Greg Halvorson

A lesson for Sean Hannity on the 17th amendment

A recent exchange between Sean Hannity and one of his listeners provides an opportunity to educate the public on the 17th amendment of the United States Constitution. Sean, defending the 10th amendment - which grants those powers not specifically delegated to the United States to the States respectively - did not agree with the caller’s wish to see the 17th amendment repealed, and seemed confused as to the amendment’s implications. The 17th amendment, for the edification of Sean, was enacted in the magical year, 1913 - the year that gave us the income tax and the Fed! - and stripped the power of state legislatures to elect Senators, delegating this duty to the people of each state, respectfully.

Katie versus Condee: no contest

Katie Couric versus Condoleeza Rice. Wow. Rarely is an intellectual shellacking so thorough as what happened when these ladies went high-heel to high-heel over the intelligence behind the deposing of Saddam.

Obama calls Republicans “hostage takers.”

This guy doesn’t get it. He, president Obama, cannot - and never will - understand that as the country’s leader, his obligation isn’t to polarized constituencies, but to every American regardless of skin color, immigration status, sexual orientation, or income bracket. True, there are a number of white, legal, straight and comfortably employed Republicans, just as there are Democrats in these categories, but president Obama ignores this, choosing instead to pander and divide. No longer an ACORN shill, and no longer feeding Alinsky to the wards, he fails nonetheless to embrace his position.

Governor Christie: a lump of coal in union stockings

I know, there’s a lot going on, what with this lame cluck Congress tossing pandering bones to every victim class (gays, Hispanics, the class-warfare crowd) imaginable, and Heir E. Reid firming up his national embarrassment agenda. Don’t get me started on the food “safety” bill (17,000 new bureaucrats!), or the trite posturing on the KEY to job creation: unemployment checks—WOO! I prefer to hear the governor of New Jersey (in excelsis conservative!) with my government mozzarella.

The lesson of Thanksgiving: private property is best

Patriots, with apologies for pulling you away from the turkey, I proffer a lesson from Thanksgivings past. John Stossel, good man that he is, relates how the colonists tried collectivism, nearly starving to death, prior to comprehending private incentive. Sayeth he:

Big Business Buffett wants small businesses to pay more

Warren Buffett is at it again, playing Billionaire Knows Best with ludicrous statements which fly in the face of capitalist theory. Discussing the Bush tax-rates with Christiane Amanpour of ABC, the “Oracle of Omaha” asserted his belief that “the rich” don’t pay enough:

Mr. West goes to Washington

This should be interesting. Colonel Allen West is someone with whom the Congressional Black Caucus is exceedingly unfamiliar: a man of African heritage who refuses to play victim and who lives by the words “let us judge men not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

Halloween’s liberal message

This Sunday, little goblins will approach my door and walk away disappointed. Call me curmudgeon, but the mindset whereby “something for nothing” is expected and unearned has infiltrated society, and, thus, I don’t “treat.”

Transportation Secretary wants zero phone use for drivers

More evidence of progressive fascism - defined as “the all-out push to control every aspect of every citizen’s life” - surfaced this week when Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, a Republican, asserted his desire to ban phone-use in cars. LaHood stated in an interview:

Clinton: “No one has done more for the America Dream than Barney Frank.”

Sometimes your jaw drops. You know they lie. Know that increasingly desperate Democrats will say anything to cling to power, but occasionally the rhetoric just blows you away. Take the following, blustered last week in Taunton, Massachusetts, by Hillary’s husband:

Media white-washes Bell, California jail-birds’ party status

They’re gone, wearing jumpsuits, all eight former officials of Bell, the modest California city whose citizens, for 25 years, were plundered by shamelessly corrupt Democrats.

Say it ain’t so: Murkowski to run as write-in candidate

Nothing is more petty and petulant than a loser who, in their inability to accept defeat, chooses to inflict damage on the source of that defeat. More odious is when a RINO from a red state is behind it, a Lisa Murkowski, who because she’s dishonorable, has Democrats from Wasilla to Washington smiling.

Will Mike Castle turn Independent?

Now that the smoke has cleared and Castle-backers, Chris Christie, Hugh Hewitt, Bill Kristol, Jay Cost, Jim Geraghty and others, have been fed a spoon of anti-establishment Tea, I believe Mike Castle may turn Independent. Bad news for the victorious O’ Donnell – congratulations! - this has an upside in that, should he win, the I after his name will confuse no one, as an R would have had he taken the primary. As a RINO blurring party lines, he would’ve advanced the destruction of the GOP, while engendering increasing mutiny in the base.

Obama to address school-children…. again

It’s that time of year, a closet Marxist has appeased unions on Labor Day, pads are cracking in stadiums nationwide, and bus-stops are bustling with rosy-cheeked children who rarely ever get to hear a Marxist talk. Lucky for them, Uncle Sam enjoys talking, especially to audiences filled with young minds.

Glenn Beck, Restoring Honor, and Leftist Delusion

Say what you want about Glenn Beck, a polarizing figure on the American landscape, but don't argue that last weekend's rally, his spiritual lollapalooza, lacked miracles. No, angels didn't descend from the clouds (though, if you saw the geese fly-over...) and no, it can't be said, because it can't be quantified, that honor was "restored." But it is a miracle when a paunchy Mormon activist draws several hundred-thousand to the Mall in August heat.

Olbermann: Americans are a greater threat to Muslims than Muslims are to Americans

I’m not masochistic. However, there is something mildly alluring about tuning in to a liar whose harangues are so out-of-touch that to hear them is to run, figuratively, across nails. By watching Keith Olbermann, my goal wasn’t to feel superior (which I did) or to view a hissy-fit (which I did), it was to experience happiness. That a bombastic and ill-informed fool is allowed to make a living is awesome - What other country? Where else but America? - and knowing that it’s real, and that Olbermann is employed, is an absolute marvel and testament to human kindness.

Disgrace update: Blumenthal lies about military service, holds commanding 17-point lead

With disgraces rolling off the public-policy conveyor like poison Hershey Kisses, bitter pills these days have become commonplace and generic; yet, once in awhile, one bobs to the surface (like the shark in Jaws) to highlight how far we've gone off the rails.

Pelosi (straight-faced): Unemployment benefits stimulate the economy

Are you sitting down? Is the liquor cabinet stocked? Nanceroo has done it again, held a press-conference, so I hope you are and it is. I also hope you’re not eating soup, chewing steak, or enjoying a carbonated beverage. Consider yourself warned.

Ignorant Democrat: “Geography for $200”

Friends, if you don't think Liberty is in deep doo, then you're not paying attention. Elected officials - notably Barbara Boxer - have become so patently and publicly thick that you half expect them to pass laws in crayon. The U.S. House, in particular, is packed with members (Hank Johnson, Bob Etheridge, Maxine Waters) who seem incapable of speaking without calling into question whether they're gunning for laughs.

Court nominees flying beneath the radar

While many Americans are aware of overtly tyrannical power-grabs - ObamaCare and Cap-and-Trade - a more insidious power-grab is flying beneath the radar, that of court nominees. The Dem-dominated Senate Judiciary Committee is moving radicals toward confirmation, men like Goodwin Liu and Robert Chatigny, whose respective nominations to the Ninth and Second Circuits should alarm Americans who believe in “blind justice.”