The World According to Oatney: 04/12/2009

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Rockin' the National Anthem

Ted Nugent warms up the crowd at the San Antonio Tea Party Wednesday with a fighting display of electric patriotism

Friday, April 17, 2009

Tea Parties and Secession Hints

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

Texas Governor Rick Perry hints that the Lone Star State might consider seceding from the Union if dramatic increases in federal encroachment continue. The liberal press attempts to dismiss the Tea Party movement with vulgarity.

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Labels: Congress, Conservatism, Democrats, Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, News Media, Political correctness, Radio show, Republican Party, Tennessee politics

Thursday, April 16, 2009

MSNBC Blue

The mainstream press attempted to dismiss yesterday's Tax Day Tea Party protests across the country by engaging in name calling and crude humor:

So when the anti-tax "tea party" protests were held Wednesday across the country, cable anchors and guests -- who for weeks had all but ignored the story -- covered the protests by cracking a litany of barely concealed sexual references.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper interspersed "teabagging" references with analyst David Gergen's more staid commentary on how Republicans are still "searching for their voice."
"It's hard to talk when you're teabagging," Cooper explained. Gergen laughed, but Cooper kept a straight face.
If anyone thinks the orally charged remarks on mainstream cable were just a coincidence, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow's segments over the past week with guest, Air America's Ana Marie Cox, would dissolve all doubt. Their on-air gymnastics, dancing around the double entendre of the week, looked like live-action Beavis and Butthead.
By one count, the two of them used the word "teabag" more than 50 times on one show. And on Monday, Cox even let the viewers in on their joke -- referencing Urbandictionary.com, a site which offers a number of colorful definitions for the term "teabagging."

The World will not further dignify these on-air shenanigans by explaining this kind of toilet news coverage any further, as we trust that our readers either get it or can discover the meaning of this kind of humor independent of any further direction. The reason why FOX News remains the number one cable news network-a reality that goads the other networks at their very core-is not because FOX is more conservative, but because FOX actually has respect for the people who may watch their programming.

It is not lightly that I levy criticism on MSNBC, because for a very long time I believed that the cable arm of NBC News was by far the most fair of the other news channels, owing in part to the work of Brian Williams, Lester Holt, and especially the late Tim Russert (I am also a huge fan of Joe Scarborough). It became clear as I watched yesterday's coverage both on MSNBC and CNN that these networks have an agenda far deeper than anything they may accuse FOX News of possessing. The attempt by personalities on these networks to demean the protestors and, when possible, ignore the protests shows that the message of the Tea Parties was hitting home with a press that is entirely too closely aligned with the White House. The protests were having an impact, and the mainstream press is scared to death by what could happen to their Golden Boy's administration as a result.

After yesterday, FOX News will likely continue in its number one position for a very long time to come.

Labels: Conservatism, Federal politics, News Media

Tea Thrown Overboard

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David Oatney discusses Wednesday's Tea Party tax protests in cities, towns, and hamlets all over America, and the media reaction to those protests.

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Labels: Conservatism, News Media, Political correctness, Radio show

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The Revolution Will Be Televised

The minions of Barack Obama and the officialdom of the federal government apparently have another tactic in their arsenal when the people become angry and protest their government- shut the people up:

One million tea bags delivered to a Washington, D.C., park were reloaded and sent away because tea party organizers did not have the proper permit.
The massive shipment of tea to Lafayette Park was meant to be the start of a day of protests expected across the country by people fed up with high taxes and excess spending.
But the tea was reloaded back onto a truck and sent away, protest organizer Rebecca Wales told FOX News.
The demonstrations are part of a larger grassroots movement to protest massive government spending called Taxed Enough Already, or TEA -- giving name to the Tax Day Tea Parties -- more than 235 years after the original Boston Tea Party revolt against taxes.
Another D.C. rally scheduled to take place outside the Treasury Department was canceled when the U.S. Secret Service prevented protesters from gathering outside for lacking a proper permit.

Anyone who has ever been involved in a public protest knows how "permit" rules can be used to stifle freedom of speech. We will likely see the double standard of the Left at work today, for when liberals protest, it is free speech, but when conservatives are angry, they must be made to be quiet.

Our friends on the other side really do not seem to understand that these protests are not a part of some highly organized Republican conspiracy. The party had nothing to do with the organization of these events, it was entirely the work of groups like the Sam Adams Alliance, the American Family Association, and a lot of small mom and pop gatherings around the country not affiliated with any specific group. Former U.S. House Republican Leader Dick Armey spoke on Hannity last night about his participation in the Atlanta Tea Party today, saying "look, I am going because I was invited by the Atlanta organizers. I do not know any of these people. I do, however, agree with what these protests are about and so I want to participate." It is probably safe to assume that the same is true with appearances by Republican leaders past and present at protests around the country today. The party would be politically stupid not to jump on the bandwagon of what amounts to a populist uprising against the Obama Administration and the Democratic Congress.

People are deeply concerned about the spending habits of the administration and they know that despite the President's repeated assurances to the contrary, there is no way on this side of Paradise that the federal government can spend the amount of money that Barack Obama says that he wants to spend, and run the kind of deficits that Obama admits his administration will be running before they are finished without the taxes of every taxpayer in this nation going through the roof. Both parties have abused the American electorate, and we collectively have had quite enough.

In addition, Obama's H omeland Security statement which basically characterized all conservatives in the general population as a potential terrorist threat is nothing less than an open declaration of war on conservatives and conservatism. In issuing this wicked memorandum, the Obama Administration has chosen to make the federal government the clear and present enemy of a huge swath of the American population. Patriotism in the world of Obama is now defined as personal loyalty to the President, his government, and the Democratic party, as opposed to loyalty to the Constitution of the United States. In opposing the PATRIOT Act, I warned of a day when a liberal Democratic administration could and would use its provisions against conservative Americans who actively oppose that regime. It would appear that the dreaded time of reckoning has very hastily arrived.

This man in Washington really expects people will bow at his feet and proclaim him Lord, and it seems that he honestly thought that everyone would accept his program without question. He bails out banks and attempts to run automobile manufacturers while admitting that he intends to run a 9.3 trillion dollar deficit by the end of his term, all the while declaring that his opponents and veterans of the war could be potential terrorists. The President and the mainstream press who support him really expect no serious opposition after such a heinous record in his first 100 days?

No sir, Mr. Obama-no more, and not today.

Labels: Congress, Conservatism, Democrats, Elections, Federal politics, News Media, Political correctness, Republican Party, Tennessee politics

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Junior Stays Out, Saves His Career

The Tennessean breaks the news that many political observers in our State (including myself) already suspected-that Harold Ford Jr. will not seek the Democratic nomination for Governor next year:

Ford issued a statement Monday confirming that he would not seek to succeed Gov. Phil Bredesen when his second term ends.

As one of the few Democrats with statewide name recognition, Ford would have been the front-runner for his party's nomination had he entered, political observers said. His decision not to run raises the chances for the handful of state lawmakers and other party activists who are weighing a bid for the office.

Ford did not say why he decided not to run, but his decision comes less than a year after he married Emily Threlkeld, a business development manager for a New York fashion designer. The marriage and a part-time position as senior policy adviser to Merrill Lynch have left him splitting time between New York and Tennessee.

Despite The Tennessean's completely irrelevant drivel about Junior just having gotten married and splitting time between New York and Memphis, that isn't the real reason why Harold Ford, Jr. isn't going to run for Governor. It should be remembered that Harold Jr. is one of the few public members of his family who has not been arrested, indicted, accused of vote fraud, or who has an alcohol abuse problem which impairs the ability to govern effectively. He is far "cleaner" than the other Fords (including his own father), and is well-thought of by a great many political people in Tennessee, including not a few Republicans. He is the closest thing to a winner the Democrats could possibly get for next year, and in any normal year it would not be considered a stretch to say that Harold Ford Jr. could pull off an upset.

Harold Ford Jr. also has a fine sense of political acumen, however, which comes from actually using the brain God gave him. He will not say so publicly, since he will play the good Democrat, but Junior knows that the President's economic policies may very well leave the country in a terrible state of affairs by November 2010. Left unchecked, the "stimulus" could send the economy into a serious inflationary cycle, and even though things may have already bottomed out, unemployment will be very high. Nationally, the Republicans will almost certainly gain Congressional seats next year-the only question will be how many. Within Tennessee, Democrats stand to get hammered-leaving a level of Republican power in Nashville never before seen in our State's history. He won't say it, but Harold knows all of this to be true.

It is precisely because Harold Ford, Jr. intends to seek Statewide office again in the future that he will not do so next year. He is not running so that he may save his political career from the 2010 Tennessee Democratic Campaign of Doom. The Democrat that gets defeated in the autumn of 2010 for Governor may very likely have completed their last campaign for public office, largely due to the scale of the whipping they will take at the polls and that Democrats in the General Assembly may take on the ticket with them (unless they are lucky enough to hold an office not up for election next year that they would not have to resign from to run).

Junior, meanwhile, doesn't run and enjoys a few more years in private life while his good reputation continues in the minds of the public. When he then does decide to make another run at Statewide office, he will be very hard to defeat-and he knows that, too.

Labels: Democrats, Federal politics, Tennessee politics

Monday, April 13, 2009

The Administration's Test

Americans everywhere should be overjoyed at the safe return of Captain Richard Phillips from captivity by Somali pirates:

It was an Easter miracle for the captain's family and the crew of his ship, and a successful test of mettle for the young Obama administration.
President Obama had said nothing publicly during the five-day standoff that began Wednesday, when four pirates tried to hijack the Maersk Alabama, which was carrying food for African refugees.
With Capt. Phillips safe and unharmed, White House aides offered details of Mr. Obama's actions during the crisis, which included at least 30 meetings, briefings and updates, during which the president issued two shoot-to-kill authorizations.

"Our authority came directly from the president," said Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.

Yes, credit must go to the President for acting swiftly and decisively against those who committed this disgraceful act of piracy and terror on the high seas. If the President's people are going to make political hay of this (and rest assured, they will), then political tradition would seem to dictate that they are somewhat entitled to wallow in the glow of the positive outcome for a few days.

The test for Barack Obama, however, did not end with the successful rescue of Captain Phillips. The remaining test will be what his administration will do about the continuing presence of pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the Western Indian Ocean, most of them from Somalia. Just because Captain Phillips is now safe does not mean that the pirates and their leaders have gone away. They remain a serious and real threat to American and international shipping and must be purged from the scene. The pirates have vowed retaliation, and there is little reason to believe that they will not make such an attempt or continue to threaten Americans on the high seas. It took the United States two Mediterranean wars to rid ourselves of the last serious piracy threat to this country's interests.

Would Barack Obama be willing to fight a war at sea if need be in order to destroy these pirates and their ability to threaten our ships?

Labels: Federal politics, Foreign policy

Sunday, April 12, 2009

The Resurrection of the Lord

Mark 16:1-16:

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought sweet spices, that coming, they might anoint Jesus. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen. And they said one to another: Who shall roll us back the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And looking, they saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe: and they were astonished. Who saith to them: Be not affrighted; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified: he is risen, he is not here, behold the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee; there you shall see him, as he told you. But they going out, fled from the sepulchre. For a trembling and fear had seized them: and they said nothing to any man; for they were afraid. But he rising early the first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalen, out of whom he had cast seven devils. She went and told them that had been with him, who were mourning and weeping.

And they hearing that he was alive, and had been seen by her, did not believe. And after that he appeared in another shape to two of them walking, as they were going into the country. And they going told it to the rest: neither did they believe them. At length he appeared to the eleven as they were at table: and he upbraided them with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because they did not believe them who had seen him after he was risen again. And he said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned.