"Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they . . . lose the memory of freedom?"

--Thomas Jefferson

Let the Spin Begin

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What a difference a day makes. One day, leftwingers who for almost a decade vilified George W., his “fictitious” war on terror, and his methods and policies are rejoicing that the spiritual leader at the root of that “fictitious” war is dead. America, they assume, will ignore that those vilified Bush-era methods and policies helped lead to said terrorist’s demise. We just won’t think about that, they say. And no one else will either, right?

Wrong.

Within hours of their beloved’s announcement that he pulled the trigger, an avalanche of information and conspiracy theories came tumbling down upon the heads of smirky leftists. They thought it would be so easy. Ding, dong, Bin Laden is dead. This president got Bin Laden. Yay, Obama! Let’s all fall in behind him. Happy days are here again.

They never expected the blowback….

….He’s not really dead! Yes he is! We saw the pictures, proclaim the senators. Trust us. Oops. Nope. Those were faked. But he’s still dead! Yes, says the CIA chief, still dead, and you will all see the pictures. Oh no you won’t, says the president. You can’t handle the truth. And we can’t spike the football. What would we think if they posted pictures of the Americans they kill. Oh. Daniel Pearl. And so many others….He used a woman as a human shield. Oh no he didn’t. He wouldn’t. But a woman was shot and killed. No, not killed. Shot, not killed. Whew!….He had a gun. No, he didn’t. But that’s okay, squeals the White House. Isn’t it? Still okay to shoot him, wasn’t it? The Han Solo moment. Han shot first, at least before the politically-corrected version of the film he did. It’s okay then, isn’t it? That we shot first? And without a warrant. Say it’s okay!….Without waterboarding we wouldn’t have gotten him. No! cry the dems. Say it ain’t so! I saw the intel myself, bleats the senator. None of it came from that. Did it? So, Madam Senator, you won’t act when and if the intel does come from that? When American lives are at stake? Now that will surely resonate with America….

Shame on you people! the left shouts now in panic as they scramble for a position in this unexpected aftermath. A man is dead and you are celebrating! They lash out. At us. For recognizing their hypocrisy. For defying the narrative and refusing their leader a big bump in the polls. And for continuing to demand an election in 2012.

And today their candidate visits Ground Zero. Never has as president. Not in two-and-a-half years. Symbolic place, that Ground Zero. The perfect backdrop for this grand-daddy of all photo-ops now that the most-wanted is dead. Shanksville isn’t sexy. And the Pentagon….well, come on, it’s the Pentagon. But this…Ground Zero…yes! Especially now. So find a mirror and perfect that furrowed brow. And ask your predecessor to join the party. What’s that? He declines the invite. Smart move, President Bush. The right move. Ever the class act you are. And undeniably authentic, something we haven’t seen in a very long time.

Seeing Clearly Bin Laden’s End and Continued Threats to America

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Yesterday morning, in the wake of Osama Bin Laden’s announced death, a gentleman called a local talk-radio host to express how grateful he is to know that his son, who has served several tours in Iraq, did not serve in vain. What I urge this man to remember, what I urge us all to remember, is that even if Bin Laden was never found, never killed by our Navy Seals, none of our service men and women protecting our nation over the past 10 years has served in vain. We have remained safe for the past 10 years because of their sacrifice, and because of the controversial foresight of our former President, who stayed the course in this mission, despite efforts led by the mainstream media, leftwing politicos and Hollywood types, and our current president to appease our enemies.

While we celebrated yesterday, so did we also witness those leftwing minions genuflecting at the alter of their messiah. Don’t even bother holding a 2012 presidential election, they shouted from the rooftops, virtually ignoring the fact that it was U.S. Navy Seals who actually carried out the mission (ignoring, as well, that many on the left have for almost a decade chalked 9/11 up to an evil plan perpetrated by George W.).

Yet certain tidbits of information nevertheless trickled out into the light of day, as tidbits always do. The intel, for one, that led to Bin Laden’s ultimate demise, apparently came from extreme interrogation methods carried out under the former administration’s watch — the same methods the left, including the current president, have fought valiantly to render obsolete. And apparently the Navy Seals who took out the world’s most wanted terrorist were members of an elite force referred to derisively by the left when they operated under a different administration, as Dick Cheney’s “Assassination Ring.”

The information I find most troubling, however, relates to the fact that Bin Laden was buried at sea almost instantly after he was killed. We can’t let his burial place become a shrine, we were told. That’s all well and good, but why was he dispatched so quickly? And, even more importantly, why was he given full Islamic funeral rites before the burial? No legitimate justification has been offered to answer this latter question, and, frankly, there is none.

What I have not heard floated is the idea that perhaps this administration mandated the sacred/speedy burial in an attempt to play both sides: “Sorry guys,” they may have been telling the Islamic world, “you know we had to take him out, but, hey, look, we are honoring him according to your rituals so you’ll like us!” Already we are hearing noisy grumbles over this from so-called “average” Americans (or “slugs,” as our president allegedly called us several days ago at one of his pricey campaign fundraisers). Expect those grumbles to become louder in the days, weeks, even months ahead.

While yesterday was a day of celebration, we must today remember that the war on terror continues, and it is just that: a war on terror, not a series of “manmade disasters” or “cultural misunderstandings” or whatever foolish euphemism this administration has mandated it be called. While we may thank this president for defying his own documented opposition to the war on terror and giving the order this last weekend, given what we have experienced over the last two-and-a-half years, I have come to regard with suspicion and skepticism anything that emanates from this White House. So much theater. So many photo-ops. So much trite and artificial symbolism. And always such “coincidental” timing. Indeed how provident that this president would announce that he took out Bin Laden on the anniversary of the day the American people learned Adolf Hitler was dead — and, lo and behold, eight years from the day that George W. made his much-vilified “mission accomplished” speech.

Providence? Coincidence? You be the judge. But amid the careful timing and the theatrics (lab-coated doctors in the Rose Garden, a fake Parthenon in Denver), let us not forget this Thursday, when Obama accepts his accolades at Ground Zero for “getting” Bin Laden, that if he had had his way, there would have been no critical intel gathered by methods this president and his ilk have vehemently opposed.  There would have been no Navy Seals in Pakistan to pull the trigger on the spiritual leader of Al Qaeda. And if he has way, the end of Bin Laden and his own golden words will blind the fawning masses, the slugs, to the crushing debt facing our country; to gas, and, thus, ultimately food, prices that threaten to grind our nation to a halt; and to unemployment rates skyrocketing as fast as our taxes into the stratosphere.

I, for one, do not intend to ignore the current state of our nation. Today, and every day, I will pray that we the people will continue to maintain our vigilance, as our founders urged, toward all, both foreign and domestic, who seek to harm our nation and blind us to the threat.

The Navy Seals Take Out Osama Bin Laden

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A great day for America. Osama Bin Laden is dead. Almost 10 years after that terrible day in September of 2001, our U.S. Navy Seals, in a mission seemingly scripted for an over-the-top action/adventure flick starring Bruce Willis or Sylvester Stallone, shot the 9/11 mastermind in a protected compound in Pakistan, took his body, and escaped the scene without a single American casualty.

My heart and thanks go out to the Navy Seals who made this happen; to our U.S. troops who serve so courageously in this most treacherous corner of the world (and, of course, to their families); to the American intelligence network that has stayed the course despite a precarious political landscape on the homefront; and to George W. Bush, who, amid the ravenous vitriol sent his way while he occupied the White House, ensured our military presence remained a strong foundation in the Middle East for the protection of us here at home.

As we celebrate this momentous day, let us remember that this war is not over. The Navy Seals who carried out this mission this weekend and our troops who keep us safe know this. And we must know it, too.

Pelosi and Slaughter Desperately Hurl the Tired Old Threats

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The left is pulling out all those tired old chestnuts to combat the budget chaos plaguing Washington at the moment, a situation that threatens to shut down the federal government. Currently raging is Congress’ battle over just how – and if – they will/should rein in the spending spree draining America’s economy of every cent sent to them in good faith by America’s taxpayers.

Playing her part as expected, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), no doubt missing the limelight these days, has nostalgically informed us that the republicans want to starve senior citizens. A laughable comment coming from a high-profile representative of the left, who, along with her fearless leader and their party faithful spent the last two years forcing upon America a much-vilified health-care bill that promises openly to ration health care, by pacifying ailing seniors with blue pills and relegating their health-care decisions to bureaucrats (a.k.a. “death panels,” remember?). I personally will never forget that chilling town-hall moment when a smiling president told a woman that no, under his plan, the woman’s elderly mother would not have received the pacemaker her doctors ordered. His plan, he was proud to say, would not take into consideration such silly factors as “spirit” or will to live – no individual considerations whatsoever.

And now we hear from Louise Slaughter (D-NY), as well, notorious for her highly publicized strategy to bypass openly that pesky Constitution to jam through the beloved Obamacare (for we the peasants only, of course; Congress and anyone who supports this president are exempt and immune). Slaughter this week announced that the freshmen republican representatives (her way, I presume, of saying Tea Party and /or conservatives) are trying to kill women.  Now, at the risk of sounding ineloquent, that is just flat out stupid. Anyone who believes such a foolish comment should be stripped of all voting rights (same for the Hollywood bimbos who way back when on Oprah’s slobber-fest sobbed that re-electing George W. would legalize rape).

What both of these women conveniently disregard with their desperate, wanna-be-incendiary statements is that despite what the media lapdogs may try to promote, most of us out here beyond the Beltway don’t automatically equate the word “republican” with “conservative.” In this spirit, let me say that we on the right are watching the right, as well. Indeed everyone is in the hot seat at the moment, regardless of the party-affiliation letters representatives happen to slap on to their names. And, like our national debt, our expectations are growing exponentially by the day.

No Surprises in Obama’s Reelection Bid

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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?

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

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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.

No Training, No Inclination: Dr. Strangelove Exposes Obama

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Sometimes life’s moments dovetail in an unexpected coincidence that you couldn’t script even if you tried. I experienced such a moment the other night in the wake of the president’s brief words on Libya, designed to double as a lead-in to Dancing with the Stars.

As expected, said Libya-words/Dancing-intro made little impact on the universe, apart from, I would imagine, inspiring the slobbering lapdog media minions who consistently herald anything this president says as the greatest speech ever made by the greatest human in the history of humans…blah, blah, blah. (This would include, I will presume, the lapdogs this administration locks in closets to prevent objective reporting, which has allegedly happened more than once, the incarcerated lapdogs in question claiming it was a-okay with them).

Well, immediately following Obama’s latest attempt to appear hawkish to those anxiously awaiting a dance competition show, my son popped 1964’s Dr. Strangelove in the DVD player for an essay he was writing for school.  For those unfamiliar, with the talents of, among others, George C. Scott and Peter Sellars, this satirical treatise on the Cold War paints both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. as foolish countries narcissistically bent on destroying each other, and, in the process, the world.

I wasn’t paying much attention to the film until I was called to it by a rant from American General Jack D. Ripper (such a clever, subtle name for the man who ultimately drops the bomb on the Soviets). “…today, war is too important to be left to politicians,” says the General.  “They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought.”

Brilliant, I’d say, especially from a film meant as a satirical indictment of the United States military — the same United States military, mind you, that less than 20 years before this movie was made brought an end to Hitler’s final solution, as well as to Hitler himself, but Hollywood has never been known for a firm grasp of history, or morality.

No longer relevant is what General Ripper’s rant meant back in the 60s. His words find new meaning today in a post-9/11 America, a meaning far more dangerous, far more damaging than anything some avant garde film makers may have fancied back in 1964.  Coming as this rant did for me personally on the heels of a speech made by an inexperienced, incompetent, anti-military career politician perfectly embodying General Ripper’s description of such a player, it is downright frightening to watch this politician using our military like little toy soldiers for his own narcissistic ambitions.  Like I said, we couldn’t script this material or its timing better if we tried.

I would guess that General Ripper’s speechwriter back in 1964, who further “satirized” military commanders with the General telling his men that “…in conclusion, I would like to say that in the two years it has been my privilege to be your commanding officer, I have always expected the best from you, and you have never given me anything less than that…”never dreamed that his words could possibly reflect a clear and unexpected truth beyond the confines of a “revolutionary” film of the 1960s. Indeed who would have guessed that on March 28, 2011, in a dramatic coincidence, those words would serve to illuminate and expose a so-called commander-in-chief commanding the U.S. military without benefit of time, training, strategic thought or fundamental respect for our men and women in uniform in a genuinely, and increasingly, dangerous world. Dangerous times indeed. God help us all.

Japan’s Tragedy and Preparing for the Worst

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As a veteran of several large earthquakes during my formative years, I have watched with great sorrow the tragedies that have stricken Japan over the past couple of weeks.  While my own thoughts mirror those we have heard from all corners in the aftermath of the trauma, the events and the dignity we have witnessed of the victims dealing with those events have gotten me thinking, as they should, about what we can do when and if we find ourselves in the sites of such unexpected danger.

Believer that I am in preparedness, when I lived in earthquake country I was one of the most prepared individuals ever to populate the San Andreas Fault.  Outfitted with water, food (for dogs, too), light sources, camping gear, first-aid supplies, radios, tools and enough batteries to power an L.A. high rise for a week — from car to office to home — no earthquake was going to leave me and mine helpless. When I then moved from earthquake country to blizzard country some years back, I simply transferred that mindset to accommodate the new type of threat Mother Nature may decide to send my way.  

My long-suffering husband has through the years humored me in my compulsion, and like any decent mother bear, I have schooled my kids in the fine art of preparing for disaster, which has become second nature to them, as well. And indeed my clan has witnessed firsthand the value of my efforts, particularly when we have found ourselves in sub-zero temperatures without heat or light or running water.

I realize that such preparations may be useless in the face of tsunami or nuclear meltdown, and my heart goes out to the thousands of people dealing with such unspeakable tragedy today. But the hard fact of this life is that some catastrophes simply defy preparation or human intervention. Or blame.  Preparing for the worst, however, gives us power, and I have found that that with that power comes peace of mind. When you acknowledge that disaster can strike, and you  gather the supplies and learn what to do if it does, you become less a victim in both mind and body. So wherever you are, wherever you live, be ready ahead of time for whatever special brand of disaster might occur — earthquakes, hurricanes, brush fires, blizzards, tornadoes, the list goes on. By preparing for disaster, we make our own luck, and perhaps even our own survival, as well.

Patriotism Is in the Details

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In January, 2010, I wrote about my attempts to cancel my subscription to Golf Digest when they decided to feature Tiger Woods and Barack Obama on their cover. The issue in question accosted readers, from said cover to pages and pages inside, with ridiculous images of Obama coaching golfer Woods on the fine art of posing for a camera – an activity in which the current president of the United States has spent far too much time.  While Woods, despite his troubles, is a golfer and would belong in a golf magazine, Obama….not appropriate on so many levels.

Well, I am happy to announce that after a year of my repeated cancellation efforts, Golf Digest has finally cancelled this subscription.  We weren’t even paying for it anymore, the freebee no doubt their acknowledgement of a mistaken decision that I have a feeling cost them quite a few subscribers. But I persisted (and let them know why), just as everyday Americans are persisting all over the country, performing small acts of revolt – the small details — that are fueling the rising tide of patriotism we are seeing everywhere.

Beyond the election results, the Tea Party events and the town-hall meetings that have sent elected officials hiding under rocks over the past two years, we find testament to the fact that Americans do not intend to see their nation go softly into the dark night of the left’s efforts to “transform” this country in the details. A few examples:

  • Record sales of guns and ammunition, resulting in Barack Obama being repeatedly named “gun salesman of the year” (and probably the century).
  • Flash mobs spontaneously erupting at Christmastime, with thousands of people singing undeniably Christian Christmas songs – so many thousands that one mall even had to be closed because of the threat to the building’s foundational structure.
  • Thousands of seniors cancelling their memberships with AARP because of that organization’s support of Obamacare with its blue pills and bureaucratic “death panels” that spell doom for America’s elderly.
  • Enraged parents (myself included) contacting the Disney Channel for repeatedly featuring Michelle “let-them-eat-cake/do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do/for-the-first-time-I’m-proud-of-my-country” Obama and her lectures to the peasants about what and how much to feed our children.
  • Car buyers shying away from companies that are owned by a partnership of the United States government and labor unions.
  • Air travelers happily giving their seats on overbooked flights to men and women in uniform flying home to see their families.

Also pervasive in my own life – and in many other American lives as I have discovered – is the effect the current political climate has had on my choice of the movies I see. I am and always have been a profound lover of movies, back in the day attending once a week or more. All that changed post-9/11 when Hollywood’s true colors emerged as never before. From that time forward, I have found it impossible to see past the virulent anti-American, hypocritical rants of certain Hollywood players, despite their lacking expertise in military strategy, economic theory, historical context, or, I suspect, even high-school diplomas — no matter how great their performances on the silver screen.

Show me a trailer featuring one of these nimrods, and my kids roll their eyes, waiting for my own rant to begin, knowing that here is yet another film to be stricken from the list of those for which I would be willing to shell out cash to see. Ignorance being bliss, I carefully guard the names of those performers I love who have not yet to my knowledge spouted off about how our nation should be run into the ground.

What fuels my optimism is knowing I am not alone in my own small acts of revolt, and I encourage those who believe in this country to keep up the good work. Make decisions for the future of our nation, and let those who stand to profit or lose from those decisions know about it. God is in the details, and so is patriotism and the salvation of our country.

Both Sad and Not Surprised at Borders Filing Chapter 11

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About a week ago the CEO of Borders bookstores sent a mass email announcing that the company has filed Chapter 11, and will thus be closing those stores that are “underperforming.” I found this news very sad, but not all that surprising.

One of my greatest joys in this life is to enter the great double doors of a Borders or Barnes and Noble, catch that rich warm aroma of bound pages and brewing coffee, then wander the aisles for books either familiar or newly discovered (the most recent for me of this latter category being Black Potatoes, a kids’ book on the potato famine of Ireland that kept me transfixed for more than an hour).

The Borders closest to my home seems safe at the moment from closure, which I must say almost surprises me, given their failure at times to remember their reason for being. A few years ago I went to this store to purchase a book by conservative political commentator Ann Coulter, which at the time sat perched high atop the New York Times Bestseller List. I couldn’t find it anywhere, including within the display at the front of the store allegedly boasting the nation’s current bestsellers. So I asked a guy who worked there.

“Oh, that’s back here,” he said, and he led me to the most secluded shelf of the most secluded corner at the very back of the store, where we found the book, practically wrapped in a plain brown wrapper.

“Isn’t the goal here to sell books?” I asked the guy. He just shrugged. “You know this is a bestseller right now,” I said.  He just shrugged again. I decided to forego such concepts as censorship, political agendas, and supply-and-demand business practices. Chalk it up, I decided, to some left-wing genius at this Borders, perhaps every Borders, who hatched a brilliant plan: Hide the Coulter books, and the customer will have no choice but to purchase instead an Obama autobiography, anything by Michael Moore, or perhaps the film made and released during the presidency of George W. Bush, allegedly fictionalizing his assassination — all of which, may I say, were prominently featured in this Borders, and perhaps every Borders.

This was, unfortunately, not my only brush with the Chapter-11-to-be practices I witnessed at this store. Recall, if you will, the July 21, 2008, issue of The New Yorker that featured a cartoon of a radical militant then-democratic-presidential-nominee Barack Obama and his wife on the cover. When this cover was revealed to its predictable outcry, I wanted one, so again I traipsed into my trusty local Borders. “Oh, we’re not carrying that one,” a guy – a different guy — told me. So I traipsed off to my local Barnes and Noble, which was apparently unaware of the Borders brilliant plan and did have the issue available to customers who wished to shell out the cash to purchase one.

So for the time being, it appears the victor in the battle of the bookstores is Barnes and Noble, its decision makers even willing to feature a giant cover of Atlas Shrugs on the wall, a design element I spotted during visits to several California Barnes and Nobles last week. Also featured were displays devoted to Ronald Reagan’s centennial (standard right now to every Barnes and Noble, east and west, I have frequented of late), the only evidence of books devoted to our current president being a couple of children’s paperbacks slipped in among books celebrating President’s Day. A bookstore selling books on both sides of the political spectrum: You don’t have to be a CEO to hatch that brilliant plan.