The election of Barack Obama, our first black President, was supposed to be the beginning of the "post racial" period in America. The embers of the race relation fires were slowly going out, but when the Obama administration took over they quickly threw gasoline on the fire.
It started with Eric Holder refusing to charge the Black Panthers with voter intimidation, even though they were clearly shown on video doing exactly that. The former (white) lawyer who resigned from the Justice Department over the Panther issue has stated that Holder issued an edict that the Department would not pursue cases against African Americans.
Then there was Obama's famous "beer summit". This fiasco started when a black Harvard professor was arrested for disorderly conduct after police came to his home to investigate a possible break-in. Obama intensified the controversy when he said the police had "acted stupidly." He then invited the Professor and the Police Sargent to the White House to have a beer and smooth things out. At best the "beer summit" was awkward and stupid leaving much of America wondering why Obama got involved in the first place.
To many of us race relations are not getting better, they are getting worse. Presidents have always been criticized by those whose political philosophy was different, or by citizens who did not agree with an administration's policies. But to many on the right, criticism of Obama has drawn charges of "racism", when in fact race has nothing to do with it. After all, he did receive 53% of the vote. But the left, along with the complicit media still plays the race card whenever it is needed to protect Obama's flank.
The recent Travon Martin/George Zimmerman incident has ignited a "race firestorm" and thanks to the liberal media, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and black politicians, race relations are again at an all-time low. This was a tragic incident; the parents of Travon will never get their child back and George Zimmerman and his family will never be the same. None of us know what happened and I have no idea whether Zimmerman is a murderer or if he is innocent. But sadly he has already been tried and convicted by many on the left.
Congressmen saying; "Travon was hunted down like a dog", NBC purposely doctoring tapes to make Zimmerman look like a racist, and many on the left making outlandish statements when none of us know (yet) what really happened. The New York Times even referred to Zimmerman as a "white Hispanic" because his father is white and mother is a Latina. Can you imagine the Times or any other liberal media referring to Obama as a "white African American"?
Meanwhile President Obama, Eric Holder, and the liberal media remained silent while the Black Panthers put a bounty on Zimmerman's head and Panther radio programs talked about "white pigs" and "white blood in the street". Can you imagine their response if this kind of rhetoric came from the KKK or a Neo Nazi group?
After all this, how will Zimmerman ever get a fair trial? Would you serve on a jury knowing that if the facts proved Zimmerman's innocence, and you voted for a "not guilty" verdict that your life might be at risk?
This is a "no win" situation. If Zimmerman is found "guilty", many in the white community will feel the pre-trial "conviction" by the media, black leaders like Sharpton, and black Congressmen played a role, and he never had a chance for a fair trial. If Zimmerman is found "not guilty" there will be race riots.
Either way we all lose.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Leadership counts
"Mr Gorbachev tear down this wall".
How clearly I remember this quote by Ronald Reagan during the height of the Cold War with the Soviets. Whether you were a Reagan supporter or not, you could not help but feel confident this country was in good hands and we had a leader that was strong, one who projected the exceptionalism of America, and one who would defend this country no matter what.
At his famous meeting with Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland, Reagan walked away from a deal that would have seen a drastic reduction in intermediate and intercontinental missiles on the American and Soviet sides of the Iron Curtain. But the Soviets insisted that as part of the deal Reagan cancel his planned "star wars' missile defense shield. He diplomatically told Gorbachev to "shove it" and against the advice of his own staff walked away from the agreement.
Many historians feel this was the "beginning of the end" of the Cold War leading to the fall of the Soviet Union.
Unlike Barack Obama, I am not ashamed to say the USA is the most admired, the most powerful, and the country most envied by the rest of the world. To paraphrase a letter to the editor in a recent Wall Street Journal; "With the success of this country has come a culture of generosity in foreign affairs, sometimes in self-interest, but notably, sometimes not". In the event of another "World War", what would Europe, Israel, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, or many other countries around the world do without the USA for protection?
I agree with Ron Paul that we are not the "policemen" or "nation builders" of the world. The Iraq war was a disaster, and most likely Afghanistan will go down in history as the same. But how quickly we forget the genocide in Bosnia during the mid-90's, while the Europeans stood by before the USA and the UK moved in and stopped it.
This is an exceptional country, and our leader should keep reinforcing that attitude rather than apologizing for what he thinks are our faults.
Obama's latest "off mic" comments were more telling than anything. In the comments caught by the mic he urged Russian outgoing President Medvedev to tell incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin to give him time:
"On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved – but it's important for him to give me space."
Medvedev replied:
"Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you."
Obama then elaborated:
"This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility."
Medvedev responded:
"I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir."
Can you imagine Reagan "bowing" to the Soviets like this (or could you imagine him bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia)? This is our weak President in action. Do we really think the Soviets will negotiate as "friends" or in our best interests? Russia like the Middle East only responds to power and strength.
Leadership counts. We may not have another Ronald Reagan for a while, but hopefully this November we will elect a new leader of this great country...how could we not improve?
How clearly I remember this quote by Ronald Reagan during the height of the Cold War with the Soviets. Whether you were a Reagan supporter or not, you could not help but feel confident this country was in good hands and we had a leader that was strong, one who projected the exceptionalism of America, and one who would defend this country no matter what.
At his famous meeting with Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland, Reagan walked away from a deal that would have seen a drastic reduction in intermediate and intercontinental missiles on the American and Soviet sides of the Iron Curtain. But the Soviets insisted that as part of the deal Reagan cancel his planned "star wars' missile defense shield. He diplomatically told Gorbachev to "shove it" and against the advice of his own staff walked away from the agreement.
Many historians feel this was the "beginning of the end" of the Cold War leading to the fall of the Soviet Union.
Unlike Barack Obama, I am not ashamed to say the USA is the most admired, the most powerful, and the country most envied by the rest of the world. To paraphrase a letter to the editor in a recent Wall Street Journal; "With the success of this country has come a culture of generosity in foreign affairs, sometimes in self-interest, but notably, sometimes not". In the event of another "World War", what would Europe, Israel, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, or many other countries around the world do without the USA for protection?
I agree with Ron Paul that we are not the "policemen" or "nation builders" of the world. The Iraq war was a disaster, and most likely Afghanistan will go down in history as the same. But how quickly we forget the genocide in Bosnia during the mid-90's, while the Europeans stood by before the USA and the UK moved in and stopped it.
This is an exceptional country, and our leader should keep reinforcing that attitude rather than apologizing for what he thinks are our faults.
Obama's latest "off mic" comments were more telling than anything. In the comments caught by the mic he urged Russian outgoing President Medvedev to tell incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin to give him time:
"On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved – but it's important for him to give me space."
Medvedev replied:
"Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you."
Obama then elaborated:
"This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility."
Medvedev responded:
"I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir."
Can you imagine Reagan "bowing" to the Soviets like this (or could you imagine him bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia)? This is our weak President in action. Do we really think the Soviets will negotiate as "friends" or in our best interests? Russia like the Middle East only responds to power and strength.
Leadership counts. We may not have another Ronald Reagan for a while, but hopefully this November we will elect a new leader of this great country...how could we not improve?
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