To our Soldiers, We thank you!

I am thankful for all of our veterans and active duty soldiers (including the National Guard and Reserves). I always thanked my late father for his service on Veterans Day. We owe everything, including this opportunity to blather freely with our friends to our soldiers. Please make a point to thank at least one. Thank you!

To Our Friends in Europe, I apologize, for our President

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The America in which I was raised always stood for freedom, and not just freedom for Americans but freedom for suffering people around the World. When I was an exchange student in Germany in 1983, I found myself in endless debates about this, and about my President Ronald Reagan and his desire to build a missile defense system in Western Europe. I loved the German people. The kids were so refreshing in many ways, but their cynical views of the motives of my President shocked me.

I admit that I am a little unique. As a fairly young child, I poured through every issue of Time magazine, which is like our version of the German magazine, Die Zeit. Jimmy Carter was the President. He talked of peace while cutting our defense spending. I remember being very scared seeing charts and graphs comparing our defense systems including war planes, ships and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The American armaments were blue and the Soviets vastly superior forced were Red. Here my story gets really odd. I was 12 years old when I read George Orwell’s 1984. The year was 1979. I was so struck by what I read and the parallels to the modern Soviet Union, that I picked up a copy of the Communist Manifesto. What I read made me nearly shriek in fear.

The Communist manifesto holds that communism cannot work unless the World is communist. The other fact I read, was that every time in this Century that America was attacked, a Democrat was in the White House, downsizing our military. So it was clear that the nearer the Soviet empire came to economic collapse, and had superior military capabilities, the more likely it was that they would attack. They were aggressively building up while Carter, the face of America, was downsizing our military. I often had trouble sleeping at night for fear of the Soviet missile attack. Then we elected Ronald Reagan.

Reagan became the new face of America to the World. My German friends did not like him. He moved fast and completely changed the course of America. He began rebuilding our military and he delivered that famous speech in Berlin in which he challenge Soviet President Michael Gorbachev to “tear down this wall!” My teenage German friends kept arguing that Reagan was a war-monger and that while Americans were good people, our President was bad. I tried to explain that in our political system, you cannot separate the two. Our President is us. The President cannot go to war without the American people. But he will go to war to protect you. He wants to use American tax dollars to place a missile defense system in Western Europe to protect you, because he felt a moral duty to you.

One of the most momentous experiences in my life was in June of 1990. I was back in Germany! Now I was married and my new wife, Gina and I were making a fast trek through Europe on our way to Berlin. On Saturday, June 16, 1990 I had the amazing privilege to chop on the wall. I got very emotional and still do to this day, at the realization that I was literally tearing open the cage that imprisoned my fellow man. This was of course a symbolic move, although we wondered whether Gorbachev would change his mind or become the victim of a coup and the Wall chopping would stop. So I joined hundreds of people, mostly Germans, I rented a hammer and chisel and I chopped. The real satisfaction was that I had helped to elect a President who valued the individual lives of any human being, without regard to geography, religion or people group enough that he would risk everything to set them free. Now we have a new face of America.

We elected Barak Obama, and he does not feel that moral duty to you as Reagan did, at least not enough to stand up to the shrill American voices that hate the American military. So he will not be there on November 9^th to Celebrate the Fall of the Berlin Wall. I do not think he sees it the way you do. He will also not participate in the festivities on the campus of my College. Westminster College, in my State of Missouri, is where the great Allied leader Winston Churchill gave the Iron Curtain Speech. He told the World how millions of our fellow human beings were being stuffed into the cage, the very cage I was privileged to help dismantle. He had a way with words. On the campus of another American College he gave his shortest speech “Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give in.” But I digress.

Our new President believes that you are on your own. As the KGB agent-turned-billionaire, puppet master of the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin conducts war games of an assault on Poland, Obama has decided to tear down the American missiles from Poland. We knew that he cared less as he promised to remove our protection from the Iraqi people. 150 of them were slaughtered just this week. He really wants to find a way out of Afghanistan and pull our soldiers out just as you are pulling your U.N. workers out right now.

So my new President will not be there with you, like John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan were there for you. He has other priorities. I really wish I could be there to celebrate with you. Unfortunately, with the passing of time, I have five children, our economy is bad, and I too, have other priorities. So I am sorry that my President, the American face to the World will not be there for you. I feel just a little better knowing that you asked America to give him to you. I hope you like him.

Is Loving America a Conservative Value?

This post by Joseph Phillips is an excellent commentary on the duplicity of the far left. Enjoy:

Playing for Keeps

I was an innocent – not pure as the driven snow, but certainly unwise as to the level of the stakes at which we were playing. I entered the debate believing it would be an intellectual exercise; we would joust with each other and after it was all over shake hands and exit with mutual respect. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Mutual respect? The black panelists on my side of the question were called uncle toms, the white member was accused of seeking to repeal the civil rights act. Honesty? No lie was too large to tell; statistics were made up, facts were created to suit the argument. And there would be no shaking of hands at the conclusion of the debate, in fact barely a graceful word was spoken. It was in that moment I realized the left not only disagreed with me; they hated me. I was not only wrong; I was evil. That slap in the face knocked the rose colored glasses from my eyes and I am now seeing clearly: we are in the midst of a cultural and ideological war and while Conservatives concern themselves with civility and rules, progressives are playing for keeps.

It is a continuing fascination for me that conservatives are constantly depicted as wearing Jackboots and engaging in intimidation, violence and general thuggery. However, current events suggest that more often it is the new left that is wearing jack boots and not the right.

For instance who was doing the goose-stepping when radio host Rush Limbaugh was booted from an investment group trying to buy the NFL franchise St. Louis Rams? The new left lied and slandered Limbaugh with the aim of denying him an economic opportunity. Denying a man opportunity because we don’t like what he believes, what he says or what he looks like is (or should be) anathema to a free society. Shame on Dave Checketts and Roger Goodell for giving in to cheap intimidation and ideological bigotry! By their cowardice we are all diminished.

Many on the left disagree and are no doubt satisfied at the outcome. But for whom does the bell toll next? Who else’s opinions will be objectionable? What makes a football team any different from any other business that employs people? Should anyone with unpopular beliefs be barred from owning, say, a Burger King franchise? Should we then also check ideological credentials at the gates of certain neighborhoods? The doors to our schools?

The left often dons the coat of righteous indignation because it tends to give one an air of civility. They are not, however, above some good old fashioned name calling or back alley beat-downs.

Recall the response of Dennis Rivera, health care chairman of the Service Employees International Union, (SEIU) – as well as a master of irony -- following the arrest of two of his esteemed members for allegedly pummeling a conservative protestor senseless. Rivera denounced conservative “terrorist tactics” aimed at derailing the debate on health care reform. Terrorists tactics are now defined as peaceful protest.

Rivera is not the only one with a rather elastic definition of terrorism; Rosabeth Moss Kanter a professor at Harvard business school writing in Politico justifies the depiction of tea partiers, conservatives and health care reform protesters as racist buffoons because they are enemies of America. Kanter writes: “President [Barack] Obama is marginalizing not just his enemies but those of the American people. He is attacking organizations standing in the way of progress toward reforming health care or cleaning up the conditions that led to the financial crisis. He is putting on notice advocates of greed — instead of the greater good — that they no longer have public legitimacy.”

Yes you read it correctly. America’s enemies are not Islamist, North Korean demagogues, or even Maoists and admitted communists working at the highest levels of our government. Rather they are American citizens that disagree with this president and other new liberals on the degree to which government should interfere and control our economic and cultural institutions. No doubt they had better keep their opinions to themselves lest they be greeted with some of what Rush got.

I have been working on a collection of thoughts by Americans on their love of America. After agreeing to participate a comedian friend of mine reneged. He joked that he didn’t want to be dragged from his car and beaten for having his name appear in a conservative book. Two things struck me as peculiar: first that loving ones country and writing about it is a “conservative” activity (not my belief but apparently his), and that he would joke of his concern that the liberal thought police would find him and give him a beat down for stepping out of line.

As my mother used to say, “Many a truth is said in jest.”

Obviously my friend had discarded his rose colored glasses long ago.

Joseph C. Phillips is the author of "He Talk Like a White Boy" available where ever books are sold.

The Insidious Threat to free men - Mercantilism

A friend of mine sent this to me. He has been on a bit of a crusade to revive the use of an apropose term that is somewhat archaic but describes a threat that is all too contemporary. The Show Me State is fertile ground for patriots and they are privileged to be represented by some who are smarter than average. State Representative Ed Emery is responsible for this one. I believe he nails it:

Flaws of Mercantilism

“Mercantilism, which reached its height in the Europe of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, was a system of statism which employed economic fallacy to build up a structure of imperial state power, as well as special subsidy and monopolistic privilege to individuals or groups favored by the state.”

Murray N. Rothbard (1926-1995) American Economist, Historian, Political Theorist and Author

Mercantilism is the partnering of government and private industry in an attempt to join the taxing power of government with the productivity and efficiency of industry. Sounds like a great model if it works. However, because of the conflicting structures of government and private industry, few if any exceptions to Mr. Rothbard’s description exist. And mercantilism is usually a disaster for the consumer. Accurate assessment of mercantilism is difficult, however, because once it is imposed; the private sector cannot compete independently and is soon absorbed or eliminated.

I was recently sent a letter-to-the-editor from the Nevada Daily Mail newspaper that illustrates the flaws of mercantilism and prompted me to write about its flaws. Written by Dr. Ron Jones and published in the September 1^st edition, the letter provides information about the H1N1 virus (swine flu), how it has evolved, and the science and politics of treating it.

According to Dr. Jones, “ is considered a fairly mild flu virus and not…any more dangerous than the ‘usual’ seasonal flu… Some say it could ‘mutate’ into a more virulent form, but mutations usually lead to milder forms.” As a physician, Dr. Jones seems at least as concerned about the danger posed by insufficiently tested vaccines, mercury, and aluminum than the dangers posed by a case of the flu.

Alzheimer’s Disease, Gulf War Syndrome, certain autoimmune disorders, and Guillain-Barre syndrome have all been linked to chemical components frequently used in vaccines according to Dr. Jones. He recommends some safer treatments while questioning why the government is pushing vaccination.

Dr. Jones points out that “The National Institutes of Health and the military contractor Dyncorp co-own some vaccine patents. This seems an odd partnership, but not that odd in this day of government/business mergers. They stand to make a ton of money from this vaccination campaign.” Dr. Jones then claims that “the vaccine manufacturers have been given blanket immunity from prosecution over vaccine adverse effects…”

Mercantilism does not merge the best of public and private but the worst. A powerful natural constraint on free market misbehavior is the need to raise capitol. Without trust and integrity, capitol comes at a high price unless it can be raised from government where politics often trumps ethics and morality. Don’t fall victim to the myth of mercantilism. It combines the worst, not the best of both worlds. Murray Rothbard was correct that its principle effect is “…to build up a structure of imperial state power…and …privilege to favored by the state.” Just look around!

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When $80 Billion is not that Important

On MSNBC this morning, when asked by Joe Scarborough whether the media missed the story on former "Green Czar" Van Jones, Chief White House correspondent and political director for NBC News, Chuck Todd defended the dearth of media attention as proportional to the importance of the role. Joe Scarborough pushed back, reminding Todd that even the left of center, New York Times had admitted the oversite. Todd stood by his assessment, stating in essence that there are so many people (Obama appointees) doing so many things that following the background of each one is just not that valuable. Really?

The newly created job of "Green Czar" put Jones in charge of $80 billion of the $787 billion in "stimulus" funds. I am not sure what is more shocking, that the appointments of such radical individuals is being made at all or that the major media are largely falling down on the job of scrutinizing these people.

The major media have nearly 100% ignored these arguably extra-constitutional appointments. It is one thing to appoint a specialist to dig into a problem in blue ribbon panel fashion, like a drug czar for instance, but quite another to put someone in charge of billions of tax dollars. Certainly, money is power and $80 billion is a lot of power. For anyone in the media to defend the laziness, flat dereliction, or deliberate obfuscation by saying that control of $80 billion is really not that important is beltway arrogance at its worst.

This kind of major media arrogance breeds suspicion. We are suspicious of the people who make these appointments and the media who choose not to discuss them. I did a fairly through search of the Whitehouse website looking for the page that proudly displays their Czar Dream Team. I hoped to see pictures and bio maybe in a nice complete listing. I hoped to get a total for the number of czars. No luck.

So it is not surprising that this has become a red state/blue state country. In the midwest we still think $80 billion is a lot of money. We would like to know about the agenda of the people spreading it around. What are they buying with our money? Who is getting incentivized and who is getting denied? What behavior are you seeking to create with that money? And by the way, what the hell is a "green job" anyway?

Obama Math - Part 1. Cash for Clunkers does not add up.

Among the brave new government programs, like TARP bailouts, and auto industry takeovers, Cash for Clunkers was another program that defied logic. There were several arguments to "justify" it, few of which seem to have panned out. One of the worst performers was the argument that it would save vast sums of money wasted on poor fuel efficiency.

This from a friend of mine:

I guess I must be on the wrong page…
A vehicle at 15 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline.
A vehicle at 25 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 480 gallons a year.

So, the average clunker transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.
They claim 700,000 vehicles – so that's 224 million gallons / year.
That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.
5 million barrels of oil is about ¼ of one day's US consumption.
And, 5 million barrels of oil costs about $350 million dollars at $75/bbl.
So, we all contributed to spending $3 billion to save $350 million.
How good a deal was that ???

They'll probably do a great job w. health care though!!

As author Keith Gosney alludes, the health care math used by the President is similarly challenged. He will expand access, add 42 million new insureds, and no one will be rationed out, no provider will be reimbursed less, and the budget will not be blown. Sounds "fishy".

BUYcott Tomorrow Sept. 1 - Whole Foods - Meet Michael Patrick Leahy

So here are the final details for the 1st National BUYcott in support of Whole Foods:

The location is simple, about 1 mile south on highway 141 from Highway 40, at the intersection at Clayton Rd. and Woods Mill Rd. http://bit.ly/3KeHNj

Ground Rules:
1. They are requesting no signs on the premises, this is NOT a protest.
If people are there with signs, (we support free speech) please hang out on the roundabout off Woods Mill Rd. on the south side of the building - that is public property.
2. Think Ghandi and Trump. Spend like Trump, be peaceful like Ghandi. This is NOT a protest, it is a celebration of capitalism.

When you are there:
They have several entrances. We will be set up inside the south (flower) entrance, and inside the doors to the left by the coffee bar. That will be ground zero for our BUYcott. Say hello, do your shopping, and then bring your receipt to us to scan, tally, etc. so we can document our success.

Dinner:
Feel free to join many of us who will be dining there at 7pm.

Notes:
WF is going to have lots of extra help in the check out lanes and aisles, including their regional manager who is coming in from Chicago, and will be likely be "aproned" to help tomorrow!!!

Sales are denoted by chalkboards throughout the store, typically with yellow signage.

They are going to feature whole rotisserie chickens (organic and hormone free, of course) for only $5.99. I think that will be a first hormone free chicken for me.

They have some great sales items including fruit, like $4watermelons, cheese, steak, and shrimp skewers 10 for $10!!!

They are loading up their display cases for "value packs" for us RIGHT NOW!!! I saw it myself. They heard we are fiscally conservative--imagine THAT!!!

They will have beer and wine samples for us. Don't be cheap though and expect to wash your chicken down with samples. : )

They close at 9, but Matt the manager assured us they will not kick us out : )

Links:
Fb: whole foods market town and country

Twitter:
Twitter.com/wfm_tac

Other info:

Buy a Gift Card (here)
Have the card delivered to a food pantry as a gift
Forward the email receipt to gina-at-stlouisteaparty-dot-com.

I saw the very back of the store--shockingly clean!!! No funny old meat smell at all.

They will have their ppl available to talk to potential vendors/farmers who are local who would like to get their product into their store. I have sent out some invites to farmers I know.

Be nice or they will put you in the "Whole Body Lockup" located in the very back of the store. I saw it myself.

I won't say who, but I ran into the manager of the grocery store where I shop today at WF!

Michael Patrick Leahy, partiotic activist, founder of Top Conservatives on Twitter and author of the just released book "Rules for Conservative Radicals" will be joining us.

Please tell the media, Tweet, and fb about this so it is HUGE. They have really gone out of their way to stock up for us and create sales for us. Remember, the World is always watching for us to be the "mean-spirited haters" that so many of the statists actually are. I saw a young woman in dreadlocks working a register. This is a great time to cause others to wonder about the source of the joy in your heart.

All eyes are on St. Louis tomorrow, and if we make a big enough splash, this take-back-the-country tactic goes Nationwide!!!!