"Revenge of the Nerds"

"Revenge of the Nerds" - a silly movie, but in a way it is being played out in real life.

I was an engineering major in college, and anyone who majored in science will tell you it is a lot of work.  In my case, I was also working full time and trying to raise a family, but even full time engineering students will tell you there is little time for partying, especially if trying to get through in four years. Most engineering students were probably "nerds" in high school; bullied by the sports jocks, and shunned by the popular girls.

Today it seems like a lots of kids go to school for the fun, majoring in subjects that are not difficult and having fun (with mom and dad or student loans paying the bill in many cases). But things change when you get into the real world. Unemployment of recent college graduates is at an all time high...except for the "nerds".

There is such a shortage of engineering and science majors graduating, that they are the new "stars" on campus. Not only being offered high salaries, but like sports stars they are being offered signing bonuses, living stipends, meals, and even equity positions in their prospective companies. Some companies are even approaching the brightest students and encouraging them to leave college and join their companies.  "After all, Steve Jobs, Michael dell, and Bill Gates all left college to go into the business world"

Karma...

"Boring and competent"

Now that Mitt Romney is apparently our nominee, most of my Republican/Conservative friends and family members make the same comment: "He is not my choice but I will vote for anyone over Obama". We characterize Romney as boring, no sense of humor, he's rich and doesn't relate, not conservative enough, he's a Mormon, etc.  But I have never heard anyone refer to him as "incompetent" or "not qualified to be president".

On the other hand, we have had almost four years of the "razzle dazzle".  Obama is charismatic, he has an attractive first lady and the White House is a constant stream of parties; celebrity visitors like the Rolling Stones and Opra; and the Obama's can be seen on one talk show visit after another. Obama even sings almost as good as Al Green. He is also the most prolific fundraiser in history. But on the other hand, the comment I  hear the most about his ability as our president is: "incompetent".

So, what do we want, a competent but boring president that may turn out to be a good "manager", and one that might get this country back on track again, or do we want more of the "razzle dazzle" while the "USA Titanic" is sinking.

I have no idea if Romney would be a good president or just another politician that would settle into the Washington bullshit and continue to take us down the same road...but at least we know where Obama and his minions are taking us, and it is a dangerous direction.

The Democrats are good - the federal debt is now $16 trillion, 25 million of our citizens are out of work with many more "underemployed", Europe is going bankrupt, the Mid-East is about to explode and thanks to the complicit liberal media, all we are talking about is Romney playing pranks in high school, and gay marriage. My head is sometimes ready to explode when I see the average American more interested in the "razzle dazzle" than trying to keep the USA Titanic from sinking.   

I'll gamble on "boring and competent".

"Fantasy Politics"

My sons, grandsons, and friends participate in a Fantasy Football league every year.  We get to draft our own team, and then live with the results.

Those that read this blog know that I believe this political team of Obama's is one of the most (maybe the most) incompetent group of people ever assembled to run this country. Most are academics that have never lived in the real world.

The recent EPA bureaucrat  who bragged about "crucifying" oil companies is an example of what I mean. This lightweight is an academic who has never had any real world experience in the oil industry or any other industry, yet he had the power.  But when he was exposed for his vendetta against oil companies, he was forced to resign.

This is typical of so many of the Obama administration...is it any surprise that the economy in this country is in the tank, when the people running it have rarely even run a company or created a job? The bottom line is that our president is an academic who has never had any experience in the real world, and the results are obvious. Few businessmen in their right mind are going to expand in this economic environment, not knowing what the future will bring.

It appears Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee in this important election and even though none of the primary candidates were my choice, I have put together my "Fantasy Political Team".  This prediction means nothing, but compare my group with our present team of so-called leaders:

Chuckie D's Fantasy Political team:

President
Mitt Romney.  Not my choice but 'it is what it is'. For those like me that are not thrilled with Romney;  maybe...just maybe, instead of a "cool and charismatic" leader that is clueless when it comes to the serious financial and economic problems we are facing, we need a pragmatic manager that gets serious about the depth of the hole we are in and takes steps, as painful as they may be, to keep this country from financially going off a cliff.

Vice -President
Marco Rubio. Not just because he is a Latino and would bring in some of that vote.  Have you paid attention to him when he speaks?  This guy is a future Conservative super star and I think would be very capable if he ever had to take over as a President. He is young, but remember, people thought JFK was a "kid" also.

Secretary-of-State and National Security Adviser
John Bolton. I would give both of these responsibilities to the same person.  Bolton is a tough former UN Ambassador and believes in Reagan's philosophy; "Peace through Strength". He would not let our allies or enemies push us around.

Attorney General
Chris Christie.  Governor of New Jersey and former Attorney General of that state.  He is a constitutionalist that will not put up with any BS and is a future major leader of the Conservative movement. He could also be a possible VP choice, but regardless, he should be part of the team to replace the "dinosaurs" we have in Washington.

Treasury Secretary 
 Paul Ryan.  Representative from Wisconsin and the only one who truly realizes the seriousness of this country's financial situation. 

Head of Homeland Security
Rudy Giuliani.  He probably would not take the job, but who is more qualified? He was on the front lines during the worse terrorist attack in history.  He turned around crime in NYC, and would take a much more realistic approach to this country's security compared to the TSA fiasco we are now experiencing.

These are just a few of my Cabinet choices but they are the important ones.

Now, if we are fortunate enough to take control of the Senate and keep control of the House, my "Fantasy Political Team" would clean house of all the establishment politicians and here would be the leaders:

House Majority Leader
Alan West. Representative from Florida, former military leader.  OK he was just a freshman these past two years and would not have a chance to overcome the seniority status of the good old boys but he would completely change the direction of the House, in favor of the people. Paul Ryan would be a better choice but we need him in Treasury.

Senate Majority Leader
Rand Paul. Again, he was just a freshman last term but would completely change the Senate into a body that would follow the Constitution. He is a charismatic and more realistic version of his father Ron Paul.

So this is my Fantasy Political team.  Some of these choices would never happen, but this would be my "draft" - after all we need to have our fantasies. If you don't agree, post your own "Fantasy Political Team" as a comment.

What happened to post-racial America?

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.

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?

"The most important election of our lifetime"

"The most important election of our lifetime"...we hear this every Presidential election from both Democrats and Republicans as they regurgitate all the standard election year talking points. But the more I look at the state of this country, the more I believe THIS IS the most important election of our life time.

1/ The National Debt - This is the most important problem facing this nation, yet the least understood by the average American.  We can understand what a billion dollars is because we read about "billionaires" like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet every day (although 99.99% of us will never experience being a billionaire). But how many Americans can even comprehend a "trillion" dollars? That's 1000 billion folks...hard to comprehend isn't it? Starting with President Bush, out of control spending has resulted in a US national debt that will approach $16 trillion this year and most of our leaders, especially our President, do not seem to have a clue, much less the desire to address this problem. Why?  Because this is an election year when politicians are only interested in protecting their job and will do nothing that might cause pain to their constituents. But believe me, at this point there is no way to solve this problem without pain. 

And sadly the "pain" may be inherited by our children and grandchildren.


2/ The Entitlement Society - This is really the redistribution of income from the "payers" to the "takers". The US has always been a compassionate country; religious organizations and ordinary citizens have always led the effort to take care of people in need. But the "takers" are approaching a majority in this country - 42 million on food stamps, two years unemployment insurance, subsidized housing, free college education, school breakfast lunch and dinner, welfare that can make you rich if you have enough children, free government supplied cell phone and minutes....etc. I could go on. Don't classify me as a "right wing radical", I do feel the "unfortunate" in this country should be taken care of, but they should also be given an opportunity to improve themselves by hard work and by given the freedom to make their own way.

"Ask not what your country can do for you..." those famous words by John Kennedy have long since been forgotten in the Democratic philosophy. Barack Obama's campaign slogan should be: "Ask what the government can do for you". The Democrats know that an "entitlement society" is necessary to keep them in power or they would quickly become irrelevant. Many of these entitlement programs sadly just keep poor people "on the Democratic plantation".

There is also a very important side issue connected to the move toward becoming an entitlement society - this country is broke.  I keep being reminded of Margaret Thatcher's famous quote; "The problem with Socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people's money".

3/ Government control and regulations - A recent report by the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee says the Obama administration has imposed 75 new major regulations costing more than $380 billion over ten years. To be fair, I have done some research and during the last two years of the Bush administration, they began the "tsunami" of regulations that is stifling freedom, especially for small businesses that create most of the new jobs. We all agree that some government regulation is required but it is out of control.

Here is a small example: The Department of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade (yes that's their name), has almost 500 employees that regulate and approve wine labels. And they are now considering the requirement to add "serving facts" that would list fat content, calories, carbohydrates, and protein data on wine labels. They recently rejected a label by a local Paso Robles winery because the wine was to be called "Antidote", which the regulators said had a "curative claim", while at the same time signing off on a label from an Illinois winery called "Liquid Panty Remover"...that's funny. But sadly these government wine label "regulators" probably make more money and get better pensions than 90% of all winery workers in the US, and they produce nothing.

But among all new regulations Obamacare is the "poster child" for government control. God help us if the Supreme Court finds it legal.


4/  The Supreme Court - Few people pay attention to this, but it is another very big issue in this important election. Several liberal Supreme Court judges are old, and the next President could appoint as many as two new judges. With a Republican President and Congress we have the opportunity to remake this as a Court that will go back to following the Constitution as the Founders intended. If Obama is reelected and can somehow increase the liberal majority on the court, in my opinion we will slowly become a socialist country with a long term prognosis of disaster.

If Republicans hold the House and take the Senate, they can stop much of the new regulations and hopefully slow down the disastrous deficit and entitlement spending, but they will not be able to repeal Obamacare (if it is found to be legal), and will not be able to nominate judges to the Court. For many of us, this Republican primary has been disappointing - not very impressive candidates; they spend their time attacking each other instead of the target - Obama and his policies. But it's time to "consolidate our forces" and get ready to attack. In my opinion, Santorum and Gingrich are just mucking things up and neither would be a good President, or have a chance against Obama. Mitt Romney may not be our first choice, but with the right VP, he has the best chance of beating Obama, which is the only thing that matters in this election.

"Mr. Bluster"

OK I'm dating myself again, unless you're 65 or older you will not recognize this picture. It is a puppet called "Mr. Bluster" from the Howdy Doody show, popular in the late forties/ early fifties. Maybe it would be best to look back at one of my older Blogs first;
http://chuckiedspeaks.blogspot.com/2010/06/its-howdy-doody-time.html

In that previous Blog I talked about the Obama "puppet" show and wondered who was pulling the strings. Well for you geezers that read this Blog, you will remember that Mr. Bluster on the Howdy Doody show was the "caricature" of a politician. Talk, talk but saying nothing. And if you don't remember Bluster, how about "Foghorn Leghorn" in the old Sylvester cartoons.

To round out the cast of the Obama "puppet show" we have our own "Mr Bluster". This Mr. Bluster has hair plugs and is known affectionately by our military as "Joe Bite Me".

If there was ever a caricature of a politician it is Joe Biden. The Obama administration has announced that they are now in campaign mode and have sent the "gaff machine" out to get things rolling.  This guy is the gift that keeps on giving to us Conservatives. During his first big parade this St. Patrick's day in Pittsburgh, home of the working man (and Biden's home state), he was loudly booed by many in the crowd...ouch.

But incredibly this VP thinks he is something special. Most people are not aware that "Joe Bluster" ran for President way back in 1988 but dropped out when it was revealed he plagiarized a speech from an English (Socialist) politician. And after that he was found to have used parts of speeches from several politicians including Robert Kennedy. His "gaffs" are famous, just Google it.

But today he outdid himself with the following quote: "Obama's mission to kill Bin Laden was the most 'audacious plan' in 500 years.” As one commentator put it today:  "That puts it above the D-Day invasion of Normandy in 1944, the surprise landing at Inchon in 1950 that turned the tide of the Korean War or, going back a bit further, George Washington's daring night-time crossing of the Delaware River before the Battle of Trenton in 1776."  The "gaff machine" keeps on giving.


But sadly Biden is more than a caricature; he is everything that represents the low 12% rating of Congress along with the many incompetent so-called leaders in DC. It is a sad commentary on the American voter that we allow this kind of  politician to rise to the level of VP of this country and be one heartbeat from being our President.

Although here is some food for thought - could "Joe Bite Me" do any worse than  Barack Obama?