Portrait of an Everyday Patriot

August 3, 2010 | Comments (1)
A woman near and dear to me recently attended a town hall hosted by her Congressman, George Miller (D-CA). She had waited a year to attend such a meeting, writing and calling Congressman Miller almost daily. But her congressional representative, like so many of his colleagues, has been hiding under a rock for the last year, tiptoeing out only long enough to jump a jet back to DC, safe from his constituents 3,000 miles away.

For those unfamiliar, Congressman Miller (D-CA) is an entrenched San Francisco Bay Area representative who not only votes however his Bay Area mistress Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) — and, by extension, fearless leader Obama — mandate, but is also the driving force behind the idea that the federal government should take possession of the nation’s 401K accounts. According to Congressman Miller, the feds are far more qualified to take care of your 401K money than you are. You understand.

But on this particular summer day, suddenly believing the media propaganda that the American people have forgotten their rage and are climbing onboard the Obama express, Congressman Miller ventured out into the sunlight and into a Bay Area auditorium.

It didn’t take long for the Congressman to learn he had severely misread the tea leaves. Before he knew it, he was being hailed by a woman – a mom, a grandma, a regular American – a woman whose emails, letters and phone calls he had successfully dodged for over a year. Before the night was over, this woman, a woman so near and dear to me, would emerge an everyday American patriot.

She took the microphone and told Congressman Miller that she had no question, but rather a statement to share with him. Her only intention was to verbalize what she had been writing to him for months, this time making sure he heard. She would report afterwards that she no idea her words would garner such cheers and applause from the other people surrounding her as, for the first time in her life, she spoke in a public forum. Health care, cap and trade, crippling taxes, the future of her grandchildren – she covered them all with that pure and organic eloquence that comes only when true passion is the source.

And as a mom and a grandma, practiced in the art of motherhood, not politics, she informed her representative that she did not appreciate the canned mass-mailed and spammed form letters that were his only contact with his constituents. “Congressman,” she said, “in one of your emails you said, and I quote, ‘I am working very hard to pass these bills in order to help you make smarter decisions.’ Congressman, I am 71 years old. I do not need you or the government to help me make smarter decisions!”

What she did need, she told him, was for the government to stop. “Please stop,” she pleaded. “Just stop the spending and the government takeover of every aspect of our lives….we have the right to make our own decisions, and we will make our own choices.”

Much to Congressman Miller’s relief, you won’t find this on YouTube. The woman at its heart wasn’t looking for viral notoriety so she made no such preparations. Her intent was simply to be heard by the man ostensibly elected to represent her and her family’s interests, a man who at one point during her statement tried to stop her, to quiet her, but, trained as she is as mom and grandma, she informed him she would finish, and he would listen.

And he did listen. He had no choice. What he heard will have no bearing on what he does, of course. Nancy and fearless leader Obama hold those reins. But others listened. And others are listening all across the country. And others are speaking up for the first time in their lives, too, just like this everyday patriot who is so near and dear to me. And to you. And to all Americans who applaud those who are finding a courage they never knew they had to stand up in defense of the country we love.

Betsy Siino | Comments (1)

Accountability and Regretful Americans

July 13, 2010 | Comments (1)

I wish I could laugh, hearing that captains of industry now regret the millions they donated to Barack Obama, arming him with the power to decimate American industry and the free-market system. I wish I could smile when I hear the lapdog media reporting with shock that confidence in this President is plummeting across the board, and that even members of his own party are realizing they have made a terrible mistake by pledging him their blind allegiance. I wish I could at least grin upon hearing that millions of voters now admit they would vote differently if given the opportunity to go back in time to November, 2008.

But I’m not laughing, and neither am I feeling the relief I suppose I should upon hearing that these Americans have recognized the terrible mistakes they made. Because of the devastation those mistakes, those choices have caused our country, our families and our children, I feel no relief, no sympathy. This is permanent-record territory, so anger is all you’ll get from me.

From sea to shining sea, well-educated, highly skilled, Constitution-loving Americans are admitting they regret their votes for Obama now that their eyes have opened to the true character and agenda of the man. We just don’t understand what happened, these individuals invariably plead.

But why don’t they understand? What’s the big mystery here? It’s really quite simple: They and so many others just don’t want to acknowledge the part they played in the current attacks on our country. They did so knowingly, and probably at the time with a big goofy smile of do-gooder, guilt-relief on their faces.

Though my own conscious is clean, I find the simplicity of this tragic situation staggering. Here you have thoughtful, highly skilled, professionally experienced people who have worked very hard for what they have achieved in this life. I know these people. You know them, too. Now along comes this guy running for President. To spare my own sanity, I’ll skip the description of his lack of experience, his mysterious past, his frightening associations, and his childhood scars.

Now, given this man’s thin resume and problematic personal background, let’s ask our regretful yet accomplished, hard-working, professionally experienced Americans, including friends and family members of our own, if they would ever hire this man to work for their companies, their practices, their shops. Of course they wouldn’t. And they would say this without hesitation, I’m sure. Yet millions of these same accomplished, professionally experienced friends and family members, also without hesitation, entrusted the futures of our precious nation, our families and our children to this same incompetent individual.

And they should be ashamed. Not shocked. Not disappointed. Ashamed.

Maybe one day I’ll be able to shed my own anger over what they did to us – beginning with what I hope will be a redemptive election for our country come November. In the meantime, all those regretful Americans out there can take their first step toward their own redemption by acknowledging their guilt – not regret, guilt — and then doing all they can to make things right again.

Betsy Siino | Comments (1)

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)

Castro Approves

March 30, 2010 | Comments (0)

 

Oh, happy day, America! Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, sweetheart of Hollywood and other left-wingers everywhere (if not his own people), has given America his stamp of approval for the passage of the health-care monstrosity last week.

Last Thursday, Castro called America’s willingness to pass such a sweeping law, a law so akin to his own leadership style, a “miracle,” (never mind that “America” did not pass this atrocity; a handful of corrupt, elitist politicians did it without consent of the people; no doubt another aspect much admired by Fidel).

Though a profound fan of Obama, Castro made it clear that this President still has a long way to go before he receives the Cuban leader’s full endorsement. Nevertheless, the U.S. President’s transforming the American health-care system in both leaders’ own images was certainly a step in the right direction toward “the success of [Obama’s government].” Indeed Castro is proud to see Obama following Cuba’s lead in socializing, nationalizing and rationing health care, “something,” said Castro, “that Cuba was able to do half a century ago.”

As a follow-up, I suggest Americans who aren’t looking for Castro’s endorsement take a look at one of my favorite films An American Carol. Within this comedic Christmas-Carolesque spoof of propagandist Michael Moore (the best part being Kelsey Grammer’s George S. Patton; he is wonderful!), you will find a celebration of the true spirit of America and her history, attention paid to the very real threat of jihad and the ACLU, and a glimpse into Castro’s Cuban health-care system. When you watch it, think about Obama and his minions working so hard to relegate us peasants to such a system – a system from which these tyrants have ensured that they, like Castro, will forever be immune.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

“To Control the People”

March 24, 2010 | Comments (1)

Yesterday I was listening to Dennis Miller on the radio, and someone called in and said:

It’s a sad day, when people place all their hopes and dreams in a politician rather than in themselves.

I came home, this sad idea still in my head, and heard the bombshell that I trust will become one of many rallying cries for those, like me, who find the direction a certain administration and Congress are taking our country to be abhorrent. The speaker was veteran Congressman John Dingell (D-MI). I trust you have heard it by now, too. If you haven’t, you will:

The harsh fact of the matter is when you’re going to pass legislation that will cover 300 [million] American people in different ways, it takes a long time to do the necessary administrative steps that have to be taken to put the legislation together to control the people.”

Got that? “…to control the people.” You’ve heard of The Twilight Zone’s “To Serve Man.” Well, do the math.

Dingell has since claimed he didn’t mean it. He was tired. Then he claimed he was talking about insurance companies. Sorry, John. You revealed precisely what you and your conspirators are up to. Not that we the people are at all surprised; it’s just good to hear you confess. We thank you for handing it over so easily. It now goes down in the book of the permanent record – for you  and everyone else driving this and your collective goal “to control the people.” In other words, for all who voted “yes.”

Then evening came. And the next assault: news of yet another staged photo-op, designed to tug at the hearts of ignorant America, the people the left believe to be nothing but shlubs ripe for believing anything they feed us. It seems my old friend Patrick Kennedy, whose name has appeared on previous posts on this site, placed a note on father Teddy’s grave. “Dad, the unfinished business is done,” it said. And he cried. For all the cameras.

Plenty we could say about this, but I’m just gratified knowing that I am not the only one who wondered how the press en masse was alerted to his pilgrimage and his laying of the note on the holy shrine. Needless to say, the lapdog media went apoplectic over this heartfelt moment, though I haven’t heard any gushing as they did following Ted’s death that “Mary Jo would be proud” or “Mary Jo would think it was all worth it (for what it’s worth, no she wouldn’t). I haven’t heard anything, either, about Obama’s and Teddy’s “ordinary Americans” responding quite so emotionally. Even though the lapdogs told us to in their mission to help the left “control the people.”

So before any more comes down the pike, I’m saying good-night. And hoping that someday, the lump in my stomach, and my feeling that I have been plopped down in some foreign land (or planet?), will be nothing but blips on the historical radar. And they will be relegated so, because, Congressman Dingell, we will not be controlled.

Betsy Siino | Comments (1)

ACORN and the IRS: Perfect Fit, Perfect Storm

March 23, 2010 | Comments (0)

My, what a coincidence.

On Sunday, March 21st, ACORN – the controversial former-employer of Barack Obama accused of fraudulently manipulating the 2008 presidential election in Obama’s favor, then caught repeatedly on tape willing to participate in schemes involving prostitution, human trafficking and tax evasion – announced it will be shutting down operations “over the coming months.”

On that very same day – Sunday, March 21st – the democratic House of Representatives, after weeks of bribes, payoffs and threats to its own members, voted to pass their and their President’s beloved health-care “reform” bill, that will gut the bank accounts, opportunities and freedoms of the American people.

Part of that bill mandates the hiring of more than 16,000 new IRS agents, who will be charged with enforcing the freedom-busting tenets of this radical, unconstitutional piece of garbage. So, if you happen to run a small business, the backbone of the United States, you will be investigated by these IRS enforcers to ensure you are purchasing a proper level of health insurance for yourself and your employees. Stray from dear leader’s orders in any way, and the enforcers will get you. No mercy.

So ACORN folds and the IRS is given fresh blood and fresh orders all in the same day. Hmm, maybe all those soon-to-be-out-of-work ACORN folks caught on tape agreeing to help the faux undercover prostitute and her “handler” bring underage girls into their stable, aren’t at all upset about their organization folding, because new positions await. You know, positions with powerful enforcement authority within the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS will be hiring – Congress and el presidente made it so — but it may be that those 16,000-plus jobs are already filled.

Hmm, maybe it’s not a coincidence at all.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

A Curse on Both Your Houses

March 21, 2010 | Comments (0)

Tonight they did it. The majority of democrats in the United States House of Representatives voted “yes” on the health-care atrocity and got it passed. They took the 30 pieces of silver and betrayed us, their nation, their voters, even their own children.

And it’s not just health care, America. You know that, right?

Back in the early days of his presidency and the heyday of his campaign, Barack Obama informed us that he intended to “fundamentally transform” America. Well, health care is only the beginning. And Obama, not unlike Nero, knows this as tonight he sits in his palatial digs watching basketball (Nero fiddled) as America (for Nero, it was Rome) burns.

Obama, Speaker-of-the-House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and all the Congressional representatives who so willingly do their bidding, can claim victory tonight, though I have a feeling all are not celebrating. They know this is wrong. Nevertheless, they have plenty more in store for us in dear leader’s mission to dominate, crush and transform the United States of America. They began tonight by grabbing control of America’s health-care system, without benefit of constitutional rule or the consent of the American people. They grabbed control of a health-care system that until this day was the best in the world. Tonight they made sure that that will no longer be.

Next stop: Amnesty for those who enter our country illegally and promise to vote democrat. Then, seize the guns.

Nancy is salivating at the thought. Fired up now by her and her minions’ ability to threaten, bribe and cajole her weak-kneed, weasely dems into obeying her and the White House’s every command, all Pelosi, her President and their minions must do is deem it, and it will be theirs. Ignore the roar of the astroturf-Nazi American moms, dads, kids and grandparents pounding on the castle walls and dare to oppose them, dare to defy them. Ignore the Constitution and rule of law. Deem it, and America is transformed. Poof! Just like that.

So tonight I say to all who voted for the man who made this all possible and now regret it, including members of my own extended family: You knew exactly who and what you were voting for, so let’s just skip the words of regret, shall we? The man may lie like Pinocchio on steroids at Pleasure Island today, but he told us all the truth back when he was a candidate. He is doing exactly what he and his teleprompter promised during those halcyon days when he floated from one coast to the other, casting his messianic spell with hope, change and twin teleprompters, you Obama voters clinging in ecstasy to his robes.

And now you whimper that you made a mistake. No, it wasn’t a mistake. It was a choice. You never bothered to listen to what he was saying — what in the words “spread the wealth around” and “the Constitution is a flawed document” did you not understand? You didn’t want to listen. It was more fun to go out on that glorious November day and cast your vote, and for a day that vote made you all warm and fuzzy and toasty inside because you made history. You awoke the next morning, along with the lapdog journalists who made it their mission to get this man in office, and, together, you reveled in the celebration, knowing that like every President, this one, too, would move toward the center, and he would carry America into a whole new mecca of hope and change. He was your guy.

But it didn’t quite work out that way, did it? He didn’t move to the center (he never said he would). He didn’t bring anyone together. He doesn’t care that millions are out of work. He vilifies anyone who opposes him. He has surrounded himself with quite a cadre of shady and incompetent people, too, hasn’t he? And that whole bit about taking over private industry and all the threats and backroom deals….that’s not really what you expected either, is it? Kind of makes you squirm, doesn’t it?

Too bad. Like I said, you got exactly who and what you voted for. Unfortunately, though, so did the rest of us. And, sadly, so did our children. And our grandchildren who haven’t even been born yet.

So in keeping with your votes for this man, tonight a bunch of people in our United States Congress did exactly what you did: They chose Obama and Pelosi over their country, their families and, in many cases, the voters who sent them to Washington. Though I firmly believe many were forced, bribed and threatened into doing it, they took the 30 pieces of silver and cast their shameful “yes” votes. They know they will live to regret it. But they did it anyway. And they should be ashamed.

I take no pleasure in saying that many have now learned what the rest of us already knew: Despite what Obama said the other day, elections do matter. And elections can throw all of America into despair, as we are and will be seeing in the days to come. Let us just pray tonight that we still have time to rescue our great nation from the clutches of this man’s election and from this Congress’ election, and may we take our country back with the next one.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

Trying to Look Away

March 21, 2010 | Comments (0)

I’m trying to stay away from it. It’s agony, the waiting. It’s like watching two high-speed trains heading full-speed, head-on toward each other, watching and waiting for the ultimate collision that you know is coming, that you know will be of catastrophic proportions, the pit in your stomach telling you to look away, but you can’t.

So I am removing myself entirely from the overlook that gives me a view of those trains. Yet in the brief moment I dared to look down, I learned that:

Alleged pro-lifer Stupak is huddled in a corner with other alleged pro-lifers; I can only imagine that self-serving conversation, which you know has nothing to do with rules of law or the American people.

Pelosi was mobbed by protestors and was apparently overheard telling Hoyer that they have to pad the vote because “none of these members wants to be the deciding vote.”

Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL), a member of the House Rules Committee is on record commenting about rules: “we make ‘em up as we go along.”

Reid has urged fellow Senators not to worry, that the public option will be added to the bill in “coming months.”

TV pundits are claiming this is just like the contentious passage of Social Security and Medicare; no mention that they are both in financial ruins and were ultimately passed by bonafide bipartisan support.

I can’t stand anymore. Watching a government takeover of the country you love: agony. Watching those who have the power to exercise courage to prevent it: blood boiling. Watching the Constitution you revere shoved through the White House shredder: unforgivable.

Time to look away. Time to step away from he overlook. For awhile. I’m grabbing my family and going to lunch. And I will remind myself that when this day is done, we must look toward rescue and redemption and possibly entertain the notion that today may just mark the start of a new American Revolution. And they fired the first shot. But America will survive — in the image of our people and that of our founders — not in the image of the left-wing fascists who will take a decisive step today toward destroying her. They may win this battle, but ultimately, America will survive. Semper fi.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

Calls to Arms in an Alarming Time

March 18, 2010 | Comments (0)

Our country is moving at a dizzying pace right now, patriots and usurpers running neck and neck in the quest to claim the heart and soul of America. While Pelosi and el presidente scramble to “convince” the “undecideds” on health care before a just-announced Sunday vote, Press Secretary Gibbs sweats it out at his daily press briefing where for once he is asked genuine questions, and Jon Voight and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) call all freedom-loving Americans to march on Washington on Saturday….yeeehaaa!!

If you’ve been too busy to keep up, here’s the day in a nutshell:

“I am calling to all of you freedom-loving Americans to come once again to Washington D.C. to gather on the Capitol steps on Saturday, at 12 o’clock noon. We must come by the thousands….I’ll see you there!” – Jon Voight

“If you get a deal for you or your district, I’ve already instructed my staff and the staff of seven other Senators that we will look at every appropriations bill at every level at every incidence and we will outline it by district and we will associate that with the buying of your vote. So, if you think you can cut a deal now and it cannot come out until after the election, I want to tell you that that ain’t gonna happen. Be prepared to defend selling your vote.” –Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) in a warning to House democrats.

“…against the opposition of a clear majority of the American people, the Democrats in Congress and in this administration are prepared to ram through a $1 trillion government takeover of health care. Ignoring the will of the American people, twisting the rules of the House and the Senate into a pretzel, we are headed for a showdown this weekend. But I got to tell you, I like our chances….Let’s have the debate. A minority in Congress plus the American people equals a majority. America, we can win this fight!” –Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN)

And finally, a cry for help….

“If you don’t tie our hands, we will keep stealing.” – Congressman Tom Perriello (D-VA)

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)

Just Imagine…

March 18, 2010 | Comments (0)

Just imagine if President George Bush had gone on to Fox News with Bret Baier a couple of months after a massive earthquake in Haiti, and justified  a “special deal” with Louisiana, a so-called Louisiana Purchase, where hundreds of millions of dollars were promised to Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) in exchange for her “yes” vote on a health-care bill despised by the American people. Imagine him whimpering that because Louisiana “has been affected by a natural catastrophe that has created a special health-care emergency in that state…They should get help.” Imagine him continuing, “It also affects Hawaii, which went through an earthquake.” Consider for a moment the similarities in the names “Hawaii” and “Haiti,” and imagine that that same President had been known to count the number of U.S. states as 57.

Just imagine if, upon his return from an insult-riddled, gaffe-rich visit to Israel, Vice President Dick Cheney had joked about the beleaguered nation, our fierce ally, at the Radio and TV Correspondent’s Dinner, giggling that, “It’s great to be back in a place where a boom in housing construction is a good thing.”

Just imagine President George Bush proclaiming to the American people that, “I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about what the procedural rules are in the House or Senate.”

Just imagine if George Bush had told members of Congress to sacrifice their seats and careers for him and his economy-busting, probably unconstitutional, inherently corrupt, possibly criminal health-care bill that the vast majority of Americans despise. Just imagine him begging them to fall on their swords for him, because “elections aren’t important.”

Just imagine if President Bush’s Press Secretary Dana Perino had gleefully insisted that the President would gladly sign a catastrophic bill despised by the American people, even if it were passed in a known corrupt and unconstitutional manner.

Just imagine if on St. Patrick’s Day, VP Dick Cheney had asked God to bless the soul of the Irish President’s late mother, only to be reminded that the woman is still alive.

No need to imagine any of this, because all of these comments were actually made within the last few days by members of this current administration. Just substitute the names Obama, Biden and Gibbs for Bush, Cheney and Perino – add to the list VP Joe Biden referring quite truthfully to the press assembled at the correspondents’ dinner as the President’s “base,” and you’ve got yourself a nice, clear read on this administration. Imagine that.

Betsy Siino | Comments (0)