I’m ‘Just’ A Blogger

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton - The NoisyRoom

From The Honolulu Advertiser: In 1728, Ben Franklin opened a printing office in Philadelphia. He produced a newspaper called The Pennsylvania Gazette and his annual Poor Richard’s Almanack.

Journalism used to be an honorable profession dating back to the time of the heralds. Journalism is writing history in real time. It isn’t the business of peering backwards through a glass darkly in a retrospective. It isn’t consensus. It isn’t repeating the meme. It isn’t filtered for political correctness or partisanship. It’s raw and, in its pure form, the unvarnished reality – the deeply disturbing photo of a summary execution, the hysterical observation of the conflagration of a crashing Zeppelin or the fearless observation that a government official has violated both the law of the land – even including the Constitution – and international treaties by supplying arms to active criminals in a subversive effort to abrogate the rights of his own citizenry.

Journalism isn’t who you are, journalism is what you do. It is the courage to tell the truth regardless of personal risk. And so it used to be; today though, we live in an age where being a “professional journalist” means having a license to lie.

When I first saw the video above, I was overcome by several emotions. The first of which was incredulity closely followed by anger as I just could not believe how viciously Juan Williams attacked Michelle Malkin, slinging at her what he considered an insult: “I’m a real reporter, I’m not a blogger out in the blogosphere somewhere…” He couldn’t debate her in the present with a solid retort, so he resorted to what he deemed insults. When Williams was unjustly fired from NPR, the entire conservative blogosphere stood up as one and defended him vociferously. Let’s see, it took him a matter of seconds to revert to his bitter liberal ways, I believe. Juan, I’ve got news for you. The old media is dead, not dying, dead. The new media is what real journalism is – unfettered, real and in your face. A reporter used to make his bones as a journalist by breaking a big story and I do believe you’ve forgotten what that is like. You can just toddle off back to your dinosaur media roots, where all you have to do is look good and pretend to be wise while your viewership slips into oblivion. It’s time for the big boys and girls to roll up their sleeves and do the real work you faux journalists can’t be bothered to do.

If being a true journalist is defined by bravery, ethics, excellent writing and oratory skills – well Juan Williams doesn’t begin to compare to Michelle Malkin. He also obviously has poor manners and is like a cornered badger when he is losing an argument – he bites first and asks questions later (in an arrogant, condescending manner of course). Malkin is a true reporter of the first order and here’s one for ya, Juan… people actually read what she writes and listen to what she says. I’m sure that is a foreign concept to you.

I could not be at Right Online 2012 in Vegas this year, but I listened to Michelle in the above video. She was incredible! And I am sure that Andrew Breitbart is looking down from heaven and smiling that impish smile of his. I know he would be very proud of Michelle and all the other bloggers who are carrying on and fighting the fight of our lives. Bloggers are exposing tyranny and corruption wherever they find it regardless of credit or fame. Because that is what real journalists do, that is what bloggers do.

I have been blogging for about 11 years now. Neal Boortz gave me my first break and I will miss him – he’s retiring this year and Herman Cain will take his place. Michelle Malkin was actually one of the first people who got me looking into Progressives and the Obama administration. Trevor Loudon was the other. Both are giants in the reporting world and both are mentors of mine. Most of the information out there today came from bloggers – you just don’t hear it on the “news.” The mainstream media is in the bag for the Obama administration and many, if not most, are Marxists. Yep, I went there.

So, ask yourself this, whom do you trust? Those that hobnob with Marxists and hate this country and our Constitution or the bloggers who uncover the truth, sometimes risking their lives to do so? We do this in our spare time with no pay and little gratitude and lots of hate. I’m just a blogger, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world, just for freedom.

Technorati Tags: alterantive media,Benjamin Franklin,bias liberal media,bloggers,blogosphere,courage,Herman Cain,History,journalists,jourNOlism,Juan Williams,loyalty,Marxists,Michelle Malkin,MSM,Neel Boortz,Trevor Loudon,Truth vs politics,watch the other hand

Obama 'Buzzsaw' Revealed; Herman Cain's New Radio Gig

Herman Cain to Take Boortz Radio Mic

Newsmax: 

Conservative talk radio host Neal Boortz is retiring after four decades at the microphone and being replaced by former GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain.

Boortz said his last day hosting The Neal Boortz Show, which airs on more than 200 radio stations with six million weekly listeners, will be January 18, 2013.

The 67-year-old Boortz said he is in good health and plans to enjoy retirement by traveling with his wife. They plan to spend eight months on the road after his retirement.

Boortz’s show is syndicated across the country through Atlanta’s WSB radio. His show draws about 6 million listeners on 230 radio stations.

He said his show has been “an absolute joy.”

Cain, an Atlanta businessman and radio show host, dropped out of the presidential race in December amid allegations of sexual improprieties, which he denied.

“It’s time for me and my wife, Donna, to hit the road and travel in ways that we have not been able to through most of our 42 years together,” said Boortz – also known as “The Talkmaster” and “The High Priest of the Church of the Painful Truth.”

“As my listeners know, we love traveling, and the restraints created by my daily radio show commitment have kept us on a rather short leash. At present, our post-show travel plans extend through most of 2013 and well into 2014 ranging from Florida to Alaska and Antarctica. We will then figure out where to go from there.

Boortz continues, “Believe me, this wasn’t a decision I made lightly. I love this business and everything it has afforded me. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to be doing my talk show for 42 years. I'll certainly miss the listeners and callers; but most of all I'll miss my radio family, executive producer Belinda Skelton and researcher Cristina Gonzalez. If, in your own travels, you pass us in the BoortzBus on some highway, be sure to wave.”

“There is no doubt in my mind that Neal Boortz is the best radio talk show host in America – and arguably the best to ever be on radio,” said Dan Kearney, Vice President and Market Manager of News/Talk WSB. “It’s been a privilege for WSB to be the place he’s called home for so much of his career. “

“While Neal is ending his daily radio show next year, he is not leaving the station entirely,” said News/Talk WSB Program Director Pete Spriggs. “Listeners will continue to hear from Neal via the ‘Boortz Blast,’ a daily rant on a hot topic as only Neal can deliver it.”

Boortz further commented, “Did you know you can record those on an iPad? When I give you my 90 seconds or so of wisdom every morning you won't know if it's coming from Monument Valley, Alaska or the Danube River. I'll also be keeping my blog at Boortz.com and will add a special page filled with pictures and stories of our travels.”

© 2012 Newsmax

Technorati Tags: Hermain Cain,Neal Boortz,radio,media,conservative radio,Newsmax,conservative black voices

GOP Contenders Debate: Fix the U.S. Economy or Go the Way of Europe

We’re getting there! It was the sixth debate of the fall season Wednesday night series.  CNBC’s debate was tag-lined “Your money. Your vote.” And yet by the time most of us had sat down and found a comfortable position for our legs, they were talking about Cain’s sexual harassment allegations. But while Cain isn’t off the hook for the accusations, he did very well for himself and it was the beginning of what could be a strong comeback. And in last night’s debate whenever the liberal media started to ask Cain about the on-going sexual harassment allegations the people in the audience booed.  When the media went back to questions on the economy, they cheered.  Hurray for everyone in that audience!

Cain said that the American people “deserve better than someone being tried in the court of public opinion based on unfounded accusations.”

He also said that since the allegations surfaced more than a week ago, “voters have voted with their dollars,” and supported his campaign.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was asked about the allegations against Cain. Romney said Cain has responded to the questions and “people can make their own assessment.”

The questions about the Cain allegations generated boos from the audience at Oakland University.

The Media has been focused on “all “Herman Cain scandal, all the time. No Solyndra Solar scandal, no Fast and Furious Guns scandal... just Cain without end.  How convenient… another created diversion? 

ROCHESTER, Mich. (The Blaze/AP) — United in agreement for once, Republican presidential rivals warned forcefully Wednesday night the United States could be doomed to the same sort of financial crisis that is afflicting Europe unless federal deficits are drastically cut and the economy somehow revived.

Though sexual harassment allegations facing Herman Cain have dominated the GOP campaign for more than a week, the debate in economically ailing Michigan focused almost entirely on financial worries and proposed solutions in the U.S.

The candidates generally stuck to practiced speech lines – with a late exception…

Let’s not count Perry out quite yet, even though it looked like he clocked out two weeks ago. He had another one of those awkward moments… In the middle of one answer, Texas Gov. Rick Perry found himself unable to recall the names of the 3rd Cabinet-level government agency he plans to get rid of if elected, even leaning over to Rep. Ron Paul for help at one point.  That couldn’t have been more uncomfortable had Herman Cain passed Perry a reminder of the third agency’s name engraved on a rock.

“The third agency of government I would do away with – the Education, the Commerce. And let’s see. I can’t. The third one I can’t. Oops,” he said, forgetting for a moment that he wants to abolish the Department of Energy.

On one specific issue that Congress must address soon, the candidates generally backed an extension of the Social Security payroll tax cut scheduled to expire at the end of the year. That was a rare moment of accord with President Barack Obama and many congressional Democrats, who have been warning that consumers could be hurt if the reduction is not renewed.

“I‘m not prepared to raise taxes on working Americans in the middle of a recession that’s this bad,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a sentiment quickly seconded by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Perry disagreed, and Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota said she opposed the one-year reduction when it was approved late last year. She said it had so far “blown a hole of $100 billion in the Social Security trust fund.”

Asked about Europe’s financial troubles, the candidates seemed to speak with one voice in saying Italy and other European countries should rise or fall on their own without any American bailout. And several of the White House hopefuls warned that unless U.S. deficits are cut and the economy invigorated, America is headed for the same type of downward spiral.

“Europe is able to take care of their own problems. We don’t want to step in and bail out their banks and their economies,” former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said as he and GOP rivals met for the first time in three weeks in campaign debate.

Video: GOP Debate: Let Europe Solve Its Own Problems

Even so, he said the United States should continue contributing to organizations like the International Monetary Fund that are working to prevent a meltdown in troubled economies overseas.

Paul was more emphatic about the debt. “You have to let it liquidate. We took 40 years to build up this worldwide debt,” he added.

Cain said there wasn’t much the United States could do to directly to help Italy at present because the economy there is in such difficult shape. “We need to focus on the economy or we will fail,” he said, referring to the U.S. and calling for spending cuts, a strong dollar and measures to stimulate growth.

The Cain accusations did come up, though briefly.

“The American people deserve better than someone being tried in the court of public opinion due to unfounded accusations,” he said when the question came up early in the debate. “I value my character and my integrity more than anything else. And for every one person that comes forward with an unfair accusation there are probably, there are thousands who come forward and say none of that ever happened with Herman Cain.”

Romney, a former venture capitalist, was asked if he would keep Cain on the job as a CEO given the accusations. He responded, “Herman Cain is the person to respond to these questions. He just did.”

On another point, Cain felt it necessary to make a post-debate apology to House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, whom he had called “Princess Nancy” for sidetracking Republican legislation when she was speaker.

The announced topic for the evening was the economy, a subject that produced few if any early sparks among rivals who often spar energetically.

Perry, Gingrich, Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum joined Romney, Cain, Paul and Huntsman on stage at Oakland University in Michigan, a state where unemployment is 11.1 percent and well above the national 9 percent jobless rate.

The debate took place less than two months before Iowa’s kickoff caucuses, as the pace of campaign activity accelerates and public opinion polls suggest the race remains quite fluid. Romney and Cain currently share co-front-runner status in most surveys, with Perry and Gingrich roughly tied for third, within striking distance.

Not surprisingly, none of the contenders found much to like in Obama’s economic stewardship.

Perry said the next president should systematically judge all of the government regulations enacted since Obama took office on a standard of whether they created jobs. Any that failed should be repealed, he said.

Bachmann sharply criticized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She said the latter had recently given multimillion-dollar bonuses to executives even though it was seeking a new federal bailout.

Gingrich, who last held public office more than a decade ago, bristled when asked what advice his company had given Freddie Mac for a $300,000 fee. “Advice on precisely what they didn’t do,” he shot back – stop backing mortgages to applicants who aren’t credit-worthy.

The government rescued mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September 2008 to cover their losses on soured mortgage loans. Since then, a federal regulator has controlled their financial decisions.

The cost to taxpayers so far has been about $169 billion, the most expensive bailout of the financial crisis.

There was only scant mention of the Michigan auto industry, which benefited in 2008 and 2009 from a federal bailout that both President George W. Bush and Obama backed.

All eight Republicans on the debate stage say they wouldn’t have offered government assistance.

Not so Obama, who stood outside a factory not far from the debate site recently and said government bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler were a success that saved thousands of American jobs.

 

Side notes:

And then there was Mitt Romney‘s hair. It was actually a little messy. Granted, “messy” by Romney’s standard is like being “feminine” by Janet Napolitano‘s standards stated one of the event bloggers. But those five hairs haven’t seen this much freedom since birth and actually made him look ‘more real’ commented more than one viewer.

The things they can do with technology. It‘s a miracle there wasn’t a mic blowout for Jim Cramer, one of the moderator’s, who yelled every question like he was day trading on NASDAQ. Not even a little audio feedback when he said his “P”s or “B”s.

Video: Herman Cain and Jim Cramer

Related:
AP: Some Candidates ‘ Drifited from Reality’ During Last Night’s GOP Debate

Perry Not Worried About Debating Obama

CNN Spins Tuesday’s Elections as Republican Setback

(h/t the Blaze/AP)

To be updated later…

The Assassination of Herman Cain

The attack on Herman Cain has escalated.  It is now a full out political assassination.   While Herman Cain’s candidacy should rise or fall on its own merits, the left does not want that to happen.

What is new?

Gloria Allred, lawyer and professional attention whore, has brought forth one Sharon Bialek to claim that Herman Cain made a pass at her fifteen years ago.

Of course the left wing is going nuts over this, seeing the possibility of destroying another conservative.

Allred wasted no time in going after Cain and trying to build up the credibility of this woman.  She is a “Republican” and she saw Cain a few months ago at a “Tea Party” event.

And of course, she threw out the obligatory, if he did this to her, how many others are there?

This story gets even more suspicious as Cain reached out to members of the Chicago Tea Party, since she alleges the a meeting between them occurred at a Chicago Tea party event and shockingly, no one remembers her.

From Politicalarena.org:

When Sharon Bialek said that he was with Herman Cain at the Chicago TEA Party event with Herman Cain I reached out to one of the key voices and leaders of the Chicago TEA Party C. Steven Tucker and he says “I did not recognize her Chuck and I was there all weekend.”

I have been reaching out to my other friends in the Chicago TEA Party and so far no one recognizes her. Gloria Allred portrayed Bialek as a TEA Party Republican. Having seen her picture Bialek is not someone who goes unnoticed easily.

Tucker comments further:

I have spoken at Tea Party events ALL OVER Chicagoland including TeaCon Midwest 2011 where Gloria Allred says her client “confronted” Herman Cain. I have never seen nor have I ever even heard of a Sharon Bialek.

The media wants to portray this woman as a Tea Party Republican.  Can we have some proof of this?  And if she is a Tea Party Republican, why is she reaching out to liberal lunatic Gloria Allred?

These allegations are just that.  They are allegations without corroboration.  Could there be?  Allegedly Cain and Bialek were alone in the car in 1997, but what about the confrontation at the Chicago Tea Party event?  With all of the cameras that were there and you know they were following Cain around, surely there would be at least one photo of this confrontation.

It is impossible for Herman Cain to prove this did not happen.   You cannot prove a negative.  It is a he said, she said confrontation.  Those are the easiest accusations to make and the hardest to prove. 

Some corroboration of her claim would be nice.  While there can be none for the 1997, there could be for the Chicago event.  The fact that there is not one single photo of her at the event speaks volumes and calls her credibility into serious question.

By Judson Phillips at TPN

If this really happened and this woman is now so forthcoming… where has she been?  And wouldn’t she have filed a complaint or charges before?

See:  Cain Accuser’s Graphic Cain:  He Tried to Grab My Genitals, Forced My Head to His Crotch    I say in a situation like this, where someone’s political career is at stake and who America chooses for her next President, each of the women who brought this to light should have to take a lie detector test immediately!!

Chicago Radio Host Amy Jacobson speaking to Fox’s Megyn Kelly said she observed the latest accuser, Sharon Bialek, about a month ago cornering Cain at an Illinois Event where Cain was a speaker.  Jacobson said that Bialek gave her the ‘Bum-Rush’ to get to Cain when she saw him and then ran over to hug Cain when she first approached him.  Bialek then spent several minutes whispering in Cain’s ear.  Jacobson said Cain listened, was stone-faced, and just nodded and uttered uh huh… uh huh.  Cain stepped onto  the stage to speak right after this event, seemingly unaffected.  Bialek went out into the crowd and listened to Cain’s speech.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but this woman looks waaaay to happy for the situation and what she is reporting.  She looks to me like she is accepting an award or playing a part.  In my circle, as soon as someone hires Gloria Allred it is considered a given that they are either an opportunist, a gold-digger, a liar, or someone Gloria has dug up willing to be a political assassin.

Niger Innis, friend of Herman Cain, volunteer at the Cain Campaign and spokesperson for CORE, Congress of Racial Equality said that the GOP elites should be careful before throwing Cain under the bus or ignoring this situation for it will not just stop.  Sexual harassment is part of the new leftist toolbox, just like racism and political correctness.  Innis also agreed that Sharon Bialek looked far too ‘happy’ as she made her allegations against Cain.

Ask Marion 

Related:

Cain Denies Report of Sexual Harassment

Video: Clarence Thomas: High Tech Lynching  -  Clarence Thomas responds to sexual harassment accusations by Anita Hill in front of the Senate Judiciary committee.

Video: Thomas Sowell:  The Difference Between Liberal and Conservative

American Media doing a ‘Hatchet Job’ on Me

Cain Quips About Gloria Allred on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Clint Eastwood:  I love Cain’s Story

Herman Cain will be holding held a Press Conference on this harassment charges today… 11.08.11 at 5PM

*At the press conference Herman Cain said there is no truth to these allegations; took questions and said he would take a lie detector test.*

Update: 11.08.11

And what a coincidence…

Exposed? One of Cain’s Accusers Works for the Obama Administration

CAIN DENIES REPORT OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT

LYNCHINGS of ‘Conservative’ BLACKS by the LAMESTREAM MEDIA BIGOTS continues: Herman Cain, Allen West, Thomas Sowell, Larry Elder, Clarence Thomas...  Why this is happening (again):

Three recent polls conducted by Fox News, CNN and CBS News have Herman leading the race to the White House

An exclusive POLITICO report published Sunday night alleges that at least two female employees complained to colleagues and senior association officials about multiple instances of inappropriate behavior exhibited by Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain during his tenure as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. Cain’s campaign has since denied allegations.

Sources told POLITICO that the women complained that Cain had exhibited sexually suggestive behavior towards them, and that they signed agreements with the restaurant group that gave them financial payouts in the five-figure range to leave the association. The payouts were reportedly made on the agreement that the women would not speak about their departures.

A Cain spokesman told POLITICO that the candidate indicated to campaign officials that he was “vaguely familiar” with the charges and that the restaurant association’s general counsel had resolved the matter.

Video:  Geraldo Speaks With Cain Campaign Spokesman

POLITICO approached Cain in person on the sidewalk Sunday morning while the candidate was leaving the Washington bureau of CBS news following an interview on “Face the Nation.” POLITICO writes of the tense confrontation that progressed:

“He was then asked, ‘Have you ever been accused, sir, in your life of harassment by a woman?’

He breathed audibly, glared at the reporter and stayed silent for several seconds. After the question was repeated three times, he responded by asking the reporter, ‘Have you ever been accused of sexual harassment?’”

POLITICO claims to have known about the allegations against Cain for weeks, and has put together accounts of what happened by “talking to a lengthy roster of former board members, current and past staff and others familiar with the workings of the trade group at the time Cain was there.”

After questions from POLITICO regarding the allegations, Cain campaign vice president for communications emailed the publication on October 24, writing that any dispute about Cain’s conduct at the restaurant association “was settled amicably among all parties many years ago.”

Cain was president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association from late 1996 to mid-1999. Several board members of the National Restaurant Association mentioned in POLITICO’s story told the publication that they had never heard about any complaints regarding Cain making unwanted advances, and said that such behavior would be out of character based off of their experiences with the executive.

In a statement to The Associated Press Sunday night, Cain‘s campaign said that the POLITICO report isn’t true and represents unfair attacks.

Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon said the political press was “dredging up thinly sourced allegations” from Cain’s tenure leading the trade group in the 1990s. Gordon said the report includes  “unsubstantiated personal attacks” and said the press is “casting aspersions on his character and spreading rumors that never stood up to the facts.”

Remember what they did to Clarence Thomas? Here we go again.

Posted on October 30, 2011 at 9:47pm by Christopher Santarelli at the Blaze

Dick Morris: PERRY'S FLAT TAX IS SIMPLIFICATION BUT NOT REFORM

I used to like the flat tax.  In fact, I used to propose exactly what Rick Perry is now pushing - an optional flat tax where taxpayers could either make their way through the labyrinth of IRS fine print in search of deductions or could just pay a flat percent of their income in taxes and be done with it.

But then came 2007-2008 and the flaws in our economy became glaringly apparent: The pursuit of wealth through loopholes in the tax code and other speculative devices rather than by productive investment in economic growth.  So when Herman Cain proposed 9-9-9, I was and am ready to embrace the idea.

Though imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Perry's rush to put his own tax reform on the table is an obvious attempt to horn in on the limelight in which Cain has basked.  But the proposals are just not comparable.

Cain's goal is to reduce the drag that the income tax puts on entrepreneurial initiative and hard work.  By slashing the income tax rate, effectively, in half, he makes it that much more worthwhile to get up in the morning, take risks, work hard, take chances, and invest in progress.  By eliminating the capital gains tax, he rewards investment and ownership and makes it possible for people to move up the economic ladder, not through phony teaser Fannie Mae mortgages, but by smart purchases and skillful investint.

The goal of Perry's proposal is far more modest: He wants to cut our paperwork.  He wants to make it possible to file one's taxes in a few minutes rather than devote days and weeks to the task.  He proposes, essentially, a short form for middle income and rich people so tax preparation won't consume their lives.  It's a worthy goal.  We need to trim the ranks of IRS auditors and staff and free people to make sound investment decisions regardless of the tax consequences.  We need to get the IRS out of our lives and a flat tax is a good way to do it.

But Cain's proposal is so very much more important.  Perry will nibble around the edges, freeing valuable hours from tax preparation to be available for wealth creation.  But Herman Cain would establish America as a beacon for investors, entrepreneurs, inventors, creative business people, and all manner of upwardly mobile, ambitious men and women.  He would give the U.S. the lowest personal and corporate tax rates in the world, and the only place where investment earnings are tax free.  In the process, he and his plan would kindle decades of robust economic growth.  He would make the next few decades a continuation of the American Century.

To trivialize Cain's big idea by comparing to to Perry's small one is a vast disservice.  Perry would not reduce the amount of money taken in by income and corporate profit taxation.  He would just shift it to shorter forms and a nominally lower rate (but not really lower).  Taxes would appear to be cut, but the amount we would have to pay would be more or less the same.  He even strives to have his program seen as revenue neutral.

Cain would shift about half of our nation's tax revenues to consumption taxes and away from income taxes.  He would vastly reduce the disincentive to earn and encourage savings and investment by taxing spending.  

It is not enough to undo the damage Obama has done to the economy by repealing his spending, taxing, health care, and regulatory actions.  All that will do is dial us back to the sick economy Bush bequeathed to America.  The diseases of the first decade of the 21st Century will still be with us. But Cain's ideas really get at the heart of the problem -- in much the same way that Reagan's reducing of the top personal tax rate from 70% to 28% solved the stagflation of the 70s. 

Cain's reforms are the real deal.  Perry's are a pale imitation.

By DICK MORRIS  -  Published on DickMorris.com on October 28, 2011

The Autumn of living dangerously

The Occupy Wall Street anarchy continues. It has managed to draw some radicals and many clueless to downtown New York. The group can only be described now as a mob and a mob is a dangerous thing.

A mob, when formed and whipped into a frenzy, gets locked into a primitive groupthink. The rule of law and the rules of civilization go out the door. So far the violations of the Rule of Law have been fairly minor, such as trying to cross a bridge not meant for pedestrian traffic and trying to crash their way into the National Air and Space Museum.

The problem with mobs is, they grow and their lawlessness grows as well. How long will it be before we see full scale rioting, looting (after all the left always believes it getting something someone else has paid for) and even injury or death?

The mobs have put out their list of demands. They vary from place to place but they are some of the wildest dreams of left wing lunatics. They want a minimum wage of $20 an hour. Hey, if they think unemployment is bad now, just wait until that is implemented. They want free college and a “living wage,” whether you are working or not. They want an end to free trade and at the same time “open borders.” Perhaps someone should point out the contradiction there.

None of their lunatic demands are going to be met. Some of their demands are so incoherent it is tough to figure out exactly what they are demanding.

No matter what it is they are demanding or not demanding, it is not going to be agreed to.

Then what happens?

Civil unrest.

The groups behind Occupy Wall Street, including the SEIU and others want not only unrest but violent unrest. They want to have police in the streets and they want to create problems.

These far left groups have an agenda. They want to bring down the United States as we know it and replace it with a socialist style regime.

Socialism gives us nothing but misery and tyranny.

These mobs should be very alarming to everyone with the ability to think. Mobs and ultimately mob rule is always a disaster. Look at the terror of the French revolution or the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. Look at the so-called Arab Spring. They may have overthrown dictators but is what replaced the dictators been any better?

Former White House Czar and Marxist Van Jones has called for an “American Autumn.” What he wants to see is these mobs force the American government to surrender and be replaced by his idea of what a government should be. Based on history, his idea of what government should be will involve the death of liberty and a lot of other people as well.

Herman Cain had a lot of wisdom for the anarchists of Occupy Wall Street. He told them that if they were poor, they had only themselves to blame. He is right about that. In America, you have only yourself to blame.

Unfortunately, if these people have their way and make the changes they want to make in America, we will all be poor.

And none of us will be free.

By Judson Phillips – posted at TPN

Related:

The Occupier’s Siren Song

Communist Party USA Teleconference solidarity with Occupy Wall Street on Oct 11

Occupy Wall Street Event Maps: http://occupywallst.org/attendees/ & http://ascendingstarseed.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/daily-koss-map-of-occupy-wall-st-events/

Frances Fox Piven:  Time For Next Stage – Violence Street Battles Needed

‘Fox News Lies’: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Protestors Target ‘Liberal’ Geraldo Rivera & Crew with Nasty Verbal Onslaught

Aloha: Occupy Wall Street Movement Hits… Hawaii?

‘Increasingly Debauched’: Are Sex, Drugs and Poor Sanitation Eclipsing Occupy Wall Street? - At least in the 60’s you had good music!

Man of the Hour – Herman Cain

Herman Cain delivered ‘shock and awe‘ not only at the Republican debate, but by winning the Florida straw poll decisively. In fact, he didn’t just leave the other candidates in the dust, he left them several states over. Just how ‘decisively’ you ask? Well, let me enlighten you:

· Herman Cain: 37 percent

· Rick Perry: 15 percent

· Mitt Romney: 14 percent

· Rick Santorum: 10.9 percent

· Ron Paul: 10.4 percent

· Newt Gingrich: 8.4 percent

· Jon Huntsman: 2.3 percent

· Michelle Bachmann: 1.5 percent

· Gary Johnson (not on ballot)

That, ladies and gentlemen, was a good ole’ fashioned political stomping. Well done, sir… And I can’t think of anything that would tickle me more than a Tea Party candidate knocking the crap out of RINOs and Progressives on the right. So, even though it is still very, very early in the race, I want to take a few moments to bask in the win for Herman Cain and let our readers get to know him better.

Herman Cain is the ex-CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. He brought them back from the brink of financial ruin, he can do the same for America. Contrast that with Obama, who has not only taken America to the brink of the financial Armageddon cliff, but is doing his damnedest to sling us off said cliff. Cain was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City – I’m willing to overlook that one. I truly believe he is a good and honorable man.

Cain has no political experience, which I consider a plus. In fact, it endears him to not only me, but the Tea Party movement. He’s not sullied with political grime on his hands.

Cain hates taxes. Glory freaking hallelujah! His 999 plan is one that even I can get behind. Check it out. The plan is simple and elegant, plus Cain supports the Fair Tax. My kind of guy.

The 999 Plan

· A 9% tax on Corporate Profits

· A 9% Personal Flat Tax Rate

· A 9% National Sales Tax

Yeah baby… If 10% is good enough for God, then 9% should be plenty good enough for the US government. I love this guy!!! Actually, I have liked Herman Cain since the first time I heard him speak.

Cain is also no slouch in the brains department. He has a Bachelors in Mathematics and a Masters in Computer Science from Purdue. A degree in the hard sciences… Imagine that, a leader who can actually ‘do’ as opposed to ‘organize.’ And I’ll bet there’s not a communistic cell in his American veins. They wouldn’t dare.

Herman Cain was also a ballistics expert in the Navy. He is a strong proponent of the 2nd Amendment. In other words, he’s sane and wants Americans to be able to protect themselves, not get slaughtered by a bunch of violent, Progressive anarchists. Go Herman, go Herman!

Cain is the author of four books on leadership. And a leader the man truly is. He’s also a survivor of colon cancer and he HATES Obamacare. Better and better and better.

Herman Cain is also a Christian. He contributes his talents at his church near Atlanta, Georgia. And he is staunchly anti-radical Islam. Don’t listen to the left on that one. I know for a fact that Cain is for vetting everyone that works in the White House. That would mean firing EVERYONE currently there. No Progressives, no communists, no socialists, no Marxists, no radicals, no apocalyptic Jihadists and no Israel haters. They would never even get through the front door, much less slink out the back.

He wants to increase our military defense and that is very, very comforting. Peace through strength should always be the way. Cain is a strong Constitutionalist and knows American history. He is not a globalist and that folks should make all of America sigh with relief. Cain is also for securing our borders and for promoting a legal path to citizenship. I could just about hug the guy. And for desert, he wants to get rid of the regulation monster. Is that Cass Sunstein I hear screaming and pulling out his hair? Sucks to be a Marxist if Cain wins.

But, best of all, Herman Cain is an American, not a Progressive elitist. He’s a Tea Party member, he’s one of us. Herman Cain has lived a real life and can lead a real recovery in America.

Right now, today, Herman Cain would have my vote. He is my current favorite. Welcome Herman Cain, the man of the hour and Citizen Cain may just become President Cain.

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton  at the NoisyRoom

Related:  Cain on Tea Party, Freeman and 9 9 9

Herman Cain sings ‘God Bless America’ in 9/11 tribute video

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain released a tribute video for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. An amateur gospel singer, Cain sings a version of "God Bless America" while images from Sept. 11, 2001 play on the screen.

Video:  God Bless America: A 9-11 Tribute from Herman Cain

"On September 11, 2001, we saw the worst of our enemies, but we saw the best of us," Cain said in a statement. "As long as we are prosperous and as long as we are free, America will remain the envy of the world. That's why, ten years later, we must answer the high moral call for defending this great nation for Her preservation for generations to come."

A campaign spokeswoman said Cain recorded the song in one take.

Below are several threads about 911…

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/herman-cain-sings-god-bless-america-9-11-214420864.html

· Herman Cain sings ‘God Bless America’ in 9/11 tribute video

Friday, September 09, 2011 8:41:10 PM · by justsaynomore · 28 replies

Yahoo News ^ | 9/9/11 | Herman Cain

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain released a tribute video for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. An amateur gospel singer, Cain sings a version of "God Bless America" while images from Sept. 11, 2001 play on the screen.

http://bigjournalism.com/pjsalvatore/2011/09/09/soros-911-memorials-are-nothing-but-muslim-hate/

· Soros: 9/11 Memorials are Nothing but Muslim Hate

Friday, September 09, 2011 9:17:35 PM · by Nachum · 81 replies

Big Journalism ^ | 9/9/11 | P.J. Salvatore

George Soros has spent an inordinate amount of his life trying to change the landscape of economics to his benefit. Now he’s attempting to manipulate the sentiments surrounding the 9/11 anniversary. As the U.S prepares to acknowledge the 9-11 10th Anniversary, multi-billionaire financier George Soros released a report that claims a conservative cabal of groups and individuals are Islamophobic and the 9-11 memorials are more about hatred for Muslims than commemorating the killing of close to 3,000 Americans by radical Islamists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYD3-e93ECI&feature=player_embedded

· VIDEO: Rudy slams Bloomberg: "the microphone will not melt" if we have clergy at 9-11 Memorial

Friday, September 09, 2011 11:01:15 PM · by Do Not Make Fun Of His Ears · 44 replies

YouTube ^ | 9/6/11 | Rudolph Giuliani

VIDEO

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/first_glimpse_of_wtc_tribute_mlNzOrnKRjjPFFZKm6EpoO

· First glimpse of WTC tribute

Saturday, September 10, 2011 7:08:46 AM · by jimbo123 · 9 replies

NY Post ^ | 9/10/11 | CATHY BURKE

At the site of unimaginable death and devastation, a memorial of breathtaking beauty has emerged. The National September 11 Memorial — here shown for the first time — opens tomorrow on the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks and is a dazzling tribute to the lives lost, and to a city and nation that will never forget. In the footprints of the old Twin Towers are now two square, below-ground reflecting pools, each nearly an acre, fed from all sides by waterfalls that begin just above ground. They are bordered by bronze panels inscribed with the names of those who...

http://www.freerepublic.com/%7Eliberalsrbipolarturk/

· But How?,A "Barack Hussain Obama",To Speak At 9/11 Anniversary?,Will He Say "Muslim Terrorists"?

Friday, September 09, 2011 11:08:36 PM · by Liberals_R_BiPolar_Turkeys · 30 replies

First of All,Is Obama actually going to speak at the 9/11 10th Anniversary? And what is he going to say? Obama being obsessed with the Muslim world,and even supporting a Mosque a few blocks away? This should be interesting to watch,let's see what Obama calls the Muslim Terrorists that killed 3000 people. Uhm, "Really Mean Arabs"? Extremely Angry Citizens of Iraq? Those Horrible & Extremely Upset Arab Folks Of One Of Those Arab Nations? The fact that we have an "Hussain Obama" speaking at the 9/11 event is An American Travesty !!!

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/09/09/whitehouse.photographer/index.html?&hpt=hp_c1

· Witness to history: White House photographer and the images of 9/11

Friday, September 09, 2011 10:53:56 PM · by MinorityRepublican · 31 replies

CNN ^ | September 9, 2011 | Bryan Monroe

In a holding classroom at Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, President Bush talks on a secure phone while communications director Dan Bartlett points to a TV showing the second plane hitting the World Trade Center on 9/11. As the president's personal photographer and head of the White House Photo Office, Eric Draper was with President George W. Bush for nearly every day of his eight-year term, often just a few feet away. On the morning of September 11, 2001, he was there, too. "My job was to document the president, to follow him everywhere," Draper told CNN in an...

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/dems_jet_ison_attack_ad_utfPPz7DyJN7uKkU4unFXL

· Dems jet-ison ‘9/11’ attack ad [NY-9]

Friday, September 09, 2011 8:52:45 PM · by Mr_Moonlight · 6 replies

New York Post ^ | September 9 2011 | CARL CAMPANILE

Red-faced House Democrats were forced to yank offensive images of a jet buzzing around lower Manhattan in a planned TV ad attacking GOP congressional candidate Bob Turner -- just as New Yorkers prepare to observe the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. In the 30-second ad, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sought to rap Turner for a quip he made that he “never met a tax loophole I didn’t like.’’ But it was too clever by half. The ad shows a “Bob Turner for Congress’’ corporate jet approaching the lower Manhattan skyline -- an ominous image approaching the anniversary...

http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com/2011/09/911-we-will-never-ever-forget-it.html

· 9/11: We Will Never, EVER Forget It!

Saturday, September 10, 2011 8:26:39 AM · by Reaganite Republican · 8 replies

Reaganite Republican ^ | September 10, 2011 | Reaganite Republican

Pay no mind to what ill-advised dhimmis  at the Washington Post might tell you...the New Media Right will always remember. Tribute, links, and 9/11 slideshow at Reaganite Republican May God Bless the fallen as well as those they left behind~

· A Not So National Prayer Service In Washington For 9/11, and A “No-Prayer” Service in NYC.

Saturday, September 10, 2011 8:19:00 AM · by markomalley · 10 replies

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 9/9/11 | Msgr. Charles Pope

Here in Washington DC a national prayer service was originally scheduled for the National Cathedral (which is still closed due to the earthquake damage – see photo, right). It is now slated for the Kennedy Center. Yet, the “national” quality of the service is disputed by some, including Washington Examiner columnist Ken Klukowski who writes the following commentary. His remarks are bold, black italic text. My remarks are normal text red. The article here is excerpted the full text can be read here: Washington Examiner The National Cathedral is an Episcopal church, which is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion...

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyharnden/5213537/Barack_Obama_and_John_McCain_on_911_Statements_then_and_now/

· Barack Obama...on 9/11...(Obama's initial reaction to 9/11/01)

Saturday, September 10, 2011 7:51:16 AM · by markomalley · 32 replies

The Telegraph ^ | September 12th, 2008 | Toby Harnden

"Even as I hope for some measure of peace and comfort to the bereaved families, I must also hope that we as a nation draw some measure of wisdom from this tragedy. Certain immediate lessons are clear, and we must act upon those lessons decisively. We need to step up security at our airports. We must reexamine the effectiveness of our intelligence networks. And we must be resolute in identifying the perpetrators of these heinous acts and dismantling their organizations of destruction. "We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The...

· A family remembers: Hero of 9/11 gave life to save thousands

Saturday, September 10, 2011 7:12:29 AM · by nuconvert · 9 replies

Yahoo ^

He's been called a "prophet" for being so ready for the attacks, "the Man Who Predicted 9/11" in a History Channel special, and a true American hero by countless others. As tragic as the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, was, the sky-blue day still held unexpected miracles, and Richard "Rick" Rescorla was at the center of one of the greatest -- the evacuation of financial-services behemoth Morgan Stanley. Rescorla , a 62-year-old retired and decorated U.S. Army colonel, had focused on security at the World Trade Center for years. Prior to the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993,...

http://news.yahoo.com/video--9-11-babies--10-years-later.html

· Video: 9/11 babies, 10 years later

Saturday, September 10, 2011 4:22:56 AM · by advance_copy · 1 replies

ABC News via Yahoo ^ | 9/10/11

Video at link - the screen gets blurry about half way through.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=34580

· Honoring the 9/11 Anniversary: Congressman Fattah to Address NASA Commemoration

Saturday, September 10, 2011 12:42:53 AM · by Prospero · 8 replies

SpaceRef ^ | 9/9/11 | Ron Goldwyn

Congressman Chaka Fattah (PA-02) will be a featured speaker addressing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's 10th anniversary commemoration of the events of September 11, 2001. The NASA commemoration will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 9 a.m. in the NASA Auditorium at 300 E Street SW, Washington, D.C. The Congressman was invited to speak by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2035720/The-9-11-victims-America-wants-forget-The-200-jumpers-flung-Twin-Towers-airbrushed-history.html

· The 9/11 victims America wants to forget: The 200 jumpers who flung themselves from the Twin Towers

Friday, September 09, 2011 9:26:42 PM · by Nachum · 224 replies

Daily Mail ^ | 9/9/11 | Tom Leonard

Almost all of them jumped alone, although eyewitnesses talked of a couple who held hands as they fell. One woman, in a final act of modesty, appeared to be holding down her skirt. Others tried to make parachutes out of curtains or tablecloths, only to have them wrenched from their grip by the force of their descent. The fall was said to take about ten seconds. It would vary according to the body position and how long it took to reach terminal velocity — around 125mph in most cases, but if someone fell head down with their body straight, as

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2011/0909/How-9-11-has-shaped-a-generation-of-Americans

· How 9/11 has shaped a generation of Americans

Friday, September 09, 2011 9:24:19 PM · by MinorityRepublican · 3 replies

CSMonitor ^ | September 9, 2011 | Peter Grier

Nicolette Boehland was in creative writing class when she heard terrorists had struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. She and her fellow students got a brief glimpse of the smoke and flames before their teacher resumed instruction with a classic assignment: How did these events make them feel? A sophomore at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., Ms. Boehland was thinking about becoming a writer. But she was far more interested in what was actually happening out there in the world than in her own momentary emotions. She got up and walked out of class to resume...

http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/09/navy-seal-combat-knife-made-from-world-trade-center-steel/

· Navy SEAL combat knife made from World Trade Center steel

Friday, September 09, 2011 9:20:00 PM · by Nachum · 37 replies

Daily Caller ^ | 9/9/11 | Caroline May

Emerson Knives, Inc. has been building custom knives for the Navy SEALs since its founding in 1979. This month, Emerson is memorializing the SEALs whose helicopter was shot down by insurgents in Afghanistan on August 5th with a commemorative Emerson CQC-6 combat knife with a blade constructed with steel from the World Trade Center. The Emerson CQC-6 design has been a sidearm staple for the SEALs since the 1980s. The knife’s letters, CQC, mean “Close Quarter Combat,” and the “6” refers to SEAL Team 6. According to Ernest Emerson,

BECK ISSUES CALL FOR ‘HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY’ MOVEMENT; DEPARTS JERUSALEM FOR SOUTH AFRICA; DEATH THREATS TO BECK AND EVENT PARTICIPANTS

BECK ISSUES CALL FOR ‘HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY’ MOVEMENT; DEPARTS JERUSALEM FOR SOUTH AFRICA

Scroll down for video and links to full text of Beck’s speech and Declaration of Rights & Responsibilities

The heat of the afternoon sun in Jerusalem could not match the fervor of Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Courage” call to follow a “pillar of fire” in pursuit of the truth and wisdom.

After months of preparation, the controversial event unfolded smoothly with Beck telling the large crowd, “I have been asked: What can you teach Israel about Courage?   My answer is simple.  Nothing.  Then they ask: Why are you coming to Israel? Because, I say: In Israel, you see courage.”

Beck described the world as “confused,” and pointed to flash points in Europe as signs of societies losing touch with philosophical moorings:

“In Europe, the great nations of the past – Greece, Italy, Spain, Britain – are falling into chaos and violence.

We have raised up a generation who cannot tell the difference between what they owe society and what society owes them.

They interviewed the rioters in England. Why, they were asked, are you stealing shoes or televisions. “Because,” the rioters said in response, “because we deserve them.”

We may think: Oh, how different are today’s youth! But the young merely imitate their parents. They have seen how the world reacts to evil – with indifference. They watch, they learn, they imitate. What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.”

Anti-Beck protests chanted from outside the Old City walls, but groups of pro-Beck Israelis countered with signs and songs of their own.

Beck challenged the live crowd and those watching on his new GBTV network to read what he is calling a Declaration of Rights & Responsibilities:

In order to continually experience life, liberty and happiness as promised, nature’s God demands obedience to His law to protect those rights.

This is where we have fallen short and therefore, in order not to lose the blessings of freedom, the people of the world must turn from the sole focus on rights, and recognize the inherent and required responsibilities that we have.

Among the responsibilities to which we must adhere to maintain our God given rights are honor, courage and vigilance.

Over time, we believe that these basic human responsibilities have been trampled, and replaced with degradation, fear and apathy.

Saying that “it didn’t take a prophet to see these things,” Beck described his growing concern that turbulent world affairs would bode ill for Israel:

“And so this year, when I saw Tunisia’s and Egypt’s rulers crack and fall and the world called it the Arab Spring, I said: Where could this be going? And behind these revolutions was a familiar force, a force that will place those nations under a new pharaoh. And that force, I said, would come up to the borders of Israel. And so it has.

We are not at the mercy of these events. We can alter the course of history. We can stand against the dangerous arc of this story.

But we need people who are willing to speak truth. We need inspiration. We need a model to follow.”

You can read the full declaration here.

For the full text of Beck’s speech and additional video clips click here.

Beck said that at the conclusion of his speech he would leave that instant for South Africa:

“Some people call Israel an apartheid state. I reject that. And so immediately following this program I will fly to South Africa, which is where apartheid actually existed. I will broadcast from Cape Town tomorrow morning to remind the world what the evil of apartheid really looked like.

And I will learn from the people who conquered the hatred, ignorance and bigotry and who chartered a peaceful course for a new South Africa.

Then on Friday I will fly to South America to plead the case of human responsibility to a group of nearly 5,000 local leaders from all over the continent and ask them to join me in standing in defense of Israel, the Jewish people and responsibility.

Finally on Sunday, I will speak to 5,000 Americans in Dallas, Texas.   I have chosen to end my week in the town where I will headquarter the charitable division of my company, Mercury One.  Dedicated to the idea that one man, inspired by one God, makes a difference. This trip will end where a global moment begins.”

While Glenn Beck’s Restoring Courage event in Israel appeared to go off without a hitch to those watching, he revealed on radio Thursday that he and his team were forced to make last-minute changes because several confirmed participants faced threats, including threats on their lives.

Beck said that the choir scheduled to perform canceled just days before the finale after they were called into a meeting last Friday and told they would be dismissed, and would probably never work again, if they contributed their talents. Despite being in full support of the program, they decided that the consequences were just too great.

The choir that performed, then, was “cobbled together” after the original choir canceled on Sunday.

Several others suffered similar threats, including death threats.

“I have to tell you some of the stories that I wasn’t able to tell you before and let’s start with this,” Beck explained while broadcasting from South Africa. “Yesterday, if you watched the broadcast on GBTV, if you watched the whole event that unfolded at the Temple Mount, what you may not know is how many people canceled at the last minute, and not because they were, you know, ‘I’m not going to stand with him,’ none of that. The reason why they canceled is because they were under death threat.”

In fact, Beck revealed that an Arab participant couldn’t even sing words when he took the stage. Instead, he could only utter melodic moans — anything else could have cost him his life.

“I don’t blame them for this at all,” Beck said regarding those who decided to pull out. You can listen to him explain the threats and the changes below:

Video:  Glenn Beck Radio From Cape Town South Africa

Which 2012 candidate 'STOOD WITH Israel'?
Only one of the announced GOP Presidential hopefuls made the trip to Glenn Beck's three-day "Restoring Courage" event in Israel. You can see who visited the Western Wall and attended the big event HERE.

 

It is Also the One Year Anniversary of Beck’s Restoring Honor Event in Washington D.C

Time to stand up and be counted!!  Link arms my friends… link arms!!

Multiculturalism on Way Out…

Multiculturalism is on its way out in Europe Because It Doesn’t Work… Are We Smart Enough to Follow Their Lead?

Netherlands Abandons Multiculturalism

Posted by Dr. Rich Swier on August 12, 2011 at 3:33pm

I have written about the dangers of multiculturalism. When ethnic, religious or immigrant groups do not assimilate into a host nation's society bad things happen. Those countries that try to accommodate multiculturalism end up creating a "state within a state". This multiculturalist state at some point begins to flex is political muscle and demands rights not conferred upon native born or naturalized citizens.

Some even demand the host society pay for their presence in order to placate them. In the United States we have illegal aliens demanding citizenship, access to free education, and medical care not offered to native born or naturalized citizens.

Soeren Kern in Hudson New York reports, "The Dutch government says it will abandon the long-standing model of multiculturalism that has encouraged Muslim immigrants to create a parallel society within the Netherlands."

According to Soeren, "A new integration bill (covering letter and 15-page action plan), which Dutch Interior Minister Piet Hein Donner presented to parliament on June 16, [2011] reads: 'The government shares the social dissatisfaction over the multicultural society model and plans to shift priority to the values of the Dutch people. In the new integration system, the values of the Dutch society play a central role. With this change, the government steps away from the model of a multicultural society'."

The letter continues: "A more obligatory integration is justified because the government also demands that from its own citizens. It is necessary because otherwise the society gradually grows apart and eventually no one feels at home anymore in the Netherlands. The integration will not be tailored to different groups."

The new integration policy will place more demands on immigrants. For example, immigrants will be required to learn the Dutch language, and the government will take a tougher approach to immigrants to ignore Dutch values or disobey Dutch law.

This effort is supported by the new center-right government of Conservatives (VVD) and Christian Democrats (CDA), with parliamentary support from the anti-Islam Freedom Party (PVV), led by Geert Wilders.

Soeren reports, "[P]olls show that a majority of Dutch voters support the government's skepticism about multiculturalism. According to a Maurice de Hond poll published by the center-right newspaper Trouw on June 19, 74 percent of Dutch voters say immigrants should conform to Dutch values. Moreover, 83 percent of those polled support a ban on burqas in public spaces.

Dutch Interior Minister Donner said, "his government "will distance itself from the relativism contained in the model of a multicultural society. Although society changes it must not be 'interchangeable with any other form of society'."

A lesson learned in Europe.

This is exactly what Herman Cain was talking about a few weeks ago and was criticized for and called to task on again on last Thursday’s debate.  Herman Cain says no Sharia Law for America!  Video Here.

Yep, multiculturalism has failed and the worst is yet to come

The Fire This Time  -  By Patrick J. Buchanan

Friday - August 12, 2011

"You've damaged your own race," said Mayor Michael Nutter to the black youths of Philadelphia whose flash mobs have been beating and robbing shoppers in the fashionable district of downtown.
"Take those God-darn hoodies down," the mayor went on in his blistering lecture. "Pull your pants up and buy a belt, 'cause no one wants to see your underwear or the crack of your butt."

And the mayor had some advice for teenagers looking for work.
"You walk into somebody's office with your hair uncombed and a pick in the back and your shoes untied and your pants half down, tattoos up and down your arms and on your neck, and you wonder why somebody won't hire you?"

"They don't hire you 'cause you look like you're crazy."
Nutter is African-American and the first leader to speak out about the racial character of the flash mobs attacking people in one American city after another. And where are our other leaders?
At the Iowa State Fair last August, black thugs beat a white man so savagely he was hospitalized. Police only began to look into the possibility of a racial attack and hate crime after fair-goers said the thugs were calling it "Beat Whitey Night."

After Memorial Day, Chicago cops had to close a beach when a flash mob formed, attacked people and knocked cyclists off bikes.
In Miami Beach, there were beatings and shootings that same weekend. In D.C., flash mobs of black youths have turned up a half-dozen times in stores to loot clothes and merchandise and flee.
The media almost never identify the race of the thugs. Their reticence would disappear were a white mob in some Southern city to be caught beating up on black shoppers at a mall.

But the flash mob scourge hitting U.S. cities has been eclipsed by the pillaging and burning of London and other British cities in the worst violence visited on that nation and its capital since Goering's Luftwaffe executed the "Blitz."

Thousands of hoodlums, thugs and criminals have firebombed buildings, looted stores and stripped, beaten and robbed people for no reason other than that they were white.

Overwhelmed cops virtually surrendered the city for three days. By the fourth night, the rampage had taken on a multiethnic caste as Asians and white trash appeared to join in the festival of criminality.

Asian and black store owners, too, are victims. In Birmingham, three Pakistani men defending their neighborhood were run over and killed by a truck reportedly driven by a black rioter.

In a country-and-gospel tune recalled often in the '60s, the one that gave James Baldwin the title of his polemic, this couplet appears:

God gave Noah the rainbow sign,
No more water, the fire next time.

A half-century after the long hot summers of the 1960s and two decades after the worst riot in U.S. history since the New York draft riots of 1863 -- the Los Angeles riot of 1992, in which blacks and Hispanics attacked Koreans and whites -- the "next time" may have arrived.

In Europe, the harbinger of the new century came a half-decade ago when North African youths in the Paris banlieues went on a days-long rampage of firebombing cars and attacking police and firemen, many of whom drove off and let the fires burn out.

This week, it was London's turn. And when the fires burn out, we shall hear anew the old liberal litany about poverty, despair, inequality and unemployment, the excuses that long ago ceased to persuade.

For poverty existed in far greater measure in the Depression. Yet our parents and grandparents did not form mobs to burn, beat and loot.

The West is in decline because the character of its people is in decline. In Europe, Christianity is dead. The moral code it gave men to live righteously is regarded with mockery. The London riots were the work of moral barbarians with no loyalty to the people in whose midst they live and no love for the society to which they give nothing, only take.

In America, millions of fatherless young seek out in gangs the familial ties they never knew. Those gangs are now almost always formed on the basis of ethnicity or race.

What were the British thinking when they threw open their doors to mass immigration from the Third World?

Over centuries, they had failed to assimilate a few million Irish, who were European Christians. So, having failed to assimilate the Irish, they decided to invite in millions of Hindus and Muslims from South Asia, Arabs from the Middle East, Africans from the sub-Sahara, black folks from the Caribbean.

But with no common faith or culture to hold the nation together, Britain is coming apart. Multiculturalism has "utterly failed," said Germany's Angela Merkel, only to be echoed by Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron.

Is multiculturalism a success here? Or does the sudden eruption of flash mobs suggest that the curtain has begun to be pulled back on diversity's dark side here in America?

SOURCE: http://buchanan.org/blog/the-fire-this-time-4822

Wake-up America… since we haven’t managed to use our common sense perhaps we can read the signs and warning from Europe… just look at France and the riots in Great Britain this past week.  Multiculturalism like political correctness are tools of the Progressive left, of Marxism, and they don’t work.  They destroy societies and whole countries!!

Related:

It seems that the White House is not hearing the message: Obama’s Ramadan Dinner at the White House

Educational Value of Multiculturalism Debate between Star Parker and Don Barr back in 1996

Iowa GOP Debate and Straw Poll…

Updates: Straw Poll Winner Results and More Updates below:  1st Official Casualty of Straw Poll:  Pawlenty Out

Who won the Republican Presidential Debate?

Who won the Iowa GOP debate?  That would depend on who you talk to and which poll you are looking at.  Fox’s online National poll showed Ron Paul as the winner.  Several polls showed Mitt Romney as the winner and I even heard that one showed Newt Gingrich, who was pretty much counted out before last Thursday’s debate, as the winner.

Below is my ‘Quick Take’ on Thursday night’s debate written Immediately after the debate and wrap up:

Romney appeared and sounded the most presidential.  He didn't allow himself to be pulled into the weeds like Pawlenty and Bachmann, and he gave his 7 point plan simply and right up front without being asked directly for it.  He is not my first choice but he did well in this debate!

I generally agreed with Frank Luntz and Joe Trippi's analysis given on Hannity's special right after the debate.  I thought the same before Hannity had them on.

Gingrich won the battle (against the media) and helped himself. (Shame on Chris Wallace, who I generally like, for the ‘gotcha’ questions’).  Romney won this round of the war.  Huntsman is out  (sounded unprepared and like he was a Democrat part of the time). Bachmann held her own and came out looking like a fighter. Pawlenty, although he has a good plan hurt himself, at least somewhat, in this debate. Santorum, Cain and Paul did fine.  Santorum and Paul got into a back and forth but made it about their points and issues, so it didn't come across as petty as Pawlenty and Bachmann's back and forth.  Cain stood strong and seemed more informed on his weaker areas.

After watching the debate, there is definitely room for Palin, Perry and a few others who are still debating their entry into this field.  Their entering the race would change the dynamics and probably knock out a few of the present weaker contenders.... sooner.  M~

More on the debate below…

Saturday 8.13.11 is the Ames Iowa Straw Poll…

So, what is the Ames Iowa Straw Poll?

This is actually a bit more complicated than you would think, but the short answer is that it is a straw poll, held by the Iowa Republican Party as a part of a fundraising dinner, in Ames, Iowa. Ames -- the home of Iowa State University (go Cyclones!) -- is located in Story County, which sits in the dead center of the state. This marks it as a symbolic location, the ideal place to officially kick off six months of state-wide political festivities. It will be held Saturday, August 13th.  Part of the festivities of this Iowa State Fair are the candidates coming to meet, greet and eat with you up close and personal!  And that includes Sarah Palin, who has not yet thrown her hat in the ring, but rolled into Ames in her bus on Friday and took part in the festivities with her family. She also appeared on Hannity’s special from Ames on Friday night along with several of the GOP candidates from Thursday’s debate, Rep Steve King and political analyst Joe Trippi.

The Ames Straw Poll has been conducted every year there hasn't been an incumbent GOP president since 1979. That makes it sound like a more impressive tradition than it actually is -- there have only ever been five Ames Straw Polls.

In a larger sense, the Ames Straw Poll serves a heroic purpose in our American lives. It gives the media something to fixate on during the critical month of August, when reporters often complain about there being "nothing to write about" because all the powerful men and women they have access to have left Washington D.C., leaving everyone with a slow news month. Left to their own devices the media can really mess things up royally. 

This year they should be covering the town halls that most of the Congressmen and Senators have been holding back in their home areas and hopefully they will have Boehner to cover as he calls, at least the republicans, back to Washington to deal with the problems and debt. Who knows… some Dems might return and Harry Reid might even be shamed into calling the Senate back. (Actually according to New Gingrich, 15 blue-dog democrats have signed a letter saying they feel Congress should reconvene to deal with the problems at hand.) That way when Obama returns from his Martha’s Vineyard vacation he might have some bills to sign??? or veto??? And then there is Glenn Beck’s Restoring Courage Event in Israel later in the month to cover… but I guess I am dreaming?!?

800 reporters were credentialed to cover this straw poll, a new record.

Who is participating in this year's poll?

1. Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann
2. Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain
3. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich – Nor formally part of event 
4. Former Utah Governor/Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman – Will not be at event
5. Michigan Representative Thad McCotter -  Was not asked to join the debate
6. Texas Representative Ron Paul
7. Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty
8. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney -  Will not be at event
9. Former Pennsylvania Senator/Jelly enthusiast Rick Santorum

So, the non-participants are Gary Johnson, Fred Karger, Buddy Roemer, and future primary candidate Rick Perry.  As well as Sarah Palin, who will be in Ames, but not participating as a candidate… yet.

Perry's presence, however, will be felt this weekend, as he's decided that he will be "making his intentions clear" and announcing his candidacy to run for President on Saturday… what timing!?! But not in Iowa.

How exactly does the Ames Straw Poll work?

It's useful to think of it like this: it's sort of an extension of the county fair, held outside the Iowa State University's Hilton Coliseum, at which the participants in the poll are your hosts for the day. The candidates, with the help of their campaign staffs, are throwing the people of Iowa a big party, with food and entertainment and candidate pitches.

To that end, on June 24, the Iowa Republicans held an auction in which portions of the space for this "county fair" were sectioned off and sold to the highest bidder. The general consensus is that the portioned-off areas near the front of the space are the best locations. We have no idea why that is. Maybe Iowans just like making up their minds quickly, or they hate walking around. Either way, they are coveted.

Bidding for the spaces starts at $15,000. (Remember, every aspect of this is actually a fundraiser for the Iowa GOP.) The highest bid was submitted by Ron Paul. That's not that surprising: Ron Paul is a shrewd winner-of-straw-polls and timed his preseason "money-bombs" so he'd have plenty of scratch on hand to get the best possible spot. In this case, his $31,000 bid topped the field.

This year's auction featured a little bit of mystery in the form of an anonymous bidder, who showed up in Ames and refused to declare whose candidacy he was supporting. This caused the rest of the campaign operatives on hand to threaten a walkout. As it turns out, the secret operative was from the McCotter campaign, who ended up putting down $18,000 on a spot on the fairgrounds. (The Wall Street Journal described the bid as "a sum that suggests he wants to be taken seriously," which is difficult to square with the pointless cloak-and-dagger act that went on before the bid was made.)

After that, Bachmann, Cain, Pawlenty and Santorum all took spots. Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, though on the ballot (whether they are officially on the ballot or just write-ins is somewhat unclear as we near the vote and reports vary), are skipping the event. Newt Gingrich had a representative at the auction who declined to make a bid on a space. A Gingrich spokesperson said, "We will work to turn people out, not because we have an air-conditioned tent, but because we have good ideas." But you know what? Having an air-conditioned tent in Iowa in August is a pretty good idea!  Gingrich is definitely a write-in.  (This is the first year that the Iowa Straw Poll is allowing write-ins.)

At any rate, it's better to put it like that then it is to say, "Oh, yeah, the entire campaign staff in Iowa recently quit, and we're up to our noses in campaign debt."

What happens once they've bought a space?

From there, the candidates each do their level best to show attendees a good time. They'll be serving food and providing a diverse array of fit-to-be-consumed-by-social-conservatives musical acts. (That means you probably shouldn't expect sets from Slipknot or Destrophy or hometown heroes The Envy Corps.) Ames' own The Nadas, however, will be among the performers. The HuffPost's Alex Becker has the complete guide to all the musical acts that will be performing.

Also, Mike Huckabee will be hauling his bass guitar all around the grounds, slapping it for whoever wants to hear. Originally, people thought that he was providing musical accompaniment exclusively to Herman Cain, but he'll actually be jamming with Santorum and Pawlenty as well. No favoritism! The guy just likes playing bass!  (Herman Cain gave Hannity’s audience a little sampling of his vocal talent on Friday night’s special coverage from the fair.)

Eventually, all of the candidates present at the event will get to address the throngs in a fifteen minute speech. The candidates get to choose their speaking slot, with the highest bidder in the Ames "land auction" getting first dibs. This year, the order will go like this: Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Thad McCotter, and Herman Cain. The monotony will be broken up with speeches from Iowa GOP luminaries like Terry Branstad, Chuck Grassley, and Steve King.

So, after all is said and done, how does the voting work?

Voters cast ballots for their favorite candidates, and they are totaled up and a winner is declared. Any attendee from the state of Iowa is eligible to cast a vote. You don't even need to be a Republican.

The candidates however, spend money to sign up supporters in advance. It's commonplace for campaigns to turn out support by buying tickets for people, and either providing transportation or paying for parking. Yes, that means that the Straw Poll is more of a test of a campaign's organizational strength than of the value of a candidate's ideas. It can be argued that all you've demonstrated, with an Ames win, is that you're good at busing people across Iowa. This sort of criticism is blunted somewhat by the fact that a bus ride does not constitute a binding contract to cast a vote, but let's get real: these campaigns wouldn't be buying free parking and food for people if they weren't more or less certain that it was going to translate into votes.

People can also write in a candidate, so Sarah Palin’s name will certainly show up and perhaps Rick Perry’s as well.

Some unusual voting shenanigan facts about the straw poll:

Up until 1995, anyone from anywhere could vote in the Ames Straw Poll. But after 1995, when the practice of busing out-of-state supporters in to Ames got out of hand, officials instituted the Iowa-only policy.

Also, in 1999, officials started using indelible ink to stamp the hands of people who had already voted, after widespread rumors of cheating surfaced in 1995 ("voters would have their hands stamped, run into the bathroom to wash the ink off, and go vote again").  This is exactly what we need to do to stop the double voting corruption in the all our elections!!

In 2007, voters actually had to dip their thumbs in ink, just like in the Iraqi elections! They were also required to present their tickets and I.D. Because, you know, ACORN.

In 2007, supporters of Ron Paul raised a bit of hue and cry over the Ames Straw Poll's use of "easily rigged Diebold computers" to tally up the votes.

More generally, people complain about how better funded campaigns have all the advantages in the Ames Straw Poll, if they're not already complaining about how better funded campaigns can actually skip the event altogether, without consequence.

The conventional wisdom is that the Ames Straw Poll is a key test for the viability of a campaign. But does that stand up under scrutiny?  Perhaps less these days than in days gone by?

So, who has something on the line in the Ames Straw Poll?

Frankly, nobody should really feel they have anything on the line, in Ames. Obviously, Bachmann, Paul, and Cain are three candidates who'll make great hay of an Ames win -- or even a strong showing -- should those results come to pass. Romney wouldn't sniff at a win, either, but he's got nothing invested in the process and will ride it out in any event. McCotter and Huntsman don't seem poised to bail if Ames doesn't go their way -- and neither should be expecting to do well. Santorum announced today that after spending 3 weeks straight in Iowa and visiting 68 counties that needs to place 5th of better in the poll to stay in? And Newt Gingrich seems to be wiling to stay in the process on his terms no matter how he fares.  The only person who has something legitimately on the line at Ames is Tim Pawlenty, and he hurt himself in the debate on Thursday night allowing Chris Wallace to pull him into an ‘Minnesota Nice’ match with Bachmann.  (Both Bachmann and Pawlenty need to show well in their neighboring state, but Bachmann seems to have little, or at least less, to worry about.

Back to the debate:

I actually watched the debate live and twice more in replays and took copious notes. For this is the GOP’s race to win or lose. The person who wins the GOP nomination, by many economist’s and political analyst’s views, could be the person who saves America or will be the last president to serve as head of the American nation as we know it, because unless they can turn it around, China is expected to take our place as the economic super power of the world in 2016. If Obama is reelected there are few who think we can survive as much more than just a shell of the nation we used to be.

As ‘President Downgrade’ proceeded with his fundraising, Ramadan Dinner, fiestas, vacation planning and blame game the GOP candidates, at least the major contenders in the race at this time, met in Ames Iowa for another debate.

After sleeping on my notes and reading up and listening to polls and reviews, this seems to be the consensus:

Jon Huntsman.  The word(s) most frequently used in social media about Jon Huntsman last night was “creepy” and “slimy”   From almost every point of view, Huntsman is a man who would clearly be more comfortable in the Democratic Party than the Republican Party.  So why is he here?  Who knows?  He also seemed very unprepared. If anything, he turned more voters off last night who had not previously seen him.

Herman Cain. Herman Cain is probably the guy who would be the most fun to sit down and have a beer or  an iced tea with and he is very knowledgeable about business and finances. He did well in South Carolina, but his last two performances have been less than stellar, although he is getting better in the areas that are his weak points. In politics, unfortunately if you are not going up, you are going down. Herman kinda seems to be standing still.

Rick Santorum.  An hour into the debate, Santorum held up his hand and said, “I haven’t gotten a lot to say.”  Santorum was mostly ignored until the end which is unfortunate because he holds the values of fiscal conservatives and social conservatives and he had to fight to get his message out.  He did get into the fray somewhat, particularly clashing with Ron Paul.  Although he did a lot of campaigning in Iowa he is relatively unknown outside the Pennsylvania area and to some Fox News watchers.

Ron Paul.  It is hard to lump Ron Paul in as a winner or a loser.  Ron Paul is Ron Paul, kinda like the crazy, yet knowledgeable, old uncle that every has somewhere. He is a true Libertarian, through and through, and did his usual ranting about militarism and war mongering.  He is an expert and right on about the dangers of the Federal Reserve but he is way off on his underestimation of the dangers of Iran.  His opinion on social issues would be great if we lived in a perfect world, but alas…

Minor winners (because he was the frontrunner going in and still is):

Mitt Romney. Mitts strategy right now seems to be simply not to screw up.   He had his pat answers for Obamneycare and amazingly was again not really challenged, considering he is and remains the frontrunner, but the tougher debates will come.  He did look and act presidential , stayed out of the bickering and put his 7 point plan out on the table. As it was, he probably picked up a small margin overall.  He was the overall winner of the war, so to speak, by most estimates.

Big Winners:

Newt Gingrich. But the biggest winner of the night had to be Newt Gingrich.  Gingrich needed both a stellar performance in the debate and needs a good showing in the straw poll to keep his campaign alive.   Gingrich also looked Presidential and dominated a lot of the serious talk.  His comeback to Chris Wallace was spectacular.  The problem with Newt is he is a big government conservative.  If he were committed to the dismantling of socialism, he would be a great candidate.  If he were committed to absolutely destroying liberalism the way Reagan, who Newt often quotes, was committed to destroying Soviet Communism, he would be the guy we could all rally around. Unfortunately, he is not.

Michele Bachmann.  Memo to anyone who wants to take Michele Bachmann on:  Wear your body armor!  Whether you win or lose a fight with her, you are going to come away bloodied and bruised.  Bachmann was hit from all sides during the debate and held her own.  She took the tough questions from the panel and then fought back against the other candidates on the stage.  Michele Bachmann is a ‘Girl Scout with a sniper rifle’ (stole that line from Judson Phillips of TPN) and anyone who calls her out can expect to get hit. Michele showed the strength needed to be President.  She proved she could stand and take it, and then dish out better than she got.

The Biggest Loser:

Tim Pawlenty.  The only good news is Pawlenty’s performance was so bad he should soon be out of our misery.  Pawlenty, did not have the courage to attack Romney last time and barely did this time, but showed no compunction about attacking Michele Bachmann.  A bad chess move for him.

Pawlenty’s attacks against the only female candidate on the stage backfired.  He ended up looking like that creepy guy in the neighborhood who you expect any day will be arrested for stalking instead of presidential material.  Frank Luntz credited him with the funniest line of the night, but it wasn’t enough to save him.  Bachmann nailed Pawlenty for being the most like Obama of anyone on the stage, based on his past record. At the end, Pawlenty said we need conservative leadership.  Being neither conservative, nor a leader, he’s 0 for 2 in that department.

All of this leads us back to the straw poll on Saturday.

Romney is not participating, or at least just half way.  Ron Paul will probably win the straw poll.  His followers are enthusiastic and come out for him.  Paul winning the straw poll, however, may pretty much invalidate it.

Michele Bachmann will come in second but the real fight is for third and fourth place.  Those are actually the most important positions in this straw poll.

For the second tier candidates, third and fourth place means they can continue.   For any candidate who does not place at least fourth, with the exception of possible write in candidates Rick Perry and Sarah Palin, money will begin to dry up.  Some of those campaigns are already in death spirals.   Rick Santorum said today that he ‘had’ to place at least 5th, but in reality his campaign is over.  And, Tim Pawlenty’s will be after the straw poll.  His only purpose in continuing at this point will be to run for a cabinet position.  The same is probably true of Cain, who may get fourth place.  Gingrich may have pulled enough out of the debate to hit third or fourth place, although he may hang in no matter where he places, at least for awhile.

Perry will throw his hat in the ring on Saturday and if Sarah is jumping in, it will be by mid-September. By the time we get to New Hampshire the true fun and seriousness of the campaign will be upon us.  For those like Giuliani and Bolton, I’d say back and help someone else.  As of Chris Christy… he would add some spice to the race.  And for Trump… please don’t screw this up and run as a third party candidate.

When you look at the line-up the two toughest candidates are the gals, if Palin gets in and of course Christy if he jumps in.  It looks like it really is still early in this race!!  And as Newt Gingrich said, “We are 15-months from the election, the Super Congress is a horrible idea and we have done nothing to attack our debt problems.  We cannot wait until the election.  He told Boehner on air that he needs to call he House back to Washington on Monday!”

But in reality, the more research you do, the more you realize that the true winner of the Ames Straw Poll is Ames itself, because it stimulates the local economy and brings a lot of attention to Iowa.  But at least for now, people seem to watch the activities there with a lot of interest, if not complete seriousness.

You can watch the full debate here in these Videos if you missed it:

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate in Iowa Part 1

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate in Iowa Part 2

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate in Iowa Part 3

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate In Iowa pt.4

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate In Iowa  pt.5

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate in Iowa pt.6

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate In Iowa pt.7

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate In Iowa pt.8

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate In Iowa pt.9

2012 Presidential Republican Primary Debate In Iowa pt.10

Michele Bachmann "I've Been The Lone Voice In Washington Saying We Can't Raise The Debt Ceiling!"

"I Just Don't Believe These Wars Are Necessary" Ron Paul Post Debate Interview

h/t to Jean Stoner, the Huffington Post, and TPN

Related:

GB:  GOP Hopefuls Debate

Update: 8/13/2011 12:10A.M. ET

I just watched the replay of Hannity’s earlier live show from the Des Moines State Fair.  He had several people on including Gov Sarah Palin, GOP Candidate Herman Cain, Rep Steve King and Joe Trippi, is a long-time Democratic campaign consultant and political analyst.

For Sarah Palin’s interview with Hannity, the fair grounds around them were packed and the crowd was engaged.  All I can say is that Sarah is a phenomenon.  She lights up a room, captures a crowd at an event and has a down-home type of charisma that is relatable. I think she will run, do does Hannity. You can see the passion and love for this country in her eyes. 

Joe Trippi who is a Democratic political analyst and worked for crazy ass Howard Dean said tonight that he thinks if Sarah Palin were in the Iowa straw poll that she would walk away with it hands down.   That is quite a statement coming from him. And Rep Steve King said he has seen her in action and she can ‘work a room’ like nobody he has ever seen. I saw her speak live to an audience in an outdoor stadium. She is pretty amazing, Live!  She can make a crowd light up… which is tough in an outdoor arena.

I also think the notion that she can’t win is only true if we allow the media to convince us of that.  Sarah has a Libertarian streak that give her an edge over Bachmann.  She is also more down to earth. Don’t get me wrong… I like Bachmann, but there is something about Palin that is magic! 

Update: 8.13.2011 6:39PM ET

Bachmann Wins the Ames Iowa Straw Poll

No real surprises in Ames as Rep. Michele Bachmann came in first with 4,823 votes, narrowly edging Ron Paul out of the top spot and finishing far ahead of third place finisher Tim Pawlenty:

Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty secured 2,293 votes. Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum earned 1,657. Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain locked-up 1,456 votes. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who did not actively campaign in the event, captured 567 votes. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who also did not aggressively look to secure support in the straw poll, got 385 votes. U.S. Rep Thad McCotter, a longshot contender, received 35 votes. And Jon Huntsman Jr. received 69 votes.

The Minnesota congresswoman narrowly outpaced libertarian Rep. Ron Paul, who had 4,671 votes, and whose red t-shirt-wearing supporters flooded the campus of Iowa State University, and packed the arena when Paul spoke. Paul gave a strong anti-abortion speech. Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty finished third with 2,293, a showing that keeps him in the game for next year's Iowa caucuses, but had to come off as slightly disappointing. He spent in $1 million dollars in Iowa. (Santorum and Cain spent little and did it the old fashioned way by meeting people and shaking hands).

The hope in his camp was that his organization muscle in Iowa would propel him to the top, but he was no match for the charismatic Bachmann, whose political star continues its dizzying ascent. Where Pawlenty relied on traditional, on-the-ground campaigning, Bachmann rode a wave of media-fueled enthusiasm that, right now, shows no sign of abating.

Still, in spite of Bachmann's victory, the poll came on the day that Texas Gov. Rick Perry declared that he, too, will mount a presidential run, setting up a showdown in Iowa over the social and fiscal conservatives that dominate the caucuses here.  Perry had mounted an on the ground write-in campaign for the Straw Poll with a representative and staff even though he did not appear there and garnered 712 write-in votes.

Bachmann planned to appear on the five major network Sunday morning talk shows Sunday as part of a blitz to capitalize on the win--and perhaps a tactic to thwart Perry's momentum. Both candidates will speak at a dinner in Waterloo, Iowa Sunday evening.

The results are the first indication of what Iowans think of the field of Republicans competing for the chance to challenge President Barack Obama next fall. But it's hardly predictive of who will win the winter Iowa contest, much less the party nod or the White House

We may see a one or two dropouts as a result of the straw poll. Rick Santorum hinted yesterday that he might call it quits if he didn't do well. He finished a distant fourth, but said he needed to finish 5th to stay in. Herman Cain is expected to continue his campaign despite finishing 5th, but his polls show that him at 3rd across the state of Iowa.

Bachmann Wins Iowa Straw Poll, Paul Second Followed by Pawlenty

Ron Paul Emphasizes Social Issues as the Veteran Congressman Finishes 2nd in Ames

Pawlenty Campaign Moves Forward After Third Place Straw Poll Finish

Is Palin Definitely Out of the 2012 Race?

Texas Governor Rick Perry Announces Bid for President

See Romney’s Heated Exchange With Angry, Heckling Crowd In Iowa

Santorum After Ames Boost ‘Voters Rallied Around Our Message’

Herman Cain Touted Business Experience at Straw Poll: ‘The Engine of Economic Growth Is the Business Sector’  But, Cain He Do It??

Obama:  New Low Jobs Approval Rating Sinks Below 40% For the First Time  - But not to worry, he is heading out on a jobs bus tour this week on the taxpayer’s nickel to fire us up… before leaving on his Martha’s Vineyard vacation….

It Begins:  Bachmann and Perry at Same Event

Allen West:  Ron Paul ‘Not the Kind of Guy You Want to be Sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave’

1st Official Casualty of Straw Poll: Pawlenty Out

Herman Cain won the best line award in the straw poll speeches… “People say I don’t have much foreign policy experience….(pause), Like the guy that’s in the White House now does?”