NDFENCEOFOBAMA

In what is shaping up to be one of the most important elections in the history of Massachusetts, Obama’s healthcare agenda rides with the outcome. If the dems win, healthcare is all but certain to pass. If the repubs win, healthcare is certainly all but doomed. Who knew that all the late night senate wrangling, tea parties, town hall meetings, and political posturing over healthcare would come down to a vote over Ted Kennedy’s seat? The irony of the situation is striking with Kennedy having been a strong supporter of healthcare reform. Now healthcare reform is in serious jeopardy. After the vote is over, we will know whether the president’s next few years will be spent catering across the aisle or steamrolling all those in disagreement with his agenda. Stay tuned.

Michael Steele is back. This time with an explanation of what went wrong with the GOP. Steele claims the GOP lost touch with “typical Americans.” According to Steele, “We screwed up,” he claims in a new book offering a blueprint for the party’s resurgence.

Steele said on NBC’s “Today” show the administration is wrong in putting terrorism suspects on trial in civil courts, saying “the public doesn’t view them as having rights in the criminal system.”Steele and the GOP are wrong on this. If we continue down this path, we are no better than China on human rights. Locking up people without charging them with something is inconceivable. What is the reasoning? We think you are going to commit a crime, so we are locking you up before you commit the crime. This is flawed thinking that may lead to ordinary citizens’ rights being stripped. If that reasoning doesn’t work, how about this; If someone has committed a terrorist act, why not charge them with committing that act instead of just holding them forever. At what point are these people no longer dangerous? Is it acceptable to hold them forever without reason(charge)?

The problem with not trying these criminals in open court is that if we do not give these terrorists rights and access to courts, soon the label terrorists will spill out onto some other group of American citizens somewhere in this country who we deem dangerous. When you take away the rights of a few, the rights of many are soon to be challenged.

The AP article goes on to say “The GOP chairman also defended former Vice President Dick Cheney’s harsh criticism of President Barack Obama, saying that he, too, believes Obama tries to avoid directly acknowledging a war on terror.

Steele focuses much of the book on familiar GOP denunciations of President Barack Obama’s overall policies (”a roadmap to failure”), the $787 billion stimulus bill (”a reckless, wasteful, pork-laden spending spree”), liberal views on manmade global warming (”A threat to life on Earth? Depends on whom you ask”) and other issues.”(Is this the same stimulus George Bush Came Up With?)

“To regain the public confidence, Steele says the GOP should, among other things, expose the “reign of error” inherent in liberal policies, contrast conservative and liberal principles, and highlight the damage caused by Obama’s policies while explaining conservative solutions.

One Republican who escapes Steele’s intraparty criticism is former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain’s running mate. Then again, judging from the book’s index, Palin is not mentioned at all in what the publisher calls Steele’s “call to arms for grassroots America.”
When a party chief can’t even come up with solid ideas his own party supports, why would any “ordinary citizen” choose to follow?

After writing several postings on the issue of immigration in 2009, I still stand by my original posting and view. Immigration reform needs a major overhaul and needs to be inclusive of those groups of people who are continually and systematically kept out of the melting pot. When dealing with this issue, there is no other alternative but to prominently display the race card and to proclaim that certain groups are flat out discriminated against and kept out of America, the land of the free.

Not feeling much like writing an article, I thought I would at least anger those on the right about our president. It seems the right wingers don’t like it when we lefties claim the successes of our president. Today, Obama managed to piss off the bankers by placing some much needed regulatory constraints on them. In a move to curtail the greed that drives the banking industry, banks are going to be placed under scrutiny to do the right thing. Mortgage and credit card language will have to written in terms everyone understands. No more fine print. I will now dedicate the rest of this space to those who will dissent. Thank you.

The recent sanctions by the UN against North Korea are toothless. My most recent article appearing at http://ndfenceofobama.blogspot.com takes a look at the sanctions and breaks them down with commentary. Be sure to check it out and leave a posting. I will again post commentary here on Today.com.

A news article today posted by the AP says that North Korea has remained silent about the trial of two journalists accused of crimes against the state. The article goes on to say that the journalists will be used as bargaining chips in the high stakes game of diplomacy between the US and North Korea.
In a country like North Korea, why even give them a trial when the world knows it is a sham and they will be found guilty anyway? North Korea is led by despicable leadership that continually tests other countries good will to gain favor at the bargaining table. Hopefully, this type of hostage taking will meet its’ end peacefully. While I certainly hope the journalists make it out of there okay, North Korea should not be rewarded for aggressive action such as this.

When it comes to the touchy subject of North Korea and proliferation of nuclear weapons, the United States must be prepared to recognize sanctions arent going to work on a country hell bent on testing and acquiring long range nuclear weapons.

While it is good the international community has somewhat banded together, the real show of force has yet to come. As North Korea readies itself for yet another round of weapons testing, the question remains; what is any country, especially the USA, going to do to stop North Korea and this mad man?

The mere fact that a mad man is trying to acquire a weapon that will reach America is shocking to the mind. The missile tests are designed for trial and error; he will keep trying until he gets it right. My question in this post is; what should we do? Blow them up, do nothing, let sanctions continue not to work?

Is this the moment Joe Biden spoke of when he said Obama was going to be tested? I think it is. I also think Kim Jong Ill should never be allowed to keep testing missiles. He is a mad man who is bent on destruction of something- who knows what yet?

This opportunity is also a chance for Iran to see what is going to happen to itself as it pursues the same type of weapons.
A quick precision strike by those countries with security interests seems like a real possibility. I don’t believe the USA should go it alone, but the UN and our other allies are pansies and are never going to support a military strike. Kim and his million man army need to be reduced to size, a small size.

For some of my readers, the dominance of the USA is preeminent and we should take immediate action, but others who read this column, call for America to recognize other country’s sovereign rights. Those readers say; why can’t other countries have weapons we already have?

I would like my readers to weigh in and debate the likely outcome. Thanks.
Some of my viewers at http://ndfenceofobama.blogspot.com will weigh in on this subject and the broad expanse of WMD. Please feel free to post here and check out the rest of the article my other blog.

I have continually posted material related to Israel, the Palestinians, and Iran. In keeping with my commitment to post on the matter, the latest news headline displays more of why a two state solution is way off. While I will not say unequivocally that a two state solution is not possible, all sides to the conflict are so far apart from reaching anything that resembles an agreement. There are too many different factions vying for position including; the US, Iran, Hamas, the Palestinians, Israel, Arabs, etc. for any real lasting agreement to be reached.

“(Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday pressed a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict but failed to win a commitment from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to back Palestinian statehood.”

Netanyahu said that it was clear to Obama “that Israel retains the right to defend itself”. But the Israeli leader said he hoped the president’s diplomatic efforts succeeded.”

Until all countries can consider the true definition of sovereignty, the two state solution, or any other solution, may not be achievable.

WOW!… This is some letter and well worth the read!

As a supplier for the Big 3 this man, Gregory J. Knox, received a letter from the President of GM North America requesting support for the bail out program. His response is classic, and has to make you proud of a local guy who tells it like it is…….

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/knox.asp …CONFIRMS KNOX’S LETTER

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First, this is the letter he got from GM to which his subsequent response is directed:

“Dear Employees and Suppliers,

Congress and the current Administration will soon determine whether to provide immediate support to the domestic auto industry to help it through one of the most difficult economic times in our nation’s history. Your elected officials must hear from all of us now on why this support is critical to our continuing the progress we began prior to the global financial crisis.

As an employee or supplier, you have a lot at stake and continue to be one of our most effective and passionate voices.. I know GM can count on you to have your voice heard. Thank you for your urgent action and ongoing support.

Troy Clarke - President

General Motors North America

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Response from:

Gregory Knox, Pres.
Knox Machinery Company
Franklin , Ohio

Gentlemen:

In response to your request to contact legislators and ask for a bailout for the Big Three automakers please consider the following, and please pass my thoughts on to Troy Clark, President of General Motors North America.

Politicians and Management of the Big 3 are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has spread like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now sweeping this nation, awaiting our new “messiah”, Pres-elect Obama, to wave his magic wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time allowing our once great nation to keep “living the dream”. Believe me folks, The Dream is over!

This dream where we can ignore the consumer for years while management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that our factories have been filled with the worlds most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded “laborers” without paying the price for these atrocities. This dream where you still think the masses will line up to buy our products forever and ever.

Don’t even think about telling me I’m wrong. Don’t accuse me of not knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler, TRW, Delphi, Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive OEM’s throughout the Midwest during the past 30 years and what I’ve seen over those years in these union shops can only be described as disgusting.

Troy Clarke, President of General Motors North America, states: “There is widespread sentiment throughout this country, and our government, and especially via the news media, that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management which it certainly is not.”

You’re right Mr. Clarke, it’s not JUST management.

How about the electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag ass so they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple time for a job they easily could have done within their normal 40 hour work week?

How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of scare tactics for putting out too many parts on a shift and for being too productive? (We certainly must not expose those lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must we?!?)

Do you folks really not know about this stuff?!? How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke’s sad plea: “over the last few years, we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our competitors.” What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years?!? Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency between us and them?

The K-car vs. the Accord?

The Pinto vs. the Civic?!?

Do I need to go on? What a joke!

We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the United States auto industry for decades. It’s time to pay for your sins, Detroit . I attended an economic summit last week where brilliant economist, Alan Beaulieu, from the Institute of Trend Research, surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny of “bailout money”.

“Yes, he said, this would cause short term problems,” but despite what people like politicians and corporate magnates would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day. And the following very important thing would happen.. .where there had been greedy and sloppy banks, new efficient ones would pop up. That is how a free market system works. It does work if we would only let it work.”

But for some nondescript reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is right and that capitalism doesn’t work - that we need the government to step in and “save us”.

Save us my ass, Hell - we’re nationalizing, and unfortunately too many of our once fine nation’s citizens don’t even have a clue that this is what is really happening. But, they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite sports teams. Yeah - THAT’S really important, isn’t it?

Does it ever occur to ANYONE that the “competition” has been producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades in this country? How can that be??? Let’s see. Fuel efficient. Listening to customers. Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul.

Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr. W. Edwards Deming four decades ago when he taught that by adopting appropriate principles of management, organizations could increase quality and simultaneously reduce costs. Ever increased productivity through quality and intelligent planning. Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like “the enemy”. Efficient front and back offices. Non union environment.

Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn’t be telling anyone anything they really don’t already know down deep in their hearts.

I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten yourself into - my children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did when I was their age. I do for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the way) - I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work through it. Radical concept, huh?

Am I there for them in the wings? Of course – but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults.

I don’t want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and government. Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins. Bad news, people - it’s coming whether we like it or not. The newly elected Messiah really doesn’t have a magic wand big enough to “make it all go away.”

I laughed as I heard Obama “reeling it back in” almost immediately after the final vote count was tallied. “we really might not do it in a year or in four.” Where the Hell was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for office?

Stop trying to put off the inevitable folks. That house in Florida really isn’t worth $750,000. People who jump across a border really don’t deserve free health care benefits. That job driving that forklift for the Big 3 really isn’t worth $85,000 a year. We really shouldn’t allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products acquired from a country that unfairly manipulates their currency and has the most atrocious human rights infractions on the face of the globe.

That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000 really shouldn’t be living in that $485,000 home. Let the market correct itself folks - it will.
Yes it will be painful, but it’s gonna’ be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on the other side of it all, is a nation that appreciates what it has and doesn’t live beyond its means and gets back to basics and redevelops the patriotic work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the world and probably turns back to God.

Sorry - don’t cut my head off, I’m just the messenger sharing with you the “bad news”. I hope you take it to heart.

Gregory J. Knox, President
Knox Machinery, Inc.
Franklin , Ohio 45005

This morning while scrolling through web pages, I found this absurd article written by Don Lambro. The article starts out with huge fallacy and grows exponentially worse. For the sake of clarity, I have reprinted the whole article to show how political writers help in shaping public opinion, no matter how absurd their work is.
The basic premise of the article supposes that the US is the police agency of the world, and must somehow, hold back tyranny, at all costs. The writer also shows his far right political slant in the first sentence of his writing.

WASHINGTON — The world’s terrorists and rogue nations have clearly become more dangerous since Barack Obama took office, and analysts say they’re testing him to see how much they can get away with.

“In the case of North Korea, we are clearly worse off than we were a few months ago,” he told me. “What have we got by reaching out to the Iranians? Not much. They are working on their missiles; there’s not much change in their posture. Pakistan is certainly more of a worry now, not just in the tribal areas but in Pakistan proper, and the danger of getting control of nuclear weapons, which would be a nightmare.”

After reading the article, I ask one question; who says we have to solve the world’s problems? The evil empire of the Bush regime is long gone. It is time for change, change that doesn’t impose our belief system on every country in the world. What makes the writer think we have to continue fighting in foreign wars for weak causes. Sure, terrorism is important. But you cant go blow up everything and everybody in the name of cleansing for safety’s sake. You also can’t go around torturing suspects to gain better intel.
Everyone who makes a case for militarizing solutions always does so in the name of protecting our interests. They always start out and end up with talking about the buzz word “terrorists”. Of course this ploy has worked for the last eight years, but those days are over with. Other countries have their own interests to protect also, and they are alot closer to the terrorists than we are. Nuclear arms falling into the hands of rogue actors is bad, but Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia, and a whole host of other countries that are on the mainland have alot more to worry about than we do.
Using terms like “Al-Qaeda in Iraq”, seperate the writer from the factual world most of us live in. Most terrorists in Iraq are nothing more than locals who have acquired some bomb making material from Iran. “Al-Qaeda in Iraq” was and is a Bush term used to sell the war to Americans. While Al-Qaeda may be in Iraq, the problem now rests with the Iraqis who want us out of there. Let the Iraqis, who demand sovereignty, take care of their problems.

Iran has consisently snubbed any efforts by the international community to cease nuclear activity. Iran has neither gotten better or worse as a result of Obama.The same thing went on when Bush was in office. What should we do? Blow them up too? How about letting the international community blow them up? What about Israel, who has way more to lose than we do, deal with Iran?

Articles written in this manner are seriously flawed, offer no solutions, and are not based on factually intelligent analysis. While I admire the writers ability to blow off steam, the consequences of poorly reasoned articles should be higher. I am upset this guy actually has a following and has offered nothing in the way of substance. While his article may strike a cord with some who think military solutions are the answer to everything, the writer has failed to give any credence to diplomatic efforts which are not developed or instituted overnight.