Mr. Jay Clarke on Obama and America

This article is by a Southern Californian named Jay Clarke.....
I thought it was a lot of very good information and surmisals and present it for your consideration.  It's probably not much different than what many have thought, but he gives us much to ponder:

Something is wrong with Barack Obama.  We all know it.  We all see it.  When he speaks about America, Americans cringe.  There is a strangeness to his manner, an unease when he talks about America.  He appears awkward and uncomfortable.  His speech seems performed and practiced yet, oddly halting.  It's reminiscent of American POW's in Vietnam or Iraq reading a forced confession.  His eyes, expressions, and vocal tone are disconnected from his words.  The words themselves often sound American, but the delivery is clinical and detached.  His attempts at patriotic sentiment ring hollow and phony.  "Once again, with feeling!" is how Americans are left feeling.  He just doesn't seem right.  He doesn't seem like, well...one of us.  
Before anyone "goes there" and makes accusations of racism, this is about a pervasive, nagging, national perception that Barack Obama does not intuitively understand or appreciate America or Americans.  Not our past.  Not our present or future.  He just doesn't act or sound like an American.  In fact, there are good reasons and ample evidence for why.
For many of us, "being an American" was a normal part of our collective upbringing.  We learned it in school.  We said the Pledge of Allegiance every morning right alongside our teachers.  Even in liberal Southern California the day began with the Pledge often followed by singing "God Bless America" or "America the Beautiful."  Annual "Flag Ceremonies" were held with quotations from the Declaration of Independence and patriotic songs performed by the student body, in public, for parents and passersby to enjoy.  There were even songs that mentioned God.  Christmas was celebrated, in school.  It was understood that God was integral to the founding of America and that The Creator was the true source of our liberties.  Schools reinforced parental authority, being a good citizen, and responsibility to God.  Religion was never preached or taught, but it was also never denigrated and never censored.
Public school teachers and administrators modeled patriotism for their students.  It was part of growing up in America.  Honoring America.  Being an American.  The 4^th of July was a community celebration.  We stood with parents, neighbors, and friends and together celebrated America.  We learned early on to revere the Stars and Stripes.  The Flag was sacred.  Many of our fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and brothers had fought for it in wars past and were fighting for it in Vietnam.  Many had died and would die for the American Flag and the people and ideals it represented.  We saw the sacrifices on the nightly news with continual pictures of dead American soldiers and the daily "body count" recited.  
From the World War II Generation to those who lived and fought through Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan today's Americans are those who know, all too well, the price of freedom.  Our children and grandchildren witnessed the attacks of September 11, 2001.  The memory of distraught parents, difficult dinnertime conversations, and the ensuing War on Terror shaped their youth and young adult years.
These and many other shared experiences before and since have created generations of Americans who cherish this land, this idea that is America.  They do so with heart and soul.  Standing on cue they remove their hats, place their hands over their hearts or salute, and then choke back the tears as the Star-Spangled Banner is played.  They are Americans within the very fiber of their being. 
Naturalized citizens often display this same love of country, for many have escaped oppressive regimes or economic hopelessness to come to America and be adopted as America's sons and daughters.  They came seeking their American Dream, the freedom and opportunity to build a better life for themselves and their families.  There's a common, deep, and intimate connection that Americans feel for their country.  The soul of America is maintained in the hearts of its people, fiercely loyal to the vision of our Founders and the ideas and precepts of our founding documents.
These same kinds of experiences did not shape the young Barack Obama.  His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was an atheist and politically extreme.  At the age of 6 the future president was ushered off to Indonesia where he attended school registered as a Muslim, recited the Quran in Arabic, and learned how to be a good Muslim.  In these studies, he would have learned that all non-Muslims were infidels worthy of deception and ultimately, death.  Christians and Jews were the enemy.  Despite what Obama may say, the United States remains a Christian nation with a strong Jewish population and deep ties to Israel.  Judeo-Christian principles helped form and continue to influence our national identity with many signers of the Declaration of Independence having been clergy or devout Christians.  America remains home to the largest Christian population in the world.  What bigger infidel could there be than America?
Obama's teen years were spent living with his maternal grandparents on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.  There he met a family friend, communist, purported pedophile, and his eventual mentor, the radical poet Frank Marshall Davis. 
Obama's connections to radical leftists are numerous and well-known.  He's admitted to attending socialist meetings and participated in a rally organized by the Democratic Socialists of America.  In 1996, he sought and received the endorsement of the far left group The New Party.  He has worked with, supported, and attempted to shield from investigation the group ACORN which was recently convicted of massive voter fraud.  Obama's White House is chock-full of radical leftist, anti-American advisors.  As a 20-year attendee at Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ, Obama was steeped in Black Liberation Theology which is rooted in the collectivist philosophy of Karl Marx.  Marx's most oft-quoted excerpt from his work "Critique of the Gotha Programme" seems to foreshadow the future President Obama's stated belief in wealth redistribution: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."
The reason that Americans feel unease when Barack Obama talks about America is that he is talking about a different America.  His words are carefully chosen and crafted to sound American, but the hidden meaning is much more malevolent.  His goal is "fundamentally transforming the United States of America" into a nation where social justice reigns and injustice is counted as fairness and equity.  He seeks a nation of redistribution where those who succeed through hard work, honest enterprise, financial investment, time, energy, and risk are rewarded with government confiscation of the fruits of their labor.  His is a country where communication systems, travel corridors, and private property are tightly controlled by the State.  It's a country where education is state-run and curricula are state-mandated.  In a fully implemented Obama-nation, it would be illegal to pass the accumulation of one's lifetime on to heirs.  This is the America of Karl Marx's dreams.
Barack Obama does not sound like an American because Obama's heart and soul are not American in nature.  His thoughts are not American.  His attitude and philosophy are not American.  He cannot speak from the heart about America because America does not reside there.  With a Muslim upbringing, a radical family, radical mentor, a myriad of radical connections, radical advisors, a radical theology, and some say a radical spouse, it's no wonder. 
Obama's agenda is informed by Marx and guided by years of close associations with extreme individuals and groups whose stated goals are the demise of America and America's influence in the world.  When he says he wants to "fundamentally transform America," he is dead serious.
For the first time in all of American history, we are at the mercy of an un-American American President.

May God truly bless the United States of America.

Jay Clarke is a businessman and lifelong conservative from Southern California.  He's a proud husband, father, and grandfather.  This article was printed in AMERICAN THINKER  HERE.
z

Marxism and Christianity...why not?

A friend sent me an email about the Chase Bank and the Christmas tree situation and I asked him to write me something on it.  He responded with the thought provoking piece below..........Some of you will agree, some will disagree;  give him your best shot in COMMENTS...thanks!

The official removal of a Christmas tree from the lobby of a Chase bank serves as the perfect example of the innate hypocrisy that is and always will be the chief symptom of the mental illness known as "political correctness." Chase claimed they were reacting to customer complaints that the bank was not being inclusive when Chase displayed a Christmas tree at, of all times, Christmas! They furthere explained that all decorations must be supplied by the corporate office. Be that as it may, what would be the reaction if Christians were to complain about non-Christian holidays as being noninclusive? What would corporate America and the main stream media have to say about a white Christian's complaint about a Kwanzaa display? We all know their reaction would be to charge racism on the part of the Christian. Ditto for complaints about Ramadan, Tet, Cinco de Mayo, Hanukkah, or any other ethnic or religious public display. And they would be right to say so. But they don't say that in defense of manger scenes, Christmas trees and Merry Christmas proclamations. In the world of political correctness, complaints about Christianity and bogus complaints of "separation of church and state" issues are not only not racism, but are considered perfectly moral and valid. This, while complaints about any other religion or ethnicity by white Christians will bring howls and frothy mouthed charges of racism. What explains this obvious hypocrisy?

I suggest it stems from a real and visceral hatred of Christianity on the part of a far left from whose Marxist roots sprang the insanity of political correctness in the first place. Insofar that Christianity is based on truth, and I mean absolute truth, it cannot be tolerated by the tyranny of political correctness which is based on the fog and human debasement of moral relativity. For the Christian, Jesus, who is truth, instructs in His absolute truth. This is seen by those in the world who have been indoctrinated by political correctness as being in direct conflict with their acceptance of moral relativity. Moral relativists must insist there is no absolute truth in order to maintain an unburdened conscious while pursuing their fallen life style. So who does the world condemn? Themselves, who fallen, live outside God's word or those whose very lives are to serve as testament to the infallible and eternally truthful Jesus Christ? Insofar that the world does not want to be reminded of its inequity, it must condemn Christianity as intolerant or noninclusive.

The State also has a vested interest in the abolition of Christianity and has faithfully been fulfilling its role since the encroachment of Marxism on the American political system starting immediately after WWII. Since then, America has been increasingly moving towards a Marxist state which is presently highlighted by the extremism of the Obama administration and its plethora of policies designed to run the lives of its subjects, not for freedom, but for "the greater good." In the Marxist state, which is quite naturally run by the fallen, the "greater good" always includes the most good for themselves. Hence, they cannot tolerate subjects whose allegiance is to a higher authority. Particularly, a righteous and truthful higher authority who desires a fruitful and joyous life for all His creation. The Marxist state demands total and complete subjugation of its population to the state while Christians rightfully put their faith in the Lord and not in man or his institutions. Therefore, Christianity cannot exist in the Marxist state.
So, attacks on Christianity will continue in all forms as the natural reaction of the fallen nature of man. Insofar that man and his institutions are incapable of correcting his own natural, fallen state, the only salvation for mankind is Salvation itself.
MGM

Fire away, either way!

z

Detroit......America's future?

Please pay attention to this whole video..it's short and important. We need to know what's ahead if America continues to follow what Detroit's been doing since the Johnson administration......Unions, government promises, hopelessness. HOPElessness.
And as America struggles, Washington, DC BOOMS. Some 'change'.
z

Be careful, Laborers.......A Russian woman's warning

The Perspective Of A Russian Immigrant

By SVETLANA KUNIN | Posted Friday, September 04, 2009 From Investor's Business Daily:

In the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, I was taught to believe individual pursuits are selfish and sacrificing for the collective good is noble.

In kindergarten we sang songs about Lenin, the leader of the Socialist Revolution. In school we learned about the beautiful socialist system, where everybody is equal and everything is fair; about ugly capitalism, where people are exploited and treat each other like wolves in the wilderness.

Life in the USSR modeled the socialist ideal. God-based religion was suppressed and replaced with cultlike adoration for political figures.

The government-assigned salary of the proletariat (blue-collar worker) was 30%-50% higher then any professional. Without incentive to improve their life, professionals drank themselves to oblivion. They — engineers, lawyers, doctors, teachers — earned a government-determined salary that barely covered the necessities, mainly food.

Raising children was a hardship. It took four to six adults (parents and grandparents) to support a child. The usual size of the postwar family was one or two children. Every woman had the right to have an abortion and most of them did, often without anesthesia.

There is a comparative historical reality that plays out the consequences of two competing ideologies: life in the USSR and in America. When the march to the worker's paradise — the Socialist Revolution — began in 1917, many people emigrated from Russia to the U.S.

In the USSR, economic equality was achieved by redistributing wealth, ensuring that everyone remained poor, with the exception of those doing the redistributing. Only the ruling class of communist leaders had access to special stores, medicine and accommodations that could compare to those in the West.

The rest of the citizenry had to deal with permanent shortages of food and other necessities, and had access to free but inferior, unsanitary and low-tech medical care. The egalitarian utopia of equality, achieved by the sacrifice of individual self-interest for the collective good, led to corruption, black markets, anger and envy.

Government-controlled health care destroyed human dignity.

Chairman Nikita Khrushchev released facts about Stalin and his purges. People learned of the horrific purge of more than 20 million citizens, murdered as enemies of the state.

Those who left Russia found a different set of values in America: freedom of religion, speech, individual pursuits, the right to private property and free enterprise. The majority of those immigrants achieved a better life for themselves and their children in this capitalist land.

These opportunities let the average immigrant live a better life than many elites in the Soviet Communist Party. The freedom to pursue personal self-interest led to prosperity. Prosperity generated charity, benefiting the collective good.

The descendants of those immigrants are now supporting policies that move America away from the values that gave so many immigrants the chance of a better life. Policies such as nationalized medicine, high tax rates and government intrusion into free enterprise are being sold to us under the socialistic motto of collective salvation.

Socialism has bankrupted and failed every society, while capitalism has lifted more people out of poverty than any other system.

There is no perfect society. There are no perfect people. Critics say that greed is the driving force of capitalism. My answer is that envy is the driving force of socialism. Change to socialism is not an improvement on the imperfections of the current system.

The slogans of "fairness and equality" sound better than the slogans of capitalism. But unlike at the beginning of the 20th century, when these slogans and ideas were yet to be tested, we have accumulated history and reality.

Today we can define the better system not by slogans, but by looking at the accumulated facts. We can compare which ideology leads to the most oppression and which brings the most opportunity.

When I came to America in 1980 and experienced life in this country, I thought it was fortunate that those living in the USSR did not know how unfortunate they were.

Now in 2009, I realize how unfortunate it is that many Americans do not understand how fortunate they are. They vote to give government more and more power without understanding the consequences. By Svetlana Kunin, Stamford, Conn.

Z: ON LABOR DAY, it's interesting to read about laborers in Socialist Russia and in America.........then and now...............and contemplate our future.

I give this teacher an A....how about you?

You've probably all received this as an email but I couldn't not post it here because I believe so strongly in what it says, so bear with me!

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had once failed an entire class.

That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan".

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that.

(Please pass this on) the Professor is a Genius

Here's another something from the Professor!:

At 12hr 34 minutes and 56 seconds on the 7th of August this year, the time and date will be

12:34:56 07/08/09

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

This will never happen in your life again
z

A Tale of THREE Countries' People?

Armenians have been coming to America for about 120 years. Though some of you think I might go back that far, no, not quite....My own family are fairly late comers, I'm a first generation on one side and second generation, but I do have some experience with it!

I write this because Mr. Z's account about Germans (article just below this) and how the people became so different after having lived in the East or the West really got me thinking of the situation of my own people.

Armenians, the last 100 years or so, came mostly from Turkey. The largest influx was soon after the massacres. The nightmare some call 'the Armenian genocide' in Turkey lasted through and just after World War I. (There are still Turks who deny the murder of 1.5 million Armenians. Just for your interest, I link this also and add that I'm not fighting that war here at my blog. You must draw your own conclusions about whether the death of hundreds of thousands of Armenian mothers and children was just or deserved.)

Armenians, for the most part, are like Germans. One might say they're known for being highly intelligent and successful in the arts, business, sciences, etc. I've always been very proud to be an Armenian, especially here in California, where the community has contributed in many constructive ways, including William Saroyan or California's two-term conservative governor, George Deukmejian.

Ronald Reagan once said, "America is a shining city on a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere." Armenians were a part of all those immigrant groups who came here to be part of the beautiful dream on that hill. In the early 20th century, we came and learned the English language as fast as we could, even forbidding Armenian to be spoken at home if that would help the children learn their new language faster. I've heard tales by relatives of first setting eyes on that amazing lady in the ocean in New York, the Statue of Liberty, and what that meant to them. They'd arrived! They had a hopeful future, they were actually in AMERICA! They couldn't wait to fit in and wouldn't have taken a handout if they could in any way avoid it, and very rarely did. They are known for their hard work, solid families, and children who went on to higher education. Armenians respected America and were thrilled and grateful to be part of it.

Turkish Armenians aren't Turkish, but it's how we're regarded in contrast to Russian Armenians. What is Turkey now was largely Armenia at one time, many, many years ago. So, those families still in Turkey when borders were moved were known as Turkish Armenians. My mother's family was from Istanbul but, for various reasons, she was raised in Cairo, Egypt. It was during the forties that Armenians in Cairo were encouraged to "Go to Armenia, the land of milk and honey! Go back to your roots!" Many did....only to be stuck there as soon as the Iron Curtain slammed down, with Armenia on the wrong side of it. If it weren't for my mother's brother, our whole family's history would have been rewritten for the worst. He felt something funny was happening and, him being the man of the house after their father had died, he convinced my grandmother not to go there. Many weren't that lucky. They went and joined their fellow Armenians in the Homeland, that land whose capital is Yerevan and which had been the first nation in the world to name Christianity its religion. Mount Ararat, where Noah's Ark landed, was once in the area of Armenia. Those Armenians were stuck there for years, two generations were raised under Communism. (I should say that Armenia hasn't been part of the USSR for about 15 years now, it's its own independent country, so I use the term "Russian Armenians" to classify those who were stuck in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia those years back and even who are there now only to contrast with Turkish Armenians; they are technically not Russian Armenians anymore.)

Those Russian Armenians started to arrive in America about thirty years ago. They started coming in droves and settled in pockets of Los Angeles, a large number settled in Glendale, California. I can only talk for Los Angeles, but I think this story here is probably echoed throughout America. I sincerely hope not. I say that because the Armenians who came here from Russian Armenia, in general, seem to have lost their way, they don't seem of the same stock as the Turkish Armenians. How could that be? Their relatives were here for years, no problems for America; if anything, only good came from that. The Russian Armenian counterparts have changed Los Angeles in a different way.

I once spoke to a policeman who told me "You know, we never had an Armenian in our jails ....not for many, many years! Suddenly, half the jails are full of them. They're the ones from Russia." Did their genes change? Was it something in the Russian water? For years, Armenians came and contributed, never took! Suddenly, I'm told the Armenians are coming with the phone numbers and addresses of welfare offices in the LA area. They're coming prepared to live off of this great country which the earlier arrivals of Armenians had revered and didn't want to harm, only wanted to be a part of in the best possible way. We Armenians here today who see what's happening cringe and bemoan the fact that this is happening to our city. We see first hand how much the people must have suffered in Armenia to have adapted to this kind of entitlement mentality.

The same people, the same genes, same intelligence, but the drive doesn't seem to be there, even dignity and following the laws seem to have gone by the wayside. There are those who won't work, the children are not so encouraged to get a higher education, they've created street gangs! I must qualify this: it seems that it's "the more recent the arrival, the most problems"....many Russian Armenians have fit beautifully into Los Angeles over the last 30 years.

Yes, they lived under Communism, they had Black Market mentality drilled into them from an early age. Hard work had stopped paying off in the Old Country years ago, why bother? One must survive. As much as America was, and still is, the land of opportunity and the place which had welcomed millions of contributing and appreciative Armenians for years, suddenly even those Armenians are stunned at this new influx of people who, in general, only want to take, not contribute.

I like to hope that Armenians born here, whose ancestors had been stuck behind the Iron Curtain, will be influenced by those of us who set a good example for them. I hear some good things in that vain, I pray it's so. As America seems to be adapting, more and more, a socialist mentality of entitlement and government-owned companies, free education, free health care, one wonders which group of Armenians will feel most comfortable in this great land in, say, 10 years.

I don't have the answer for that, but I will say I'm proud to be a part of that group who came earlier, who appreciated all America meant and who, I think, have been part of the building of this great land. Mr. Z said this at the end of his story:

"Same people, same genes, same history; but what a difference under two distinctly different ideologies. America, please benefit from Germany's past. We owe it to you." I'll leave you with this in relating to the Armenian people:

"Same people, same genes, same history; but what a difference under two distinctly different ideologies. America, we Turkish Armenians who've benefited from you will never cease to be grateful. We will try with all our might to make sure America stays the great land it has been; a land which offers opportunity more than any other country in the whole wide world, a land which rewards hard work and integrity, a land that has been so good to those of us who understand your history and live by your laws. We'll try to keep it that way. We owe it to you."

z

A Tale of Two Countries

Happy Birthday, Germany! ....and how this affects the United States

The year 2009 is a big year for Germany – 60 years after the signing of the Constitution on May 23, 1949 and 20 years after the fall of the wall in Berlin on November 9, 1989. Much has been written in Germany about the 60 years of the Federal Republic of Germany, including some characteristic pictures (one good piece is here in Der Spiegel in English:), so I will leave the account of historical facts to others and concentrate on a personal assessment.

My mother fled the Russians with my brother and me in the waning days of WW II. I remember bits and pieces of Germany in rubble after the war, walking to a British soup kitchen with a lunch pail, stealing some coal from the Brits with my little handcart, only having enough to eat because my grandfather bred chickens and we had a big vegetable garden. There wasn't that much destruction in the little town in Northern Germany in which we grew up. We did know, however, about the difficulties Berlin was having with the blockade and the unbelievably courageous effort by the Americans in trying to save Berlin through the airlift („Luftbrücke“ or air bridge).

Two more things I remember vividly: The 2 Pfennig blue stamp we put on each letter and postcard to help Berlin (called „Notopfer“ or emergency help) and the care packages which were part of the Marshall Plan (I remember my mother was particularly thrilled with the coffee in the package). It was only much later that I understood the full scale of the destruction of the war, including the personal tragedies due to the loss of relatives and being driven from home towns or regions („Vertriebene“).

While we did not have an abundance to eat, we did not go to bed hungry, unlike the people of Berlin, who would not have survived at all if the Americans hadn't started the airlift with the help of the Brits. Amazing and appreciated to this day were the actions of Gen. Clay in pursuing the airlift against all the odds and the humanitarian efforts associated with it, such as the dropping of sweets for the kids of Berlin, an idea conceived by Col. Gail Halverson. These people will never be forgotten by the Germans, especially the people of Berlin. (A really excellent read on this subject is The Candy Bombers)

Germany was effectively governed by the Allied Forces USA; Great Britain, France and Russia. Very soon after the war, it became clear that Russia did not want to cooperate with its Western Allied partners and looked for confrontation in securing their sphere of influence, and they captured one Eastern European country after the other, with Czechoslovakia, in the Spring of 1948, being the one which woke everybody up. The blockade of Berlin by the Soviets in June 1948 was a logical consequence of their previous actions. It was a scary time.... for the Germans, and particularly the people of Berlin, not knowing whether they would be protected against the communists, and for the Americans, because the fear was that of a third world war.

One of the reasons for the action of the Soviets was that the Western Allies (the Americans, for that matter, represented by Gen. Clay) were in the process of setting up a new currency system in the Western part of the country and started to establish the rules for a German government. This is how, in August 1948, 33 selected people (lawyers, intellectuals and members of democratic parties) met on the island of Herrnchiemsee on the Chiemsee lake in Bavaria and ironed out a Constitution for Germany, the so called „Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch“ (BGB, or common law). They did that in only 13 days of seclusion, despite minimal provision of food and drink, in an effort which some people have compared, because of its significance, to the generation of the Constitution of the United States. In the months to come, it had indeed become, under discussion with the Allies and respecting their demands, a very even handed document. This document was then ratified by the Federal Convention, incorporated by the Allies, in the Spring of 1949, and signed by the head of this Convention, Konrad Adenauer, on May 23, 1949. Later in that same year, Theodor Heuss was elected by the Federal Convention to become the first President of the newly founded Federal Republic of Germany and, in Autumn, the people elected a conservative government and Konrad Adenauer was elected the first Chancellor of this new State by the „Bundestag“ (Parliament). By that time, the blockade of Berlin was broken down and West Germany started a new beginning, as did, under pressure by the Soviets, the East German country of „German Democratic Republic“, implementing a communist government.

This was, therefore, the starting point for two German States, established under very different sets of rules. And exactly here lies a very interesting point in study: What happened to these two States which started from the same German people, but implemented with opposite political systems? We saw the results almost 40 years later.

West Germany had undergone what we called the „Wirtschaftswunder“ (economic wonder), achieved by Ludwig Erhard through his „social economics“ – which is a capitalist system with social attributes (as opposed to a socialistic system). The social attributes came from the aftermath of WW II, where every individual helped everybody else, in the sense of „if we do it together, we will succeed“. It is,at least to me, unbelievable what really was achieved in the 50’s and the 60’s, building Germany up from unbelievable destruction to a powerful economy. A symbol of this will to succeed is represented by the „Trümmerfrauen“ (rubble ladies) who collected the stones out of the rubble, cleaned them by knocking off the old concrete, and prepared them for reconstruction.

Because of the rapid build-up after the war, Germany became increasingly

wealthy and prosperous, life was excellent. The country grew and flourished until, after about 25 years, and because of a creeping social system which finally went too far, it became rather complacent. When I came back to work with a German company in the 90’s after 15 years of working in foreign countries, I couldn’t believe what I saw – the drive and productivity exhibited by the people during those great years after the war was replaced by an entitlement mentality. If government pay for unemployment is of the same order as a normal salary, the system goes bankrupt and morale suffers. In addition, the burden on companies became so large and employee 'protection' so far reaching, that companies avoided hiring additional personnel and started to relocate company headquarters and production. What

had happened? The conservative government had been replaced by a socialist government, and the subsequent conservative government failed to turn these policies around. The subsequent socialist/Green party government made matters worse, and Germany is now in the process, under conservative leadership, of trying to turn some of these „social achievements“ around for the better again.

At the same time after the war, East Germany implemented the communist system under pressure and direction by the Soviets, where everything was owned by the State and planned through a central government organization, and everybody was „equal“, except, of course, the government and party officials who had all the nicest amenities in life. But the rest of the population was suppressed, spied upon (even for trying to listen to Western radio or TV to find out about the West), and had to eat or consume only what the planning department made available, after the officials had been served, of course.

After the wall opened in 1989, the people of the West were stunned to see the results of 40 years of communism. East Germany was an absolute mess on all levels, personal, infrastructure, government, everything. West Germany has since spent trillions of dollars bringing that part of the country up to the same level as the West. Vast improvements have been made, particularly in infrastructure projects and in support of the industrial basis, but it's not over yet. The main reason is the mentality of some people in the East. There are still some 30% of the population in the East who vote for the ex-communist party – they prefer a government taking care of them rather than a competitive working environment.

Here are lessons for the current situation in the United States:

1. The difference of the social and economic situation between East and West Germany provides clear evidence that the free market system is far superior than a state planned economy or, as otherwise expressed – communism/socialism don’t work.

2. A free society like West Germany, where the economy works because the people take personal responsibility, is far more successful than a system which is built on the suppression of people and opinions.

3. As can be recognized from the evolution in West Germany, a sliding transition toward excessive social benefits has a negative effect on companies which consequently must compensate for that by outsourcing to other countries. The consequence is that the country becomes less competitive.

4. The effect of communism takes at least two generations to reverse.

While Germany is working hard to re-unify the country and to bring increased individual responsibility back to the country through a reversal of excessive social benefits, the United States is doing exactly the opposite under Obama. Each and every one of the actions of this government goes in the direction which East Germany took after WW II, and that does not only include economic actions, such as the nationalizing of companies and putting companies at a disadvantage relative to the unions, but affecting society through trying to suppress civil discourse through the help of the mass media as the fifth column.

While Germany would not have survived the pressure from the Soviets without the unbelievable help of the United States after WW II, maybe the time has come that the U.S. should look back to Germany to see how the West prospered under conservative direction and how the East ruined itself under the Socialist/Communist regime. Same people, same genes, same history; but what a difference under two distinctly different ideologies. America, please benefit from Germany's past. We owe it to you.

By Mr. Z

I could write something about these pictures.......

PLEASE SEE THE UPDATE DOWN BELOW.

But........all I could think of was.....Chavez now? Who do you think we'll honor next? And, Michelle Obama got teased for touching the QUEEN?

UPDATE: (read the "Update" linked article, it's quite something) From the article: "Chavez gave Obama a copy of "The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent," a book by Eduardo Galeano, which chronicles U.S. and European economic and political interference in the region.

When a reporter asked Obama what he thought of the book, the president replied: "I thought it was one of Chavez' books. I was going to give him one of mine." White House advisers said they didn't know if Obama would read it or not."

Also: "While he worked to ease friction between the U.S. and leaders at the Summit of the Americas, Obama cautioned them to resist a temptation to blame all their problems on their behemoth neighbor to the North.

"I have a lot to learn and I very much look forward to listening and figuring out how we can work together more effectively," Obama said."

Finally! TWO things I agree with Obama on.

z

The Soros Scheme ......... WAKE UP!

This might be the most important article on what's happening in our world that you have ever read. As usual, it's taking the Canadian media to tell Americans the truth.
PLEASE READ THE LINKED ARTICLE AND SEND IT AROUND. Even your liberal friends might open their eyes and ears to this truth, if you have the nerve to send it around. Of course, you'll get a lot of "OH, that must be on FOX". Please, it is not on FOX and, anyway, remind them that sloughing off information just because it might be on a conservative news venue is dangerous to truth and transparency. This is a huge problem in America today. The Left drew the lines, Alinsky style, and now nothing Conservative could EVER be beneficial. This has to change or we're in even bigger trouble than we think we're in because it means people won't THINK or WAKE UP. Here's one paragraph from the article:

Soros had backed Obama for president in 2008, saying that he had “the charisma and the vision to radically reorient America in the world.” His prediction seems to be eerily coming true.

Please send this around. We have a country to save.

z thanks, Pris

I wish I COULD say "APRIL FOOLS"!

Argentina.....a cautionary tale? TOO late to be cautionary? I just got this from a friend and felt it important (and frightening) enough to share with you..........What are your thoughts?

The disastrous path on which America is currently embarked was tried in another country. A fact not well known is that Argentina, prior to World War II, was an economic powerhouse. Beginning in the 1880s and continuing through the 1920s and 1930s, it was regarded as one of the most prosperous and advanced nations in the world. Then Juan Peron and his wife Eva took control in the 1940s until a coup in 1955 ousted them from power.

Argentina had a strong industrial base, thriving agricultural exports, huge cattle ranches, and a broad and expanding middle class. Like America, it served as a magnet for immigrants from all over the world, especially Italians. Within 15 years under the Perons, Argentina, however, went from being one of the richest to one of the poorest countries. To date it has never fully recovered.

Upon coming to office, Peron, along with his popular beautiful wife, Eva, created a state characterized by lavish social spending, elaborate welfare programs, protectionism, confiscatory taxation, and runaway deficits. Juan Peron used class warfare rhetoric. He attacked big business, the banks, the private corporations, and the propertied class. He gave the labor unions power and made them pivotal allies of his regime. Then Peron expanded the bloated government bureaucracy to intervene in every aspect of business and life, which led to internal corruption.

Peron's central socialist economic planning destroyed industrial productivity and growth. The world's investment capital fled. Taxes, inflation, unemployment, and interest rates soared and the middle class was wiped out. Finally, an independent judiciary and media ceased to exist. Eva's cult of supporters fostered a climate of violence and political enemies of the regime were exterminated. Argentina degenerated into the typical debt-ridden Latin American country that it still is today.

The failure of Argentina under Peron should serve as a warning to us. Socialism and a sky-rocketing debt can permanently impoverish even the wealthiest of nations and America is not immune from the laws of economics.

Obama is taking the first dangerous steps toward an American version of Peronism. His followers see him as a political messiah and a revolutionary change agent. He and the Democrats are plundering the country, using it as a vehicle to reward supporters and punish foes. They plan to confiscate wealth by taxing the rich and successful business class. Obama's plan to do away with secret ballets will strengthen the labor unions. His wife, Michelle, is the Eva Peron of our time, a glamorous, chic, socialist fashion trend-setter who is beloved by the media.

Just remember, "Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.”

OUR SHINING CITY ON THE HILL....just another country? I should have called this my APRIL FOOL'S BLOG because you'd think this is all just a joke....

(the videos are only displaying sporadically... Please be patient. The top is Hannity interviewing Morris..the bottom is absolutely urrefutable video of Bush and McCain warning about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac... I hope my point, below, is made in any case, videos or no videos. Thanks...)

Look at the top video: Sure, America can ignore this, "it's just FOX and those two conservative guys", is what liberals will say, right? But, what if what's said in this video is absolutely true? Some information backs up what they're saying. Geithner's comments about the dollar have certainly been troubling, as Morris mentions in the video. Here is a paragraph on that from American Thinker: As if the dollar didn't have enough problems, Timothy Geithner took China's bait yesterday and said he was "quite open" to its suggestion this week to displace the greenback with an "international reserve currency." The dollar promptly fell and stocks followed, before the Treasury Secretary re-emerged to say "the dollar remains the world's dominant reserve currency. I think that's likely to continue for a long time."

So, One World Order? Aren't our sovereign American institutions jeopardized now by what it sounds like Obama and Geithner want to do? Is what Conservative America-loving people have been warning about for a couple of years now really happening? CAN a president go THIS FAR LEGALLY? Is America REALLY going to be 'just another country'? We are AMERICA, folks. We stood for FREEDOM and INDEPENDENCE. We've helped everywhere in the world. Countries have depended on us for helping them win wars, helping them in natural disasters, as a shining example to countries which had broken from Communism... why is the breed of Liberal suddenly in the White House moving THIS FAST to spoil her? What is the motivation? How many times will we ask "How can we stop this?" Is this a very bad dream?

And, if the media could keep the information on the lower video quiet, what else can they do to pull the wool over our eyes? How far can this sneaking around go? It's so clear that the Republicans were trying to warn of disaster, but I guess this disaster had to be made larger and gloom and doom had to be warned about so that not only the housing market problem could be 'fixed' but the whole economy could be called a disaster so the Left could finally implement their socialist plans................is this amazing, or WHAT?


z

Do you all UNDERSTAND what these men are suggesting?

Here is just the first part of this article:

WASHINGTON – Pointing with dismay to the AIG debacle, the nation's top economic officials argued Tuesday for unprecedented powers to regulate and even take over financial goliaths whose collapse could imperil the entire economy. President Barack Obama agreed and said he hoped "it doesn't take too long to convince Congress." (Z: TAKE OVER?? And what is the big hurry? Can't we do ANYTHING anymore without rushing it through? Is there a reason for the huge hurry? How about the good ol' American way of letting stock holders ride herd on their companies?)

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a rare joint appearance before a House committee, said the messy federal intervention into American International Group, an insurance giant, demonstrated a need to regulate complex nonbank financial institutions just as banks are now regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

"AIG highlights broad failures of our financial system," Geithner told the House Financial Services Committee. "We must ensure that our country never faces this situation again." (Z:, so THAT is IT? AIG messed up so we need to take over financial institutions because we can't trust ANY of them??? WHAT?)

But the two appeared divided over where the authority should reside. Geithner suggested his Treasury Department's powers be expanded. Bernanke was noncommittal, even suggesting the FDIC.

Don't you KNOW Geithner and Obama were DELIGHTED about the AIG bonus situation? Boy, this really puts a huge nail in the coffin of capitalism ("Yippeee! Now all we have to do is show how ya just can't trust American companies anymore, you need US'") More from the article: Both officials sought to channel the widespread public outrage over the millions of dollars AIG spent in post-bailout bonuses into support for regulatory overhaul. Geithner was expected to lay out more details on the administration's plan Thursday when he appears again before the committee.

Um. Can somebody convince me that this won't lead to completely nationalizing big American businesses?

I wrote a bunch more but then my dear blogger buddy Heidianne at BIG GIRL PANTS emailed me this Cal Thomas article, and what the heck...Cal Thomas can say it better than I ever could. Someone else who's better on this subject than I am (but no angrier or sadder) is my buddy, Rich Galen, from Mullings.com, who wrote a good piece tonight..the date's March 25 on it, in case you're reading this aftewards and the column doesn't jive with my post). Read them both and weep.

WHAT DO WE DO as we watch our country slip from capitalism to nationalizing businesses? And SO FAST!

z

"LAW OF THE SEA TREATY?" Heard of it yet? You ready for this....?

Why are we DOING this kind of thing? Did the Left have a whole drawer full of "hate America first" legislation, old treaties, laws, etc., that it couldn't live without all these years and figured "now's the time!"? WHY? Check this out from the article:

"The Senate is gearing up to ratify a Nixon-era U.N. treaty meant to create universal laws to govern the seas -- a treaty critics say will create a massive U.N. bureaucracy that could even claim powers over American waterways.

LOST -- the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, also called the Law of the Sea Treaty -- regulates all things oceanic, from fishing rights, navigation lanes and environmental concerns to what lies beneath: the seabed's oil and mineral wealth that companies hope to explore and exploit in coming years.

But critics say the treaty, which declares the sea and its bounty the "universal heritage of mankind," would redistribute American profits and have a reach extending into rivers and streams all the way up the mighty Mississippi."

Now, get a load of THIS:

"You have to pay royalties on the value of anything you extract (from the deep seabed), those royalties to be distributed as the new bureaucracy sees fit, primarily to landlocked countries and underdeveloped countries," said Steven Groves, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. American money would also go to fund the International Seabed Authority, which Groves warned "would have the potential to become the most massive U.N. bureaucracy on the planet." (z: "..to landlocked and underdeveloped countries? whaaaat??)

"The whole theory of the treaty is that the world's oceans and everything below them are the common heritage of mankind," said Groves. "Very socialist.""

What good could possibly come from THIS? For American, that is....if anybody still cares.

z

This just made me feel too good to not post....

Just listen to them.......Americans are speaking out. It'll put a smile on your face today, I PROMISE. Keep watching, the speeches come on and you'll appreciate them!

Thanks to Culturist John for the find...it made my day.

z

BEZMENOV and American Socialism.....PLEASE watch and send this around

Every senator should have this sent to him.
It takes a Russian KGB defector to articulately say so much of what you smart bloggers have understood but our government and half of America can't.
It's the SPEED with which things are happening......! We've been saying this, right?
He suggests letters and emails and phone calls aren't enough to stem the tide. "FORCE", he says. And, if we do not....if we let the leftists continue this ridiculous slide..............listen to what he says.

God bless and help America.

z