J. D. Pendry

J. D. Pendry

“I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies …” Hillary Clinton

Just before the 2004 elections I had a self-chat about the state of things. The conclusions I drew were that Washington’s (unfortunately our country’s) politicians have little in common with me or most of us for that matter.

Yesterday was a yard work day for me. My once nice green piece of West Virginia hillside, due to a lack of rain since late May, now more closely resembles the desert landscapes I recall from my short stay in West Texas, El Paso. When you are out raking, digging, mowing, seeding and generally admiring God’s creation, your mind dwells on many things. You wonder why, when surrounded by a half-acre of yard that the squirrel’s favorite place to dig is in the middle of your flower beds. You wonder why the deer eat only the blooms and leaves from the Impatiens and leave the naked green stems sitting there to stare at you. You almost want to toss a blanket over them as you would if you discovered a naked person hanging out in your back yard. Instead, you rip them from the ground and toss them over onto the compost heap. Their purpose served. New blooms will take their place in the spring. You discover some unusually soft spots as you trudge around the back. Moles. Moles mean a grub infestation. The mole and grub solution (don’t tell Al Gore or PETA) is generally chemical warfare. Depending on your perspective on life, a day of yard work could be a long, tedious and tiring one or it could be most relaxing.

Simple physical labor causing a blister or two and getting some dirt under your not professionally manicured fingernails is about as basic as life gets. You realize that you can clean, prune and groom a little piece of earth, but there is little actual improvement you can make to the creation. While people are working themselves into frenzy about the plight of the planet over such things as global warming, you also realize that there is not much chance that you’ll be able to destroy something you didn’t have the power to create in the first place.

Sitting there on the brick patio, that you also built, enjoying the autumn sunshine and a little breeze while sipping your coffee you realize that you are as middle as Middle America gets. You wonder if some people truly know you. You started your adult life with little more than the values and work ethic bequeathed to you by your parents. You worked hard, sometimes more than one job. You served when asked. You met your obligations to your family and others and tried to stay true to your faith. In the great scheme of things, you have much for which to be thankful. When compared to the rest of the world you have it pretty doggoned good. You have never been interested in getting something for nothing. In fact, you know that if you are offered something that sounds too good to be true, chances are it isn’t true, except to the gullible. You view most political promises in that regard. You achieved a standard of living considered filthy rich when viewed from some corners of our planet. In the United States, you may be far below what most Americans might classify as wealthy yet are well beyond being poor or needy of a government handout. Much of the world would like to be you. That’s why they sneak in here every day in such great numbers.

While watching a squirrel dig up the winter Pansies you just planted, you wonder what is so broken about Middle America. Certainly, it must be broken because so many of our politicians promise us they’ll fix it. What separates the United States from many other countries of the world is our strong Middle Class America. As you ponder that, ask yourself a simple question. Was the United States of America built by and is it sustained by politicians promising handouts or by people who don’t mind doing the work that elitist politicians wouldn’t do.

The axiom says don’t fix what isn’t broken. I don’t think it’s Middle America that needs fixing. Politicians can create the environment through sensible policies that allows a strong Middle Class to grow and prosper. Alternatively it can destroy the individualism and work ethic that built and sustains our nation by replacing it with a Welfare Class that looks toward the government to solve its personal problems and meet its basic needs. Things are of less value to you when you don’t have to work for them. Socialism is a historical failure, wherever it’s been attempted.

My Mom worked Mrs. Clinton, sometimes she had to. She also found time to bake cookies for us. It didn’t take a village to raise her family. That’s the glaring difference between you and her and the glaring difference between Middle America and most politicians.

Middle America is in good shape I think. What needs a complete overhaul is our Political Class. The class that seems bent on the destruction America’s greatest strength.

Copyright © J. D. Pendry, 2007, All Rights Reserved.

J. D. Pendry

Closing in on the 2006 elections, I heard many self-proclaimed conservatives lamenting the condition of the political party that was supposed to be representative of them and with cause. Many said they were so frustrated they weren’t even going to vote. Maybe the Republicans needed to lose. It would punish them. Teach them a lesson. That was the attitude that gave America over to the fine leadership of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. It is America, not a political party, that’s being punished and at a time when Congressional leadership should be concerned with the interests and security of America rather than the destruction of an opposing political party. It is also a time when each American must responsibly exercise the right to vote.

Again, many of the self-proclaimed are vowing that they’ll vote only if Mr. or Ms. Perfect is a ballot choice. That would be the candidate held to higher standards than many of the self-proclaimed can live up to themselves. I have some news for people who think like that. When Mr. Perfect does make his appearance, he’ll be the only candidate and there won’t be any need for ballots. In the meantime, however, we’ll have to pick the best available person to lead us or sit back and allow others to do it while we pine away our opportunity or toss away our vote.

George H. W. Bush invited all of us to read his lips. We did. Then he went right out and raised our taxes anyway. Because of that and some other things, conservatives wanted to abandon ship. When 1992 rolled around, H. Ross Perot became the better alternative choice for those seeking perfection. Unfortunately for America, Mr. Perot’s candidacy allowed Bill Clinton to become our president with only 43 percent of the popular vote. When combined, Perot and Bush accounted for 56 percent of the popular vote. We can’t be sure that all of the 19 percent that voted Perot would have voted for Bush, but it’s safe to assume most might have. The only thing accomplished by the third party candidacy was raising the status of White House interns.

Next was the 1996 election. Bill Clinton won that one with 49.2 percent of the vote, while Perot and Bob Dole combined for 49.1 percent. It is more interesting than that however. If you review the state by state results, you will see that in 13 states where Clinton won, the popular vote for Perot and Dole combined was more that that received by Clinton. Conceivably, Dole could have won in those states and ended up with more Electoral College votes than Clinton and enough to be elected. Again, Mr. Perot’s candidacy served only to secure the White House for Bill Clinton.

The independent or third party rumblings our out there again. One candidate is not pro-life enough. Another is not Christian enough. Another is too moderate. One is too lackadaisical… The media makes a concerted effort to point out to conservatives why they shouldn’t like a particular candidate. Generally it is the one they most fear at the time. That is not by happenstance. It is a liberal Democrat media after all. I assure you that if a third party candidate does emerge, the media will bill him as the second coming for conservatives thereby ensuring he peels away enough of the vote to put the Clintons back in residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. If that is what you desire, act accordingly.

Before you cast your protest vote or keep it home altogether, maybe you should consider another approach. There are some basic things that are most crucial to the survival of our country over the next decade. The candidates left standing for the General Election in November 2008 stand to have the most impact on those basic issues. I intend to vote for the one most likely to get us where we need to be.

National security is at the top of my list. There are three things on it that the President must address. We must become energy independent. We must stop transferring our national wealth to Middle East despots. Beyond that, we need to become energy exporters not importers and competitors rather than consumers on the world energy market. We can make it difficult for OPEC. We must stop illegal immigration starting with secure borders and other ports of entry. Our military is too small. It may not need to be back to Cold War size, but it does need to increase to meet our post 9/11 requirements.

Our next president will appoint new judges to the Supreme Court. A judge that will strictly interpret the Constitution and apply it to decisions as opposed to applying personal, constitutionally unsupported views is what we need. Those things that we hold dear, like abortion, will be decided by the Supreme Court Judges appointed by the President, not by the President himself.

Then follows important domestic issues: Replacing our tax system with something sensible like the fair tax, a free market health insurance solution for health care and fixing the Social Security system so that it becomes a societal benefit rather than a societal burden.

There are no perfect candidates, but when the time comes there will clearly be a best one.

Copyright © J. D. Pendry, 2007, All Rights Reserved

J. D. Pendry

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.

By now, most Americans have heard about global warming. Many of them have probably watched former Vice President Al Gore’s scientifically flawed and politically motivated movie on the topic for which intellectually challenged and likeminded people gave him an award. Now, he has received the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to world peace. According to Mr. Gore, “we face a true planetary emergency.” On my significance meter, his “achievements” rank almost as high as do the exploits of Paris or Britney.

The real truth is that most Americans can tell you about Mr. Gore’s prize and provide you play by play on the tragic lives of two young women. The inconvenient truth is that few of them can tell you anything about men like Army Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith or Navy Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy. Real heroes with real achievements to their credit have no place in today’s American story because today’s version originates from men and women of politics and media who’ve written dubious heroes into the script while actively vilifying the true ones.

From the beginning, anti military politicians and their media cohorts dedicated themselves to the defeat of America not her enemies. Within hours of the 9/11 attack, some were blaming America. Within days, politicians were blaming their opponents. Within hours of the beginning of the Iraq invasion, the news was telling us to brace for massive American casualties then started calling it a quagmire. To their chagrin, most Americans supported the effort and the Troops. In their worldview and to their desired end, that just wouldn’t do.

Men like our former President Jimmy Carter made it their mission to discredit America, and often while visiting foreign countries. More than six years after the unprovoked attack that killed thousands of Americans, he still derides our President and Vice President and still insists that we torture our prisoners. This from the man who tortured Americans with 4 years of high unemployment, high inflation, high interest rates and national humiliation at the hands of the same Islamic fascists we face today.

The conduct of a few at Abu Ghraib was their first effort to paint the United States Military with the broad brush as prisoner abusing torturers. The story was daily on the front page of the New York Times for more than a month and flowed daily from the mouths of politicians in front of television cameras. Then came the mischaracterizations of our Soldiers at Guantanamo led by the slanderous comments of Senator Dick Durbin calling them Nazis supported by media lies such as the Koran flushing published in Newsweek magazine. When those episodes and others cooled in the media, they thought they’d found the Mi Lai they’d been wishing for. Congressman Jack Murtha took the lead on this one tossing aside the Marine Corps motto of Semper Fidelis and labeling his once brothers at arms as cold-blooded murderers. Numerous media accounts sided with Murtha and with our enemies who tried hard to make it appear that our Marines committed an atrocity. That lie, along with the credibility of Murtha and the media is now swirling down drain. No apologies or corrected stories are coming forth from Murtha or the media. It’s tragic that our Marines and their families had to endure this humiliation.Attempts to turn Americans against our Military and our war with the Islamic terrorists was not working fast enough so they resorted to the skulking strategy of slow-bleed that would deprive our Troops of reinforcements and hinder their ability to prosecute the war. The slow bleed-like strategies never seemed to be able to get out of Congress so the anti-war left took even more dubious and sinister steps to bring about an American defeat.

During the decade of the 90’s, the United States Military was dramatically downsized. The Army, for example, was reduced from 18 active divisions to 10 and to nearly half its Desert Storm strength. This leaves the services with too few active military people to perform many necessary tasks. This is why you see contractors performing logistics and maintenance operations. It’s also why you see private security companies performing VIP security. Companies like Blackwater USA. No matter what you might think of Blackwater and other such contractors, they’re a modern necessity to our war fighting capability. Without Blackwater, high level civilians that we need in Iraq to complete the mission would not be able to move about and do their jobs. This is not lost on Washington’s defeatists.

Congressional Democrats have decided that now is the appropriate time to characterize something that occurred 90 years ago as genocide. This is the Ottoman Turks killing of Armenians before World I. At face value, this might not seem very significant to you, but here is what you need to know. Seventy percent of the supplies that our Troops need to survive and win in Iraq come to them through Turkey. Turkey is a NATO ally. So what affect do you think a United States Congressional resolution labeling the Turks as genocidal might have?

Treason, simply defined is an act of betrayal. Aiding the enemy.

Yes Vice President Gore, there is a planetary emergency. It is centered in the United States Congress.

Copyright © J. D. Pendry 2007 All Rights Reserved

J. D. Pendry

People come in two basic types. One makes decisions, like who they believe should lead our country, based on questioning and analyzing factual information presented to them. The second makes those important decisions according to emotional reaction to the information, whether factual or not, that is presented to them. The second group are kool-aid drinkers - the people who are so committed to a belief or to a person that they ignore or deny the facts that get in the way of what they want to believe.

Dishonest people rely on phony rage to keep the anger level of their uniformed and mainstream media propagandized kool-aid drinkers high enough to cause them to act emotionally rather than logically. Phony rage is created by phony people trying to portray themselves as someone they are not. Misusing facts and telling outright lies about things and people in order to deceive and anger their mind-numbed connoisseurs of kool-aid is what they do.

“We are certainly better prepared and more focused on, you know, taking our arguments, and making them effective, and disseminating them widely, and really putting together a network, uh, in the blogosphere, in a lot of the new progressive infrastructure, institutions that I helped to start and support like Media Matters and Center for American Progress.” – Hillary Clinton at the Yearly Kos Convention, August 4, 2007.

Media Matters for America, an organization Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton appears proud to have help start, recently employed the phony rage tactic. They did it by taking a comment made by Rush Limbaugh and using it out of context. Mr. Limbaugh while discussing those who lie about their service records, like Jesse Al-Zaid Macbeth, referred to them as phony soldiers. Just so happens that phony soldiers, like Macbeth, are generally anti-war too. Mr. Limbaugh was accused by Media Matters as characterizing all Soldiers or Veterans who oppose the war as phony Soldiers, which simply isn’t true. Sadly, members of the United States Congress repeated the lie, feigning their own outrage and adding to it their own characterizations of Mr. Limbaugh, in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid characterized Mr. Limbaugh as unpatriotic.

“But last week, Rush Limbaugh went way over the line – and while we respect his right to say anything he likes, his unpatriotic comments cannot be ignored.” Democrats.Senate.Gov

I don’t recall Mr. Reid characterizing his colleagues as unpatriotic when they (and he) said much worse – and meant it. I also don’t recall Media Matters or any of their affiliates giving a rat’s hind leg about any of their unpatriotic and slanderous words directed toward our military. Maybe this is why:

“In the last year, grassroots contributors like us gave more than $300 million to the Kerry campaign and the DNC, and proved that the Party doesn’t need corporate cash to be competitive. Now it’s our Party: we bought it, we own it, and we’re going to take it back.” - Move0n.org, December 9, 2004 (some contributions of note)

Media Matters and MoveOn.org have been in the news for the past few weeks, beginning with the General Betray us ad and continuing with the phony, phony soldier smear. As things come out of these organizations, it’s important to know how they tie together and that they actually do own the Democratic Party. At the top of the list is the Democracy Alliance founded by a former member of the Clinton Administration, Rob Stein. The large donor name that appears throughout these liberal organizations is George Soros, one willing to use his billions to promote his political views and to purchase politicians. On the Democracy Alliance list of funding recipients, you’ll find Media Matters and the Center for American Progress. Mrs. Clinton was also proud to “help start and support” the Center for American Progress, which is headed by former Clinton White House Chief of Staff, John D. Podesta. One of the organizations listed as affiliated with MoveOn is VoteVets.org. VoteVets is an anti-war group started by Iraq War Veteran Jon Stolz and lists as one of its advisors General Wesley Clark.

“I’ve known Wes for a long time. I will tell you the reason he came out of Europe early had to do with integrity and character issues, things that are very near and dear to my heart. . . . Wes won’t get my vote.” – General Hugh Shelton former Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff

I respect the honorable service of any man or woman. Some members of VoteVets including General Clark joined in on the Limbaugh smear and in my view compromised their honor and integrity, for General Clark it appears it may not have been the first time. Those things are also very near and dear to my heart.

I’ve spent some time today studying these groups so I thought I’d share it. I hope it wasn’t too boring for you. Their influence is obvious. I recommend that you take some time and study them too. During our never-ending election cycle there will be many more moments of rage shared with us. If we are to survive, we need dump out the kool-aid and learn for ourselves how to separate fact from fiction.

Copyright © J. D. Pendry, All Rights Reserved