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The Worst Thing Warren Buffet Could Do Is Send A Check To The Gov't!

We don't need more Warren Buffets.  We need more Scrooge McDucks.  Mr Buffet thinks it best to give more of his money to the U.S. Treasury.  One call after another has surfaced challenging Mr. Buffet to simply put his money where his mouth is, and write the check.  However, that would be the worst thing he could do with his money.  Think of the caricature of the uber weatlthy: Scrooge McDuck himself.  In the old days, Mr. McDuck would stockpile his money in a giant warehouse vault, where he could swim in his piles of coin and cash.  But in the modern era, Mr. McDuck would not trifle with wheelbarrowing his money from one end of the warehouse to the other.  He would move it with a big John Deere or Caterpillar dozer.  That one feature alone makes him a better steward of his money than Mr. Buffet.  Simply buying that million dollar dozer to move around his mountain of money would do more for the economy than the contrasting act of Mr. Buffet giving that same million dollars to the federal government. 
 
For example, who is going to build the dozer for Mr. McDuck?  And who will work on the maintenance of the thing?  Who will sell the diesel fuel, the oil, the filters, the batteries, the coolant, the hydrolic fluid, ...well you get the picture.  Who will make the work gloves, the safety glasses, the steel toed boots, the dungarees, the green baseball cap to wear while driving it?  Who will teach Mr. D how to drive the thing?  Who will write the manuals, upgrade the electronics and software of the GPS?  Where wil lhe store the beast?  Who will build that?
 
Of course, the caricature of Scrooge McDuck is laughable.  But many people think that to be a fair representation of the wealthy.  But even if they are right in such a silly notion, Mr. McDuck would still be better for the economy than the Mr. Buffet's suggestion.  The two extremes highlight what used to be obvious to everyone, namely, that the worst thing you can do with your money, I repeat, the WORST thing for the rest of us, that a rich person could do with their money, is to give it to the federal government.
 
Now consider what is to me, the best thing a rich person could do with their money.  You can have your own idea on that one, I am simply sharing mine.  The best thing a rich person could do with his money is to buy either a yacht or a private jet.  Think of all the examples of Mr. McDuck's dozer compounded over and over.  The boat builders, the painters, the polishers, the waxers, the furniture designers, the glass makers, the craftsmen in wood and metals, the engineers, the technicians, the inspectors, the repairmen, the seamstress, even the clothing designer, since we know that rich men need special yacht wear and overpriced designer bikinis for their playgirls.  Who will make the ship's horn for would be Rodney Dangerfields to annoy the less fortunate mariners?  Who will make the binoculars for the commoners to use to get a peep of the beauties and dignitaries on board?  Who will farm the exotic animals and rare mushrooms for their tables?  Who will bake the dainties for their deserts?  Who will roll their cigars and who will stand by ready to light them?  Who will pour the expensive wines and ports? Who will grow the overpriced grapes for the overpriced wine?  Who will cook, serve, clean, scrape, scrub, fill and empty, tie down, dock, and safeguard the yacht?  Who will collect all the harbor fees, and the docking fees at the little hamlets and harbors along the east and west coast? Who will collect the government entry fees at the many different little Mediterranean countries they visit along the Agean?  Who will sell the tabloids of the scandals and who will sell the selacious pictures?  And who will make those giant camera lenses capable of reaching the selaciousness that far out from shore?  Because of one rich person's purchase of one yacht, a little ten year old paperboy fulfills his dreams by selling scandal rags to his curiousosity driven neighbors in Italy, and  an American teenage girl dreams of buying a designer bikini highlighted in the same tabloid, and bugs her mother incessantly until she drives to the mall, buys it, and brings it home to her, after stopping by the grocery store to pick up a few items since she was already out.  Emerging economies and domestic industry all benefitting from just ONE rich person buying a yacht with his "extra" money (left over from being taxed at Wareen Buffet's current tax rate instead of his proposed one.) 
 
Now Mr. Buffet, how far would that extra million dollars go in the hands of the federal government?
 
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Ann Coulter and her twenty six soldiers versus Canada

Why are Canadian liberals so afraid of tiny Ann Coulter??  If a little blonde weighing less than 120 pounds can put such fright into the hearts of so many in Canada, perhaps Ann was right in her sarcasm about the impotency of the might of that nation.  Someone else once boasted that they could conquer any ruler with just twenty six soldiers.  It looks as if Ann Coulter commands such a mighty army as well.  Her brave twenty six have marched ahead of her and vouschsafed the might of this tiny woman, and proved again the veracity of that historic prophet who first called on the same army, and by their weaponry caused the rulers of his world to tremble like leaves in a wind storm.  The recent irrational and shrill cries of her liberal Canadian enemies have already demonstrated her mastery over them, just like young boys learn growing up never to worry too much about fighting the boy who brags the loudest about how bad he will beat you up. 
 
Cole
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Latin American Love Triangle-Hugo, Barack and Daniel

It is my nature to notice small, inconspicuous and often overlooked things.  That trait can sometimes lead to nutty conspiracy theories, however.  Maybe that is why I was intrigued by a news report concerning the "Summit of America's."  It was reported that, after Daniel Ortega's America-hating diatribe, including the 1961 attempt by the U.S. to oust Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez made the following remark.  He commented that President Obama could not be blamed for an event that happened 3 months after he was born.  That remark fascinated me.  He got a little bit confused in minutia, but how is it that Hugo Chavez knew our President's birthday right off the cuff? 
 
As a result, two thoughts occured to me.  Either Hugo Chavez had recently researched the details of our president's birth, or President Obama said these same words to El Presidente while they met together days ago.  Maybe both.
 
Anyone familiar with Communist dictators knows that they keep files on both their enemies and "friends."  They all have a version of the KGB, reporting to them on everyone, from their own second in command, down to the drunk asleep under the nearby bus stop bench.  That includes both citizens, and any foreigners visiting their country.  Dictators often memorize many of the details of these files, such as birth records, and Chavez probably knew both the facts as well as the speculation.
 
Also rolling around in what my wife calls my empty head, was the probability that these very words were said to Hugo whenever our President and he met together.  "I can't be blamed, Hugo, for events and policies of the U.S., 40 years ago or more."  Sound familiar?
These lines were repeated often on the campaign trail by the President.  Concerning Bill Ayers, noted past domestic terrorist, the candidate stated that he could not be blamed for the actions of his acquaintances that occured when he, Obama, was just a little child.  So I can hear him saying the same to the Latin American dictator. 
 
Either way, it makes me wander why Hugo Chavez would so quickly defend this U.S. President, spouting details of his birth, so easily off the cuff. 
 
This Latin American love triangle is comical.  Daniel Ortega's actions belie those of a jilted lover, jealous and irrational, besmurching an unwelcomed suitor.   The idol of his affections, Hugo Chavez, coldly defends his new suitor, the President of the U.S., after the insulted mistress feigns injury, and tearfully professes an unstained character.  Oh, Amore!
 
Of the three, only one is the true lover, or speaking politically, the true believer.  That one is Daniel Ortega.  So I name our characters, as if in a Shakespearean drama: The Communist, The Pragmatist, and The Idealist.  (You can debate within yourself to whom each name applies.  For me, it is Hugo, Barack, and Daniel, respectively.)
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Chavez familiar with Obama's birth? - updated

It is my nature to notice small, inconspicuous and often overlooked things.  That trait can sometimes lead to nutty conspiracy theories, however.  Maybe that is why I was intrigued by a news report concerning the "Summit of America's."  It was reported that, after Daniel Ortega's America-hating diatribe, including the 1961 attempt by the U.S. to oust Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez made the following remark.  He commented that President Obama could not be blamed for an event that happened 3 months after he was born.  That remark fascinated me.  He got a little bit confused in minutia, but how is it that Hugo Chavez knew our President's birthday right off the cuff? 
 
As a result, two thoughts occured to me.  Either Hugo Chavez had recently researched the details of our president's birth, or President Obama said these same words to El Presidente while they met together days ago.  Maybe both.
 
Anyone familiar with Communist dictators knows that they keep files on both their enemies and "friends."  They all have a version of the KGB, reporting to them on everyone, from their own second in command, down to the drunk asleep under the nearby bus stop bench.  That includes both citizens, and any foreigners visiting their country.  Dictators often memorize many of the details of these files, such as birth records, and Chavez probably knew both the facts as well as the speculation.
 
Also rolling around in what my wife calls my empty head, was the probability that these very words were said to Hugo whenever our President and he met together.  "I can't be blamed, Hugo, for events and policies of the U.S., 40 years ago or more."  Sound familiar?
These lines were repeated often on the campaign trail by the President.  Concerning Bill Ayers, noted past domestic terrorist, the candidate stated that he could not be blamed for the actions of his acquaintances that occured when he, Obama, was just a little child.  So I can hear him saying the same to the Latin American dictator. 
 
Either way, it makes me wander why Hugo Chavez would so quickly defend this U.S. President, spouting details of his birth, so easily off the cuff. 
 
This Latin American love triangle is comical.  Daniel Ortega's actions belie those of a jilted lover, jealous and irrational, besmurching an unwelcomed suitor.   The idol of his affections, Hugo Chavez, coldly defends his new suitor, the President of the U.S., after the insulted mistress feigns injury, and tearfully professes an unstained character.  Oh, Amore!
 
Of the three, only one is the true lover, or speaking politically, the true believer.  That one is Daniel Ortega.  So I name our characters, as if in a Shakespearean drama: The Communist, The Pragmatist, and The Idealist.  (You can debate within yourself to whom each name applies.  For me, it is Hugo, Barack, and Daniel, respectively.)
  
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We have found the enemy...US

The enemy has been identified.  It is we, the people of the United States.  So says our President, so says the Congress, so says the Liberal.  America is the enemy.  She is the enemy of freedom, having stripped it from the prisoners taken in war, and denying the basics of  human rights to inmates of her military prisons.  She is the enemy of progress, having suppressed the advancement of people under the rule of dictators, and even slowing her own citizens' advance by clinging to the  failed policies of a bygone era.  She is the enemy of goodness, having withheld its precious treasures from poverty stricken nations, and failing to remove the distinctions that define us.  She is the enemy of mankind, having failed to purge itself of all remembrances of its sinful past, and failing to repay those whom she robbed. 
 
And now, finally, the enemy is America's own citizens; the citizen soldier, the philosopher, the orator, the preacher, and minuteman.  Our government has surveyed the landscape, climbed the lighthouse, looked to the horizon, and signaled the rider.  The enemy is coming!  Awake!  See the anti-abortionist, see the anti-immigrationist, see the anti-federalist, see the veteran!  They are already among us! 
 
Profile them at the airports.  Watch for them on trains.  Do not hire them, nor allow them sanctuary.  Be wary of their gatherings in public places.  Monitor their purchases of weapons and ammunition.  Keep records of their comings and goings.
 
These are the efforts of out government to protect us from the ENEMY.
 
 
 
 
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Veterans A Focus of FBI Extremists Probe - Washington Journal

Don't mean to say I told you so...Michele.  See my post, "Enemy of State - M. Maulkin."  I warned you, and I warn you again.  Check your home, car, phone, computer, etc.  for survelliance devices Ms. Maulkin.  I'm just sayin...
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I have come to America to hunt cats - 2

(We left Bordess in the original post - I have come to America to hunt cats- now we resume with scene two)
 
At another NY corner, a giant screen towers above the street, on which the President of the United States is making a statement.
 
President of the U.S.:  ....and we..uh..do not intend...uh...to allow the policies of the past...uhhh...the same falied policies that gave us the mess we are...uh...in today...uh...to guide this nation...uh....into a brighter future...a future where working Americans...uh...put the fat cat CEO's on notice...your days of greed and irresponsibility...are numbered...uh...  as the good...uh...book says...you have been weighed in the balances...and found wanting...
 
(out of the picture, the voice of R.Gibbs heard to the side of the President:  leme hear an amen). 
 
Meanwhile our Bordees turns to a woman watching and listening with him and says: Excuse me plees.
 
Woman (turning to see the pitchfork): oh God!  You startled me with that thing.  What are you...some kind of city worker?
 
Bordees: Ni.....No, I am hear to hont for kats.  I am Bordees.  I am looking for street named Wall.
 
Woman: whatevu...
 
Bordees: I see you listening to President.  He say same thing when he veesit my kontry.
 
Woman:  Isn't he cool?
 
Bordees: Da... he is vedy cool ...like John Lenin and Beetles.
 
Woman: (;aughing) hey, your kinda cute...what did you say you're doin?
 
Bordees: I have come to Amedika to hont kats.  Your President jos say, fat kat days are nombered.
 
Woman: well I have a cat.  You betta keep that thing away from him.
 
Bordees: Why you haf kat?
 
Woman: well....I dunnu know...ya know...he's my pet...he catches mice and such...
 
Bordees:  catches mice? 
 
Woman:  yeah...don't you have problems with mice where you live?
 
Bordees: Well everybody haf problem with mice...they jos part of life.
 
Woman: Why don't you get a kat?
 
Bordees: We keeled most kats.  A few left, but vedy skinny and weak. 
 
Woman: Why don't you get a mouse-trap?
 
Bordees: What thees mouse-trap?
 
Woman: You know...piece of wood with little spring and metal thingee that slams down on the mouse's head and kills it...you put cheese in it...you neva seen a mouse trap?
 
Bordees: Oh, excuse me plees, I know of this mouse catcher you speak.  We don't need no mouse catcher in my kontry.  We have goverment to help with keeling mice.  All need ees to call on telephone to depardment of mouse catching in ceety you leev, and they sind official to flat to keel mouse.  They com in two, tdrree weeks and no more mouse.  Moch better than thees mouse catcher you use.
 
Woman: whatevu...?
 
(We leave this scene for a while... we will see wher Bordees ends next at a later time.)
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I have come to America to hunt cats

Bystander on a New York street corner: Hey you! Careful with that pitchfork man, you almost hit me with the end of it!
 
Bor-dees:  I am so sorry, I beg your forgiveness. 
 
Bystander: What a ya doin with that ting anyway?
 
Bordees:  I am from Rossia, and I have come to Amedika to hunt cot....excuse me, katz.
 
Bystander: What? Are you some kinda nut?
 
Bordees:  No sir, I am official kat-hunter in my kontry.  But now there are no more kats.  And I heard from your President while he was visiting os in Rossia that there are some really big kats in Amedika.  He called them fat kats, and that they leef in Wall Street. 
 
Bystander: Huh?
 
Bordees:  We hanted all fat kats down in Rossia and we only haf few left, but vedy skinny.  ha ha ha ha ha!......  But you have many many fat kats!  Can you be so kind to point me in the direction of this Wall Street? 
 
Bystander: Somebody oughta get you a staight jacket. 
 
Bordees:  Is this a coat needed to hont kats?
 
Bystander: oh yeah buddy, you bet.
 
Bordees:  Then I must have this state jacket! 
 
Bystander: straight jacket, you idiot, straight!
 
Bordees:  Must I get permeet from state of Noo York for this state jacket?
 
Bystander:  No, the governor of New York will gladly let you hunt fat cats all you want.  Why don't you go tell him all about it comrade?  He might even join ya.
 
Bordees:  Pravda?  Is it really troo?  I can hont fat kats in Amedika weeth thee governor of Noo York?  Whad a kontry! 
 
Bystander:  jeees!
 
Bordees:  Wan question my goot friend.  I am vedy confused about your kontry.  Why you let so many kats in charch?
 
Bystander:   What?..
 
Bordees:  In charch.  You know, your President say fat kats in charch of baunks, auto mobeel kompanees, hos peetals, madiseen, even anirchee kompanies.  Why so many kompanies ron by fat kats?  Ant your President say they vedy greeedy! 
 
Bystander: Oh I see what cha mean.  Tell me something ya big dope.  Who runs your companies where you come from?
 
Bordees:  Oh that's easy.  Our President ron our kompanies.  He took all kompanies from greedy esobeez.  Now we leef wanderful, wanderful life in my kontry. 
 
Bystander:  yeah I've seen pictures.
 
(We must leave Bordees and his quest for fat cats for a while.  Maybe we can pick it up at a later time).
 
At another NY corner, a giant screen towers above the street, on which the President of the United States is making a statement.
 
President of the U.S.:  ....and we..uh..do not intend...uh...to allow the policies of the past...uhhh...the same falied policies that gave us the mess we are...uh...in today...uh...to guide this nation...uh....into a brighter future...a future where working Americans...uh...put the fat cat CEO's on notice...your days of greed and irresponsibility...are numbered...uh...  as the good...uh...book says...you have been weighed in the balances...and found wanting...
 
(out of the picture, the voice of R.Gibbs heard to the side of the President:  leme hear an amen). 
 
Meanwhile our Bordees turns to a woman watching and listening with him and says: Excuse me plees.
 
Woman: oh God!  You startled me with that thing.  What are you...some kind of city worker?
 
Bordees: Ni.....No, I am hear to hont for kats.  I am Bordees.  I am looking for street named Wall.
 
Woman: whatevu...
 
Bordees: I see you listening to President.  He say same thing when he veesit my kontry.
 
Woman:  Isn't he cool?
 
Bordees: Da... he is vedy cool ...like John Lenin and Beetles.
 
Woman: (;aughing) hey, your kinda cute...what did you say you're doin?
 
Bordees: I have come to Amedika to hont kats.  Your President jos say, fat kat days are nombered.
 
Woman: well I have a cat.  You betta keep that thing away from him.
 
Bordees: Why you haf kat?
 
Woman: well....I dunnu know...ya know...he's my pet...he catches mice and such...
 
Bordees:  catches mice? 
 
Woman:  yeah...don't you have problems with mice where you live?
 
Bordees: Well everybody haf problem with mice...they jos part of life.
 
Woman: Why don't you get a kat?
 
Bordees: We keeled most kats.  A few left, but vedy skinny and weak. 
 
Woman: Why don't you get a mouse-trap?
 
Bordees: What thees mouse-trap?
 
Woman: You know...piece of wood with little spring and metal thingee that slams down on the mouse's head and kills it...you put cheese in it...you neva seen a mouse trap?
 
Bordees: Oh, excuse me plees, I know of this mouse catcher you speak.  We don't need no mouse catcher in my kontry.  We have goverment to help with keeling mice.  All need ees to call on telephone to depardment of mouse catching in ceety you leev, and they sind official to flat to keel mouse.  They com in two, tdrree weeks and no more mouse.  Moch better than thees mouse catcher you use.
 
Woman: whatevu...?
 
(We leave this scene for a while... we will see wher Bordees ends next at a later time.)
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My daughter hates me...and God smiles

My daughter hates me...today.  Maybe I am just over-reacting, but it certainly feels like she hates her old man.  Nothing I say to her seems to be taken in the spirit it is meant.  She thinks I want to restrict her freedom, stifle her dreams, or some such babble.  If she only knew how free and happy I really wanted her to be! 
 
She is nineteen and just like her mother was at the same age (when I married her), stubborn, short-tempered, and always ready to fight for her convictions.  Her mother's temper came with a couple of endearing qualities though; namely, unwavering loyalty and intense passion.  But I digress.
 
My daughter went ballistic because she demands that I call her before dropping by her new apartment for a visit.  I told her I would be glad to knock on the door, and that I would never come in unless she opened it up and invited me inside.  But that wasn't good enough. Oh no, she wants me to call first.  What does she think?  That I have nothing better to do than try to catch her in some kind of bad behavior?  I already know all the bad behavior she wants to try (I was nineteen once).  I have no interest in barging in and seeing anything like that, trust me.
 
If she only understood that the only reason I would ever want to drop by is just because I care about her, worry over her, and have an intense longing just to give her my help...with anything.  For that matter, I wish she understood how much I yearn inside to give her what wisdom I have managed to figure out in this crazy world.  I wish that I could get her to see that I could help her be free and happy a lot quicker than her way.  She thinks it will come from the wild side of life with her loser boyfriend.  I already know where that will lead.  I just want to spare her the pain and heartache around the corner.  Why won't she listen to me?  Why does she think I am the loser?
 
All of her old man's rules were just stifling her freedom, road blocks in front of a bridge to the good life.  What a bridge to nowhere.  If she only knew.  ...Call first...what a crock! 
 
And in heaven God smiles...
 
 
 
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Enemy of State - M. Maulkin

Reading the M. Maulkin post regarding the recent DHS warnings of the enemies of state, made me think Ms. Maulkin must be in the top ten of this DHS most unwanted list.  The FBI may have already begun an intensive study of all her blogs, emails, and recent phone conversations.  Don't laugh.  She fits the profile to a "t."  If the DHS document does not generate an FBI field report on her, or some type of monitoring effort, then who, pray tell, are they monitoring?  I am perfectly serious. 
 
Somone might respond that the FBI is only actively monitoring the "nut jobs," those who have a real propensity to violence.  Perhaps.  But that is not what the DHS report says, is it?  And if they are not monitoring Ms. Maulkin, I would argue that they are not doing their job, and may be subject to supervisory repreimand.  After all, the department must follow up on the guidelines imposed from above.   The guidelines from DHS clearly identify the character traits to target.  And the target has Ms. Maulkin squarely in the crosshairs.  If I were her, I would have my dwelling checked for surveillance devices.  I would check my phone and computer for tracking devices.  And I would look to see if my mail were tampered with. 
 
Now you are calling me a nut.  You think this is hyperbole to make a point.  Yuo still don't get it then.  I am deadly serious.  If Ms. Maulkin is not a target, please explain to me why not?
 
Regarding the DHS report Ms. Maulkin spoke about, her conclusion is spot on.  The enemies of state, in the eyes of our present government, are all of those who disagree with the federal government, both actively and inactively!  By actively, I mean in word, in print, and in any form of communication.  By inactively, I mean in thought as well.   
 
Moreover, I am not ready to label this government position a wholly owned subsudiary of the new Democratic administration.  We might be quite surprised at the aquiescence, and support it receives among many republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill.  The reaction, or should I say, lack of reaction,  to the DHS report on the Hill might provide the proof in the pudding.  I might be correct in saying that this is a Central Government, or "Federal" mentality that crosses the party aisle. 
 
The Federal Government is presently fearful of citizen dissent.  Ms. Maulkin, you have been duly-warned.
 
 
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Rod Steiger from the grave to President Obama

"Man, you're just like the rest of us.  Aint ya."  In The Heat Of The Night-oscar winning Rod Steiger, as chief Gillespie, with a stunned look on his face, stared down Sidney Portier, playing Virgil Tibbs, and delivered one of the memorable lines of the famous film. 
 
The words echo from the grave, since Mr. Steiger left us long ago.  To me they have a surreal application to President Obama.  But you may ask, "How so?"
 
In the film, the character played by Sidney Portier, allowed his own preconceived verdict, his own bigotry and prejudices, to cloud his judgement to the point of seeking the punishment of a man innocent of the crime in question.  Virgil Tibbs, aloof from the racism, bigotry and pettiness surrounding him, found himself "wanting" the guilt of the rich, arrogant, and bigotted Mr. Endicott. 
 
Detective Tibbs to chief Gillespie: "I can pull that fat cat down.  I can bring him right off this hill!"  This ironic twist by the gifted writer of the film, showed the foibles and weaknesses of Tibbs, previously hidden in his heart, but now on public display.  This stunning revelation brought about the smug response from chief Gillespie, "Man, you're just like the rest of us.  Aint ya."
 
It is becoming apparent that our President, while at first having appeared to be aloof from the flaws and faults of the rest of us, has harbored within himself for some time, his own prejudices, and preconceived guilt of the rich and powerful.  Those private resentments have now bubbled to the surface in the form of public preaching against the so called "fat cats," the "Wall Street bankers,"  and the "greedy CEO's."  One has to ask "why," whenever a person's language takes a resentful tone, when it is not necessary to do so to accomplish a personal goal.  It is a revelation of something within, whenever one resorts to ad hominem attack too quickly, or unnecessarily.  President Obama owned more than enough political capital, in the honeymoon phase of his presidency, to easily accomplish his own agenda, without having to turn to class warfare in so many public statements.  So, "Why?"
 
Other recent and parallel examples might be relevant.  One has to ask why the reverend Jeremiah Wright felt compelled to go to the extreme of hyperbole in some of his now, well known sermons.  Saying things like "KKK of America," etc. or "U.S. of KKK," "God-blank America," were not necessary to drive home his point, nor to move his listeners.  He could have accmplished the same goals without the hyperbolic hate.  So, "Why?"  It reveals something else deep within the man, bubbling to the surface, and manifesting its ugliness for all to see. 
 
For our President's part, a citizen has to wonder if it is just youthful immaturity, not yet shed by the experiences and wisdom learned through life's struggles.  Or is it something more sinister?  Is it an ugliness within, embraced for too long, and as always in such cases, manifesting itself with the ascension of power?  Time will tell.  The latter would be a significant tragedy.
 
 In the mean time, this is the long-feared spectre of heads of state.  A spectre our founders foresaw and from which they formulated protections in the Constitution's checks and balances of our federal government.   The President would do well, for the sake of his own spirit, as well as alleviating the fears of some, if he were to stop the class warfare in his speeches.
 
 
 
 
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Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother

There was a time in my life when I had to be carried.  So She carried me when no one else would, or could.  He carried the weight of the world on his shoulders when I couldn't even see that high.  When I grew tall enough to look him eye to eye, I still didn't see that load.  And I never knew that a skinny little boy could make him forget the load, take the arms of Atlas, and own the whole world.
 
She brooded over me, cried because of me, worried herself sick about me.  But she knew instictively from the day she conceived me, which direction to push me...out.  She pushed me out, and I have wanted out ever since.  She, on the other hand, never stopped pushing me in the right direction.  She never once pushed me in the wrong direction. 
 
Forty six years now, now have I fruitlessly searched for unconditional love.  Nowhere on earth have I found it, except the one place I left it, in my mother's, and my father's heart. 
 
Thanks Mom.  Thanks Dad
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Identity of Those Strange New York Cats

                                                                   Felinus Capitalistus Obesitus

A mysterious animal has been spotted in the remote regions of upstate New York. Numerous, recent news reports have quoted witnesses describing it as a large, black cat. Sightings of the creature have been accompanied by confusion and fear. No one seems to know exactly what this fear-mongering feline is, or where it might appear next. 


But I know. 

There are clues to make its identification easy. For example, the animal is a cat, or a type of cat. Second, it is large (an important identity marker.) Third, it inhabits the regions of New York. And fourth, this large, New York cat appears only rarely, obviously trying to avoid being seen.

An ancillary clue to this Manhatten-project like creature, might be found in the recent words of New York's governor, in reference to Rush Limbaugh. The governor was noted as saying that, if he had known his tax policy would have made Rush Limbaugh leave New York, then he, the governor, would have proposed raising taxes long ago. Some may not know that Rush Limbaugh recently stated that he was going to stop doing business in New York, due to the new tax increases that the governor has proposed. The testy governor did not realize that, as a resident, Mr. Limbaugh had long ago left the state of New York for the sunny, tax haven of Florida. 

Herein lies the key to the identity of the Adirondack apparition. Obviously, this fat cat is just that, a Fat Cat. No, it is not Mr. Limbaugh, but similar in many respects. This cat is a Wall Street Fat Cat. Like Rush, this feline has fled the Big Apple, although for different reasons.  What's more, like the Yeti, there have been multiple sightings of them, so maybe there are many of the Abominable Cats.  And perhaps these fleeing, fat cats are trying to avoid being seen, not because of any nefarious crimes they have committed, but because of the public scorn their mere presence evokes.

 In recent weeks, they have heard the term "fat cat" used in all media (both liberal and conservative) with such rage and vitriol, that they have come to an instinctive realization that, the combination of being a cat, and fat, is lethal.  To help their image problem, they now live in state parks and eat out of garbage cans. And, losing all of that fat by near starvation, they might hope to blend in with all other cats. Maybe, returning to open society from a different point of origin, like the woods, no longer fat, but lean and lowly, they will not evoke outrage and hatred of their kind. At least they will be skinny cats. Yet, for now, it is dangerous to be an overweight cat. 

Some of these Garfield look-a-likes may have been chased into the upstate from Conneticut, where recent pitchfork waving, fat cat detectives, found them living in fat cat suburbia. While the Conneticut cats watched from their home windows, tour buses packed with gawking, seething, screaming protestors decried their existence. The cats, unable to disguise themselves any longer as anything other than the grotesue beasts they had become in the public eye, may have high-tailed it for the woods, possibly taking their entire litter with them. So there may be evidence of more than one strain or variety of this species, dubbed, Felinus Capitalistus Obesitus. 

Meanwhile, what of New York City? Will the city miss the Felinus Obesitii? Who will chase away the rats, once the fat cats are gone? Will the rats now run the city? Was this all along just a rat-led conspiracy to get rid of felinus capitalistus, once and for all?   Will the rats in New York City label the fat cat a varmint, declaring an open season on them, and incite the population to hunt them down for extermination to the last one, not only throughout the entire state, but in all places where they seek to escape? Or will they simply be content to allow them refuge in the remote woods of the Adirondacks, as long as they, like a species marked for social darwinian extinction, are rarely seen and heard, until they are all dead and gone? And, do other cats, less fat ones to be exact, even skinny ones, hoping one day to be fat, fear that they too will be next? Will all cats be chased out of the city? 

The Congress of the United States has weighed in on the criticism of fat cats, threatening to expose them to the public, naming names and taking prisoners. Beware if your nomicur sounds like Muffin, Cheesecake, Puffy, Butterball, etc., tipping others off that you are a cat on the hefty side. Even the President has weighed in on sicking the public onto the fat cat, while unleashing the government hounds to the chase. With the most powerful man in the world after you, it would seem that maybe the fat cats spotted in upstate New York are the smarter cats for getting out of Dodge first.

All of this reminds me of some favorite movie lines. From the classic film, "In The Heat of The Night," come the lines of Virgil Tibbs, (played wonderfully by Sidney Poitier), in reference to the arrogant, rich, and bigoted Mr. Endicott, "I can pull that fat cat down. I can bring him right off this hill!" The stunning response from Sheriff Gillespie, played brilliantly in an oscar winning performance by Rod Steiger, seems surreal in its present application to our President: "Man, you're just like the rest of us. Aint ya."
 
Cole West
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