Lance Thompson

Put Up or Put Up With It

We are now several days past the biggest Republican comeback since--well--since there were Republicans. Several important changes have been made, but at least one attitude adjustment is still required.

Up The Establishment

The media have focused on the growing rift between new conservative stars and their Tea Party backers versus the old guard establishment Republicans. This difference has been highlighted in races in Florida (Marco Rubio over Charlie Crist), Alaska (Joe Miller over Lisa Murkowski), and most recently Delaware (Christine O’Donnell over Mike Castle). In each case, a conservative outsider has overcome long odds to beat an experienced but more moderate candidate backed by the Republican establishment. This trend shows every indication of continuing.

Oval Office Reversals

President Obama must be frustrated. No matter what position he takes on the 13-story mega-mosque to be built next to the hallowed ground of the 9/11 terrorist attack (and he’s taken as many positions as possible), none of them seems to satisfy everyone. Obama first came out four-square behind the mosque and the rights of the radical imam who wishes to build a monument to radical islam at the site of its greatest desecration. Later, Obama clarified that he was only defending the constitutional right to freedom of religion, not the wisdom of building the mosque.

Uniform Misconduct

Lily Tomlin once said about Hollywood, “No matter how cynical you get, you never can keep up.” The same sentiment applies to the Obama administration. Few of its harshest detractors could even imagine the depths to which this government has stooped to remain in power. Very few would have imagined that the President’s administration would encourage lawbreaking to disenfranchise Americans in uniform. Yet, according to two Department of Justice officials, that is now official policy.

Protected Status

No government is supposed to play favorites, but in fact, they all do. The reality of evolving government policy is that some entities are treated better than others. One can determine the priorities and preferences of a government by which entities it favors and which it punishes. The Obama administration, judging from the entities is favors, is clearly a champion of those who mean us harm.

It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over

When political leaders and media personalities discuss the economy today, they do so in terms of the “recovery.” Certain indicators “point to a recovery” or show that “the recovery is picking up steam” or that various sectors, industries or people are “sharing in the recovery.”

Say Yes to No

The Republicans in Congress who boast of their bipartisanship and ability to reach across the aisle are afraid of being cast as members of “The Party of No.” This classification, invented by the mainstream media, is intended to characterize Republicans as having no new ideas, no willingness to cooperate, and no future. Even with that biased view, the Party of No is an affiliation much to be admired in the current environment of socialist political initiatives.

WHBS–White House Broadcasting Service

In its never-ending campaign to simplify the main stream media’s job, the White House has eased the journalistic burden by putting out its own stories. Besides White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs breaking news on Twitter and Barack Obama taking a question at a news conference from a sympathetic blogger, the White House has now produced and released its own interview with its recent Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan.

Arizona Open and Closed

My wife and I used to spend a great deal of time in Arizona, and it has much to offer–particularly now that the state is the object of a boycott by those who favor illegal immigration.

Preparations for Reparations

For a long time, the idea of reparations (monetary compensation to the descendants of slaves) struck me as just another special interest group looking for handouts from Uncle Sam. But lately, I have begun to see the logic and moral foundation for reparations.

What’s in Your Tea?

The Obama administration, their surrogates, and their media servants have gone to great lengths to tie the Tea Party to dimwits, extremists, terrorists, and those who incite violence against the government. These are serious charges, and would be enough to discredit any political party–unless that political party is the Democrats, and they control the White House and the Congress.

Remember

A Democrat Congress with overwhelming majorities and a Democrat president with a hard left agenda have enacted into law a massive takeover of a vast sector of our economy. They did this over the objections of what every poll showed to be a majority of Americans.

America in Neutral

Nothing illustrates the lamentable state of the US and UK relationship better than the Obama administration’s recent betrayal of the Brits over the Falkland Islands. On March 2nd at a Buenos Aires press conference with Argentine President Kristina Kirchner, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said the United States favored a negotiated settlement over the Falkland Islands dispute working within the framework of United Nations resolutions.

US Debt Puts Taiwan in the Red

The profligate spending and irresponsible borrowing of the Obama administration has left the United States over one trillion dollars in debt to communist China. Many have speculated on what will happen if China decides to alter the terms on that debt, call for immediate payment, stop lending, or use the leverage to influence American foreign policy. None of the scenarios are pleasant, but there is at least one further possibility that could have permanent global impact.

Mooning The American Spirit

The last Americans to walk on the moon, Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt, did so in December 1972–thirty-seven years ago. If President Obama has his way, it’ll be 37 years before any more footprints are made in the lunar dust, and they probably won’t be made by an American.

Symbolism in Massachusetts

Both sides have spun their versions of what Scott Brown’s decisive upset of Martha Coakley means in political terms. Conservatives cheer the end of the Democrat supermajority in the Senate, Democrats from the President on down characterize the victory of the Republican in true-blue Massachusetts as a symptom of Bush fatigue. But there are some interesting symbolic factors which may be significant for this election year.

Democrat Success Story

Even though “Democrat Achievements of 2009” would fall into the category of titles of the world’s shortest books, such a book would not be entirely empty. In fact, Democrats can legitimately claim that in the last year, they have accomplished something that the GOP has repeatedly failed to do for at least two decades. The Democrats have managed thoroughly to discredit liberal political philosophy and governance. This is no small achievement.

Man-Made-Disaster Prevention

Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano has retreated from her controversial statement on the would-be Detroit airline bomber. Having initially characterized the fortuitous intervention of airline passengers in the mid-air bombing attempt by terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as proof that “the system worked,” she now must face another unpleasant fact.

Honoring KSM

The Obama administration’s decision to try Kalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) in a civilian court rather than before a military tribunal left many Americans mystified. Since Attorney General Eric Holder’s old law firm defends terrorists held in Gitmo (and did so while he was a senior partner there), we can assume that a Justice Department under his control will not successfully or even vigorously prosecute this confessed mastermind of the September 11th attacks. Much time and money will be wasted in parading KSM through the legal process. There is, however, a way to serve justice swiftly and, one might even say, diplomatically.

Gitmo Hero

The American naval base at Guantanamo Bay has received plenty of attention in recent years, ever since we started hosting terrorists in pleasant Carribean detention there. Liberals and wobbly conservatives have called for shutting down the terrorist-holding facilities there for some sort of vague public relations purpose. I’m all for relieving the United States Navy of the responsibility of running a tropical retreat for our enemies, as long as they can be moved to some place more fitting–like Devil’s Island.