Frank Salvato

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.

Government of the People or By the Faction?

Now comes news that George McGovern has called for Hillary Clinton to withdraw from the Democrat’s primary race. Pardon me for my raised eyebrow but how much of a fool would someone have to be to take campaign advice from the man who got slaughtered by Richard Nixon? Losing an election by a landslide really shouldn’t qualify someone to dispense political advice unless it’s how to deliver a concession speech without looking bitter.

Ceasefires in Islam: Not Always What They Seem to Be

It seems as though every other day we hear there is another “ceasefire” in the Middle East. This is chiefly because there is so much violent Islamofascist aggression throughout the Middle East but it is also because of something more. Just as there is no exact translation between the Arabic and English languages, we in the West would be wise to realize that this “inexactness” exists as a constant in the relationship between the cultures of Islam and Western Civilization. This convolution of conceptual understanding is aptly illustrated where the subject of military ceasefires is concerned.

Barack Obama: It’s More About His Choices

Many of the more conservative talking heads – and even some on the Left side of the aisle who support Hillary Clinton – are espousing their concern about Barack Obama’s “associations.” They point to Obama’s spiritual advisor, Jeremiah Write, and note his “friendly” relationship with unrepentant domestic terrorists William Ayers and his partner Bernadine Dorhn and wax alarmingly about his willingness to associate with such people. Certainly, Wright, Ayers and Dorhn are interesting if not contemptible people but a person’s associations concern me less than a person’s choice to defend those associations.

Change Doesn’t Come by Electing a President

We have heard during this presidential election cycle – ad naseum – how our country is in dire need of “change.” We are promised by each of the candidates that they are the ones – the only ones – who can bring about this much needed change. Of course, this is all disingenuous politicking. The fact of the matter is this: the office of the presidency is quite limited in its power to affect any change at all. The real entity capable of affecting immediate and dramatic change in government, the governmental branch with the real power, is the Legislative Branch.

Swinging Like Monkeys from the Branches of the Liberty Tree

Recently, in a Chicago suburb, a village trustee was issued a citation for disorderly conduct when she informed two less than discerning parents that the trees of the village were to be respected as elements of nature, not utilized like playground equipment. The citation was issued after the parents mistook verbiage used as that of being racist. It should be disturbing to all of us that a citation was issued because of words used in a non-aggressive fashion. Even more disturbing is that our society is willing to disregard free speech rights in pursuit of political correctness.