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Tony on TownHall – Government Pays Big, Because You Deserve It

Dec 29

Posted by Tony Katz in Blog | No Comments

Here is my latest article on TownHall.com. In it, I expose a USA Today article that highlights the growing pay scale for government workers from lawyers to mechanics. The government says they are getting paid more because they deserve more. As I state, no one ‘deserves’ more pay solely because they work for the feds:

Government Pays Big, Because You Deserve It

As reported by USA Today, via The Transom, all types of federal employees – from scientists to custodial staff – have had huge increases in pay over the past five years. As expected, this has made working for the government the “right” decision for recent college graduates:

A 20- to 24-year-old auto mechanic started at an average of $46,427 this year, up from $36,750 five years ago. The government hires about 400 full-time auto mechanics a year….A 30- to 34-year-old lawyer started at an average of $101,045 this year, up from $79,177 five years ago. The government hires about 2,500 lawyers a year. And a mechanical engineer, age 25 to 29, started at $63,675, up from $51,746 in 2006. The government hires about 600 mechanical engineers a year.

On a percentage basis, the average starting wage for a government lawyer is up 27% over five years. A government mechanic? Up 26%. Mechanical engineer? Up 23%. USA Today gives a very interesting rational for the massive increases in government pay; it’s how the job is now classified: (emphasis mine)

The government is classifying more new hires — secretaries, mail clerks, chaplains, laundry workers, electrical engineers and wildlife biologists — as taking more demanding versions of their jobs and deserving more pay.

It is illogical and immoral to assume that a laundry worker or a mail clerk has taken a more “demanding version” of a job in the public sector than those in the private sector. It is illogical because if one believes in equal work for equal pay, then an open market should create a prevailing wage for that job. Certainly, there may be outliers, but the mid-line should have consistency. It is immoral to think that because someone works for the government, that their job will be more demanding. It is immoral to say that because of this lie, that the worker deserves more pay. No one deserves more pay; they eitherearn more, or they create more value…value that someone will pay for.

Situations like this remind me of my father, who for the majority of my years on planet Earth has been asking a very simple question that focuses on the inevitableness of the big government thesis. He asks the following:

A society has 100 people in it. 50 people work at the hospital, and 50 people are patients in the hospital. Who pays the electric bill in the second week?

My father has asked this question at family gatherings, at talks over coffee and cake, at wedding receptions and at all manner of business meetings where the conversation wandered. People of the political “right” are stunned by its simplicity, and understand near immediately his point. People of the political “left” are simply stunned. They stare at my father as if he was missing his nose; a sense of incredulity and sheer hatred. Then they dismiss him, telling him he is ridiculous.

They never have an answer for the question; that if a society is either being paid by government or taking of government services, and no one is creating the wealth that is required to run those services, then that society is doomed (they can’t pay the electric bill in the second week!)

What is truly ridiculous is the federal government engaging the conversation that their employees are more deserving than private sector employees. What is ridiculous is the leftist mind-set that government can satisfy the needs of man by giving man all of their needs, and the willful ignorance of those who believe in government supremacy; that through government all is possible, and that government jobs create value.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the federal government employs over 2 million people, and is the largest employer in the US. Though mass retirement was expected before the economic downturn, the majority of government workers are holding on to their jobs, with the quit rate falling 29% since 2007. As reported, “Workers are 13 times more likely to die of natural causes than get laid off from the federal government.” The amount of people making over $100,000 per year has advanced from 12% in 2006 to 22% in 2011.

Margaret Thatcher famously quipped that Socialism is great until you run out of other people’s money. Said another way, it works until you have to pay the electric bill. Which is, to say, it doesn’t.

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Tony on Daily Caller – proving anti-Semitism from the OWS supporters

Oct 28

Posted by Tony Katz in Blog | No Comments

I am now a contributor to Daily Caller.  In my latest article, I discuss my most recent appearance on RT, and the amazing number of comments I received from probable OWS supporters.  What they have to say to me, about me and about what they want to do to me is, in a word, shocking….but one wonders if those words are also not surprising.

OWS supporters are doing a poor job of convincing me that they’re not anti-Semites

In a Wednesday appearance on the Russia Today television network, I discussed the violent confrontations between police officers and Occupy Wall Street protesters earlier this week in Oakland, California. I made it clear that I don’t condone police brutality. In fact, I am vehemently opposed to an oppressive police state. I also explained that though I disagree with the protesters’ radical agenda, I agree that cronyism is a real problem. Government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers on Wall Street, Main Street or any other street.

The segment lasted for the better part of 20 minutes. I had a spirited but friendly back-and-forth with my fellow panelist, OWS supporter Charlie McGrath. We agreed that there is no such thing as “too big to fail.” We agreed that violent rhetoric won’t help Occupy Wall Street get its message across (I still question what OWS’s message is, but certainly large-scale skirmishes with Occupiers hurling paint at police punctuated by tear gas being used on the protesters won’t make the message any clearer.) McGrath and I also agreed that it was strange that the show’s host kept showing clips of Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello at OWS rallies and asking us to comment on what he was saying.

Despite all these areas of agreement, the OWS-supporting viewers weren’t satisfied. In fact, many were furious. While a few supported my being on the show, the majority focused on my contention that many Occupiers are anti-Semites. Note: I have not edited the below comments from the Russia Today YouTube channel.

One commenter, “largegrainofsalt,” asserted that the fact that the protesters have observed Jewish holidays proves that they aren’t anti-Semitic:

tony wasn’t just an ass, he was demonstrably wrong. the protests are not in any way anti-semetic. several of the larger protest held events for a jewish holiday recently.

His comment was surrounded by others that undermine his thesis:

Tony Katz? What kind of surname is Katz? Another Jew-Zionist pig!!!!! This should speak volumes of what his message and hidden intent is: to protect the criminal dirt-bag jew element who have been ruining the world for decades. — waddietwo

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/28/ows-supporters-are-doing-a-poor-job-of-convincing-me-that-theyre-not-anti-semites/#ixzz1c8kw3DoE

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The un-Inspiring President Obama

Oct 27

Posted by Tony Katz in Blog | No Comments

Speaking at a fundraiser in San Francisco, President Barack Obama continued the meme that he started over a month ago when he opined that America is getting”soft.”  At a $5,000 per ticket event, the President Obama stated:

“We have lost our ambition, our imagination, and our willingness to do the things that built the Golden Gate Bridge…”

Having failed so often, the President finally succeeded in outdoing the infamous President Carter “malaise” speech.  People look to the President for inspiration. Think President Bush standing in the rubble of the World Trade Center, his arm draped around a firefighter, letting America and the world know that we would not allow this murderous attack to go unanswered.  Think President Reagan at Checkpoint Charlie, stating clearly, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”  Or, his vision of a shining city on a hill.  Think of President Kennedy, who willed America to take on space exploration and put a man on the moon.

President Obama’s objective wasn’t to inspire but rather to discourage, dishearten and dispirit.  But, in the end, he underscored the meme that has been the hallmark of his presidency – it’s not me, it’s you….and I’m the answer.

I’ve summed up Obama’s views on foreign policy , the “Obama Doctrine”, as ”What I want, when I want, where I want, how I want – Nobody does it better than I.”  In his talk in front of the crowd in San Francisco, he proved the Doctrine can be applied to domestic policy as well (which is, to say, it doesn’t matter what he’s talking about, the Obama Doctrine is all about him!)  Obama wants to paint the picture that America has gone soft, America has lost its edge.  That America, and Americans, are incapable. But, if we listen to Obama, if we do what Obama says, if we live up to the standards Obama sets for us (Obamacare, the Democrat-defeated jobs bill, cap and trade), America will be better.

It is no wonder that Obama’s poll numbers are so low.  Americans, with the exception of hard-core ideologues and some attendees at Occupy Wall Street, aren’t buying what Obama is selling.  Not his Doctrine, nor  his negative view of the American people.  At this point, Obama is incapable of inspiration. With 9+% unemployment, a U-6 over 16%, a misery index of over 12% and the states of Ohio, Florida, and Virginia up for grabs in 2012, it’s looking like President Obama is also incapable of re-election.

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Tony on BigPeace.com – ThinkProgress, Sen. McCain get it wrong on Libya

Oct 26

Posted by Tony Katz in Blog | No Comments

This is my latest article on BigPeace.com.  While the left called FOX News and others scare-mongers for discussing the Libyan draft constitution (and its adherence to Sharia law,) it turns out that the truth was starting everyone in the face since August.

Big Peace Outhinks Think Progress, Sen. McCain on Libya, Sharia

At the end of August, the great minds at Think Progress were horrified at the prospect that Libya, if Gadhafi lost power, would end up being an Islamist nation utilizing Sharia Law as the foundation for its political and legal system.  More to the point, Think Progress was feigning horror at those on the political right who referenced a blog from The Heritage Foundation that highlighted a draft constitution, and made the case for this possibility.  From the blog: (emphasis mine)

Much of the document describes political institutions that will sound familiar to citizens of Western liberal democracies, including rule of law, freedom of speech and religious practice, and a multi-party electoral system.

But despite the Lockean tenor of much of the constitution, the inescapable clause lies right in Part 1, Article 1: “Islam is the Religion of the State, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).”Under this constitution, in other words, Islam is law. That makes other phrases such as “there shall be no crime or penalty except by virtue of the law” and “Judges shall be independent, subject to no other authority but law and conscience” a bit more ominous.

Think Progress thought this was such a good way to go after the political right (in attempt to demonize them as scare-mongers and anti-Muslim) that they made a video attacking FOX News reporting the draft constitution, and highlighting Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) as the voice of reason:

embedded by Embedded Video

YouTube Direkt

The clip involves numerous interviews on FOX programs, where McCain spends time praising the interim government, including a statement that these are people “…he knows well.”  In one segment during an interview with Steve Doocy on FOX AND FRIENDS, McCain sounded very sure about the situation with the Constitution in Libya:

 

Doocy: They can be talking about Sharia Law as the basis of their new constitution, and so what we might wind up with over there is something closer to a radical islamic government.  And that’s not what we want.

McCain: Well, first of all, that’s not going to happen, and this business

Doocy: I hope you’re right.

McCain: about a constitution, I mean Sharia Law.  They made a statement last March where  they specifically stated that it is their mission that the rights of women and the equality of women are insured.

Two days after the Heritage blog came out, BigPeace.com contributor Clare Lopez stated: (emphasis mine)

By dealing preferentially with the Muslim Brotherhood and other shariah-adherents in both Egypt and Syria, U.S. leadership is enabling the substitution of secular tyranny with Islamic tyranny in both places.  If the U.S. does the same thing in Libya and fails to provide strong, visible support to the genuine democrats, liberals, and reformers that do still exist in Libya, the outcome there will not be the one dreamy-eyed groupies of the Arab Spring envisioned, butanother new regime, founded on Islamic law, that is hostile to American interests and those of our remaining friends and allies

And just days after the killing of Gadhafi by rebel forces, reports have surfaced that, indeed, Libya will use Sharia Law as its foundation.  As reported by The Times of India:

Islamic sharia law will prevail in Libya and any existing laws that contradict this will be repealed, National Transitional Council leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Monday.  ”As an Islamic country, we have adopted Sharia as the principal law….As an example is the law on divorce and marriage … This law is contrary to Sharia and it has been scrapped.”

For those keeping score: +1 for FOX News, +1 for BigPeace.com, -1 for Sen. McCain, -1 for Think Progress.  The big losers, however, are the people of Libya who will now go from bad to unthinkably worse.  -2 for President Obama, for leading from behind, and, as Lopez described, for failing to provide the “strong, visible support” needed to bring about a better result for the Libyans, and the world.

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Tony on TownHall – There is no possible comparison between the Tea Party and OWS

Oct 25

Posted by Tony Katz in Blog | No Comments

Here is my latest piece on TownHall.com, discussing the inability to compare the Tea Party and OWS. One movement – the Tea Party –  has a vision and values.  One movement – OWS – has no vision, no values and is not a movement at all.

Tea Party and OWS — No Comparison

Steve Annear has an article on Metro.US about the new safety team circulating the Tent City Square, a.k.a. Occupy Boston, a satellite of the original Occupy Wall Street. According to Annear, a team of eight people – armed with neon vests and walkie-talkies – patrol the make-shift town to keep the “residents” safe.
Why is this necessary?  According to the article:

On the heels of an incident last Sunday night, when a heroin addict allegedly pulled a knife on protesters and urinated on a tent….One guard donning a neon vest, who declined to give his name, said they are trying to keep the peace by “rounding up junkies and trying to kick them out,” adding that the so-called junkies have continually been a problem.

I have organized, hosted and spoken at Tea Party events around the country, and we never – ever! – have had to organize a safety team.  Tea Party participants, who’ve gathered in cities and towns all across the country, have never had to worry about their safety from within the movement – - only from without. (see: SEIU) Never once has there been a report of a “heroin addict” urinating on tents….then again, there have been no tents!  After each event, Tea Partiers return to their families, work/job search, school, etc. Heroin addicts don’t seem to be attracted to the Tea Party. And we make sure to have our rallies near public restrooms (usually associated with the properly-permitted spaces) or provide port-o-potties.

There is a difference in the participants, because there is a difference in the cause. The Tea Party is based on what I call “The Four Basics” – - The Constitution, Capitalism, Fiscal Responsibility and Smaller Government.  In a broader sense, it is based on shared ideals for the country. The Tea Party advocates smaller, leaner, more pragmatic government; equality of opportunity. We do, all of us in the Tea Party, “…hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

People are made equal.  What they do with their lives is up to them!  The Occupiers are promoting anti-Semitism, the return of the guillotine (while “maybe” a joke at first, many think it is a good idea, and that I should be under it!), a hodge-podge of hate, vitriol and false truths.

The people of OWS don’t look to the future, to a better America, to a free and prosperous people unencumbered by government overreach to pursue their dreams, wants and desires.  OWS is long removed from its proposed (legitimate?) objective – exposing and objecting to the federal government picking winners and losers on Wall Street and the too-close relationship often engaged between – and is now focused on, well, nothing. They are promoting Communism, a failed system of failed people predicated on a impossible, inchoate proposition that all people can be forced into equality.

The Tea Party promotes a better future, based on the prodigy of our Founding Fathers.  OWS promotes lies, based on the abject failure of the Marxist thesis. Their once (potentially?) worthwhile message has been, unfortunately, hijacked by proud socialists and Marxists, the Democratic party, the unions, and a smattering of Hollywood – the latter three all hoping that OWS can be the Left’s version of the Tea Party, thus giving them something positive to look to in this upcoming election season.

The article continued, with one of the “guards” explaining the situation:

“People wander in here high and drunk and try and get in tents…You’re always going to have drunk a—holes, wherever you go,” he said. “The safety team is pretty efficient. It’s not like this is a junkie haven.”

The reality is, you don’t have drunk “a—holes” wherever you go.  It actually depends on where you go. The Tea Party went towards a more prosperous America, rooted in the Constitution that allows people to live to the moment of their happiness.  OWS went towards “eat the rich,” urinating on tents, threatening reporters, blaming the Jews and sexual harassment.

There is no comparison.

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The Occupy Wall Street protesters are Communists (or Black Panthers)

Oct 4

Posted by Tony Katz in Blog | 1 Comment

I have a piece on the 700 Occupy Wall Street protesters that blocked the Brooklyn Bridge which should be published soon is now posted at TownHall.com.  In the meantime, OWS has just put out their “Proposed List of Demands” for the OWS movement.  The list can be found here, but the bullet points are:

…restoration of the living wage…single payer health care that bans private insurance…guaranteed income regardless of employment…free college education…end the fossil fuel economy while stimulating the green fuel economy…spend $1T on infrastructure…another $1T on planting trees…open borders migration…total debt forgiveness (personal and national) worldwide…

When I read the list, I immediately thought of another group’s list of demands.  It is the Black Panther’s Ten Point Plan.  The list is eerily similar, and includes:

…full employment for “our” people…free housing…free healthcare for all “black and oppressed people”…

The coup de grace is Point 10, where the Black Panthers state:

We want Land, Bread, Housing Education, Clothing Justice, Peace and People’s Community Control of Modern Technology

They are, in far too many ways, the same list of demands.  It can now be said clearly, based solely on the evidence in front of us, that those associated with Occupy Wall Street are Communists, or at the very least Communists-in-Training.  No wonder Van Jones is so supportive of them.

The list of demands from both groups is as ignorant as it is impossible.  These are not the thoughts of sensible people, trying to show the world that we can no longer continue politics as usual, with uncontrolled spending and crony capitalism.  These are petulant children who have no understanding of the real world, and whom (by their admission of their desires) believe that money grows on trees and hold valueless the concept of work and reward, and the rule of law.

Like Communism, this “movement” is doomed to fail.  Like Reagan, we have to make sure it does.

 

 

 

 

 

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Gore, Einstein and that Pesky Science

Sep 25

Posted by Tony Katz in Blog | No Comments

Recently, scientists at the CERN labratory stumbled upon something so simply remarkable that they had to test, double check, and retest themselves. When they realized it was happening, they opened up their findings to the world:

You can go faster than the speed of light.

Researchers were sending Neutrinos – sub-atomic particles – on a 730+km ride from Geneva to the Gran Sasso underground laboratory in Italy. They noticed that the neutrinos were arriving ahead of schedule. It was only fractions of a second, but this is the world of physics!, and every nano-second counts. This is Einstein’s world – Albert Einstein – who theorized over 100 years ago that nothing could travely faster than light in a vacuum; a speed of 186,282 miles per hour.

The implications are overwhelming, even to those of us who are not physicists, or had to double check to see if I spelled physicist properly. Einstein won the Nobel Prize for his contributions to the field of Physics, though not for his Theory of Relativity. However, that is how we know him. All of us know him. We call smart kids “Einsteins.” There is a kids cartoon show called “Little Einsteins.” He has, in American culture, been cannonized. And its possible that he is wrong!

Ain’t science great? Over 100 years of a theory, used as the basis for physicists all around the world, and – by chance! – a subatomic particle on its way to Italy can possibly prove him wrong. Possibly, because the scientific community is going to be studying this data for a long time. There will be experimentation, there will be arguments, there will be calls for more studies and more experimentation, and, certainly, many more arguments. Jenny Thomas of University College London, stated:

The impact of this measurement, were it to be correct, would be huge. In fact it would overturn everything we thought we understood about relativity and the speed of light…

If one Albert can be wrong, why not two? For years now, former US Vice President Al Gore has been pushing the thesis of anthroprogenic (man-made) global warning. He has made movies about his thesis – An Inconvenient Truth. It won an Oscar. His thoughts on global warming have won him a Nobel Prize (for Peace, not science.)

Gore’s thesis has not been a part of American thought for a century…it’s existed for about 10 years (figuring he wasn’t aggressive about his ideas until after he was out of elected office.) Yet many scientists took to it as if it was oxygen. It was a must-have. It was conclusive. At a 2009 conference presented by the Wall Street Journal, when confronted by environmental skeptic Bjorn Lomberg about the validity of global warming, Gore stated clearly:

The scientific community has gone through this chapter and verse. We have long since passed the time when we should pretend this is a ‘on the one hand, on the other hand’ issue…It’s not a matter of theory or conjecture, for goodness sake…

Neither was the Theory of Relativity, until a mid September day when a neutrino did what was supposed to be – quite literally – impossible. The science of global warming is already in huge dispute. The emails discovered from East Anglia University were so damning that the controversy was renamed Climategate. Those emails, according to the article’s author James Deliingpole “…suggest Conspiracy, collusion in exaggerating warming data, possibly illegal destruction of embarrassing information, organised resistance to disclosure, manipulation of data, private admissions of flaws in their public claims and much more.”

Yet, those who argue the existing science, or even argue that the scientific community hasn’t gone through this “chapter and verse,” are vilified in the press, by the United Nations, by the ever-violent environmental movement. The Discovery Building in Silver Spring, MD was taken hostage by a man who wanted more content covering global warming (he also referred to human babies as “parasitic!”) Green organization 1010global.org, in a slickly produced video on YouTube asked school kids to lower their carbon footprint by 10%. Those that chose not to were blown up in the video!

I’m not a scientist, yet I understand that scientists pride themselves on pushing the envelope. Science doesn’t have politics, it has an answer. And that answer is only good until someone comes along with a better answer. Einstein has reigned supreme for over 100 years, and only now is there the possibility of a more complete understanding of the universe. Gore is no Einstein, and no one will ever proudly proclaim that their child is a “little Gore.” The discovery in CERN and Gran Sasso only continues to prove that Gore, and his fundamentalist cronies in the Church of Environmentalism, don’t care about science, its methods or its realities.

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The Rush To Race Is Ridiculous

Sep 25

Posted by Tony Katz in Blog | No Comments

Over the weekend, businessman and presidential candidate Herman Cain won the Florida Straw Poll with a very convincing 37% of the vote.  He more than doubled his nearest challenger, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and third place finisher, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

Quickly, blog posts and opinion makers took to social media and blogs, pushing their view of what this victory means.  Among much of the commentary, the idea of race has come in to play.  That the victory of Cain in the straw poll shows that the GOP, and the Tea Party, are not the racists that the hard-core Leftist Progressives claim those groups to be.

Wrong.  Is the establishment GOP really that interested in proving to a hate-filled Progressive minority that they are good people who should be liked?  Are there members of the Tea Party who actually believe that Sen. Boxer, Sen. Schumer, Michael Moore, Janeane Garofalo, Rep. Frank or others will like them because they voted for a black man?

Does anyone except the most virulent liberal think that Cain won the straw poll because of race?

Cain’s strong win in the straw poll is not about race, it’s about Cain!  His “999″ Plan has taken hold. People now know that Cain is serious about reducing taxes. They see this in the shadow of President Obama’s $1.5 Trillion tax increase, and see that there is another option.  People have been leery – disgusted! – with Obamacare.  They have heard all the talk about the need to repeal, or at the very least, to defund.  But, with Cain, they have heard what could be their fate under Obamacare.  The personal story of Cain’s fight with Stage 4 colon cancer hit home with voters. They now have a clear picture of the life that their family will have under socialized medicine.  Cain is alive because of an unencumbured health care system, where patients and doctors work towards success.  Cain would be dead under Obamacare.  That message has also taken hold with the American electorate.

There have been some who have used Cain’s victory to combat the ignorant words of actor Morgan Freeman.  On Piers Morgan’s show on CNN, Morgan stated:

FREEMAN: Look at, look, the Tea Partiers…Their stated policy, publicly stated, is to do whatever it takes to see to it that Obama only serves one term. What’s, what does that, what underlines that? “Screw the country. We’re going to whatever we do to get this black man, we can, we’re going to do whatever we can to get this black man outta here”

(PIERS) MORGAN: But is that necessarily a racist thing?

FREEMAN: It is a racist thing.

Why would anyone think it necessary to vindicate themselves from the words of Freeman, who did nothing more than reiterate the tired Racer meme popularized by Garofalo and Keith Olbermann? When Cain was asked for his response to Freeman, Cain didn’t point to himself.  He pointed to the problem with Morgan’s statement:

“Most of the people that are criticizing the Tea Partiers about having a racist element, they have never been to a Tea Party…Name calling is something that is going to continue in this because they don’t know how to stop this movement and this movement is making a big difference in politics…”

Cain didn’t mention his race.  He didn’t mention being black.  He didn’t mention his skin color.  Cain did what Cain does: He focused on the statement, gave the much needed, honest answer and moved on.

It is this approach that is attracting more and more people to Cain.  He’s not giving excuses, he’s presenting a plan.  He admits his mistakes, talks about what he is learning and focuses on giving America a clear set of rules, policies and procedures.  Cain does what Obama can not; walking the walk after talking the talk.

If there is anything to take from Cain’s impressive victory in the Florida Straw Poll, its that the mainstream media will not be deciding who the GOP candidate is.  The idea that America’s choices are reduced to Mitt Romney or Rick Perry are over.  Herman Cain has joined the top tier, and he got there with hard work, an engaging personality and a great message.  How long he stays there is up to Cain and America, not the MSM.

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EXCLUSIVE from APM – Teacher calls Hispanic Tea Party leader a Nazi

Sep 21

Posted by Tony Katz in Blog | No Comments

We were proud to post this exclusive over at All Patriots Media.  Eric Adam, and the team at Tea Party Productions, got great video from a panel Q&A event in San Antonio, TX about the DREAM Act.  One of the people asking questions was local high school government teacher Jonathan Bryant.  One of the people on the panel was San Antonio Tea Party leader George Rodriguez.  Bryant, who looked like he was just waiting for a chance to score some cheap points in front of his students, did away with the “new tone,” and went to a new low – calling Rodriguez a “Nazi” for wanting to follow the law.

From the article:

A panel conversation on the DREAM Act turned nasty when a public school teacher told the panel that they want him to act like an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Agent, and round up students who are in the country illegally. The teacher followed up by calling one of the panelists, a Hispanic Tea Party leader, a “Nazi.”

(video shot by Eric Adam of Tea Party Productions)

Jonathan Bryant, a government teacher at a local high school in the area, took the microphone and quickly made sure to recognize the kids in attendance, to which he received boisterous applause. Bryant then responded to a comment made by one of the panelists, Schuylar Crist – a supporter of the Minuteman movement and a coordinator for US Border Watch. Bryant said that it seemed that Crist wanted him, as a teacher, to act like an ICE Agent, and report students who are in the country illegally. When Crist was able to respond, he said,

“The fact of the matter is, if they’re in that classroom illegally, then the school administration has a responsibility of reporting them…under 287-G, the San Antonio police department…has that obligation.”

Bryant quickly retorted, “So you would have students in this room deported?” Crist shot back, “If they were illegal, you bet I would…in a heartbeat.”  Crist was roundly booed by the students in the room.  The moderator, KSTX reporter Hernan Rozemberg, quieted the crowd, and allowed a response from San Antonio Tea Party Leader George Rodriguez.  Rodriguez said,

Again folks, if the person is here illegally, and is breaking the law, they have broken the law or are breaking the law, what do you want us to say?  You know what I would have…I would have you teach more balanced, conservative thoughts, rather than just bringing folks that bring libreal ideals and placards here.

Without any hesitation, Bryant responded:

I mean you could just say what you are, a Nazi.

With some of his students applauding in the background, most of the room seemed to be audibly taken back by the comment.  The moderator again tried to take control of the conversation.  However, Rodriguez continued, “There it is.  There’s the hate. There’s the hate.”  Bryant shot back, “It’s an objective observation, that’s all.”

Rozemberg then tried to bring about decorum to the conversation, stating that as a teacher one needs to be, “…very careful about using those kinds of names and accusations…they may not be the best example to set for students.”

For the rest of the article, click here

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Paul Krugman lives with his own Shame

Sep 11

Posted by Tony Katz in Blog | No Comments

On September 11th, 2011, resident nonsense merchant Paul Krugman wrote an offensive hit piece against the political right.  In it, Krugman tries ineffectively to make the argument that America has acted shamefully since 9/11, and – specifically – the Political Right should feel tremendous shame in how they have acted.

It struck me that nothing, not even the remembrance of the murder of 3000 fellow citizens, can keep a Progressive from engaging in class warfare.  In my article, I state clearly what is and is not shameful, and who – if anyone – should feel shame.  As originally posted on AllPatriotsMedia.com:

As America passed with solemn tribute the murder of 3000 citizens 10 years after September 11th, 2001, social media networks, like Facebook, were filled with tributes, thanks, passages from the bible, and pleas.  Amongst those pleas, that we spend no time on 9/11 engaging in politics.  We have many days ahead to talk about our ideas, our ideals, our desires for America and the best course of action for America.  9/11 is just not the day for politics.

And, as Americans, we watched the tributes on Saturday at Shanksville, PA.  And again, the social media networks were filled with video and audio from the day.  Specifically, people marveled at the words of former Presidents Bush and Clinton.  For whatever we think of their politics, their time in office or their time out of office, they understood what we understand – now was not the time for politics or pettiness.  9/11 is something we, as a nation, survived together.  We lost, we suffered, we felt anger, we are still angry.  But we survived.  For all of our problems, the republic is still here.

Yet, there are those who don’t understand.  Who don’t have the basic humanity one assumes would exists in the hearts and souls of Americans.  Who think their lofty position has entrusted upon them a higher intelligence, when all they have is farcical audacity and, indeed, deep seeded hate.  One of those is Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize winning Economist who fancies himself an intellectual.  As America has learned, we need people of intellect.  Pseudo-intellectuals always lead to unmitigated disaster.

From Krugman’s blog in The New York Times:

What happened after 9/11 — and I think even people on the right know this, whether they admit it or not — was deeply shameful. Te atrocity should have been a unifying event, but instead it became a wedge issue. Fake heroes like Bernie Kerik, Rudy Giuliani, and, yes, George W. Bush raced to cash in on the horror. And then the attack was used to justify an unrelated war the neocons wanted to fight, for all the wrong reasons.

Krugman didn’t get the memo about how to act on 9/11. (As if a memo on how to be a human being is actually necessary!)  It’s like he’s wearing a clown costume to a funeral.  Because Krugman is a clown, and 9/11 is a funeral. To start, Krugman’s elitism makes him think that he knows what people in America are thinking.  His elitism has also immediately turned 9/11 in to a class war.  People on the “right” know that what happened after 9/11 was deeply shameful?  This isn’t true about people on the left? Actually, this isn’t true at all!  It is a simpleton’s strawman argument to force through a failed meme – the left is more compassionate than the right. (A meme that is also destroyed by posting such a hateful, thoughtless article on September 11th.)

The attack continues, in discussing the “fake heroes” – Kerik, Guiliani and Bush.  If you ask anyone on the right, the heroes of 9/11 are the ones who stayed behind when they could have run to safety, and in doing so saved countless lives. The heroes of 9/11 are those who ran into the buildings when others ran out. We call them First Responders – the same ones who Mayor Michael Bloomberg decided were not worthy to attend the ceremonies at Ground Zero!  It would not be right to call Kerik, Guiliani or Bush “heroes” in that sense.  Yet, it would be simply a false rewrite of history to deny the amazing sense of calm that former Mayor Rudy Guiliani placed in the city.  That while most men cower in a situation like this, he was on the scene.  He wasn’t cowering in the corner, he led the city – and by proxy the nation! – to believe that there was still a rule of law, that America was still in control of America.  His strength and optimism stated clearly that New York would still be the capital of the world, and it will (we will!) return to normalcy again.  It’s a far cry from Krugman’s idols, like Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and his inspiring words about Iraq, stating clearly, “…this war is lost.”

That Bush “raced to cash in” on 9/11 is just a nonsense, shameless, pathetic attack meant for cheap applause from mindless people.  Did Janeane Garofalo write this for him?

Krugman continues with his ignorant screed:

The memory of 9/11 has been irrevocably poisoned; it has become an occasion for shame. And in its heart, the nation knows it.

What shame should those who lost loved ones feel?  What shame should our nation have?  Shame of our troops that fight for us?  Shame of The Pentagon that has rebuilt?  Shame in Shanksville, PA for building a memorial that I personally must get to in my lifetime?  Shame of those who risked their lives for those they never met?  Shame for those who spent days, weeks and even months slowly removing the debris from Ground Zero?  Shame for those who work with such passion to bring about the new Freedom Tower?

Should America feel shame in a Mayor who let his city know that they will be back and better than ever?  No, America should not.  Should America feel shame in a President who set out to destroy the enemy that attacked us, and murdered 3000 of our fellow citizens?  No, America should not.  Should America feel shame that we will, year after year after year after year after year, commemorate this day, read the names of those who died, and tell our children that we learned on that day to be ever vigilant, ever strong, ever ready?  No, America should not.

Krugman ended his 182-word post by stating this:

I’m not going to allow comments on this post, for obvious reasons.

What is obvious is that Krugman doesn’t allow comments because Krugman is a coward.  He is the image that should be juxtaposed to the men and women in uniform from that day, and every day before and since.  Krugman’s cowardice should be set against Capt. Greg Amira, who was buried not once but twice in the rubble of the Twin Towers.  Then, a few years later, he was called up to return to the war zone in Iraq.  According to his interview on FOX News Channel, Capt. Amira gave up his disability payments – including money due him from a victim’s fund of over $1 million – to return to active duty with the US Army.  He suffered injuries that forced him to spend 13 months in recovery in Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.  And Paul Krugman thinks that America should be ashamed of this man, and of the thousands like him?

I feel no shame, and neither does America.  The shame lies with Krugman, and those who believe his lies.

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