by Nancy Morgan
RightBias.com
February 12, 2010

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Joseph Romero, a 6 year-old Arizona boy, was diagnosed as transgender last October and is beginning his/her transition to becoming a female. When he/she reaches the age of 12, he will be given female hormones containing estrogen and plans to undergo surgery when she is an adult in order to become a full woman.

by Nancy Morgan
RightBias.com
February 1, 2010

When I left home at age 18, I breathed a sigh of relief. Free at last. I was legally of an age where I assumed the right to make my own decisions. No longer could my mother tell me to eat my vegetables, to quit smoking, to clean my room or to modify my behavior to someone else’s standards. Heady stuff.

As I threw off the shackles of parental supervision, I willingly assumed the responsibilities of a grown-up. I got a job, I paid my bills, I planned for the future. I worked hard and focused on being the best I could be. After the requisite ‘teachable moments,’ I succeeded. I achieved the American dream, on my own. Without any government handouts. Like most Americans.

Enter Obama and the change he promised. Obama and his buddies seem intent on treating me as if I am still a child. Not a day goes by that I don’t see the image of our dear leader on television imploring me to wash my hands, urging dads to be good dads, and lecturing me on what I can and cannot say.

Even first lady Michelle is getting in on the act, solemnly advising one and all to donate to the victims of the Haiti earthquake. As if she has a lock on moral virtue. Color me offended.

Hey Obama, you’re not my daddy. I don’t need or want your advice on how to live my life. In fact, I quite resent your blatant patronization and condescension. I’m not a child any more. And I don’t need you to lecture me. Most especially when you yourself don’t walk the walk.

Being elected President did not give you the right to assume a parental role. I have a family for that. And I don’t need your wife to lecture me on the virtues of compassion. I have a church for that. And I most assuredly don’t need your minions appropriating my hard earned money under false pretenses, and spending it faster than I earn it. I had a husband for that.

Here’s a thought: How about you concentrate on your responsibilities and let me take care of my own. Your responsibility includes keeping America safe, not arbitrating football rules. Your responsibilities include waging a war against murdering Islamists who would see America ruined. Maybe you should point that wagging finger at them instead of SUV drivers and fellow smokers.

I’m not an expert on community organizing, nor am I an intellectual. I’m just an ordinary citizen living in fly-over country, trying to be the best I can be. And frankly, Obama, I think there are pressing world problems you should address, instead of lecturing me on what I eat, what I drive, what I say and the life decisions I have made.

You may be President, but you are not a role model I aspire to. I, gasp, judge people by their actions, not their words. And though I have respect for the office you hold, I don’t respect you. Your actions have been shrouded in secrecy and double dealing. Your [successful] attempts to manipulate people through poll tested buzz words and high sounding rhetoric are wearing thin.

Here’s a heads-up: no-where in the Constitution that you swore to uphold, is there anything that entitles you to assume the role of parent. You’re not my daddy. So please…. tend to your own garden and get off my back. I quit needing parental supervision decades ago. And I am thoroughly offended by your self-righteous patronization.

I’ll make you a deal. When you start living by the same rules you are imposing on the rest of us, then I might take time from my busy schedule to listen to your advice. Until then, I sure wish you’d start living up to your own responsibilities and quit telling me what mine are.

Here’s a clue: Quit campaigning and start leading – and make sure your own house is clean before you start inspecting mine. Most of all, quit with the lies. Most Americans see through them by now and all they do is offend us. Step up to the plate Obama. Stop with the townhalls, public service announcements and staged photo ops. This country needs a leader, not a lecturer. Its time for you to grow up. Please.

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Nancy Morgan is a columnist and news editor for RightBias.com
She lives in South Carolina

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by Wenchypoo
Wenchwisdom.blogspot.com

If you ever wanted to see where we’re likely headed with the economy, oil use, work life, and self-sustainability, you should look to the Amish and their culture. Their past represents our possible future, and provides some wonderful clues about how to deal with it.

Some surprising and interesting facts about the Amish people:

• A fine distinction has been made between ownership and use. They can ride in or hire combustion-powered vehicles (with non-Amish drivers) to travel in, as long as they don’t own or operate them without special permission of the church. Certain work crews (construction-related) have special permission to lease work vehicles, operate heavy equipment and electrically powered tools as necessary for their job, as long as they don’t tap into the power lines from outside, or the 110-volt power from outlets.

• Most families have scaled back or abandoned farming completely, due to skyrocketing prices of land, equipment, and supplies. Population strains within communities have placed a high demand for farmland, right along with developers from the encroaching “outside” world. Being penned-in by land availability and affordability, church, and family constraints, most have turned to business for their livelihood. Amish micro-enterprises abound in large cultural homelands such as Lancaster, PA and others.

• Education beyond 8th grade home schooling is forbidden. Training for a specific job or job component is allowed, as long as it isn’t formal (for a degree program), and is available by other means (OJT, apprenticeship, workshops/seminars, etc.), because it’s feared that a formal education would encourage leaving the farm and community. Any occupation requiring the use of force (military, police, etc.) is forbidden. Membership in unions and engaging in litigation is also forbidden; it is seen as a horrific waste of money and resources.

• Amish workers and employers are exempt from Social Security and Medicare tax. Their culture does not allow for paying into or drawing from the system, because extended family and the church serve as their means of social support in times of need or disability/old age. They are also exempt from military service because they believe in non-resistance.

• Most Amish micro-enterprises are home-based, providing for a family/culture/church woven network in their daily lives. Men and women are encouraged into business equally, but family and church must take priority over economic needs (time off for weddings/funerals/Amish holidays/barn-raisings, etc.). Business is considered a “sideline” to their traditional farming work, despite many families leaving farming as their mainstay.

• If some component of business requires the use of electronics or combustion, they can contract it out to other firms—even non-Amish ones. They are also allowed to use “non-native” materials (not found on the farm) such as plastics, fiberglass, etc. with church permission. By outsourcing such things, the boss can work right alongside the employees–ensuring immediate access to production, staff, and customers throughout the day. If an electrically-powered item is absolutely essential to their business, an electrical source is created through the in-line use of a diesel engine, hydraulic and air generators, and an inverter—this cumbersome arrangement is called “Amish electricity” because it produces the power they need, albeit inefficiently, without tapping into the forbidden power lines or outlets of the outside world.

• With the declining availability and outright extinction of some elements of their lives, such as buggy parts, horse plow equipment, etc., these people have made an ingenious bargain with the modern world: they can take modern equipment and “modify” it for their use, with church permission.

• Since most work takes place during the light hours, industrious use of solar energy abounds in the form of skylights. A few Amish families have been given church permission to explore the modification, refinement, and creation of solar panels to use and sell. For the most part, sweat equity, propane, kerosene, natural gas, and firewood remain their energy sources.

• Participation in local and regional business associations (Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, etc.) is looked down on, but not forbidden, if used solely as a networking vehicle. Political participation is also looked down on, except when the goal is to become familiar with and voice concerns about regulations and ordinances. Voting at national elections is permitted and voluntary. Lobbying is forbidden. Local craft guilds are the preferred way of communing, networking, and learning.

Clever ingenuity has been the by-product of a population kept small and relatively quiet by church laws and cultural taboos…ingenuity we can all benefit from. Swaying church permissions, meant to keep people and businesses “small”, have helped rather than hindered their usher into the modern world, all in the name of encouraging enterprise.

It would seem to the average reader that the Amish have it together in the modern world, even though their lifestyle harkens back to the Elizabethan Era in Europe (1600’s). We would do a lot for ourselves by taking heed of what these fine people have to offer in the way of possible solutions to our impending problems–if only we’d look back in time for innovation inspiration. What DID people do before the advent of 110-volt power, refined oil, the various social service systems, and disposable “stuff”?

Perhaps the Amish hold many answers to some of our future pressing problems, like questionable oil supplies, environmental poisoning, Social Security and Medicare deficits, skyrocketing education costs, corporate greed, and self-sufficiency in general. Perhaps we outsiders need to look to the past for our future needs…or maybe the past is slowly, cleverly building itself to accommodate bits of the future on limited terms. So much of their “restrictions” make a lot of sense, and for logical reasons (church aside).

It’s interesting how some things in their world mesh with things in our world. Problems that we have incurred in the outside world have also been incurred and “cured” inside, such as:

• Corporate greed—when the Amish sense that they have too much (money, work, overhead), they either divide the business and sell divisions, turn divisions over to relatives, or sell off the entire business. The church lets them know when they’ve grown too big for their britches, but the church smiles upon success with humility. Unbridled growth is unsustainable, and only leads to waning demand and “Been-There-Done-That” Syndrome.

• Clutter and excess—drawing a fine line between ownership and use, they tend to keep down the number of things they own and may not use every day, keeping farm clutter to a minimum (as well as liability). Merely getting to use something to get a job done, rather than keeping around “just in case they need it again” saves space, money, and headaches.

• Over-education—in today’s world, more and more people spend more and more money to garner degrees for jobs that can be performed well without those pieces of paper…and then those jobs disappear, leading to yet more and different degrees. A basic education and hands-on training are sufficient for most jobs in this country, but it won’t make the kind of money we demand from the start for those jobs. A particular thorn in this area is the advent of women returning to the workplace…many women pursue expensive degrees, only to leave the workforce a few years later to raise children. At some point, we have to ask ourselves: is the return on education investment worth it in the end, or are we spending more for that degree than we wind up making in the workforce?

• Over-work—the Amish have made this part of their lives, yet we haven’t really begun to benefit in large numbers from the flexible hours and access to family that a home-based business brings. We prefer to indenture ourselves to corporations on their terms, and merely hope for the best when it comes to leaving our kids in the daycare and public school systems. Work has become the center of our lives, rather than the home and family.

• Insufficient government funds—we are currently facing a crisis of monumental proportion when it comes to the Boomer generation, retirement, and health care in regard to unfunded retirement and Medicare needs. Our current system is a pay-as-you-go one, meaning current workers pay taxes for current retirees and Medicare recipients to collect checks and benefits from. When the number of workers dwindles and the numbers of retirees and medically needy balloons, the payroll taxes will increase to accommodate their social service needs…and your paycheck decreases as a result. By relying less on others and more on our own resources, we can ease this burden somewhat, even though the money paid into the system already will be lost forever.

• Declining natural resources—there is talk that the current global oil supply will last for another 30 years or so, that oil drillers are already having a hard time finding and getting oil out of the ground, and OPEC certainly cannot keep up with current and future demands. If this is the case, we need to find large-scale inexpensive viable alternatives now, and something other than the expensive substitutes we currently have available as options.

By modifying existing equipment, the Amish have made clever use of hydraulics and pneumatics to avoid using the one power source forbidden by the church. By employing the use of modified equipment, and working with the sun, we would save tons of generated energy from outside and personal energy from within.

• Over-globalization–Rather than making contentious trade deals and questionable ad campaigns in pursuit of the almighty dollar, and succumbing to a 24-7 world in all its different time zones, perhaps we should be thinking about going back to work with nature and providing for ourselves what we really need right here at home. Over-technology, over-ownership, and unsustainability contribute to this need for global profit reach, and we need to ask ourselves what we’ll do with it all when the power goes out.

We need to get creative again, make ample use of what we already have, and satisfy demand here at home, rather than covering the globe with things nobody wants or needs (complete with culture-targeted slick marketing). Working efficiently within daylight hours and personal constraints leaves plenty of time to attend to other priorities, like family, home, and church, and working close to home insures easy access to family—the top priority.

• Over-regulation—by recognizing that government only serves as an interfering body when it comes to daily work, spiritual and home life, the Amish seceded from the outside world into one where their church and service to God is the regulator…no vote, no committee. Since coming to America to escape religious persecution by both Catholics and Protestants, a compact has been struck with Uncle Sam: no interference, except where elements of the outside world come onto the farm or into the business (zoning, health inspections for food-related businesses, sales taxes, business sign sizing, and payroll taxes for non-Amish employees). The church takes care of the rest.

Persecuted in Europe…settled and thriving in America…the Amish have been with us since before the Declaration of Independence was signed. They will likely still be here when the rest of us burn out and move on. Who knows? They may be our only guiding force in the end for flipping the dependency switch on technology once and for all.

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Wenchypoo writes for the Wenchwisdom blog

Article has been published with permission

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by Nancy Morgan
RightBias.com
January 20, 2010

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I’m smiling. A grin that just won’t quit is plastered on my face because of the stunning upset last night when a, gasp, Republican won the bluest of all Senate seats, thus throwing sand in the gears of the Obama machine’s march towards socialism.

Republican Scott Brown whipping the pants off Coakley last night is cause for rejoice. As is the delicious schadenfreude of seeing the left in disarray, pointing fingers and laying blame for the historic repudiation of leftists, Obama and everything they have been trying to force down our throats for the last year. It appears America may survive Obama after all. And what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

As Rush Limbaugh noted, many Democrats are headed for the tall grass. If a vote was held today on Obama’s health care bill, at least 5 formerly sure votes wouldn’t materialize. Last night’s wake-up call has the ‘less elite’ Democrats being brought face to face with the stark reality that they are accountable to ‘we the people’ instead of the Obama machine. And a vote for Obama could very well mean they will be enjoying their lucrative pensions much sooner than they thought.

Scott Brown’s historic upset doesn’t mean America is home free. I predict the Democrat leadership will continue ignoring the will of the American people and probably enact an unconstitutional health care bill. And I expect they will also continue taxing us to death as they redistribute our wealth to their union buddies and politically connected rent seekers. The good news is, the American people have shown that they will not stand for it.
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Nancy, Harry and other political ‘elites’ have a terminal case of inside the beltway syndrome- also known as cognitive dissonance. They have bought into their own version of reality. A reality that doesn’t allow for the possibility that their own narrow world view isn’t the universally accepted view they believe it is. And any version that doesn’t comport with theirs is, well, invalid. And one election in Massachusetts isn’t going to change their minds.

Case in point: Noticeably absent from all talking points today, is any serious discussion by leftists of the fact that this election was a referendum on Obama. A stunning rebuke. A warning bell that Americans don’t want what he is selling.

Leftists, instead of learning from their mistakes, will continue doing what they do so well. They will ignore unpleasant realities in hopes they will go away. If that doesn’t work, they will re-define them, spin them, repackage them and trot out a new improved version of the same old same old. But their tactics are wearing thin, as is Obama’s charisma and ability to influence. As is the old media’s ability to control the discussion.

I know what Obama and crew still don’t know. That the American people have finally seen the light and they don’t like it one bit. And they are not going to sit back and let Obama turn this country into another failed socialist state. The people have spoken, but the Democrats still have waxy yellow build-up clogging their ears. Or something…

The left will continue their path towards assisted suicide due to their complete inability to allow for the possibility that the American people know better than than political elites what is best for America. And when Democrats are thoroughly repudiated again in the next election cycle, they’ll continue to blame Bush or race or sexism. They will not change. And they will lose again.

I must admit to a certain satisfaction in the fact that one of my truisms is coming true. I’ve always said ‘Give the left enough rope and they’ll end up hanging themselves.’ Nice to know some things never change.

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Nancy Morgan is a columnist and news editor for RightBias.com
She lives in South Carolina

Article has been published with the authors permission

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by Scott Spiegel
ScottSpiegel.com
January 9. 2009

When conservatives correctly pointed out that one disastrous terrorist attack and another catastrophic but thwarted attack both happened during President Obama’s first term in office, because his agencies overlooked the perpetrators’ jihadist intentions or failed to act on relevant intelligence, liberals responded with an argument that was discredited nearly a decade ago: “But 9/11 happened on George Bush’s watch!”

Obama supporters mocked Rudy Giuliani’s recent claim to George Stephanopolous “We had no domestic attacks under Bush,” stubbornly avoiding Giuliani’s obvious implication that he was speaking post-9/11.  Until last week, Democrats loved to excoriate Giuliani for making endless references to the terrorist attack that occurred while he was mayor of New York; now they claim he forgets it happened.  Which is it?

Conservatives’ point is that Obama has forgotten the lessons of 9/11, which Bush did not have available to him until, surprisingly—9/11.  The Ft. Hood and Flight 253 attacks happened in the first year of Obama’s administration, and 9/11 happened in the first year of Bush’s administration, but Obama had the example of 9/11 to learn from, and Bush did not.  (Even if you count the thwarted attack by the shoe bomber in December 2001, that bomber tried to strike just months after 9/11, when fully revamped security procedures were not running as smoothly as they are now; also, the bomber used the novel, unprecedented technique of wearing the bomb on his person so that it would not be detected by luggage screeners.)

Obama not only had the example of 9/11, he had seven years in which to witness and debate and vote on the implementation of the policies his predecessor devised that kept the country safe in the years after 9/11.  Obama denounced and campaigned against these tactics every chance he got.  He hasn’t revoked all of the Bush policies—upon assuming the Presidency, he must have received access to hair-raising intelligence that made him realize the suicidal folly of reversing Bush on everything—but he has slackened up enough, rhetorically and policy-wise, that our security standards have slipped and our enemies have become emboldened.

It is not enough to say that Obama has forgotten the lessons of 9/11.  He has actively rejected them.  He has argued that doing the opposite of what Bush did will keep us safer.  We are seeing how well the Obama Doctrine is working out in his first 11 months in office.

Another error in the “Bush-was-bad-so-Obama’s-off-the-hook” argument is that Bush did not do anything to actively facilitate the occurrence of 9/11.  In contrast, the Ft. Hood shootings were aided by the politically correct refusal of the U.S. Army—under Commander-in-Chief Obama—to recognize murderous jihadist sentiments expressed by Major Nidal Hasan openly and repeatedly while in medical school and residency, and the promotion Hasan received despite his poor performance reviews.  The Flight 253 near-attack was made possible by the Obama administration’s failure to act on numerous warnings available to it, such as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s father having called the U.S. Embassy to report him, Abdulmutallab’s not having a passport or luggage, and his having bought a one-way ticket with cash.

But there’s an even more damning flaw to the contention that Bush should have been able to prevent 9/11, and is therefore as bad as or worse than Obama on national security.  Namely: just what would Bush opponents have preferred that he do in his first eight months in office to prevent terrorist acts, when they now scream bloody murder at the slightest suggestion of profiling at airports, accuse Bush of being Big Brother for trying to monitor terrorist communications, and express their clear disapproval of any war Bush started abroad to target Al-Qaeda?  Are liberals implying that they would have been fine with Bush doing all of these things in a pre-9/11 world?  They’re not even fine with The One doing these things in a post-9/11 world.

The left have been digging up examples of localized attacks carried out by truly isolated (not Abdulmutallab-style “isolated”) loonies—such as Bruce Ivins’ anthrax-laced letters to news broadcasters in September 2001, Hesham Hadayet’s shooting of two Israelis at LAX in July 2002, the Beltway sniper attacks in October 2002—as proof that Bush didn’t keep us safe.  Ignore for the moment that when each of these incidents happened, the same people criticized Bush for using these events to “hype” the threat of terrorism to justify extra security measures.  Instead ask: what level of government intervention into our lives would have been necessary to prevent every one of these attacks?  And how likely is it that liberals would have supported Bush’s carrying out such interventions at the time?

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Scott Spiegel writes for the ScottSpiegel.com blog
Article published with the author’s permission.

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