Born Again American

This is dedicated to all of us going into 2012, left and right. Remember, we're all Americans.

The ‘What A Maroon’ Award

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for ... This week’s “What A Maroon” Award goes to...

ROSIE O’DONNELL

The gaffe-prone comedienne strikes again. The 9/11 denier who said that Christianity is as threatening as radical Islam, that gun owners should be jailed and that American troops were terrorists, has put her foot in her large mouth once again.

This time, she told Joy Behar on “The View” that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, “Perhaps he should read a history book.”




O’Donnell, who hold a diploma from Commack High School, apparently is unaware that Gingrich not only reads history, but is the author of 25 books. In fact, he is a historian, with B.A. and M.A. degrees in history from Emory University and a Ph.D. in modern European history from Tulane University. In addition, Gingrich taught history at West Georgia College.

O’Donnell should read a bit herself before opening her mouth about other people.

For her appalling ignorance and arrogance, Rosie O’Donnell richly deserves the What A Maroon Award.

WHAT A MAROON!

In honor of the great American philosopher Bugs Bunny who first coined the phrase, I’ve decided to present the “What a Maroon“ Award each week to the politician, organization or celebrity who makes the most sand-poundingly stupid statement of recent days.

Veteran's Day

I salute all veterans for their service. I especially wish to salute Maj. Spencer Allen, U.S. Army, WWII, Pacific Theater of Operations.

Thanks, dad.

Occupy Wall Street Gains Supporters

I've often stated my belief that socialism and fascism are just two sides of the same coin. In the 1920s and '30s, the German Nazi and Communist parties often joined forces when protesting against the democratic Weimar Republic.

Communists and Nazis frequently found common cause. Witness the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 where Hitler and Stalin agreed to partition Europe.
The American Nazi Party and Communist Party USA announced their support for the Occupy Wall Street movement.

It's happening again.

The ‘What A Maroon’ Award

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for ... This week's "What A Maroon" award goes to...

LAWRENCE O'DONNELL

MSNBC libtalker Lawrence O'Donnell, infamous for his emotional outbursts and flights of fancy, lit into Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain. O'Donnell accused Cain of being a draft dodger during the Vietnam war.

O'Donnell asked Cain,

Can you explain how you avoided military service during the Vietnam War and during the draft and why you should be Commander-in-Chief if you did successfully avoid military service during the war that came during what would have been your war years, how you, after avoiding the Vietnam War, why should you be Commander-in-Chief?

The libtalker dismissed the fact that Cain spent the war years working for the Navy Department working on specialized weapons system or that he refused a critical skills deferment and was in the draft lottery like most American men.

Not good enough for O'Donnell who responded, "I am offended on behalf of all the veterans of the Vietnam War who joined, Mr. Cain. The veterans who did not wait to be drafted like John Kerry who joined."

Of course, he neglected to mention that Kerry also jumped at the chance to leave Vietnam before his tour was over, leaving his comrades behind, unlike John McCain who refused early release from a North Vietnamese prison camp hell hole. Or that former President Bill Clinton was an admitted draft dodger, that Vice President Joe Biden took five deferments to avoid Vietnam service or that the current commander in chief, Barack Obama, refused to enlist for service in the First Gulf War.

Even more interesting, O'Donnell himself failed to mention that he avoided military service during Vietnam by accepting a college deferment.

O'Donnell reveals himself to be a hypocritical partisan hack. His real reason for attacking Cain is that the Republican presidential hopeful is an African-American who dared to stray from the Democrats plantation and think for himself. That is unforgivable in the progressive narrative.

Even by MSNBC standards, O'Donnell's attempted character assassination of an honorable man was reprehensible.

WHAT A MAROON!

In honor of the great American philosopher Bugs Bunny who first coined the phrase, I've decided to present the "What a Maroon" award each week to the politician, organization or celebrity who makes the most sand-poundingly stupid statement of recent days.

A European’s 9/11 Tribute

And now ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for ... This week's "What A Maroon" award goes to...

WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ANN BRADLEY

When the Wisconsin State Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality Gov. Scott Walker’s curtailing public employee unions’ collective bargaining power by a 4-3 vote, Bradley was one of the dissenting justices. Bradley and Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson retired to her office to write their dissenting opinion.

Justice David Prosser and two other justices of the majority opinion visited Bradley’s office to learn when the dissent would be ready so the entire court decision could be published. An argument ensued and Prosser told Abrahamson that he’d lost faith in her ability to lead the court.

Bradley said she ordered Prosser out of her office and that he responded by putting her in a “chokehold.” Bradley immediately filed a complaint against Prosser, demanded he attend anger management classes and called him to resign.

Aside from the issue of who leaded the incident to the press, is the fact that Bradley’s version apparently bears little resemblance to the truth.

A special prosecutor investigated the incident. It was learned that all witnesses stated that Bradley charged Prosser and two witnesses said she had her fists raised. Prosser put up his hands in defense and pushed her away. No one, except Bradley, said there was choking.

All the witnesses agreed that Bradley was the aggressor, not Prosser. Bradley explicitly accused Prosser of putting her in a chokehold, both in a press release an in her written complaint. A chokehold has a specific legal definition in Wisconsin and is a felony. As she is a supreme court justice, she presumably knows this. She also apparently knew enough that in the report to the police, she did not use the term “chokehold.” That would have constituted filing a false police report, also a felony.

The special prosecutor ruled there was no case against Prosser.

Justice Bradley should know that if she’s going to falsely accuse someone of a felony, don’t do it in front of witnesses, especially if they are state supreme court justices. Don’t fly into a rage and then demand others need anger management. Don’t call for another justice to step down from office for the very traits you yourself exhibited in front of witnesses.

In short,

WHAT A MAROON!

In honor of the great American philosopher Bugs Bunny who first coined the phrase, I've decided to present the "What a Maroon" award each week to the politician, organization or celebrity who makes the most sand-poundingly stupid statement of recent days.
In honor of the great American philosopher Bugs Bunny who first coined the phrase, I've decided to present the "What a Maroon" award each week to the politician, organization or celebrity who makes the most sand-poundingly stupid statement of recent days.

Bad Luck

President Obama is on a bus tour of America's heartland, explaining how his economic policies really are working, despite persistently high unemployment, a skyrocketing deficit and downgrade of the country's credit rating.

He told a crowd in Decorah, Iowa,

We had reversed the recession, avoided a depression, gotten the economy moving again. But over the last six months we’ve had a run of bad luck.

Bad luck. Hmmm. The late author Robert Heinlein had some thoughts on "bad luck."

Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

This is known as “bad luck.”

Democratic Hypocrisy and the Debt Limit

I just love how Democrats and their progressive fellow travelers accuse Republicans of rank partisanship it the debt crisis. You see, Democrats have never shied away from playing politics with the debt limit.

Between 2000 and 2010, the Senate passed 10 increases to the debt limit. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) opposed raising the limit whenever Republicans controlled the Senate, but supported it whenever Democrats were in the majority.

Guess what other Democratic pol also played partisan games with the debt limit. How about Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois)? There were four votes raising the debt limit during his brief tenure in the Senate. He missed two of the votes, supported it when Democrats were in the majority and opposed it when Republicans ruled, stating that it was a "failure of leadership.

Byron York has more on the Democrats hypocritical record of putting partisan politics before country.

Tribute to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

One of my personal heroes is Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The Nobel prize winner not only told the truth about communist tyranny, but was willing to suffer the consequences for speaking out against the regime.

One of my favorite musical groups, Renaissance, performed a number, “Mother Russia” dedicated to this freedom fighter.

Contemptible Bill Maher

I don't like Bill Maher. I don't find him funny. I do find him contemptible.

Apparently, so does comedian Steven Crowder.

The ‘What A Maroon’ Award

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for ... This week’s “What A Maroon” award goes to...

CONTESSA BREWER

MSNBC anchor Brewer was hoisted by her own petard during an interview with Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Alabama). They were discussing the economy and whether President Obama’s spending policies averted a depression.

Brooks disputed her contention about a depression, which led to this exchange.

According to the former KMIR news anchor’s official MSNBC biography, Brewer has a baccalaureate in broadcast journalism (cum laude) and Certificate of Contemporary Europe from Syracuse University. Nowhere does it mention that Brewer, unlike Brooks, has a degree in economics.

Any lawyer will tell you to never ask a question when you don’t know the answer. But Brewer is no lawyer. She claims to be a journalist, but violated one of the most basic rules of journalism — Do Your Homework!

She was obviously unaware of Brook’s credentials. A one-minute glance at Brook’s Congressional website would have told her what she needed to know. Basic research is Journalism 101. This cum laude grad must have missed that class.

WHAT A MAROON!

In honor of the great American philosopher Bugs Bunny who first coined the phrase, I’ve decided to present the “What a Maroon” award each week to the politician, organization or celebrity who makes the most sand-poundingly stupid statement of recent days.

Happy 235th, America!

The ‘What A Maroon’ Award

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for ... This week’s “What A Maroon” award goes to...

RACHEL MADDOW

The gaffe-prone left-wing MSNBC maven may not always know what she’s talking about, but she says it with such a straight face. In her latest foray into punditry, Maddow reveals she is clueless as to the meaning of the word “controversial.”

She expressed shock that the highly partisan senate unanimously confirmed the appointments of Leon Panetta as Secretary of Defense and Gen. David Petraeus as head of the CIA.

She called both appointments “controversial” and “unpopular with the public.”



“Controversial” and “unpopular with the public”? Really, Rachel? I seriously doubt the average American could even name the heads of Defense and CIA. And of those who can, I suspect the vast majority approve of Panetta and Petraeus.

It seems her definition of “controversial” is anything with which she disagrees and “unpopular with the public” is what her limited circle of acquaintances and fellow travelers at the MSNBC studios dislike.

Rachel needs to get out more.

WHAT A MAROON!

In honor of the great American philosopher Bugs Bunny who first coined the phrase, I’ve decided to present the “What a Maroon” award periodically to the politician, organization or celebrity who makes the most sand-poundingly stupid statement of recent days.

Goodbye to an Old Friend

My oldest and dearest friend suffered a stroke last week. Today, he was declared brain dead.

How do I say farewell to someone who was such an important part of my life for 45 years? Well, as a wordsmith, this is one way.

My friend’s name was John Wilson. We first met my freshman year in college. He was hard to miss. There weren’t many people in the dorm who were 6-foot-6 and played a 12-string.

We later pledged the same fraternity and became roommates. We shared many interests. We were both history buffs, folk music enthusiasts, wargamers and passionate about conservative politics.

We shared everything and had no secrets from one another. We had many adventures, such as the notorious County Highway Z episode when we learned that God does indeed protect drunks and fools — we were both that night. Together, we ran the largest College Young Republicans club in the state. I remember one night the two of us sneaked into the state legislature’s parking garage and slapped Republican bumper stickers on the cars of Democratic lawmakers.

He was a frequent guest at my family’s home. My parents came to regard him as a son, and he loved them in return. We were best men at each other’s weddings and one of his children is named after me.

After college, I went into journalism and he became a lawyer following a stint in the Army. At first, he was a criminal attorney with a public defender’s office. Over and above the poor pay, he was discouraged that most of the people he was defending were as guilty as sin and deserved to be behind bars.

He switched to corporate law, specifically insurance law. In his words, he was defending the oppressed insurance companies from the outrageous demands of greedy widows and orphans. After a while, he switched sides and concentrated on worker’s compensation cases, helping injured workers get financial benefits.

But his heart was never really in the law. In addition to career dissatisfaction, he battled a number of internal demons most of his life. It finally came to a crisis and he dropped out of sight for a while.

He found redemption in a childhood passion — photography. He became obsessed with photographing beauty. He sought it out with all the urgency of a starving man for food. And he found beauty all around him. His camera captured the everyday scenes around us and transformed them into things of beauty.

One of his journeys took him from Northern California to New England, down to Florida, across the Gulf Coast and back to California. I saw him for the last time in December when stopped by Palm Springs en route back to Northern California to set up his photographic business.

He made a photographic record of that journey, what he called, “10,000 Miles by Car Around the USA.” I invite you to share in the beauty he saw by clicking on the link.

In conclusion, let me relate one incident from early in our relationship. I guess this was back in 1968. We’d consumed a fair amount of adult beverages one evening and were listening to some music on the record player. One song in particular struck us both. The lyrics foretold our future.



Goodbye, my old friend. I guess we never found our park bench.

The ‘What A Maroon’ Award

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting for ... This week’s “What A Maroon” award goes to...

RANDI KAYE

Kaye, a CNN correspondent and anchor, recently displayed jaw-dropping ignorance of the meaning of a simple word. The subject was a discussion she had with media critic Howard Kurtz.

At issue was the recent suspension without pay of MSNBC left-wing talk show host Ed Schultz. Schultz called conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham, a mother of two adopted children, a “right-wing slut.”

Such inflammatory language was too much, even for MSNBC, which suspended Schultz for two weeks without pay. Even Schultz seemed embarrassed and publicly apologized to Ingraham, saying,

“On my radio show yesterday, I used vile and inappropriate language when talking about talk show host Laura Ingraham. I am deeply sorry, and I apologize. It was wrong, uncalled for and I recognize the severity of what I said. I apologize to you, Laura and ask for your forgiveness.”

A repentant Schultz continued,

“I have embarrassed my family. I have embarrassed this company. And I have been in this business since 1978, and I have made a lot of mistakes. This is the lowest of low for me.”

However, this seems to be unclear to Kaye, who apparently doesn’t know the the meaning of the word “slut.”

Kaye told Kurtz,“Yeah, but you know when you hear the word ‘slut’ – I mean I hate to even say it on our air, to be honest with you – but there are mixed interpretations about the word.”

Uh, no, Randi. There are no mixed interpretations of the word.

Perhaps the satirical website “The Onion” might help her out if she is still unclear on the concept.



By parsing such a vile, misogynist word, Kaye’s remarks rival those of Whoopi Goldberg, who maintained that Roman Polanski’s drugging and sodomizing a 13-year-old girl wasn’t “rape, rape,” for mind boggling mental contortions.

Randi Kaye richly deserves the “What A Maroon” award for making such an incredible fool out of herself.

WHAT A MAROON!

In honor of the great American philosopher Bugs Bunny who first coined the phrase, I’ve decided to present the “What a Maroon” award each week to the politician, organization or celebrity who makes the most sand-poundingly stupid statement of recent days.

What Media Bias?

Remember the media coverage falsely accusing Tea Partiers of spitting on African-American Congressmen and hurling the "N" word at them? So do I.

Remember the media making claims of violence at Tea Party rallies that never happened? So do I.

Remember the media claiming the Gifford's shooting was somehow linked to conservatives in general and Sarah Palin in particular when the shooter was actually a deranged Bush-hating, anti-war lefty? So do I.

Remember the media coverage of numerous and credible death threats against Wisconsin Republican lawmakers? No, neither did I.

Even some of those on the left are starting to notice.

The ‘What A Maroon’ Award

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for ... This week's “What A Maroon” award goes to...

SEN. BARBARA BOXER

The senator is outraged, outraged that dastardly Republicans are even thinking about trimming the bloated federal budget. The GOP, the left-wing Democrat shrilly asserts in her own special way, is on a “V-E-N-D-E-T-T-A”!

That’s right, a vendetta, a “vendetta against health care” and a “vendetta against clean energy.” But there was even worse to come, as she made the most frightening accusation of all — Republicans, she said, have a “vendetta against Elmo.”

Elmo’s afraid!

True, House Republicans did vote to defund public broadcasting, although it’s blatantly left-wing bias probably had more to do with it than a kid’s show. But the good senator has always been adept at demonizing her opponents and skirting inconvenient truths.

“Vendetta against Elmo,” indeed!

WHAT A MAROON!

In honor of the great American philosopher Bugs Bunny who first coined the phrase, I’ve decided to present the “What A Maroon” award each week to the politician, organization or celebrity who makes the most sand-poundingly stupid statement of recent days.

Attention, Democrats!

The foolish voters have rejected your message and put Republicans in power. What's a good, left-wing, progressive lawmaker to do when you can't pass legislation favoring your special interest groups, or worse when there's pending legislation mandating that your friends in organized labor should pay their fair share for their own health care coverage and pensions?

Sometimes, you just have to get away from it all, especially if it shuts down government and at least temporarily blocks offending legislation. But where to go?

Ask no more.

Rockford, Illinois, is waiting for you!

Unions in Action

Yesterday, Feb. 23, 2011, union members. including those from the Communications Workers of America, descended on the Washington, D.C. offices of FreedomWorks, a conservative think tank. (FreedomWorks recently moved to into a new, more secure facility following a number of credible death threats.) The protesters were expressing their displeasure at the think tank, which is certainly their right.

Several FreedomWorks employees went outside to talk to the demonstrators. When one of the protesters exhibited his debating skills by calling an employee a "little sh*t,", Tabitha Hale turned on her iPhone and attempted to record the exchange.

Apparently, the union man felt threatened by the 5'1" Hale.

As Hale stated after the attack, "It’s one thing to be called a violent teab*gger. It’s another to be called a violent teab*gger while you’re being assaulted."

Progressives like to claim conservatives are violent, yet it seems that conservatives are the victims of left-wing violence.

Public Employee Unions ‘Unthinkable and Intolerable’

Much attention is focused in Wisconsin where thousands public employees gathered at the state capital protesting pending legislation that would, among other things, force the union members to assume greater responsibility for their own health care coverage and retirement benefits, as part of an effort to balance the state budget. These union members, aided and abetted by the Democrat Party and even the President, have expressed their displeasure by closing down schools and effectively brought the machinery of state government to a halt.

Some on the left claim the actions of the Republican governor and GOP-controlled legislature are really about depriving public employees the right of collective bargaining, not balancing the budget.

There are arguments on both sides.

However, it raises an even more basic question: Should public employees have the right to collective bargaining?

Unions were formed in the private sector. Companies profited because of the workers’ labor. Unions were a way for workers to share the profits they created.

But the public sector has no profits; it creates no wealth.

In the private sector, the union negotiates with a company’s owners, be it a single individual or stockholders.

In the public sector, the owners are the taxpayers, most of whom have smaller salaries and poorer health care coverage and retirement benefits than their counterparts in the public sector.

For these and other reasons, many influential thinkers were leery of public employee unions.

One of those concerned voices raised belonged to George Meany, president of the AFL-CIO. I, 1955, Meany said, “It is impossible to bargain collectively with the government.” Part of his reasoning was that government collective bargaining meant bargaining meant that voters no longer had the final say on public policy, which goes to the heart of the democratic system.

Another such thinker called the concept of public employee unions “unthinkable and intolerable.” Those words were from Franklin Delano Roosevelt, arguably the most labor-friendly president of the 20th century. He wrote in a 1937 letter to the National Federation of Federal Employees, “All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service.” He continued, “Particularly, I want to emphasize my conviction that militant tactics have no place in the functions of any organization of government employees.”

What we are witnessing today in Madison, Wisconsin, is the “unthinkable and intolerable” as foretold by Roosevelt and warned of by Meany.

Perhaps collective bargaining by public employees is an idea whose time has come ... and gone.

The ‘What A Maroon’ Award

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting for ... This week’s “What A Maroon” award goes to...

VALERIE JARRETT

Valerie Jarrett, a Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement (whatever the heck that is), continues the Administration's tradition of embarrassing gaffes.

Jarrett was at the annual black-tie Alfalfa Club dinner when she mistook Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli for a waiter. Somehow missing his four stars and chestful of medals, she asked the general to get her some wine. Chiarelli, a gentleman, complied.

What does it say when a high-ranking member of the Administration doesn’t recognize her own country’s uniform? What is the message this conveys to the men and women wearing that uniform? What would these brave men and women like to tell the Administration?

Cartoonist Chris Muir address that question in his “Day By Day” comic strip.

Whether it’s Barack Obama announcing that he campaigned in 57 states, Vice President Joe Biden telling a paraplegic to stand up and take a bow or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton giving a cheesy Staples Easy Button to the Russian Foreign Minster that Clinton claimed had “reset” written in Russian on it when it actually spelled “overcharge,” the current Administration never ceases to bring embarrassment and humiliation on itself. Jarrett has proven herself a true servant of this inept regime.

WHAT A MAROON!

In honor of the great American philosopher Bugs Bunny who first coined the phrase, I’ve decided to present the “What A Maroon” award each week to the politician, organization or celebrity who makes the most sand-poundingly stupid statement of recent days.