The Clintons Smell Blood in the Water

September 22, 2010 | Comments (0)
I’m thinking back to November, 2008, to the day after the presidential election, when all who had voted for Barack Obama were squealing with delight that the savior had come. And like all Presidents, they gushed, practically in unison, he will surely move to the center now that the coveted office is his.

In the midst of the foolish, severely misguided revelry, friends and I, knowing full well that a great disaster had just occurred, commented on that very day, that we all knew Hillary was making plans. She and her husband had no intention of stepping down from their exalted positions in their party and slinking silently into the dark night. My own prediction on that day: Hillary would bide her time for a year or two, attempt to build a more distinctive profile, and as Obama began his inevitable decline, she and her husband would make their move.

I have a feeling the speed at which Obama’s star has taken its plunge has surprised even the Clintons. But we know they have been prepared to pounce from day one. Catching the distinct scent of blood on the political landscape, they have begun their attack.

Though her political philosophy essentially mirrors Obama’s, Hillary, as devoted Secretary of State, has not carried the water for the President as loyally and silently as I would guess he would like. She recently suggested, for example, that the national debt is a great danger to our country; no need to mention that her boss is the chief architect of that debt. And out of the shadows emerges Bill, seemingly everywhere these days, warning of the dangers of Obamacare, the Tea Party and voter unrest, using his mere presence and the familiar twinkle in his eye as a message to loyal followers that if they play their cards right, the Clintons could once again occupy the White House.

Ever observant of Obama’s frequent fumbles, I wager Hillary and her husband are checking the calendar daily to determine the optimum date for Madam Secretary to relinquish her office. I foresee a heartfelt speech, with perhaps a tear or two, about her sacrifice and her need to seek her party’s nomination once more for the good of the nation.

But this is not 2008. That blood-stained landscape has changed, the electorate is inflamed, and even Bill has acknowledged that there is another shark circling right now, a shark that presents a great danger to his party. Her name is Sarah Palin, perhaps the most powerful woman in the country right now – her endorsements proving to be far more potent than Bill’s and Hillary’s, and of course Obama’s, combined. No matter what Sarah’s aspirations may be beyond conservative kingmaker, she, unlike Hillary, got where she is on her own, not on the coattails of a philandering, charismatic hound dog. About now, I imagine she is causing some sleepless nights for that hound dog and his wife.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

We the People Flex Our Collective Muscle. Again.

September 21, 2010 | Comments (0)

Oh what fun it has been watching the left melt down in the wake of last Tuesday’s primary elections.

With what they deem dangerous, rightwing nutjobs – and certainly anyone endorsed by Sarah Palin and/or the Tea Party – emerging victorious, often at the expense of “moderate” incumbents expected to glide onto their respective ballots, liberal elites have been shrieking and stomping so violently, I expect at any moment they will simultaneously pop clusters of veins.

When not shrieking and stomping, they wag their fingers at us from their political offices, from television screens and from computer monitors, warning us how dangerous that oh-so-ignorant-racist-intolerant Tea Party is, and how destructive it will prove to be to our conservative cause and to the republican party at large. Their concern for our cause simply evidence of their own panic, they as usual choose to address only half of the story. Mainstream republicans received a smackdown of their own last week, the conservative victories illustrating for them once more that we the people will no longer tolerate a republican party that is nothing but a weak and appeasing photocopy of the left.

Their desperation in fever pitch, the left has now laughably even played the “witch” card against newly minted Delaware republican senatorial candidate Christine O’Donnell. So enmeshed in their own hysteria, they are, much to our amusement, grasping for any and every possible straw in their mission to vilify and demonize the Tea Party.

I do not at all regret to inform them, however, that it’s too late. The momentum begun with the elections of November, 2009, that brought us, among others, rising conservative star New Jersey pitbull Governor Chris Christie, has spun out of control, and I’d say, thankfully, there’s no turning back.

Even in my own extremely blue corner of the country, entire blocks of flags are seen flying on homes – many atop newly erected flagpoles – some demanding “Don’t Tread on Me.” Check out the bumper stickers, too, my most recent serpent-adorned favorite seen on a car next to me in a parking lot today: “Liberty or death. Don’t tread on me.” I saw that and grinned the same grin I see on people everywhere these days. It’s the grin of the momentum that we all hope and suspect is unstoppable. November 2nd can’t come soon enough.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

We Will Never Forget

September 11, 2010 | Comments (1)

“Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?”

I awoke this morning with these words from Alan Jackson on my radio, my country station featuring such songs as Jackson’s “Where Were You” to commemorate this day, September 11th.

I know where I was. We all know where we were. And though there are some in this country with screeching voices and amplified microphones who would rather we forget, we won’t. Ever.

And that is why the vast, vast majority of Americans, all Americans, never dreamed that nine years after that September day, we would be arguing not over the design of the buildings that should replace the Twin Towers, but the building of a mosque upon the sacred ground where the Twin Towers once stood.

The opposition hurls names at this majority of Americans who wish to keep that ground, and the remains of the thousands of souls lost on that ground, sacred. They scream that we are anti-this, anti-that, phobic-this, phobic-that, and, most laughably, they claim we are un-American. For this instance and this instance only, the fundamentally frightened appeasers haul out the Constitution, claiming we who oppose the plan are defying our founders’ intent – and, most importantly, placing ourselves in grave danger.

From politicians to media hacks to talk show hosts, the politically correct ignore pleas to investigate the shady funding behind the project (which, if terror-rooted, would throw the whole “freedom of religion” argument out the window), pleading instead in so many words that if we don’t do this, if we don’t obey, they’ll hurt as again. And indeed, more than one imam has declared publicly, one on national television: If you don’t build it on that site, on that ground, where we say it must go, more attacks will follow.

The left, including the President of the United States, has heeded such threats, and, with the help of New York City’s mayor, New York’s leading candidate for Governor, various New York Congresspeople, leftwing media outlets and formerly funny late night talk-show hosts, they are trying desperately to obey the edict.

The only trouble is, we the people are not so obedient. We know conquest when we see it. We know that the same people pleading the mosque’s case would be singing a different tune if the targets on that September day had instead been Rockefeller Center or the Ed Sullivan Theater. We also happen to be far more familiar than they with our Constitution and our founders’ intent. We believe good and evil exist in this world, we believe in right and wrong, and, above all, we remember where we were when the world stopped turning on that September day. So, no, we won’t obey. And we won’t forget. Ever.

Betsy Siino | Comments (1)

To Burn or Not to Burn: That Is NOT the Question

September 10, 2010 | Comments (0)

We have no idea if the newly notorious pastor in Florida is going to burn the Koran on Saturday. He apparently hasn’t decided, but no matter. Having successfully reaped his 15 minutes of fame, and now apparently inspiring others to burn, as well, when tomorrow dawns, the situation has escalated into an international firestorm. Yet the actual burning is not at all the issue.

I personally find book burning abhorrent, whether the tinder be the Bible, the Koran, Mein Kampf, Harry Potter or Huckleberry Finn. I frankly regard this pastor’s showboating as either a publicity stunt or a death wish (perhaps both), evident in his announcing his intent long before 9/11 to ensure maximum media attention. But my country has taught me that it is within the rights of all Americans to burn a book or a flag, to behave stupidly and recklessly, or to speak out against our government — rights foreign to most other countries, particularly those currently criticizing our handling of our own internal issues, such as illegal immigration and the building of a mosque at Ground Zero.

What disgusts me most about this incident is not that a man of the cloth would protest Islam by burning its book, but rather the strident response of, among others, our own media outlets, elected officials, and President to the man’s threats to do so.

I think back to moments in our history — to the celebrated desecration of the Virgin Mary and the Star of David, to modern-day Nazis marching through a town occupied by Holocaust survivors, to a crucifix submerged in a glass of urine heralded as fine art, to the former President routinely burned in effigy — and I wonder, where were the protests from all those exalted authorities and institutions then? Where were the calls for restraint? We all know the answer to that one.

Which brings us to the fundamental difference between these documented incidents in our recent past, and the current threat of a torched Koran. Fear. That’s the difference. The authorities and institutions squawking in unison to stop Saturday’s burning don’t fear the Christians, the Jews or we the people. They know that those so inclined to desecrate and disgrace the symbols of these faiths, and of America herself, can do so freely and graphically without threat of repercussion. But these same authorities and institutions are terrified to the bone of those who follow Islam. Their resulting reactions, their policies, their censorship and their scoldings, are fueled by that fear.

This chronic hypocrisy is in turn fueling the palpable rage brewing in America right now: a rage at the tyranny spewing from our nation’s capitol, a rage at politically correct appeasement of those who wish to destroy us (whether or not a Koran is burned), a rage at punishing policies and taxes that cripple our childrens’ futures. This rage now boils over at a most symbolic moment in our nation’s history – the anniversary of a day we the people will not forget, despite the left’s attempt to rewrite history. It’s going to be a rocky ride.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

Newsweek Scolds Us for Overreacting to 9/11

September 8, 2010 | Comments (2)

After circling the drain of financial ruin for several years, thanks to the changing face of print journalism and an unseemly allegiance to leftwing extremism, Newsweek magazine sold last month for a buck to a benevolent billionaire. Inspired by the promise of second chances and new beginnings, Newsweek is now apparently back on track, ready to return to its glory days, when subscribers actually paid to receive its pages in their homes.

To demonstrate its born-again connection to 21st century America, a Newsweek columnist, on the eve of the ninth anniversary of 9/11, has commented in the magazine that:

“September 11 was a shock to the American psyche and the American system. As a result, we overreacted.”

Anyone with a soul was indeed shocked on that day, when more than 3,000 Americans were lost in a swift and well-orchestrated attack on our home by Islamic terrorists. Most of us know precisely what we were doing the instant we heard how we had been so violently blindsided on that terrible September morning, and we remember everything we did and thought every moment following it for weeks thereafter.

How silly of us to take it so hard, Newsweek scolds us now. How ridiculous for us to overreact so. Just look at the lack of similar attacks since that day, continues the columnist, conveniently ignoring America’s “overreaction” as the reason for that.

Time will tell if this brilliant insight will bring the magazine back into the black financially. I have my theory on this, of course.  In the meantime, I’m content to ignore the Newsweek scolding and to continue “overreacting” whenever possible, whenever necessary. I hope you’ll join me.

Betsy Siino | Comments (2)

Tonight on Discovery: Man vs. Metrosexual

September 4, 2010 | Comments (0)
The attack this past week on the Discovery Channel headquarters by an environmental activist who was inspired by Al Gore and his “documentary,” An Inconvenient Truth, got me thinking about a trend – a convenient truth — I have been noticing this summer. In a nutshell: Men are alive and well, and we still like having them around.

I recognized this trend, this truth, while, at the behest of my son, I was watching Discovery’s reality shows that showcase the fine art of survival, either on the job (Deadliest Catch) or in the wild (Man vs. Wild, Dual Survival, etc.) . These shows are wildly popular, their key players — from captains of ice-encrusted boats seeking Arctic crab, to military-trained experts demonstrating survival tips in case of wilderness isolation or apocalypse — becoming household names coast to coast. Like I said, alive and well.

Which tells me something, too, about all those soft, non-threatening, oh-so-celebrated metrosexuals that grace most of America’s magazine covers: George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and, of course, the illustrious Barack Obama. Sing their praises if you must, but obviously there are still plenty of Americans, men and women alike, who revere the masculinity, self-sufficiency, independence, resourcefulness and virility at the core of the Discovery guys’ popularity (and, in a sense, at the core of America itself).

It’s not that difficult to figure out. Our culture may have been subverted in recent decades by radical feminists who would label men “scum” yet insist that women are their equal, and politically correct philosophies and policies that mandate there is no evil, no right, no wrong, but that does not change who we are fundamentally as animals. When faced with danger and those who would hurt our homes and families, most of us, like our non-human brethren, still look up to those who know how to keep us warm, keep us fed, keep us safe, and keep us alive.

If my family were stranded in the tundra, left to our own devices in the aftermath of a natural disaster, or threatened by the consequences of a lawless society, some guy whose skill set consists solely of mugging for a camera lens, reading a teleprompter and matching a silk tie to an Italian suit would be of no value whatsoever. On the other hand, a man who can navigate a ship through a blizzard on an icy sea; who can find water and shade in Death Valley; who would take down a plane hijacked by terrorists before it reaches DC; or who can use a gun and a blade for food, shelter and self-protection.…I’ll stick with him, thank you very much.  It’s a safe bet most of the rest of us would too.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

Obama Announces the Iraq War Is Over

September 1, 2010 | Comments (1)

Last night Barack Obama announced in a speech delivered from the Oval Office that the war in Iraq has ended. Looking unbearably uncomfortable in his desperate attempt to appear presidential, Obama did this just in time for flailing democrat candidates to take credit for the war’s end come election day, November 2nd.

Though he has for years hesitated to say anything remotely positive about the War on Terror, with his tepid compliments last night to our troops (avoiding such dirty little words as “victory,” and skewing badly such words as “patriot”), he left most of his audience – even the side of that audience seated in the left wing – unimpressed by his performance.

Obama navigates uncharted waters whenever he takes a stab at playing Commander-in-Chief, evident in the responses he yields from his listeners, particularly his listeners who happen to be members of the United States Armed Forces. No wonder. Last night Obama once again offered troop-extraction timelines to America’s enemies, and he spoke of “turning the page” on Iraq. Indeed with these three simple words – “turning the page” — he dismissed the American lives lost, both at war and in the attacks on our homeland on that terrible, tragic morning in September of 2001. He dismissed, as well, the sacrifices made by our troops and their families over the last nine years since that day to keep subsequent attacks off American soil.

 Which brings me to what I consider the most jolting segment of his speech. I’ll let him speak for himself:

It is well known that [George Bush] and I disagreed about the war from its outset. Yet no one could doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security.

Huh?

While many may have disagreed with President Bush on a number of issues, including the war, his devotion to our American troops and the nation they are sworn to protect is beyond reproach. Last night, however, Obama, giving his predecessor a condescending pass rather than offering him any credit for the war’s success, suggested as a given the notion that crowds of people are questioning President’s Bush’s commitment to troops and country. Obama seemed to be projecting his own insecurity in a lame attempt to deflect the growing doubt among the American people about his own alleged lack of support for the troops, a less-than-ardent love of country and her heritage, and a questionable commitment to our nation’s security.

Obama may try, as he did last night, to overcome this doubt by evoking the spirit of our American fighting men and women, but those very men and women can see right through such ploys. Simply witness the genuine love and respect they would shower upon the former Commander-in-Chief (and vice versa) compared to the mandatorily polite greeting they typically offer the current holder of that position.

Our troops are no fools. They know who has their back.  And they know who doesn’t. We the people know it, too.

Betsy Siino | Comments (1)