Airport Insanity Update

November 16, 2010 | Comments (0)

After reading my post of November 13, a friend of mine commented that perhaps I am being a bit extreme in suggesting that TSA airport security might be the dream job for a pedophile.  Surely children would be exempt from new procedures that involve naked photography and the full-body fondling of airline passengers.

What a coincidence, then, that less than 24 hours later, I would stumble upon the story of a 3-year-old who had a meltdown when she was subjected to a full-body patdown by a TSA agent in San Diego.  The toddler’s dad happens to be a local San Diego news broadcaster, who made sure his daughter’s experience would not be forgotten or denied.

So, dear friend of mine, no, children are not exempt.  But you have to assume they are confused.  Parents, schools and pediatricians expend much time and effort teaching children how to guard against strangers and improper touches.  Consider then those children who are properly schooled in the fine art of self-protection, only to find themselves fondled by strangers in TSA uniforms at the airport.

Of course common sense has no place in the America of Barack Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano – at least in those areas of government where they still have some authority.  As if to thumb their noses (yet again) at an America that refuses to cooperate with a wholesale leftwing transformation of the United States, they tweak their policies daily, almost as though they are trying to see just how severely they can punish and humiliate the American people.

For example, today we learned that if you intend to wear sweatpants, pajamas or similarly loose-fitting leggings on your flight, you will literally find TSA hands down your pants.  And in the wake of the Muslim community’s demands that their women be exempted from full-body patdowns, Napolitano has stated that “adjustments” will be made, and “with respect to that particular issue, I think there will be more to come.”  I don’t think Janet herself even knows what she means (or what she’s doing), but I certainly hope it doesn’t mean what I think it means.  If it does, the response will not be pretty.

The irony at the root of this madness is that most would-be terrorists on planes since 9/11 have been foiled, not by TSA prevention policies, but by passengers on those planes who did not hesitate to jump in.  Even on the day of 9/11 itself, the heroic passengers of Flight 93, knowing the fate of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, and knowing what awaited them, refused to go down without a fight.

Since that terrible day, the majority of us have become more vigilant, more observant, and more willing to take necessary action.  Despite what one might glean from the behavior of far too many of our elected and administrative officials, the vast majority of us have become far less politically correct, as well.  In other words, we know that traumatizing 3-year-olds and naked pictures of Grandma are not the answer.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

TSA Security: A Dream Job for Pedophiles?

November 13, 2010 | Comments (2)
It appears a rebellion is brewing at America’s airports, and just as we enter the holiday-travel season.  The Napolitano/Obama Department of Homeland Security has mandated that air travelers will have two security options from which to choose if they are to be deemed safe for travel: Submit to radiation photography and add to Janet Napolitano’s naked picture collection (four images evidently being equivalent to a chest x-ray), or permit the TSA to perform a full-body pat-down of your full body and all its nooks and crannies (images of 1950s womens’ prison movies come to mind).

In response, airline pilots, who must also make the choice, are rightly incensed, Muslim organizations are demanding exemption on religious grounds and instructing their burka-clad women to allow only a pat-down of their heads and necks (now that exemption would certainly be ironic, wouldn’t it?), and travelers in general are just saying “No!”

I don’t know how it will shake out, although I must say I personally am not looking forward to my own upcoming holiday air travels.  I think back to my family’s flights across the country three months after 9/11, when, for some reason, my 5-year-old son was labeled a potential terrorist, a label that would stay with him for several years until he reached middle school.  Every time we would travel, and I mean every time, we would traverse the security gauntlet, and the TSA official would invariably say “Which one of you is…”  We would interrupt the official mid-sentence with “this is who you’re looking for,” as we pointed down at the young child beside us with tousled sandy hair and a t-shirt that we made sure featured an eagle and an American flag.

It became a joke, both for our family and for the rugged National Guardsmen whose job it was to stand guard over my son as he was checked for weapons and explosives.  My son started to look forward to that moment when a big, burly Guardsman, machine gun in hand, would say with a grin, “Come on over here, buddy,” and usher him aside for further inspection.  On many occasions, the Guardsmen would even let their young suspect examine their weapons, the likes of which were found nowhere on my son’s person, but surely contributed to his fascination with weapons today.

In time the federal government apparently realized that my son posed no threat to national security, and he has not been targeted for several years now.  But given the current state of airport security practices and the privacy-violating choices facing American air travelers in this age of non-profiling political correctness, my son’s years as a potential threat got me thinking.  Wouldn’t TSA security be today’s dream job for a pedophile?  Think about it.  The day consists either of taking naked pictures of children or patting them down physically.  What more could the garden-variety pedophile ask for?  And all with the stamp of approval from the U.S. Government’s Napolitano/Obama Department of Homeland Security.  I know I certainly feel safer.

Betsy Siino | Comments (2)

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)

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)

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)

Obama Belittles the Murder of Daniel Pearl

May 19, 2010 | Comments (4)

Just when you think Barack Obama can’t be more lacking in conscience, emotion, blood and heart, he gets out there and outdoes himself again.

I offer this most recent example, given to us earlier this week when Obama signed the Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act, remarking that:

“Obviously the loss of Daniel Pearl was one of those moments that captured the world’s imagination because it reminded us of how valuable a free press is…blah, blah, blah…sends a strong message… State Department is paying attention…blah, blah, blah….how other governments are operating… blah, blah, blah….”

I’m sorry, never mind all the typical Obama rhetoric that simply reveals once more how disconnected this President is from the real America, real people, and his own refusal to recognize evil for what it is and give it a name. No, this droid of a President had me at “captured the world’s imagination.”

For the record, Mr. President, movies “capture the imagination.” Books “capture the imagination.” The horrific murder of a man at the hand of Islamic terrorists – terrorists you won’t name as such but whom you will protect with the precious rights of an American citizen….that is an act of war, Mr. President, an act of terror, and a desecration of life and dignity. Nothing inspiring or imaginative about it, and disgraceful and disgusting is the man who would view it so.

Barack Obama’s imagination was apparently captured on February 1, 2002, when the rest of us watched in horror as Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was beheaded by masked terrorists in Pakistan.  Revealing to all the world the raw nature of evil, they tortured him, and they murdered him. On camera. Not because he was a journalist, but because he was an American. And a Jewish American at that.

Now Obama tells us that this atrocity was not what we all perceived it to be. It was not in fact yet another testament to the evil driving those who seek to destroy us and our children. No, he tells us in his customary cold, robotic manner, that it was a tribute to a free press.

Meanwhile, the colleagues in that free press that Daniel Pearl left behind continue to ignore the void within their beloved President, who would regard the violent death of one of their own as an imagination-capturing event. This should be their wake-up call, the signal that perhaps it’s time for them to open their eyes and acknowledge the shattering lack of humanity at the root of this and so many other Obama comments like it. I won’t count on this happening, of course. I trust these so-called journalists will continue to find it more comfortable to fill their cozy niches within this administration’s army of “useful idiots.” Indeed their President is relying on them to do just that.

Betsy Siino | Comments (4)

Taking Us for Fools Yet Again in the Wake of a Would-Be Attack

May 8, 2010 | Comments (1)

Update (May 10):  Attorney General, Eric Holder, perhaps realizing that the American people weren’t buying the party line, has acknowledged that previous claims about the would-be Times Square bomber acting alone, reacting to his inability to reach the American Dream, yada, yada, yada, were apparently off base.  The United States, he now says, has ”developed evidence that shows the Pakistani Taliban was behind the attack.” No surprise there, Eric. Maybe next time you’ll listen to us.

Original Post (May 8):  Lots of polls – scientific and otherwise — making the rounds almost hourly these days. Let’s conduct our own completely unscientific poll here, and measure what might be labeled the most humorous aspects of Faisal Shahzad’s attempted bombing of Times Square on May 1st, and the administration’s and their lapdog media’s response to that would-be attack.

*  Lapdog media hacks presuming the alleged perpetrator, before and after he was identified and apprehended, to be an obvious member of the Tea Party. See how violent those right-wingers are? (They fell short of calling him a teabagger.)

*  The lapdogs’ anguish upon learning that the alleged perpetrator was a Muslim named Shahzad rather than a Christian named Billy Bob, Jeff, Bubba or Sarah Palin.

*  Shahzad painted as a disgruntled family man, just trying to make ends meet and facing mortgage foreclosure in the unfair, cutthroat, racist world that is America.

*  Shahzad proclaimed an obvious amateur (thus no real threat), who had no idea what he was doing, despite his knowledge of explosives, his possession of explosives, and his knowledge of airline/airport operations and vehicular identification practices.

*  Media and administration alike proclaiming the White House victorious in stopping this attack — at the same time claiming there was no threat because of the alleged perpetrator’s amateur status.

*  Shahzad’s being granted American citizenship one year ago, despite his many trips back and forth to Pakistan and documented meetings with known suspicious individuals.

*  Shahzad’s ability to board a plane for the Middle East without that pesky “no-fly list” from which he was removed a year ago to stop him, despite his many trips back and forth to Pakistan and documented meetings with known suspicious individuals.

*  White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs’ now-familiar stuttering and stammering, finally resorting to that now-familiar standby: “Blame Fox News. It’s their fault.”

*  Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s now-familiar channeling of the deer in the headlights as she is once again asked to explain this administration’s actions (or lack thereof) and the safety of our America.

*  Shahzad hated George Bush, so what do you expect?

*  He acted alone.

Hmm. Come to think of it, none of these are funny. We the people end up the losers once more, our country at risk, our families in danger. No, not funny at all.

Betsy Siino | Comments (1)

Justice Prevails for Three Navy Seals

May 7, 2010 | Comments (0)

On December 7th of last year, a date we know historically as “a day of infamy,” I wrote of the disgrace of seeing three of our Navy Seals being court martialed for their alleged aggression in their capture of terrorist Ahmed Hashim Abed. Never mind that this terrorist (yes, I said terrorist) is considered the mastermind behind the murder and desecration of four American contractors working in Iraq. Not surprisingly, our current administration remains unconcerned about that aspect of the case. Their concern, their fearless leader included, is that in the process of this capture, these three Seals allegedly gave Abed a fat lip or called him a name or stepped on his toe or some such nonsense.

But such ridiculous (treasonous) foolishness aside, May 6th of this year marks another day of infamy, for on this day, the last of our Seals being forced to face this ultimate betrayal from the nation they have sworn to defend and protect, was found not guilty. In other words, for Matthew McCabe, Julio Huertas and Jonathan Keefe, justice has prevailed. And we may all sleep more peacefully for it.

These heroes followed their sense of honor. The can take comfort tonight, not only in their ongoing knowledge that they did nothing wrong — and indeed they insisted on going to trial when they could have struck a deal and avoided the circus – but also in the fact that the vast majority of Americans are rejoicing in their exoneration. In other words, we the people have all along supported and honored them for bringing to justice a terrorist who wants to destroy us, and our thoughts and prayers stayed with them throughout their ordeal. I, of course, speak here only for “we the people” who, like them, revere our Constitution, not the clowns in this adminstration who desecrate that sacred document – and who made this court martial all possible.

Speaking of the clowns, given the outcome of these court martials, I have a question for we the people. Faced with the threats of those who want to kill us — and who make this desire quite clear every few weeks or so on our own soil and in our own airspace — just who would you like out there on the front lines ensuring that our children and our nation remain safe and secure? The namby-pamby elitist intellectual throwbacks to the 60s now wobbling through the halls of the White House and its environs and reading terrorists their rights? Or the likes of Matthew McCabe, Julio Huertas and Jonathan Keefe? I think you know my answer to this question. And I think I know yours, as well.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

What a Difference a Day Makes

April 18, 2010 | Comments (1)

The song says: “What a difference a day makes.” Since January of 2009 we have experienced a constant barrage of events each and every day that have kept us worrying and fretting over the well-being and the very existence of our country. Indeed those of us who love this nation, and have no desire to see it “transformed,” have known no peace since then. The days I have been hobbled during this site’s re-tooling have been no exception. The highlights:

  • The President of Poland, his wife, the leader of the Polish military and virtually all of Poland’s top officials were killed when the plane carrying them to a memorial in Russia crashed in that nation’s countryside. Poland has been one of America’s staunchest allies, and the prayers of countless Americans have been sent their way. In an unfortunate PR move, Barack Obama, unable to attend the President’s funeral because of the volcano in Iceland, went golfing instead.
  •  Tax Day, April 15th, was commemorated by thousands of Americans who participated in peaceful Tea Party demonstrations throughout the nation to protest “taxation without representation.” Their actions were met, as expected, by lapdog media types and democrat politicians with derision and ridicule that only served to reveal once more how frightened they are of the Tea Party movement. More than one pundit commented that it’s never good for politicians and those seeking ratings to attack the American people.
  •  Joining his media and political minions, Barack Obama, displaying the heights of elitist arrogance, commented that he was “amused” by the Tea Party Americans who took to the streets on Tax Day. Regarding, as he does, we the people as a source of peasant entertainment, here’s hoping Obama won’t be so “amused” come November.
  • We witnessed the de-fanging of America, when Barack Obama not only signed a nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia (displaying once again his naïve ignorance and useful idiocy), but also let it be known to all the world that they are free to attack America and her people without fear of retribution.
  •  When Sarah Palin expressed her disgust with Obama’s signing of the disarmament treaty, disgust shared by the vast majority of Americans, Obama responded arrogantly that “last I checked, Sarah Palin’s not much of an expert on nuclear issues.” The lapdog media representative interviewing Obama at the time, in a predictable effort to protect a President whose education has been severely limited, chose not to ask Obama to outline his own expertise in this (or any) area.
  • Obama puzzled proud Americans – including, no doubt, those who serve in our armed forces – when he said, “…whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military super power.”
  • Barbara Crabb, a U.S. District Judge in Wisconsin, ruled that the National Day of Prayer, established in 1952, is unconstitutional.
  • Democrats in the California legislature killed a resolution that would have honored the 100th birthday of the Boy Scouts of America and scouting in California. The celebration has proceeded anyway, without the blessing of California democrats.

 Sadly, this is only a drop in the bucket. But it’s enough for now. It serves to remind us that with every day presenting unwanted “differences,” we the people, amusing as we may be to certain individuals, cannot give up the fight. How it frightens our opposition to know that we have no intention of doing so.

Betsy Siino | Comments (1)

Betrayal in Austin

February 18, 2010 | Comments (0)

February 18, 2010 | Comments

This morning our nation fell victim to what appears to be an act of domestic terror, when a disgruntled American, Joseph Andrew Stack, crashed his private plane into a building in Austin, Texas, flashing us all back in a heartbeat to that terrible day in September of 2001.

The attack was preceded by the alleged perpetrator’s online posting of a manifesto outlining his anger at the United States government in a day and age when “taxation without representation” is epidemic. He then lit the home occupied by this wife and daughter on fire, and went on to crash his plane into a building that apparently housed an IRS office. Much is yet to be learned about this event, which occurred just a few hours ago, but we do know that his wife and daughter, and most of those in the office building (thanks to amazing acts of heroism for which Americans are legendary) survived. Stack is counted among the casualties, yet he carried out his mission intending to take as many souls as possible with him.

In the rambling pages of his online rant, we learn that, for whatever reason, life has been difficult for Joseph Stack. Seeking a source to blame, he insists that he lives in “a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie,” chastising the American public, who “buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their ‘freedom.” He speaks of the storm raging in his head, concluding that “violence is the only answer.”

It’s safe to say that anger is indeed prevalent in this nation today in light of what is being done to our country. Not prevalent, thank God, is the Joseph-Stack brand of that anger, which justifies attempts on the lives of one’s own family, attacks on innocent Americans, and the violation of the pure ideology and heroism on which this country was founded. Such actions are the ultimate betrayal committed by a very sick man, who has left us with a collective anger now even more palpable because of what he has done to our people and our country.

Stack’s act of terrorism has undermined the mission of modern-day patriots who share a fury at the federal government and the war declared upon our freedoms. Our shared anger, and thus our energies, are now directed toward this man, who would take our cause and use it to fuel his attack on his fellow Americans. It makes as much sense as the White House declaring this was no act of terrorism, but we Americans know terrorism when we see it, and our founders knew it, too.

The patriots who founded and fought for this nation knew well the anger ignited by oppression and unrepresented taxation. But they did not use this anger to attack and destroy each other, as Joseph Stack did today. In time we will probably seem this man written off as a victim of self-delusion or insanity or circumstance or whatever, but what he has done has damaged our nation and those who take seriously the cause of freedom during a very dangerous and precarious time. Those who oppose us in this mission, those who truly are trying to undermine our freedoms, will find some way to paint patriotic Americans in his same light and use his actions against us. And we do not need that right now. Or ever.

So yes, a sad day for America. Another sad day. May God bless those this man took from us today and the families they leave behind. And may God bless the heroes, about whom we are just starting to hear, whose courageous acts ensured that fewer would be taken.

Betsy Siino | Comments

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