by Tom Sears
I can’t believe this is my 26th column. The time has flown by and I want to once again thank Daily Star Editor Sam Pollak for giving me this opportunity.
I have enjoyed writing the columns and all the positive responses I have received. I’ve had many good conversations with both conservative and liberal friends, and these discussions have always been spirited, rational, intelligent, and positive.
I must admit, however, that I have also greatly enjoyed getting under the skin of those level 2 liberals I described in one of my earliest columns.
If you remember they were the ones who have one set of rules for themselves and another set for those who disagree with them. When they cannot disprove the facts I present or successfully spin what I say to their advantage, they resort to irrational, unintelligible ranting and raving responses.
No matter what they say, I know they read every word of every column. They can be assured I will be causing their blood pressure to rise for a long time to come.
Thanks everyone, for a fun and rewarding first year.
Democrats off to a Rocky Beginning
Well, you’ll have to admit, the next two years are going to be fun to watch. Heck, the
next few months are going to be something.
Yes, the Democrats won the election, but now what? They have no agenda with which to govern. They never did. This is what is going to keep them in power for a very short time. Hopefully, the short time will prevent them from doing serious damage to the country and our safety.
All they have had to keep them going was their blind hatred of President Bush. They never forgave him for his legitimate win in 2000 and then again in 2004. It is this hatred that continues to fuel them.
Can you think of one thing the Democrats have given Bush credit for? Bet you can’t. A booming economy through tax cuts? Not being hit again from a terrorist attack? Nope, not a thing.
The liberals are fooling themselves if they think the citizens voted for a liberal agenda. The Democrats who did win ran on conservative issues such as lower taxes and accountability. Actually, this should prove to be a relief in that the liberal left won’t be able to ram their radical ideas down our throats.
One only has to look towards the House to see the Democratic implosion already starting. Nancy Pelosi, the iron lady of the liberal left, is already having difficulty in reining in her troops.
In her very first show of power, she backed her old friend John Murtha of Abscam fame, and that strategy blew up in her face. Murtha lost 149 to 86 and the new Dems elected Steny Hoyer instead as House Majority Leader.
To say that Pelosi and Hoyer don’t get along is a massive understatement. It
will be fun to watch them run Congress as a team.
What does she want to do next? She might appoint Congressman Alcee Hastings to head the House Intelligence Committee!
It doesn’t matter that Representative Jane Harman is the ranking Democrat on that committee. Pelosi wants to teach her old foe who’s boss.
So what if Hastings is only one of 13 federal judges to ever be impeached and only one of seven to be removed from the bench? It was Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi, who both impeached the man and voted to remove him from office. And now she might appoint him to a very sensitive committee chairmanship!
This lady is either showing her very petty, childish side to get back at her enemies and show who’s the boss, or showing everyone that she is totally incompetent and without the ability to make rational decisions that will be good for the country.
As strategist Dick Morris says, Democrats still form their firing squads in a circle. And they haven’t even taken over the reins of power yet.
Now, about all the talk of bipartisanship. That will last for about five minutes after they are in charge. It will be their actions, rather than their words that will tell the true story.
Are they going to accept the reappointment of John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations? He has done a stellar job in representing American interests, and it is said by all who work with him and under him that he is an admirable man with great ability. Will they continue to let the best man for the job keep the position, or will they remove him out of pure political spite?
Will they let the booming economy grow even stronger and joblessness remain low, or will they ruin all the gains achieved by reversing President Bush’s tax cuts from 2002 and by adding new taxes of their own?
They have claimed they will do this with no justification for doing so other than believing that whatever Bush does must be bad.
The IRS released a report stating that the healthy economy has produced $521 billion in new tax collections over the past two years. The top 1 percent of wage earners pay 37 percent of the income taxes already. This isn’t fair enough? Give me a break. The liberals should have to write this fact on the blackboard 100 times until they get it right. Maybe facts just don’t matter to them.
Will Patrick Leahy approve only radical left wing judges when he is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee?
Will John Conyers be successful in initiating impeachment proceedings, as he has promised?
How about Charlie Rangel on the House Ways and Means Committee? Will he negate all the successful tax cuts as he has threatened?
Don’t forget Rep. Henry Waxman and his threats of endless hearings and investigations.
Immigration, the Patriot Act, legal wiretaps, cut and run policies? We will soon see how the Democrats define bipartisanship. Actions speak louder than words.
We’re Winning The ‘War on Christmas’
We are well into the Christmas season, the commercial part, at least, and there is good news and sad news.
The good news is that the secularists have ended up not having their way. If everyone remembers, Wal-Mart, Target, Macy’s, Kmart, Walgreens, and Kohl’s, among other retailers, succumbed to the pressure of this vocal minority.
Holiday trees rather than Christmas trees, Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas, no more Nativity scenes, no more Christmas carol music being played, and so on. When you say “Happy Holiday,” I ask you, what holiday? Remember, the holiday is Christmas. The law that declared Christmas a national holiday was almost unanimously approved by Congress and signed into law by President Grant in 1870.
Christians, however, didn’t have to have a law passed to give one of the two
most important dates in our religion the respect it deserved.
To be honest, I don’t think Christians are offended by the statements “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings.” We are, however, opposed to the blatant attempts of secularists (led by the ACLU) to remove Christ and Christmas from everywhere.
The intimidation tactics of this very small minority had these stores and others running scared until this year.
Foolishly, these stores that worried about offending a very small minority who opposed Christmas certainly didn’t mind offending Christians who celebrate the birth of Jesus.
But thank heavens the boycotts worked. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Marisa Bluestone said it best: “We’ve learned our lesson. This year we’re not afraid to say Merry Christmas.”
Wal-Mart, along with the stores listed above and others, is now back in the fold. Also, isn’t it nice to have The Salvation Army bell ringers back? Another example of secularist/ACLU failure.
Well secularists, you think you have the right to cause change? Then so do other groups. Ninety-six percent of Americans celebrate Christmas and 86 percent consider themselves Christians. Only 3 percent of Americans are offended by hearing or seeing the words “Merry Christmas.”
The formation of the Alliance Defense Fund, an organization formed by dedicated Christian Lawyers, is helping us by striking back against the ACLU and winning victory after victory. Each group has to do what it has to do, so let various organizations decide what it best for them.
Now, to the 3 percent group which has fits when the term “Merry Christmas” is
spoken or written. Just
what is the problem?
If someone says “Happy Hanukkah” or “Happy Kwanzaa,” I don’t tell them I’m insulted or break into a cold sweat and hide in the closet for days. I simply return the greetings. It doesn’t bother me, nor does it bother millions of other people.
Either this 3 percent is trying to seek attention or has a very weak self-image. They are the ones who have to adapt. They should take sensitivity training courses or seek therapy.
Also, if these people hate the national holiday so much, then perhaps they shouldn’t take the day off when offered. They could stand in for their less fortunate colleagues who couldn’t get the day off.
They could volunteer at one of the numerous local nonprofit organizations. To not respect the meaning of Christmas but celebrate it anyway seems to me to be quite hypocritical.
Another giant step forward took place when House Resolution 579 was passed 401 to 22 (all the no’s being Democrats) with five representatives simply voting “present.”
“Resolution: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the symbols and traditions of Christmas be protected.
“ Whereas Christmas is a national holiday celebrated on December 25; and Whereas the Framers intended that the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States would prohibit the establishment of religion, not prohibit any mention of religion or reference to God in civic dialogue: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives (1) Recognizes the importance of the symbols and traditions of Christmas; (2) Strongly disapproves of attempts to ban references to Christmas; and (3) Expresses support for the use of these symbols and traditions.”
This information about this resolution came from the book “Culture Warrior” by Bill O’Reilly. You can look it up as I did.
The sad news that I mentioned before is the fact that it took lost sales and profits to convince these stores to do the right thing. I hope that message won’t have to be sent again.
After all I’ve said above, I might be more sensitive about the subject after all.
It’s ok for you to not say “Merry Christmas” to me. I prefer “Happy Birthday, Jesus.”
PETA Is Bad For Animals
As I was exploring what topics to talk about this week there were plenty to choose from: Sandy Berger and his insulting misdemeanor conviction; Barak Hussein Obama, the present darling of the Democratic Party; the ever-present, laughable ACLU; the numerous environmental terrorist groups; and last but certainly not the least, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). I chose PETA.
If any of you have supported or contributed to this group, shame on you. Do you really know what this organization is all about? There is both a laughable side and a serious side to this group.
Not to be outdone by the ACLU and atheist groups, PETA also now attacks public Nativity scenes that use live animals. It claims that “those animals are subject to all sorts of terrible fates in some cases.”
“Animals have been stolen and slaughtered, they’ve been raped (???), they’ve escaped and have been struck by cars and killed. Just really unfathomable things have happened to them.” I had to check to make sure they weren’t talking about humans.
But this group takes it one step further. It sent a stern letter to a church in Alaska warning the minister to immediately stop using live animals or there would be consequences.
The pastor found this demand to be a little ludicrous since the only live creatures in the Nativity scene were humans. The animals were all plastic! Way to go PETA, spend those donations wisely.
A more grisly side of the organization was exposed when two of its members were caught putting 18 dead dogs in plastic bags and dumping them in a trash bin.
More dead dogs were found in their van, along with vials of drugs that were used to kill them. These were perfectly healthy animals.
These two PETA members, according to testimony, promised to find decent homes for the dogs but didn’t even take the animals back to PETA headquarters. They killed them while only a short distance from the shelter.
PETA, while claiming to attempt to find homes for animals, in fact killed 86.3 percent of the animals in their care. Its defense is that there just aren’t enough homes to place these animals in.
Strange, since the SPCA, located in the same town as PETA, was able to find homes for 73 percent of the animals placed in their care.
PETA’s defense is that the only humane thing to do is to kill the animals so that they are not brought into a life of cruelty and mistreatment. (Hmmm, sounds like what some people do to humans.)
Even more scary is the fact that PETA is going after children as young as 8 and giving them propaganda in the form of comic books.
PETA passes them out outside school yards without receiving any permission whatsoever from the parents.
One of the comics shows a man trying to rip a hook out of a fish’s mouth while the title is “Your Daddy Kills Animals.”
Another one shows a lady, again with a demented glare, viciously stabbing a live rabbit over and over while the caption reads, “Your Mother Kills Animals.” I can’t imagine what material is on the inside.
It also sends graphic e-mails to children, alerting them to new horrors. PETA even gloats that it reaches more than two million children a year.
PETA is a nonprofit organization founded in 1980. This means that all donations made to it are tax-deductible as long as the funds are spent for the charitable purpose for which they were formed.
Animal welfare is an acceptable charitable purpose as per the Internal Revenue Code. However, the miniscule amount spent for this legal purpose is laughable. Of PETA’s $29 million taken in last year, most of it went for public relations and defending criminals.
If the proportions are the same as previous years, the organization should have its tax exempt status taken away.
“PETA spent less than $3,955 of its $12 million budget in fiscal year 1995 and
$6,100 of its $10.9 million in fiscal 1996 for shelter programs.”
Instead, It contributes thousands upon thousands to defense funds for organizations and their members who carry out criminal activities, all in the name of animal rights.
Two violent groups it aligns itself with are the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). These weirdo groups have been involved in firebombing restaurants, burning down research labs, destroying the brakes on seafood delivery trucks, and physically assaulting corporate CEOs and laboratory research workers.
The President of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk stated, “more power to these groups if they can get someone’s attention.” She has made many similar brainless statements over time.
So folks, do animals a favor. Send your money to local animal shelters or the SPCA. Much more good will be accomplished for animal welfare by these organizations.
U.S. Should Learn From New Zealand
Hello everyone. I just got back from New Zealand, and although it is a beautiful country with great people, it is nice to be home.
I hope all my liberal friends missed me. I’ll use this time to touch on numerous
small things before I get back in gear for my next column.
I have never met people so warm and courteous as New Zealanders. They consistently greet others on the street, even strangers. Whenever I had a map out looking up directions, it never failed that I had a Kiwi come up to ask if I needed help.
The political polarization is nowhere near like we have here, and it’s nice to
have serious and mature discussions with others of a different culture.
I can say all these nice things even though New Zealand has a socialist leaning government with the Labour Party currently in control. This is true even though it holds only 50 of the 121 total seats. It has formed a coalition with 5 other smaller parties to give it a total of 66 seats.
One extremely interesting agency New Zealand has is the Accident Compensation Corporation, which was created by law in 1974.
As a part of the government, it provides for personal injury claims and covers citizens, residents and temporary visitors. Costs covered include the rehabilitation, financing, transport and treatment of the affected individual.
On the other side of the equation, people don’t have the right to sue for
personal injuries sustained.
What a concept! People are actually responsible for their own acts of carelessness. Therefore, if you spill hot coffee on yourself or you trip on someone’s sidewalk, your medical bills are paid, and you get reasonable compensation if you have to miss work for any period of time.
You don’t immediately sue anyone and everyone to pay for your own mistake. If the injury results in permanent disability, the Corporation will pay for such improvements to your home so that you can live a reasonably normal life. You will also receive a reasonable amount of compensation for as long as the disability is present.
I can’t imagine how it was possible to get such an act through when the vast majority of Parliament are lawyers. Can you imagine the Johnny Cochrans of the legal profession in the U.S. going for such an Act?
The funding for the commission is provided by employers (on average $1.21 per $100 of payroll), self employed individuals ( $3.50 per $100 of net income) and by a levy on automobiles which is about $200 per vehicle.
They have very severe consequences for those individuals who try to take advantage of the program. There is a range of detection methods, including individual reporting and a zero tolerance level for fraud. People seem to be quite pleased with the program.
One night, I had a nice meal down by the harbor, which had a very pleasant ambiance except for the Greenpeace ship docked there at the time.
At least it was where it should be, tied up to the dock for at least the week I spent in Auckland, rather than out causing trouble on the high seas.
It also seemed that they were having trouble raising funds, for I have never seen such a poorly maintained, rusting vessel.