, Offensive, Rotten, Noxious)

• I.R.S. john – Eliminate it!

• "Porky Little Projects" john

• Royal Pain in the Tax

• Office of Tim Geitner's Accountant

• Harry Reid's Throne

• Eric "toilet paper" Holder

• Marxist Government Think Tank

• Federal Depository

"The names are of people who have horribly abused taxpayer money or people who have betrayed us. We have some Republicans listed," Hurd said. "Some people like Nancy Waters, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and the Murtha john and the Kerry john were pretty self-evident, we felt."

Hurd said the campaign has chosen not to use references to President Obama.

"We were very careful about that. We don't even mention him remotely," she said. "He is the president, and we respect the office."

The following video is of a similar but smaller parade held on June 12 in Armada. The toilets are taken to tea parties to accommodate thousands of protesters.

And how can politicians avoid having their names plastered on a toilet and paraded through town?

"For those interested in avoiding being on the 'honor' roll on the Don't Flush U.S. site, you can do so by promoting free enterprise, staying within the boundaries of the Constitution, self-limiting your political career by not running for eternal office, avoiding excessive regulation of liberties, exercising good governance, going on a permanent pork-fast, and using common sense," the group's website states.

"Abolishing the I.R.S. and repealing the 16th Amendment will provide permanent immunity from ever being nominated for a throne."

Hurd says she is simply giving taxpayers an outlet for their frustrations with government.

"They are all acting like kings and queens in D.C., and we just thought we would make it official and give them a throne," she said. "Every time you go, you can send a message."