Romney Wins Florida — So What Happens Now?

January 31, 2012 | Comments (0)

Tonight Mitt Romney won Florida’s republican primary.  No surprise there.  And not surprising, are the pundits shouting from the rooftops that he will no doubt be the GOP nominee come November.

Well, I’m not ready to concede who the republican nominee will be.  What I am willing to say, and what I have said for months (years), is that whoever earns that coveted role as nominee better be ready for a street fight and all that comes with that.  So far, I haven’t seen many street-fighting characteristics in tonight’s Florida winner, nor have I seen him carrying the torch of true  conservatism.  Here’s hoping that if he indeed does become the official republican candidate, he’ll prove me wrong.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

America Rendered Unrecognizable Once More

August 26, 2011 | Comments (1)

I have been gone from here for a while, and I want to thank those of you who have wondered why. I have spent the last weeks overseeing my clan’s move from the northeastern corner of the United States back to our original home turf in the west, and I apologize for offering no warning. But it’s done now, and here I am.

I return now amid a national climate once again made unrecognizable by recent events from that of our nation four years ago, let alone two months ago when I last tended to these pages. Within these last weeks we have witnessed our nation’s economy downgraded for the first time in our history. We have witnessed a roller coaster in our stock market that back in 1929 would have sent investors flinging themselves from high-rise windows. We witnessed the devastating destruction of members of our beloved Seal Team 6, as well as the courage and conviction of their family members, who, in the grief-filled aftermath of their loss, made clear the family character that results in the rearing of true national heroes.

We have witnessed a president content, like a modern-day Nero, to attend campaign fundraisers and hip-hop birthday festivities as he continues to pursue the leftwing socialist agenda he promised when he campaigned for the highest office of our land back in 2008. We have witnessed this same president, announce between tee-offs, that he will suspend the deportation of illegal aliens and thus provide amnesty for said lawbreakers, despite the overwhelming majority of Americans who oppose this policy. And we have witnessed the Tea Party, not only blamed for the ills of all the world, but also called “terrorists” by the left, as well as by increasingly hysterical mainstream media lapdogs and certain entrenched Beltway republicans who somehow believe they are immune from the anger of an enraged electorate.

But so have we also witnessed the rise of individuals who have led us to believe that there just might be true conservatives in our midst set to grapple the office of the American presidency away from the current holder of that office. Indeed I venture to say that we on the right just may be starting to see our own homegrown glimmer of hope and change on the horizon. We know from attempts by certain leftwing publications to smear these newly minted candidates with lies, incendiary headlines, namecalling, and uncomplimentary magazine cover shots that we are on the right track. So keep the faith. There is still time to make America right once more.

Betsy Siino | Comments (1)

No Surprises in Obama’s Reelection Bid

April 6, 2011 | Comments (0)

On April 4th, Barack Obama announced his intention to seek reelection for 2012, after having done nothing but campaign since he took office back in January of 2010. Indeed traveling the world in high style making canned teleprompted speeches is all the man knows how to do – that and voting “present,” apologizing for America, fraternizing with radicals, dismantling America’s economy, punishing business and taxpayers, and golfing. Now he makes official his “hope” that America will keep him on the dole, ensuring that he and his wife continue to live in the style to which they have become accustomed while he carries out his mission to transform our country into the banana republic of his dreams.

And wouldn’t you know it, the very day he declares his reelection ambitions, the Obama Justice Department announces that it will prosecute accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed via military tribunal after all, scrapping the explosive plan to provide him a civil trial in New York City with all the rights and privileges of an American citizen. Ahh, the perfect plan to convince the masses that he, Obama, is a true warrior and patriot after all. We masses couldn’t possibly see through this shameless exploitation of 9/11, its victims and its victims’ families, the ideal tools for the furthering of a man’s political luxury-lifestyle agenda.

Hoping to fill his campaign coffers with upwards of $1 billion, Obama and his handlers knew they had to start early to get the network in place. His announcement sends the minions the message to get out there and start registering voters, ramp up the slobbering media coverage, and protect Obamacare at all costs.

Wasting not a moment himself, the president has planned a “town hall” at Facebook in the San Francisco Bay Area, his brain trust no doubt believing this will click with all the young whippersnappers who find Facebook so very cool.  The team probably figures, as well, that Facebook and a friendly relationship with its top tier (who may not have contemplated the potential consequences of this alliance to their brand), will play key roles in the Internet arm of the campaign.

What this American is hoping is that such tactics used so confidently the first time around will fall flat in a more somber, sadder, more jaded Obama America, an America that will not tolerate a so-called mainstream media that fails to investigate the origins and legality of campaign contributions, that ignores threatening behavior by administration-sanctioned thugs at town halls and polling places, and that vets only those candidates with the audacity to run against their immortal beloved. Meanwhile, said beloved, with his early campaign launch, will be spending a fair amount of time running against, oh, maybe George W. Certainly the Tea Party. Probably a plumber or two, a doctor, and the Chamber or Commerce. And perhaps. . .insert theme from Jaws. . . the real reason he launched early: Hillary.

Feeling nauseous in the wake of Obama’s announcement and the televised commentary that followed, I hit the channel button to escape and landed on HBO, which at that moment was airing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. At that very moment, Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was uttering a favorite passage that I have noted here before, warning his school that “every day, every hour, this very minute perhaps, dark forces attempt to penetrate this castle’s walls.” Yes they do, Professor.  And we the people are left to decide. Will we resist those evil forces and their designs on our nation, or will we, as George Washington warned, instead “be led, like sheep, to the slaughter?” We’ll just have to see, won’t we?

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

Why Aren’t Obama Voters Rejoicing Over Rising Gas Prices?

April 1, 2011 | Comments (0)

During the George W. presidency, the first question a liberal-leaning friend in another state would ask me whenever we spoke was always, “So how much are you guys paying for gas right now?”

But ever since Barack Obama, her guy, took office, she hasn’t asked me that question once.

This perplexes me, because Obama was crystal clear during his campaign for the presidency, that a dream he held for this nation was to see gas prices rise to well above $4.00 a gallon. His current secretary of energy stated before he claimed that title – and probably in an attempt to snag the position – that he wanted to see those prices rise to European levels (which means somewhere around $10 a gallon). Now we hear that gas prices may actually reach $5 or more – well on the way to that $10 goal — so all you Obama voters out there, let the rejoicing begin. Your man is keeping his promise, a promise he made long before you entered the polling booth, and I thus presume one of the many reasons you cast your precious vote for him.

The same should be applying to the lapdog media, shouldn’t it? They practically ran perpetual counters on the TV screen, ticking off gas and oil prices under President Bush, but I have yet to hear a peep out of them in celebration of this kept campaign promise of their guy, Obama. They have excused mightily their man for failing to keep his promise to close Guantanamo and to let loose those poor mistreated, misunderstood Gitmo inmates who simply sought to exercise their religious freedoms.  And they have done all they can to promote their man’s support of the hardworking labor folks and unemployed 60s throwbacks in Wisconsin simply trying to exercise their right to receive free health insurance and Viagra. Indeed the follow and promote blindly virtually anything and everything their man says or does.

But come to think of it, my non-lapdog-media friend so intent on monitoring gas prices under President Bush hasn’t mentioned any of these other issues, either. No talk of Obamacare and blue pills, no talk of widespread unemployment, and no mention of the First Family living in luxury as the matriarch of that family lecturers the peasants, urging them to embrace hunger and cold. Yet my friend voted for all of this, gleefully casting her precious vote for the “redistribution of wealth” and the socialization of America promised by then-candidate Obama.

Of course, to be honest, I don’t want to hear anything about this from her, nor do I care to hear mention of regret. As I have made crystal clear again and again, I have no patience for those who now regret casting a vote for an inexperienced, socialist-minded candidate who stated clearly his intent to transform America; to ensure our houses remain colder, our refrigerators emptier, our bank accounts skimpier; to ration medical care for Americans and gut the promise of a career in medicine; to appease those who wish to kill us; and to see gas prices soar. Let the silence of those I wish to see remain silent speak for itself.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

Lessons Learned: Beware of Arbitrary, Undefined “Change”

February 15, 2011 | Comments (0)

To all who were lured into the touchy-feely belief two years ago or so that change for change’s sake is a goal to which we all should aspire, I would imagine, and hope, most of you are having second thoughts by now.

Those not so easily swayed know now, just as they (we) knew then, that in its most simplistic terms, change can be good, and change can be bad. To sign on haphazardly to arbitrary, undefined “change,” is to enter dangerous territory for yourself, your family, and, as we have witnessed firsthand, your country.

A quick look at history is all we need to see where that dangerous territory can lead. Hitler wanted “change.” Remember? And he made it happen.  Mao, Castro and Lenin wanted “change.”  And they made it happen.  Indeed just about every tyrant and dictator in human history has wanted change – sometimes defined for the masses, sometimes not – and with long-term, often damning consequences. On the flip side, our nation’s founders wanted change, too — clearly defined, clearly documented change — and they made it happen. Tyrants and dictators of the world (including those within our own nation’s capitol) no doubt view the success of the American experiment “dangerous,” and indeed it is for those who hunger for unbridled power and control of we the people.

And today the mainstream lapdog media, the United States president, and various pundits with undefined qualifications but clearly defined agendas, are singing the praises of change in Egypt after several weeks of undefined Egyptians demonstrating and causing mass destruction in the streets of Cairo. I won’t pretend to understand precisely what is going on in Egypt, but we all know that the Egyptian president Mubarak has stepped down, it appears the military has stepped in (the word “coup” being somewhat avoided), and the Egyptian parliament is being dissolved.  Our president, in turn, using these events to court college students in his bid for reelection in 2012, is congratulating those who have made these dreams a reality, insisting that such undefined, revolutionary “change” is what the slobbering college students are all about.

Because I am no expert, I will look to Israel, rather than the current U.S. president, for clues as to the true significance of the events in Egypt. Said U.S. president has not been what we might call supportive of Israel, so I will assume that his support for the undefined change in Egypt does not necessarily bode well for the Jewish State. Israel, in turn, has hardly been rejoicing over the events in a nation that has been the closest they have to an ally in their shared and very volatile region of the world. I also personally don’t find comforting the words “Sharia Law” and “Muslim Brotherhood” as potential consequences of the Egyptian rebellion.

Meanwhile, our president stands smiling before those cheering, maybe hungover, college students, taking credit for that rebellion, which has thus far resulted in a military coup, the loss of a parliament, and the opening of floodgates to other nations in the region who seek to destroy Israel.  But fear not, America, one of this administration’s top security officials is out there smoothing the feathers of skeptical Americans by insisting that the Muslim Brotherhood, mild and moderate “secular” organization that it is, is nothing to fear.

Sorry, this skeptical American intends to remain so.  In an era of undefined, arbitrary change, only a fool signs on without thought of consequence. Whether we’re talking light bulbs, portion control at restaurants, tin-can death-trappy “smart” cars, or national security and stability, the consequence of change for the sake of change, arbitrary and undefined, can be, and usually is, tyranny.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

Update on the Lame-Duck Congressional Tantrum

December 17, 2010 | Comments (0)
Much has changed over the last 24 hours or so since I wrote about the current lame-duck congressional tantrum, and, if the democrats have their way, even more is set to change in the next 48, as well.

Since my original post on the lame-duck congressional tantrum, the Senate voted to extend the Bush tax rates (much to the chagrin of the leftist democrats), and Obama signed it (again, the chagrin – and, despite the signature, that includes Obama’s, as well). And, in what some have heralded a surprise move, Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (D-NV),  shelved the godawful, earmark-laden, trillion-something omnibus spending bill. A good thing, yes, but, as we now see, done only to clear the way for other wildly vilified pet projects of this flock of hysterical lame ducks.

In keeping with their tradition of jamming through those wildly vilified, not to mention unconstitutional, laws and policies during weekends, holidays (particular Christmas), and in the middle of the night, the democrat majority in the U.S. Senate is positioned on this fine December Friday to use the coming weekend to grant amnesty to illegal aliens and, time permitting, fiddle around with the military “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.  Don’t be surprised if they tackle the START Treaty, as well, which would strip Eastern Europe of American missile defense: a Christmas gift for Russia, a lump of coal for the likes of Poland and the Czech Republic.

It would seem, then, that this lame-duck Senate has its work cut out for it. The Senators intend to use the next two days to label “legal” millions of people who have violated our laws on local, federal and Constitutional levels, for no other reason than their ability to bypass the fabric and foundation of our nation that our founders put in place, and that those in our armed forces have shed blood to preserve and protect.  Should these so-called “representatives” decide to entertain START, as well, it’s a safe bet the material will go largely unread since a big chunk of it is reportedly written in Russian.  Of course, they admit never reading what they sign anyway, so what difference does it make?

What a disgrace for a gaggle of anti-military leftists to make earthshattering policies on national defense and strategy – or earthshattering policies on anything — during a rushed lame-duck session hours before Christmas.  But if we the people are to be properly punished, it must be done.  Just keep in mind that we the punished (and enraged) will not forget.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

Congress and Obama in the Throes of a Final Tantrum

December 15, 2010 | Comments (0)
In a flurry of legislative hysteria matched only by the desperation we witnessed when they jammed Obamacare down our throats earlier this year, the members of the democrat majority in the current U.S. Congress are at this moment voting with ignorant abandon on anything and everything that strikes their collective fancy before 2010 comes to an end. Never mind how their constituents, let alone the American people at large, feel about it. Their clock is ticking. They have only a handful of hours left to inflict as much damage as they can before they are shown the door.

Every hour, on the hour, a new vote, a new breathless announcement, including the first vote for amnesty for illegal aliens (though known in the touchy-feely world as the “Dream Act,” it’s the “Nightmare Act” for those of us who believe in the rule and law and see this as simply a ploy to anoint a fresh influx of new democratic voters); a monstrous spending bill with a price tag exceeding the trillion-dollar mark; Michelle Obama’s tell-parents-what-their-kids-can-and-cannot-eat bill; and earmarks, earmarks, earmarks.

It began with the debate over Obama’s sudden and desperate pet project — the infamous bill to extend the Bush tax rates – which Obama hopes America will use as a prism through which to see his pretended centrist and concerned- about-America side. “Boo, hoo!” the leader of the free world whimpered to his leftwing congressional minions.  If you don’t pass this tax bill, my presidency is over! This pathetic plea was preceded by a press conference last weekend, during which we witnessed Obama’s most dramatic show of weakness to date, when he shared an official presidential podium with the last dem to hold his office, Bill Clinton.

Obama quickly acknowledged his defeat in this ultimate clash of the narcissists, when he retreated, his tail between his legs, claiming in so many words that his wife would bust his you-know-what for keeping her waiting – an embarrassing, cringe-worthy moment for America, a glorious moment for Bill Clinton. And a glorious moment for the members of the Washington press corps, so giddy were they to have good old Bill standing at that podium once more before the great seal of the President of the United States – and without a teleprompter.

While Clinton beamed, Obama blanched, his retreat painting him symbolically and officially as the weakest President in our history. We could see this in his body language and his expression, the same expression no doubt clouding the mugs of all those multi-decade career Representatives and Senators at this moment voting with such abandon on Capitol Hill. Shirking their responsibilities to their representative democracy, their people and their Constitution, these hacks know that their furious votes, designed as they are to punish the American people for November 2nd, will be their last. They know that come January, the reign of this Congress and their democrat majority comes to an end.  It would appear Mr. Obama knows that, for all practical purposes, his reign is over, too.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

Obama Pretends Tuesday’s Bloodbath Was Not About Him

November 5, 2010 | Comments (0)

There was a day when I might have found it funny to hear Barack Obama claim that though the bloodbath his party took on Tuesday was in no way a rejection of him and his agenda, he is willing to listen to any remedies either party might suggest for the very serious problems plaguing our nation right now.  But because of the severity of those problems; because of his continued emphasis on climate change, electric cars and Bush blaming; and armed with the American peoples’ show of muscle last Tuesday, I instead find this President’s response pathetic.  And arrogant.  And so quintessentially him.

I have had the great honor and privilege over the last couple of years to attend various small gatherings featuring the likes of republican Congressmen Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) – the “young guns” they are called, rising stars of the republican party.  For two years, they insist, they have literally begged this President and his minions to listen to their ideas, only to be shut out consistently by a fatally inexperienced man whose oh-so-clever response to his opposition has consisted of: “I won….you are ‘enemies’….get to the back of bus.”

But on Wednesday, during his embarrassingly inept day-after-the-bloodbath press conference, he seemed to have flown back in time to those halcyon days of 2008, when he canvassed the country campaigning to adoring crowds and a slobbering media. He even pulled out those insipid comments about his “funny name” and his unusual upbringing, his attempt, perhaps to return to that happier time when he was regarded a god.

Obama increased the embarrassment quotient of his presser when he invoked, as well, all those tired old anecdotes with which he assaulted us for an entire year as he struggled so desperately to convince the American people to swallow willingly the bitter pill that is Obamacare (and we all know how that turned out).  I personally did not need to hear rehashed again the endless stories of all those poor anonymous people who had to sell their homes to pay for health insurance and similar tales of doom and gloom. And through it all, appearing so very folksy, he would drop the “g” on his gerunds – “talkin’,” “movin’,” “drivin’” – you know, that thing he does to convince the masses that he’s one of us.

In the end, all he did was solidify my hope that no one will be fool enough to believe a word this man says. Now. Or ever. This panicked President is not to be trusted. Now. Or ever.

And now, Obama and an entourage unmatched in size and expense by any entourage in American presidential history are off on an opulent, five-star, completely unnecessary, budget-busting tour of Asia. As he embarks on said excursion, let us all remember what the President told us on Wednesday: “Budget, budget, budget, people. Tighten those belts and stop spendin’ more than you’re earnin.’ See ya!”

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

The First Step Toward Our Great Nation’s Rescue

November 3, 2010 | Comments (2)

It’s morning in America, and on this fine morning we may at last breathe a great sigh of relief.

We might say that Election Night, November 2010, was an evening of miracles, but when we consider the character of our nation and her people, there was nothing miraculous about the outcome.  After four years in the desert, which found many, including many on the right, claiming that the age of conservatism is over, the Republicans have recaptured the House of Representatives by more than 60 seats with a message of conservative principals.  We the people have finally been able to express our adamant opposition to this administration and its radical agenda, and yesterday we took the first step toward salvaging our great nation before she is maimed beyond all recognition.

But this is only the beginning, and Republicans, both the newly elected and the remaining entrenched, are wise to hear the message.  Many of the candidates who won last night, unseating powerful Congress members who have been in DC for decades, did so with the backing of the Tea Party and a conservative constituency that refuses to tolerate the repeated attacks any longer.  Newly minted Republican Florida Senator-Elect Marco Rubio said it best in his victory speech: “We make a great mistake if we believe that tonight these results are somehow an embrace of the Republican party.  What they are is a second chance, a second chance for Republicans to be what they said they were going to be not so long ago.”

The Republicans did not take the Senate, although they did make progress in that area – Barack Obama’s Illinois Senate seat, for one, going Republican.  Several Democrat strategists and pundits actually confessed that they wished the Republicans had claimed a Senate majority, so that the Democrats would not have to take responsibility for anything that occurs in the months ahead. (Indeed as many discovered tonight, taking responsibility for one’s actions – such as a vote for nationalized health care — can be quite painful.)

The highlights of an evening filled with highlights included:

  • The staggering number of Republicans who claimed the governorships of states throughout the nation – even in Ohio and Michigan  – which will prove detrimental to the Dems as the 2012 presidential election process heats up.
  • Disgraceful Florida Congressman Alan “the Republicans want you to die quickly” Grayson is out, and it looks like his fellow caught-on-tape-arrogant-whackjob colleague, Bob Etheridge (D-NC), is gone, too, the latter having fallen to his opposition, a nurse named Renee Elmers.
  • Right-wing victory speeches were rich with evocation of American exceptionalism and the beauty of our founding documents.  How long it has been since we have heard those touted and celebrated so vigorously.  Congressman John Boehner (R-OH), the presumptive Speaker-of-the-House come 2011, choked up with genuine emotion when he reflected on what occurred on this night.  It was lovely to behold (as was the lack of teleprompters across the board).
  • And, finally, no more Speaker-of-the-House Nancy Pelosi!  

Of course, not all went our way last night.

New York and California both chose to stay their course toward complete economic collapse, casting aside candidates with proven business acumen in favor of Governors, U.S. Senators and Congressional Representatives superglued to punishing tax-and-spend policies, self-serving special-interests, and the White House.  Look to New York and California, and you will find elected officials in lockstep with the Obama administration and anything their dear leader mandates.  Especially infuriating was California’s re-election of dim-witted Senator Barbara Boxer, whose track record includes repeated insults against our military and against successful black businesspeople who refuse to remain in what she considers their “place.”

Of equal, if not greater, disappointment, however, was the re-election of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).  That said, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to beat the “incentives” (food, gift cards, free flights to polling places) he and his union supporters used to inflate his numbers.  Nevertheless, he has been defanged, as have his fellow conspirator Nancy, now relegated to non-Speaker status, and his dear Obama in the White House.

Speaking of Mr. Obama — and his wife — I would guess there is much anger permeating the halls of the White House this morning.  This First Couple does not deal well with opposition, and I imagine their hostility toward America has mushroomed exponentially over the last 24 hours.  Much was speculated last night about Obama coming out today in a contrite move to the center, complete with brilliant words about compromise and bipartisanship — which anyone would be a fool to believe, let alone embrace.  I personally doubt he has that in him in any genuine sense, and, frankly, I would prefer to see him remain as radical and hostile toward America as ever – in other words, remain true to who you are, Mr. Obama.  Stay the course.

As for the new influx of Republicans who will be flooding DC come 2011, they need to stay their course, as well.  We the people have sent them a clear message.  We the people have had enough of the nonsense that has come for far too long from both sides of the aisle in our nation’s capitol.  Will they take that to heart?  Only time will tell.  But now, we will be watching.

Betsy Siino | Comments (2)

Reflections on Election Day, November 2nd

November 2, 2010 | Comments (0)
It’s been impossible to forget that today is November 2, 2010, a day so many of us have awaited so ardently for two years.  With the election results due to start trickling in in about an hour or so, some reflections from the day:

1.  Started the day with my usual non-scientific review of various news outlets and their early coverage of a potentially historic day for America.  Fox News proceeded as expected with wall-to-wall coverage, and CNN seemed fairly well focused, as well.  Then I clicked on MSNBC to find them discussing first, New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg; then the New York Yankees (they could at least have discussed the San Francisco Giants, who won the World Series last night); and, finally, a few minutes later, a panel discussing Barack Obama.  The upshot of the Obama discussion: If the blood-bath predictions for the democrats come true, Obama is so amazing he will handle it brilliantly and carry on as the most gifted and successful President the world has ever known.  And that was enough for me.

2.  Went to vote an hour after the polls opened and found my polling place far more crowded than usual, a situation that seemed true all over town.

3.  Perused some headlines and found that Barack Obama is backpeddling on his labeling of Americans who oppose him as “enemies.”  Too little, too late.

4.  Listened to Dennis Miller on the radio as people called in from all over the country to report their polling places were packed to the gills – and glorying in the fact that it took them up to two hours to vote.  Dennis was an absolute delight, as eloquent as always.

5.  Looked through a calendar I received today from the USO with my daughter.  It had us both teary-eyed, even moreso when I remembered that the votes of so many of our troops who sacrifice their lives daily for our nation, our families and our children will not be counted.  And that is just the way the democrats want it.

6.  Was barraged by endless political commercials, my own Congressman bragging only, and repeatedly, that he supported cancer research, but not a word about how he has obediently voted exactly as Obama/Pelosi/Reid have mandated in the House.

7.  Felt oddly and unexpectedly content and relaxed throughout the day.  Here’s hoping there’s a reason for that.  And now time to find out….

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)