Random Thoughts for March

Random Thoughts for March, 2015. By Robert A. Hall

Feel free to post or forward.

Obama loves America the way a manipulative woman loves a guy she wants to marry so she can "fundamentally change" him.

Progressive "intellectuals" think Scott Walker is unfit to be president because he doesn't have a college degree. President Harry Truman also didn't have a degree. But according to Dr. Thomas Sowell, "As for reading the classics, President Harry Truman, whom no one thought of as an intellectual, was a voracious reader of heavyweight stuff like Thucydides and read Cicero in the original Latin. When Chief Justice Fred Vinson quoted in Latin, Truman was able to correct him. Yet intellectuals tended to think of the unpretentious and plain-spoken Truman as little more than a country bumpkin." They of course loved the "Intellectual" Adali Stevenson, but Sowell points out that, "Adlai Stevenson was certainly regarded as an intellectual by intellectuals in the 1950s. But, half a century later, facts paint a very different picture. Historian Michael Beschloss, among others, has noted that Stevenson 'could go quite happily for months or years without picking up a book.' But Stevenson had the airs of an intellectual -- the form, rather than the substance.: "Intellectuals" by Thomas Sowell, November 11, 2008. http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2008/11/11/intellectuals/page/full

If Scott Walker was really smart, he'd convert to Islam. The media and the left wouldn't dare attack him.

Obama said his policy is based on "Strategic Patience." But he forgot to credit the guy who invented it, Neville Chamberlain.

Obama says we shouldn't call the Islamic Sate "Islamic" because of their violence. Iran hangs gays, allows child marriage, stones women for supposed adultery, denies freedom of religion, the press and speech, oppresses women, supports terrorism, and executes people for blasphemy. Does Obama consider Iran "Islamic"? If so, why? If not, as he told them or said so publically?

A decision delayed is a decision made.

Here's the Obama Doctrine: If a Christian, Jew or even a left-wing atheist who said he prefers Muslims to Christians (as recently in NC) murders a Muslim, it is a hate crime based on religion. But when Muslims murder Christians, Jews or, most frequently fellow Muslims, citing the Qur'an and Hadith as their authority to do so, it has nothing to do with religion, just lack of jobs.

The Obama Administration says that we can't defeat ISIS by killing them, we must get them jobs. Can Midnight Basketball for Jihadists be far behind?

Joke: Hillary asked a disabled veteran if he would vote for her. "Can't," he said, I've only got one arm." "Well," Hillary replied, "It only takes one hand to vote." "But what would I hold my nose with?" asked the vet.

If Brian Williams was a conservative journalist on Fox News, and had such self-aggrandizing lies exposed, the rest of the media would hound him to suicide.

Why are Brian Williams self-aggrandizing lies about being under fire in Iraq worse than presumptive Democrat nominee Hilary's self-aggrandizing lie about being under fire in Bosnia? Or Obama's vastly more harmful "You can keep your plan/you can keep your doctor/Your premiums will go down lies to saddle us with Obamacare against the wishes of a majority in our putative democracy?

It's too bad I've told so many people about my lung transplant. I could take a page from Brian William's book and tell people the scar was from when I was hit by an RPG in Vietnam. That's how I won the National Defense Medal. (Vets will get the joke.)

I hear Hillary Clinton is writing a new book, telling feminists the secret to success for women in politics. The working title is, Marry a Comer.

Obama said we can't drill our way to lower gas prices. Now that gas is down due to more drilling, he takes credit for it. If he was at a Muslim prayer breakfast, he'd take credit for the failure of the Fourth Crusade.

Obama compared Islamic Terrorism (wrongly) with the Crusades. Are you worried that a member of the Knights of the Temple or that a member of ISIS might blow up your plane? How many Muslims were killed by medieval Crusaders in the last 20 years? None. How many by Muslim jihadists? Tens of thousands.

Greed is a bottomless pit. It can never be satisfied. So greedy people have an unhappy life, never having enough.

How many people had full-time jobs when Obama took office? How many have them now? You call this a recovery?

If things continue as they are, twenty years from now, liberals will be lobbying for newly-discovered "core constitutional rights" like infanticide, polygamy and self-rule for no-go zones in the US. (Shari'a Law including execution of apostates, stoning, child marriage, etc. in Muslim zones, and self-determination on things like drugs and guns in criminal zones where we won't be able to enforce the law anyway.) But I doubt things will continue as they are. By that time, the debt and unfunded liabilities, plus the huge cost of fighting Jihadism, paying to support millions more illegals and countering the expanding Chinese Dynasty will bring about fiscal collapse, followed by social and political collapse. And we may have global cooling, one of the natural cycles of Earth, creating starvation. So they may be lobbying for food and fuel. Because thugs with guns will take theirs.

We should take President Obama at his word when he says he is a patriot and a Christian. After all, he said he was opposed to gay marriage, and that under his health plan your premiums would go down, health costs would go down and if you liked your health plan and your doctor, you could keep them. So we know we can take him at his word...Right?

Apparently a lot of reporters and pundits I read on line don't have that new-fangled spell check thing on their computers.

My wife said I'm a lot like my dad. "Yes," I responded. "I got a lot of my bad habits from him--but I've perfected them."

I believe strongly in vaccination. However, I'm confused. All the vaccination/political stories suggest that if you don't vaccinate your kids, it hurts other kids. But if the other kids are vaccinated, how could it?

You can't make yourself talented. I'm never going to be a passable singer. But you can make yourself a person of courage and values. And a friendly person who helps others. I'd rather be all that than the best singer, football player or artist in the world.

Quote: Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away. --Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Internet joke: When I asked my doctor about measles, his information was spotty...

Obama's promises are worth less than Greek bonds.

When the President gives you shit for policy, you can't make lemonade. A shit sandwich is about the only option.

The VA Hospital, where I go at least three times a week, worries me. Other than government officials and active members of the military, I'd think a Jihadist would most love to murder vets, especially of Iraq and Afghanistan. And the VA is a "Terrorist Empowerment [Gun Free] Zone," so it would be the safest place to do so. The VA cops are armed, of course, but a little observation will tell you where they usually are, and an ambush could be set up. They'd rush right past a guy with a gun under his coat.

I'd like to start a newspaper called Troubled Times or Interesting Times. Yes, you can use it--I'm not likely to be starting any papers.

Given the many stupid things that bureaucrats and politicians on both sides do or say, I'm thinking of opening a consulting business. They come to me with a wheelbarrow full of money and tell me what they are thinking of saying or doing. If I say, "fine, go ahead," there's no charge. If I say, "Don't do it, it's stupid," they empty the wheelbarrow in my office. I'd get rich--and be worth every penny.

The left is full of Jihad Groupies, who get off on their violence.

When, hundreds of years in the future, freedom and civilization is won back, and historians write of the Collapse of America, they will write that no matter how hopeless it looked, some people never gave up. My name won't be known, but I want to be one of them. "Quit" isn't on the curriculum at Parris Island.

Muslims want to outlaw blasphemy. Well, Islam says Jesus was not the son of God. To Christians, that's blasphemy--thus Islam must be outlawed.

I always knew that if I didn't get killed in Vietnam or an accident, I was likely to grow old. I just didn't know how fast.

I thought "Fifty Shades of Grey" was about a bachelor doing laundry.

The Progressive Mind: If a Muslim doesn't inflame religious tensions and promote violence, he is praised as a moderate and a representative of "The Real Islam." If a black doesn't inflame racial tensions and promote violence, he is excoriated as an extremist (Ben Carson most recently by the SPLC) and an Uncle Tom. If he does inflame racial tensions and promotes marches calling for dead cops, of course, he becomes exempt from taxes and a White House advisor.

I wish there were as many protests from Muslims over the tens of thousands of Muslims murdered by Islamists over the last twenty years as over the three innocent Muslim students murdered by a left-wing atheist over a parking spot in NC.

The left's position on energy is simple. Anything that reduces energy costs for low and middle income Americans is bad, and must be fought viciously.

The proverb is that, "Anger is a good servant, but a bad master." I agree, but I would say that "Habit is also a good servant, but a bad master." As the death toll from smoking, obesity and drugs proves.

I'm looking for a restaurant where the "Soup of the Day" is Scotch Whisky.

I see that Leslie Gore died at 68 (my age), Will they play, "It's my funeral and I'll cry if I want to"?

It's true that the majority of Muslims want to live in peace and prosperity and don't want to hurt you. It's also true that millions take seriously the Qur'an injunction to fight infidels until they are dead or become Muslims. They are the ones who religious scholars Obama and Kerry say misunderstand their own religion. And if you live in a city of any size, there is at least one of these Islam-misunderstanders who is screwing up his courage to "go Jihad." Pray you are not in the area when he does, because before the gun come out, you can't tell him from a peaceful Muslim.

It's not surprising that Obama can read the violent passages in the Qur'an and not believe they mean what they say. He read's the Constitution and doesn't believe that it means what it says. "'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less." --Through the Looking Glass.

Thinking of signing up for Obamacare? You might want to use some "Strategic Patience."

What's the difference between the U.S. Government and the Boy Scouts? The Boy Scouts have adult leadership.

Jonah Goldberg: For eight years, every calumny and slander imaginable was hurled at Bush and the United States, and whenever anyone pushed back on it, we were told that it was patriotic. We just love our country! Dissent is the highest form of patriotism! Since president Obama became president, dissent is no longer the highest form of patriotism at all. It’s often simply racist now. Indeed, dissent from Obama and his agenda has arguably become the thing that liberals hate most about America these days.

I'm sure that the Democrats complaining that Scott Walker didn't finish college would support him for president if Walker would pick up enough credits for a degree in social work or gender studies.

Turns out that is was Putin who had "more flexibility" after Obama's re-election.

It will be exciting if Elizabeth Warren run against Hillary Clinton. The Fake Cherokee Indian versus the Fake Bosnian War Hero--and may the best faker win!

I hope Obama calls his free college program "Cash for Flunkers."

If a tee or sweat shirt says, "Property of ----" it's not.

One country in the Middle East is a democracy that has multiple political parties, protects freedom of speech, the press and religion, offers equal rights to women and is a true friend and ally to the United States: Israel. Naturally, progressives hate Israel and make apologies for the barbarians who do none of these things, stone rape victims for adultery, hang gays, encourage child marriage and FGM, execute people for apostasy and blasphemy and wish to destroy the Israel state and exterminate the Israeli people.

I can hardly wait until the people who gave us Healthcare.Gov are running the Internet.

Let's put Scott Walker's college transcripts up against Barack Obama's. Oh, wait, we can't--Obama's are secret.

Being a few credits short of a degree, Walker probable isn't smart enough to know if he's under sniper fire in Bosnia. Or if he's 1/32 native American by family legend, thus entitled to benefits as a minority.

A bureaucrat is a person who would put a sell-by date on pet rocks, because the regs allow him to.

The Oscars are not about movies. They are about mutual stroking by the politically-correct elites. I never watch any of these type shows--I couldn't care less what they think.

As long as black culture in the cities condemns education as "acting white," poor blacks will be condemned to live in the Dark Ages. (Or is "Dark Ages," referring to the poverty and backwardness of the middle ages, now racist?)

Internet Quote: "White privilege" = being held responsible for the acts of your ancestors by folks who accept no responsibility for the acts of their children."

When I was doing the taxes this year, I told my wife we should get divorced and live together. We'd do better on taxes, she'd qualify for subsidized healthcare, food stamps, probably the earned income tax credit, and there might be other benefits. Only kidding, of course. But then I met a young woman at the VA, coming in for a bad leg. Medically retired from the Navy. Was in Afghanistan. Said she and her boyfriend had lived together for years, expected to continue to do so. "Costs too much to be married with taxes and all." Thus has our government contributed greatly to the decline of marriage.

When an email comes personalized (Dear Robert), I know it's an impersonal, computer-generated sales pitch.

A politician can hardly go wrong when addressing a group if he says, "My friends, the government should be doing more for you and your cause." It's the American mantra. I used to put polls in the newspapers for my constituents to clip and send to me. About 80% of the respondents said that high taxes and government spending" was the "most critical issue facing our state." But among people who said that, 80% also listed at least one area where the government should be spending more money, and 50% listed two. The only area where a majority felt the government should spend less was on "welfare." But a majority felt the state should spend more "helping poor children." Pretty much the same thing.

Liberals view private enterprise as a cow from which they can get ever-more milk, while constantly reducing the feed.

If Bush had pushed "Net Neutrality," liberals would have called it a crime against free speech.

The Obama Administration is increasingly a sheltered workshop for the logically-challenged.

When someone tells you that Global Warming is "Settled Science," remind them that eugenics, which started with things like Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood's effort to keep more of the "unfit" (read "blacks") from being born and led step by step to the Holocaust, was settled science in its day. (Given that 40% of the abortions are to the 13% of the population that is black, it still is in some quarters.)

Nothing leads to contentment like a grateful heart.

About four years ago, I wrote The Coming Collapse of the American Republic: And what you can do to prevent it. The royalties go to the Semper Fi Injured Marine Fund, not to me. Of my 11 books, it has sold the most copies--not that it is close to a best seller. Or a fair seller.... But we must all do what we can.

http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Collapse-American-Republic-prevent/dp/1461122538/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304815980&sr=1-5

In the book, I postulate that, if not curbed, four trends will lead to fiscal, political and social collapse, chaos, riots and violence in the United States. They are: 1. The enormous growing debt and much worse unfunded liabilities of government at all levels, federal, state and local, 2. The continued unchecked growth of illegal immigration which threatens to bankrupt the system and change the culture in ways that neither citizens nor immigrants will like, 3. The growth of China as a military and economic power determined to dominate Asia and bring the countries around her under her control as vassal states, and 4. The growing threat of Political Islam challenging Western values, freedom and culture. Since it was published, each of these threats has grown exponentially worse. And if I were to write a new version today (I'm cannot due to health and time) I would add two more threatening trends. 5. The rise of Putin and a militant Russia determined to recreate the old Soviet Empire, and aware that the US and Europe cannot project enough power to stop her if it comes to war. We do not have the fit, patriotic population today, nor the industry, to fight WWII. 6. The accelerating collapse of our culture among native-born Americans with the pathologies of increasing non-marital births, crime in the cities, drugs, domestics violence, lack of education and declining civic participation, membership in religious and civic organizations and the declining marriage rate. And lest you attribute the pathologies in our cities to race, you should read Life at the Bottom by British Psychiatrist Anthony Daniels, writing as Theodore Dalrymple. The same culture-destroying pathologies are growing in British cities--and they are growing among the white, native British, much more than among black or brown immigrants. It's not race, it's culture and a system that rewards bureaucrats for making people helpless dependents of the government. If you would like me to email you a free 80-page PDF of The Coming Collapse to read on your computer, write to me at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com.

Get the collection! My “Random Thoughts” from 2008 through July, 2013 are collected in this book: The Old Jarhead's Journal: Random Thoughts on Life, Liberty, and Leadership by Robert A. Hall

http://www.amazon.com/Old-Jarheads-Journal-Thoughts-Leadership/dp/1490500162/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373907206&sr=1-1&keywords=Old+Jarhead%27s+Journal

The Old Jarhead’s Journal is a collection of Random Thoughts on politics and life and Conservative Political Essays, mostly published on the author’s blog, including the essay “I’m Tired” which went viral on the Internet in 2009, “The Hall Platform,” “This I Believe,” and “Why I’m a Republican.” While they will be of interest to conservative thinkers, they are collected here in book form as a service to readers who wish to give a copy to favorite liberals and watch their heads explode. All royalties are donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

*****

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. Hall’s eleven books are listed here: http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html. His blog of political news and conservative comment is www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com.