The White Man's Greed

First, let me say I'm sorry for how long it's been since I posted. I had my son's birthday and Easter to work on. But today's post is so funny that it will make up for it. There was a controversy in the period leading up to the presidential election about this quote:

"It is this world, a world where cruise ships throw away more food in a day than most residents of Port-au-Prince see in a year, where white folks' greed runs a world in need, apartheid in one hemisphere, apathy in another hemisphere...That's the world! On which hope sits!"

It is a quote from Barack Obama's book. Some conservative commentators used it to hurt Obama, rightly so. The left shot back that it was taken out of context. The quote is actually Barack Obama quoting his pastor. I ask, "does it matter?" Whoever originally said it, Obama thought it was an important point. Now, I really wish I could comment on this quote, but I just don't want to. Instead, I'm going to share with you two pieces of recent news.

1) Michelle Obama becomes the first White House Wife to hire a full-time, traveling make-up artist!

2) On Friday the president had some friends over for pizza. He remembered a pizzaria from the campaign trail and decided to fly the pizza dough and the restaurant staff from St. Louis to prepare dinner.


Funny stuff! Perhaps Obama is more "white" than he likes to pretend?

As a side note: I would like to point out that yesterday "for the first time in my adult life" I was proud of President Obama. He authorized the navy seals to rescue the boat captain being held by the pirates. It showed that he does have the capability to act. Now, he needs to stop prancing around Europe, referring to America as "arrogant" and start exhibiting the leadership he was elected for.

The Words of People Much Smarter than Me: Happy Easter!!!

Our Comrade

Members of congress went on a visit to a neighboring head of state this week. As you might expect, for visiting dignitaries, they were treated well. And what did the congressmen/women have to say about their host? Here’s a sample of their high praise:

“It was almost like listening to an old friend.”
“In my household I told (him) he is known as the ultimate survivor.”

- Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Il)

So who is this wonderful man who so charmed our leaders? I’m not going to tell you. Instead, let’s play a game. I’ll give you some clues and you see how fast you can guess.

1. In New York on April 25 he said, “I don't agree with communism. We are democracy. We are against all kinds of dictators.... That is why we oppose communism.”

Got it yet? Here’s another clue:

2. On May 1, 1960, he declared his country a socialist state and officially abolished elections. Critics noted that he feared elections would eject him from power.

Okay, that was a give away. But here are some more fun facts:

3. He nationalized some $850 million worth of U.S. property and businesses.

4. He closed down all opposition newspapers and placed all radio and television stations under state control.

5. In any given year, he arranged for about 20,000 dissents to be held and tortured under inhuman prison conditions.

6. He locked homosexuals in concentration camps.

7. In a personal letter to Khrushchev dated October 27, 1962, he urged him to launch a nuclear first strike against the United States.

Yup, I’m talking about Fidel Castro. He sounds like a nice guy. I’m proud to have congressmen and women who are willing to go visit him, extol his virtues on television and then boldly declare as CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Ca.) did that “The bottom line is that we believe its time to open dialogue with Cuba.”

Inciting Panic and Random Acts of Kindness

Once upon a time there was a scientist who had made some interesting calculations. He had predicted and imminent disaster and decided to warn the people to evacuate before it was too late. The government got wind of the ideas and forced him to stop sharing his conclusions. They had their own panel of experts who insisted there wouldn't be a disaster and worked to assure the people that all was well. They silenced the scientist because they didn't not want him inciting panic among the people. But the scientist was right, not the government.

I know what you're thinking...Jor-El, right? Nope! (Okay, I admit, the picture may have been slightly misleading.) Gotta love a government requiring people to remove their ideas from the internet. This story actually takes place in Italy, weeks before Sunday's disastrous earthquake. Check it out here.

Now, as I promised, here's the first in a serious of stories about how small things can make a big difference. This one's a bit long and I wrote it into a blog that includes many different stories about the joys of motherhood. When you have some time, it's kind of an amusing story. You can read it here.

The Tyranny of Hopelessness

I had a hard time deciding what to write about today. I was frustrated by President Obama’s speeches last week that seemed to sell out the American people. It shouldn’t have surprised me. His autobiography states:

“To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets. We smoked cigarettes and wore leather jackets. At night, in the dorms, we discussed neocolonialism, Franz Fanon, Eurocentrism, and patriarchy. When we ground out our cigarettes in the hallway carpet or set our stereos so loud that the walls began to shake, we were resisting bourgeois society's stifling constraints. We weren't indifferent or careless or insecure. We were alienated.”

But I had hoped that as President of the United States, he would be proud enough to defend his country rather than pandering to the European anti-Americanism. I was sorely disappointed and left feeling betrayed.

I was also very disturbed, along with the rest of the country, by the events of this weekend. There have been three massacres in three days. In one of them, the perpetrator was the father of the victims. I simply do not understand how things like this are possible. I do not even want to think about the situation yesterday with North Korea's missiles.

As I thought over the current events, I revisited my promise to make my messages positive and empowering. So here’s today’s message: It’s very easy to see the bad things that are happening and loose perspective on what really matters. Each of the murderers, and even President Obama, is just one person. Their capacity to do evil is no greater than your capacity to do good. Of course, the effects of your actions will probably not be broadcast across the world media, but it will be noted and it will make a difference.

Every day this week, I am going to share a story of someone who has made a difference to me. I can’t promise to leave out my traditional political commentary, but it will be as positive as I can make it. I would love to hear some of your stories as well. The fight we are engaged in is a fight, so it will sometimes be discouraging. But I know what amazing people we have on our side.

Okay...Okay...It was all very serious for a while. But! You must watch this video. Seriously! VERY FUNNY STUFF!

The words of people much smarter than me

"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse."

-Jeffery R. Holland

Note from Amy: "The words of people much smarter than me," will be a regular Sunday column from now on.

Seventy-Three percent of statistics are made up

The rest of them are just distorted to fit an agenda. It was only last month that I read an article claiming that the United States was to blame for the Mexican drug wars because we provided the guns. It was last week that I watched an interview with the mayor of El Paso asking for military help in searching vehicles headed to Mexico to prevent illegal smuggling of guns.

I laughed this week when my husband started defending our country to the group of computer programmers he works with on his spare-time volunteer programing project. I asked why he was talking politics with them and he explained, "They're all from Europe and think America is full of nothing but gun-toting, cowboy-hat wearing hicks."

I was heart-broken over the story of Spc. Richard Raymond Medina Torres, an American solider, who accidentally drove over the border bridge from El Paso to Ciudad Juarez with weapons in his car. He subsequently spent five weeks in a Mexican prison. But when he was finally released, he came home with "no hard feelings." He understood that the Mexican people have the right to enforce their own laws and they have a legitimate desire to keep American-made weapons out of the hands of the drug lords. After all, 90 percent of the guns used in crime in Mexico come from America, right?

Wrong. This article from Fox News is one of the best I've read. Check it out here. You'll be shocked by how easy it was for politicians to use incorrect statistics to push their own agendas.

What My Freedom Means to Me

I wrote my share of “what my freedom means to me” essays in school. Like the other budding writers, I focused on the price paid by so many before me in the fight for a free society. If I had the chance to write those essays now, they would be a little different. It wouldn't be written from the perspective of someone handed a diamond earned by the blood of those who came before. That element is important, but not the most important. I would write an essay from the perspective of someone given an important job. Yes, it is an honor to receive it. But, more importantly, it is a responsibility to be worthy of it.

This may be the most important point I ever make on this blog: FREEDOM TO ACT DOES NOT MEAN FREEDOM FROM CONSEQUENCES. Read the sentence again, just to be absolutely certain you're grasping the magnitude of it.

It broke my heart to read yesterday that Professor Ward Churchill has the opportunity to earn his job back after being fired from the University of Colorado. Let's start with a little history. Following the September 11th terrorist attacks, Mr. Churchill wrote and essay in which he compared America, and specifically the victims who lost their lives, to Nazi's. He blamed America for the attacks on America. There was a public outcry. Later, he was fired from his position as a tenured professor because of plagiarism and other academic concerns.

Mr. Churchill sued the University, claiming that his firing would never have happened if I hadn't been for his controversial essay and that the plagiarism was just a cover. Yesterday, a jury ruled that he was wrongly fired. The University will have to pay his legal fees and potentially give him back his position. His lawyer is calling it a landmark decision in the name of free speech. I think it is a landmark decision in the name of irresponsibility.

First, I will not argue about whether or not he was actually fired for the essay. I don't care. You see, I believe in freedom of speech. This means that I may say whatever I like without fear of being jailed. However, if I say something stupid, there will be social repercussions. If I am a salesman at Sears and I start telling customers that I think some other store has a better deal, that's my freedom of speech. But, if Sears feels they need to fire me, that's the natural consequence of my decision. If I am teaching kids in Colorado and the people of Colorado feel the things I am teaching are mindless, idiotic and hurtful, I should no longer be permitted to teach. I should certainly NOT be receiving a tax-payer funded salary to pay for my moronic writing.

Second, I wonder if this isn't a double standard. Do you think a tenured professor who was outed as being a member of the KKK would keep his job? Of course not! Should he keep his job? Of course not! Should taxpayers be forced to fund the writing of anti-American idiots regardless of what they say? No!!! This guy has his freedom of speech. He can speak all he wants, but we have the right to stop paying him when his speaking is something Americans don't want to endorse.

This whole thing reminds me of another incident a few years ago when a couple of girls decided to make cookies for some neighbors and leave them on porches. One of the neighbors sued the girls, claiming their cookie delivering caused her stress and exacerbated her heart condition. A judge ordered the girls to pay a fine. This woman started receiving cookies in the mail and door knob ditchers at random times at night. She got very irritated and blamed the girls, again, this time for telling their story. I just laughed. Look, you do something stupid (like suing a couple of girls for dropping off cookies) the law may be on your side. But, consequences that come from the community will happen. Just because the government has no right to judge your actions, doesn't mean your actions have no consequences.

Mr. Churchill: Freedom of speech is and should be absolute. Say whatever you want. But don't expect us to pay you to say it. Grow up and deal with the consequences of your choices. My three-year-old knows that if she uses her toys to hit her brother, she will loose the right to play with her toys. You had a pretty cool toy in your position at the University. You used it to condemn the people paying you. You should loose your job.

Freedom means responsibility.

It's fair for everyone to be free

Yesterday, I jokingly suggested that the government needs to regulate the media to ensure that people heard more than just the liberal perspective. Of course, it is ridiculous to suggest that in the United States, where the right to freedom of speech is one of our most fundamental and beloved rights, anyone could take seriously the concept of the government regulating speech. I believe that the liberals in the media have every right to say whatever they think. But do they believe that conservatives have the same right? I want to take a minute to look at the Fairness Doctrine today. I know this is not a new subject. But I wonder how many people actually understand the issues underneath the pretty wording.

“Fairness” is a nice word, isn't it? We would like to be fair. When we were kids, didn't we take turns? So what, exactly, is it? In 1949, the FCC decided that broadcasters needed to show both sides of controversial topics. We are talking about private broadcasting companies. Who decided whether broadcasters were being fair? The FCC. Yup, scary, huh? It was repealed under Ronald Reagan on principles of free speech.

Today, talk radio is where many people are turning for their news. There are actually people in power today who feel that the Fairness Doctrine needs to be reintroduced to stem the influence of conservatives on the radio. My article yesterday sounded ludicrous, right? No intelligent American could want to force speech, right? Let's look at what some influential politicians have to say about putting a government entity in charge of regulating free speech.

Senator Richard Durbin (Democrat of Illinois):

"It’s time to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi

When asked by John Gizzi of Human Events, "Do you personally support revival of the 'Fairness Doctrine?'"

She replied "Yes."

Senator Jeff Bingaman (Democrat of New Mexico):

"I would want this station and all stations to have to present a balanced perspective and different points of view," and "All I’m saying is that for many, many years we operated under a Fairness Doctrine in this country, and I think the country was well-served. I think the public discussion was at a higher level and more intelligent in those days than it has become since."

Representative Anna Eshoo (Democrat of California):

“I’ll work on bringing it back. I still believe in it." She said it should also apply to cable and satellite broadcasters. "It should and will affect everyone."

Senator Debbie Stabenow (Democrat from Michigan):

"I think it's absolutely time to pass a standard. Now, whether it's called the Fairness Standard, whether it's called something else – I absolutely think it's time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves." When Press asked if she would seek Senate hearings on such accountability in 2009, she replied, "I have already had some discussions with colleagues and, you know, I feel like that's gonna happen. Yep."

Senator Tom Harkin (Democrat of Iowa):

"...we gotta get the Fairness Doctrine back in law again." Later in response to Press's assertion that "...they are just shutting down progressive talk from one city after another," Senator Harkin responded, "Exactly, and that's why we need the fair — that's why we need the Fairness Doctrine back."

Former President Bill Clinton:

"Well, you either ought to have the Fairness Doctrine or we ought to have more balance on the other side, because essentially there's always been a lot of big money to support the right wing talk shows." Clinton cited the "blatant drumbeat" against the stimulus program from conservative talk radio, suggesting that it doesn't reflect economic reality.

All of these quotes are from the past year. I think a lot of people would be very surprised to realize that there are so many people who think that there ought to be government oversight into what private broadcasting companies say. The key here is to stay educated and informed. The more we exercise our right to free speech, the harder it will be to take it away from us.

The Rhetoric of Fools

I think it's time for me to abandon my home and start running for public office. I have had enough of the idiots running this country. It's getting to the point where turning on the computer to read the news is a little like watching a train wreck. It sickens me to watch it, but I can't turn away.

So, here's what I've decided: I love my kids and want the best possible world for them. Because of that, I feel that my superior intellect is being wasted with the menial tasks I dedicate myself to. It's time to fulfill my true destiny and save this world from itself.

Would you like to hear my platform?

1.The news stations are corrupted by a liberal bias. The world will never choose to be fair to the conservative audience until equality is legislated. It's not about freedom of speech. It's about freedom of opportunity for all points of view.

2.The education system in this country is awful. It's been proven time after time that textbooks are liberally skewed. I want every textbook to be evaluated by a panel of government appointed experts. Anyone wishing to write a new textbook must seek approval from the panel.

3.I believe in free enterprise but it is being destroyed by lack of competition. I think business licenses should only be given to people who can prove that they are intelligent enough to make their business worth running. Any business currently in existence should have to justify its business model to experts on capitalism.

4.I am tired of the voting system being destroyed by people too ignorant to understand the path they're paving for my children. In order to vote in this country, you should have to pass an IQ test.

If you people won't embrace freedom because it's right, I will take your hand. If you resist, I will push you. If you refuse to be pushed, I will find ways to legislate your ideas out of existence. One way or another, I will ensure liberty for my children.

Whether or not you enjoyed this article, you might be amused by this one. I can't help but relish the creativity these people are capable of. But check it out today! The fun won't be here tomorrow...