Barry Kelly | Facts and Fictions | Author | Facts and Fictions

by Barry Kelly | September 1, 2012 · 9:55 pm

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS #17

Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama (born 4 August 1961; assumed office 20 January 2009) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WHERE IS OBAMA COMING FROM AND WHERE IS HE GOING?

Those are two questions Americans have been asking themselves for nearly four years. He has written a book about that journey. Pundits have written articles, both in favor of the president and in opposition. The main-stream media, which we have counted on in the past to uncover the guiding principles and the experiences that have shaped the principles of our leaders, has been silent. It would be unseemly to dig deeply into the background of the first man with minority credentials to inhabit the White House. It was enough that he fought the Clinton machine and beat an inept McCain candidacy. The only good thing to come out of that debacle was governor Sarah Palin. Any conservative who questioned Obama’s birth, associations, education, and beliefs flirted with being branded a racist. I was personally proud of my country for electing a black man to the presidency, even though I had serious doubts about his capacity for the job. No nation embracing racist values could have elected Obama.

There are numerous problems in America Obama could have tackled. The inner city mess, failure of American K-12 education system that serves the union better than the children, jobs and job training, free trade agreements, supporting people struggling for freedom everywhere, stamping out the last vestiges of discrimination, and uniting our people. No, instead he set about gaining control of the means of production, righting America’s nearly nonexistent colonialist history, and seeking forgiveness from foreign nations for the actions of American power and influence. Where did that all come from?

We should have known some hidden demon was driving this man when one of his first acts in the White House was sending a bust of Churchill back to Great Britain. He was picking up the anti-colonist battle his grandfather and father fought in Kenya against British colonialism. He was mentored for many of his formative years by known communists and Islamists dedicated to the destruction of the “colonial empires of the west.”

This man is not evil. He is just marching to a different drum. The only one he can hear. He is not cruel or bad, just misguided. We can not change the beat of this ancient anti-colonist drum. He looks cool, but he’s living in the past. He’s trying to follow a path that is now faint and overgrown. One the nation does not want.

Go see the Documentary 2016. It is a good piece of scholarship. Well produced and very helpful in understanding a president who is mired in an anti-colonial past.

http://www.factsandfictions.com Author of the Jack Brandon Thriller Series

EIGHT DECADES OF INSIGHTS #16 A CINDERELLA STORY

Cinderella

A few weeks ago I held my beloved Cinderella in my arms as she was freed from pain to cross the Rainbow Bridge. Her story began 11,12 or maybe 13 years ago. We just don’t know much about her first two years or so of life in a cruel puppy mill. We do know that she had been beaten, had her vocal cords cut and had no understanding that all humans wouldn’t hurt her.

My wife is an active member of the Bouvier Rescue organization. In fact she will stop whatever she is doing to rescue any animal or bird or amphibian needing help. She got an urgent call that a terrible puppy mill had finally been closed by the Florida authorities. Several Bouviers needed foster care until a “forever” home could be found. There were also Giant Schnauzers but their rescue league had already taken all of them into foster care. The Bouviers had been moved to a home on the outskirts of Jacksonville until foster homes could be found. The huge fenced in back yard was running wild with breeding Bouviers and their offspring. A mother and daughter were pointed out to us. The daughter had one ear standing straight up and the other flat on her head. My wife named her Palmtree. The temporary foster care host had to catch the daughter so we could see her up close. As soon as I looked into Palmtree’s eyes, I knew we were going to foster daughter and mother. Only we are incapable of fostering. Once a dog crosses the threshold they are home. Anyway I did not see how I could write a persuasive ad that would get Palmtree adopted. She was not a Bouvier poster dog.

When we got the dogs home, my wife and two of her best friends worked for hours on Saturday morning to clean the dogs up. Coats matted with feces. Nails that had never been trimmed. Encrusted eyes. They were a mess. But patiently mother and daughter put up with all the indignities of being made presentable. One of the cleanup ladies named Palmtree, Cinderella, after she was cleaned up. In all honesty she was a very scruffy looking Bouvier, too tall and too long. Being my usual stubborn self I tried to make Cinderella look like a Bouvier. Meanwhile my more astute wife said more than once, all most daily, “Cinderella is not a Bouvier.”

A year later we accepted an invitation to visit with one of my wife’s college friends in Pensacola. Dropping our dogs off at a new kennel, I noticed they offered grooming for Giant Schnauzers. I was asking some questions and the groomer asked if I wanted our Giant Schnauzer groomed while we were gone. I got over my shock and decided it wouldn’t hurt and said, “sure.” When we returned three days later, we were met at the kennel by a beautiful Giant Schnauzer with her eyes flashing while she pranced up to us. “See look I’m beautiful and I am Cinderella. And she was still gorgeous when she pranced across the Rainbow Bridge.

3 Comments

Filed under bouviers, dogs, Giant Schnauzers, Intelligence & Politics, puppy mills, Rainbow Bridge

Tagged as bouvier rescue, giant schnauzers, puppy mill, rainbow bridge

by Barry Kelly | August 16, 2012 · 7:31 am

Eight Decades of Insights – 15

YOU MUST PAY ATTENTION WHEN THE OPPOSITION DEVOUTLY BELIEVES THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS.

My last blog emphasized the need to focus on the big picture and not on shifting issues. The president and his whole administration know the goal is to get re-elected: “Nothing else matters. Say anything. Do anything. Never mind the law. Sort that out later. When we win, we will own the courts. Use the full power of the executive office where it is needed. Increase subsidies, extend payments, fight voter ID, sue states, block investigations, try to deny late voting to veterans, leak if it helps build short-term credibility.” These are things the administration is willing to do. And don’t expect a serious effort by the administration to find and punish the leaker.

I have seen real leak investigations. When the president is angry about leaks, the leaker is found and sometimes exposed. These leaks are so spectacular that only a few people could have provided the information to the NYT. The FBI and a counter-intelligence team could find the leaker in two weeks if allowed to do what they know how to do. Mandatory polygraphs of less than twenty people to start. But remember: The end justifies the means. Failing to get four more years is the only thing to fear.

These are smart people. Take immigration. President Obama showed the brilliance of his campaign when he bypassed Congress and issued the essence of the Dream Act by executive order. Senator Marco Rubio lost his unique platform and the Republican Party its chance to make serious inroads into the Hispanic community and to win Florida big.

The Obama brain trust has at least one more ace up its sleeve. They must now be talking about cutting some baggage. Does anyone believe that the vice president is a net gain for the campaign? He is a gaffe a speech and standing beside the president on the platform he looks and acts like he has been or never was politician. Can he debate Ryan? I think not. So, think about it, should this end justifiy the means and should ‘followers of Saul Alinsky’ even think twice about throwing the VP under the first bus?

No! Watch the convention when a tearful VP tells the convention that the campaign and the responsibilities of another four years is just more than he can do. It isn’t fair to the president or the American people and the highly respected financial genius replacing him will help the party and the nation, thereby challenging Ryan’s contribution to the Republican ticket.

That is my prediction. It will happen unless the Obama brain trust believes it can win with Joe. In that case, the Romney/Ryan ticket must have made some catastrophic blunder or blunders.

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Filed under Conservative views, Intelligence & Politics, political solutions, Politics, Progressives

Tagged as Alinsky, Biden, brain trust, courts, current-events, FBI, leaks, Obama, politics, Romney, Rubio, Ryan, VP

by Barry Kelly | August 11, 2012 · 6:02 pm

Eight Decades of Insights – 14

VOTE THE ISSUES, BUT NOT REALLY

It seems to me that voters in past elections could mull over the issues and decide which candidate supported issues important to them. It was then easy to go to the polls and vote for their choice. Not now. The rules have changed, but no one told you. You are being bombarded with issue-ladened ads extolling one candidate or the other, as if this election is about issues. It is not. Maybe the Republican candidate is still playing by the old rules. If he keeps that belief and keeps reacting to shifting changes in President Obama’s campaign, he will surely lose. It is not about issues for the Progressives. It is about getting elected and keeping power to continue the transformation of America.

If you are a person focussed on the ISSUES, you must be dizzy by now with all the shifts and changes of the Progressives (read Left Wing Democratic Party). Talk about: “I was for it, before I was against it, now I’m for it again but my opponents have taken my words out of context.” The same confusion is true of numbers. Does anyone believe that more taxes from the 1% of the richest of our people can make up, even marginally, the gap between spending and revenue? Only steady growth can provide the revenue needed.

Don’t think the hard core of the Democratic Party is dumb or uncoordinated. They are not. David Axelrod and team are extremely smart and street wise. They believe elections are not won by issues. Elections are won by winning a majority of voters in a few swing states. You do this not by fighting over issues, but by destroying the opposing candidate and making promises to the electorate that cannot be kept. Truth doesn’t matter. Perception does. The Big Lie or Lies told over and over in various forums can and has worked.

Yes, the rules have changed. No, no one told you. Studying what the president said when he was a candidate himself, or when he was a senator or when he was in Akron or some other place using Air Force One and all the trappings of the president to conduct political fundraisers doesn’t matter. He will say and do what is necessary to get elected. Don’t ever forget that the Progressive mantra is that the end does justify the means. Progressives are not worried about morality, truth, or even consistency.

Don’t pay attention to issues and political ads. Think instead what it will mean to America for more of the same under President Obama or for a change in direction by a more traditional politician who doesn’t believe in “transforming” America. Lean back and imagine what four more years of transformation could do. Forget the Progressive fog of bewildering issues and slandering attacks. In our history we have seen what a divided America can mean. Don’t let it happen again. Vote the big picture and change the rules back, so we can debate over real issues to improve our country. And may the good Democrats recapture their party.

God bless our Warriors and our Olympic athletes. They are wonderful.

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Filed under class warfare, Conservative views, Intelligence & Politics, political solutions, Politics, Progressives

Tagged as big lie, election

by Barry Kelly | July 25, 2012 · 11:36 pm

Eight Decades of Insights – 13

The following are my opinions based on years of government service and academic study. This piece is not about Republicans versus Democrats. I’ve voted both ways and miss the Democratic Party that has been taken over by the Progressives who are definitely not Democrats or believers in the American Dream.

This election is not about Obamacare, war in Afghanistan, fossil fuel vs green renewables, immigration/border control, nuclear weapons for Iran, the Arab Spring, radical islam, monetary policy or all the other burning issues that disguise the real struggle.
In November the contest is about power. Everything else is simply a distraction or tactic to further the Progressives only goal, which is to get power and keep it. Only the Progressive Socialists understand the only real prize is power. It is perfectly acceptable within this ideology to say anything and do anything as long as one is focussed on getting power. Truth doesn’t matter. Keeping your word is not important. They are only words that can be recycled for the faithful. The “end justifies the means” is the Progressive ideological mantra.

This is not a conspiracy of the Democratic Party. The traditional Democrats are not evil. They are Americans who believe they have won an election.They are focused on the Progressive dream of a perfect utopian America. Now the Democrats must join with their Progressive leaders to achieve the goal of transforming America. Heard that before. Believe it. It is real. Before transformation America was a nation whose political system was founded on the diversification of power. Checks and balances. Three equal branches of Government. The Progressive agenda cannot prevail with power diffused. Piece by piece it must be centralized. Control of the health industry, the financial structure, industry, especially manufacturing, housing, traditional power generating resources, commerce and, of course, the unions is the prize. Jobs and the economy are only important as a means in the struggle for power. A failing economy, burdened with debt and high unemployment presents Progressives with opportunity.

Does acceptance that the Progressive Wing of the Democratic Party is following a campaign focussed on centralizing power make current events and issues understandable? I believe it does. Mr. Alinsky has provided the plan. Now his disciples have only to carry it out. (Read Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals for more enlightenment.)

What traditional American political party would even consider undertaking the following issues and actions?
*Class warfare rhetoric about taxing the rich, taxpayers making more than $200K annually. Surely, they know the revenue gain would be marginal. But for the Progressives, the political appeal to the fifty per cent that pay no income taxes is a winning argument. The middle class is a force that must be destroyed. The middle class, in the Progressive scheme, is very different. We will all be in their middle class. It will be the only class. No one failing. No one succeeding. This is not the stuff of the American dream where hard work and sacrifice provide opportunity for the individual to advance. Try to get elected preaching the line that everyone gets the same income regardless of their success and work skills. It’s far too early for that political platform.
*Pushing an unpopular, poorly crafted health care bill through Congress was politically wise? Only for the goal of centralizing seven per cent of the economy was it worth the storm of protest. Thousands of new IRS officers will be policing the system. What better way to control people and their destiny. Is making the IRS even stronger and more pervasive an attractive political goal?
*Use of the Justice Department to challenge the power of the House of Representatives. Making the Congress look stupid is worth the few shouts of protests. The Justice Department will not investigated any White House leaks or anything else that reflects badly on the Administration. Forget border security and “Fast and Furious,” suing states, investigating voter ID laws in swing states is more likely. This is not the traditional Justice Department that protected our freedom. President Nixon misused the power of the executive branch and we know what happened to him.
*Deliberty dissing our traditional allies, the U.K. and Israel as well as India and Poland, all democracies. While catering to Russia, the Muslim world, Venezuela and China. Not a democracy among them. Is this traditional American foreign policy? Has it ever happened before?
*Supporting disruptive street demonstrations and the willful destruction of property by the “Occupy Wall Street” mob led by Van Jones, a former Obama Czar for Green industry and an avowed communist. Search your memory for the last time the Democratic or Republican Party publicly supported a similar action.
*Bringing back the very unpopular “Death Tax”. Why bring this up in an election year? Some believe that the Progressive wing of the Democratic party has always wanted to destroy wealthy family dynasties. They can weld too much power so they can be a check to Progressive attempts to gather power. And it appeals to the “want it now have nots”.
*Before any political group can usurp power, they must control the military. A weak military force with weak leadership is a much easier target. Taking money from Defense and using it on entitlement programs makes Progressive sense. It weakens the military and spreads more wealth to those who depend upon government and who vote for the hand that feeds them. Did anyone think sequestration would work? The Republican leadership that hasn’t yet figured out what is happening, fell for the sequestration bait. Now the nation has to cope with declining power in a dangerous world.
*What political party ever set out to destroy the American power industry? Or send billions of taxpayer dollars to make believe green solutions for energy independence? Progressives talk “all of the above,” but act differently. And routinely use the power of Executive Orders to marginalize Congress.

Does the above make sense within the American political sphere? Not for any traditional party. For the Progressives, it is the only platform they can use to transform America. Most of us will not recognize or like the end result.

Be careful Democrats! If the Progressives win, the next election could have very different rules and you won’t be part of it.