Obama's "Fairness" Equals Socialism

Obama's "Fairness" Equals Socialism
Redistribution of the Nation's Wealth
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

On the tenth of April, 2012, at the Florida Atlantic University, President Obama stated: "This is not some socialist dream ... " I would beg to disagree. That is exactly what it is. And it is HIS dream, not mine, and it is not a dream the majority of Americans share.

It doesn't take a college degree in politics and/or government to know socialism when you see it, especially for my generation. We grew up fighting it. I mean, we literally took up arms against socialism.

Today in America, socialism has a death grip on the Oval Office of the President of the United States. Far from fighting socialism, as a President of a free country ought to do, Obama has embraced it and is now proselytizing for socialism. He sounds more like a missionary sent from the old Soviet Union to bring America the gospel of socialism than he does the president of a capitalist, democratic country. Sad to say, Obama resembles Hugo Chavez more every day.

President Obama, who has been calling for tax increases on the wealthy in America to "spread the wealth around," is vehemently denying that his tax increases on the rich are an attempt to "redistribute wealth."

Let me state this as clearly and concisely as I can: The President of the United States is telling us a lie. And it is a malicious lie, because he KNOWS he is lying!

Redistribution of a nation's wealth IS socialism, period.

Look. Those of us who went to private and parochial schools (and even to public schools before the federal government moved in and "dumbed-down" the curriculum) can read, write, and reason. We KNOW what socialism is -- and we know he is lying!

However, we make a mistake by thinking that Obama is talking to us. He is not. He is talking to his base, the voters who put him in office in 2008. Governor Chris Christie, of New Jersey, nailed it just a few day ago. Paraphrasing, he said, we have become a people sitting on the couch waiting for the government check to arrive. And THAT is Obama's base.

What do they care what kind of government the United States has? Just keep those checks rolling in, babe!

Obama wants to take money from the "Makers" and give it to the "Takers." When a government takes money from the job creators, it means fewer jobs will be created. That is just basic economics. I learned in high school.

Here's a truism for you: Any time you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can count on the support of Paul! Obama is counting on that support.

Remember back in 2008 when Obama was running for his first term as President and he told "Joe the Plumber" the following: "I’m gonna cut taxes a little bit more for the folks who are most in need and for the 5 percent of the folks who are doing very well – even though they’ve been working hard and I appreciate that – I just want to make sure they’re paying a little bit more in order to pay for those other tax cuts." He was speaking to Samuel Wurzelbacher (aka Joe the Plumber). By the way, Samuel, or "Joe," is now running for Congress -- as a republican. Joe got the message. He saw the threat in what Obama said.

Nothing has changed since 2008. Obama is STILL preaching his message of socialism for America, only he is being very careful not to use the words "socialism" or "socialist" -- except -- when denying he is one -- which he most assuredly is.

Obama is spoon-feeding socialism to his base and they are lapping it up!
"I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody." Obama said that back in 2008 and it made cold chills race up and down my spine.

America has seven months, only seven months, to decide if she wants to live free or die in slavery. The choice could not be clearer.

Now that the GOP candidate has been chosen, not officially, but chosen, nevertheless, it is time to turn all republican political guns on Obama and spread the word that the man is an out and out socialist and his agenda for America is to trash capitalism, which he believes has failed, and institute socialism.

Conservative voters must convince America that we are in a fight for freedom. What was once a fight to restore America has now become a fight for the very life, the very existence, of a free America.

The fight would be more energized if the GOP had a candidate that could light a fire in the hearts of conservatives. It is conservatives who provide the energy in republican campaigns. But, sadly, we don't. As some wizen head one said: "We go to war with the army we have." And we have Romney -- who does not inspire conservatives one iota.

If conservatives are to make a difference in the coming election, we have to forget about Romney and concentrate on voting against Obama. THAT should be the battle cry.

 As much as I personally dislike Mr. Romney, I just don't believe he would knowingly do anything that would threaten freedom and democracy in America. I cannot say that about Obama.

At this moment in history, voters must concentrate, not so much on restoring America, but on SAVING America. To do that Obama MUST be defeated in November.

J. D. Longstreet

Conservatives In The South Are Depressed

Conservatives In The South Are Depressed

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

It now seems certain Romney will win the GOP nomination for President.  Southern conservatives believe that, once again, the GOP has made a horrible mistake and will go down in flames in November.

Believe me, I take no pleasure in the nightmare thought that Obama will have four more years to insure America's ever increasing spiral into socialism and communism, but -- there it is. 

Everyone I speak to among my friends, republican and democrat alike, believe that Romney will be the nominee, but in the same breath they add, "but he can't beat Obama." 

I happen to be in one of the "must win" states for Romney -- North Carolina.  For a time it looked as if Romney would win North Carolina, but now, it is very "iffy."  The Tar Heel state is historically conservative.  Over the past three decades, North Carolina has had an influx of people from states far more liberal than native Tar Heels.  That has moderated the Tar Heel vote.  If I had to tell you today which way North Carolina will vote in November, I simply couldn't do it.  I do, however, suspect a lot of conservatives here will simply stay home rather than vote for a candidate they feel is a RINO, at best.  Neither of the Carolinas favors a candidate who is perceived weak and Romney just doesn't cut it in the in the perception of Tar Heels and Sandlappers.

The voters in my native state of South Carolina will go to the polls, hold their noses, and vote for Romney.  Those who choose not to stay home, that is.  It is a matter of record that SC chose Gingrich in their Primary.   Understand:  South Carolina is far more republican than is North Carolina.  That is one of the reasons North Carolina is in play in this election.  It could go either way. NC voted for Obama in 2008.

I have spoken to absolutely NOBODY here, in NC, who is excited about the chance to beat Obama in November.  In fact, it is almost a foregone conclusion that the election is over and Obama has won.

The unemployment rate, currently, in my county is 13.6%.  The rate for the state hovers around 10%.  Now, with those figures hanging over Tar Heels, and with the conviction that Obama is about to get another four years to make things even worse, you'd darn well better believe they are depressed!

So what if Romney has the best chance to beat Obama?  Let me see if I can describe it this way: Suppose you had a foot race with experienced athletes against a team of athletes with no legs -- except one --  and he had one leg.  The one-legged man has the best chance to beat the veteran team of runners -- even though he out paces his teammates, he hasn't a chance of a snowball in Hades of beating the experienced physically whole team.

Looking at the electoral votes challenge, it still looks, to this scribe, like an uphill battle for Romney.  He must win every one of the states that McCain won in 2008.  He absolutely MUST win Florida and Ohio.  He might get Florida, but Ohio is very "iffy." He is not likely to win his home state of Michigan, which is heavily democratic.   States like Nevada , Iowa, and Pennsylvania will have to go for Romney and that is a long stretch, especially for Nevada and Pennsylvania.

We haven't even gotten to the deep south states.  Expect the minority vote in those states to turn out in droves to vote for Obama.  Conservative voters in the deep south, in general, feel the election is a waste of time first because  the GOP nominee is simply unacceptable to them.  Southerners in the deep south are distrustful of ANY candidate from the northeastern states. (See: Reconstruction)

I have seen reports that say republicans will not go to the polls in November to vote for Romney, but to vote against Obama.  I think there is a lot of truth in that statement.

Look.  We have a lot to be depressed about concerning the November election.  Consider that it is next to impossible for the GOP to win control of the US Senate this November.  There is good reason to believe republicans will even lose a few seats in the US House. 

Add to the mix that the US Supreme Court will, I feel, uphold Obamacare, and there will be no way we can repeal Obamacare without a veto proof House and Senate -- if Obama wins.  If Romney wins, and the GOP still does not have a strong majority in the  Congress, again -- it will be impossible to repeal Obamacare. 

Why am I harping on Obamacare again?  Because if the Supreme Court does not overturn Obamacare, it will take practically all restraints off the federal government.

Obamacare will change, forever, the relationship the people have with their government.  There will be, basically, NOTHING the government cannot force it's citizens to do, or not do.  In other words -- we will have governmental tyranny in America.  No longer will we have government of, by, and for the people.  That will simply cease to exist.

OK.  So maybe I'm jumping the gun on the Supreme Court's ruling on Obamacare.  But they (The democrats)  only need to swing ONE Justice to seal it for Obama. I think they can do it.  These ARE the democrats we are talking about, remember?

To say the people of the southern states are "concerned" is an understatement of massive proportion. 

One symptom of this concern is the sale of guns and ammunition in the south.  All over the south guns and ammo are flying off the shelves and "concealed carry" classes have increased exponentially.  In my home town concealed carry classes have jumped from one class a month to one class A DAY!  When people don't know what to expect, the smart ones prepare for everything.

Over the weekend, I attempted to speak with a middle-aged man, a small business owner, about the election.  He waved me off saying, "Look, I have decided there is not a d**ned thing I can do about it.  They're gonna do what they're gonna do, and I no longer have a say in it."  He went on to opine that -- "if it were possible, America should recall all 535 members of the Congress AND replace the President.  But that's not going to happen, so there is nothing I can do but prepare for what's coming."

THAT is the prevailing attitude in the southern states of America today.  I suspect that attitude is shared by many people on the opposite side of the Mason-Dixon line, as well.

While it is true the southern people have not felt particularly comfortable with the US federal government since its subjugation to that government beginning April 9th, 1865, it is more pronounced today than at anytime since (with the possible exception of forced integration in the 1960's).

With all the above in mind, is it any wonder southern voters are finding it extremely difficult to put their trust in a candidate from one of the northeastern states -- and --  with whom they have, well, practically nothing in common?

If it is true that depression is only anger turned inwards, then the southern states are genuinely PO'ed!

J. D. Longstreet

 

   

    

Socialist Obama Envisions A Socialist America

Socialist Obama Envisions A Socialist America
Socialism IS Slavery -- To The State!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
******************
so·cial·ism 

NOUN:

   1. Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.

   2. The stage in Marxist-Leninist theory intermediate between capitalism and communism, in which collective ownership of the economy under the dictatorship of the proletariat has not yet been successfully achieved. (SOURCE)

The definition above clearly describes Obama's agenda for America.  Socialism.

Every time those of us who clearly see America's President for what he is and dare to speak out publicly about the dangers to American freedom and liberty Mr. Obama's agenda presents -- we are attacked as ignorant boobs.  The attacks themselves are a key part of the way socialism works -- silence those who would warn of the danger socialism presents.

As Mr. Obama is campaigning for another chance to bring America to her knees, there are those on the socialist plantation in America preparing to flock to the polls and vote to draw the chains of socialism even tighter around themselves and all Americans.   They are the people the fathers of Marxism and communism referred to as: “useful idiots.”

Future historians will write of the ignorance of the American electorate in the early 21st century and wonder at their lack of reasoning.  I sincerely doubt those future historians writing about us will be Americans, however.  By that time, the “American iron curtain” will have fallen and we will be engulfed in the darkness of communism.

My maternal grandmother had the ability to see short distances into the future and make accurate predictions.  Nothing was made of it.  In our family, it was something that was, well, just there. I grew up in an atmosphere in which groping into the future, mostly with little success, was not uncommon in our family.  But, I sometimes think, a bit of my grandmother’s ability may have been attached to my DNA.  Frankly, I rather hope it has not.

If I remark that I have a bad feeling about something, my family takes notice and plans accordingly. Me?  I worry.

On one occasion, my family and I were going on a road trip.  I felt awful about it.  Something was telling me, literally shouting in my mind “don’t go.”  My wife was driving that day.  A few blocks from home, I demanded that she stop the car.  She pulled over and I got out.

We had this protracted discussion at curbside as to why, I didn’t want to go, and I could not give a reasonable answer -- except that something was very wrong.

Finally, after a great deal of persuasion from both my wife and my daughter, I got back in the car and we continued our road trip.  About ten miles down the hiway we had a head-on collision with a drunk driver attempting to make a U-turn in front of us.

We were all belted but my passenger seat broke away from its mount and my head crashed into the windshield smashing it (the windshield) and giving me one heck of a headache.

The car was totaled.

The local hospital cleared us all with bruises, contusions, and possibly a light concussion for yours truly.

That is just one example from many such, uh, “premonitions.”  I hasten to add that I believe all human beings have the ability to sense danger.  But it does seem to be more pronounced in some, for whatever reason.

True premonitions are rarely wrong.  Science tells us that premonitions are based on human emotions. That alone should cause us to question them. But here’s the thing.  Just being wrong once or twice causes one to wonder WHEN is the feeling right—and -- WHEN is the feeling wrong.  See the dilemma?   It will, most certainly, make a worrier of any person endowed (or cursed) with them.  It is, in my opinion, truly a curse.

No, I am not about to make a prediction!  But I am deeply worried/concerned about the coming Presidential Election  -- and -- I am about to issue a warning.

I am just as concerned about the coming Presidential Election as I was over the auto wreck, I noted above.  Those of us who live along America’s southeastern coast know when the Coast Guard runs up the hurricane warning flags, it is time to pay close attention and prepare for the coming storm.

I fear for America.  A storm is coming.  Here’s why I say that:

America is dangerously split.  Our Congress is a very good example of where the American people are at this moment in history – split, divided.  As a result, the election in November could just as easily swing one way as it could the other.  Many will disagree with me.  I expect that, I respect that, and I understand that.

The GOP has never gone up against a candidate as devious, unscrupulous, and self-assured as Obama.  Obama is what I would call “neo-evil.”  I do not think the Republicans are anywhere near ready for that with which they are about to be inundated.

Look.  A man who will attack the Supreme Court in a State of the Union Address – with the court sitting right in front of him, and then issue thinly veiled threats at them, again, over the fifty-fifty chance that his signature achievement – Obamacare – might be ruled unconstitutional -- is capable of doing whatever he feels is necessary to secure a second term as President.

Obama’s machine, and it is as huge and powerful a   political machine as this nation as ever seen (far exceeding anything Romney and the Republicans can muster) has been at work since his first election.  They are dug-in in all 50 states just awaiting the word to begin shredding the Republican nominee.

Obama has no problem comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln, even Ronald Reagan when, in fact, he resembles Hugo Chavez in Venezuela more than ANY past US President. Obama’s efforts within his administration all seem to indicate that he is attempting to recreate a Chavez regime here, in America.

A socialist is a person who has decided that capitalism doesn’t work and is striving toward communism.  Socialism is only the middle phase between capitalism and communism.  That middle phase is where Obama is today and he is striving toward the latter -- and he intends to drag America into the cesspool with him.

I am not going to predict that Obama will win in November.   I don’t think I need do that.  I think just watching the campaign the next few months will be all that is necessary to convince you that I am not just whistling Dixie.  Of course, by that time, it will be too late.

J. D. Longstreet

See Why Israel Doesn't Trust Obama?

See Why Israel Doesn't Trust Obama?

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

Not only has our beloved "Dear Leader," Obama, managed to "PO" Israel even more, he has now "PO'ed" the Baku government of Azerbaijan.   By leaking news, recently,  that Israel and Azerbaijan have reached an agreement for Israeli aircraft to have landing rights at Azeri airbases, Obama has infuriated Israel's Netanyahu government even more and may have compromised Azerbaijan's relations with Iran (shaky as they may be), as well.     

In case you missed it when looking at a map, Azerbaijan is the small country snuggled tightly against the northern border of Iran.  There are roughly sixteen million Azeris (The people of Azerbaijan).

Now here's the thing:  Azerbaijan's government and the Israeli government have become, er, friends.  The only people who are having a problem with this is the Obama Administration in America --  and the Ahmadinejad Administration in Iran. Suddenly, it would seem, the US and Iran are BOTH going after Israel.

We have told you for months and even years that the Netanyahu government in Israel does not trust the Obama administration in the US and that is why the Israelis refuse to give Obama a heads-up on an attack on Iran.  They are convinced (as am I) that the Obama Administration would immediate pick up the phone and call Iran and tell Ahmadinejad  "the Israelis are coming."

Far-fetched, you say?  Believe what you want, but the truth is -- Obama's people have already tipped off Iran that there is a pact of some sort between the Baku government in Azerbaijan and the Netanyahu government in Israel possibly for landing rights for Israeli combat aircraft on Azerbaijan soil.

Israeli attack aircraft cannot make it to Iran, drop their ordinance, and make a return flight to Israel without refueling.  For that reason, an air raid on Iran by Israeli jets has been considered a "suicide mission."  Lack of fuel would not allow Israeli aircraft to loiter over their targets or even fend off attacks by the Iranian air forces. A second run on a target would be compromised by low fuel.

In-flight refueling could solve that problem, IF it could be done over friendly territory, which is sorely lacking in that neighborhood. Damaged aircraft would simply have to be abandoned.  If Israeli pilots chose to bail-out of their foundering jets, it was/is a given they would be captured and killed or languish for years in an enemy prison.  

Those Azerbaijan airbases make perfect refueling bases -- and forward bases for Israeli search and rescue units -- for an air raid on Iran's nuclear facilities, and an emergency landing field for damaged aircraft.  

It is no secret that the American President's favor lies with the Muslim countries of the world.  He has made that abundantly clear since he first entered the office of President of the United States.  And Israel wisely does not trust him.    

"We're watching what Iran does closely," one of the U.S. sources, an intelligence officer engaged in assessing the ramifications of a prospective Israeli attack confirmed. "But we're now watching what Israel is doing in Azerbaijan. And we're not happy about it."  -- This is a quote from an article by Mark Perry at FOREIGN POLICY.COM.   It is an excellent article and we recommend you read the entire piece. (SOURCE)

The Azeris and the Persians tolerate each other -- but just! There are those who fear that IF Azerbaijan does allow Israel to use its airbases for an attack on Iran, Iran might use that as an excuse to reclaim Azerbaijan as a part of the so-called "Mother Persia" and make a military move against their northern neighbor.

And then there is the solidly based concern that Russia may step in and create trouble in Azerbaijan to foil any attempt by Israel to use those Azeri airbases.  With Putin in charge in Russia, it is certainly within the realm of possibility.   Putin's Russia will again be seeking to expand its influence in the Caucasus. 

By and large, the people of America stand with Israel -- even if their President does not. Obama is the most divisive American president since Abraham Lincoln.  You may recall that upon Lincoln's election eleven American states pulled out of the Union.  Many Americans feel the Presidential Election in November of 2012 is every bit as important as the 1860 election, which broke apart the United States.

As Israel and many other countries of the world still look to the United States for assistance and direction, America is roiling in a national controversy to decide if the nation remains a constitutional republic or adopts socialism and dumps the constitution and representative government. The American people's attention is turned inward at this moment in history and that is allowing the mice to come out and play.

When Obama removed America from a leadership role in the world, it opened the door to all sorts of mischief around the globe.  An isolationist America has a history of producing deadly wars, some even global in scope.

Israel, the best friend to America in the Middle East, has been forced to look elsewhere for alliances simply because Obama refuses to maintain America's alliance established almost the moment Israel became a country/ state.  

The point is simple:  Had Obama maintained the long-standing relationship the US had with Israel, then there would have been no need for Israel to seek friends -- and assistance -- elsewhere.  As a result, there is a strong possibility the US will be drawn into a war in the Caucasus -- as well as a war in the Persian Gulf -- when Israel strikes Iran.

There can be no doubt Israel WILL strike Iran.  They have no choice. Otherwise, Israel will be wiped from the map just as Iran has promised so often to do.

If an alliance with Azerbaijan will help Israel destroy the Iranian nuclear facilities, then more power to them.  May the God of Israel bless them and "make straight their "aim."

J. D. Longstreet

I'll Tell Vlad, Mr. President

I'll Tell Vlad, Mr. President

ALL Microphones ARE HOT!

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
  

I was in the broadcasting business for thirty years.  One of the first things you learn is that one must always consider a microphone, ANY and EVERY microphone to be HOT  -- in other words,  switched on and transmitting with the "pot" set at 80 decibels, or more.

I recall a number of times two or more broadcasters would be having a discussion in a control room, or studio, when a mike would be turned on.  The room would go deathly silent --instantly.  Some speaking would halt in mid-word as if an unseen laser had suddenly severed their vocal cords.  Broadcasters become so sensitive around microphones that it becomes something of a sixth sense.  Even with that extra sense we still manage to have our moments of embarrassment before a mike. 

A broadcaster learns never to have a conversation -- anywhere near a mike -- that he doesn't mind the entire world hearing.   Forget distance from a mike.  Microphones are so sensitive today, there IS no "safe" distance from a mike that your conversation cannot be picked up electronically.

I have a digital recorder, smaller than a pack of cigarettes that will record conversations twenty to thirty feet away in a meeting room -- clearly.   And that is not even considered high tech, anymore.

The lesson I am attempting to impart is simply this:  If you are tempted to have a private conversation anywhere -- where you know there is a microphone -- DON'T!

When the small lavalier mikes first came on the market, entertainers and ministers gobbled them up.  Those tiny mikes would clip onto your tie or lapel and a small wire ran from the mike to a battery pack and transmitter located someplace on one's person out of sight of the audience or congregation.   The lavalier mikes would transmit to the main transmitter in the studio or church and be broadcast or sent through the public address system in the church.

Now, entertainers, as a rule, are "mike smart."  They know not to do something, or say something, stupid -- after you have been "miked." 

Early on, however, ministers were not that mike savvy.  The men of the cloth soon learned a hard and embarrassing lesson when a few,  after being "miked," decided to visit the restroom, one last time, before entering the pulpit.  You can guess what happened.  Once that mike is clipped on you and turned on -- you have no secrets.

You would think the folks who handle Presidents, especially the unit that handles Presidential electronic communications, would make a point of instructing our Presidents and Vice-Presidents in such basic mike etiquette.  Who knows?  Perhaps they do and our illustrious leaders fluff them off -- until they say something stupid, confidential, or even secret, in the presence of a live microphone. 

Once a microphone has been tested and the "level" set, as a rule, that mike is left on (hot) until the performer or speaker takes the stage, lectern, or pulpit.  Yes, there IS a reason for that.  Should the mike show signs of a problem while it is set and waiting for the speaker, it allows the sound engineers time to solve the problem or replace the mike -- BEFORE the speaker begins.

It is all basic stuff.

Knowledge of mike basics is not enough.  One must practice the proper etiquette or one will suffer the consequences.

Had President Obama had the self restraint to remain mute, with a mike so close, and not engage in a private conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev he might not have frightened roughly half the people of earth with his comments about his "flexibility" after his reelection.  What he actually said was: “This is my last election,” Obama said. “After my election, I have more flexibility.”

OK.  Before my liberal friends get all bent out of shape, I DO recall President Reagan's on-mike remarks paraphrased here:  "Let the bombing begin."  That, too, was in front of a hot mike.  The difference was this:  Reagan was doing a mike test to allow the engineers to set the "level" of the microphone. 

People's voices modulate differently.  For a good quality sound and to properly sense, or "pick up," a speaker's voice, a test is run and the levels are set before a speaker is ready to speak on the air or for a recording. (You may recall that occasionally "voice prints" are used in court.  Each person's voiceprint is different)

A mike test is supposed to be private.  All sorts of things are said -- jokingly -- during a mike test.  Reagan's joke was not meant for public consumption.  He was an actor and very familiar with testing mikes on the set.  I would imagine someone was dressed-down, shall we say -- energetically -- (if not fired) after that mike test was released to the public.

Obama's gaffe has the world wondering what, exactly, he meant by his remarks that Medvedev promised he would repeat to Vladimir Putin, the President-Elect of Russia. Was he referring to the missile shield proposed for Poland and other eastern European countries?  If so -- what did he mean?  Was he referring to his breath-taking endeavor to cut America's nuclear stockpile by a humongous eighty percent?

(Obama's should be advised that Putin is about as flexible as four-inch steel rebar.)   

We conservatives feel it is just a sample of what we have been warning about if Obama wins a second term.  He has been restrained during his first term because he wants to be reelected.  In a second term there are no such restraints and, frankly, we expect Mr. Obama, the socialist ideologue that he is, to basically go wild and really push his socialist agenda on the people of the US. It is NOT a chance we want to take.

So, all in all, maybe Obama's faux paux has given Americans a realistic look into his plans -- if granted a second term.  At least Mr. Obama's second term intention toward "flexibility" is no longer something the American voter has to guess about.  We are, however, worried about what he will be more flexible on:  gun control, illegal immigration, gay rights, socialized medicine, and the biggest of all -- interpretation of the US Constitution.

The American electorate has now had a "heads-up."  There is no excuse remaining for reelecting Obama.  Conservatives would be well advised to redouble their efforts to deny Obama an extension of his lease on the Oval Office.

J. D. Longstreet

There Can Be Only One

There Can Be Only One
The Russian Bear Loosed ... Again



Nature abhors a vacuum.  When the current leadership of the United States decided the US would no longer maintain its leadership position in the world, a momentary vacuum was created.  As of March 4th, that vacuum was filled.  Vladimir Putin has returned to the Kremlin.  (Geez.  Even the word "Kremlin" causes my heart to go cold and my skin to crawl.)

The Russian bear, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, is more than ready to take over the world leadership role from the United States.  That will mean that Mr. Obama can have the back seat he seems to crave so much.

If you are old enough to remember the Cold War, you certainly must be asking yourself if Putin's election as President of Russia means the kick-off of Cold War II.  The return to a bi-polar world could be just around the corner.

Putin has remarked that he sees the United States as a parasite on the world.  Now, that's not a very friendly thing to say, right?  Nevertheless, he said it, and, frankly, I believe he meant it.

Relations with Putin's Russia is going to get very complicated very fast.  Putin is known to long for the old Mother Russia and the gone -- but certainly not forgotten -- Soviet Union.  He'd like, very much, to reconstitute the old USSR.  And I expect he will attempt to, at least, recreate as much of it as he can.

Dealing with Putin is going to be tough -- very tough.  However, America is blessed with a President who is a "word man" and not an "action man."  I truly suspect Obama believes he can just overwhelm Putin with his soaring oratory and overcome him with just the weight of his WORDS.   As my British friends would say:  "Not Bloody Likely!"

Putin TALKS tough, and goes to great lengths to make sure he ACTS tough -- and is SEEN acting tough. 

Obama plays basketball and golf.

See how perception can have such a tremendous effect on foreign policy and practically everything else a country does outside its own borders.

Putin can, and will, make Obama's life much more complicated that it was before March 4th.

Right at, or near, the top of the list of problems Obama is going to have with Putin is the U.S. plans for the missile defense system deployment in Europe.  Even before Putin walks into his old/new office, that missile defense problem is deadlocked.  At least it is deadlocked as long as Obama remains President of the United States.

That may change in November -- if the US voters show Obama the door and place a stronger President in the Oval Office.  A new President may just say the heck with Russia and deploy the missile defense system and let the Russians howl all they want.

I suspect that, right off the bat, Putin will want to show off his Russian military might to the rest of the world.  Once again those Bear bombers will be bumping into US airspace off Alaska and they will most certainly be skirting our airspace along the eastern seaboard just as they did for decades during Cold War One.

Look for Putin to scrape together another Russian Navy from the scrap heap of a navy he now has.  If he is able to keep his nuclear submarines from exploding, he might even be able to get one or two out to blue water -- before they sink or blow up.

Never fear.  The Russians can be an industrious people.  It will not take long for them to rebuild their military and with the cash pouring in from their oil sales they will be able to afford it.

Just think about it.  While the US is cutting back on the size of our military the Russians will be working like crazy to build their military UP --  bigger and better than that of the old Soviet Union.  That ought to make for some sweet dreams tonight -- especially for us old codgers who remember what it was like facing down the Russians/Soviets at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin about fifty years ago.   Americans and Soviets were eyeball to eyeball, toe to toe, both sides leaning forward ... waiting, just waiting -- for the Third World War to begin.   Believe me when I tell you -- I do not long for the return of those days and that kind of international stress and strife.

Putin is a man of few words ... far fewer than Obama.  And, unlike Obama, he does not employ nuance.  Nosiree.  He can say Nyet! (NO!) quite clearly and forcefully, thank you!   Putin is famous (or infamous) for being intractable.  When he DOES say "nyet" ... the negotiations are ended, period.

The US can certainly expect to have problems with Putin's government in the Middle East.  That is already clear.  We've learned, just this week, that Russian troops have been deployed to Syria.  The Russian Navy was been represented in Syrian waters for a while now.

What we are about to see, I believe, is a rebuilding of the Russian superpower under Putin.  There is simply no way that can be good for America.

What will be even worse for America is to have Obama reelected and have to watch as Putin chews him up and spits him out.


J. D. Longstreet

Freedom of Speech a Fantasy in America

Freedom of Speech a Fantasy in America

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

We have known for some time that the government was listening to our phone calls, landlines and cell phones, and we have suspected they were doing the same thing to our e-mail and to our blogs.  Now we KNOW.

“A privacy advocacy group has swayed Congress to hold a hearing next week into the Department of Homeland Security’s practice of monitoring social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as media reports and organizations, including The Drudge Report.”  (SOURCE)

How much longer will Americans allow our freedom to be eroded … taken away?  How long are we going to allow the desecration of the US Constitution? 

Since September 11^th, 2001 we have been trading our freedom for security.  It never works.  The end result has always been that a people who trade freedom for security eventually wind up with neither. 

“The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) recently obtained close to 300 pages of documents, as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, detailing the federal agency’s “intelligence gathering” practices on the web.

Among the documents were guidelines from DHS instructing outside contractors to monitor the web for media reports and comments that “reflect adversely” on the agency or the federal government.

As Reuters reported last month, in early 2010 contractors were asked to spend 24 hours monitoring news media coverage on popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks, as well as news sites including the Huffington Post and The Drudge Report.

The documents obtained by EPIC indicate that following the exercise, a procurement official awarded an $11.3 million contract to General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems in order to carry out the monitoring on a “24/7/365 basis”.” (SOURCE)      

What has happened to America’s guarantee that its citizens have “freedom of speech?”  Has that guarantee been revoked?  Indeed, it has.

Look.  America has a government run amok.  Like a giant vacuum cleaner, Washington is sucking our freedom up and leaving us vulnerable to a tyrannical central government with a socialist agenda.

The Bill of Rights, the leash our founders placed around the neck of government in America has been slipped and like a ravenous junkyard dog, that government is devouring the liberty and freedom of all Americans. 

The Obama Regime has been the worst violator of the government restraints placed on them by the constitution since the Lincoln Administration.

The corruption within the current government is as bad, or worse, than that of the Grant Administration.  Government -- and the power of government -- has grown exponentially under Obama’s leadership  -- and he is asking for another term to complete the job.

Consider this:  As we observe the degradation of American liberty under the Obama Regime’s first term, what do you think will happen when Obama is not restrained by an impending election?  Can America survive as a free constitutional representative republic with a capitalist society?  In my opinion, the answer is an emphatic, resounding NO!  America cannot survive.  At least a FREE America cannot survive.

America is facing the very real threat of becoming another socialist dung heap where all its citizens suffer “fairly” or, as the socialists and Marxists say, … equally.

Ginger McCall, the Director of EPIC is reported to have said:  “The idea that the government is constantly peering over your shoulder and listening to what you are saying creates a very chilling effect to legitimate dissent.”  (SOURCE)  

I agree with Ms. McCall, except that I would take it a step farther.  Not only does government eavesdropping chill freedom of speech … it THROTTLES it!    

This whole mess is just another indication of how America has slipped into the Post Constitution era.  The “fabled” US Constitution is a thing of the past.  It is a myth born in the dim mists of yesteryear and is no longer applicable today. 

Just as history records that Nero burned Rome, history must record that Obama presided over the destruction of America. 

Look.  A nation like America can only be successful if it has a God-fearing populace, not a people who celebrate infanticide and behavior that God has proclaimed an abomination. America is more like the latter than the former today.  As a result, we have sold ourselves into slavery.

The distant bell we hear is tolling America’s death knell.  The last best hope of mankind is breathing it’s last, felled by it’s own hand.

J. D. Longstreet   

The Democrat’s “REAL” War Not So Real After All

The Democrat’s “REAL” War Not So Real After All

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet 

Americans have been accused of having the shortest collective memory of any people on earth.  Back when I was but a wee lad, I brushed that off.  Common sense told it was what we used to call in the advertising business  “Puffing.”  Puffing is rhetoric that is known to be untrue but is often used to make a point.  Back in the old days even the federal government allowed a limited amount of puffing in advertising.

Note that above I said the “Common sense told me….  .”  Problem is, these days common sense is certainly not common, and those expressing an opinion based on common sense are frowned upon and often mocked.

We have often stated the political left does not understand making war.  They have shown us time and again they do not understand the military, itself, nor how to apply military strength against an enemy of the US.   Their naiveté is such that they cannot grasp the simplest military tactic.  And they totally do not grasp the meaning behind the old saw:  “All’s fair in love and WAR.”

You may recall that we railed against the Obama Regimes’ public announcement of the date US troops would be withdrawn from Iraq.  You may also recall, we predicted that Iraq would slip back in to anarchy and eventually wind up under the control of another “strongman dictatorship” akin to the one headed by Saddam Hussein, which we overthrew at a rather high cost to America.  It was a cost, which Americans paid in blood and treasure.

Hardly had the dust (kicked up by American forces leaving Iraq) settled until the struggle for a new dictatorship was underway.  It is plain to everyone that our effort in Iraq was a total waste of time, effort, treasure, and blood. 

It is universally understood that when at war with a nation or a stateless rag-tag group of irregulars such as the Islamofacists we’ve been fighting for over ten years now, you do not telegraph your next move.  And you certainly do not openly inform them of the date you intend to leave the battlefield.

But Obama did.  Now Iraq is lost … again, and will most likely necessitate another war with Iraq at some point in the future.

That was bad enough.  But now Obama is doing it all again in Afghanistan.  The Taliban has openly boasted they have beaten America and will rebuild their forces and move to take over Afghanistan as soon as American forces are out of the country.  Unlike the Obama Regime, the Taliban is smart.  The Taliban has completely flummoxed the American Commander-in-Chief and, yes, they will have beaten the American military as a result of the catastrophically poor leadership from Obama. 

Obama’s awful leadership as a war commander has unnecessarily cost many lives of American military men and women and will, undoubtedly, cost even more as he compounds his mistakes on the battlefield with his blunders in foreign policy in the Middle East.

At the moment, while a very short fuse is burning on the powder keg in the Middle East, Obama is attempting to “talk” with Iran.

Only a fool would suppose that talks with Iran are anything more that a sham and an instrument to stall America -- AND Israel -- and buy more time for Iran to realize their dream of building an “Islamic Bomb,” (an atomic bomb), which they have every intention of using on both America and Israel.

Obama has proven to be Iran’s best weapon against the non-Islamic world.

The bottom line is this:  America is in deep trouble and needs a replacement for Obama who will deal a crushing blow against the terror nations of the Middle East.  It has been called a “Peace Through Victory” policy.

It is clear that anything less that a resounding victory is a total waste of time when dealing with the masters of hyperbole.  They can, and will, make anything less into a victory for themselves and spoon-feed that propaganda to their followers who will lap it up with gusto.  It will stoke their anger and enmity toward the US. 

As a lad I was taught to say little because it lends importance and gravitas to what you DO say.  For three years we have had a constant stream of talk from Obama, yea, even rivers of rhetoric flowing from our supposed leader.  His continuous talking has lent new meaning to the phrase: “talk is cheap.”

Our new leader must be a man of few words and more action, especially towards America’s enemies.  America is tired of towering talk and flowing phrases. It is past time to stop talking and starting doing.

J. D. Longstreet 

Democrat Code Words for Socialism

Democrat Code Words for Socialism

Fairness, Fair Share, income inequality, etc

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

Wouldn’t it be nice if the Democrats would simply drop their façade and admit they have morphed into some sort of American breed of a socialist political party?

In the past few months, even years, my teeth have been set on edge when I have listened to their rhetoric about “fairness,” in this or that, and their use of the words “fair share” to drive a wedge between the American classes, and especially the words, or phrase, “income inequality” which seals the deal.  

When a nation seeks income equality it is assuming socialism as its core philosophy.  Income inequality is the clarion call for redistribution of a nation’s wealth. It is as simple and as basic as that.

In the past two decades I have slowly come to the realization that the dumbing down of Americans is near completion.  It has taken approximately 50 years to realize, but the leftist movement in America successfully infiltrated and gained control of America’s public education system.  Now we have a full generation and most of a second generation who have no clue what America is about.  They don’t have a clue what their freedom cost.  They don’t have a clue that the federal government was created by the states to serve the states as an agent.  They have been taught -- and they believe -- that the people of the states are subservient to the federal government.  They do not understand that the Bill of Rights is a protection for the American people from their federal government.  Those ten amendments restrain the federal government in the interest of the people. 

Most of our young Americans today don’t know the difference between the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.  Don’t believe me?  Ask ‘em!

I have mentioned in previous articles that as a solider in the US military I was trained to meet and combat socialism on the battlefield.  It was rightly recognized as an enemy of freedom.  It was recognized as a form of government that was destined to fail, but before its demise, it would enslave the people of any nation that was so utterly stupid as to even try it.  No nation has yet survived socialism.

Europe is teetering on the edge of complete disaster simply because they have run out of other people’s money with which to pacify their populace after decades of coddling and teaching them to depend on their government for their very existence.

The USSR is now a footnote in history.

Yet, despite the fact that America was nearly crushed under the weight of a mere sampling of socialism, the left persists in their socialist agenda for America.

In 2008, they managed to elect a socialist as President of the United States.  In 2010 the people of the political right in America successfully blunted the socialist left’s endeavor to shove America deeper into socialism.  Conservatives were successful in retaking a majority of the Congress.

Now we have a chance to solidify conservative control of the American government by refusing to reelect the socialist in the White House this November. 

It was clear after the President’s State of the Union address that their next step is to incite a class war in America.  The great-unwashed masses in America must be taught to hate the “patricians” and the “plutocrats” – the very people who financed -- and continue to finance -- America’s success as the greatest nation in the history of mankind. 

The wealthy Americans must be brought low and their wealth confiscated and redistributed to the – ahem – less fortunate among us.  That is what I like to refer to as: BOVINE SCATOLOGY!

Nevertheless, their efforts to incite class warfare has been more successful than most think. It ought to be.  It has been an underground movement for at least nine decades now.  With the left’s capture of the Oval Office the socialist were emboldened to rise to the surface and ram their agenda through the national legislature. 

But the right stopped them in 2010.  That, dear reader, is why we now see the President’s abuse of the power of the Executive Order.  Obama is intent on diluting democratic freedom in America by infusing socialism into every agency and administration under the control of the executive branch of the government.

Americans must retake control of their government in November and free it from the clutches of the socialist elite who have dipped their fangs into America’s bloodstream and are sucking her dry.

America needs a champion who will lead from the front.  A leader who take a stand on the deck of our sinking ship of state, much as the Father of the US Navy, Captain John Paul Jones, when his ship was blown to bits and sinking from enemy fire.  When asked if he was prepared to surrender Jones famously replied:  “I have not yet BEGUN to fight!” Against all odds, Jones won the battle and took the enemy ship.

THAT is the spirit we need, indeed, the spirit it will take to lead America out of the muck and mire of socialism, put her back on course, trim her sails, and stir for the safe harbor of capitalism and freedom.

It is a life or death decision we Americans will make in November -- the life or death of America.

J. D. Longstreet

Obama And Romney Tied

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

Rasmussen reported yesterday (January 5^th, 2011) that Obama and Romney are tied in their polls.

“The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds Obama and Romney each earning 42% of the vote.  Eight percent (8%) prefer some other candidate, and another eight percent (8%) are undecided.” (SOURCE)

However, Rasmussen goes on to say,  “Last week, Romney held a 45% to 39% advantage over the president, his biggest lead yet and the largest lead a named Republican candidate has held over Obama to date.  However, the two candidates have been essentially tied in regular surveys since January 2011.  The report continues:  “A generic Republican candidate now holds a narrow lead over Obama as has been the case in all but three weekly surveys since late May.” (SOURCE)

The same report also says:  “Voters identify all of the leading Republican presidential contenders as ideological conservatives but see Romney and Texas Congressman Ron Paul as the least conservative of the group.”

(SOURCE)   

Ok.  So what to make of all this?  The truth?  I haven’t a clue!

You have heard the old saw that polls are only a snapshot in time -- and that is true – but they certainly help to identify trends.  Even so, those trends are, too, snapshots in time.

I remain deeply concerned that Obama will win a second term.  I fear for my country.

Some months ago, I warned that the Mainstream Media would soon begin to make “upbeat” reports on the nations economic situation.  It has already begun.  Frankly, it is mostly Bovine Scatology.  They would have us believe the unemployment rate is 8.6% when, in reality, it is closer to 12%. 

The MsM would also have us believe that the economy has begun to improve when; in fact, if there is any improvement it is miniscule.  Just yesterday we learned that Boeing is planning to lay off 2,100 workers from a Wichita Plant -- and Obama is reported to be preparing to cut tens of thousands of US military troops from our ground forces.  All these people will some be looking for jobs that simply do not exist.

I mentioned the two instances of coming lay-offs above because they are linked.   Boeing says they are closing the Wichita plant due to “defense budget reductions.” (SOURCE)

Look:  My crystal ball is extremely cloudy these days – but even without it -- it is plain to see that the US is staring down the barrel of a regional war in the Middle East -- and soon. When the balloon goes up, we are going to need those ground troops.  Is Obama planning on reinstating the draft?  I would not be the least bit surprised.

According to the Jerusalem Post, thousands of US troops will be deployed to Israel this spring for Israel’s largest ever missile defense exercise. The J-Post says: “Last week, Lt.-Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of the US’s Third Air Force based in Germany, visited Israel to finalize plans for the upcoming drill, expected to see the deployment of several thousand American soldiers in Israel.” (SOURCE)

Now here’s the really interesting part of this story: “The drill, which is unprecedented in its size, will include the establishment of US command posts in Israel and IDF command posts at EUCOM headquarters in Germany – with the ultimate goal of establishing joint task forces in the event of a large-scale conflict in the Middle East.” (SOURCE)

It appears to this scribe that the world is edging ever closer to a conflagration in the Middle East that will affect the entire world.  It all seems eerily familiar to the conditions prior to the Second World War.

This is what happens, dear reader, when America withdraws from its role in world leadership.  Obama’s “Leading from behind” simply does not work -- and it is dangerous.

America is at a point in world history when we need a strong leader -- a leader not afraid to assert America’s leadership.  Obama is NOT that person.

I am very afraid there is no one vying for America’s leadership today any stronger as a national or world leader. 

In a recent column, Thomas Sowell said:  “The 2012 Republican primaries may be a rerun of the 2008 primaries, where the various conservative candidates split the conservative vote so many ways that the candidate of the mushy middle got the nomination – and then lost the election.”   I think he pegged it.

I will be genuinely surprised if America is not involved in what passes for a world war these days -- within the next four years. I plan to vote accordingly. 

J. D. Longstreet

ABUSE OF POWER

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

We have said many times that Obama envisages Congress as an inconvenient impediment to his agenda to create a strong socialist central government in the United States of America.  If there was ever a single iota of doubt in the minds of Americans that Obama is seeking to assume all US government power unto himself, then his recent actions in naming a head for the controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and three new members to the National Labor Relations Board and totally by-passing Congress to make those appointments – while the Senate was still in session – should remove all doubt.

What we have here, dear reader, is a full-out raw power grab by the Executive Branch of the US government.  This move by Obama is an abuse of power. It is arguably unconstitutional -- and should be grounds for impeachment.

If the US Congress does not take immediate steps to stop the power hungry mob in the White House then the US will, very soon, find itself the newest tin-pot dictatorship with a petty tyrant in total control of the government.

(A reminder:  Only days ago the media was asking why Americans were buying so many guns. You have just seen the answer to that question.)

Look:  We have a would-be emperor on our hands right here in America, the world’s last hope for democracy.

Obama’s disrespect for the US Constitution is breathtaking.  Not only does he disrespect it – he defies it!

As we continue to see Obama’s tentacles spread through the government with his new agencies, Czars, and a myriad of additional rules and regulations handed down by his henchmen – is it too far a stretch to predict that by next fall the Obama Administration will declare a national emergency and suspend the election set for next November?  No, I am not kidding -- and I fear it is NOT an exaggeration.

Americans are in serious trouble and I don’t mean with out national economy.  We are in critical danger of losing our freedom and liberty as a country.  I would not be surprised, any day, to see the news channels suddenly break in with a bulletin that Obama has dissolved the Congress and placed the country under martial law until a date uncertain, far in the future, when our economy has been, er, stabilized.  

Farfetched?  Really?  I mean – REALLY?  We have a branch of our government out of control, people.

This in-your-face move by Obama demands action by Congress to stop his abuse of power in its tracks.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said:  “Although the Senate is not in recess, President Obama, in an unprecedented move, has arrogantly circumvented the American people,” (SOURCE)

 Senator McConnell is absolutely right.

John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio and Speaker of the US House of Representatives, said Obama’s action was: “an extraordinary and entirely unprecedented power grab by President Obama that defies centuries of practice and the legal advice of his own Justice Department”


“The precedent that would be set by this cavalier action would have a devastating effect on the checks and balances that are enshrined in our Constitution,” (SOURCE)

The fact is – Obama has spat upon those constitutional checks and balances referenced by Speaker Boehner.  The longer Obama stays in office the more America resembles a banana republic, with a tin pot dictator holding the reins of power.  Move over Hugo Chavez!


Of course Obama’s defiance of Congress is an integral part of his political campaign for reelection.  But this time he has gone to cussed far. There can be no question now that Obama is a threat to the freedom of the American people.  His seeming thirst for power begs the question:  Is Obama the American Putin??


Here we have a man in the Presidency who is, I believe, constitutionally unqualified to be President by reason of the circumstances surrounding his birth.  His father was a citizen of Kenya and not an American citizen. The Constitution declares a candidate for US President must be a natural born citizen of the United States, which means -- BOTH mother and father must be American citizens.
 
We Americans know less about Obama than any other President in US history.  Is his name Barack Hussein Obama or Barry Soetoro?  Was he born in America – or Kenya?  Whose Social Security number does he really have? A number of other people have, or have had, the same number. The record of his education is blurry at best.  He is reported to have been a college instructor on the US Constitution, yet he seems to totally ignore it when it gets in the way of his insatiable thirst for power over the American people.

Let’s face it.  Obama is a truly scary figure in American politics today.  I am convinced he has a dark agenda for America and that agenda is a threat to the freedom of the people of America.


J. D. Longstreet

ObaHill?

ObaHill?

A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

There is speculation all over the Internet that Biden is out and Hillary is in as Vice-President.  All this is projected to happen in time for the full-out Presidential Campaign in 2012.

Oh, theorists say that Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton will actually swap jobs – Hillary to Vice-President and Biden to Secretary of State.

Yesterday, I went to my favorite barbershop for my too frequent haircut, and that was the topic of conversation.  There was no shock.  There was no concern.  There was nothing but the collective conclusion that Obama would do anything to win… including putting his former arch-adversary on the ticket with him.

The whole thing springs from a piece by Robert Reich entitled: “Get Ready For An Obama-Clinton Presidential Ticket.”  You will find it HERE.

Reich says:  "My political prediction for 2012 (based on absolutely no inside information): Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden swap places. Biden becomes Secretary of State — a position he’s apparently coveted for years. And Hillary Clinton, Vice President.

So the Democratic ticket for 2012 is Obama-Clinton.

Why do I say this? Because Obama needs to stir the passions and enthusiasms of a Democratic base that’s been disillusioned with his cave-ins to regressive Republicans. Hillary Clinton on the ticket can do that."

As far-fetched as it may sound, at first, after thinking about it for a few minutes, I can see where Mr. Reich may, indeed, have a point.  But, what I don’t get is why the seeming panic in the Obama camp? 

I must be the only commentator on the right who thinks Obama stands an excellent chance of winning another term in November of 2012.  As excruciating to my friends on the right to hear such prognostications coming from a fellow conservative – there it is.

My reasoning is this (and I have said it ad nausium):  I am simply not convinced the GOP has a candidate currently running who stands a snowballs chance in Hades of beating Obama in 2012.  It has been a very long time; in fact, in my lifetime (over 7 decades) I cannot remember a weaker GOP ticket going up against an incumbent President – especially one with weak poll numbers.

The number one complaint I hear from fellow republicans is -- we have no one running, I can vote for.”  Granted, I’m in the southern part of the United States and maybe it is a “southern thing” – but, honestly, I don’t think so.

I just do not see Romney doing well in the south.  Once the primaries move into the southern tier of states, I expect Gingrich to begin picking up a few states.  Of course, his recent decline in the polls would indicate otherwise.

I mean, just stand back, and take an objective look at the GOP candidates.  The GOP’s favorite son is, without doubt, Romney.  But the record so far indicated by the polls is that the party and the voters do not share that admiration for Romney – especially in the South. 

When you consider the way voters have gone through the GOP candidates, one by one, it is clear the electorate is in an “anybody but Romney” mood. Well, maybe “anybody” is too strong.  Maybe it should be “SOMEBODY” other than Romney.

Conservative voter in my neck of the woods are STILL searching for a candidate they can get behind.  And, frankly, they have come to resent the GOP’s obvious and persistent promotion of Romney.  An angry electorate is not good for the party, especially when that anger is directed at the GOP and not at the democrat candidate. 

The enthusiasm is simply not there, and that spells HUGE trouble for the GOP at the polls in November.

It ought to tell you something when a candidate, Mr. Romney, has been running for President for fully five years and he STILL has not been able to win over the electorate in numbers that would translate into a victory in November of 2012.

Southern conservatives see Mr. Romney as a northeastern liberal-to-moderate candidate acceptable to voters in the northern tier of states but distinctly unpalatable where the word “conservative” seems to mean something entirely different than it does in the North. 

Those southern votes that support Obama’s leftist/socialist agenda are already aboard Obama’s campaign.  It will make very little difference to them whether Joe Biden remains as Obama’s running mate or he is replaced with Hillary Clinton.  They are going to vote for Obama – period.  They are, as we say, a lock.

There is no candidate in the GOP stable with a lock on the electorate and that would seem to hold true in a huge portion of the United States.

Nothing I have seen and heard, so far, has changed my belief that Romney, if chosen, will lose, and lose convincingly, to Obama in November 2012.

J. D. Longstreet