Category Archives: Politics

by Barry Kelly | April 1, 2015 · 7:16 am

INSIGHTS 196 — CONSISTENTLY DESTRUCTIVE

If it is consistency you value in a president, Obama is your man. He hasn’t changed his goals or his policies to reach those goals since he was elected twice by an electorate desperately wanting change.

We got change. Only, it was change the left-wing progressives wanted, a very vocal group. A very high percentage of journalists, editors, and publishers welcome Obama’s transformation of America. When you add the Teachers’ Union, university professors, and Hollywood’s entertainers to the power of the press, it is no wonder so many Americans wonder what is happening. What is actually happening is so far outside the American experience that those of us who try to explain the goals of radical progressivism seem like right-wing conspiracy nuts.

How is it possible that a president who handily won two national elections is dedicated to destroying the America he took an oath to protect? By any of my standards, the nation is weaker economically and militarily and more divided than it was before anyone ever heard of Barack Obama. None of the problems that need fixing have been addressed by President Obama. They are not part of his agenda. He uses the issues of immigration, health care, welfare reform, taxation, military strategy, education, racism, jobs, energy development, and international affairs to destroy domestic or foreign opposition, increase government control of all aspects of our economy and way of life. He doesn’t seek to problem-solve. He only wants to move forward with the development of socialism in America under the control of a progressive elite.

There is no other way to explain his actions. It is clear to me that he has corrupted the civil service of all government agencies to support his socialist agenda. Energy is a perfect example. He has done and is doing everything he can to hamper the development of natural gas and oil production in the United States. He mouths the words of national self-sufficiency in energy but uses the EPA and other agencies to block and delay efforts by the private sector (capitalism) to produce and export energy.

The Keystone Pipeline gave him a chance to create jobs, improve national self-sufficiency in energy, help our Canadian neighbors, reduce China’s control and stockpiling of energy, and improve the safety of transporting oil by ships, trains, and trucks. Even most radical environmentalists admit pipelines are safer than ships, trains, or trucks in the transportation of oil. The truth, I believe, is that our president does not want America to be energy self-sufficient. He wants to weaken our economy and our military by reducing our forces to pre-WWII levels and forcing us to rely on the United Nations to establish a new world order. You need to look no further than look at the president’s Iranian policy.

He has no intentions of bringing Congress into the agreement he is begging Iran to sign. President Obama will ignore the Senate’s Constitutional right to ratify an Iranian nuclear agreement. Instead, he will display his one-world ideology by taking any agreement to the UN. By the way, what the president is calling an agreement is, in fact, a treaty that must be ratified by the Senate. Whatever is good for the pre-Obama America, either domestically or internationally, he will remain consistent in his drive to move the country toward socialism and the traditional one-party rule. There will be no problem solving. But he will continue to befuddle Republican leaders. That is also a consistent part of his imperial presidency.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/suspense novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an e-book, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Another analytical book on the transforming process, “Insights: Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” is now published and available in paperback at $9.95 and on nook and kindle at $3.99. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. “ISIS: Quiet Justice,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, will be out in early April.

INSIGHTS 195 — PICKING A CANDIDATE

Picking a candidate to replace President Obama should be easy. Just about anyone would be an improvement if they are a moderate Democrat or a small government Republican. At this point I like Governor Scott Walker and former democratic senator Jim Webb. They, along with some other candidates, share many of my list of what America needs after Obama.

My list is simple:

REDUCE THE SIZE AND SCOPE OF GOVERNMENT;
ENCOURAGE THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO GROW AND CREATE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES;
BUILD THE PIPELINE;
REDO THE TAX CODE;
RE-ESTABLISH OUR FORMER MILITARY POWER, INCLUDING NATO;
RECOGNIZE IRAN AND PUTIN AS BEING REAL THREATS TO WORLD PEACE;
CONDUCT A REAL WAR ON ISLAMIC RADICAL JIHADISTS;
STAND WITH OUR SUNNI ARAB ALLIES, KURDS, AND ISRAEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST;
CANCEL MOST OF OBAMA’S EXECUTIVE ORDERS AND AGENCY-ISSUED REGULATIONS;
REPLACE MOST OF OBAMACARE WITH A PRIVATE SECTOR PATIENT/DOCTOR PLAN;
ACHIEVE A BALANCED BUDGET PROCESS IN FOUR YEARS;
BUILD BACK CITIZENS’ TRUST IN GOVERNMENT;
SPEAK THE TRUTH TO THE PEOPLE;
TAKE CARE OF OUR VETERANS; AND
NEVER USE THE FOLLOWING WORDS OR PHRASES: FAIR SHARE, SAVE THE MIDDLE CLASS, LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD, A NATION OF COWARDS ABOUT RACE, TRANSFORM AMERICA, EVERYONE PAYING A FAIR SHARE, CARBON TAX, WORKPLACE VIOLENCE, WAR ON COAL, DANGERS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, LEAD FROM BEHIND, DEPEND ON THE U.N., WAR ON WOMEN, AND I DID, MY ADMINISTRATION, I HAVE A PEN AND PHONE.

Use this list to evaluate your candidate and see how they score. In a coming blog I will talk about some individual candidates.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/suspense novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an e-book, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Another analytical book on the transforming process, “Insights: Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” is now published and available in paperback at $9.95 and on nook and kindle at $3.99. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. “ISIS,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, will be out in March or early April.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, class warfare, Conservative views, democrats, Eight Decades of Insights, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, Kurds, Obamacare, political solutions, Politics

Tagged as candidates, jim webb, Obama, President, scott walker

by Barry Kelly | March 23, 2015 · 7:05 am

INSIGHTS 194 — ACT NOW

Well, we’ve had several months of Republican control of both houses of Congress. With all the other conservatives who helped the GOP to victory, I’ve been waiting for them to act like they are in control of the legislative process. It hasn’t happened.

They are mired in the old tactics of their losing past. A lot of whining and posturing, but very little action. They act like Obama’s progressive puppets dancing to a tune they have heard endless times. The sad truth is that President Obama is too smart for the old GOP leadership. He jerks them around from immigration, to ISIS, to Iran and nuclear weapons, to the word of Israel’s prime minister and where he gives speeches, to climate change, to the minimum wage, to military strategy in the Middle East to Putin’s empire building, to oil and natural gas production. Congress is the only thing he can lead from behind. They are used to being led around.

The solution is not hard. Just cut Obama’s puppet strings. Ignore his dozens of misdirection moves and lies. Do what you were elected to do: pass legislation and put bills on his desk to sign or veto. Conservatives win either way. Get a positive agenda. Share it with the people. We are waiting for the Republican way to get America working, to have a responsible health care program to replace Obamacare, to have a clear energy strategy, care for our veterans, to prevent the further weakening of our military capability, to start the process for a new tax code, to cut funding and reduce the size and scope of government, to champion a foreign policy that supports our traditional allies and gives our enemies pause. This is all within the power of Congress. They cannot wait for a Republican to win the White House. Who would vote for a party that when it wins it acts like a loser?

I have long been convinced that the Republican Party cannot lead this country with its current leadership. They are both too timid and too prone to only be reactive to Obama’s lead. The only hope is for the new representatives in the House and the new senators to push out the old leaders. They have lost their way and are comfortable whining rather than winning.

The window is closing. Congress does not have the time to continue dithering and playing games. Yes, new leadership will make mistakes and not exercise prudent patience, but they will make things happen before they are all marginalized.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/suspense novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an e-book, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Another analytical book on the transforming process, “Insights: Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” is now published and available in paperback at $9.95 and on nook and both on kindle for $3.99. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. “ISIS,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, will be out in March or early April.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, foreign policy, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, Obamacare, Politics, Progressives

Tagged as Congress, government, house, Leadership, politics, Senate

by Barry Kelly | March 6, 2015 · 7:39 am

INSIGHTS 193 — TRANSFORMING THE WORLD ORDER

When Senator Barack Obama convinced a majority of American voters to elect him president, he made no secret of what he was planning to do. He has worked hard at transforming America and has gone about as far as he can go, once the opposition captured both the Senate and the House. He will still make a few more gains using the executive power of the president, both lawful and unlawful. The big gains like Obamacare, immigration, internet control, killing coal, slowing down oil and natural gas exploration, over-regulating the economy, and under funding the military are history. This is no conspiracy theory. The man is doing what he said he would: redistributing American wealth. We just weren’t listening.

The Obama push to enact a carbon tax due to man-made climate change was and is a tactic to redistribute wealth from the industrial nations to the have-not nations, a big step in making all nations equal. I think his end game for domestic America is to weaken our economy and military power so America can never again be a dominant power and a threat to a new international equality among nations.

Transforming America domestically is only half of the progressive dream. The other half, and perhaps the most challenging, is the transformation of the old world order. I believe President Obama has very strong anti-colonial beliefs. Remember his father’s family suffered under British colonialism in Kenya. Obama was only in the White House a short time before he formerly sent a bust of Winston Churchill back to Great Britain. Why not just store it in the White House?

All the past progressive isms such as communism and socialism had powerful international programs to spread their beliefs. The goals of today’s progressivism are more invasive, yet better concealed. I can find no logical or American national interest to explain why President Obama has so persistently pursued a relationship with Iran. What little we know about the Obama/Kerry negotiating, is hard to connect with an effort to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. This is a country that is the number-one sponsor of terrorism in the world. Its top leaders have stated they intend to wipe Israel off the map. If their secret efforts to develop a nuclear capability is for peaceful reasons, why would they have a parallel program to develop ICBMs and maintain such a close relationship with North Korea?

If a U.S. president wanted to transform the existing world order, including the Sunni Muslim world order, Iran would be an ideal tool to use. Iran’s foreign policy objectives, if achieved, would destroy the existing world order. The Middle East would be dominated by Iran. They now control or have significant influence in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and Lebanon. If their military is successful in defeating ISIS and/or occupying a large part of Iraq. They will keep whatever Iraqi or Syrian territory they dominate by force of arms. The Iranian empire that would emerge from wars with the Sunni nations and their Western allies will establish a new world order. It wouldn’t be the first great Iranian Empire.

To give Iran full room to maneuver, President Obama had to pull American and Western troops out of Iraq and resist sending them back anywhere in the Middle East. (Can you imagine either ISIS or Iran carving up Iraq, if America had left a sizable combat capable force in Iraq with an U.S.-controlled airbase? No way.) Therefore, using that rational, he had to get U.S. forces out as soon as possible and push negotiations with Iran that would clear the way for them to have the bomb.

Israel and all the rest of our current allies and friends in the Middle East would vanish in clashes with Iran and its subject states. The dream of the progressives for the last century would finally be achieved. The new world order, no longer dominated by the West, would now reign with equality between nations. A much better world, they believe, for all people. A ridiculous conspiracy? A progressive pipe dream? Never happen? That is what I thought about the transformation of America that is still unfolding. Does anyone have a better explanation? Comments welcome.

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/suspense novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an e-book, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Another analytical book on the transforming process, “Insights: Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” is now published and available in paperback at $9.95 and on nook and kindle at $6.99. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. “ISIS,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, will be out in March.

INSIGHTS 192 — The facts. Nothing but the facts.

Is America a divided nation? I think so. But it is not divided primarily over race, ethnicity, religion, or class. I believe the division we see today is over ideas. Political goals and objectives are what has always separated the liberals from the conservatives. Ideas are difficult to discuss in the abstract. Maybe if we agreed on a common set of facts, we could begin building bridges across the American divide. If we cannot agree on the facts there is not much of a foundation for bridge building. I’m speaking of hard facts and not the way these facts are interpreted. Interpretation falls into the arena of good debate and discussion.

I hope the simpler I present my list of facts, the easier it will be to get to the first level of agreement. Okay, let’s go!

America today is facing several very serious foreign threats to world peace:

Russia’s expansionism
Iran’s drive to acquire nuclear weapons
radical Islam’s hot war to establish a Caliphate through the employment of terrorism and religious cleansing
North Korea, an intemperate and unpredictable developer of nuclear weapons
China’s expansionary world view and a growing hostility between the haves and have-nots of the world’s population

All these issues need serious and immediate attention by our leaders.

Domestically, we have several areas of critical importance to our economy, unemployment and under employment, the continuance of government founded on our Constitution, the rule of law, and the separation of powers doctrine. The economy needs an assured source of energy to compete in world commerce. We now have that possibility for the first time in decades. Our production of natural gas and oil are very close to making us energy self-sufficient. Fossil fuel is the only viable source of energy to fill our growing economic needs within the next two or three decades. On the job front we need to bring back oversees jobs and rapidly grow the economy. Our government needs a president who puts the needs of America over his or her personal visions of what would be or could be a more perfect world.

Two economic philosophies have built this nation: capitalism and the free-market system. Are they perfect? No. Do they need some regulation? Yes! The nation also needs a Congress and a president that recognize their respective Constitutional roles. Presidents are not kings and neither congressional house has presidential powers. They both need to stay within the America rule and practice of law.

National security first requires an ability to recognize what is required to protect our land and people and then to create and nurture those required elements. If we neglect our Armed Forces, we neglect America. Surely our short history has shown a strong military force is needed to assure our national survival. Peace has come through the military strength of democratic nations to balance and, if necessary, overwhelm the forces of totalitarian nations. Peace comes from the recognized power of democratic nations to back up their diplomatic efforts toward peaceful settlements. Confusion of national goals, a failure of leadership and will, and the neglect of military strength emboldens our enemies and discourages our allies.

Internally, corruption in government, a lack of transparency on the part of the party in power, and the deliberate falsification of information for political objectives will over a short time, destroy the faith the people have in the government of either party.

Can we all move toward the center and agree on a common set of facts?

Written by the author of the Jack Brandon thriller/suspense novels and “Insights: Transforming America — Is This What We Fought For?” available now as an e-book, in paperback or hardcover on Amazon.com or BN.com. Another analytical book on the transforming process, “Insights: Stepping Stones to Tyranny,” is now published and available in paperback at $9.95 and on nook and kindle at $6.99. Follow the author on Twitter @factsfictions80. “ISIS,” a new Jack Brandon novel dealing with ISIS in America, will be out in March.