Entries Tagged 'corruption' ↓

Originally published on 2.0: The Blogmocracy

‘Obamacare’ is full of nasty surprises…

…as I pointed out in my previous article, Another hidden zinger in Obamacare. But the inevitability of ‘death panels’ and ‘administrative euthanasia’ to ration government-controlled health care funds should have surprised nobody. It always happens with socialized medicine. It has already happened in the UK; just for starters, see This is your future under Obamacare.

With Obamacare, the government saves money every time it declares a drug ineffective…

…Does anybody see a conflict of interest here?

US breast cancer drug decision ‘marks start of death panels’

h/t: huckfunn

Nick Allen in Los Angeles and Andrew Hough
Published: 10:07PM BST 16 Aug 2010

A decision to rescind endorsement of the drug would reignite the highly charged debate over US health care reform and how much the state should spend on new and expensive treatments.

Avastin, the world’s best selling cancer drug, is primarily used to treat colon cancer and was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2008 for use on women with breast cancer that has spread.

It costs $8,000 (£5,000) a month and is given to about 17,500 women in the US a year. The drug was initially approved after a study found that, by preventing blood flow to tumours, it extended the amount of time until the disease worsened by more than five months. However, two new studies have shown that the drug may not even extend life by an extra month.

The FDA advisory panel has now voted 12-1 to drop the endorsement for breast cancer treatment. The panel unusually cited “effectiveness” grounds for the decision. But it has been claimed that “cost effectiveness” was the real reason ahead of reforms in which the government will extend health insurance to the poorest.

If the approval of the drug is revoked then US insurers would be likely to stop paying for Avastin.

Read the rest.

The Deadly Pact: How Obamacare will ‘Save’ Money

By John Griffing

Andy Griffith, the former TV Sheriff of Mayberry and guardian of small town America, is now the national spokesman for ObamaCare. More specifically, this venerable gentleman is the spokesman for the new Medicare. Apparently Griffith is under the naïve belief that ObamaCare is a genuinely good thing for seniors. As much as it pains me to say this, Griffith is dead wrong. ObamaCare is a fatal bargain for seniors, and all Americans.

Although media reports covering ObamaCare have centered mainly on the health insurance mandate and hidden tax increases, the real danger of ObamaCare lies in the official sanction of “mercy death” for America’s seniors as a means of reducing federal medical outlays. No, ObamaCare doesn’t say this outright. It simply limits hospital readmissions for those using Medicare, thereafter automatically committing said Medicare recipients to hospice facilities, called “community-based care.”

Read the rest.

Obamacare opponents need to protest as vociferously as possible!

Why? Because, at least some of the time, it works.

Obama wasn’t the first corrupt Chicago politician to pay a price for tampering with America’s health care. Obama failed to learn from the example of Dan Rostenkowski. By their efforts to force Americans into socialized medicine, both have revealed their arrogant and self-serving natures, and both have permanently alienated many supporters that neither could afford to lose.

Is Obamacare Having a Rostenkowski Moment?

Politico reports:

Angry protesters shouted down Democrats at public events from Texas to Pennsylvania over the weekend, leaving the party only one real hope for getting its message out over recess: a backlash. In Austin, Texas, Rep.Lloyd Doggettwas drowned out by a group of noisy, sign-waving demonstrators who shouted, “Just say no” as he tried to talk abouthealth care reform. … In Morrisville, Pa., Rep. Patrick Murphy was forced to scrap plans for a one-on-one meet-the-congressman session when people in the crowd started shouting. Murphy switched to a town hall format mid-event and even then had to ask the audience at times to “be respectful.” And at a healthcare event in Philadelphia, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were repeatedly interrupted by booing and heckling. “We can shout at one another, or we can leave the stage,” Sebelius said at one point. “It’s up to you.”

I’m old enough to remember not just Hillarycare, but also the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988:

The 1988 Catastrophic Act focused on providing protection against catastrophic medical expenses under Medicare. Specifically, the Act expanded the Medicare program to provide protection against catastrophic medical expenses and for the first time, provided coverage under the Medicare program for prescription drugs. To pay for these benefit expansions, a new supplemental premium tax on all persons eligible for Medicare was enacted.

Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means Dan Rostenkowski lead the charge for the 1988 Act and paid a price. The Chicago Tribune from August 19, 1989 tells the story:

Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, one of the most powerful politicians in the United States, was booed and chased down a Chicago street Thursday morning by a group of senior citizens after he refused to talk with them about federal health insurance. Shouting “Coward,” “Recall” and “Impeach,” about 50 people followed the chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee up Milwaukee Avenue after he left a meeting in the auditorium of the Copernicus Center, 3106 N. Milwaukee Ave., in the heart of his 8th Congressional District on the city’s Northwest Side.

Eventually, the 6-foot-4-inch Rostenkowski cut through a gas station, broke into a sprint and escaped into his car, which minutes earlier had one of the elderly protesters, Leona Kozien, draped over the hood. Kozien, one of more than 100 senior citizens who attended the gathering, said she had hoped to talk to Rostenkowski, her congressman, at the meeting.

But Rostenkowski clearly did not want to talk with her, or any of the others who had come to tell their complaints about the high cost of federal catastrophic health insurance. “These people don’t understand what the government is trying to do for them,” the 61-year-old congressman complained as he tried to outpace his pursuers. [PB: I think they understood all too well.]

…
The law was repealed…

Read the rest.

Epilogue

Rostenkowski eventually was indicted and sent to prison for corruption. Following his indictment, he lost his congressional seat to Republican Michael Flanagan. Unfortunately, Flanagan was, in turn, defeated by the politically well-connected Rod Blagojevic, who later became governor of Illinois. As of this writing Blago is on trial for, among other things, selling Obama’s vacant Senate seat. Dan Rostenkowski died on August 11, 2010.

Also see:

American Thinker: Two Cheers for Old-Fashioned Political Scoundrels

From the mailbox at 1389 Blog:

Date: Wed, July 21, 2010 4:33:05 PM
From: Sparta
To: 1389 Blog Mailbox
Cc: J.D. Hayworth
Subject: List of Arizona newspapers, email and links.

Please try and write as many letters to the Arizona papers as you can supporting J.D. Hayworth against John McCain.
Stella

Received from J.D. Hayworth Team:

We receive many emails, however we do not always get to respond to them all. We do our best and are grateful for your patience in the meantime.

We are less than 60 days to the August 24th Arizona Republican primary. J.D. and Team Hayworth ask for your patience as we focus on the task at hand.

The support for J.D. Hayworth has been overwhelming and we are grateful everything that has been done to help us on the way.

Please feel free to visit J.D.’s website: jdforsenate.com

We thank you for your continued support.

Team Hayworth

Contact information for Arizona newspapers:

Online List of Arizona Newspapers: http://www.usnpl.com/aznews.php

The Arizona Republic – online email form, limit 200 words:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html

Arizona Daily Sun:
Email: azdesnews@azdailysun.com

East Valley Tribune/Scottsdale Tribune
Submit letters: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/submissions/?mode=letters
Phone number: 480-TRIBUNE 480-898-6500
Mailing address: 120 W. 1st Ave. Mesa, AZ 85210
Email: sitefeedback@evtrib.com

Arizona Daily Star
Physical address: 4850 S. Park Ave. Tucson, AZ 85714
Mailing address: P.O. Box 26807, Tucson, AZ 85726-6807
Email: letters@azstarnet.com
Letters must include the author’s full name, address, occupation and daytime phone number. If the letter is on a political subject, writers must disclose any affiliation to a political campaign and/or candidate. Maximum length is 150 words. All letters may be edited for clarity or shortened to fit the allocated space. Because of the volume of letters, we cannot acknowledge unpublished letters. All letter submissions become the property of the Arizona Daily Star.

The Daily Courier
Physical address: 1958 Commerce Center Circle, Prescott, Arizona 86301
Mailing address: P.O. Box 312, Prescott, AZ 86302
Phone: (928) 445-3333
Email: editorial@prescottaz.com

InMaricopa.com
News@InMaricopa.com – Editorial-related inquiries
Photos@InMaricopa.com – Submit photos to be considered for publication
Phone: (520) 568-0040
Editorial department ext. 103 – or (602) 549-0361 after hours
News – Ext. 3
Fax: (520) 568-0050
Mailing address: P.O. Box 1018 Maricopa, AZ 85139
Physical address: 19756 N. John Wayne Parkway, Suite 100 Maricopa, AZ 85139

Navajo-Hopi Observer
Mailing address: 2224 E. Cedar Avenue, Suite 2, Flagstaff, Arizona 86004
Main Switchboard: (928) 226-9696
Fax: (928) 226-1115
Toll Free: 1-877-627-3787
Editorial: (928) 226-9696
Email: nhoeditorial@nhonews.com
Breaking news and story ideas: http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/Formlayout.asp?formcall=userform&form=13

Sedona Times
http://sedonatimes.com/contact/
http://sedonatimes.com/submit-article/
To contact the Sedona Times, email Publisher@SedonaTimes.com or contact Tommy Acosta, Editor at tommytheeporter@aol.com.
Mailing address: PO Box 3814, Sedona AZ 86340.

Palo Verde Valley Times/Quartzsite Times
Physical address: 153 S. Broadway Blythe, CA 92225
Mailing address: P.O. Box 1159, Blythe, CA 92226
Main Switchboard: (760) 922-3181
Toll-Free: (800) 398-7193
Editorial: (760) 922-3181 mbachman@paloverdevalleytimes.com
News tips, breaking news, story ideas: http://www.paloverdevalleytimes.com/Formlayout.asp?formcall=userform&form=13

Kingman Daily Miner
Mailing address: 3015 Stockton Hill Road Kingman, Arizona 86401
Main switchboard: (928) 753-6397
Editorial: opinion@kingmandailyminer.com
Breaking news and story ideas: http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/Formlayout.asp?formcall=userform&form=13

Arizona Daily Wildcat
An independent news organization serving the University of Arizona since 1899
Mailing address: 615 N. Park Ave, Tucson AZ 85719
http://wildcat.arizona.edu/about/contact
Editor-in-Chief: Colin Darland 520-621-7579 cdarland@email.arizona.edu
Opinions Editor: Heather Price Wright letters@wildcat.arizona.edu

Blogs:

• http://sonoranalliance.com/
• http://seeingredaz.wordpress.com/
• http://tucsongrowup.com/

Some background:

Date: Tue, July 20, 2010 2:38:08 PM
From: Sparta
To: 1389
Subject: ANOTHER APPEAL!!!

This is another appeal – McCain must go!

I just sent a letter to The Arizona Republic regarding McCain’s bid for re-election in which he is being challenged in the Republican Primary Election on 24 Aug. If I do not hear from The Arizona Republic within the next few days, I will post my letter. In my letter, I concentrated on McCain’s support for granting amnesty to illegal aliens and his efforts to restrict free speech with restictions on campaign finances. In my letter, I also wrote, “where has McCain been for the past 24 plus years?” When he did nothing to secure our borders? I also added that McCain is the best reason why there should be term limits. However, I would hope that some of you will send letters more to do with McCain’s connections to the Kosovo Liberation Army. May I add that it must be done diplomatically (I know that will be difficult to do!)

To send a letter to The Arizona Republic, you can go to: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html The limit is 200 words.

I also found the email address for the Arizona Daily Sun: azdesnews@azdailysun.com

Now, here is where you can be a big help. If anyone knows or can find out the names of the different Arizona newspapers and their email address for letters to the editor(s), it would be most helpful. If anyone can do that, please post so that we can write to them also.

But how about that McCain? Where has he been for the past 24 plus years? He was once even in favor of amnesty for illegals (McCain-Kennedy Amnesty Plan) but now he is saying what he thinks the people want to hear and all of a sudden, supports securing our borders. What a hypocrite – see: McCain supports amnesty, says immigration activist and Kennedy-McCain Amnesty Plan Falls Flat.

Illegal Mexicans are crossing into the United States as easily as Albanians crossed illegally into Kosovo. If only Kosovo had been able to secure its borders, it would be a different story today. Unfortunately, we have a president who is siding with the President of Mexico against his own people.

I am, of course, supporting J.D. Hayworth, especially after McCain’s support of the Muslim jihadists in Kosovo – and then he claims to be the best one regarding our homeland security. He didn’t mind turning Kosovo over to a bunch of Muslim war lords. See: McCain and the KLA Connection

See: Allah’s Willing Executioners, March 2008 and scroll down to see the picture of Cindy McCain with Kosovo’s war lord, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. Kind of unbelieveable, isn’t it, that we would support Muslim KLA terrorists over the Christian Serbs?

I understand that there are at least four or five other states that have even stricter immigration laws than Arizona’s, but if the governors of all the states had any gumption, they would all openly support Arizona – but then, that may be asking too much?????

I just hope my Serbian friends remember just who this guy McCain is when the Republican Primary Election rolls around on 24 August by sending contributions to J.D. Hayworth. I want McCain to go down!

Remember: “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing.” – Edmund Burke – 17th-century scholar and philosopher.

Mailing address for contributions for J.D. Hayworth: JD 2010 P.O. Box 28604 Scottsdale, Arizona 85255. General Inquires: Contact info@jdforsenate.com or (602) 923-3823

Good luck!!! And as Bill Dorich always says, “Onward and Upward!!!”

Stella

From: Sparta
To: Bob Djurdjevic
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2010 6:27 AM
Subject: Re: Arizona Immigration Gone Awry: Why Rape Victim Had to Defend Herself (July 15)

Hi Bob, Good article!

How about that McCain? Where has he been for the past 24 plus years? He was once even in favor of amnesty for illegals (McCain-Kennedy Amnesty Plan) but now that it is popular, all of a sudden McCain is for border control. What a hypocrite – see: McCain supports amnesty, says immigration activist and Kennedy-McCain Amnesty Plan Falls Flat.

We are, of course, supporting J.D. Hayworth, especially after McCain’s support of the Muslim jihadists in Kosovo – and then he claims to be the best one regarding our homeland security. He didn’t mind turning Kosovo over to a bunch of Muslim war lords. See: McCain and the KLA Connection

See: Allah’s Willing Executioners, March 2008 and scroll down to see the picture of Cindy McCain with Kosovo’s war lord, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. Kind of unbelieveable, isn’t it, that we would support Muslim KLA terrorists over the Christian Serbs?

I just hope the Serbs remember just who this guy is when election times rolls around and send money to Hayworth. I want McCain to go down!

I understand that there are at least four other states that have even stricter immigration laws – And how about a president that supports the president of Mexico over his own people? If the governors of all the states had any gumption, they would all openly support Arizona – but then, that may be asking too much?????

Cheers,

Stella

Info on J.D. Hayworth: info@jdforsenate.com and media@jdforsenate.com

Mailing address for contributions for J.D. Hayworth: JD 2010 P.O. Box 28604 Scottsdale, Arizona 85255 (602) 923-3823

—– Original Message —–
From: Bob Djurdjevic
To: Truth in Media
Sent: Friday, July 16, 2010 1:07 AM
Subject: Arizona Immigration Gone Awry: Why Rape Victim Had to Defend Herself (July 15)

FROM HAIKU, MAUI

Hello everybody. As you know, I don’t write many Truth in Media editorials these days, or years for that matter. But when something outrageous happens, such as the anti-G20 protests in Toronto, or the new information that just crossed my desk about Arizona’s illegal immigration that calls for the real TRUTH to emerge, well… I answer the call. Check it out…

A few months ago, a groups of friends sat around the table here in Hawaii and debated Arizona’s new immigration law. The law was seen as “racist,” “bad,” “unlawful,” “unconstitutional,” etc. by most people. Strike “most.” Make that ALL participants in the discussion. Of course, they were merely echoing the so-called “liberal” media headlines.
Except for one. As the only Arizonan in the group, this writer finally asked the question: “So are you saying that it is unlawful to uphold the law and make something illegal – illegal?”

My Hawaiian friends argued that since immigration is a purview of the Federal Government, a state has no right to enforce the federal laws.

But what if such federal law enforcement is slim to none? What is a state or a citizen supposed to do if their properties, land, nature, and foremost of all – their physical and economic security – are being blatantly violated while the Feds do next to nothing to prevent the carnage? Sit back and watch it being destroyed so that some American businesses can benefit from cheaper labor?

Well, it is easy to cast stones at our beleaguered border states, such as Arizona, while sitting in an office in Manhattan or Hollywood, or while debating immigration over fish dinners in Hawaii or Seattle. But as one who still considers Arizona his original American home, my heart cried out in outrage when I watched the following videos, just released by the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, DC:

Floodgates which opened in 1965 with Immigration Act are now gushing more than BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil gusher.

Arizona Immigration Gone Awry: Why Rape Victim Had to Defend Herself

New documentary video, released by Center for Immigration Studies helps explain, vindicates Arizona’s new immigration law: A case of self-defense.

Love

Bob

By 1389

It’s time to stir the pot some more

My last post on the brouhaha at Grouchy Conservative Pundits (GCP) was harshly worded indeed, but nonetheless it was not harshly worded enough. I haven’t rattled enough cages yet. Until I start getting some hate mail, enraged comments in all kinds of languages, and maybe even some juicy death threats, I never know if I’m getting my message out, rather than just preaching to the choir.

Lots of people talk about respect…

Talk is cheap. If you’re going to play that game with me, you’ll have to ante up. I believe in giving respect ONLY where respect is due. People who want my respect have to earn it, and they cannot earn it by spewing flagrant and undeserved disrespect toward me and others, as did “Mike C.” and “Rayra” on GCP.

Intellect alone is not deserving of respect; it depends on what people do with it. I have known many people far more intelligent than those two, and who behave far better.

Current or former military service (assuming these people are who they say they are, and I have my doubts) in and of itself is not enough to earn my respect either; there are just as many despicable people among the military and former military as there are everywhere else. I had a recent ex-boss of that description; he was, and is, a crook who treated me like dirt and then got rid of me by transferring me to another position where I would not be paid as much as my contract specified, simply because I didn’t play along with his chicanery in manipulating department budgets. That ex-boss was one more example of the fact that the most consistently untrustworthy people out there are the ones who always talk the loudest about “having someone else’s back.” Yeah, right…with a knife between the ribs.

As far as military personnel are concerned, don’t even get me started on those US military who willingly took part in the bombing of the Serbs during the Kosovo War, or who failed (and still fail) to protect the lives, property, and freedom of the Serbs in occupied Kosovo. Every officer involved should have resigned their commissions. Those who failed to resign have genocide on their consciences, though I doubt that any of them will ever admit it.

Is he or isn’t he? Only his gardener knows for sure

As I said, I cannot determine for sure whether or not “Rayra” is a plant. It’s just as likely that “Rayra” is merely a deeply angry, confused, frightened, and mentally and emotionally unstable individual who is too impulsive to think anything through, can never admit being wrong about anything, sees no reason to learn to control his temper, has no respect for women or anybody he considers to be weaker than himself, has no interest in where anybody else is coming from, and lashes out blindly at anybody or anything that he sees as a threat to his ego or to his self-centered world view. Or he could simply be an outright psychopath; I’ve had the misfortune to be acquainted with a few of those too.

For obvious reasons, I would never WANT somebody like “Rayra” even to claim to be on my side. He is more a danger to his friends, such as they are, than to his enemies.

But whether “Rayra” is actually a plant isn’t the most important concern here. The point is that, whether “Rayra” intends it or not, his intemperate and misguided remarks further the interests of expanding the corrupt and tyrannical use of federal government power.

Why do so many people hate Russia?

As I mentioned in my earlier post, a truly irrational hatred of Russia is rife on GCP, and anybody who says a word in favor of Russia becomes a target. I have reason to believe that Russia is not only far less of a “despotism” than the US, but also it runs the country in the interest of its own citizens, its economy is growing instead of collapsing, it respects Christianity, and its leaders are loyal to their own country. Russia is nothing like its portrayal in the mainstream media.

We are acquainted with an American expat who has lived near Moscow for many years, and we get some information about what is going on in Russia from the inside. Also, one of our friends is an amateur astronomer who travels all over the world whenever there is an eclipse. He’s a rock-solid conservative Republican and has been so for many decades. He went to Russia the last time there was an eclipse there, and he liked it so much that he seriously considered blowing off the eclipse-viewing to spend more time traveling in Russia and meeting Russians.

No, I don’t agree with everything that the Russian government does, just as I will never agree with everything that any government does. We live in a fallen world and all governments are fallible. But I can well understand why, at this stage, Russia is a rival of the US and not an ally. Yes, Russia COULD have been an ally, but Americans blew the opportunity through our own selfishness and ambition. The carpetbaggers that came over to Russia from Harvard and the liberal think-tanks after the Berlin Wall came down inflicted incredible damage; they are the ones to blame for letting the oligarchs and gangsters take hold for as long as they did. Since that time, Putin and Medvedev have made considerable inroads against the oligarchs and gangsters. They’ve also instituted a flat tax that is not excessively high, they collect it even-handedly, and unlike the US, they don’t double-tax Russian citizens earning money overseas. If they’ve had to play rough against the Chechen jihadis and the media whores and NGOs that support the jihadis, then good for them.

I understand that many people continue to harbor suspicion and hatred against Russia as a result of the heritage of the Cold War. I myself was as ardent a supporter of the US during the Cold War as anybody could be. However, in the present day, such hatred against Russia is counterproductive and it sinks to the level of irrational bigotry. I haven’t observed the same degree of opprobrium leveled at China, our other Cold War enemy, even though China is much less free than Russia, China is not primarily a Christian country, China is more of a rival to us than Russia is, and the remnants of communism persist much more strongly there.

Pot, meet kettle

I would no more condemn Putin for having been in the KGB in the distant past, than I would condemn George H. W. Bush for having headed the CIA, which has done little to protect us, and much to get us into needless trouble. At least Putin is a Christian who has repented of whatever wrongdoing he has committed in that regard. Can you imagine an American president ever repenting of anything? I sure can’t. I doubt that we’ve had a real Christian president since Ronald Reagan, despite numerous photo-ops intended to prove the contrary.

Anybody can see that we have an even bigger mess in the US. What inroads has our federal government made against the Latin-American drug gangs, the SEIU, George Soros and his circle of oligarchs, the traitors at the New York Times and CNN, the traitors in the State Department, the commies in our universities, the crooks who run Detroit and Chicago, and last but not least, the jihadis that infest every corner of the US?

Shooting the messenger

Of course, it sent many people on GCP into fits of outrage to hear me say that Russia, despite its current rivalry with the US, has been cleaning up its internal messes, while the US has been sinking into an abyss. Their response was to shoot the messenger.

And why do so many people hate the Serbs?

There is plenty of evidence that they hate the Serbs over at GCP. This is ironic, considering that GCP was founded by people banned from Little Green Footballs, and considering that I was banned from Little Green Footballs for supporting the Serbs. Their antipathy toward the Serbs also serves to explain some of their hatred toward Russia, simply because the Russians have made some efforts to help the Serbs.

The US government, along with NATO and the EU, is still doing everything it can to destroy the economy and livelihood and what little remains of the sovereignty and culture of the Serbs, in order to help the jihadis to create a stronghold in the Balkans. And that includes the US military. I don’t even want to think about how many people on GCP might have been personally involved in one way or another. That’s between them and their Maker.

This foreign policy is not merely stupid, it sinks to the level of treason. The whole purpose of throwing the Serbs under the bus is to curry favor with the Saudis and other Muslim oil-producing nations. A lot of good that has done us! We would have done better just to colonize them and take over and de-Islamize the Middle East just as we once de-Nazified western Europe. As anybody could have predicted, like every other bunch of totalitarians, the jihadis are inherently evil and they will always bite the hands that feed them, which is what led to 9-11.

Does that statement surprise you? In case you don’t know, Osama bin Laden travels on a Bosnian Muslim passport granted to him by the late Alija Izetbegovic, who was literally a Nazi. It is not appropriate to invoke Godwin’s Law here, because we’re talking about an actual Nazi of the Third Reich. Notice that I do not call Izetbegovic an ex-Nazi, in that he was a lifelong unrepentant Nazi who recruited for Hitler as a young man. And the US government sided with Izetbegovic in the Bosnian War.

This collaboration with the jihadis in the Balkans has been going on ever since Reagan left office. I have grave doubts about the moral worth of the American people for consistently electing governments that support our enemies in this way. How am I supposed to be loyal to a government that is collaborating with our enemies? If I had been in Norway during the Second World War, should I have been loyal to Vidkun Quisling?

I harbor a faint hope that enough people in some state, somewhere in the US, will see the light in time to secede from a Quisling federal government that is deliberately laying us open to our enemies, so that at least some part of the US will be salvaged. If the turnaround doesn’t happen very soon, long before the 2012 election, it will be too late, and the America that we thought we knew will exist in name only.

Some will insist on remaining under the US federal government no matter what, so that their livelihood (and maybe their lives) will be bled away to support a socialist/jihadi federal tyranny that has chosen to represent not “American exceptionalism” or the “city on a hill” but the worst of all possible worlds. That’s their choice, but let them not claim their willful blindness as moral superiority.

The problems with the grotesquely misnamed Human Rights Watch extend far beyond this closet Nazi fetishist.

The entire organization is corrupt, and the same is true of Amnesty International.

Read these articles to find out why:

• Nazi scandal engulfs Human Rights Watch
• Just the place for a lover of Nazi gear

Also see:

• Lock up the Gitmo lawyers – but put them somewhere other than Gitmo
• Amnesty International excludes film showing persecution of Serbs in occupied Kosovo
• Amnesty International reveals whose side it is on
• Other articles about Amnesty International

Hold their feet to the fire!

Get the full-sized image here.

From Maggie’s Farm.

The American citizen and taxpayer is being raped. It’s as simple as that. It’s Chicago-style political thuggery writ large. Once this parasite takes hold of any part of the economy or the body politic, it uses every stratagem to bleed its host until nothing is left. Even if someone, somehow, manages to stop the “euthanasiator” from forcing through this particular round of national socialist “health care” legislation, it will keep coming back around again and again and again, because the system is broken.

What to do? The options are capitulation to tyranny (unacceptable to me), violence (counterproductive, in that it gives the tyrants more excuses for repressive measures), and departure from the totalitarian state.

Departure en masse means secession. True, it was thwarted – temporarily - in the US in the 1860s, but much more recently it succeeded, without bloodshed, with the “Velvet Divorce” in Czechoslovakia. If sufficiently many citizens of sufficiently many states want it, it’ll happen.

Don’t let the leftists fool you! The growing demand for secession in the US has nothing to do with bringing back slavery. Quite the contrary; secession has everything to do with protecting ourselves from being enslaved to a tyrannical federal government.

I have posted some tea party, state sovereignty, and Southern regional links in the 1389 Links blogroll in the sidebar of this log. The movement has been quite active in South Carolina and elsewhere. If you have any more links, by all means, post them here and let me know. There’s still time to get involved.

Departure as an individual means expatriation. That’s a drastic measure, but if you have some marketable skills and some ability to acquire another language, there are some options. If you think you might be interested, read the articles here and here.

We will be blogging more about secession at 1389 Blog.

Read this article on JihadWatch, and ESPECIALLY be sure to read the comments:

Senior Amnesty International official accuses it of putting rights of jihadis before those of their victims.

All NGOs are prone to corruption

The longer NGOs stay in business, the more corrupt they seem to become. The main problem is that NGOs shield themselves from accountability; they provide ways for unqualified and self-serving people to acquire money, influence, and power; and their income depends upon manipulating public opinion, which means garnering support from politicians, other bureaucracies, and the elite.

The Ground Reality blog suggests, “If you are an NGO, it’s time to laugh at yourself.” (Translation appears below the cartoon.) Perhaps it’d be funnier if it weren’t so tragic.