The Patriot's Flag

Today I am flying the South Carolina Flag, a Patriot Flag I fly when events are relatively calm.  Being New Years Eve, it is a natural time for reflection back over the previous year. The “libs” offered the American Public a Freedom-poisoning cocktail; one part Hope and Change, one part Fiscal Responsibility (Hate George Bush), and one part First Black President.  An tempting cocktail for too many … and now we ALL face the headaches and hangovers from the unbroken promises and false media hype. The November 2008 national election was an IQ test for Americans … and the majority of them failed it miserably.

Relatively Quiet

Victor Davis Hanson summed up 2009 beautifully in his piece at National Review Online titled” Our Year of Obama.”  This is a MUST READ piece for an excellent summary of the year, what we thought would happen, what did happen and perhaps what will happen in 2010. Here’s just ONE of his MANY comments …

Victor Davis Hanson

NationalReviewOnline:

• Barack Obama saw all that. So he gave the crowds what they wanted: promises of vetoes of wasteful spending, no more lobbyists, an honest Congress for once, financial sobriety, and no more red-state/blue-state, at-your-throat politics. For millions of believers, Obama was to be our version of Truman or Eisenhower — centrist competence, but spiced up with 21st-century postracial pizzazz.
• The people took Obama at his word, and here we are a year later with the largest drop in popularity of a first-year president in poll-taking history. A clear majority of the country is now opposed to almost all of the Obama program — more stimuli, bailouts, deficits, and takeovers; statist health care; cap-and-trade; and therapeutic-apology/reset-button diplomacy abroad.
• I think it is a fair generalization to say that both the Right and the Left agree that Obama ran as a moderate in order to move America sharply to the left. The former calls it perfidy; the latter, necessary politics to achieve the desired ends. So what we now have is a progressive, grass-roots populist who is doing his best to obfuscate his own goals and ignore the desires of the great majority of the people. (By Victor Davis Hanson)
  

In his post he covers everything from broken promises to global warming.  I “bookmark” this article here on The Patriot’s Flag to document the year.  I doubt anyone will give you a better summary … it is a must read.

And we had a complacent and complicit news media –

Fox News

Fox News – Nine Big Stories the Media Missed in 2009

1. Van Jones
2. ACORN
3. Science Czar John Holdren
4. Climate-Gate
5. Politicizing the NEA
6. Chas Freeman
7. Tea Party Protests
8. Kevin Jennings – Safe School Czar
9. Democratic Stimulus

Wolf Blitzer (CNN)

Ignorant and Apathetic people will “believe” what the Main Stream Media tells them … and amazingly without question.  So many ONLY get their news from “news outlets” who refuse to report it but would rather report what they “believe” to be true. Such people will listen to commentators who, themselves, haven’t a clue about the world around them. This is why so many today still would fail the National IQ test. (The people who bring us the news fail the test … look at Wolf Blitzer on Jeopardy!).

Gawker.com: If you’ve watched Wolf Blitzer struggle to ask relevant questions of interviewees or just fill up time with cliches and nonsense you might’ve gotten the impression that he is not very bright. He did Celebrity Jeopardy to prove you wrong!  And the CNN Situation Room host sucked. He didn’t know where Jesus was born. He thinks Julia Childs wrote Mastering the Art of French Cooking. He was just not good at Jeopardy … all he can do is “read” a script … but people tend to admire people who can read a script … or a teleprompter.

Ignorance and Apathy … are the two “causes” of our being at this particular crossroad in history. People didn’t look into the facts because they “lazily” depended upon the Main Stream Media for their news. And if there was ever a “wooden nickle” with the inscription “caveat emptor” … Obama is the perfect example. We STILL  don’t know who he is, where he came from, whether or not he even attended college … records simply are not visible anywhere.  But still, the American Public “bought it” … hook, line and even the sinker. They voted for a shortcut of  “feel good” instead of taking the long road of “reality” … and now the polls are showing their “good feelings” are waning like NEVER before in US history. As you read Victor Davis Hanson’s remarks (above), you can’t help to wonder about the gullibility of the American People to have “fallen” for the rhetoric of this VERY LEFT and RADICAL President.

Would we have believed a year ago that only one year later you would see …

• GM taken over by the government, Unions given highest stake holder status
• US Government FIRES a CEO of a public company
• Chrysler taken over by the government
• Banks taken over by the government
• Millions in “stimulus” that didn’t stimulate but rather went for “payoffs”
• Democrats, not Republicans,  dismantling Health Care for the elderly
• A national debt higher in one year than by all administrations COMBINED!
• A pay czar that can actually set salaries of “public” companies
• A tax cheat running the Treasury
• Avowed Communists and Mao enthusiasts appointed to top positions
• A “safe school” czar promoting homosexuality in our schools
• A science czar the believes in population control
• A “failed war” in Afghanistan
• A new war starting in Yemen
• A President who winds the Nobel Peace Prize the same week he announces troop increases
• Unemployment at 10% plus!  Millions of jobs lost.
• Billions given to bail out a housing industry that failed because of government
• TWO terrorist attacks!
• Obama appoints the first Trans Gender “person” appointed to Senior Technical Advisor to the Department of Commerce
• Iran, one year later, one year closer to the bomb … talks continue.

Will we even recognize our own country when we wake up on Jan 1st, 2010?

The Liberal Coctail:  Here’s how you make it:

1. A healthy shot of “hope and change” rhetoric,
2. The milestone of electing the “first black president”
3. The great “need for fiscal responsibility” (translation: I hate George Bush)
4. Mix thoroughly and dismiss any other factual ingredients

Bottoms up!

.. it made a dangerous and intoxicating political cocktail for the country.

Now we are feeling the hangover.

Lib Cool Aid Dangerous Coctail

S.C. Flag - Relatively Calm

Today I’m flying the Ft. Moultrie flag … a Patriot Flag I fly when there is “Liberty Risky Discussion.”  Such discussion is happening.  Now the Democrats want to Unionize the TSA, continuing with the administration’s “payoff” to unions. This from an administration more worried about golf scores and union payoffs than the security of the nation.

Liberty Risky Discussion

Single-handedly (as usual these days), one Senator, Jim DeMint is standing between the entire “left” and sanity.  One wonders if there are any other Republicans in the Senate, perhaps Jim is the last one standing?  Obama’s nomination for head of the TSA (Transportation Security Authority) has told the AFL-CIO he is looking forward to working with them. Erroll Southers, Obama’s pick for the head of TSA has, in an email to the AFGE/AFL-CIO said this ….

EG Southers

Southers: “I look forward to joining you and adding value to the homeland security mission at TSA.”

… and reaction to this?

Sphere.Com: Counterterrorism expert Erroll Southers was nominated in September by President Barack Obama and approved by committee last month. But Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., placed a hold on the nomination because of a dispute over whether TSA workers should have collective bargaining.

CanadaFreePress: (Tod Hudson) “Sadly the Republican obstructionism of just one person, Senator DeMint, prevented TSA from having the leadership in place that the organization deserves,” said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. But DeMint’s spokesman, Wesley Denton, said his boss is not at fault for the delay in Southers’ nomination

Jim DeMint

RightWingNews: But there is an ulterior motive in play for the Democrats, naturally. And, again naturally, it is an effort by Democrats to hand a victory to unions. One of the things that Senator Jim DeMint (R, SC) is trying to stave off is the unionization of our airport security personnel as the Democrats are trying to slide this by the American people in the guise of “security.”

But, in keeping with Obama’s desire to give freebies to unions and his disinterest in our national security, he’s trying to push the TSA to be opened up for unionization. Once again with this Administration the needs of unions takes precedence over the safety and success of the American people.

You can listen to Senator DeMint’s comments here:

Jim DeMint’s Freedom Alert: Senator DeMint has clearly outlined his position on this in his Dec 30th Freedom Alert which can be viewed by clicking HERE. (jpg file).

“When they move ahead with the transportation security head and say his stated goal is to unionize rather than to focus on security, I think it is something we should have a discussion about on the Senate floor and have a roll call vote,” DeMint told CBS News.

Terrorism is “here.” We have just had our SECOND terrorist attack in the United States in less than 2 months. The first one was because of “political correctness” and the second one was a “massive breach in the security system.”  Both of these are because the “left” in this country refuses to believe we are at war with the people who are trying their best to kill all of us!  We are in a perilous time, now that Obama has declared the War on Terror “over” … the Jihadists are moving in at will.  What would we be thinking about and talking about had that airplane gone down like the plane blown out of the air over  Lockerbie?

(Just THINK about it! … how close were we to THIS?)

Remember Lockerbie?

The Airline and the Jihadist; One of our most vulnerable assets has been the airliner.  And again last week a Jihadist tried to blow 300 people out of the air over Detroit.  The safety barrier between the airliner and the jihadist is the TSA.  And now there is a move afoot to “unionize” our key security system?  Are they crazy?  Point out ONE instance where a union has made ANY system more efficient and secure.

Union Payoffs threaten Security: It is time this administration’s “payoffs” to the unions stop.  These people aren’t even being subtle about this … the payoffs are out in the open and very real.  The problem with this one is that YOUR security and MY security are directly threatened by allowing unions to be setting guidelines and goals for TSA employees.  It is dangerous and stupid.

And by the way … Where are the “other” Republicans?  Are you hearing anything from them about this issue, are they standing at the microphone with Jim DeMint?  Are they standing up for the security of the country like Jim DeMint is doing … or are they all home still enjoying the Christmas pudding and running away from their commitment to keep our country safe?

No TSA Unionization

1. FloppingAces: DeMint Screening the Baggage of the Obama Admin *****
2. YahooNews: TSA Subpoenas bloggers, demands names, sources ***
3. CanadaFreePress: Obama’s Only Real Accomplishment (payback)****
4. TheLid: CENSORSHIP? Obama’s TSA attacks bloggers! ****
5. WashingtonPost: TSA Nom Misled Congress on Accessing Confid Records
6. The Examiner: DeMint refusing retreat on delay to confirm TSA chief ****
7. CBS News: TSA Nominee Faces New Problems
8. Washington Post: TSA Nominee Errol Southers Withdraws  END OF STORY!!! 01.20.10

Ft Moultrie Flag - Liberty Risky Discussion

..

Tyranny!

Today I am flying the Sons of Liberty Flag.  I fly this flag when Liberty is Lost. President Obama has signed an executive order #13524 (ammending Reagan’s E.O. 12425) giving Interpol jurisdiction in the United States granting INTERPOL, the international police organization, FULL IMMUNITY to operate within the United States.  Don’t believe it? It’s true, here is the exact Executive Order as signed by President Obama on December 16th, 2009.  Bet you didn’t see this one in the Main Stream Media!  Read on …

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
December 17, 2009
Executive Order — Amending Executive Order 12425

EXECUTIVE ORDER
- – - – - – -
AMENDING EXECUTIVE ORDER 12425 DESIGNATING INTERPOL AS A PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION ENTITLED TO ENJOY CERTAIN PRIVILEGES, EXEMPTIONS, AND IMMUNITIES

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288), and in order to extend the appropriate privileges, exemptions, and immunities to the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), it is hereby ordered that Executive Order 12425 of June 16, 1983, as amended, is further amended by deleting from the first sentence the words “except those provided by Section 2(c), Section 3, Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of that Act” and the semicolon that immediately precedes them.

Barack Obama
THE WHITE HOUSE
DECEMBER 16th, 2009

WhiteHouse.Gov Link Here

Explanation from The Examiner:

By removing language from President Reagan’s 1983 Executive Order 12425, this international law enforcement body [Interpol] now operates on American soil beyond the reach of our own top law enforcement arm, the FBI, and is immune from Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

What, exactly does this mean? It means that INTERPOL now has the full authority to conduct investigations and other law enforcement activities on U.S. soil, with full immunity from U.S. laws such as the Freedom of Information Act and with complete independence from oversight from the FBI.

In short, a global law enforcement entity now has full law-enforcement authority in the U.S. without any check on its power afforded by U.S. law and U.S. law enforcement agencies.

From Hot Air.Com:

During his presidency, Ronald Reagan granted the global police agency Interpol the status of diplomatic personnel in order to engage more constructively on international law enforcement.  In Executive Order 12425, Reagan made two exceptions to that status.  The first had to do with taxation, but the second was to make sure that Interpol had the same accountability for its actions as American law enforcement — namely, they had to produce records when demanded by courts and could not have immunity for their actions.  Barack Obama unexpectedly revoked those exceptions in a change to EO 12425 last (week)…

And from ThreatsWatch: (Probably best source on this topic)

Section 2c of the United States International Organizations Immunities Act is the crucial piece.

Property and assets of international organizations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation. The archives of international organizations shall be inviolable.

President Obama has just placed our Constitutional rights under international law.

From the National Observer Online: (The Removed Language)

Specifically, Interpol’s property and assets remained subject to search and seizure, and its archived records remained subject to public scrutiny under provisions like the Freedom of Information Act. Being constrained by the Fourth Amendment, FOIA, and other limitations of the Constitution and federal law that protect the liberty and privacy of Americans is what prevents law-enforcement and its controlling government authority from becoming tyrannical.

So Why did he do it? Mata at Flopping Aces is following it:

So if you’re Obama, why open one door to Constitutional rights access, and slam the other Constitutional rights door shut? Or better illustrated, using McCarthy’s question… why does INTERPOL need that additional immunity?

The simple answer is… they don’t. But Obama does.
Read the rest of this entry » (… and this gets fascinating!)

A foreign police organization has just been given uninhibited police jurisdiction on US soil and according to International Organizations Immunity Act of 1945, the USA is not allowed to view their files or archives. The following comment from a member of The Free Republic sums it up best …

From Free Republic (Behzinlea post 51): We’re talking about an international police organization that is now allowed to operate free of 4th Amendment constitutional constraints within the United States and to collect information on US citizens that can later be used to support the arrest and prosecution of those citizens. If the case is prosecuted outside the US, then the US citizen who is being prosecuted will not have the benefit of US constitutional protections at the prosecution stage either. That is the very definition of a secret police. Our own police forces do NOT have this immunity, and for damn good reason, too! Why the hell should free men tolerate allowing Interpol to run roughshod over our constitutional protections in this country?

There is no explanation for this, nothing in the news media, and no warning it was coming. This President owes us one hell of an explanation for this action … and it better be good! And just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse! This government is out of control … how much more proof do we need?

Why would “Our” President give away OUR U.S. Sovereignty?

Coming to your Neighborhood soon?

Response from Joe Wilson to my email 01.08.09

President Obama’s order simply grants INTERPOL the remaining immunities it was not originally awarded. It does not infringe upon the civil liberties or legal sovereignty of American citizens. Our law enforcement authorities have a long history of coordinated work with INTERPOL to combat international crimes, including drug trafficking, money laundering, and cyber terrorism. Given recent events, it is imperative that we continue to work with our allies abroad to defeat the criminal arm of terrorist organizations that actively threaten our national security. This measure does not provide INTERPOL with further power to take action, and their exemption status can be waived if needed. Please be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind should any legislation related to this issue come before me in the House of Representatives.

But I do still have a question …

Why did he change it?  I appreciate the fine response from my congressman, but I still do not trust anything this Administration does and I am still looking for “why?”

1. The Examiner: The US Placed under International Police State ***
2. ThreatsWatch: Executive Order Immunizes Interpol in America *****
3. HotAir.com: Did Obama Immunize Interpol from Amer Enforcement Constraints? ****
4. Wikipedia: Interpol Definition and Information ***
5. FloppingAces: O’s Interpol Exec Order; Immunity for Obama? ****
6. WND: Obama Gives Foreign Cops New Police Powers in US ***
7. Interpol.Int: 2009 – A Milestone Year for INTERPOL ****
8. CanadaFreePress: INTERPOL and EO 13524  (why?) ****
9. The Examiner: Why Interpol, Mr. President? *****
10. CanadaFreePress: INTERPOL-from the inside ****

Sons of Liberty Flag - Liberty LOST!

Today I’m flying the Navy Union Jack. Now we find out at least ONE of the people who passed the Health Care “Reform” bill was absolutely DRUNK during its passage … Max Baucus.  Hard to believe? We’ve got the video … embedded below:

Liberty Threatened

NewsReelBlog.com by Nancy Morgan: During the general debate on the health care legislation that recently passed the Senate, Senator Max Baucus, Democrat from Montana, took to the floor of the Senate and engaged in a drunken tirade. Oblivious to the fact that he was slurring his words and mangling his sentences, Senator Baucus shouted down opponents as he let loose a rambling, and at times incoherent, tirade against those dastardly Republicans who refused to be bipartisan. This drunk is the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, charged with overseeing our taxpayer dollars. As is clearly evident from this video, the less than honorable Baucus should not be in charge of a toll booth, much less have a say in the crafting of legislation that will affect every single American.

Here’s the drunken tirade direct from the Senate floor:

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The Bottom Line

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Shame! Now pass this on to everybody you know. As Nancy said in her post at NewsReelBlog … we will be the only ones who see this travesty … the “lame stream media” will not be covering it.

How much more proof do we need that this congress is totally out of control?

Financial Liberty Threatened

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Relevant Posts after this Post

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1st Navy Union Jack - Liberty Threatened

Today I’m flying the Sons of Liberty Patriot Flag.  On December 23, the Senate Democrats have passed  for cloture on their version of the Health Care Bill (3590) and at 7am on December 24, the Senate bill passed.  Our federal government is totally out of control, and nothing can stop the Democrats from moving toward the socialism they so love.  Democrats, be them neighbors or on a national chart are enemies of the Republic and they are proving it every day.

Tyranny Overcomes Liberty

Dec 24th Update: from The Heritage Foundation

This morning  just after 7 AM EST, the United States Senate passed, again on a straight party-line vote, President Barack Obama’s health insurance bill. Originally scheduled for a 9 PM vote tonight, the bill’s Senate passage is a welcome Christmas gift for a beleaguered White House. However, as the First Family jets off for Hawaii, the American people, liberals, moderates, and conservatives are all saying this bill is closer to a lump of coal in their stocking than real health care reform.

Along a PARTY LINE vote, the Senate Democrats have passed for “cloture” the Senate version of the Health Care Bill.  They did it by BUYING the votes (just as the Federalist Papers said they would if they were not kept in check).  Republicans, by “moving to the center” in the last election have GIVEN the Republic to the far left and we are all now going to pay the price. Thank you moderates, neo-cons and faux-cons all.

Democrats Use Federal Money (our tax dollars) to BUY the vote! Here’s how you pass a bill in a Democrat-controlled Senate …(this summary courtesy of the San Francisco Examiner):

Democrat Graft and Corruption

» Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. — Up to $300 million in additional federal money to pay for the state of Louisiana’s share of the proposed expansion of Medicaid.

» Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb. — A commitment that the federal government will permanently pay for Medicaid expansion in the Cornhusker State at a cost of about $100 million.

» Sens. Ben Nelson and Carl Levin, D-Mich. — A provision that shelters Mutual of Omaha in Nebraska and Blue Cross Blue Shield in Michigan from a proposed $10 billion annual fee on the health insurance industry.

» Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. — Dodd, facing a re-election battle with low poll numbers, inserted a $100 million grant tailored to a proposal for a new hospital at the University of Connecticut Health Center.

» Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. — A 2.2 percent increase in federal coverage of Medicaid expansion, worth about $600 million over a decade.

» Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. — A special provision that will exempt about 800,000 senior citizens in the Sunshine State from any of the proposed cuts to the Medicaid Advantage program.

» Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. — The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a chief architect of the health care bill inserted language in the bill to provide services and benefits, including Medicare, for a group of Montana miners exposed to asbestos.

And as a result, we got this:

(Courtesy: Anti-Anti Underground)

And the Death Panel is “in” and it cannot be repealed:

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) – Two pro-life senators tried to raise a constitutional challenge to a section of the Senate health care bill that makes the infamous “death panels” permanent. They said it was unconstitutional to pass a law that prevents Congress from overturning the law at a later point.

Senators Jim DeMint of South Carolina and John Ensign of Nevada raised a Constitutional Point of Order on the Senate floor against the bill on behalf of other Republican lawmakers. “This is not liberty, it is tyranny of good intentions by elites in Washington who think they can plan our lives better than we can,” DeMint complained.”When confronted with the facts, the Senate Democrats ran for cover. The Senate Democrats are ignoring the constitution, the law, and their own rules to pass Obamacare,” he concluded.

(See his full comments and discussion on the Senate Floor HERE (pdf file))

The Cypress Times: Ironically, and well…even laughably, this provision that Reid and the other communists want to make sure is never, ever modified, or repealed, is the very death panel that the communists and their lap dogs in the corrupt, Obamacentric media have been working night and day, with almost superhuman effort, to convince the public that it never existed!!

…And from Sen. Charles Grassley: (Examiner.com)

The President, Vice President, White House staff and cabinet secretaries are working very hard for this massive restructuring of America’s health care system. It is only fair and logical that if this bill becomes law, these leaders should themselves be subject to the reforms.

• This is the second time this month Grassley attempted to include this amendment in the bill, and the second time he was denied even a chance for debate.

And if that isn’t enough to give you a Black and Blue Christmas, add some Red ink …

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate voted Thursday (Dec 24th … Merry Christmas again) to raise the ceiling on the government debt to $12.4 trillion, a massive increase over the current limit and a political problem that President Barack Obama has promised to address next year. The Senate’s rare Christmas Eve vote, 60-39, follows House passage last week and raises the debt ceiling by $290 billion. The vote split mainly down party lines, with Democrats voting to raise the limit and Republicans voting against doing so. There was one defection on each side, by senators whose seats will be on the ballot next year: GOP Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio and Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana.

Anybody still think it was a good idea to vote Dem for “fiscal responsibility”

(How about it Wes?)

Sons of Liberty Flag

“D” stands for Disgusting! Watching this “process” of “democratic legislation  (small “d”) was simply disgusting!  All done behind closed doors, with NO TRANSPARENCY, having items in the bill that Democrats (the President himself) promised would not be there! (They lied, didn’t they?), handing out our tax dollars like it was theirs to secure the votes (above).  Simply stated, “D” stands for Disgusting, and “D” stands for Democrat!

When this country falls on its face because of out-of-control debt and Liberty and Freedom are just Dreams of our Fathers, we will have ONE PARTY to blame … the Democrat Party.  This should give voters for 2010 a CLEAR CHOICE for who they will vote for to lead the government away from this breathtaking fall toward socialism and government control over the “health and well-being” of the citizens of the Republic. It is difficult to “celebrate” Christmas while watching Liberty and Freedom die … one vote at a time.

A Black and Blue Christmas! The Democrats in the House and now the Democrats in the Senate have given us a Black and Blue Christmas.  Black, the opposite of a White Christmas … dark actually, disparagingly dark … and Blue?  Yes, the Democrats are represented by the color Blue.  Hence thank you Democrats for a Black and Blue Christmas in 2009.  Only a Democrat could celebrate this Christmas.

Personally? If you voted for this mess, then I really don’t want to have anything to do with you.  Democrats are proving they are an enemy of the Republic … and if you support them, you also are an enemy of the Republic.

Thank you so much for a Black and Blue Christmas!

2009-A Black and Blue Christmas

1. WSJ: The Real Price of the Senate Health Care Bill *****
2. The Heritage Foundation: Coal for Christmas from the Senate ****
3. TheCypressTimes: Midnight Votes, Backroom Deals, Death Panels; Palin was Right!
4. NRO: Its Not Over by Ramesh Ponnuru (interesting anaysis) ****

Sons of Liberty Flag - Liberty LOST!