Well, Bill Killian, the US Attorney in the Eastern District of Tennessee has ruled that it is now in violation of US civil rights law to criticize Islam or Sharia or Muhammad. Since Mr Holder has made no significant move to set aside this decision, one can assume that the US DOJ now implements Sharia as a legal basis for prosecuting US Citizens. 

I have been very quiet the last couple of months. I keep waiting for this administration to hit the bottom of the well of depravity and incompetence. Alas, we ain't there yet it would seem. I enjoy commenting on the ills of the US Government as it currently exists. There is always a wealth of things to comment on. However, there is such a thing as data overload. This occurs when the volume of insanity and misfeasance, exceeds the minds ability to comprehend it. I have passed that point I guess.  It is difficult for me to pick out one area of impropriety and stick with it long enough to address its shortcomings in any meaningful way. My mind flits from crisis to crisis and from scandal to scandal, I am unable to believe or understand why we put up with such crap. It appears that the majority of the American public is content to put up with anything so long as they get their piece of the pie. We as a nation deserve whatever comes along. Our unwillingness to act in a patriotic and forceful manner has doomed us to a strange  version of Orwell's 1984. 

I will, on this very day, pick up arms and join any cadre of patriotic Americans willing to stand on the green as the minutemen did at Concord and Lexington. Is there a leader of character and gravitas willing to lead? Probably not. Who will take up arms and march to Washington to place the villains in chains?  Who will stand en mass outside the White-house and demand that the usurper stand down and accept the will and judgement of the few Americans left to make that demand.

Is this a call to arms? Yes. We are well past the point where meaningful discussion will avail us of any relief. The current herd of politicians don't listen, they only make demands. And to make matters worse, they exempt themselves from the effects and hazards of that which they perpetrate on us..They deserve no hearing nor do they deserve quarter. They must be stripped of their power and authority, such as it is. We must return to strict Constitutional law or perish on the dust-heap of history just as the Romans and Ottomans did. No empire survives without moral and just leadership. We have neither.. 

Surprise! Surprise!

And this comes as new news how? At what point do we fully understand that there is only one party in Washington DC? The RepubliCrats are there to get rich while screwing the rest of us. They will say and do anything to accomplish this goal. Lying and deception come as naturally to  DC politicians as breathing. When do we grow a pair and put a stop to the pilliaging and rape of our country? When do we march on DC and kick the miscreants out of the people's Congress and the people's WhiteHouse? I suspect never. I don't see anyone willing to get their hands dirty, and, you can't handle poop without getting some on your hands.

Unless the Republic of Texas resurrects itself, I will remain here and watch the country I grew up in go down the tubes because the citizens haven't got what it takes to make it right. We will continue to let the takers dictate to the payers. We will continue to elect people to government whose only purposes are the ones stated above. Our collective shame is disgusting. Our apathy even more so.

GreyTigerTX

11/26/12

There is an old saying, “Fish or cut bait.”  The problem is there are still a lot of folks in the boat doing neither. This is fine until the fishers and baiters realize you are taking up space for nothing. They will get tired of the lethargy and procrastination and throw those lazy butts overboard. Well, the damn boat is sinking and it’s time to start tossing…. Don’t bother bailing against the wash of debt and problems. Until the gunwales are above sea level, it won’t help. You have to lessen the load in the boat so it can rise above the flood..

I am interested in the news today. It never ceases to amaze me how hard the Republicans try to analyze the recent election. They just can’t seem to put a finger on the reasons for their rather spectacular loss to Obama and his ilk. There is talk of returning to the values, whatever the hell that is. There is talk of reaching out to out constituents. Good luck with that. Yall apparently don’t know who the constituents are and what they want from a political party. Considering the trouncing you just got, you don’t have a clue how to attract them either. As long as you keep putting people like our esteemed Speaker of the House in positions of authority, and offering the likes of Romney as president, you aren’t likely to find out anytime soon.  So where does that leave the millions of Americans who know what we should be doing but can’t seem to find a party to champion those standards of conduct in government? You know these folks, the ones who stayed home last election out of disgust. Well, enter the much maligned third party.

You no doubt hear all the horror stories surrounding the possibility of an effective third party. The Democrats are joyous over the prospect of a third party. It will dilute the Republican base. Umm, maybe, but is that necessarily bad?  YES say the Republicans. It will harm the only alternative to the bad old Democrats. The Republicans are the only thing between a fate worse than death and the citizenry. Oh, they have a great line of BS about how they are going to return sanity to the federal government. They are going to get the monster debt under control. They are going to do something serious about immigration. They are going to walk on water. And so on ad nauseum. What they ARE going to do is maintain the status quo until they can figure out how to get the reins of power from the Democrats. If that means “compromising” they will do it. If that means rolling over for Obama and his minions, they will do that too. Bi-partisan compromise is nothing short of surrendering ones principles in the interest of minimizing the damage to one’s party. It has absolutely nothing to do with good government. Anytime a politician comments on what he or she stands for or is going to do, we must ask ourselves “Qui Bono?”  Qui Bono … WHO Benefits? It certainly won’t be the average American who is falling deeper and deeper into debt and who see their way of life being eroded into that of a third world country. Well Yeah, say the pundits .. but a third party can’t be the only solution.  I would ask, why not?

In a three party race, all it takes is for a candidate to garner 33.3 percent of the vote. If two are able to get 33.3 percent, or more,  you have a runoff election. Keep in mind that we are one of a very few nations to have ONLY two political parties actually participating in running the country. Most western countries have three, four or a gob of political parties. They form coalition governments where no one party has a lock on policy... or power. The president or premiere must appeal to this coalition if he or she wants to get anything done. And there is no such thing as Executive Orders. Executive Orders are nothing less than the executive branch usurping the will and authority of Congress. When they become onerous, they are nothing short of treason. They are the fabric of tyranny. They must be stopped. So too, must we stop the president and a sycophant Senate from ratifying UN treaties that step on our Constitutional sovereignty. We cannot and must not allow a group of third world demagogues to run our country. We must let the UN know in unequivocal terms that they will not now nor ever have a say in how we run our country.

So, what party is out there to save us from ourselves? Well, I know that party, but I will keep it quiet for a while. No use guessing, I won’t give you an out that easily. You are going to have to wake up and work for the enlightenment.

Is it the Libertarians?  Nope. There was a time when I had Libertarian tendencies, but I realized that while they had some good ideas, they would not be able to govern in today’s world environment. They basically want little or no government (not necessarily a bad thing), but they fail to realize just how necessary a strong national defense and diplomacy is in today’s world. When this country was founded, we were tired of war and strife. The government the founders gave us was a constitutional republic with strong libertarian undertones. That exact form of government probably wouldn’t fly today. Don’t get me wrong, I am 100% into a return to Constitutional government along the lines of the founders wishes, but in my opinion, it probably wouldn’t be able to keep us out of trouble, both domestically and internationally.

Ah, the Green Party. Please! Give me a break.

The Socialist Party?  Don’t look now, but they are already in charge and getting stronger every day. They call themselves "progressives", but they are socialists or outright communists. Does wolf in sheep's clothing have any meaning here? If we don’t step on the roaches pretty soon, they will take over the house for sure.

Most people I know are sick and tired of being told it is their fault. Well, as aggravating and tiring as that may be, it is still the truth. We get what we ask for, or, by our lack of interest, what we allow to take over. Obama could not have prevailed if enough real Americans had made it to the polls. I fully realize that Mr. Romney was not a real choice but he was far better than what we got. It would have slowed the quick-time march to Socialism we are being forced into. This kind of reminds me of the Bataan Death March in some ways. Sadly, most Americans don’t have a clue what I refer to. They simply don’t know or care. In other respects we are like the pack of Lemmings that march inexorably to their death in blissful ignorance, neither seeing or caring that their extinction is near at hand. Sadly, it is far too late to try and turn around when you are at the brink. You have no choice but to “go with the flow”.

And so on. So who is left to champion the cause? Well folks, there really is a party founded on the principles of good, sound government. It closely resembles the government our founders wanted us to have. But it has the necessary flexibility and stability to actually govern in today’s world conditions.  I will answer questions about that semi-mythical party to your satisfaction on my next post. Until then, enjoy what our apathy has wrought. It can and will get worse.

I don't see secession as likely to happen in the foreseeable future. Maybe later, but not now. There is a great deal being made over the fact that 23 states (and counting) have petitioned the US government for the right to "peaceably" seceed from the union and form their own government. Obama is NOT going to let this happen, at least peaceably. He will ignore the petitions or worse, prosecute those who signed them (myself included). I look at the pertitons as a not so subtile warning to the president. We have tolerated your meddling in our lives to this point, BUT, we will not tolerate your going those next steps. Steps that will forever change the country and it's relationship with it's citizens. I will not be a slave in my own country. Damn you Sir, I WILL NOT! I will oppose you and your ilk by any means at my disposal. For now, it is writing blogs and signing petitions. In the future, I may be forced to assume a ... more "active" role.

Secession may be unlikely, but there are other steps that can be taken in the interim. They require that the state's senators and congressmen and women grow a spine. It will require the Govenor and Attorney General to stand up and be counted. I speak of nullification and interposition. These terms can be losely interwoven. Both mean basically the same thing. The State of Texas declares a federal act to be against the Constitution and therefore null and void. Furthermore, the State of Texas throws all of it's political clout between the federal government and the citizens of Texas. This is the legislative act of interposition. The state interposes its political will in such a way as to shield the citizens of the state from the wrath of and prosecution by the federal persona. In other words, we ain't gonna do this or that and don't flex your muscle trying to make us. The State of Texas will take retalliatory action against physical attacks on its citizenry.

There was a time in my younger days when I could count on Texas and its citizens to do the "right" thing. Men were men and women were equally strong. We did what was needed and made no apologies. Our word was our bond and many a handshake underpinned a gentlemens agreement. We were straightforward and brooked no nonsense. We lived and personified the traits that were first shown by the likes of Milam, Houston, Travis, Bowey, etc. Messing with a Texan or Texas was tantamount to stepping on a large rattlesnake. Walk softly and be civil or get bit. We seem to have lost that fiber and grit. Where did it go?  Am I an anachronism? Am I the only one to find these qualities desirable and good? Maybe I have hung around too long.

Unfortunately, we can't be nullifying and interposing against every piece of onerous legislation that comes along. Nullification should be reserved for the most aggregious of the acts. Interposition is a bit more flexable. We can be unable or unwilling to declare an act unconstitutional but still protect our citizens when they collectively decide not to honor the act. This could be problematic at best. Failing to prove the unconstitutionality of an act makes it damn difficult for a state to interpose without a court decision.

There are things we can do to minimize the effects of Obama and his thugs. The bad thing is, they must by nature be reactionary rather than proactionary. We may spend the next four years beating off the assault on our liberty. It will be a long and tiring process, both emotionally and physically for those of us who are antiques. But we can do it. We must thwart Obama's ambition at every opportunity, but we must be judicious in when and where we choose to confront. We must be on sound constitutional grounds or we are no better than he. Of course, we can stoop pretty low and still be head and shoulders above him morally and spiritually. As for ethics and integrity; forget it for now. He doesn't understand the words or the concepts.

This week has been a strange one. I am ex-military and several events transpired that made me uneasy and hopeful at the same time. Let me explain.

When I entered the military, I took a solemn oath to defend the Constitution against ALL enemies foreign AND DOMESTIC. For the record, here are the oaths sworn by the Army. The oaths sworn by the other branches of the military are similar with the reference to the branch by officers.

Enlisted:      “I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”

Commissioned Officers:   "I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army (Navy, Marine Corps, etc) of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God." 

Please note that at no time does the military person swear to defend the person of the President or anyone else. The oath is to protect and defend the Constitution. In the course of performing this vital mission, the person is expected to follow the “lawful” orders of the Commander in Chief and any other officers appointed over him or her.

All military personnel, enlisted and commissioned, must be governed by the rules set forth in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the established regulations of their particular branch of service. The UCMJ is to military personnel what the Penal Codes of the various states are to civilians. It specifies acts which are considered a crime while serving in the military. It establishes the “legal” relationship between personnel and the officers who command them. It is the legal bible of the military. All criminal charges brought against a serving military person must initially be brought under the text of the UCMJ. Additional state or federal crimes may be charged AFTER the UCMJ is satisfied. This is a protection of sorts for the military person. It places them firmly under the jurisdiction of a military court rather than a civilian court. This may seem like a slap on the wrist, but remember, there is normally no jury in a military court. You are tried before a single officer in a summary court or a panel of officers in a general court martial. There are courts of appeal in the military, but justice moves much faster than in the civilian courts.

Now, having set the stage, I move on to the events I mentioned earlier.

During the events around the attack on our diplomatic mission in Libya, numerous requests were made by diplomatic and military persons to send additional military assistance to the mission at once as it was under organized and sustained attack. It has been firmly established that this was an organized attack made by terrorist forces nominally under the command and direction of Al Qaeda. The requests were denied at the highest levels of the command chain. These people in the mission were left to die and the diplomatic mission along with the large amount of sensitive intelligence documents were left to the terrorists to pilfer. Then, a brave man stood tall. General Carter Ham took the steps to save lives. Those steps may have cost him his career and certainly cost him his command. What dastardly deed did General Ham commit? Read on.

On October 26^th the diplomatic mission in Benghazi Libya made a frantic call for military assistance. They were under attack by many hostile forces and couldn’t hold out much longer. A discussion between General Ham, (COS)General Dempsy and (SecDef)Leon Panetta decided that committing forces without additional intelligence was foolish. General Ham in the meantime had mobilized a rapid response force that he felt adequate for the mission. He informed his superiors that he was ready to mount a rescue mission at once. General Ham then received an order from above to “stand down”. In what appears to be shock and anger at the order to stand down when Americans were dying, General Ham ordered the rapid response team to deploy at once on the rescue mission. This was in direct violation of standing orders. But were they lawful orders? Within 60 seconds of issuing this command, General Ham was relieved of command by his second in command and placed in custody. It is to be assumed that he is under charges of disobeying a direct order in time of war, in a theater of war. He has lost his command, possibly his career. Could he be the first general to lose his life for disobeying one of Obama’s orders? Did he do right? I don’t know. My knee-jerk reaction is he is a hero for trying to save American lives. We did the same thing in Grenada with the American students. Of course, we DID have a REAL Commander in Chief then, not a despot who spends American lives for political gain. Yes I really said that, and I stand by my comments. This sitting president is a disgrace to the office and the country it represents. Hopefully, we will correct this travesty next week.

During the last week or so another flag rank officer has been relieved of command by the Obama administration. Rear Admiral Gaouette, who was in command of an aircraft carrier strike group in the Middle East, is being temporarily reassigned due to an allegation of “inappropriate leadership judgment.” Rumor has it, the good admiral is part of a conspiracy. Said conspiracy revolves around a group of senior officers that have allegedly decided to stage a military coup if Obama is reelected. WOW! If true, I don’t know how to look at this development. For the military to even think about such a move without orders establishing martial law is incomprehensible. We don’t do things like this in America. We are the United States, not some banana republic. But … let’s look a little deeper. According to an article on CNN (you may boo and snort) the Navy has removed or relieved 14 command level officers so far this year for matters pertaining to professional ethics and personal accountability. This from the Obama administration, who can’t pronounce these words let alone understand the meaning of same.

So, is there a conspiracy afoot? I don’t know. Is there a concerted effort on the part of the Obama administration to purge officers who take their oaths seriously? Is Obama removing any officer he thinks might rebel against his possible martial law takeover of the country? Is he working like tin-pot dictator Kim Jong Un of North Korea? Are there still men and women of conscience and courage in the military who would refuse to follow unlawful orders? I hope and pray there are such individuals. They may be our only hope for survival as free citizens. The current military scares me. There are too many in the military who only paid lip service to their oath and will turn on the American citizens if commanded to do so. Hopefully, there are cooler heads in the NCO and senior officer ranks who will not let it happen. I am also a member of Oath Keepers. We understand the oath we took and that it is for life. I pray that there are others in the active military and law enforcement who believe as we do. If not, we are in for a long civil conflict. We as free citizens will have no choice but to go against the most powerful and best armed military in the world. Talk about an uphill battle. I can only take comfort in the knowledge of a similar group of citizens who faced the British in Lexington and Concord. We can only wait and see.

GreytigerTX

11/3/12

The following is a reprint of a blog by Craig Considine on CommonGroundNews.org

What Would America's Founders Say About Islam?

In recent weeks, people the world over have heard a great deal about divisions and conflict between Muslim communities and America. Yet looking more deeply at American history shows how much American tradition actually runs in the opposite direction. In today’s seemingly divisive world, I cannot help but think of the values of America’s Founding Fathers and their faith that America would always be a place that is open to people from all religious backgrounds.

Americans and Muslims worldwide shouldn’t be surprised when they see that the writings of America’s Founding Fathers reveal an open perspective and absolute acceptance of Islam and, indeed, all religions. “The bosom of America,” wrote George Washington in 1783, is “open to receive . . . the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions, whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges . . . They may be Mahometans [Muslims], Jews, or Christians of any sect, or they may be atheists.”

John Adams, who served as vice president under George Washington, called the Prophet Muhammad one of the world’s “sober inquirers of truth.” Echoing Washington, he stated in 1797 that the U.S. government “has in itself no character or enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility of [Muslims].” Benjamin Franklin helped fund the construction of a religious temple in Philadelphia that would be open to all faiths, “so that even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach [Islam] to us, he would find a pulpit at his service.”

In a document on religious freedom that was written for the Virginian colonial legislature in 1777, Thomas Jefferson stated that “the Jew, the Gentile, the Christian, and the [Muslim], the Hindoo [Hindu], and infidel of every denomination” are welcome. Today, a statue of Jefferson stands at the University of Virginia. He is holding a tablet that reads, “Religious Freedom, 1786,” below which is inscribed Allah, alongside God, Jehovah and Brahma.

“…some Americans have lost sight of fundamental components of American identity such as tolerance, compassion and openness.” – Craig Considine

It is in the egalitarian spirit of the Founding Fathers that Akbar Ahmed, former Pakistani ambassador to the U.K. and current Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University, and several of his young American students traveled across the United States to explore American identity through the eyes of Muslims. Arising out of their travels was the documentary feature film Journey into America, which follows the team to over 75 cities, 100 mosques, and into the homes, schools and places of worship of Americans of all backgrounds. The film portrays how many Muslim Americans have restored the faith of the Founding Fathers, but it also goes beyond this to document how some Americans have lost sight of fundamental components of American identity such as tolerance, compassion and openness.

In my opinion, the pluralist vision of the Founding Fathers is the quintessential value which makes American identity unique among the national identities of the world. To restore their vision of America as a place where all people – regardless of religious background – can coexist, I established the initiative One Film 9/11. The goal of this project is to screen Journey into America in as many places of religious worship around the United States and the Muslim world on September 11, 2013, in the hope of demonstrating how one film can ultimately have a positive impact on relations between Muslims and non-Muslims worldwide.

For Americans and Muslims to go forward in a mutually beneficial direction, both sides must dedicate themselves to the principles expressed by the Founding Fathers. One Film 9/11 is an important step in restoring this faith and building bridges in a world desperately in need of them.

This post was originally published on Commongroundnews.org.

There is no question that the founders were for the most part tolerant men.  However, that tolerance was based on the assumption that the parties being discussed were willing to accept the plurality of religious doctrine and peaceably assimilate into the American culture. Time and history have shown that the Muslims have no such desire or intent. While we practice tolerance (to a fault) they practice conquest and domination. While we preach turning the other cheek, they preach hate and forced conversion by the sword. When was the last time a Catholic burned a mosque? When was the last time a Baptist invaded a mosque and blew himself or herself up? When is the last time a Buddhist slit the throat of a daughter because she besmirched his “honor”? When is the last time a Hindu beat his daughter for wanting an education? And so on and so forth ad nauseum. There is simply no way the founders would have tolerated the modern Muslim. Islam is the antithesis of civilized behavior. Given their doctrine, they will settle for nothing less than worldwide domination. The problem is, we can’t seem to get our collective minds around the absolute evil that Islam represents. We continue to appease and bow to every demand. We do not understand the mindset that drives a Muslim, nor do we want to. We appear to be psychologically incapable of recognizing that there is a cadre that is Hell bound and determined to subjugate us and turn us into a backwater clone of a stone age barbaric culture dominated by the ravings and hallucinations spilled from the twisted mind of a perverted butcher and thug. We continue along this path in blissful ignorance at our own peril. Picture your sons beating women. Picture your daughter in a burga. Picture them in their homes, living like pigs in a sty; eating with their right hand and wiping their behinds with their left hand. Who knows, maybe they can even learn to cook over a fire made of dried animal dung and live in tents. No more sausage or hot dogs. No more music or movies. No more women driving the kids to school. No more freedom of expression. No more freedom of religion. No more freedom of the press. No more America. I am glad I am as old as I am. Maybe, the Lord willing, I will not see the subjugation of America. As for the rest of the citizens … you deserve whatever you get. Your unwillingness to stand up and be counted obviates any right you might have to complain later. Allahu Akabar or whatever……..

GreytigerTX

10/30/2012

I have been in a somewhat pensive and depressed mood as of late. I sit and watch TV and listen to friends and co-workers talk about the upcoming election as if it actually mattered. Even the more conservative types don't really understand what's at stake. There seems to be a consensus that if we can just get Romney elected, everything will be all better. BS!  Romney is one man, and he will have no more power and authority than he is allowed to have by the real government. He simply represents a more conservative and slower march to our destiny. We will get to our national demise, just slower than with Obama.

So what exactly are the two jihads? Well, the first and most obvious is the Islamic jihad being waged against the USA and it's citizens. This is the overt jihad. The Islamists want and plan to "take over" the United States and make it a part of the grand caliphate. This isn't rumor or speculation, they have openly admitted such. It is we the people who refuse to believe they are serious. Even in the face of constant rhetoric from the imams and seemingly endless plots to kill us, we still hang on to the myth of the moderate Muslim. We have areas in this country where the police and government officials fear to tread. Dearbornistan, Michigan is one such place. The Islamists have basically taken over the city and pretty much enforce Sharia within it's precincts. The bureaucracy and the police are helpless and even unwilling to interfere. In fact, they bend over backwards to appease the brutes and thugs. We are under constant assault at the various levels of government to make it a "crime" to insult Islam. Oh, it's done up in a cute little package that says no insult to any religion, but it is meant to be enforced only in the interests of Islam. Those who dare to question the logic behind such thinking are branded racists. EXCUSE ME! Exactly what race is Islam? While it is rooted in Arabic culture, it is practiced by billions worldwide. Are the Indonesians racists because they observe Islam differently than, say, the Arabs or Persians? What race does Islam claim to be or represent? There is no question the Arabs consider themselves superior to all other races. And, they consider Muhammad to be the perfect man that all should seek the emulate. God forbid! I suspect it is only a matter of time before I have people coming to my house demanding that I declare my conversion to Islam; agree to pay the jizya and live as a slave in my own country; or be put to the sword. Some choice. The sword seems to be the best option. I will never proclaim loyalty and bow my head to some obscure Moon god worshiped by some piss-ant Arabic tribe (Quaresh I think)  back in the 700's. I will not pay these thugs for the privilege of living my life in peace so long as I kiss their dirty little backsides. And, if they want my head, don't bring a damn sword to the gun-fight! Confront me at your own great risk. I am a crack shot and I have taught my wife to shoot all my weapons. She ain't Annie Oakley, but don't stick around to see if her aim improves on the second shot. We are seldom unarmed. Nuff said. 

And now for the second Jihad.

There is another jihad being waged against America, It is more sinister and dangerous than the Islamists. Hard to believe? Not for me. The jihadis are our own home grown terrorists. They are well known and their activities are known to those who pay attention and look for such things. I am one such. I have followed the sneaky underhanded tactics of one David Rockefeller for decades. His nefarious dealings are well documented, but most people tend to turn a blind eye to him and his elitist cohorts in crime. Bring up the name of David Rockefeller and George Soros and people tend to go ho-hum. So what? Well these guys and a couple of hundred other key players are the REAL government. They finance, control and manipulate from behind the scenes ... for now. I suspect that when the time comes, they will slap down the other would be world dominators like bugs. The Islamists are nothing compared to the Bilderbergers, Tri-laterilists and the sneaky SOBs at the Council on Foreign Relations. These groups and others of the same bent are far more dangerous and operate under the radar for the most part. They have given us such gifts as the Federal Reserve Bank and the welfare state. They brought us the euro and will render it worthless when the act meets their needs, Soros is determined to crash the dollar much like he has done with the Euro. These are the big jihadis and the power players. All other groups are amateurs. A good start to dealing with this very real threat would be for some renegade navy officer to drop a Tomahawk cruise missile on the site of the next annual meeting of the Bilderbergers. It ain't gonna happen, but it would be a start. Then maybe a second bird could visit Mecca, with a warning that we are tired of all the BS and the next salvo will take out every Muslim holy site world wide. We would be branded as warmongers and such, but who cares. We are already the world's whipping boy and laughing stock. We might as well open up a can of Whoop-XXX. At least we could probably diminish the level of hostility against us. It would also let Russia and China know that we are still a very dangerous player on the world stage. They might get us if they team up, but it ain't gonna be pretty for them either. 

OK, I guess you can call me an alarmist. Call me a warmonger. Call me a conspiracy nut. Call me a sadist for wanting to step on all those innocent" people. Knowing what I know might give me an outside chance to avoid the worst. As for the rest of the "head in the sand" folks; take the opportunity while your'e in that position to kiss a very tender part of your anatomy goodbye. Please don't come to my house and expect me to take care of you and your family. I have family of my own to look out for. Your ignorance and shortsightedness is not my problem. God tells us to care for our neighbors, but there is a limit.

As you go to the polls, by all means pick your favorite. It won't make much difference in the long term. Only when the people take the government and the country back for themselves will things truly get better. As long as we vote for the hand-picked candidates, nothing much changes. If I seem to be getting more negative in my rants, blame yourselves. I know what has to be done, while most can't or won't see the real problems. My conumdrum is finding a few others willing to get their hands dirty. At my age I can't waste time or energy. However, an old grey tiger is still dangerous. I am like Edgar Friendly in the movie "Demolition Man", I'm not a leader. I'll do what needs to be done and sometimes other folks tag along......maybe. 

Today marked an epiphany in my life. An event occurred which set me off on a quest. Like Don Quixote, I am probably tilting at windmills, but I must pursue the seemingly impossible dream nonetheless.

I was out in the front yard washing out the endless supply of dirty litter pans when much to my surprise, the Chinese made hose connector blew off the end of my Chinese made hose, thereby drenching me and my Chinese made clothes. I paid good, hard-earned money for all of the above, so I naturally found myself in a somewhat inhospitable state of mind. After graphically discussing the ancestry of the evil people who made these despicable items of torture, I went in and changed into dry clothes and convinced myself that now was the time to publically address this deplorable situation.

For years now, I, like all other Americans, have watched the value of my money dwindle. Each time I go into a store, my money seems to purchase less for the same expenditure. And, like most people, it has come to my attention that darn near everything I purchase is made in China, or Taiwan, or Korea, etc.  Some of the products are OK, others are so-so. Those from mainland China are almost without exception --- JUNK!  And as indicated, I am not discussing their charming little sail boats. I am talking about the boatload after seemingly endless boatload of consumer products that are poorly made, broken in the original container, broken shortly after being put into service, and in some cases, downright hazardous to your health and well-being. It would seem that quality control is a phrase that does not translate into either of the common Chinese dialects (Mandarin or Cantonese for those who are interested).

I can’t count the number of times I have purchased a product only to discover I could just as easily have flushed the money paid down my Chinese made toilet and saved a lot of time and travel. (assuming of course that the toilet still works). I have decided that there are two distinct issues here that need to be addressed. I shall deal with them in turn.

I, like many working Americans, shop at what are referred to as the “Big Box” stores; most notably, Wal-Mart. Usually, if the item is bad out of the box or reasonably new (30 days or less) and you can still locate the sales ticket, Wal-Mart will grudgingly replace the item. After 30 days you are instructed to get in touch with the manufacturer. Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am NOT going to spend hours on the phone, in the middle of the night,  with a functionally illiterate customer service representative in China. The only way to prevent this problem is if you agree to pay Wal-Mart for an “Extended Service Policy”. OK, most items carry about a year of manufacturer’s warranty. At one time, a store that sold products from a manufacturer was considered an agent in fact of the manufacturer. They were required to honor the original warranty. For instance, if I buy a car, any dealership in the country is required to honor the manufacturer’s warranty. There was a time when a store, Sears for instance, would replace or repair a misbehaving item of merchandise with no hassle. Wal-Mart? Forget it. Unless you pay them first, they don’t honor any warranty … period. You buy it, it’s yours, and the manufacturer. This needs to be stopped. If a store sells a product, they should be made to honor the full term of the manufacturer’s warranty without a payoff. When they sell a product they should be forced to stand behind it. If the product line has a history of shoddy workmanship and constant failures, then it behooves the store to find another source of products that they can reasonably expect to last through the warranty period. They should take the same gamble that a car dealer has to take. This must be made enforceable under state or federal law (preferably state law). There should be no ambiguity; if a store sells a product, they are on the hook for the warranty if it fails or breaks under normal usage. Period.

OK. That problem is relatively easy to solve. The other problem is going to be a powder keg. China has most favored nation status with the US of A. They are considered a major “trading” partner. This does not mean what you think it does. Normally, a trading partner is one who sells their products in our markets and allows our manufacturers to sell their products in the foreign market. Not so with China. We owe China an incredible amount of money. Money borrowed in boatloads by our screwed up federal government. No names or finger pointing here as all administrations have spent more than they had on hand. Both parties are to blame. We spend like there is no tomorrow. Since we can’t repay our debt to China in the foreseeable future, we give them most favored status. They send us tons and tons of what amounts to crap and we get to sell … zip … in their markets, unless you count MacDonald’s burgers as a trade item. They have us over a trade barrel and they know it. They can send whatever they want, no matter how crummy, and we are more or less forced to take it. Our federal government has failed us miserably in this area. All of our homegrown manufacturing has left for China and other labor friendly countries. They can let quality go to pot and still make a killing selling it to us. China taxes the manufacturers and charges an export duty to ship our own stuff back to us. We on the other hand make every effort to keep import duties low so as to not tick the Chinese off. The consumer pays for all this good old boy backroom dealing. The manufacturers get their products to market here for little or no real investment in labor. They let quality slip because who is going to call them in the middle of the night? The politicians let the junk into our markets, driving local production out of business. The stores sell the cheap junk below what a mom and pop store can manage which drives out the competition, small though it is. The big box boys buy the junk for next to nothing and sell it to the unsuspecting public with no assurance that it will work or keep working past next Tuesday. Everybody benefits except the American consumers. I propose a slight change in the status quo.

Let’s create an agency (yes another one) to inspect at random as many products as possible at the port of entry. Any products found lacking in safety or quality are denied entry. The manufacturer is put on notice that they will not be allowed to ship goods into the USA for a period of six months. After six months, their products will again be tested and if found to be unable to meet the requirements, they are banned for a period of one to five years. Those who do manage to pass the second test will be hit with a 25% import duty for a period of five years after they are granted access to our markets. These “fees” will help defray the cost of staffing the agency and testing labs. These conditions are to be foisted on American companies doing business abroad as well as foreign companies. Any company who has three or more violations in a ten year period will be permanently banned from US markets. Severe? Yup. I don’t see any alternative. If we don’t put a stop to this travesty, it will only get worse … much worse.

Hmmmm ...  just an afterthought.  I just bought a package of “Texas Gulf Coast Shrimp” at Kroger. When I got it home, sure enough, at the bottom of the package was the statement “Farm raised in Thailand”. Sighhhh. What’s next?

TAX POLICY CENTER

Urban Institute & Brookings Institution 

According to the tax experts at these institutes, the US Government collected a total of 2.2 trillion dollars in 2010, from all sources. This makes Obama’s claim that Romney will try to cut taxes by 5 trillion somewhat suspect. If the total intake was 2.2 trillion, including federal taxes, how in the name of whoever is Romney going to cut twice that amount and still operate the government?  Answer, he can’t. This is just another bit of disinformation put out by the Obama administration to make Romney look bad. No President could reasonably expect to cut even 1 trillion in taxes, since to do so, he or she would have to eliminate all federal income and social security taxes. Not likely, even under the most conservative scenarios. So once again Obama and his minions lie to make it look like the bad old Republicans are going to starve the babies, kill grandma, and poison all the air and water; meantime giving millions to their rich friends. In truth, they couldn't do so even if they tried. The mechanics of the economy would not permit such draconian measures. Yes, Romney can reduce the tax burden on the richest 1%. He can reduce the tax burden on business to stimulate the economy and promote hiring. Yes he can make the bottom 47% or so that don’t pay any tax, pick up their fair share.  But cut 5 trillion from the government tax intake? It ain’t gonna happen. No way, no how. The numbers just don’t exist. Maybe he could manage 5 trillion over a four year term, but even that would require unbelievable cuts across the board in government spending; like 95-99%. It just can’t be done.

Obama came off looking like the amateur he is in the great debate. It wasn't because he was detached or distracted. It was because he is arrogant and dismissive. He came in with the idea that it was a waste of time for him to explain his dismal record of the last four years. He can’t explain it so why bother. He failed to look Romney in the eye because he is a dishonest, corrupt liar and can’t face the truth. He will probably come out swinging in the next debate. But, don’t look for any substance or policy statements. He will attack Romney’s integrity and policy. He will hint at how Romney really hates people of color and wants to send them back to slavery. He will not discuss issues or plans for the future as to do so would reveal his Marxist intentions. He will indulge in character assassination, not honest open debate on issues. His massive ego will not allow any questions about his failed policies and corrupt style of cronyism. He is a Chicago political thug and he can’t defend his last four years, so, he must attack Romney and distract the voters from the questions and issues that are really important.

No matter how the Democratic strategy team tries, they cannot make a purse out of a sow’s ear. Obama fooled the people last election because he was an unknown. He won’t do so again. The only people who will support him are welfare drones, far left wing socialists/Marxists and people who vote skin color over character. Anyone with an IQ over 25 will see him for what he is, a total dismal failure who does not deserve our respect or support. We must send him and his administration to the trash heap of history where they belong.

Have you seen the news about the Sudan refusing to let us increase the Marine presence at the Embassy there?  It's only a company sized unit. On second thought, a company of armed Marines could probably defeat the entire Sudanese army, clean out the Islamists and take over the country. I can understand their concern.

On the other hand, any country is within their international rights to provide protection for diplomatic sites and personnel irrespective of the wishes of the host country. Since the Sudan has proven their inability (or unwillingness) to get the job done, I think a company of Marines is a conservative response. I would rather see  a regiment on the ground. If Sudan continues to be a collective butthole, give the Marines diplomatic passports. That way, they and their kits cannot be detained or confiscated. Diplomatic immunity, pure and simple. As for rules of engagement: if they are threatened, use whatever force level necessary to protect the embassy and the diplomatic staff. If this means bodies in the streets, so be it. Violence is the language of the caliphate. Bloodshed is the voice of reason in these countries. Death is not only accepted, but yearned for. I say accommodate them......

Please note: My avatar has changed. No more peaceful pussy. Now a ticked off tear a$$.

First, I would ask forgiveness for my knee-jerk response to the violence in the Middle East. My opinions of the thugs is probably not material to be placed on the Tea Party web site.

The events however are appropriate. It now seems that the State Dept. had substantial advance warning of the violence - AND TOOK NO STEPS TO MITIGATE THE RISK TO AMERICAN DIPLOMATS! This is not only unconscionable, IT IS CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR. Then, after the fact, Mr Obama can't bring himself to stop campaigning long enough to deal with the situation. This administration is disgusting! I feel nothing but loathing and profound hate (yes, hate) for a president and staff who can't be bothered to stop their self-gratification long enough to protect citizens and sovereignty. They are low-life bureaucrats whose only concern is for their own wealth, power, and corrupt existance. There are not enough foul adjectives in the English language to describe the revulsion I have for this administration. The sooner we remove it, the sooner we can get on with restoring our nation's place in the world. Mr Obama has destroyed our national honor and credibility in the family of nations. His abject cowardly and subservient attitude makes us a luaghing stock. He places the lives of our military and diplomatic corps in peril for his own prestige and agrandizement. His behavior and that of his minions is reprehensible and cavalier. He deserves nothing less than a long jail sentence for his malfeasence and deriliction of duty. Failure to impeach this pig at the trough and his cronies should result in the loss of jobs for every congressman and congresswoman who fails in their sworn duties to uphold the Constitution.

Once again we sit back and watch two of our embassies being attacked by ruthless, barbaric thugs under the guise of religious anger. I spit on their prophet and religion. They are unfit to belong to the family of nations. Embassies are the sovereign territory of the nations themselves. Attacking our embassy is the same as attacking our homeland. These pi$$ants need to be taught a real lesson. They need to be reminded of the last time Marines were sent to Lybia (shores of Tripoli). We kicked their butts back to the stone age once we can do it again. We need to airlift a batallion of Marine hardasses into each embassy, with orders to kill anything that even approaches the site with weapons. If necessary, they can sorte out into the neighborhood, flattening anything that gets in the way. Force and mayhem is the only language these thugs understand. Let's send the Masters of Mayhem in to accomodate them. Semper Fi.

Afterthought: I wonder what the Marines rules of engagement are? Can they shoot back if attacked? Has Obama tied their hands? Maybe he wants the troops sacrificed in order to have his False Flag excuse to declare a national emergency. Obama needs to be removed and someone with cahones needs to conduct the operations in Islamic countries. We are a laughing stock of the world because of the spinless reaction of our wussy politicians and bureaucrats. Fire em all and get some real patriots in there to do the job.

I am past being angry at our government. We need to take positive action now!  Impeach Obama and all the rest of the miscreants. Charge them with treason and malfeasence in their duties to their office. Then try them in a court of law and then take the next logical step..........  They are killing our country, bit by bit.....

I am having trouble posting blogs with the word "document" in it. For some reason the editor changes it to do**ment. Trust me, I do spell better than that. The site admin needs to look into the glitch and get it fixed. I haven't noticed any other creative misspeeeellllling but it probably is there somewhere. Come on guys my writing is bad enough without help from the editor.

Well, I have pondered the statement made at the DNC about all of us belonging to the government. No matter how perversely I try to spin it, there just ain't no way. This is perhaps the clearest comment to date about the direction the Democrats want to take us. We are all to be good little unthinking drones in the great government machine. We will perform our assigned jobs without comment. We will eat what they give us and be thankful for the government benevolence. We will wear what they give us and rejoice that they have consented to clothe us. We will give up our personal transportation and use public transportation even when it is non-existant. We will bow and scrape whenever the power elites are in our presence. We will forsake our Christian heritage and pray to the great God(s) in Washington.

NO THANKS! I would rather die than submit to this abomination called democracy. I was born into a Constitutional republic. I want no dealings with a democracy (mob rule) or a dictatorship.

I belong to my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. If this offends you, get used to it. I am not going to change at this stage of the game. As for the government, they belong to ME and the millions like me. I subscribe to the original structure given to us in 1785. GOD is supreme. The sovereign people are next in the heirarchy. The Sovereign States are next and the federal government is at the bottom of the barrel. The federal government and its minions and bureaucrats and politicians are totally "owned" by the people. We, in the form of the founders, created the federal government. It did not create us. We gave it it's limited powers and reserved the remaining rights and priviledges to ourselves and our States. The limited powers were explicitly defined in the Constitution. The words contained in that great document mean the same today that they did in 1785. Creative interpretation of those words is anathema to patriots. Plucking powers from thin air under the guise of being Constitutional is what got us in this mess. It is time to pressure our representatives and senators to pass legislation to curtail the executive powers. No more Executive Orders. If the president needs additional power and authority to perform his or her job, let them go to congress and get the laws changed. Any major change in the balance of power must be by way of Constitutional Amendment. Otherwise, the Sovereign States must nullify and interpose, rendering the act null and void.

We have been slowly turned into a nation of sheep. We are dominated by a federal 800 pound gorilla. It does as it damn well pleases. The people are a minor annoyance. Oh we are courted at election times but do we really elect who we want. No. We pick from a very short list of "approved" candidates. What is the difference between our current system and the old Soviet Union? Very little. At least the Soviets were up front about their usurpation of liberty. Here it is slowly eroded by sneaky, slippery bureaucrats. The end result is the same. We all end up "working for da man!"

This election, I will cast my vote for a thrid party write-in. Please don't castigate me for "helping OBAMA." I don't buy in to the "lesser of two evils" rhetoric. I doubt my vote will have an impact, but at least I will sleep knowing I stood for something other than "more of the same." And contrary to what everyone will tell you. a third party candidate can win in a three-way race. All it takes is for enough real partiots to proclaim "ENOUGH! WE WILL NOT BE DUMPED ON ANY LONGER BY THE WASHINGTON POLITICAL MACHINE!" This election has already been decided in some back room. The game is the same, only the players may change. Thankfully, I am old enough I may be spared the sight of our country being trampled in the dirt and garbage of world history. I pity people who are raising children. Their world will not be pretty or happy.

I guess I need to clear up a misconception. Every one I get ripped by thinks I am a shill for the extreme right wing of the Republican Party. NOT!  I am not a Democrat nor am I a Republican. In truth, I am a dues paying member of the Constitution Party. Neither mainstream party represents my views on the role of government in our lives. As for being extreme right wing, since when is supporting the Constitution as written extreme?  I am an originalist as I have said before. The Constitution is not a living document. The founders wrote the instrument to state their beliefs exactly as intended. There was no ambiguity or misunderstanding as to what it said or meant. Only in more modern times have we streched the vocabulary of the text to the proverbial point of breakage. I read the words and understand them to mean exactly as they would have been understood in 1785. It is when we start to interpret these documents by today's lexicon that we get into trouble. Never, by any stretch of the imagination, would the founders have recognized the federal government as it is today; nor would they have supported it's actions. To them (and myself) our current government would seem an abomination and a Frankensteins Monster of bits and pieces of the govenment they bequeathed to us. We, not they, are the ones who have made the mess. It is we who will have to clean it up. I have also been mildly accused of formenting rebellion. Not so. I support revolution not rebellion. There is a difference. Even Thomas Jefferson recognized that a little revolution is good for governments. It keeps them from believing their own rhetoric and visions of divine granduer. Even while authoring the Declaration of Independence, he never advocated rebellion. Instead, he made the case for revolution. Revolution is the logical and legal response of an oppressed people. Rebellion is the response of a lawless mob. Granted, the distinction is fine, but it is there none the less.

I have to literally force myself to watch the Democratic convention. It actually turns my stomach to see so many so-called Americans so ready and WILLING to sell this great nation out. I cannot, in any state or degree of dementia, bring myself to agree with anything they stand for. Their platform writhes and transforms daily to fit the immediate needs of the party. They delete references to Israel and then the next day they put them back in. They support this or that position and then 12 hours later they take a completly different tack and change course. How can any "thinking" person decide it is in our best interests to let these people run the government? The Democrats are the party of indecision and deceit. They circumvent the Constitution and other tenents of law to get whatever they want. I am at a loss to discern how so many lawyers can be so ignorant of the founding documents. It must be willful. No one could be that stupid by accident. Enough for now. I have much to study and articles to write. I think I need to address the notion that we are all "owned" by the government. That one floored me when I heard it. Later, my fellow patriots

By His Grace, For His Glory

GreyTigerTX

I am heartened by the responses my tirade triggered. While I am happy to see so many teed off Texans, I must ask myself (and them) "OK, so you're Pi--ed! What do you intend to DO about it?" Talk is cheap. How many Texans are willing to go to Austin and hold the representatives and senators feet to the fire? How many will "occupy" the offices of the Secretary of State and the Attorneys General? One? Two? A dozen?

Folks, it is way past time for talk and rhetoric. It is a given that most Texans are ready for another San Jacinto or Alamo. The ONLY way to get a politician to do anything is to get in his or her face. Unless you threaten their power and prestige you are not even noticed. Confront them face to face (with the media if possible) and you get their undivided attention. Politicians and bureaucrats like the media, but only when they control the terms of exposure. Sound bites and slogans are the stuff of politics. In-depth coverage of a mass protest is a horse of a different color. Put 100,000 angry voters on the lawn of the capitol and see what happens. The guv can't call out the guard as they are mostly serving and dying in Afghanistan and Iraq (another blog for later). Let them know that their cushy jobs depend on them standing tall and defending the people and their values. Learn about interposition and nullification. Don't just toss around words to appear knowledgeable. Learn what they mean so you can argue from a position of knowledge and understanding. Start blogs. Read, watch and listen to the news. Most of it is revolting and makes you angry. Good! At least you have the ammo to form a learned opinion.

And finally, GET INVOLVED! I don't mean just arguing with the people at work. I mean writing, faxing and e-mailing your government at every chance. So what if they brand you a troublemaker? At least they are aware of you and your opinions. Sit silent and you don't exist. And write endless letters to the editors of your local newspapers. If only one article in a hundred actually gets published, it will get others to thinking. Start the revolution. Be a leader. There are planty of sheep ... we need RAMS with big ... uh ..... horns.

FROM FOXNEWS 08/30/12

Now more than ever, our State legislators and the Governor's office need to step up and do what's right. Three unelected morons have said that Texas cannot use any ID requirements to limit voter fraud. This is apalling and unconscionable. These thugs in black need to go take a dip ... in the nearest sewer. That's where their partisan "ruling" belongs. Perhaps ruling is the wrong word. It imparts a legal standing to the OPINION that it probobly doesn't deserve. The federal judiciary has no business telling the State of Texas how to run an election. The Constitution (remember that pesky instrument guys) says that the State has the say on when and where and under what terms elections will be held. Article 1, Section 4 says:

"The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators."     Nuff said.....

Yes, the Voting Rights Act might get in the way, but the State has the authority and means to impose nullification. The voting Rights Act effectively takes away the "States Rights" in the above section and confers them on the federal government, as if they need any more fingers in State business. It is time for Texas to nullify the judges OPINION and get on with having an election. If the feds don't like it ... tough. WE MUST PUT THE FEDERAL MINIONS IN THEIR PROPER PLACES!  NO EXCEPTIONS!

It seems the gun control zealots are at it again, or still. The topic of the day is microstamping. This is a process that uses a laser to mico-etch the gun type and serial number on the head of the firing pin. The theory is that each time the gun is fired, it will imprint the data on the dent in the cartridge primer. An interesting concept, but utterly pointless.

Impact on the primer is not the same on every weapon. How do ammo manufacturers figure out the right metal to be used for primers to ensure imprinting? They can't by any practical means. If they make the metal too thick, it might be too tough to imprint clearly. If too thin it would be susceptable to primer blowout, a very serious safety issue. Even assuming that this technological feat can be accomplished, what's the point. Ballistic matching of the recovered slug to the barrel of the weapon is 99.999999 accurate. True that sometimes the slug is not recovered. The microstamping is only feasable if the shooter leaves his or her brass behind.

To continue, if I am going to carry a gun for nefarious reasons, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that a few minutes with a fine hone will remove or corrupt the microstamping without affecting the operation of the weapon. According to the idiots, we can make it against the law to alter or remove the microstamp. Yeah criminals are going to be real concerned about that issue.

The whole point of this legislation is to increase the cost of manufacturing weapons to the point where the manufacturers will just go away, or at least discontinue civilian production. The people who come up with these stupid ideas are dedicated if not smart. This is also a good way to move more jobs from the liberal north to the conservative south. Thanks dummys! Keep up the good work. Oh and welcome to Remington, Colt, Ruger and all the rest. We will be tickled pink to have you in our neighborhood. Come on down!