Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Janet: the Bobby Fischer of Political Chess

Many people were surprised when Janet Napolitano endorsed the candidacy of BHO in the primary, especially when the Arizona Democrats cast their ballots for Hillary. I wasn't one of them. Let me explain.

I first got to know Janet when she was Attorney General. Jon Kyl had successfully supported a bill on the Hill that was a landmark in helping victims of domestic violence. At that time I was working in an organization that had identified an effective violence prevention program and one of my board members had arranged a lunch meeting with Janet to see if we could engage her support for the work we were doing. The funding from the Feds was to be distributed by the state attorneys general.

My board member and I arrived at the restaurant early. We decided to go to our table as the place usually fills to capacity at lunchtime. Our meeting was scheduled for noon. By 12:15 we figured that she was a no-show. Just as we were about to order, in swept Janet and her assistant. She deftly worked the crowd on her way to our table and when she got to us, she took a seat that gave her maximum exposure. I watched her case the joint before she settled her attention on us.

My board member was a celebrity sucker and I could see that she lost focus and became a fawning fan. In a way this was perfect as I got to be in the observer's seat. As the conversation progressed, Janet described her recent campaign trip to Northern Arizona. She was testing the waters for a run for governor and had doubled down on a trip to that part of the state for official Attorney General business as an opportunity to survey the constituents on their prime policy issues. That narrative proved to be an insightful look into her motives and character.
I won't get all GW on you and say I looked into her soul and.... but I will say that I agree with the poet, the eyes are the windows to the soul. What I saw during that conversation was validated over and over again by her actions as both AG and governor was the thirst for and need for power.

During our conversation that day, she played my board member like a fiddle. Let me just say that this person had tons of cash and I am sure that Janet had done her preliminary "findings" on her prior to the meeting. She probably had dismissed me as I never have had tons of cash. And it was apparent that her focus and probably reason for the meeting was to make a connection with another significant donor.

Here's how she did it. Janet gave my board member her undivided attention. She directed her assistant to write down the significant points. She nodded in agreement at the appropriate time. The coup d'grace was when she told my board member that her assistant would be assigned to work on this project and he would report directly to her because this was an issue that mattered deeply to her. In fact, Janet stated, this was one of her top priorities for the year. Then she gathered herself up and signaled to her toady that it was time to leave. Being overly gracious, she held my board member's hand just a little longer and told her to keep in touch.

I pulled out my barf bag but my board member was convinced that we had a friend in high office and this project was a done deal.

Here's the rest of the story. Nothing ever happened with the request. No phone calls, no letters of support, no funding, no personal appearances, no contact with the toady. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. But at the next board meeting guess who was wearing a Janet button?

If you look at her tenure as governor, she was never an Arizonan. She followed the Democrat play book and depleted the state treasury saying it was for the children. She tested the waters and convinced enough people that she was tough on the boarder and crime. Never mind the facts that Arizona continues its educational decline, its loss of jobs and increases in foreclosures (as of this writing number 3 in the nation). Never mind that open boarders policies that have increased violent crime in the state. Never mind the dilution of the state Constitution to open the way for the imposition of more social engineering.

So America, be ready. As Secretary of Homeland Security, what is it that she is seeking to secure? Her power or America? Checkmate.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Barry, You're No JFK

It should have been predictable. Now that the media is claiming its first election victory, I should have known that they weren't finished. I thought that now that they had created a combination American Idol, West Wing, phony baloney empty suit president that they would make an attempt to return to journalism instead of screen writing. Boy was I wrong! Now they are colluding to create an aura of the return to Camelot, the reincarnation of the Kennedy administration.

Please, enough already. Let's set the record straight--Barry, you couldn't hold a candle to JFK. First and foremost JFK volunteered to serve his country as a member of the US Navy. He was a combat veteran and chose to enter even when he had a medical reason to be disqualified for service. The issue, a bad back, exacerbated by his war injuries, caused him a life of pain. He was Roman Catholic and ardently pro-life. He believed in limiting the scope of government and embraced tax cuts. He believed in a strong military and was staunchly anti-communist. He embraced civil rights and sought to end institutional racism.

BHO is anti-military. He has time and time again attacked our men and women in service accusing them of acts of violence and torture. He has vowed to withdraw troops and reduce the size of the military. BHO wants to talk with our enemies while limiting the development of defensive weapon systems. As a young college graduate, BHO chose to spend time organizing and building a political machine instead of serving his country.Instead of writing about heroes he had know ala JFK's Profiles in Courage, BHO wrote two autobiographies outlining his drug use and radical associations.

No one is quite sure what religion BHO practices. I am not aware of any mainstream religion that embraces infanticide, unlimited abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage, curtailment of speech and forced redistribution of wealth. The closest match I can find is the tenets of humanism that are found in Das Kapital. Another difference between the two, BHO wants to expand the role of government and raise taxes. He uses racism as a tool in his attack arsenal and refuses to support the rights of those who don't support him politically. He admires current communist states, touting the wonders of China's construction.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Money Can Buy You an Election

The esteemed Arizona State University Regents' Professor of Psychology, Robert B. Cialdini, published the quintessential book Influence which describes how to manipulate people through specific marketing techniques. In this book he describes how people are put into positions of saying yes when they really wanted to say no. The book examines how human psychology is subject to influences that reach into the subconscious and trigger actions that don't make any logical sense. Previously these techniques have been used by sellers to get you to buy something that you didn't want. In election 2008, these same techniques were used to market a presidential product and they worked. I guarantee you that buyers remorse probably set in by Friday November 7th when the ersatz candidate removed all previous "promises" from his website.

Republicans as usual believe that elections are about issues. In a country that is center-right on all issues, it makes logical sense to think that the people would vote their values. So they spend their time and limited resources speaking to people about taxes, freedom, liberty and life. In a fair and free election on issues they would win hands down. What they are unwilling to admit, however, is that the left also knows this and refuses to engage in a discussion on the issues. They know that they are toast if they do so. Instead they create an image and sell that instead.

A few examples will suffice. John McCain challenged Obama to join him in a series of town halls across America to showcase the different points of view each held and to give the people a chance to see the differences and make a choice. But the tall drink of icy water refused. Why? He knew that the campaign wasn't about issues. For him it was about power. Next point. During the debates Obama looked like he was bored stiff. He sat back and looked as his nails. As one commentator put it, he looked like he was preparing to go on stage at an R&B concert. When it came time to speak, he regurgitated his script being sure to use "change" "George Bush" and "tax cut". While it was clear that John McCain won each debate on ideas, those polled consistently said Obama won. Why? He was the QVC of the presidential product line. He didn't have to say anything because he had become a brand.

By refusing public financing, his brand spent over $650 million dollars on a marketing campaign that had nothing to do with the truth. We will probably never know how much came indirectly from Soros and foreign operatives (Al-qaida anyone?). So what is the lesson to be learned here?

If Republicans keep acting like the British troops in the American Revolution they will continue to lose. Take a lesson from history. While King George's boys marched in formation which was the gentlemanly way to wage war, the American revolutionaries used guerrilla tactics and won.

Campaign 2008 marked a new era in politics. Republicans must reclaim the American brand. They must use the best tactics. Don't buy into an ersatz product. Reagan knew how to do it. Let's start today to rebrand and win.

Friday, November 7, 2008

When did he believe he was a god?

Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama……….”

The chants began to build during the early evening hours of November 4th until the man who had just become the 44th President of the United States emerged as a solitary figure on a raised platform. He paused in an eerie fashion that was reminiscent of an ancient Caesar, rotating slowly to drink in the nectar of adoration from those who had been promised anything and everything in exchange for their vote. He raised his magician like hands as he continued to manipulate his subjects into their trance like state where they continued their insidious mantra. Not once was any reference made to this country which had made his rise to power possible. Instead, the crowd much like Romans who encouraged the deification of Caesar continued: “Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama……….”

He proceeded to feed their hysteria: “I’ve heard your voices, I need your help.” No matter what he said the response was always the same: “Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama……….”

It was at this moment; perhaps, as he watched the frenzied mass of humanity that he made the leap in his mind to no longer see himself as mortal, but as divine. Could it be that through the prism of his tangled psychosis full of oedipal impulses and father abandonment issues a new self identity emerged? “Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama……….”

Perhaps this chanting triggered a memory of Louis Farrakhan’s proclaiming him earlier this year “ the messiah” and in combination with the dizzying drone of the faithful caused him to embrace this image as who he indeed is. “Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama……….”

No human can be a god. And when the frenzy dies down and the god Obama fails to deliver the manna from Washington, those who voted for him so they would be able to divest themselves from all personal responsibility find out is was a tissue of lies, will turn on him. What we have no way of knowing is will his “Et tu Brute?” be at the expense of the destruction of the American Republic?

“Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama, Obama……….”

Thursday, November 6, 2008

November 4, 2008: The Day the Republic Died

In the aftermath of the election of the first Kenyan-Indonesian, illegal alien President I must comment on the death of the American Republic as envisioned and enshrined in the founding documents of this nation. When Ben Franklin emerged from the first Constitutional Congress and was questioned as to what kind of government he and the delegates had decided, he stated, “A Republic, if you can keep it.“ During the 232 years of this experiment in self-government, Americans have demonstrated the capacity of a free people to prosper, to pursue happiness and to worship God who had created them and endowed them with inalienable rights which no government could take away. During these two centuries, when justifiable concerns were presented, the process of amendment woven into the constitutional framework allowed for those inequities to be redressed. For example, civil rights and women’s suffrage were incorporated into the original document and became part of the supreme law of the land.

So what went wrong? We have always had revolutionaries and contrarians. I can’t pinpoint the exact turning point, but I do know that the shift to embrace protected classes as more important than the majority redefined patriotism and those of us who love traditional values have been mocked, threatened, persecuted and scoffed.

In our fears, we the people have allowed leftists to discover a full range of new “rights” which they then affirmed with judicial fiats. At first it was the “penumbra” of rights in the 14th Amendment that allowed the Supreme Court to discover the right to murder babies in the womb and rename it a more sanitary “a woman’s right to choose.” This slippery slope led to, on Tuesday, another state created a right to murder anyone through “doctor assisted suicide.” Another state found another use for illegal drugs that could be legalized despite the mounds of medical research that shows otherwise.

Whatever caused the tipping point the result has been that the underlying formula of distinctive roles of the specific divisions within our constitutional system have been blurred. We no longer have the “walls of separation” among the judicial, legislative and executive branches of the federal government. We have also forgotten the hard won victory of the founders who in their foresight reserved the bulk of the power of governing to the “several states.” So within the Obama/Alinsky model of socialism now being sown into the fabric of our government, these poison seeds will soon sprout and grow as an entangling weed that promises to choke out any semblance of the original intent.

On Tuesday, 64 million “useful idiots” delivered the permission needed to complete the destruction from within. So as the 57 million of us who voted against the Marxist agenda watch, we wonder what the gleeful will do as policies are implemented that redefine our government which will include the “negative rights” to restrict speech, press, religion, trial by jury, or any other of our freedoms that interfere with the Obamaites desire to nationalize industry and seize wealth, including individual 401ks and annuities, for the “common good.” How will those who trampled on the flag and set fires as a means to celebrate the selection of Mr. Obama react, when his false promises to take care of all their needs are shown to be what they really were; nothing more than a cheap campaign trick to “buy” their votes?

Rest in peace, America. B. July 4, 1776 – d. November 4, 2008. May the story of the Republic survive as history and not legend. May some future generation be inspired by the testimony of this constitutional republic which embraced freedom and liberty, individual dignity and responsibility, and the acknowledgement of divinely given inalienable rights and fight again to restore what has been lost. Rest in peace, my beloved country.