Frank Salvato

Do Americans Understand What Socialism Is?

Barack Obama’s short but illuminating conversation with Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher has ushered the subject of Socialism to center stage. By stating that he champions an economic policy that would “spread the wealth around,” Senator Obama alarmed many Americans who recognize the parallels between his statement and one espoused by French Socialist Louis Blanc in 1840:

It’s Americanism vs. Socialism on November 4th

At a recent campaign rally, along what is called “the rope line,” Senator Barack Obama was asked a question by a young prospective business owner about taxes and how Obama’s economic plan would affect him, his family and his business. Obama’s response – his unscripted, from the heart, authentic, no-spin, off-the-teleprompter response – was something that would have made Karl Marx proud. Make no mistake, “my friends,” this election is about Americanism vs. Socialism, and little else. As Barack Obama was making his way through the crowd in Toledo, Ohio, a young plumber, Joe Wurzelbacher, situated at the rope line (the pathway candidates take to-and-from the venue stage) asked Sen. Obama a pretty straight forward question:

Obama, ACORN & Their Starring Role in the Mortgage Crisis

Barack Obama, congressional Democrats and Progressive-Left operatives – with the help of the mainstream media – have done a great job of spinning culpability for the mortgage crisis onto the Bush Administration, congressional Republicans and, in particular, John McCain. This is a notable moment in the history of political spin because as the facts present, Democrats and Progressive-Leftists – not Republicans –are the ones directly responsible for the current financial crisis in which our country is embroiled. At the center of this culpability are Barack Obama and ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. In order to understand how Barack Obama and ACORN are directly to blame for the mortgage meltdown, we first have to understand what ACORN is and how Barack Obama was affiliated with them...and make no mistake; Barack Obama was most definitely affiliated with ACORN.

Who Did You Know, Sen. Obama, and When Did You Know Them?

There has been much talk, both pro and con, about whether Sen. Barack Obama’s “associations” matter with regard to his qualifications to hold the office of President of the United States. This argument, this avenue of political discourse, misses the point. Whether or not Sen. Obama has associations with criminals, terrorists and other nefarious and infamous individuals pales in comparison as to whether he has been influenced by them.

The Reid-McConnell Bailout Bribe

Let me see if I have this right. We the People express our overwhelming disdain for a government manufactured, taxpayer-funded bailout of semi-coerced greed merchants on Wall Street and the Senate’s answer is to leave the offending legislation intact and entice weak politicians into voting for the package by adding sweetheart tax legislation to it. Can this possibly – in the most incredible of circumstances – be correct?

Give Us Our Money Back. We’ll Fix It!

The ultimate example of opportunistic politics before good government was displayed in Washington over the past several days. Political operatives from both sides of the aisle did everything in their power to create a government-based solution to the financial crisis facing our country; a government-created problem. In the end the US House of Representatives voted down the highly contentious Wall Street bailout bill mostly due to the fact that we are within the 30-day window when voters do not forget actions taken by their elected officials. If only the public’s attention were always so focused.

Let’s Blame Barney Frank, Chris Dodd & Bill Clinton

Now I know how Elvis Presley felt when he shot his television! Watching Barney Frank (D-MA) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) pontificate about how they are going to save the country in it’s time of financial crisis made me nauseous. How is it that these two charlatans can fain concern when they are among the principles responsible for getting the taxpayers into this mess?

McCain or Obama? How About This Referendum…

To say the least, there is quite an ideological and political gulf between John McCain and Barack Obama. So too, is there a great deal of difference between their running mates, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. On just about every issue examined during this interminably long presidential election cycle the two tickets stand miles apart. From taxes to the struggle with radical Islam, energy independence to American sovereignty, McCain and Obama, Palin and Biden, stand diametrically opposed in their approaches to the issues. But one subject seems to be championed by both sides and by all the players, honesty.

Palin and the Power of Real American Women

It is the consensus among conservative new media pundits – and the Conservative mainstream for that matter – that the speech Governor Sarah Palin gave in accepting the Republican Party’s vice presidential nomination effectively put the Progressive-Left and the Democrat Party on notice. The double-standard hypocrisy demonstrated by the Leftist mainstream media on behalf of Barack Obama’s campaign will not stand. If the cowards of the Progressive-Left want a fight, they’ve got one...and it’s with someone who plays hockey. Oops!

Accepting Obama’s ‘Change’ Premise

Having established that “change” can be both good and bad, both productive and destructive; I have come to the conclusion that Barack Obama is right: our country is in great need of “change.” Now before you God and gun clinging, fly-over state inhabiting political infidels lock and load and take aim at the space between my eyes, I would ask that you hear me out. There’s a good chance you will either like what I have to say or find merit in my line of thinking.

The Artificially Inflated Self-Esteem of Barack Obama

As we wind our way ever further down the agonizingly long road to the 2008 presidential elections one thing has become glaringly clear: Barack Obama has a pretty healthy ego. It goes without saying that most people who become politicians have a penchant for self-aggrandizing. It does take a certain amount of self-confidence to engage in the American political process and that process requires one to effectively market oneself. But there is a considerable difference between self-confidence and narcissism. Barack Obama has crossed that line.

Ignoring ‘The Perfect Storm’ at Our Own Peril

The mainstream media and the presumptive nominee from the Democrat Party have done a pretty good job of steering the electorate’s attention to issues of a domestic nature. It wasn’t hard to do. With gasoline prices hovering around four dollars a gallon, combined with the self-induced but limited financial crisis created by proprietary lenders and a healthcare system that’s being raped by grifting lawyers and robber-baron insurance companies, it is easy to understand why voters would fall prey to diversionary tactics of the political power seekers. But we do so at the expense of the well being of our nation. We do so ignoring “the perfect storm.”

Moqtada al Sadr’s Penchant for ‘Community Organizing’

Radical Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al Sadr is planning to disarm his Mahdi Army and oversee its transformation from Islamist fighting force into a civic and social service organization. Al Sadr wants us to believe that this cadre of anti-American jihadists is going to voluntarily lay down their weapons and all become “community organizers.” The truth is that al Sadr has been an attentive student, having studied the transformations of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza from violent jihadi organizations into armed factions validated by the electoral and political processes.

Hey, Barack, Hillary Only Suspended Her Campaign

In the turbulent wake left by Barack Obama’s world tour – his campaign to be loved by all, less a significant percentage of the American people – it seems something has slipped the minds of David Axelrod and David Plouffe; Hillary Clinton didn’t quit her campaign, she suspended it.

Lecturing Europe While Accepting the Social Structure of Brutality

New York Times columnist David Brooks recently wrote, “The reason we have a democracy is that no one side is right all the time. The only people who are dangerous are those who can’t admit, even to themselves, that obvious fact.” Aside from the glaring error in his declaration that we live in a democracy (the United States is actually a Democratic Republic, not a democracy) his assertion is spot on. In light of the logic in Mr. Brook’s statement, it would seem that the woman slated to be Barack Obama’s “Muslim liaison” is dangerous, especially to women.

It’s Official…James Baker Has Lost His Mind

Anyone familiar with the threat posed by the advancing American Fifth Column understands all too clearly that our Constitution is under attack. Whether it is the insistence that the Constitution is a living document meant to conform to the will of the times or the institution of political correctness – a shadow set of laws effectively usurping the laws of our Constitutional Republic – the American Fifth Column is slowly, incrementally, systematically, chipping away at the wisdom as set forth by our Founders and Framers. With news that a non-governmentally charged commission is introducing a measure that would impose “group think” on the Commander-in-Chief, it is evidenced that the American Fifth Column is on the march.

Once Again, It’s About Associations and Judgment

There has been much ado about Barack Obama’s associations and the judgment used in maintaining and entering into those associations. Obama’s associations with Jeremiah Wright, Williams Ayers, Frank Marshall Davis, the Progressive-Left activist group ACORN and his ideological association with Saul Alinsky are all perfect examples of his judgment, his willingness to associate with radical and troubled individuals and organizations. Is it fair to judge Barack Obama by his associations and the judgment used in acquiring and maintaining those associations? Sorry Mr. Colmes, all is fair in love and war...and politics.

How Many Rights Are Democrats Willing to Forfeit?

With the announcement that Hillary Clinton is abandoning her quest for the Oval Office the Democrat National Committee (DNC) – and specifically the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee – has effectively selected the candidate for their party. I say selected because, by construct, the decision making process was taken away from the party faithful and placed in the hands of an elitist class of party insiders. These party insiders – superdelegates and the DNC Executive Committee – have literally usurped the will of the people by marginalizing the popular vote in deference to manipulated vote worth and their own self-importance.

Loyalty to Self Over Country

Like it or not, the reality is that we live in an extremely self-centered society. If you take issue with this statement just watch how pedestrians enter into crosswalks during rush hour. Ignoring that pedestrians only have the right of way when they are within the crosswalk, today’s bipeds don’t hesitate at all to walk directly in front of moving vehicles, expecting to be protected from trauma by their imagined “right” to occupy a space versus a 4,000lbs vehicle. While this example illustrates how being self-centered – or arrogant...or vacuous – can cause personal harm, these same character flaws can cause harm to the country.

A Nation in Crisis

People, the news media and pundits like to throw around the word “crisis.” The mainstream media and their ilk tell us that we are currently experiencing a crisis in the sub-prime mortgage market, an economic crisis, a crisis with the environment, a crisis in race relations and with oil prices. There is a crisis with the polar bears, the environmentalists tell us, as they taut their questionable consensus on the global warming crisis, this even as 31,000 scientists rebuke their “consensus.” Educators tell us there is a crisis in public education. We even have a steroid crisis in the sports industry. I won’t be opining about any of these “crisis” today.