Would You Buy a Used Car from this Man?

Barack Obama made a media blitz this past weekend, appearing on several television shows to tout his healthcare plan. Among the interesting things that came out of his mouth was the claim that mandatory medical coverage -- part of the legislation being considered in Congress -- does not constitute a "tax." Some of Obama's promises during his presidential campaign were 1) He did not want mandatory coverage as part of a healthcare plan, and 2) He would not raise taxes on the middle class.

Obama made his claims this weekend, even though there is a fine (payable to the government) for not having coverage; the fine would be collected by the Internal Revenue Service, and it is called a tax in both versions of the bills being considered in the House and the Senate. In name and in fact, it is a new tax on all Americans.

From a Yahoo News story: "For us to say that you've got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase," the president said. "What it's saying is...that we're not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you anymore. Right now everybody in America, just about, has to get auto insurance," Obama added. "Nobody considers that a tax increase." (Note: Unless you don't own a car and don't need the insurance. I guess this Harvard intellectual (as described by Liberals) thinks we'll overlook that point.)

My bigger issue is this -- how can a man retain a shred of credibility when making the easily-disproved and -refuted claims that Obama is making? Compulsory payments to the government, enforced by the IRS, constitute a tax, no matter what you call it. Call it a lie, a misrepresentation, a deception or anything else, and Obama's actions mean one thing. He is intentionally not telling Americans the truth.

What the Heck is Going On?

In case you haven't heard, one of the most popular presidential candidates of all time won the presidency last year, with the aid of a fawning, non-vetting media. His party (Democrat) controls both houses of Congress, to the point where they can ram through any legislation they want without a single Republican vote. They did just that with the "stimulus" bill earlier this year.

The Republicans are leaderless and impotent, with little support for the party nationwide. The media have continued their near unanimous worship of Obama.

• Yet Obama can't get his healthcare legislation passed.
• Forty-nine percent of Americans disapprove of Obama's job performance, up sharply since he took office. 52% disapprove of his ideas on healthcare.
• Obama was publicly called out in Congress by Republican Joe Wilson. Although the Democrats voted to censure Wilson based on their party strength, Wilson received over $1 million in donations to his campaign after his outburst.
• The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted to defund Obama's support group ACORN.

What the heck is going on? It can only be attributed to one thing -- the power of the tea parties, the townhall protests, and the massive anti-big government protest in Washington DC on September 12. The voices of angry American citizens have scared the crap out of politicians.

If for no other reason, our voices need to be raised even more. Politicians need to be afraid of the electorate. They must be reminded that their phony-baloney jobs depend on us. For the next thirteen months, America's citizens must be heard in Washington. The loudest message must be sent in November 2010.

What's the Last Thing That Made You Cry?

I'm not much of a cryer, but once in a while a movie can make me tear up. (When Jim Brown died in The Dirty Dozen was one of those moments. sniff.) But I've never had a television commercial affect me that way until I happened upon this one from Malaysia.

Oprah's Flash Mob

Okay, I'm not a big fan of either Oprah Winfrey or the Black Eyed Peas. Having said that, this is one of the coolest videos ever. For Oprah's 24th season opener, she had her show on the streets of Chicago. Without her knowledge 20,000 fans participated in the biggest choreographed dance ever (bigger than Ferris Bueller's parade, even.) It's not clear what's going on at first, since the crowd is staying pretty still. Watch for the girl in the blue shirt -- that's when the excitement starts. Oprah is shocked (worth watching the video for that alone.) At the end of this video they explain how they made it happen.

ACORN: The Real Story

Matthew Vadum wrote an exhaustive article on Obama's friendliest association, ACORN. In the article he details the organization's connections to communism, the Weather Underground (Obama's old friend William Ayers was a member) and Saul Alinsky. Vadum goes beyond ACORN's efforts at voter fraud, focusing his research on its dedication -- and increasingly successful efforts -- to destroying the American system.

A Very Special Edition of Other People Say Smart Things

One of the truly independent political writers around, Camille Paglia, has written a scathing column about Obama's administration, even going so far as to imply that his reelection in 2012 is already in danger. I normally disagree with Paglia about most things, but she often cuts through the noise like a siren. Although she is an Obama supporter, she remarkably hasn't lost the capacity for thought. Some of her more memorable quotes from today's column:

"...by late August even the liberal lemmings of the mainstream media, from CBS to CNN, had drastically altered their tone of reportage..."

"Who is naive enough to believe that Obama's plan would be deficit-neutral? Or that major cuts could be achieved without drastic rationing?"

"If Obama fails to win reelection, let the blame be first laid at the door of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who at a pivotal point threw gasoline on the flames by comparing angry American citizens to Nazis."

"An example of the provincial amateurism of current White House operations was the way the president's innocuous back-to-school pep talk got sandbagged by imbecilic support materials soliciting students to write fantasy letters to "help" the president (a coercive directive quickly withdrawn under pressure)."

"Democrats have increasingly become the party of an upper-middle-class professional elite, top-heavy with journalists, academics and lawyers (one reason for the hypocritical absence of tort reform in the healthcare bills)."

These are only a taste. Read the entire column, it's worth it.

Quips and Quotes

From a column by Kevin McCullough on why Dick Cheney is gaining in popularity while Barack Obama is losing it: "President Obama lives in a world that he desperately wishes existed. Vice President Cheney lives in the world that actually does."

From a column by Austin Hill on why many Americans object to Obama's scheduled speech to school children: "Perhaps most troubling about the President’s upcoming address to school kids is the accompanying curriculum provided by the U.S. Department of Education....For example, it is suggested that students in grades 7-12 should, before the President’s speech, write their responses to the following questions: “Why does President Obama want to speak with us today?” “How will he inspire us?” and “How will he challenge us?” ....notice that President Obama, himself -- not education, not the idea of becoming a learned person, but Barack Obama -- is the central theme of the questioning."

From a video produced by Demi Moore, a video which has been distributed and shown in some schools. The video features celebrities making promises and pledges. To the question of What's your pledge? some of the answers were: “To be a servant to our president,” says Demi Moore. “To be of service to Barack Obama,” says Anthony Kiedis. (Does there seem to be a common thread running through the propaganda that Obama and his worshipers are distributing?)

It may not be much longer until the rest of us are being burned at the stake as heretics.

Something You Might Have Missed

A recent column by Dennis Prager has a great title:

"The Bigger the Government, the Smaller the Citizen"