A College Degree Is Not A Human Right!

A College Degree Is Not A Human Right!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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Whether you want to admit it or not, there are some people who have absolutely no business going to college.

Back in the day, there were “trade schools.” There were schools where certain trades were taught. If a young person wanted to be, oh, say, an auto mechanic, the school would teach them the fundamentals and depending upon the school, much, much, more. It set the student on a path, in his or her young life that would ensure them a trade from which they could make a living, support a family, and contribute to their community. Trade schools were GOOD things.

We have all heard the stories of the high school teacher who assures certain students that they have no business attending college. We tend to recoil in horror at such presumptuousness by anyone, let alone a teacher. But wait! Have you considered the possibility that the teacher might be right? Has it occurred to you that the teacher is in a far better position than you or I to form that conclusion?

Come on, folks. We all know there are, in fact, some folks who only take up space in the classroom whether in high school or college. There are some youngsters for whom life is one continuous party. You cannot honestly believe that THEY deserve to be there, taking the place of a hard working scholar determined to learn as much as he or she can in the four, or more, years they will industriously study to better themselves and the world they occupy and contribute to society.

But in the politically correct world we live in this bit of common sense is frowned upon. In fact, to voice such a stance might get you driven from the room. You have just bumped into the great wall of “inclusivity.” We must be “fair.” We must be “inclusive.” EVERYONE MUST have a chance at a college education and, if at all possible, the government should pay for it.

Of course, when we say the government should pay for it we are really saying the taxpayers should pay for because the government has no money of its own. It takes money from us, the taxpayers and, much to our chagrin, blows it!

Very soon now, I expect to see some sort of bill introduced in our national legislature, which will insure that every American who wants to go to college will be able to do so at taxpayer expense. That is a wrong-headed idea and must be stopped before it ever becomes law. Such a law will only make academia far richer than it is now and will do little, if anything, to better educate the American populace. In fact, one can already see that postsecondary college degrees have been, shall we say, dumbed down?

Let’s face it. There are students who would do far better for themselves, and society, if they studied at a vocational school or a technical school of some variety. We always NEED trained technicians and tradesmen. Every society does.

There is, currently, no RIGHT to a college degree in America. Not yet, at least. But, left to their own devices, the dunces who currently lead our country will certainly make it so. And THAT is wrong! To insist that the taxpayers of America foot the bill for this politically correct act of “inclusivity” is also wrong.

J. D. Longstreet

How Many States Plan To Disarm?

How Many States Plan To Disarm?
A Gun Ban in the US is Impossible
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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Text of the 2nd amendment to the US Constitution:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

What part of “SHALL NOT” do the gun control advocates NOT UNDERSTAND?

This time, the US Supreme Court has been asked to decide if the states have the right to take your guns away. We’re talking about the state governments – not the federal government.

The “gun grabbers” have not given up. Oh, no! They are “true believers,” choosing to believe in the myth and the fairy tale that if you take people’s guns away America will be a safer place. They believe this in spite of the facts out there for everyone to see.

See, those stubborn facts tell a different story. Those facts tell us that when you mandate by law that citizens must give up their guns, law-abiding citizens will do it. They won’t like it. They will grumble and fuss, but in the end -- they will give them up. On the other hand the citizens who do not abide by the law will not give up their guns and, as a result, a huge power shift occurs. Power is snatched from the hands of the law-abiding citizens and given to the government and the outlaws…. but I repeat myself. Next comes anarchy.

I’ll make a prediction here. If the time ever comes in America when the government, state or federal, forces the citizens to give up their guns and the bad guys begin their reign of fear, a cottage industry will spring up all across the land. It will be an industry turning out homemade firearms. Soon that will turn into a full-fledged black market where underground illicit firearms factories will be created to meet the demand from citizens seeking protection for their homes and their families.

There is something very important the elite in this country, apparently, do not know. That is -- just how easy it is to produce a firearm. Even “yours truly” produced homemade firearms while still a student in high school. I even had a single shot 22 caliber “zip gun” (made by me) sewn inside the sleeve of my black horsehide leather jacket! No Joke! I was serious then -- and I am serious now.

A fellow student produced a handgun so powerful it blew a nice fat, round, hole through the side of his father’s barn. And we were KIDS! How sophisticated do you think a couple of high school kids were about the intricacies of producing firearms?

The point is, just like prohibition, a ban on firearms in the United States will back fire and it will create more problems than ever expected by the gungrabbers and/or the government whether that government is state or federal. And mark this: neither a state government nor the federal government will be able to handle it.

Let us say, hypothetically, of course, that a state government decides to ban guns within that state. How long do you think it will be before thriving gun smuggling operations are set up to meet the demand for guns in that “gun-free” state? I’d give it hours. Maybe the leaders of the gungrabbers have not thought about this – but you can bet the ATF has!

Understand this. Banning guns in the United States is impossible. It cannot be done, except on paper. The citizens of this country will be armed.

The Supreme Court will, more than likely, hand down their decision before June of this year. The American citizens have already made their decision. They WILL have guns – one way -- or the other.

J. D. Longstreet

Applying Alinsky: Why Obamacare Makes No Sense ... by Alan Caruba

Applying Alinsky: Why Obamacare Makes No Sense
By Alan Caruba

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After seven and a half hours of the Republicans trying to introduce some rationality into the discussion of Obamacare, the “reform” of Medicare that actually takes trillions out of the present system and adds millions of people into it, the ordinary American can be excused for being confused, frustrated, and angry.

That’s exactly where President Obama, the Chicago political mafia around him, Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi want people to be. At one point in the pointless all-day meeting on Thursday, she even claimed that passing Obamacare would create four million jobs overnight! Even for Speaker Pelosi, that’s a new level of insane babble.

Nothing coming out of the leadership in the White House or Congress makes a grain of sense and it is calculated to making the public so hopeless that, in the end, when they manage to bribe their way to a “reconciliation” vote to pass it, the public will feel defeated by all their efforts to date and ripe for more legislative horrors such as Cap-and-Trade.

Those efforts were seen in the heated town hall meetings during the summer, a march on Washington, D.C. in September, the elections of Republican governors in Virginia and New Jersey, and a Senator from Massachusetts. In very obvious ways, the public is shouting No! No! No!

Forgotten and unreported in all this are the “Rules for Radicals” by the godfather of all radical community organizers, Saul Alinsky. The President who began his political career as a community organizer and whose entire approach to politics is based on his book, said “It was that education that was seared into my brain. It was the best education I ever had, better than anything I got at Harvard.”

Alinsky taught that Americans must be overwhelmed with a never-ending barrage of crisis, emergencies, and unworkable ‘solutions’ that exacerbate problems. This is why Rahm Emanuel, the President’s Chief of Staff, famously said that a crisis should never be wasted.

It may even explain why the financial crisis conveniently occurred in the last weeks of the Bush term and during the campaign for the presidency.

It also explains why the so-called “stimulus” bill has done nothing to create jobs and, in fact, why some ten million Americans have lost their jobs in the past year while billions were allocated to countless political pork projects rather than taking steps to lower the taxes on corporations and small businesses in order to actually stimulate hiring and growth.

Alinsky also preached the importance of intimidation and of ridicule to achieve one’s goals. Though guarded, the President used both at the meeting to discuss Obamacare. Just ask Senator John McCain or Rep. Eric Cantor.

Again, because the mainstream media, still in love with a President whose approval ratings now stand at only 44% and heading south, neither vetted him as a candidate, nor analyzed the Alinsky approach that he cites as the greatest influence in his life. The public can be forgiven for not knowing that Alinsky’s book is dedicated to “the very first radical”, none other than “Lucifer” a.k.a. Satan

Now perhaps you can understand why, when the 2,400 page bill was actually put on display during the meeting, President Obama dismissed it as “political theatre” and “a prop”, but it was neither. How can one discuss such a massive bill without, at least, bringing it to the meeting allegedly intended for that purpose?

The bill, however, contains some of the most wrenching and damaging changes to the nation’s healthcare system and the insurance programs involved with it that it cannot and must not be so casually dismissed.

If Obamacare passes, the healthcare system that Americans value will be destroyed and turned into one resembling the failed systems in neighboring Canada and in Great Britain where horror stories of delayed and denied care are routine.

Barack Obama is the apotheosis of Saul Alinsky’s gameplan to destroy the republic and replace the Constitution with an all-powerful socialist central government.

First we must, by drowning Congress in calls, faxes, and emails, make it abundantly clear that we are opposed to Obamacare. We must sway as many fence-sitters as possible.

Then, in November, we must vote out of office those incumbents who have supported and voted for it.

And lastly we must return power in Congress to the Republicans who have been chastened and learned from their mistakes in the 2006 and 2008 elections. The nation’s future depends on it.

Alan Caruba writes a daily post at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/. An author, business and science writer, he is the founder of The National Anxiety Center.

© Alan Caruba, 2010

ObamaCare LIVES!

ObamaCare LIVES!
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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Like Dracula, ObamaCare seems to crawl away when the light of day threatens only to climb out of its coffin at moonrise.

To paraphrase the famous line from the movie “Jaws”: “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…” We can say: “Just when you thought it was safe to breath free…” ObamaCare twitches.

It looks dead. But is it? Poke it with a stick and see if it moves. Hold a mirror beneath its nostrils and watch for condensation. If this were the TV series “CIS” or “NCIS” we’d punch a spike thermometer through its abdomen, and into the liver, to determine time of death – if any.

Sadly, I have to report, that ObamaCare is NOT dead. Weakened, yes. Nigh unto death? Yes. Dead? NO.

I am still convinced the democrats will get some form of ObamaCare thru both house of the Congress and on the President’s desk before Spring -- probably a lot sooner, actually.

The house has some serious problems with the bill as written. Speaker Pelosi KNOWS she cannot get it through the House in its current configuration, so she is hoping the Senate will configure a bill the House dems can agree so she can get it passed on her side of the building. Then on to the President for his signature and -- Walla! ObamaCare is the “Law of the Land.”

I have no clue as to how, exactly, they will accomplish this feat, but, I am satisfied that they will. Now is not the time to be complacent. We must keep up the fight against ObamaCare.

Even more importantly, the Republicans ought to crying loudly and clearly that should ObamaCare pass into law, the battle cry for the campaigns between now and the Mid-term Election, this November, and beyond, will be “REPEAL OBAMACARE!”

Democrats need to understand this is no threat. It is a promise. They need to understand they vote for ObamaCare at the expense of their political careers.

Few things have inflamed the American anger quite like ObamaCare and the Democrats insistence on ramming it down the throats of Americans. Yet the far left understands that this is their best chance to grab all the power that government control of the nation’s healthcare will gain them. They are willing to go for broke even if it means losing their hold on the Congress -- as they surely will. It doesn’t matter. They are the “true believers” and they are in charge.

No, dear reader, Obamacare is NOT dead -- not by a long shot.

ObamaCare is, after all is said and done, not about healthcare. It is all about power. If ObamaCare passes into law, the socialists will maintain their power over your life, and the life of every American, even when they are out of power in the Congress!

Some Republicans get it. Senator Lamar Alexander, of Tennessee, said over the weekend: “"People are saying, 'We don't want it.' The Democrats are saying, 'We don't care, we're doing it anyway.' The Democrats will try to jam this through, and the rest of the year we're going to be involved in a campaign to repeal it."

At this moment, however, we need to expend our energy on killing ObamaCare. If that fails the republicans should switch immediately to a campaign to repeal it.

Be aware, however, the dems do not believe the republicans have the intestinal fortitude to mount a campaign to repeal ObamaCare. In fact, they are counting on it. It helps them justify the political massacre of their party at the polls this coming November.

J. D. Longstreet

Israel WILL Strike Iran ALONE -- If It Must!

Israel WILL Strike Iran ALONE -- If It Must!

"NEVER AGAIN!"
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet

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I have seen the “talking heads” on TV and I have read the reports by liberal, progressive, reporters and commentators in the US and from around the world assuring their readers and viewers that Israel will not attack Iran without the United States.

There is only one thing wrong with that view. It is ALL WRONG.

Unfortunately, they are judging Israel as if Israel was one of their countries or even the US. There is a HUGE difference between the country of Israel and the European countries and even the US (under its current leadership). That difference? Israel has GUTS!

The international mainstream media, in my opinion, is simply trying to convince Israel NOT TO ATTACK IRAN. They are trying to control events the way they would like them to unfold rather than the way they KNOW they are going to unfold.

Look, we have been telling you, for at least two years now, that when Israel is ready, and the time is right, Israel will mount an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. And they will do it with, or without, America’s help and with, or without, America’s blessing.

Israel is fighting for its life, for its very existence. Israel’s leaders know that the Obama Regime is no friend to Israel -- at all. They get it! They understand that even though most Americans do not. Therefore, they do not trust the American president, or the military and intelligence services under Obama’s command. As a result, they are NOT sharing their full intelligence on Iran with the US for fear of its, somehow, making its way into the hands of Israel’s enemies. In my opinion, that is just good thinking.

Then there is the fact that the Israeli people live with death every single day. They no longer fear it as Americans and Europeans do. They understand they may be called upon, as individuals, to lay down their lives for their countrymen, at any moment, and they are prepared to do that, again, unlike many Americans and/or Europeans.

Israel also understands what it means to be a free nation, a free people, and they understand that freedom is not free and it requires nourishment from time to time with the blood of Israeli patriots.

The Israelis understand that it is much better to die on their feet fighting, like men, than to live on their knees as slaves to some Islamic fanatic.

Yes, Israel’s back is to the wall. They will fight. They will attack Iran with everything they have, including nukes, if they feel it is necessary, and nothing the Obama Regime can say, or do, will stop them.

Poor Israel -- out there all by herself. Just Israel … and … God.

J. D. Longstreet