Random Thoughts for November, 2015. By Robert A. Hall
News Flash: President Barack Obama has announced new plans to settle Syrian and other Muslim refugees from the Middle East in the US. Under the plan, a refugee family will be selected at random to live with the Obama family in the White House and with them in New York after his term ends. Refugee families will also live in the homes of John Kerry, Michael Moore, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Al Gore, George Soros, Bill Gates, Tom Steyer, Warren Buffet, Rich Richman, Eric Schmidt (Google), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Jack Dorsey (Twitter) the owners and CEOs of ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNBC, The New York Times, the LA Times, the Washington Post, and 25 top Hollywood and Media personalities, including Whoopi Goldberg and the others stars of The View. "We can't ask ordinary Americans to accept the risks, expense and life-style changes associated with taking in Muslim refugees unless we who are their elite leaders are willing to accept the same conditions," Obama said. "If it's the right thing to do for them, it's the right thing to do for us." Obama added that they were in negotiations with the Pope over how many Muslim refugee families the Vatican, as an independent country, would be taking in. The Vatican says three families, but the Obama administration is firm that they should take at least two dozen. Obama also announced that after high school graduation his daughters will be joining the US Army and asking to be assigned to ground combat units, as will the children of several of the other celebrities on the above list. In addition, everyone taking in refugees has signed a pledge to reduce his family's carbon footprint to that of the average American family to combat global warming. (Satire, of course. If only. As recently as WWII, the elites thought their families should share in national sacrifices.)
When asked if it should be "All Lives Matter" or "Black Lives Matter?" every Democrat running for President except Jim Webb said "Black Lives Matter." So if you are white, Asian or Native American, Hillary, Bernie, Link and Marty think your life doesn't matter. Same if you are a non-black Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, atheist or gay.
The people most upset by Jim Webb's debate comments about killing a man in combat in Vietnam are the same folks who want to send other people's daughters--never their own--to serve in close infantry combat.
The CNBC Republican Debate should have been called the "Let's Boost Hillary" show.
Reading about the Benghazi hearing, pundits who were going to vote for her anyway (after they sobered up on Bernie) think it was a win for her. Pundits who would pour battery acid in their eyes before every voting for Hillary think it exposed her lies once again. I think they are both right.
Obama is more like JFK every day, now sending "advisors" to Iraq as Kennedy did to Vietnam. Eventually LBJ sent me. If you call, let it ring, I'll be packing or cleaning my M1.
Conservatives don't like MSNBC because they believe the media should be neutral. Liberals don't like Fox because they believe that any media outlet who does not promote progressive policies is an apostate from their religion and must be stoned.
We should consider those Muslims who come to the West not to assume western values but who want to establish Shari'a Law and the rule of Allah over the Kaffir, or those Mexicans who come to America not to become Americans but to establish their criminal cartels here and bleed us through crime and drugs, not as immigrants, but as invasive species that will destroy the established culture of freedom, replacing it with violence, hate and destruction.
A lot of people can't tell the difference between bad choices and bad luck.
The media are calling the Oregon shooter--whose victims were white--"mixed race." How come they call Obama black? Same racial make-up. One outlet called him a "White Supremacist." Being as black as Obama is an awkward start for a white racist. According to a picture floating around the net, one cable station Photoshopped his picture to make him look white.
Given the debate, it looks like the Dem nominee will be Hillary. With her negatives, she should be beatable, though she has unlimited foreign fiscal support. The hardest Democrat to beat would have been Webb, because he appeals to the center, but there was no chance the Dems would nominate him.
From John L, a retired Marine: Jim Webb is 100% on target. Almost everyone on that (Democratic Debate) stage last night is protected by people carrying guns. I don't have that kind of protection. Yet those people on that stage who are protected 24/7 by people carrying guns would deny me and others the right to carry a weapon to defend me and my family. People who surround themselves with armed bodyguards have no right to offer an opinion on why anyone else shouldn't have a gun. That's MY opinion and it will not change.
What's the difference between a Democratic Socialist and a National Socialist? Time and power.
I see Planned Parenthood has changed their procedures so they will not take money for baby body parts. It's the old, "We didn't do it and we promise not to do it again" defense.
I have never used, not even tried, recreational drugs (except alcohol of course, and I'm limited to one drink a day by my transplant). But if Trump, Hillary or Bernie becomes president, I'm going to give the idea more thought.
As history students know, the 1863 riots in New York were far worse that anything we have seen recently. They started as a protest against the draft, took on a racial aspect as blacks were targeted, beaten and killed, and progressed to a bacchanalia of looting, burning and violence. The New York Times editorialized: "...it comes...from a malignant hate towards those in better circumstances, from a craving for plunder, from a barbarous spite against those of a different race...the mob must be crushed at once...give them grape(shot) and plenty of it." I assume the Times was under different management then.
From a Vietnam Marine Buddy, Larry W: I started watching the Democrat debate last night and lasted until the question, "Is it 'black lives matter', or 'all lives matter'?" came up. To a man, and woman, the answer was "black lives matter". When I found out my life didn't matter to any of them, I switched channels and started watching Counting Cars on the History Channel. (I think Jim Webb said "All lives matter." ~Bob)
Funny how high schools once had shooting teams, and there were fewer gun laws. When I was a kid I don't recall any school shootings. I think they are another gift from the Progressive Sixties--when free range kids became the norm and discipline was renamed child abuse. The challenge facing America isn't gays wanting to marry--it's straights having kids and not getting married or providing discipline, values and direction.
If the Vatican does take in Muslim refugees, it will be interesting if they start demanding Shari'a Law and insisting the Pope stop his offensive blasphemy of claiming that God had a son.
Few blessings are unmitigated.
Despite the way the media and political junkies view it, not everything a politician does has a political basis. When I was elected to the Massachusetts Senate right out of college, I still lived at home. After my first re-election, I decided it was past time to get my own apartment. Naturally, I moved from Lunenburg to Fitchburg, the biggest city in my district at the time, so more apartments. The local paper speculated I had moved to "strengthen my power base." Later I moved to a bigger apartment that was across from the "Tower of Power," a local drug store/snack bar owned by a city councilor, friend of the local councilor who had been talked up as my next opponent. Since he and a lot of local Democrat pols met there in the morning for coffee, there was speculation that I was spying on him, or at least keeping tabs. And some that I might run against him for the City Council (you could hold both state and local office at the time--and some fools did!) Nope, I just liked the bigger apartment with a fireplace.
Donald Trump is headed to a rendezvous with obscurity.
The way customer service if going in this country, I expect to soon see businesses offering coupons saying, "Come shop with us and we will give you a Personal Thank You for your business. Limit one per customer. Not valid on holidays or the two weeks before Christmas. Coupon expires December 31.
I expect in years to come, the techies will mock the old fashioned folks who still practice analog sex. Glad I won't be here.
Sometimes I plug in my GPS and put it on mute so it can have fun "recalculating" without annoying me.
In our efforts to spare the non-productive embarrassment and preserve their self-esteem, we have made charity by taxpayers both mandatory and something they deserve. They now describe their dole payments as "getting paid." Thugs have picked up the terminology for robbing someone as though these drones have all earned their largess and are entitled to it.
I heat up about three times as much coffee as I drink. The same cup often goes in the microwave several times before I finish it.
People tend to believe what they want to believe. No past statements by Donald Trump contradicting current statements, no exposure of lies by Hillary Clinton about her server, can shake their faith in their candidate. This is true for rabid supporters on both sides of the political aisle.
When planning menus, I always first ask myself the key nutritional question: What in the refrigerator needs to go. This is followed by: How hard will it be to make?
Given that Obama and company claim that Islamist murderers aren't really Islamic, I'm surprised he doesn't claim that black murderers--of which there are many, mostly killing other blacks--are not really black.
If we had today's Democrats in the Senate in 1941, they would have filibustered the declaration of war against Japan after Pearl Harbor.
Progressive economics might be called "Déjà Voodoo."
From my friend Tom: "Hillary has promised more (if unspecified) gun control if elected, even taking "executive action" if necessary. Doesn't she know it was "executive action" to impose gun control that led to the Battles of Lexington and Concord?"
When I see a TV ad that says, "Be one of the first 500 to call and save $50 off your first order!" I figure that if I called, the odds of my being "one of the first 500" and thus getting the "discount" are 100%. But I don't call, so I'll never know.
Deceit, stupidity, corruption, greed, evil, meanness--all the evil and also all the good characteristics of men and women admit of no restrictions of race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity. If you have a bias for or against individuals based on their group, you will be wrong as often as right. The exception, of course, is self-selected groups such as Nazis, Communists, gang members, etc. And you might find exceptions even there.
There are those who claim Obama would steal candy from a baby. But the real problem is that he doesn't have to. He merely has to tell his minions that he wants candy and they will spread the talking points through the sycophantic media, which will convince the low-info public that Obama is entitled to the candy and that for the baby to withhold it is racist--the kid must "pay his fair share."
I would not be surprised if Obama's open borders policy results in bloody violence between Mexican cartel thugs and black inner city thugs who resent the outsiders moving into their territory.
Tesla's new electric powered (thus taxpayer-subsidized) Model X SUV is expected to cost from $80,000 to $142,000. I think it's sweet that your tax dollars are subsidizing a toy for the rich that you will never be able to afford. Very generous of you.
2015: President Obama says Putin campaign in Syria a sign of weakness.
2016: President Obama says Putin campaign in Baltic Republics a sign of weakness.
2017: President Sanders says Putin campaign in Poland a sign of weakness.
2018: President Sanders says Putin campaign in France a.....
PT Barnum supposedly said that there's a sucker born every minute. I would add that there's a new way to take the sucker developed every hour. Yes, I'm thinking of the explosion of betting on fantasy league sports.
Madison, WI where I live is a lovely town. Unfortunately it got high during the sixties and still has the hangover.
I think the next DSM should include a new mental illness: Pain-in-the-ass Personality Disorder.
If it wasn't for window-dressing a lot of government agencies and programs could qualify as nudist resorts.
Since many successful CEOs receive options as part of their compensation package, I wonder if the Planned Parenthood CEO has a Baby Parts Futures Option in her contract. Might be better than the cattle futures where Hillary invested $1,000, cashed out at $100,000 in a short period of time.
Abortion is nothing new. Before the war, a New York abortionist, a Madame Restall, was so famous that she was known as "Madame Killer." When she went out young boys would holler at her that her house was built on babies skulls. She committed suicide when her place was raided. That was before the Civil War, BTW.
People say we need more compromise in politics. Yes, indeed, we might have avoided WWII if we had been willing to compromise and let Hitler kill half the Jews and rule half of Europe. Some compromises are repugnant to the soul...for those who have one. And Hitler and Stalin compromised to launch WWII by each taking half of Poland. Of course, that didn't last and Germany invaded the homeland of their ally, the USSR in 1942. Thus with a lot of compromise. You offer half a loaf, the other sides accepts it and then is back the next day for the other half. It is why the NRA won't accept any compromise on guns--they know the other side wants a disarmed population. And why the pro-choice folks won't accept any compromise on Abortion--they know the pro-life people want to ban all abortions. A compromise with a tiger only holds until the Tiger get hungry again.
The Pentagon says Putin is lying about Syria. They figured it out when he said, "If you like your peace plan, you can keep your peace plan."
Barring real disasters like death, serious illness, accident, or fire, what most Americans consider a bad day is a far better day than 3/4 of the people in the world are having.
I notice now all the toy guns have orange plastic tips, so people, especially cops, know they are toys. Luckily for us, the crooks are too dumb to notice this, or they could glue orange tips on their real guns so the cops would hesitate to shoot them...
Not everyone wears Che Guevara tee shirts. It's a tiny minority of extremists who have hijacked peaceful college students' brains.
I'm so old I remember when the left thought the government was too powerful and was oppressing them.
Hate Speech, n. When you disagree with as progressive about something and he wants the government to silence you.
36,000 Americans died in Korea and 58,000 in Vietnam fighting against governments who wanted to implement Bernie Sander's ideas though coercion.
Donald Trump says if he had been president, he would have stopped 9/11 by closing the borders. Too bad he wasn't elected in 1940-he could have closed the borders of Hawaii and kept the Japanese from attacking Pearl.
If a place needs a bouncer, you may not want to spend time there.
If we do not do something about the debt ($18T) and the far larger unfunded liability (funds the government has promised to spend for things like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and Obamacare, but does not have in the bank, estimated between $87T and $245T depending on who estimates, how far out you count and what things you count), we will have a fiscal collapse. If we do try to do something serious about it, those receiving the largess, which if you count crony capitalism probably includes two thirds of the population, will go to the polls and throw out the skinflints, putting in those who promise the most spending (Hillary, Bernie, etc.). I recently bought ten Zimbabwe bills totaling $950M on EBay for $8 bucks. That is where we are headed. It will destroy all retirement savings and capital. Then the society.
I have read that 97% of workplace fatalities are men, that men work longer hours than women on average, and that women live seven years longer than men on average. When will the gender inequality end? We need a national campaign. Oh, and women get to have multiple organisms as well! #MaleLivesMatter
Anyone who brings out facts the left doesn't like is demonized and called evil names: racist, Nazi, sexist, KKK, insane, nut, extremist, radical, out-of-touch, fanatic, fringe, etc. They then feel fully justified in ignoring the facts they don't like.
As another gift of the Prednisone I have to take to prevent rejection of my lung transplant, I now have osteoporosis. But I'm not all bent out of shape about it.
If through fortune, talent or effort you are successful, you will be the target of envy. And envy's weapon is often lies.
Coulda, shoulda, woulda buys no beer.
Local hospice has marketing billboards that read, "Dad deserves to live in dignity." I'd have gone with, "Dad deserves to croak in comfort."
In Madison there are a lot of bumper stickers that say, "Share the road with bikes." Only makes sense. Running over one results in a lot of God-awful paperwork.
The more Muslims the Germans let in, the more chance of terrorism and fiscal ruin...and then the rise of a new Hitler.
Power corrupts, yes. Power attracts sycophants and supplicants, certainly. But power is necessary to accomplish anything, even if it is only the power of your own brain and muscles.
Any day that starts out dark is behind the curve.
Violence is one of the leading causes of death for absolute rulers. Three of Islam's first four "rightly guided" Caliphs died violently. The number of English and Scottish kings who died of violence is so extensive it would take a lot of time to research.
Beware of the soulless sociopaths of socialistic states.
My weight is like gas prices, going up in big jumps, back down in small increments.
Be most cautious of those things you believe without question.
Infidels trying to placate Islam is like Jews trying to placate the National Socialists or blacks trying to placate the Democrat-founded Klan.
They keep saying we have too many blacks in prison. The solution is simple. We just make it legal for blacks to commit robbery, sell drugs, assault and commit murder. Since most of their victims are decent black folks or other black thugs, it won't hurt us White Privilege folks too much. But I bet the number of concealed carry licenses goes up in black neighborhoods.
Just as some people are born ugly of face, others may be fair in appearance, but are born ugly of heart and deficient of soul. Better the first.
To hell with Drugs and Rock and Roll, give me Folk and Alcohol!
The Democrats used to "lean left" as the commentators say. No longer. The party is now so far left it has to pretend to lean a little right to keep the low-info voters in line.
Most of my mail asks for money. Most of the organizations writing don't get it.
The choice in the Middle East seems to always be between oppressive dictators who don't make trouble for us and more oppressive theocracies that make trouble for everyone. Faced with two bad choices, Obama/Clinton/Kerry always choose the greater of two evils.
Funny how the same "liberals" who said it was racist to disagree with Obama's policies, and that saying anything negative about him made you a "hater," now feel free to call Ben Carson stupid, nuts, crazy, and insane. Imagine their reaction if you said that about Obama. Well, don't imagine--some right-wingers did, to the predictable response.
The people who complain the loudest about being offended are those who most enjoy the opportunity it gives them to play they victim. They see a benefit to themselves from being offended.
You cannot separate politics from economics. If you don't understand economics, your political opinions are worthless. And if your political opinions shape your economic thinking rather than the other way around, you are intellectually dishonest.
Inside every progressive is a Stalin or Mao, biding his time.
My take on modern art: If I could do it, it ain't art!
A lot of Republicans are mush more interested in throwing people they consider RINOs--Republicans who don't agree with them on every issue--out of the party than they are in throwing Progressives out of the government. Once they do the party will be pure. So will the government--Pure Progressive. Until the fiscal collapse. Then my most likely scenario is local warlords.
People who feel compelled to aggressively proselytize their faith--including the deeply held, fervently believed faith that there is no God--seem to me to often be insecure in their beliefs, preaching more to reassure themselves than convert the unenlightened.
When Progressives say they are looking for new ideas, they mean they are looking for new justifications for old ideas that have repeatedly failed, but which the clink to as articles of quasi-religious faith. I have seen their future--and it doesn't work, to paraphrase an old liberal quote about the Soviets.
Life is more perilous for those who seek truth than for those who seek gold.
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
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.
*****
Posts
