Common Core: Will Florida Politics Trump Truth?

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While opposition to Common Core is not just a conservative issue, we must agree that conservatives have carried a heavy load in this battle against nationalizing education so far.  It is shocking that with a Republican Governor and state legislature, conservatives who oppose Common Core have been ignored and vilified.

Last Saturday I was part of a large meeting of leaders against common core from every corner of Florida. Nearly half were, or had been educators. This group is not “misinformed” as proponents of Common Core continually say to disparage our efforts.  These people do not wear tinfoil hats, but are the foundation of our communities and they know how and why Common Core is an existential threat to our children, our country and our future.  They are driving for the truth to trump the heavy hand of politics so clearly involved in the issue of Common Core.

As a result of pressure on Governor Rick Scott and state legislators by groups opposing Common Core, the Governor issued diversionary and misleading executive orders to hold just three hearings in the entire state,October 15-17, 2013, and stated they would listen to input on the national Common Core standards.  Nineteen thousand comments were registered and roughly eight hundred people attended hearings in person at great expense and lost time.  Leaders of the Stop Common Core movement brought world recognized experts on education standards to meet with Commissioner Stewart, the fifth Commissioner in just three years, and her team for two hours, hoping the facts would alter our disastrous course of ceding control over education to our federal government.  The hearings were to divert our attention and our support and pretend our input made a difference.  It worked for many and we lost 3 months wanting and waiting for our governor to listen.

On January 14th, the Florida State Department of Education held a “workshop” to discuss their proposed changes as a result of the hearings and comments to Common Core Standards implemented already.  The minimal changes to be discussed were revealed less than twenty-four hours before the required “workshop” was to take place and obscurely buried in the FLDOE web site.

Calling in to participate in the “workshops” was a logistical mess requiring four calls to get through for this writer, and once in, it was only a half hour reading of the changes without the ability to comment.  We were stiff armed again and Common Core implementation in Florida did not even have a hiccup.

Where do we stand now?  Next week, the Florida Department of Education will meet in Miami Lakes January 21, 2014.  Input is needed and will likely be ignored as they continue to steamroll Common Core implementation.  Opposition is growing exponentially as parents, teachers, administrators and patriots experience the problems of Common Core first hand.  Horrific stories about the disastrous results in other states such as New York and Kentucky are fueling a move for organizations in the entire country to unite.

One can only come to the logical conclusion that Governor Scott’s illogical position has been influenced and controlled by Jeb Bush whose foundation took $501,000 to support Common Core before it was ever created. Bush still has ways of extending his political tentacles and opposing him comes with a price. His hopes for national election are tied to the same supporters who stand to gain billions through implementing Common Core.

The Gates Foundation paid off the PTA, Jeb Bush, the Fordham Foundation and so many others to put the nefarious plan to implement national education in place.

Pearson is the British education conglomerate (third largest shareholder is the government of Libya) that stands to gain BILLIONS from Common Core which is spawned by UN Agenda 21 and explained in chapter 36. It’s no wonder Common Core lessons teach social justice and that Islam is the “way.” Pearson bought out nearly all education companies in the US, but kept their names in place to obfuscate this move.  Both Pearson and Gates are major supporters of Jeb Bush.

But if Governor Scott opposes his core constituents, he will also pay a price. The truth is that Governor Scott needs to listen to the twenty-seven County Republican Executive Committees who resolved to oppose Common Core, the Committeemen and Committeewomen from the entire state, the Republican National Committee, the Republican Women Federated, some teachers unions and dozens of think tanks.

Those opposed to Common Core have researched this nationalization of education called Common Core and found it unconstitutional, unwise, untested, unaffordable, intrusive and ineffective. National education has been used by tyrants and despots as a vehicle for propaganda since the beginning of civilization to create a compliant citizenry.

This is an existential threat to all of us, our children and our country. It’s Obamacare for Education, but worse. The hearts and minds of our children are being stolen. If Governor Scott continues to alienate his base of conservative voters in favor of the Jeb Bush cabal, it is highly likely he may lose his bid for reelection.

Governor Scott can’t ignore the reality of the facts and the rising tide of opposition.  He must take a side and it better be ending Common Core, not pausing it, not tweaking it, but restoring parental and local control.  To us it is not just an “issue” or a political calculation.  It is our kids and the future of our country.

Please go to www.stopcommoncorefl.com and join the army of parents, teachers and concerned citizens to END Common Core in Florida and beyond!

VIDEO: Common Core: Based on UN Agenda 21, UNESCO Standards

Rally sites set for Operation American Spring in Washington, D.C. on May 16th

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If you are participating in Operation American Spring on Friday, May 16th, 2014 in Washington D.C. we grasp your hand and welcome you aboard. Please join us in the first step to return our nation back to a Constitutional Republic.

As for all the over paid, over indulging politicians who are eviscerating the US Constitution and ignoring the people, OAS will demonstrate that you no longer represent us. We need to start over.

President Obama, you stated you will initiate a way around the Congress with Executive Orders to ram through unconstitutional dictates. Wrong answer. There is no constitutional provision nor statute that explicitly permits executive orders. There is a vague grant of “executive power” given in Article II, Section 1, Clause 1 of the Constitution, and furthered by the declaration “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” made in Article II, Section 3, Clause 5. Nothing more. EO’s mean nothing.

We expect you to be removed and or impeached from office as per the authority vested in us “We the people” using ALL our constitutional means and we are going to use them.

Operation American Spring (OAS) participants will be mustering at the below locations in Washington D.C. starting at 10:00 a.m. EST on Friday, May 16, 2014. Please pick your place of protest. We will not leave our posts in Washington until the President has been removed from office for constitutional treason.

Set up a chain of command and follow the Rules of  Engagement published previously.

SIX OAS MUSTERING – RALLYING – PRAYER POINTS:

image_map

For a larger view click on the map.

Just another reminder on the Rules of Engagement. NO WEAPONS or AMMUNITION. But you do have a right to defend yourself. You have a God given 2nd Amendment right as an American. When the progressives have been voted out we will restore the Constitution in Washington D.C.

Bring video cameras and other devices that can record our peaceful activities.

We need attorneys willing to work pro bono to help release any Americans harassed while peacefully demonstrating.

Do not hide from the government. Operate within the God given laws of the US Constitution. Always post your location and phone number in all correspondence you send to me. I cannot return every call I receive, I am getting hundreds, but I do listen to all your voicemails.

Militia Commanders take charge of your units. TEA Party leaders take charge of your groups. Civilians participating please follow the law. Keep preparing for mobilization.

We are living in an unconstitutional police state. Our nation is in very bad shape politically and financially so we will now take the appropriate constitutional actions to take our country back. Its starting.

Be strong and be ready for a long siege of defense. I expect all retired military officers – senior enlisted coordinating across the country with us to implement logistic and other readiness requirements to ensure mission success. Our government is no longer our government. The current government is AGAINST the people not for the people.

If you are unable to make it to Washington please mobilize and march on your local court houses, state capitals, and offices of your Senate and Congressional representatives in your towns. DO IT !!! If your state laws permit weapons bring them. Follow the laws of your state!

The President of the United States is a threat to our Constitutional republic. Do not believe a word he says –  he lies. His entire Presidency is a series of lies that threaten freedom. The Congress refuses to do the job we pay them to do, so we are coming to Washington D.C. to insure they hear our voices from a closer proximity. See you there.

I will be at base point #3.

RELATED COLUMN: Americans rising up against government – USA Today

Benghazi: A Tale of Three Senators

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In a time where courage is a precious commodity on Capitol Hill, a Democratic U.S. Senator has set an admirable example of statesmanship in stark contrast to two of her former colleagues.

Senator Diane Feinstein of California, the Chair of Senate Intelligence Committee has sounded the alarm over the escalating threat from Jihadist terrorism and released a report in the pursuit of the truth about the terrorist attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11th, 2012.

Senator Feinstein’s words and deeds stand in stark contrast to those of former Senators Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, the former and current Obama administration Secretaries of State.

Senator Feinstein recently correctly defined our enemies as a “very fundamentalist jihadist Islamic community” – in a warning that terrorism is on the rise. During a December 1st interview on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley, Senator Feinstein noted,

I think there is a real displaced aggression in this very fundamentalist jihadist Islamic community. And that is, that the West is responsible for everything that goes wrong and that the only thing that’s going to solve this, is Islamic sharia law and the concept of the caliphate. And I see more groups, more fundamentalists, more jihadists, more determined to kill to get where they want to get. So, it’s not an isolated phenomenon. You see these groups spread a web of connections. And this includes North Africa, it includes the Middle East, it includes other areas as well.

It took great courage for Senator Feinstein to publicly identify the enemy and describe the basics of the doctrine that underpins their actions. She knew full well that her democratic base will be very uncomfortable with her bold truth about a problem that is devastating our country yet no one wants to identify including the president. Her words were like a breath of fresh air. Few Republicans, much less Democrats, on Capitol Hill have done as good a job of articulating the threat we face from Jihad.

Unfortunately, Feinstein’s former colleague, Secretary of State John Kerry, is not nearly as well informed as she is. He has uttered nothing to indicate that he has any grasp of the enemy threat doctrine and what makes our enemies “tick.”

In fact, just this week, Kerry parroted the long-discredited theory that terrorism is caused by poverty. In remarks delivered during a visit to the Vatican, Kerry proclaimed poverty to be the “root cause” of terrorism.

This isn’t the first time Kerry has regurgitated such nonsense. Speaking at the Global Counterterrorism Forum in the wake of the Jihadist terrorist attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, Kerry called for “providing more economic opportunities” for youth to prevent them from being recruited to terrorism.

Perhaps Kerry has forgotten that Osama Bin Laden was a multimillionaire who left a life of luxury in Saudi Arabia to wage global jihad? Or maybe he forgets that the current leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was no pauper either. He was a professor of surgery and practicing physician at one time in his native Egypt before he turned to jihad. Then there is current captive Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was well off enough to come to the United States to earn a degree in engineering from North Carolina A&T.

There is no actual evidence that poverty causes terrorism. Jihadist terrorism has its roots in the doctrine known as sharia. Jihadists have come to commit acts of terror from a variety of lifestyles, nationalities and socioeconomic backgrounds. There is no evidence to indicate that poverty is a prerequisite for Jihadist terrorism, despite what Kerry says.

In fact, Kerry’s statement shows a profound confusion and naïveté when it comes to the war with which we are faced. Fortunately, Senator Feinstein doesn’t have the same problem that Secretary Kerry has.

In fact, as Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Feinstein has just released a new, bipartisan report on the Jihadist terror attack on US diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11th, 2012, that goes a long way toward dispelling some of the myths surrounding that attack and assigning accountability for what went wrong.

Among the report’s findings:

  • The attack was NOT a spontaneous act of violence touched off by a protest in reaction to a video about the prophet Mohammed.
  • The U.S. government did not do enough to prevent the attack or protect the diplomatic facilities.
  • The Obama State Department had ample warning of a dangerous security situation in Benghazi but failed to take proper action to secure lives and property.
  • The Obama intelligence community issued statements after the attack that turned out to be wrong and then was slow in correcting those incorrect statements.

Feinstein’s committee’s candid, accurate report is quite different from the testimony before the Senate delivered by Senator Feinstein’s former colleague, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on January 23rd, 2013. Who can forget the shameful prevarications and doublespeak from Hillary Clinton that day?

But worst of all was this cynical and infamous passage:

With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest? Or was it because of guys out for a walk one night and decided they would go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make?

Congratulations to Senator Feinstein for identifying the mistakes for which Hillary Clinton was ultimately responsible and laying out the facts for the American people that Benghazi was PREVENTABLE, because to us, it DOES make a difference!

Who is Carlos Lopez-Cantera the new Lieutenant Governor of Florida?

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Governor Rick Scott with Carlos Lopez-Cantera. Photo courtesy of The Shark Tank.

Many Floridians are scratching their heads about Governor Rick Scott’s selection of Carlos Lopez-Cantera as his running mate. Some see this as a pure political move to pander to Hispanics. Others are just wondering who is Lopez-Cantera, the now former Property Appraiser for Miami-Dade County turned Lieutenant Governor of the sunshine state.

Governor Scott released this biography of Lieutenant Governor Lopez-Cantera:

Carlos Lopez-Cantera was born in Madrid, Spain on December 29, 1973. He was born two months premature and was returned to his intended birthplace of Miami, Florida once he was healthy enough to travel. Lopez-Cantera graduated from Miami-Dade College and continued his studies at the University of Miami, where he graduated with a degree in Business Administration.

In August 2012, the citizens of Miami-Dade County elected Carlos Lopez-Cantera as the Property Appraiser of Miami-Dade County. Carlos campaigned on a platform to make interaction with the office of the property appraiser easier, increasing community outreach and being more responsive to the needs of the residents of Miami-Dade.

From 2004 through 2012, Carlos served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives. Over the course of his 8-year term in the Legislature, Carlos served as a member of the Governor’s Property Tax Reform Committee, the My Safe Florida Home Advisory Council and the Miami-Dade County Mayor’s Mortgage Fraud Task Force. In the Florida House of Representatives, he chaired the Committee on Business Regulation and the Government Affairs Committee. Carlos served as Majority Whip from 2009 through 2010 and as the Majority Leader of the Florida House of Representatives during the final two years of his term from 2010 through 2012.

Carlos has been married to his wife Renee since 2005 and they have two young daughters.

Marc Caputo from the Miami Herald found something interesting when researching Lopez-Cantera. Caputo reports, “It’s easy to find home- and land-owner information on the website of Miami-Dade’s Property Appraiser, with a notable exception: the house where the county’s elected property appraiser lives. Details about Property Appraiser Carlos Lopez-Cantera’s home value and taxes are simply impossible to find with his website’s search engine. That makes him an exception in South Florida… The Miami Herald accidentally discovered the issue Monday while researching Lopez-Cantera amid word that Gov. Rick Scott plans to tap him Tuesday to fill the long-vacant post of lieutenant governor.”

“Even though Lopez-Cantera’s home information is nearly impossible to find, it doesn’t mean that he broke public-records laws, Parrish said, because the property appraiser’s website is offered as a courtesy to the public, not as a right mandated by Florida statute,” notes Caputo.

Caputo states in a Tampa Bay Tribune column, “Lopez-Cantera served under Rubio in the state House and served as majority leader through 2012, after which term limits forced him from office. He then ran for and won the relatively new elected position of Miami-Dade property appraiser… Lopez-Cantera has shown he can win in the county, is well-liked by conservatives throughout the state from his time leading the GOP in the state House, has helped lower property-tax values — thereby helping cut taxes —and has a scandal-free reputation in a county known for scandal.”

Lieutenant Governor Lopez-Cantera is the first American of  Hispanic descent to hold that office.

As this year progresses there will be more information coming to light about Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera. Stay tuned.

Women Voters This Year and Beyond

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Men when in the company of other men have no hesitancy to admit they have no idea why women are so different in so many ways.

Well, viva the difference, but one does have to wonder why so many women of the present era feel no need for a man as a husband or father.

In May, the Census Bureau released a report noting that more than six out of ten women who gave birth in their early 20s were unmarried. “Overall,” a Washington Post article reported, “36 percent of all births in the United States were to unmarried mothers in 2011, the year that the census analyzed from answered in the American Community Survey.” Among whites, it was 29 percent. Among blacks, it was 68 percent.

For the second year in a row, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 40.7% of the babies born in the United States were born to unmarried mothers. That is very bad news.

It is an enormous commitment when a man asks “Will you marry me?”, but are we in an era when the answer is “No, thanks” or “Why?”

This is happening when women in general still earn less than men, encounter more problems borrowing for a car or a mortgage, and, if the Internet match-up services ads are true, are still are looking for Mr. Right. Their problem often is that he has done a Google search and learned she would involve a big investment. Many men choose to remain single these days or as the divorce rate indicates, to opt out of marriage.

None of this has anything to do with the 2014 midterm elections or the ones in 2016…or does it?

Well, yes it does. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, columnist Gerald F. Seib said “The gender gap is alive and well in American politics. Indeed, it may be the defining characteristic of our political system as next year’s midterm elections beckon.”

“We are not talking here just about the well-established pattern in which women are more likely to vote Democratic and men Republican in presidential elections. That’s true, but it appears to be only the tip of a gender-gap iceberg.” And here’s where it gets scary for conservatives of both sexes, a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll found that 52% of men want Congress under Republican control “while just 38% of women feel that way.”

The poll reported that 49% of women say they approve of the job (Obama) is doing; just 37% of men approve. In either case, the numbers are too high because he has done the worst job of any President of the modern era or earlier.

Seib reported that “women are more likely to give the President high grades on leadership qualities, overall competence, and improving America’s image abroad.” This is so absurd it defies any explanation. “College-educated women, in short, emerge as a core Obama constituency.”

That might not be the case in 2014 because The Hill reports that, based on a Dec 23 CNN/ORC poll, support for Obamacare is dropping rapidly and “The drop in support indicated could be particularly troubling for the Obama administration because almost all of it came from women, whose opposition rose from 54% to 60% in a month.” The poll cited by Sieb indicates that Republican woman—more than 80%–dislike Obamacare.

The gender gap is well documented and in 2012 it was the largest in the history of Gallup’s polls—20 points—since the polls measuring it began in 1952.

One thing needs mentioning and that is the extraordinary Republican women. There’s Rep. Michelle Bachman, Sen. Susan Collins, and Gov. Jan Brewer, to name just a few in positions of political leadership and others like columnists Peggy Noonan. Michelle Malkin, and Ann Coulter. The list is much longer, but it tells me that the GOP is fortunate to have them.

Clearly, the Republican Party has to undertake a major effort to draw more women into the party and, right now, it is a divided party as the GOP establishment wage battle with the Tea Party Movement that challenges their control.

It must also strongly refute the Democratic Party’s lie that the GOP has “a war on women.” There is no such war.

The GOP, however, need not look to the League of Women Voters for any support. Despite its claim to be non-partisan, it has for decades tilted in favor of the Democratic Party and liberal policies. The League is pro-abortion, favors environmentalism, and a greater role for government in all aspects of the lives of women and men.

Who knows? The 2014 and 2016 elections may signal a shift in the liberal views of women voters. If so, that is bad news for the Democratic Party, but the Republican Party has to do a much better job of enlisting the support of American women.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

Winning Republican Strategy: Freedom vs Control

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The difference between Democrat and Republican political philosophies has never been so clearly divided – boiling down to two words: FREEDOM vs CONTROL. Patriotic Americans understand the freedoms set forth under representational government by: “We the People.”

Question is: “Will Republicans unite to play their winning card?”

While the ever-so rigid left marches in lockstep doggedly sticking to failing policies: the age-old Democrat Tax & Spend, disregard for $18 trillion debt, over-reaching regulations that require semi-trucks to haul paperwork into the halls of Congress (of course, never to be read) … “The Age of Paranoia” is alive as NSA spies devour our mail, drones threaten flyovers and voters appear totally disgusted with “Big Sam” CONTROL.

Job creation is barely mentioned these days, except in a photo op. Instead Liberals steadfastly march towards income redistribution (a.k.a. income equality), while using inflammatory social issues to paint Republicans as “mean” and “uncompromising.” Don’t they realize it’s Republicans who are anti-Big Sam? While America is witnessing the high-speed decline of our culture, plummeting education scores, behind-the-scenes rogue powers spy on citizens for untold reasons … why?

It would be a blessing if the TEA Party vs Establishment dogfight could unite for the sake of freedom! It’s credibly possible that their conflict is fueled by a Liberal machete wielding power to tarnish and strike down the opposition. In reality, qualifying reasons why Republicans lost in 2012 had more to do with “hidden scandals” and little to do with political punditry. The best medicine, at this critical juncture, is a Republican truce to welcome “ALL Americans under the Republican Party Banner of freedom” – it could be an effortless victory.

Ronald Reagan would advise the party to adhere to the 11th amendment: “Not to speak ill of your own.” However, Reagan’s masterful leadership skills would have elevated him to the higher level than in-fighting and name-calling. (Reagan was a long time Democrat before he saw the light, which is why we should encourage all Americans to join us!)

In reality, free-minded citizens of all stripes can tackle a healing America by joining under the “United We Stand Republican Banner.” This is our best hope! Dr. Ben Carson, the new star on the block, wisely expressed “politics are about principle, not party!” Believe me, with this kind of clarity, America will soon shine again!

As Republicans spat, behind the scenes, the Liberal master plan is scheming to destroy our best candidates through lies like: “The GOP has no ideas.” Hard-working House Republicans would be frustrated to hear this as their 150 bills to create jobs, cut the budget and audit the Fed are disregarded. Harry Reid simply side-tracks them on his desk with no chance for a senatorial concluding vote. After all, Harry Reid’s stealth plan for massive amnesty requires jobs for our new citizens, as he needs to buy their votes for jobs to assure a one-party system!

Harry Reid’s stranglehold on America is camouflaged through the pen of his co-conspirators, the American liberal press majority. After all, his greedy power grab is unquenchable and must remain a secret because on a daily basis Big Sam imposes piles of regulations, treads on private property rights, free speech, and tugs at the heartstrings of liberal voters to trap them into a web of lifetime of dependency and strict control.

A renewed Republican Banner may initially create adamant opposition. When the ego is put aside and our traditions are honored, the efforts of our Founders will prevail. “The TEA Party was inspired by the Spirit of the Boston Tea Party of 1773 whose rallying cry was `No taxation without representation,’ and the modern TEA Party movement portends political fairness to benefit the American people through fiscal responsibility and less government interference in the lives of citizens. While the Republican Party was formed in 1854, by people who were opposed to slavery, and today freedoms principles remain lofty to support the US Constitution and inspire Americans towards “The American Dream.”

Uniting under freedoms principles will save America!

Economy – America’s free-market economy with a pro-business government will re-invigorate confidence.

National Defense – Republicans support President Ronald Reagan’s approach to America’s national defense as essential: Peace through strength, based on freedom and the will to defend it.

Health Care – Republicans support common-sense reforms that will lower costs, ensure quality health care that Americans deserve, and end lawsuit abuse while protecting the physician-patient relationship.

Education – Republicans believe in a world-class system of primary and secondary education with high standards so all students can reach their potential and parents are empowered.

Energy – Republicans believe in energy independence that encourages responsible production of all types of energy in a responsible and clean way, while opposing Cap & Trade Legislation to impose a national energy tax on families and small business that would kill jobs and raise utility prices.

Courts – Republicans believe a judge’s role is to follow US laws, and our Constitution as opposed to making decisions from the bench.

Let “Election 2014” evolve into a clear TWO word choice: Freedom vs Control.

Théâtre de boulevard à l’Elysée

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Our oh so French president, embroiled in a romantic triangle, is using the right to privacy as a fig leaf to cover his wayward masculinity. Having deftly installed the strong-headed Valérie Trierweiller in the First Lady’s passenger seat without lawful matrimony, he turns the tables on us and we’re supposed to pretend we don’t know. Like innocent children.

What’s behind that fig leaf? It’s the boîte à outils [toolbox] he has been talking about since he was elected to the highest office. We thought he would use it to crank up the economy. Unemployment, crime, and the debt went up; income, investment, and exports went down, his approval ratings plunged to the low 20s but, unbeknownst to voters, the toolbox was devoted to loftier goals… in the arms of a beautiful film star.

Now that the whole world knows about his romantic escapades what is left? His private… his private life. The private life of public figures, he declares, should not be exposed to public scrutiny. Really? International media tittered delightfully over the concept of First Girlfriend…though First Concubine would be more accurate. Yes, le concubinage notoire—living together in full view– still exists as a legal category in France. But First Common-law Wife doesn’t sound very glamorous. And what if le président normal decided to make it un ménage à trois? First Girlfriend and First Chick [copine]? Would it still be his own business and none of ours? Then again, how do we know it’s just a triangle? It could be a hexagon, in the image of la belle France familiarly known as l’hexagone.

If the private life of public figures is no one’s business why are scandal magazines, their paparazzi, and their readers only interested in gossip about high profile public figures? Multitudes of men and women in France cheat on their wives, mistresses, husbands, lovers, sweethearts and fiancés without hitting the front pages.

There is a lot of Gallic shoulder shrugging this week in France, especially on the Left that prides itself on its progressive values. It’s fair to assume that the boys-will-be-boys attitude wouldn’t apply if it were une présidente slipping out on her husband or First Boyfriend to spend torrid nights with a 20 year-old gigolo or a 60 year-old Qatari billionaire … Wouldn’t the public need to know?

We didn’t know, when the newly elected President Hollande proudly introduced his male-female parity cabinet, that the President of Parity was treating his companion like a frumpy bourgeois wife. Now, shocked and humiliated by the revelations, she has taken” get thee to a nunnery” refuge in the hospital. Doctors have reportedly prescribed a 10-day sleeping cure. If Bernadette Chirac had been hospitalized every time her husband had a quick frolic in the gilded hay she would have become a permanent resident of the betrayed and deceived ward. François Mitterand kept his mistress and their daughter in style, on public funds, including the secret service protection that was supposed to be covering his lawful wife. He wiretapped, harassed and threatened journalists who might have revealed the secret they all shared. When President Mitterand’s First Lady, First Mistress, legitimate sons, and out of wedlock daughter walked side by side in the funeral procession, respecting his last wishes, those journalists who had known all along went gushing about how elegant it was to see them joined in mourning. No hard feelings.

This time, too, journalists knew about the president’s trysts. Including, presumably, the fiercely independent Valérie Trierweiller who continued to work at Paris Match when her sweetheart became president. What did she think when he stayed out all night? That he was in the office jiggling his boîte à outils trying to figure out where to put the stimulus and finally get some satisfaction from the economy? A mistress betrayed is doubly wounded. And better equipped than a naïve spouse to recognize the telltale signs of a cheating lover. The Hollande-Trierweiller couple has unashamedly admitted that they kept their liaison secret from 2005 to 2007 when he was living—in concubinage– with Ségolène Royal and their four children.

It’s not really funny. A president doesn’t have the right to drag his nation into this kind of flighty behavior. It makes a mockery of international relations. All those state visits, the protocol, the red carpets and black-tie dinners, the curtseys and baise-mains… under false pretenses. From the Queen of England to the prime minister of anywhere, madame Trierweiller was accepted in a spirit of non-judgmental modernity when in fact she was already being shunted to a supporting role.

In retrospect we realize that it is François Hollande who pushed his private life in the public face. If he wanted to be free to follow his impulses wherever they might lead, he should never have involved his momentary mistress in the affairs of state. Now what? According to rumors wafting out of Valérie Trierweiller’s hospital room, she’s going to give him blow for blow as soon as she recovers, she’s willing to stay on if he publicly and privately says it’s over with Julie, she is devastated because the president has not come even once to visit her… The diagnosis is “extreme nervous tension”– a nervous breakdown.

Yes, it’s true that mores differ from one culture to another but it is wrong to think that French society is indifferent to the issue of integrity raised by the president’s sentimental twists. Social media, I’m told, are dumping on Valérie Trierweiller, who has been widely disliked, but many intelligent opinion-makers are shocked by the brutality of her disgrace, and they don’t blame Closer, the magazine that exposed it.

What’s so modern about the way this unmarried presidential couple went on the rocks? It’s a mixture of bourgeois théâtre de boulevard tainted with lingering contempt for women, and royal court intrigues, with a touch of spicy African polygamy as the co-wives cackle in the media courtyard.

There’s no way of knowing what’s going to happen next. Dame Trierweiller could save her honor and her feminist badge by sending a valet to take her belongings from the presidential palace, and retiring to her private apartments. The “I do as I please” president could bring Julie Gayet into the Elysée a week from now, next month, or never. And how will the president maintain his composure if the spurned mistress decides to feed the gossip mill? He can’t tell her that private affairs should not be aired in public!

Beyond the current media flutter and silly statistics, French citizens may well be thinking that if the president put in a better performance in the public sphere they might have more opportunity to enjoy their own private lives.

Chris Christie coming to Florida: Democrats Freaking Out, Name Calling and Fundraising

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Chris Christie is coming to Florida to help Governor Rick Scott with his 2014 reelection bid. The Florida Democrat Party has sent out an email trying to make hay while Christie is in the sunshine state.

Allison Tant from the FDP in an email states:

Chris Christie is coming to Florida for Rick Scott next week. This is the same guy whose senior staff shut down part of a bridge in retaliation for the mayor endorsing Christie’s opponent. Christie’s bullying tactics have no place in New Jersey or here in Florida.

That’s why we are determined to tell Christie he isn’t wanted here. By the end of the week, we need 25,000 Floridians to stand up and tell Christie he isn’t wanted in Florida. Can you click here and add your name to our petition today to tell Christie to stay in New Jersey?

Christie may operate his state like he’s the biggest bully on the block: exacting political revenge by delaying children on school buses, delaying emergency services for an entire town, and making people wait 4+ hours to get across the busiest bridge in the world. But that isn’t right and it sure isn’t the kind of behavior we need or want in Florida.

Add your name and stand up to a bully now!

This is the same guy who yelled at a teacher. That’s right – he yelled at a teacher who didn’t agree with his political views. It’s no surprise that his staff shutdown a bridge to exact political revenge.

It appears the Dems are freaking out and fundraising at the same time. Can you tell this is an election year?

RELATED COLUMN: Christie, Hillary and Obama

Harry Reid is Killing the Senate

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In his 2005 book, “The Most Exclusive Club: A History of the Modern United States Senate”, Lewis L. Gould began by noting that the Senate was intended “to provide a legislative check against the potential tyranny of unrestrained majority rule.”

“The Framers of the Constitution envisioned a Senate that would function as a wide and judicious check on both executive power and the House of Representatives. They did not imagine a body that would act as a rubber stamp for an incumbent president. Nor would they have been pleased to see the Senate so focused on allocating federal appropriations to contributors and constituents.”

By 2005, Gould had concluded that “the Senate had become more often an impediment to democratic government rather than a place to express sober second thought on national priorities.”

Nearly a decade ago, he concluded that “A profound sense of crisis now surrounds the Senate and its members. Critics allege that it is an undemocratic place where the national interest received only fitful attention.”

On January 8th I happened to watch CSPAN as the Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell, addressed the problems that were worse than even when Gould was writing about the Senate. The subject of his address to fellow Senators was “Restoring the Senate” and it received little or no media coverage.

Rule changes instituted by Majority Leader, Harry Reid, had turned the Democrat-controlled Senate into the rubber stamp the Framers had feared. It was Reid and then-Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who had pushed the Affordable Care Act—Obamacare—through both houses in 2009; a 2,000-plus-page bill that was famously voted upon by Senators who had not even had time to read it, let along take the time to debate it. By 2010, voters returned control of the House to the Republican Party.

Obamacare had given rise to the Tea Party movement and the growing numbers of independent voters in the 2014 midterms will likely return power in the Senate along with voters unhappy with Obamacare and the President’s preference to rule by executive orders to bypass Congress. These days, in addition to Obamacare, the Tea Party movement is devoted to ensuring that the Constitution is not ignored.

McConnell, addressing the members of the Senate, said, “even if you’re completely at peace about what happened in November, even if you think it was perfectly fine to violate the all-important rule that says changing the rules requires the assent of two-thirds of Senators duly-elected and sworn, none of us should be happy about the trajectory the Senate was on even before that day or the condition we find it in 225 years after it was created.”

Kimberley A. Strassel, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, was much freer to address the problem. In a Jan 14 column, she wrote “The popular judgment that Washington’s dysfunction is the result of ‘partisanship’ misses the crucial point. Washington is currently gridlocked because of the particular partisanship of one man: Senate Majority leader Harry Read. And Republicans are warming to the power of making that case to voters.”

Noting that the 113th Congress is often called the least productive in history, Strassel pointed out that “The Republican House in fact passed more than 200 bills in 2013. Some were minor, and others drew only GOP votes” but “the laws all went to die in Mr. Reid’s Senate graveyard.”

“Mr. Reid took over the Senate in early 2007 and it functioned just fine in the last two years of the Bush administration. It didn’t suddenly break overnight. What did happen is the Senate Democrat’s filibuster-proof majority in the first years of the Obama administration—when Mr. Reid got a taste for unfettered power—and then the GOP takeover of the House in 2011.”

“That is when the Senate broke, as it was the point at which Mr. Reid chose to subvert its entire glorious history to two of his own partisan aims. Protecting his majority and acting as gatekeeper for the White House. Determined to protect his vulnerable members from tough votes, the major leader has unilaterally killed the right to offer amendments…Determined to shield the administration from legislation the president opposes, Mr. Reid has unilaterally killed committee work, since it might produce bipartisan bills.”

“Here’s how the Senate ‘works’ these days,” wrote Strassel, “Mr. Reid writes the legislation himself, thereby shutting Republicans out of the committee drafting. Then he outlaws amendments.”

“It isn’t that the Senate can’t work, it’s that Sen. Reid won’t let it.”

In addition to a President who is seen by more and more Americans as a liar and an incompetent, they are often unaware of the critical role that Harry Reid has played in thwarting the normal process of the Senate to debate—and amend—legislation. While Obamacare is the President’s legacy legislation, it was created in the Senate, a body which does not have the Constitutional right to initiate legislation that imposes taxes, an authority granted only to the House. And the Supreme Court ruled that it was a “tax” and permitted its implementation!

In his address to the Senate, McConnell said of Obamacare, “The chaos this law has visited on our country isn’t just deeply tragic, it was entirely predictable…the Senate exists to prevent that.”

Harry Reid is killing the Senate and only American voters can save it by replacing the Democratic Party majority there.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

The “gay marriage” roller-coaster in Utah

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Utah is the latest “gay marriage” battleground. On Dec. 20 (the Friday before Christmas!) an Obama-appointed federal judge ruled that Utah’s constitutional amendment on marriage is “unconstitutional.” And that’s led to a roller-coaster of legal and political responses in the three weeks since then.

MassResistance has been actively helping the major pro-family activists respond. This includes strategy discussions, an interview on a major drive-time talk-radio station, a robo-call to thousands of activists, and extensive use of our video on“What ‘gay marriage’ did to Massachusetts.”


Listen to Brian Camenker of MassResistance interviewed 
on KNRS radio in Salt Lake City (8 min 56 sec) 

Reaction to Judge’s ruling. On January 2, Brian Camenker of MassResistance was interviewed during the 5 pm radio drive time hour by Ron Arquette of KNRS in Salt Lake City, Utah’s major conservative talk radio station (which also features Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity). The judge’s ruling took the pro-family movement by surprise. A lot of people across the state — including many in the media — were stunned and were wondering what the reaction from conservatives would be.

Given Utah’s recent role as a pro-family stronghold on this issue, it has caught the attention of conservatives across the country. There are 28 other states with similar constitutional amendments. If Utah succumbs, will they be next?

Background: How it got to this point

On Nov. 2, 2004, two-thirds of Utah voters passed a constitutional amendmentthat defined marriage as one man and one woman, and prohibited recognition of any same-sex marriage-like unions. It seemed like the matter was completely settled.

But as they do everywhere else, when the homosexual lobby can’t win legitimately they work through the courts. If this lawsuit is ultimately successful, Utah will be the 9th state to have “gay marriage” forced on it by a court.

On March 25, 2013, homosexual activists in Utah filed a suit in federal court to overturn the state’s constitutional amendment on marriage. It was part of the larger legal assault on DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act) that year. Like the DOMA suit, it claimed that the amendment violated the U.S. Constitution.

On April 26, 2013, the US Supreme ruled against DOMA using most of the absurd legal claims — primarily drawing on misreadings of the 14th amendment and the 5th amendment to the U.S. Constitution — that the homosexual lobby was pushing. That initiated the legal assault on Utah and several other states.

The Federal Courthouse in Salt Lake City.

The three week “gay marriage” roller-coaster in Utah . . .

The past three weeks have been tumultuous. Here’s what has happened:

1. Federal judge rules “gay marriage” ban is unconstitutional

On Dec. 20, 2013, Judge Shelby issued his bizarre 53-page ruling that shocked even us. One can see why Obama liked him. He went even farther than the U.S. Supreme Court or any other court, in our observation, to institutionalize “gay marriage.” Not only did he completely buy into the 5th and 14th Amendment arguments, but he stated that the right to “gay marriage” was “deeply rooted in the nation’s history”!

This right is deeply rooted in the nation’s history and implicit in the concept of ordered liberty because it protects an individual’s ability to make deeply personal choices about love and family free from government interference . . . Both same-sex and opposite-sex marriage are therefore simply manifestations of one right — the right to marry — applied to people with different sexual identities.

This is lunacy and legal nonsense. But unfortunately (as we have discussed many times) it’s also the logical conclusion resulting from the weak, pathetic legal arguments that pro-family lawyers have been using. In particular, they consistently have refused to portray homosexuality as in any way destructive or even less desirable than normal, healthy behavior and relationships. And this is where that line of reasoning has led in the hands of liberal judges.

In the Utah case there were two specific factors that (we believe) weighed in favor of the homosexual lobby. First, they managed to get a recent Obama-appointed judge, Robert J. Shelby, who was clearly on the same wavelength as the Administration on this issue.

Second, according to activists we spoke to, the case was poorly handled by the Utah Attorney General’s office. During that time the AG was involved with a scandal and ultimately resigned on Nov. 21. The assistant AG who ran the case was not passionate about it, we were told, and did not fight it particularly zealously, declining to pursue several avenues regarding homosexual behavior, states’ rights, morality, and religious liberty, that might be considered politically incorrect. He also refused to accept help from lawyers supplied by conservative activists. (On Dec. 30, a newly appointed Attorney General, Sean Reyes, took office.)

Shelby is the first federal judge to use the reasoning from the U.S. Supreme Court’s DOMA decision to rule that a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage could not stand. That is very dangerous, in our opinion — and exactly what the homosexual movement has been seeking.

Shelby was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Sept. 22, 2012. Both Senators from Utah, Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee, endorsed his nomination. Sen. Lee described Shelby as “pre-eminently qualified” and predicted that he would be “an outstanding judge.” Obviously, they didn’t get to know him very well.

2. Hundreds of homosexuals immediately request “marriages”. Four counties refuse to cooperate.

The homosexual lobby was extremely well organized for this. Within hours of the ruling, they had hundreds of couples immediately go to county offices to get marriage licenses. According to news reports, well over a thousand same-sex couples received them.

However, in four counties the officials still refused to give marriage certificates to same-sex couples in lieu of specific orders from the Governor or the Legislature, along with their concern about the ultimate legality of the court ruling.

Dec. 20, 2013: Within hours of the ruling, homosexual couples pack the offices applying for marriage licenses in Salt Lake City.
[Photo: Reuters]

3. Both Judge Shelby and Circuit Court of Appeals deny requests for stay of ruling. AG orders counties to issue marriage certificates. Governor files request for stay with U.S. Supreme Court.

Immediately after the ruling, Utah Republican Governor Gary Herbert requested a stay from Judge Shelby while his ruling was appealed. It was denied. Among other things, Judge Shelby made the preposterous statement that “public interest will be harmed by a stay” because it would “violate constitutionally protected rights.”

The Governor then filed a motion for a stay in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.On December 24, the Circuit Court of Appeals also denied the Governor’s request.

That same day, the Utah Attorney General ordered all county clerks — including the four holdout counties — to issue same-sex “marriage” licenses when requested.

The Governor then began to prepare the paperwork to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene with a stay while the appeal of the court ruling was taking place. On December 31 that request was filed.

4. U.S. Supreme court grants stay of ruling until appeal is complete.

On Monday, January 6, there was a pleasant surprise. Justice Sotomayor, one of the liberal Justices, oversees the Utah region regarding emergency orders for stays. She had the option of processing it herself or bringing it before the full Court.

According to news reports, Sotomayor referred the matter to the entire court, which issued the stay without discussion or recorded dissent, thus overruling the Circuit Court’s denial. The homosexual lobby and the media were particularly stunned.

5. Pro-family activists rally, speeches, and MassResistance video and robo-call.

On Wednesday, January 8, the Utah pro-family movement finally came together to confront the “gay marriage” crisis at a lunch-time rally in a restaurant in Orem, UT, a few miles outside of Salt Lake City.

The event was organized by Cherilyn Eagar, a high-profile conservative activist in the state. In 2010 she ran for US Senate in Utah, losing to Mike Lee in the GOP primary. But she continues to have a huge activist following across the state, is aprolific blogger, and regularly interacts with the top politicians there on key conservative issues.

Cherilyn Eagar, center, meets with state activists coming to Jan. 8 rally.

Robo-call from MassResistance. The rally meeting was quickly set up after U.S. Supreme Court stay was announced a few days earlier. Thousands of conservative activists in that part of Utah received a robo-call from Brian Camenker of MassResistance the day before, to inform them of the meeting. As a result, the hall was completely filled!

LISTEN to MassResistance robo-call
inviting Utah activists to rally

At the rally, Eagar played the MassResistance video “What ‘gay marriage’ did to Massachusetts” and gave a speech about how this will also affect the people of Utah.

The MassResistance video is being used to warn Utah citizens across the state!

Also addressing the crowd of over 100 was State Representative LaVar Christensen,the author of the 2004 marriage amendment, who talked about “How we got to this point.” Other speakers included the leader of the Utah Eagle Forum, representatives from United Families International, the Marriage Law Foundation, and other state-wide pro-family groups.


Inside the event people heard from a variety of speakers giving them tools for action.

From all accounts, it was a great success — a jump-start to more organizing and activism across Utah over the coming weeks to re-invigorate the pro-marriage wave that swept the constitutional amendment to a two-thirds vote back in 2004.

6. Governor announces that Utah will not recognize any “gay marriages”

Also on Wednesday, Jan. 8, the Governor released a statement saying that as a result of stay issued by the U.S. Supreme Court, the State of Utah will not recognize any “gay marriages”. That’s because the constitutional marriage statute of Utah is legally still in place, he said.

Not surprisingly, the homosexual lobby and their allies in the mainstream media reacted with outrage. The New York Times quickly published an article talking about the “emotional whiplash” and how homosexuals are “feeling persecuted.” They quoted one activist as saying that “This is an unprecedented step, which inflicts severe harms on more than 1,000 families.”


The liberal media fried over the Governor’s decision. It even got the attention of the Boston Globe.

7. Mormon Church releases statement supporting fight against “gay marriage” in Utah, but does not get involved in the court case.

Many people had been waiting to see if the Mormon Church would get involved. And if not, would it support its members who chose to get in this fight?

For many years, the Mormons were a major force in America confronting the “gay marriage” movement. In particular, the early pro-family victories in Hawaii and the Proposition 8 victory in California were Mormon driven, as in some other states. But since 2008 the Mormons have largely backed off the “gay” issue, presumably due to the vicious and inhuman tactics against them by organized homosexual activists. Nevertheless, they did file amicus briefs in the Prop 8 and DOMA federal court cases.

The announcement by the Mormon Church definitely got the attention of the media. See TV reporthere.

So it was not real surprising on Thursday, Jan. 9, when Church leaders announced that at this time they don’t have any plans to file an amicus brief in this case or be active on the issue.

However, the following day the Church issued a public letter reaffirming its stand on natural marriage and the right of its members to oppose “gay marriage” without being attacked. The language, while not confrontational, was quite clear:

Changes in the civil law do not, indeed cannot, change the moral law that God has established. God expects us to uphold and keep His commandments regardless of divergent opinions or trends in society. His law of chastity is clear: sexual relations are proper only between a man and a woman who are legally and lawfully wedded as husband and wife. . .

The Church insists on its leaders’ and members’ constitutionally protected right to express and advocate religious convictions on marriage, family, and morality free from retaliation or retribution. The Church is also entitled to maintain its standards of moral conduct and good standing for members.

It would appear that this letter is important because it gives Mormons in Utah the go-ahead to get into this fight if they are so inclined.

8. Homosexual activists flood into State House demanding state drop appeal

On Friday, January 10, Utah’s homosexual movement flexed its muscles. Over a thousand activists flooded into the State House to demand that Governor Herbert abandon his appeal of the federal court’s “gay marriage” ruling. According to news reports they also delivered a petition of over 58,000 signatures to the governor’s office.


Over a thousand pro-homosexual activists jammed into the Utah State Capitol

to support Judge Shelby’s ruling forcing “gay marriage” on Utah. [Photo: Deseret News]

If nothing else, this action was a shot across the bow demonstrating the strength and organizational ability of the homosexual movement in Utah right now. As in other states, they have clearly been getting fundraising and strategic help from across the country. The Utah pro-family movement has a lot of catching up to do, and not much time to do it.

9. Obama administration: Federal government to recognize phony Utah “gay marriages!”

Also on Jan. 10, the Obama administration added to its contempt for the law (and its militant support for the homosexual agenda) by ignoring the U.S. Supreme Court’s stay and announcing it would officially recognize the “gay marriages” that the State of Utah does not recognize. Nor did the fact that the definition of marriage is constitutionally a state issue (according to the DOMA opinion) seem to deter them at all.

To make the point, Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, announced in an unusual video presentation that same-sex couples in Utah who married will be able to file joint federal income tax returns and receive other marriage benefits such as health insurance for the families of federal employees. The radicals seem to be pretty sure that the appeal is going to go their way.

Coming up: The Appeals Court battle.

It was a harrowing three weeks in Utah. Now comes Phase 2 . . .

The big threat coming is the appeal in the federal Circuit Court. It can take several weeks or months to complete. The homosexuals have a hand-picked team of skilled attack lawyers, plus experience winning these kinds of cases across the country. The Utah Attorney General’s office is relatively inexperienced in this kind of case, and is probably as reluctant to take on the necessary politically-incorrect fight as just about every pro-family attorney who wades into this.

And sadly, given the blatantly unconstitutional and “activist” direction of the American court system on this issue, this case will likely have a huge effect on the once-solid marriage amendments in states across the country. Will this eventually go to the Supreme Court? It’s not something we want to think about.

Right now, the Governor and major politicians in Utah are valiantly standing up to this tyranny, unlike in many other states. But in our opinion, at a certain point unless the conservative grassroots organizations start to show some strength, there will be an draining effect on the conservative politicians due to the liberal media, pressure from profane homosexual activists, and the void left by the Mormon Church’s stepping back on the issue.

We’ll do everything we can to help — and keep you up to date!

Blueprint for Tyranny

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There are lots of Americans who, after the first five years of living under the governance of Barack Hussein Obama, have concluded that, among his most notable characteristics, he is an incompetent, a pathological liar, a Marxist, and, fearful as the prospect is, a potential dictator who will not leave office when a new President is due to be sworn in.

The fears are largely based on the astonishingly lax Congress that, with the exception of Rep. Darrell Issa and the House Oversight and Reform Committee, has done little to investigate the many scandals that litter the Obama administration.

It doesn’t help that the Department of Justice and possibly the FBI have been politically corrupted.

It doesn’t help when the Commander-in-Chief has forced a significant number of the armed forces top generals and admirals into early retirement or removed them from duty. The question is why.

It doesn’t help when we learn of the purchase of millions of dollars of ammunition by the Department of Homeland Security and other measures that appear to be turning it into an internal army.

Politics in America is a metaphoric war in which the worst is thought of any President in office by those in the opposing party. It isn’t always this way. Reagan enjoyed a relatively non-partisan relationship with Congress, but Andrew Jackson was regarded as a tyrant by many. Now his face is on the twenty dollar bill.

I got to thinking about the way tyranny and despotism has been and in many nations still is the rule throughout history and existing today. The U.S. Constitution was written to ensure that its three branches would act as a brake on each other. If there was one thing the Framers did not want it was a monarch or despot.

The opposite of U.S. history is found in the history of Russia which has been replete with czars, followed by communist dictators, Lenin, Stalin, and others. These days it is Vladimir Putin and his grasp on power has been the subject of protest by a new generation of Russians.

kicking-the-kremlinA new book, “Kicking the Kremlin” by Marc Bennetts, a British journalist working out of Moscow, tells the story of Putin’s rise to the office of president of the then-new Russian republic following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. He was appointed prime minister in 2000 by Boris Yeltsin who had replaced Gorbachev. At the time, Putin was a former KGB Lieutenant Colonel who had served five years in East Germany recruiting spies when Gorbachev was in charge. In 1998, after serving in administrative posts, he returned to the Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the KGB.

As Bennetts notes, “In less than a decade, the little-known prime minister that Yeltsin had told to ‘take care of Russia’ had transformed himself into a modern day czar in the Kremlin, eliminating all but the most stubborn opposition to his rule. Early on he established control of the media.

“The Russian constitution stated clearly that no president could serve more than “two consecutive terms.” But Putin had no plans to surrender power. In 2007, he picked Dmitry Medvedev to be his puppet to serve as president and, in turn, Medvedev named him to be prime minister and he became head of the governing party, United Russia. It was clear that Putin was still calling the shots. Two years into his term, Medvedev proposed extending the presidential term from four years to six. “It would grant Putin, upon his return to the Kremlin, the opportunity to remain in power until 2024” if elected president again. He was.

The hope that corruption and nepotism would be curbed and that an independent judiciary and police force would be established was dashed.

“Traumatized by a world war, revolutions and almost total economic collapse at the tail end of the twentieth century,” wrote Bennetts, “many Russians have first-hand experience of the dangers of rapid political and social change. That is why Putin’s message of stability had remained so attractive to so many, for so long.”

While Obama is now engaged in a campaign aimed at “income inequality”, corruption in Russia soared to a point where, in 2013, Credit Suisse noted that “Worldwide, billionaires collectively account for 1%-2% of total household wealth; in Russia today 110 billionaires own 35% of all wealth.” However, “large swatches of the country are still wallowing in Third World poverty…And all this in a country that possesses the world’s largest natural gas reserves, the second-largest coal reserves, and the ninth-largest crude-oil reserves.”

A major characteristic of Putin’s regime has been the suppression of any opposition. It is marked by the assassinations of journalists and of politicians. Leaders of the opposition who organized mass protests in Moscow were jailed and even Pussy Riot, a girl’s band, that spent forty seconds in a Moscow cathedral were sentenced to seven years in jail. Laws were passed to make protest leaders and participants subject to jail for their opposition.

“Putin’s inauguration in May 2012 for a third presidential term was not so much a national celebration of sovereignty as a highly disciplined military operation,” wrote Bennetts. “And the number one threat to the head of state? The Russian people.”

Here in America the last major protest in Washington, D.C. was organized by the then-new Tea Party movement and was focused to stopping the enactment of Obamacare. It attracted nearly a million or more Americans. There have been few such protests since, but on May 16, “American Spring” is slated for a major protest march against Obama.

The protests in 2011 and 2012 against Putin were ruthlessly put down by government forces. By 2013, half the Russians no longer believed what they were being told by television. Similarly, Obama’s approval ratings are falling fast due to massive unemployment and disappointment.

America is not Russia, but Americans are growing increasingly concerned about the way Obama is governing the nation. They should be.

© Alan Caruba, 2014

RELATED COLUMN: Rules of Engagement: Operation American Spring – May 16, 2014 in Washington, D.C.

Eric Gurr files petitions, will challenge John Boehner

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WEST CHESTER, Ohio, Jan. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Eric Gurr, of West Chester, Ohio filed his petitions today and will face John Boehner in the May primary for the 8th congressional district of Ohio.

“It’s time we go this country back on the right track.” said Gurr. “We need to stand firm in our opposition to increased spending, increased debt and the endless printing of money to finance that debt. No nation can consume more than it produces and Congress must realize that the money they spend belongs to us.”

Gurr is advocating for much smaller government and a return to the traditional value of thrift in spending that has served the nation so well in the past. He is strongly opposed to amnesty and special treatment for big businesses related to immigration reform. Gurr also believes that a select committee should be convened to get to the bottom of the Benghazi tragedy.

Mr. Gurr was born in Hamilton, Ohio in 1965 and has resided in the 8th district for most of his life. He is a married father of three and grandfather of two.

His campaign committee “Gurr for Congress” has established a website at www.gurrforcongress.com and can be followed on twitter @gurrforcongress.

SOURCE: Gurr For Congress. Web Site: http://www.gurrforcongress.com/

Republicans’ War on the Impoverished

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I have written about the huge opportunity Black dissatisfaction with Obama presents to the Republican Party. It’s time to speak directly to Black Republicans and GOP congressional leadership about dissatisfaction with the loyal opposition.

Last week marked the 50th anniversary of President Johnson’s “War on Poverty,”  legislation that Johnson outlined during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964.  This was Johnson’s response to the poverty rate at the time hovering around 20 percent.  Talk of poverty normally conjures up images of Black faces, but the reality is that in raw numbers, there are more Whites in poverty than Blacks.  But, as a percentage of the population, the poverty rate of Blacks exceed that of Whites.

According to the U.S. Census of 2010, the overall poverty rate is 15.1 percent of the population. For non-Hispanic Whites, it is 9.9 percent, 12.1 percent of all Asians, 26.6 percent of all Hispanics persons of any race) and 27.4 percent of all Blacks.

The War on Poverty was a logical program if you believed in big government.  Also, to my conservative Republican friends (Black and White), please understand the historic context behind the Black community’s seemingly embrace of big government.

While many conservatives were aggressively embracing Jim Crow, segregation, and racial discrimination, our only ally was the federal government.  Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 are but three examples.

So, it’s not so much that Blacks are in love with big government, but without big government, Blacks would still be in slavery, have separate but unequal schools, would not be able to vote, or be able to eat in the restaurants of our choosing. Those are undeniable facts.

Yet, last week, I saw and heard many Black Republicans on TV, radio, and in newspapers criticizing Johnson’s War on Poverty.  While I was in agreement with the substance of their message, I didn’t hear or see any workable alternatives to address intractable poverty.

I saw Republican congressional leaders giving major policy speeches at  conservative White think tanks; but they never appeared before Black organizations. Even when it comes to optics, Republicans tend to be tone deaf.

Increasing the minimum wage is not the solution to poverty; more preferable is enhancing job skills through education (college or vocational).  When will congressional Republicans take this message to an HBCU with the launch of a major policy initiative? Obama’s record with the HBCUs is abysmal and can be exploited politically.

Another issue is the plight of small business, the economic engine of our country.  They are the job creators, not the Fortune 500 companies.  Yet, small business owners are finding it almost impossible to access credit from the very banks the federal government bailed out only a few years ago.

Congressional Republicans, what is your policy solution? When will congressional Republicans visit a successful business such as World Wide Technology (WWT) in St. Louis to give a major policy speech on small business issues?  WWT is the largest Black-owned business in the U.S., with annual revenues in excess of $ 5 billion and led by David L. Steward,  a major donor in Republican politics.

When will congressional Republicans partner with the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, led by Robert L. Woodson, Sr., to address the values issue within the Black community?  He is doing some things with Congressman Paul Ryan, but our leaders need to do more, especially in terms of private funding.

So, to my Black Republican friends and congressional leaders, always remember that it is easy to be against something.  But what are you for? Blacks are thirsting for answers to the problems facing them.  As a graduate of Oral Roberts University, I am reminded of what Oral would always tell us, “Go into everyman’s world and meet them at the point of their need.”

If you truly believe the Republican message can really turn around the lives of those that have been hurt by liberalism and big government, when will you take your solutions to the marketplace of ideas in those communities?

Just think back to your elementary school days when the teacher asked a question and you knew the answer.  You threw your hand up in the air and could not wait for the teacher to call on you; and when she did and you gave her the right answer. Remember how good you felt inside?

Well, Jeremiah had a similar experience in the Bible in Jeremiah 20:9, “… But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.”

Blacks’ disenchantment with the Democrats and Obama is the match that should ignite a fire within the Republican Party in regards to the Black vote. But there won’t be a spark among those ranks until Republicans present a genuine program for Black America, not an endless list of what they are against.

Rules of Engagement: Operation American Spring – May 16, 2014 in Washington, D.C.

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Militias across the United States are responding and mobilizing to the call to protect our Republic. Operation American Spring is underway. Militia Commanders and Sargent of Arms have called me from across the United States. Rules of Engagement (ROE) are now being requested.

Leadership ROE for the event Operation American Spring scheduled for Friday, May 16, 2014 in Washington DC. All militia Commanders will take charge of their groups and establish communications and ensure good order and discipline. Follow your charters and established rules governing your militias.

Rules of Engagement:

(1) No weapons. No ammunition.

The Communist forces that control Washington DC do not recognize the 2nd Amendment and have banned all weapons and ammunition from the district. Do not give them the opportunity to arrest you and prosecute you. Leave your guns and ammo within the safe proximity of a free state. When the government is changed constitutionally so will the laws in Washington DC when we return our country back to a republic that recognizes the constitution. Bring Bibles and constitutions. Of course your 2nd Amendment Rights are God given and no man can disarm you but at this point we must follow the rules laid out by the Communists until we vote them out of office. You do have a right to self defense.

(2) Follow all rules of the road.

No running red lights, no speeding, no harassment of the Communist forces with your vehicles. Of course this does not preclude driving within the confines of the law which sometimes backs up, slows up, and or could congest the 40 roads that enter into Washington DC. Traffic does get backed up in most cities. Ensure some lanes are free and open for passage of emergency response vehicles. Perhaps the truckers and bikers would like to join us.

(3) Comply with all constitutional requests of local authorities.

If you don’t break the law you won’t get arrested. Follow the law. Keep it peaceful. No threats period. If a police officer engages you ask him or her If you are being detained and for what reason. Other than that say nothing else. You have 5th Amendment Rights. Do not intimidate but you do have a right to self defense if you are assaulted.

(4) Travel in groups of 4 or greater.

Stay in groups and do not leave your buddies Team up. Stay in your groups. Establish a chain of command and stick together.

That’s it.

This is a simple operational ROE. Keep it simple. Come unarmed. Bring plenty of water and establish a logistics chain for resupply of food and water. Militia uniforms welcome. Stand in formation and act as additional security for the civilians that will be on station. Medics and first aid kits a must.

I recommend militia groups get together and have local marches. Initiate county to county core groups and perhaps rally on their state capitals or local governments to create awareness before the event. This would act as a precursor to Operation American Spring. Work closely with your local sheriffs and local law enforcement. Just a suggestion.

Practice your ability to coordinate and resupply and learn the weak points from this mobilization. Treat this event as a peaceful, Constitutional occupation of Washington DC to ensure the Communist forces understand we are prepared to stay on station until Mr. Barry Soetoro has been impeached and or removed from office by the Congress and or Joint Chief’s of Staff for treason against the United States.

As you can understand I field a lot of phone calls. I don’t mind talking to each of you but when we are talking a million people this will not be possible. I do have a day job. Please follow me thus – friend me on Facebook (Geoff Ross Navarre) and also on the Save America Foundation website to track the event.

Lets have a good turn out. 1.8 million people are now mobilizing. It only takes 400,000 to occupy Washington DC. and shut down the forces inflicting tyranny upon us in the Republican and Democrat Party. Stay within the law of the 1st Amendment.

Enough is enough. Don’t fear anything. You have God and the constitution on your side. Feel free to Google my cell phone number and name if you wish to verify the voracity of my intent. The information you gather from this Google search will then solidify in your mind that this is real and I don’t take prisoners. Work within the law and lets roll.

FL Governor Scott May Pick Rubio Ally as Running Mate

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The Miami Herald is reporting that former state House Republican leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera is now the heavy favorite to be picked to be Gov. Rick Scott’s lieutenant governor, and an announcement could be made within a week or so.

According to the Miami Herald’s source, which  ”indicated that Lopez-Cantera and Scott met Sunday in Miami, where the governor attended the Three Kings parade,” the two got along well, and “Scott indicated he wanted Lopez-Cantera for the job.”

The meeting between Scott and Lopez-Cantera was not by chance, as ‘CLC’ interviewed for the job with Scott’s chief of staff, Adam Hollingsworth, several weeks ago in Orlando, Florida.

In late December 2012, the same sources close to the governor’s office told the Shark Tank that prior to the meeting that took place between Hollingsworth and Lopez-Cantera, Lopez-Cantera spoke to Scott himself about the job.

If Lopez-Cantera is picked for the job, the political calculus changes significantly. Republicans would then have a well-versed, articulate, “white Hispanic” with a hyphenated last name to boot.

Oh, and don’t forget his amigo, Senator Marco Rubio, who is quietly rooting  for his friend to be picked.