Monday- February 28, 2011
Original thoughts:
I hope that I don’t sound like a cookie cutter author for the right. I hope that my thoughts come across as genuine and sincere. I hope that my thoughts are original, timely and in step with current events. I hope that when I write, I stay true to the theme and to my message of the day.
When I write, I use words to describe my thoughts and message. The words I use are the words that I use on a daily basis. In other words, I stay well within my vernacular.
I have written approximately one million five hundred fifty five thousand two hundred and twenty two words in my FORUMS since Pinecone Conservatives was founded. A word I have never used is obdurate. It is defined: 1.a hardened in feelings. 2.b stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing 2: resistant to persuasion or softening influences: unyielding syn see inflexible – obdurately adv.
I would hope that many who are reading this know what this word means. I didn’t, so I had to look it up. I heard this word on the television show ‘Blue Bloods’ seen Friday nights at 10:00 pm est on CBS. It is a great show. It is well written and it makes you want to be as good in real life as the characters are in their fictional roles. It stars Tom Selleck, who is a widowed Police Commissioner that comes from a long line of New York City Policemen. Frank Reagan is the character that Mr. Selleck plays. His father a former NYC Police Commissioner, who is also widowed, lives in the family home with his soon the Police Commissioner, played by Selleck. The Police Commissioner has two sons who are also police men and had another that was shot in the line of duty. His daughter is an assistant D.A. for the city. This is a family steeped in tradition and one that does the right thing, because they were raised that way and they recognize what the right thing to do is.
Now that the story line has been described, Police Commissioner Reagan was accused of being obdurate in Friday night’s episode. He was inflexible, because he knew that what he wanted to do was the right thing. When my wife Lisa and I heard this word we immediately had to look it up. Lisa reads about two books a week, on average, and has never heard this word before.
You might be saying so what just, get to the point. Ok, I will, but I had to set up the reference point for you!
On Sunday, Senator Jim Holperin (D) was interviewed on FOX news. The senator is one of the fourteen state senators from Wisconsin who are holed up in some Best Western Inn in Illinois, because he and his party are refusing to vote on Governor Scott Walker’s (R) bill to end collective bargaining in the State of Wisconsin. He was describing how his party has submitted many proposals that would provide for union concessions, so that the state budget can be balanced and within the parameters of what the Governor wants. In essence, the long and the short, is that the Democrats, as is with many democrats around the country who are being asked to give in, have not come up with one original thought in the so called concessions that they say they have submitted. What prohibits them from making any contribution? The answer is that they do not have one original thought to address the budget concerns by some very responsible people who are displaying original thoughts.
The senators who are in hiding cannot give in to do the right thing, because their constituency does not recognize what the right thing to do is. Their constituency is the union members, the union bosses and unfortunately, the common citizens that have bought into the fallacy that worker’s can not work or be represented without a union.
The fact of the matter is there are two classes in America today. One class is the class that says I want to keep what I earn for my own benefit. And the other class is saying that I would like to also keep what I earn but I should be able to take a part of what you earn for my own benefit.
So where does the word obdurate come in? Both sides might be entrenched and both sides might be stubborn or obdurate. However, one side won the election, so they should have the chance to initiate their ideas. That is democracy and that is only fair.
Now that I have established what this mystery word means, I wonder where Jim Holperin heard this word. I would venture to say that he, too, was watching “Blue Bloods” in the hotel room that he is holed up in. I would venture to say that he, too, had to look up the word and I would venture to say that he like me could not wait to use this word. The difference is I think I am being a bit more original with how I am using the word. I would also venture to say that if you Google Jim and make a reference to any speech he has made or read any of his interviews you would not find any instance of the use of this word in his vernacular. I am glad that Jim may have been watching “Blue Bloods”, because there is a lesson in what the right thing to do is every week. Heaven knows a politician a hotel room. Need I say more?
Indiana’s Governor Mitch Daniels had an original thought to end collective bargaining in his state six years ago with an executive order. Indiana today does not have the cost overhead and the deficits that prohibit them from doing the right thing so that everyone wins.
Being original is what we need in government today, despite what the president says, what his party is doing and has done there are very few original thoughts coming from many non original politicians in the Democratic Party.
I will continue to use the word obdurate. I hope to use many more words, as I continue to be original in their use.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: Our forefathers had original thoughts and I am happy to say they were obdurate in the expression of those thoughts. If they weren’t, we would not be here today and if they weren’t, Jim Holperin could not be obdurate himself.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
We have heard all we need to hear:
Friday – February 25, 2011
We have heard all we need to hear:
This week, I have been trying to illustrate what the progressive liberals have accomplished in their quest for power and there goal of domination. These words might seem a bit conspiratorial and extreme. You might ask how one group can dominate another group, in a free society such as the one we have.
The answer is simple. There are unknowing participants and there are knowing participants that care about one thing and that is the power they derive from an enterprise that borders on the criminal. When an organization such as union’s have the ability to legally extort public funds for there own self aggrandizement and then profit from that theft all of society looses. This is exactly what we are experiencing today.
The union protestors that have been in the news this week are the unknowing participants. They see the benefits that they derive, but they don’t ask how it is done.
There is one word that describes what has happened to the unknowing participants by those that control them. The missing word in the dialog is coerce - the word is defined: 1: to restrain or dominate by nullifying individual will. 2: to compel to act or choice <> 3: to enforce or bring about by force or threat.
Through collective action, collective bargaining is achieved. At the very outset the unions coerced individual action through promoting an agenda of guaranteeing benefits and compensation. Through years of collective bargaining, the unions have coerced a political party and have coerced the unknowing participants to promote through their contributions a legal extortion ring.
When we consider the word coercion we can say that unions provide a protection against unfair labor practices. But, when we consider that union members do not have a choice in what and who unions support, then the basic tenants of the Constitution might come into play under the 13th amendment.
There is no doubt that the problems we face today, in the states that are close to bankruptcy, is due to the collective action of coercion by the unions. It has been done to corporations through strikes and it is now being done to state governments, by the knowing participants who have created this enterprise.
The government’s role in this is duplicitous. Many of the State and Federal law makers have gone out of their way to propagate this theft of public funds and to coerce private citizens to listen and to participate in the indoctrination of the enterprise. Former Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle (D) signed into law, in 2009, a law that students in public schools would be educated in the history of unions, organized Labor and collective bargaining. Where is the choice that citizens have in what they are being taught and what age should they be taught the subjects that are designed to indoctrinate and enslave the young in a pattern of thought and action?
These questions need to be asked and these decisions need to be scrutinized for the benefit of a free republic. Hannah Arendt, a political theorist, said, “the word education has an evil sound in politics; there is a pretense of education, when the real purpose is coercion without the use of force.”
When the young are indoctrinated and basic aspects of history are purposefully forgotten and other aspects are purposefully advanced, then the word coercion can be understood. The word coercion is defined: the act, process, or power of coercing.
The profile of the Democratic Party today is one of coercion. The profile of the progressive liberal is one of coercion. The profile of the union is one of coercion, because it is mandatory that you join a union in order to be employed.
I end each week with a quote. Today’s quote is by Patrick Henry: “Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom.”
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: There is a loss of freedom and a loss of choice when institutions take from the unknowing and then give to the knowing to coerce others into action that they might not necessarily want to take. When citizens and politicians are coerced they loose freedom of choice. This should be all that you need to hear.
We have heard all we need to hear:
This week, I have been trying to illustrate what the progressive liberals have accomplished in their quest for power and there goal of domination. These words might seem a bit conspiratorial and extreme. You might ask how one group can dominate another group, in a free society such as the one we have.
The answer is simple. There are unknowing participants and there are knowing participants that care about one thing and that is the power they derive from an enterprise that borders on the criminal. When an organization such as union’s have the ability to legally extort public funds for there own self aggrandizement and then profit from that theft all of society looses. This is exactly what we are experiencing today.
The union protestors that have been in the news this week are the unknowing participants. They see the benefits that they derive, but they don’t ask how it is done.
There is one word that describes what has happened to the unknowing participants by those that control them. The missing word in the dialog is coerce - the word is defined: 1: to restrain or dominate by nullifying individual will. 2: to compel to act or choice <> 3: to enforce or bring about by force or threat.
Through collective action, collective bargaining is achieved. At the very outset the unions coerced individual action through promoting an agenda of guaranteeing benefits and compensation. Through years of collective bargaining, the unions have coerced a political party and have coerced the unknowing participants to promote through their contributions a legal extortion ring.
When we consider the word coercion we can say that unions provide a protection against unfair labor practices. But, when we consider that union members do not have a choice in what and who unions support, then the basic tenants of the Constitution might come into play under the 13th amendment.
There is no doubt that the problems we face today, in the states that are close to bankruptcy, is due to the collective action of coercion by the unions. It has been done to corporations through strikes and it is now being done to state governments, by the knowing participants who have created this enterprise.
The government’s role in this is duplicitous. Many of the State and Federal law makers have gone out of their way to propagate this theft of public funds and to coerce private citizens to listen and to participate in the indoctrination of the enterprise. Former Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle (D) signed into law, in 2009, a law that students in public schools would be educated in the history of unions, organized Labor and collective bargaining. Where is the choice that citizens have in what they are being taught and what age should they be taught the subjects that are designed to indoctrinate and enslave the young in a pattern of thought and action?
These questions need to be asked and these decisions need to be scrutinized for the benefit of a free republic. Hannah Arendt, a political theorist, said, “the word education has an evil sound in politics; there is a pretense of education, when the real purpose is coercion without the use of force.”
When the young are indoctrinated and basic aspects of history are purposefully forgotten and other aspects are purposefully advanced, then the word coercion can be understood. The word coercion is defined: the act, process, or power of coercing.
The profile of the Democratic Party today is one of coercion. The profile of the progressive liberal is one of coercion. The profile of the union is one of coercion, because it is mandatory that you join a union in order to be employed.
I end each week with a quote. Today’s quote is by Patrick Henry: “Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom.”
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: There is a loss of freedom and a loss of choice when institutions take from the unknowing and then give to the knowing to coerce others into action that they might not necessarily want to take. When citizens and politicians are coerced they loose freedom of choice. This should be all that you need to hear.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The bottom line:
Thursday - February 24, 2011
The bottom line:
Any accountant, business owner or tax consultant will always ask or tell you what the bottom line is.
This week has been a tumultuous week in our country and around the world. The bottom line is that people in this country and people in other countries are waking up. With protests occurring in our cities, over collective bargaining in the public unions, we are realizing just how corrupt the activity has been and how it has affected the bottom line in our greatest cities.
The bottom line is we cannot afford labor unions taking our liberties and our wealth for their own desires and supporting their preference in their choice of political parties. The bottom line is these unions support solely the Democratic Party. It is a very rare instance where any union contributes to the Republican Party.
To be effective you need to have the power. In this country, as in other countries, the unions or individuals who have the power also have the money. The President told us that his stimulus package would save American jobs. What he didn’t tell us is that the jobs that were saved with our tax dollars were union jobs; particularly Public Service Union jobs. The bottom line is somewhere, somehow the corrupt activity has been uncovered and there are no more excuses.
What is now occurring in this country is that we have the political class taking the wealth away form the tax payer or in our case the private class. U.S. Congressman Dennis Kusinich (D) Ohio said in response to newly elected Governor Kasich’s (R) stance against collective bargaining of the public service union’s in Ohio “He cannot believe that the Republicans are not negotiating the terms of the state employees.“ He said, “Under the Republicans, workers would be told this is what you are going to get.” He said: “this isn’t American, because you can’t have democracy if people can’t negotiate wages.” He also said, “Attacks on the Unions are a means of redistributing wealth upwards.” The bottom line is that collective bargaining has taken away the wealth and has taken away the flexibility of any local town or city to balance any budget. Without balanced budgets deficits occur. The bottom line is any employee any city worker anybody has the right to negotiate for a pay hike, but they should negotiate out of merit instead of having the unions rob the tax payer.
The bottom line is that the tax payer is paying for these union member’s salary and benefits. In many cases, these union workers make more than the people who are paying for their salary and their benefits. They also have job security something that the person who pays their salary doesn’t.
The biggest issue of the budgets that states have to reconcile is to create a program that would be designed to promote job growth and entrepreneurial activities. This is something that Mr. Kucinich doesn’t understand and clearly never be capable of understanding. It seems to me that that Congressman Kucinich is against these American principals and against the principals of basic American freedoms.
The bottom line is we now have two distinct choices: The Democrats who are supported by the Unions and those who are now afraid that their campaign funds are going to be affected if the Unions cannot perform collective bargaining. And the Republicans who have illustrated and proven how these Unions have destroyed the public sector work place through corrupt policies and through unethical practices.
The other side of this debate centers on the workers themselves. Many don’t realize that their Union dues go to pay multi million dollar salaries of the Union bosses and go to support candidates that they might not want to support. Many Union workers are forced to join the Union and many are conservative. There political freedom of choice is not only taken away but is corrupted by the practices of the leadership.
When politicians, like Kucinich, are beholden to the unions, because of campaign contributions, how can the decisions they make on any policy issue be made out of fairness and without prejudice? The bottom line is that these Unions are corrupt and their practices make it impossible not to corrupt those who take the political contributions. James Sherk of The New York Times wrote this week: “As a result unions can now insist on laws that serve their interests – at the expense of the common good.”
The Republicans are not responsible for this mess. This mess has occurred over many decades of democrats strangling the system for corrupt dollars that are stolen and not earned. The bottom line is that these Unions have become a fund raising machine for the Democratic Party!
The Presidents former Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, is now the Mayor of Chicago. That city is known as the bastion of union thugs. The President will need the city and the vote of the union’s to insure his reelection. Who will give him that? Yes, Rahm and the Unions. Didn’t JFK win with the help of Mayor Daly and the Unions in the nation’s tightest race in history? This is what you call consolidating your power for a rainy day - and that is the bottom line!
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: The father of modern day liberalism Franklin Delano Roosevelt said:
“It is impossible to bargain collectively with the government.”
The bottom line:
Any accountant, business owner or tax consultant will always ask or tell you what the bottom line is.
This week has been a tumultuous week in our country and around the world. The bottom line is that people in this country and people in other countries are waking up. With protests occurring in our cities, over collective bargaining in the public unions, we are realizing just how corrupt the activity has been and how it has affected the bottom line in our greatest cities.
The bottom line is we cannot afford labor unions taking our liberties and our wealth for their own desires and supporting their preference in their choice of political parties. The bottom line is these unions support solely the Democratic Party. It is a very rare instance where any union contributes to the Republican Party.
To be effective you need to have the power. In this country, as in other countries, the unions or individuals who have the power also have the money. The President told us that his stimulus package would save American jobs. What he didn’t tell us is that the jobs that were saved with our tax dollars were union jobs; particularly Public Service Union jobs. The bottom line is somewhere, somehow the corrupt activity has been uncovered and there are no more excuses.
What is now occurring in this country is that we have the political class taking the wealth away form the tax payer or in our case the private class. U.S. Congressman Dennis Kusinich (D) Ohio said in response to newly elected Governor Kasich’s (R) stance against collective bargaining of the public service union’s in Ohio “He cannot believe that the Republicans are not negotiating the terms of the state employees.“ He said, “Under the Republicans, workers would be told this is what you are going to get.” He said: “this isn’t American, because you can’t have democracy if people can’t negotiate wages.” He also said, “Attacks on the Unions are a means of redistributing wealth upwards.” The bottom line is that collective bargaining has taken away the wealth and has taken away the flexibility of any local town or city to balance any budget. Without balanced budgets deficits occur. The bottom line is any employee any city worker anybody has the right to negotiate for a pay hike, but they should negotiate out of merit instead of having the unions rob the tax payer.
The bottom line is that the tax payer is paying for these union member’s salary and benefits. In many cases, these union workers make more than the people who are paying for their salary and their benefits. They also have job security something that the person who pays their salary doesn’t.
The biggest issue of the budgets that states have to reconcile is to create a program that would be designed to promote job growth and entrepreneurial activities. This is something that Mr. Kucinich doesn’t understand and clearly never be capable of understanding. It seems to me that that Congressman Kucinich is against these American principals and against the principals of basic American freedoms.
The bottom line is we now have two distinct choices: The Democrats who are supported by the Unions and those who are now afraid that their campaign funds are going to be affected if the Unions cannot perform collective bargaining. And the Republicans who have illustrated and proven how these Unions have destroyed the public sector work place through corrupt policies and through unethical practices.
The other side of this debate centers on the workers themselves. Many don’t realize that their Union dues go to pay multi million dollar salaries of the Union bosses and go to support candidates that they might not want to support. Many Union workers are forced to join the Union and many are conservative. There political freedom of choice is not only taken away but is corrupted by the practices of the leadership.
When politicians, like Kucinich, are beholden to the unions, because of campaign contributions, how can the decisions they make on any policy issue be made out of fairness and without prejudice? The bottom line is that these Unions are corrupt and their practices make it impossible not to corrupt those who take the political contributions. James Sherk of The New York Times wrote this week: “As a result unions can now insist on laws that serve their interests – at the expense of the common good.”
The Republicans are not responsible for this mess. This mess has occurred over many decades of democrats strangling the system for corrupt dollars that are stolen and not earned. The bottom line is that these Unions have become a fund raising machine for the Democratic Party!
The Presidents former Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, is now the Mayor of Chicago. That city is known as the bastion of union thugs. The President will need the city and the vote of the union’s to insure his reelection. Who will give him that? Yes, Rahm and the Unions. Didn’t JFK win with the help of Mayor Daly and the Unions in the nation’s tightest race in history? This is what you call consolidating your power for a rainy day - and that is the bottom line!
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: The father of modern day liberalism Franklin Delano Roosevelt said:
“It is impossible to bargain collectively with the government.”
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The question of leadership is now staring us in the face!
Wednesday-February 23, 2011
The question of leadership is now staring us in the face!
When does a leader start being a leader? When does a leader cease being a leader?
The events in the Mideast have taken some of us by storm. But for those who follow this kind of stuff, it comes as no surprise.
When you have an enemy centric policy of appeasement, which allows you to criticize our allies and apologize to our enemies, you are not leading. The provocations by Iran the fall of Egypt’s president and now the events in Libya are not just mere coincidences. These are well orchestrated events that have a geographical significance. The problems that this country now faces are a direct result of its bad leadership and the President’s inherent weakness.
You cannot tell me that the entire Mid East collapse has taken us by surprise. If it did, then we have some serious issues and some serious questions that must be answered now.
The Muslim Cleric, Anjem Choudary, is leading an effort to stage a protest in Washington D.C. on March 3rd. His stated goal is to introduce Sharia Law as the new law of the land. His goal is to introduce the Muslim faith as the predominant religion of the world. His goal is to have the flag of Islam flying over the White House. He is displaying what leadership is all about. He is making an argument and he is pushing his cause. Now whether we should let him do this and give him a FORUM is another question. None the less, he is leading. This is what a leader does. Our leader, the President, should be saying that Sharia Law is not a law that is accepted here and your flag will never fly over the people’s house. If I were leading, that’s what my response would be. But where is the President’s response?
These acts and demonstrations that are now taking place in many countries are not a coincidence. It is a direct result of a new leadership in the world that I am not convinced is in our best interest.
The events, in Quadaffi’s Libya, are the most startling one to date. He is capable of murdering his own people and he is capable of putting the world in an economic downturn, if he holds the oil, he produces a hostage. The problem is that if he steps down or is thrown out of office, there is no one waiting in the wings to take over. His son, Saif al-Qadaffi could be his successor, if he is accepted.
The State Department said, “We are trying to convey a message to Libya.” They also said in statement that, “We are analyzing the speech of Saif al-Qaddafi to see what possibilities it contains for meaningful reform.” In other words, they do not know what to do!
There is no question that Quadaffi owns Tripoli. This is where his base his, but the Eastern half of Libya is where the oil is. Currently no one is taking charge there and it could be taken by Jihadists. If Libya goes into a period of Civil War the production of oil will cease. The oil business in Libya is run by the oil companies and there employees. They are now fleeing the country so anything is possible.
If Libya is taken out of the world’s oil supply chain and the country goes into a Civil War Saudi Arabia could step in and supply the lost oil. However, this would only be until they collapse. This scenario could happen because dissent is now paralyzing the entire region.
The price of oil per barrel has already skyrocketed. Just today, the price of a barrel of oil rose to $95.00, the highest it’s been in two years. Once it reaches the $100.00 level, the price of a gallon of gasoline will be close to the $4.00 level. That would have a significant impact on our economy and quite possibly put it into a recession.
What is our president doing about this? He has put an embargo on drilling here, because of the environmental lobbies’ campaign money. As these countries go further into Islamist control, which they most likely will, they will do everything in their power to cripple this nation with the oil exports that they would control. The oil then becomes a weapon of mass destruction. A real leader would say we are going to drill our own oil here and the rest of the world will have to get along without American oil money. But a weak leader needs time to analyze and debate the pole numbers with that kind of move.
If Libya fails and falls into the hands of Islamist Jihadist, it will affect Egypt’s prospects for Democracy. This is why I am very skeptical of when the word Democracy is used in the Middle East. It is primarily Islamist and it is primarily the young who are driving the revolutions. They are also the primary targets of the Jihadist and the Clerics, like Anjem Choudray is attracting here.
The United States is not doing enough. We should be getting aid and people who can assist in place to provide the direction needed to set up a government structure. Egypt is now facing a hunger crisis. Eastern Libya is facing a medical crisis. We should be following the Reagan model of when the Berlin Wall came down. Reagan sent humanitarian aid and personal that could help do those things. This would go along way in calming the fears of the people on the ground. In other words, prove that we are your friends and not your enemy.
You cannot lead while you analyze. The post mortem on the Obama presidency will show that opportunities were missed, and power vacuums occurred while we were analyzing what words meant. Every other word out of Hillary Clinton’s mouth, over the last few weeks, has been, “we are looking for partners to resolve these issues.” Our enemies don’t care about partners and partnerships. They view this type of talk as a weakness in leadership because it says we are afraid to do anything ourselves or that we cannot take any action by ourselves. Just a simple condemnation would be nice.
While our own government takes its citizen’s hostage through unconstitutional laws and redistribution of its wealth Democrats are playing games by fleeing there State Assemblies. These Democrat members of Congress swore an allegiance when they took office. Our President sided with the Unions, instead of saying to his fellow democrats get back to work make your argument and let the chips fall where they may. He should have demanded that they do the job they were elected to do. The President again shirked his responsibility and was AWOL, absent without leave, and devoid of the leadership that was necessary to curtail a bad situation that got worse because of his message.
What kind of message does this send to our enemies? The answer: A weak President that sells out to the unions and special interests and a Senate that flees the scene, because they don’t want to vote because they are afraid. These signs are signals that we have upheaval here, like the countries abroad. The signs of weakness can only be interpreted one way. It emboldens an enemy that will stop at nothing to enforce their will here at home and abroad. Just ask Cleric Choudray!
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: American leadership sells itself! American leadership is now needed! America needs a leader that will protect her! The face of America is one that should demonstrate unbridled strength - there should be no question about that!
The question of leadership is now staring us in the face!
When does a leader start being a leader? When does a leader cease being a leader?
The events in the Mideast have taken some of us by storm. But for those who follow this kind of stuff, it comes as no surprise.
When you have an enemy centric policy of appeasement, which allows you to criticize our allies and apologize to our enemies, you are not leading. The provocations by Iran the fall of Egypt’s president and now the events in Libya are not just mere coincidences. These are well orchestrated events that have a geographical significance. The problems that this country now faces are a direct result of its bad leadership and the President’s inherent weakness.
You cannot tell me that the entire Mid East collapse has taken us by surprise. If it did, then we have some serious issues and some serious questions that must be answered now.
The Muslim Cleric, Anjem Choudary, is leading an effort to stage a protest in Washington D.C. on March 3rd. His stated goal is to introduce Sharia Law as the new law of the land. His goal is to introduce the Muslim faith as the predominant religion of the world. His goal is to have the flag of Islam flying over the White House. He is displaying what leadership is all about. He is making an argument and he is pushing his cause. Now whether we should let him do this and give him a FORUM is another question. None the less, he is leading. This is what a leader does. Our leader, the President, should be saying that Sharia Law is not a law that is accepted here and your flag will never fly over the people’s house. If I were leading, that’s what my response would be. But where is the President’s response?
These acts and demonstrations that are now taking place in many countries are not a coincidence. It is a direct result of a new leadership in the world that I am not convinced is in our best interest.
The events, in Quadaffi’s Libya, are the most startling one to date. He is capable of murdering his own people and he is capable of putting the world in an economic downturn, if he holds the oil, he produces a hostage. The problem is that if he steps down or is thrown out of office, there is no one waiting in the wings to take over. His son, Saif al-Qadaffi could be his successor, if he is accepted.
The State Department said, “We are trying to convey a message to Libya.” They also said in statement that, “We are analyzing the speech of Saif al-Qaddafi to see what possibilities it contains for meaningful reform.” In other words, they do not know what to do!
There is no question that Quadaffi owns Tripoli. This is where his base his, but the Eastern half of Libya is where the oil is. Currently no one is taking charge there and it could be taken by Jihadists. If Libya goes into a period of Civil War the production of oil will cease. The oil business in Libya is run by the oil companies and there employees. They are now fleeing the country so anything is possible.
If Libya is taken out of the world’s oil supply chain and the country goes into a Civil War Saudi Arabia could step in and supply the lost oil. However, this would only be until they collapse. This scenario could happen because dissent is now paralyzing the entire region.
The price of oil per barrel has already skyrocketed. Just today, the price of a barrel of oil rose to $95.00, the highest it’s been in two years. Once it reaches the $100.00 level, the price of a gallon of gasoline will be close to the $4.00 level. That would have a significant impact on our economy and quite possibly put it into a recession.
What is our president doing about this? He has put an embargo on drilling here, because of the environmental lobbies’ campaign money. As these countries go further into Islamist control, which they most likely will, they will do everything in their power to cripple this nation with the oil exports that they would control. The oil then becomes a weapon of mass destruction. A real leader would say we are going to drill our own oil here and the rest of the world will have to get along without American oil money. But a weak leader needs time to analyze and debate the pole numbers with that kind of move.
If Libya fails and falls into the hands of Islamist Jihadist, it will affect Egypt’s prospects for Democracy. This is why I am very skeptical of when the word Democracy is used in the Middle East. It is primarily Islamist and it is primarily the young who are driving the revolutions. They are also the primary targets of the Jihadist and the Clerics, like Anjem Choudray is attracting here.
The United States is not doing enough. We should be getting aid and people who can assist in place to provide the direction needed to set up a government structure. Egypt is now facing a hunger crisis. Eastern Libya is facing a medical crisis. We should be following the Reagan model of when the Berlin Wall came down. Reagan sent humanitarian aid and personal that could help do those things. This would go along way in calming the fears of the people on the ground. In other words, prove that we are your friends and not your enemy.
You cannot lead while you analyze. The post mortem on the Obama presidency will show that opportunities were missed, and power vacuums occurred while we were analyzing what words meant. Every other word out of Hillary Clinton’s mouth, over the last few weeks, has been, “we are looking for partners to resolve these issues.” Our enemies don’t care about partners and partnerships. They view this type of talk as a weakness in leadership because it says we are afraid to do anything ourselves or that we cannot take any action by ourselves. Just a simple condemnation would be nice.
While our own government takes its citizen’s hostage through unconstitutional laws and redistribution of its wealth Democrats are playing games by fleeing there State Assemblies. These Democrat members of Congress swore an allegiance when they took office. Our President sided with the Unions, instead of saying to his fellow democrats get back to work make your argument and let the chips fall where they may. He should have demanded that they do the job they were elected to do. The President again shirked his responsibility and was AWOL, absent without leave, and devoid of the leadership that was necessary to curtail a bad situation that got worse because of his message.
What kind of message does this send to our enemies? The answer: A weak President that sells out to the unions and special interests and a Senate that flees the scene, because they don’t want to vote because they are afraid. These signs are signals that we have upheaval here, like the countries abroad. The signs of weakness can only be interpreted one way. It emboldens an enemy that will stop at nothing to enforce their will here at home and abroad. Just ask Cleric Choudray!
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: American leadership sells itself! American leadership is now needed! America needs a leader that will protect her! The face of America is one that should demonstrate unbridled strength - there should be no question about that!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Making the argument!
Tuesday-February 22, 2011
Making the argument!
Citizens in foreign lands are making the argument for a new form of democracy in their country. Some in this country are forging ahead to reform our own democracy!
As protestors on the other side of the world are demanding that their leadership should step down, our leaders here have fled the state of Wisconsin to avoid voting on the Governor’s bill to effectively end collective bargaining of state employee by their unions. As protestors on the other side of the world are fighting to show how democracy in their country could work, the Democratic State Senators in Wisconsin are ignoring how democracy works here. As protestors demand that royal families step out of power in foreign lands in the Mid East, the royalty in our country, namely our elected officials, are demanding that the public serves them.
Last week and yesterday, I wrote that, “You cannot win an argument if you are not willing to make the argument.” Those who are on the streets and those who are following the events around the world and here are now arguing to make their side heard and to win their argument.
However, you cannot expect an argument to be won fairly when the other side never plays by the rules. The Governor’s of New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, Idaho, Indiana and Wisconsin, to name a few, all ran on a platform of restoring their state budgets and the way their state does business. As protestors in Wisconsin are being assisted by President Obama’s organizing arms and are inserting others from outside of the state, they, along with elected officials, are hijacking the voter’s rights and the decision that the voters made to elect their chief executive’s agenda.
We know that doctors are now out in numbers on the streets in Wisconsin to write written medical excuses, so that teachers can protest on the streets, instead of being in their classrooms doing what they are being paid to do: teach and not protest. This is not only a violation of ethics, but it in most states is illegal, because of the anti trust concerns in the medical field. The doctors and the liberal teachers who are out in the streets not only violate ethics, but violate all the principles of democracy when they lie in the public forum.
We know that what the governor has asked for are modest increases in what state employees contribute to their pension and healthcare costs. We know that the Unions that service state employees in Wisconsin and around the country are among the strongest. We know that there is approximately 3 trillion dollars of unfunded pension liabilities countrywide, as a result of how Unions do their business.
The Unions would be the first to say that there is no free lunch, but they would be the first to demand the free lunch of the state, because that’s what they have been doing for nearly 8 decades.
A case in point about what Unions do and the collective thought that they inspire. General Motors has approximately 96,000 employees in their work force, but they also pay 500,000 retirees benefits. This is okay in the private sector, if they can afford it. We know they can’t, because of the bad deals that were made, due to the demands of the unions. They not only put their own members out of work, but bankrupted the company in the process. When the government bailed GM out the government made sure that the Unions were taken care of first. The same thing is happening to these Public Employee Unions. The big difference here is that the citizen is now becoming aware of the sweet deals that these employees have gotten over decades of abuse. This is why so many states are now facing bankruptcy.
We know that in 1983 - 20% of the work force was unionized. We know that in 2010 – 12 % of the work force is unionized. We know that union workers on average earn an average of $40,000 whereas non unionized workers earn an average of $27,000 per year. We know that the Unions are a friend of the White House. We know that the President came out in support of the protestors last week. We know that the citizen is rejecting the unions and the President.
We know that this movement in Wisconsin is being likened to the liberal version of the Tea Party. This will be the liberal cause going into the 2012 elections.
We know that the Governor of Wisconsin campaigned and was elected on the issues that he is attempting to rectify now. We know that he is asking that the unions pay more of a percentage of the cost of their pensions and their healthcare cost. Currently, the union workers in Wisconsin contribute 0.2% to their pensions and that the governor is asking them to now contribute 5.8%. Currently, the union workers in Wisconsin pay 4 to 6% of their healthcare tab and the governor is asking them to pay 12.6%. These increases are reflective of what the state sees as one way to reduce the deficit.
We know that the Senators that have fled the state now say the Governor is not a good negotiator. This is the only excuse they have, but to some, it is an important one, because everything the union does is based on negotiating. While citizens in many states are losing their jobs, because companies cannot compete and are laying off employees, the Governor of Wisconsin is trying not to layoff these Union workers. This should be enough to satisfy the negotiating concern of the Union.
While citizens are suffering and struggling to pay their bills, Union workers act as if they are not a part of the citizenry. Union workers and the State Senators who have fled their work place do not deserve to keep their jobs. There are plenty of people who can fill these roles and that can do far better of a job than the ones who now fill these positions. The other big difference is they will serve, rather than wanting to be served.
Union activity and political correctness go hand in hand. Political correctness is also a by product of Multiculturalism, which is a favorite cornerstone of liberal thought. We know that multiculturalism is now failing in the European Union. We know that Unions in Europe are now a small shadow of what they use to be. Why it is that America is now so far behind in these reforms?
If unionizing gave us a better product, then there would be an argument. But when unionizing is about retaining power for the White House and the Progressive Liberal and not about improving the status quo, then it becomes the right of the citizen to stand up and just say no. As the new citizens of pro democracy movements around the world are finding out, it is easy to say no. We want a change and we want reforms that will benefit the whole and not the minority. This is now the argument going forward in the world!
We are also finding out in this country that we to can be a pro democracy movement by saying no to Unions and no to big Government.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: We have forgotten what a democracy is but more important we have drifted from the republic that was established for us to protect! Dwight D. Eisenhower said: “Every step we take towards making the state our caretaker of our lives, by that much we move towards making the state our master.”
Making the argument!
Citizens in foreign lands are making the argument for a new form of democracy in their country. Some in this country are forging ahead to reform our own democracy!
As protestors on the other side of the world are demanding that their leadership should step down, our leaders here have fled the state of Wisconsin to avoid voting on the Governor’s bill to effectively end collective bargaining of state employee by their unions. As protestors on the other side of the world are fighting to show how democracy in their country could work, the Democratic State Senators in Wisconsin are ignoring how democracy works here. As protestors demand that royal families step out of power in foreign lands in the Mid East, the royalty in our country, namely our elected officials, are demanding that the public serves them.
Last week and yesterday, I wrote that, “You cannot win an argument if you are not willing to make the argument.” Those who are on the streets and those who are following the events around the world and here are now arguing to make their side heard and to win their argument.
However, you cannot expect an argument to be won fairly when the other side never plays by the rules. The Governor’s of New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, Idaho, Indiana and Wisconsin, to name a few, all ran on a platform of restoring their state budgets and the way their state does business. As protestors in Wisconsin are being assisted by President Obama’s organizing arms and are inserting others from outside of the state, they, along with elected officials, are hijacking the voter’s rights and the decision that the voters made to elect their chief executive’s agenda.
We know that doctors are now out in numbers on the streets in Wisconsin to write written medical excuses, so that teachers can protest on the streets, instead of being in their classrooms doing what they are being paid to do: teach and not protest. This is not only a violation of ethics, but it in most states is illegal, because of the anti trust concerns in the medical field. The doctors and the liberal teachers who are out in the streets not only violate ethics, but violate all the principles of democracy when they lie in the public forum.
We know that what the governor has asked for are modest increases in what state employees contribute to their pension and healthcare costs. We know that the Unions that service state employees in Wisconsin and around the country are among the strongest. We know that there is approximately 3 trillion dollars of unfunded pension liabilities countrywide, as a result of how Unions do their business.
The Unions would be the first to say that there is no free lunch, but they would be the first to demand the free lunch of the state, because that’s what they have been doing for nearly 8 decades.
A case in point about what Unions do and the collective thought that they inspire. General Motors has approximately 96,000 employees in their work force, but they also pay 500,000 retirees benefits. This is okay in the private sector, if they can afford it. We know they can’t, because of the bad deals that were made, due to the demands of the unions. They not only put their own members out of work, but bankrupted the company in the process. When the government bailed GM out the government made sure that the Unions were taken care of first. The same thing is happening to these Public Employee Unions. The big difference here is that the citizen is now becoming aware of the sweet deals that these employees have gotten over decades of abuse. This is why so many states are now facing bankruptcy.
We know that in 1983 - 20% of the work force was unionized. We know that in 2010 – 12 % of the work force is unionized. We know that union workers on average earn an average of $40,000 whereas non unionized workers earn an average of $27,000 per year. We know that the Unions are a friend of the White House. We know that the President came out in support of the protestors last week. We know that the citizen is rejecting the unions and the President.
We know that this movement in Wisconsin is being likened to the liberal version of the Tea Party. This will be the liberal cause going into the 2012 elections.
We know that the Governor of Wisconsin campaigned and was elected on the issues that he is attempting to rectify now. We know that he is asking that the unions pay more of a percentage of the cost of their pensions and their healthcare cost. Currently, the union workers in Wisconsin contribute 0.2% to their pensions and that the governor is asking them to now contribute 5.8%. Currently, the union workers in Wisconsin pay 4 to 6% of their healthcare tab and the governor is asking them to pay 12.6%. These increases are reflective of what the state sees as one way to reduce the deficit.
We know that the Senators that have fled the state now say the Governor is not a good negotiator. This is the only excuse they have, but to some, it is an important one, because everything the union does is based on negotiating. While citizens in many states are losing their jobs, because companies cannot compete and are laying off employees, the Governor of Wisconsin is trying not to layoff these Union workers. This should be enough to satisfy the negotiating concern of the Union.
While citizens are suffering and struggling to pay their bills, Union workers act as if they are not a part of the citizenry. Union workers and the State Senators who have fled their work place do not deserve to keep their jobs. There are plenty of people who can fill these roles and that can do far better of a job than the ones who now fill these positions. The other big difference is they will serve, rather than wanting to be served.
Union activity and political correctness go hand in hand. Political correctness is also a by product of Multiculturalism, which is a favorite cornerstone of liberal thought. We know that multiculturalism is now failing in the European Union. We know that Unions in Europe are now a small shadow of what they use to be. Why it is that America is now so far behind in these reforms?
If unionizing gave us a better product, then there would be an argument. But when unionizing is about retaining power for the White House and the Progressive Liberal and not about improving the status quo, then it becomes the right of the citizen to stand up and just say no. As the new citizens of pro democracy movements around the world are finding out, it is easy to say no. We want a change and we want reforms that will benefit the whole and not the minority. This is now the argument going forward in the world!
We are also finding out in this country that we to can be a pro democracy movement by saying no to Unions and no to big Government.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: We have forgotten what a democracy is but more important we have drifted from the republic that was established for us to protect! Dwight D. Eisenhower said: “Every step we take towards making the state our caretaker of our lives, by that much we move towards making the state our master.”
Monday, February 21, 2011
The first step in any process:
Monday-February 21, 2011
The first step in any process:
There is always a beginning and end to an argument, to a discussion and a process.
It is amazing what can happen in the world at any point in the day, week, month and year. For instance, it has been nine days since Hozni Mubarak stepped down as the leader in Egypt. Since then, many of the forces for change have been busy in jockeying for a leadership role as a result of that change.
Not only have individuals been busy in that process, but so have entire countries and their regimes. Iran, the continuing thorn in the side of anyone who wants true peace, is on the move to take control in the region. Egypt was the leader in the Arab world and it was one of the sole proprietor’s of maintaining the peace between warring factions. This was one reason why Mubarak should have been allowed to stay in his position, to guide the process of peace in the region until his legal term in September was up.
No doubt Iran will now make an attempt to take the role of leadership over a large segment of the Middle East. No question, the government of Mubarak was corrupt and violated the rights of its people. But what government doesn’t do that? It is all a matter of just how far into the process of oppression that a country is in. When a President, like Mubarak, is toppled new players come into the picture. These new players often are far worse than the ones they replaced.
In nine short days, the world’s balance of power has changed. In nine short days, the world is coming closer to the brink of tolerance that will only have two results war or peace.
I wrote last week about Iran sending ships through the Suez Canal, en route to ports in Syria, another questionable player in the region. One of the ships en route that Iran says is a frigate, was similar to the one that shot down an American naval plane in 1989. The Navy consequently sunk the frigate that was outfitted with weapons capable of shooting down a plane. The other ship that will make its way to Syria is a supply ship. The question of why and why now is Iran making this move is the one to ask. Iran is diverting their issue of unrest at home in away that now brings it more power and greater influence in the region. When any country can claim influence it creates hope for its people, no matter if it is a false hope.
Chances are, if Mubarak was still in power, these ships would not be bound for Syria’s shores and close proximity to Israel. If Mubarak was still in power, the United States would still have a foothold in the region. Part of the balance of power or the struggles of the region is a direct result of who is in power. The United States always gets criticized for their role in who stays in power and who gets the power. There is a reason why the United States sometimes takes a role in the process. It’s called maintaining the status quo or more simply put, keeping the peace.
In the process of democratization, which can sometimes become nasty a player, comes to light that can, in the long run, accomplish the ends to the means. Though most of the players in the Mid East are not the most optimal they become the lesser of two evils. Part of any political process that involves one country and or region is to support the powers that will conduct themselves appropriately and in a manner to keep the peace.
This week, as more demonstrations occur in the Mid East, look for other ruling parties to get their walking papers. In Yemen, Libya and Bahrain, where the people are calling for their current leaders to step down in the name of democracy, we could also see further erosion of America’s role in the region.
If our role diminishes, we will see the further ascendancy of those who falsely use democracy as a means to their end of gaining dominance over the regions people and its resources. With countries such as Iran inserting themselves in a political way, the influences of what has been successfully suppressed for so long will rear its ugly head. It is one thing to tell the people of the region who want more for themselves and their families that their voice is being heard. It is also another thing to make them think that what they are giving up in the process is a good thing, because what they often get as a replacement is far worse.
America’s role in the region should be to counter act these forces and still balance the peace with making clear the choice that the citizens of the region have in front of them. I said last week, “You cannot win an argument if you are not willing to make the argument.”
America’s leadership role has never been needed more than now. But we cannot lead in this effort until our own house is put into order.
Look at the protests we are witnessing here. Some equate the protests in the Mid East as messy democracy in action. Some equate the protests in our own cities as messy democracy in action. No question, messy democracy is happening, but when messy democracy results in deeper oppression then you are no further ahead than you were before. This is why America must step up to the plate and support the forces that will provide the growth of democracy in real time and in a real way.
As a student of political history I find these events spectacular. Never before have I seen two opposing cultures protesting for so much change at the same time but on the opposite sides of he world. We can watch the events unfold in the morning here live on TV while it is night time there and the same goes for them.
The operative word is watching. Both sides see unrest and both sides are watching for the erosion of influence. In the Middle East, observers watch for the radical element to take steps in the process of control. Here we are watching how the conservative side is taking steps in the process of control. In both cases, no one is asking the question what is right for democracy to grow and what is right for the people of the region. When we ask these questions we will find out that geography becomes a small piece of real-estate. When we ask these questions we will find out quickly the process starts with the people. When we ask these questions a government and its leaders that truly want democracy will listen.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: The process of our democracy started with a discussion of a handful of men who we called patriots. Our process of democracy settled on a small piece of real-estate because our leaders were smart enough to listen!
The first step in any process:
There is always a beginning and end to an argument, to a discussion and a process.
It is amazing what can happen in the world at any point in the day, week, month and year. For instance, it has been nine days since Hozni Mubarak stepped down as the leader in Egypt. Since then, many of the forces for change have been busy in jockeying for a leadership role as a result of that change.
Not only have individuals been busy in that process, but so have entire countries and their regimes. Iran, the continuing thorn in the side of anyone who wants true peace, is on the move to take control in the region. Egypt was the leader in the Arab world and it was one of the sole proprietor’s of maintaining the peace between warring factions. This was one reason why Mubarak should have been allowed to stay in his position, to guide the process of peace in the region until his legal term in September was up.
No doubt Iran will now make an attempt to take the role of leadership over a large segment of the Middle East. No question, the government of Mubarak was corrupt and violated the rights of its people. But what government doesn’t do that? It is all a matter of just how far into the process of oppression that a country is in. When a President, like Mubarak, is toppled new players come into the picture. These new players often are far worse than the ones they replaced.
In nine short days, the world’s balance of power has changed. In nine short days, the world is coming closer to the brink of tolerance that will only have two results war or peace.
I wrote last week about Iran sending ships through the Suez Canal, en route to ports in Syria, another questionable player in the region. One of the ships en route that Iran says is a frigate, was similar to the one that shot down an American naval plane in 1989. The Navy consequently sunk the frigate that was outfitted with weapons capable of shooting down a plane. The other ship that will make its way to Syria is a supply ship. The question of why and why now is Iran making this move is the one to ask. Iran is diverting their issue of unrest at home in away that now brings it more power and greater influence in the region. When any country can claim influence it creates hope for its people, no matter if it is a false hope.
Chances are, if Mubarak was still in power, these ships would not be bound for Syria’s shores and close proximity to Israel. If Mubarak was still in power, the United States would still have a foothold in the region. Part of the balance of power or the struggles of the region is a direct result of who is in power. The United States always gets criticized for their role in who stays in power and who gets the power. There is a reason why the United States sometimes takes a role in the process. It’s called maintaining the status quo or more simply put, keeping the peace.
In the process of democratization, which can sometimes become nasty a player, comes to light that can, in the long run, accomplish the ends to the means. Though most of the players in the Mid East are not the most optimal they become the lesser of two evils. Part of any political process that involves one country and or region is to support the powers that will conduct themselves appropriately and in a manner to keep the peace.
This week, as more demonstrations occur in the Mid East, look for other ruling parties to get their walking papers. In Yemen, Libya and Bahrain, where the people are calling for their current leaders to step down in the name of democracy, we could also see further erosion of America’s role in the region.
If our role diminishes, we will see the further ascendancy of those who falsely use democracy as a means to their end of gaining dominance over the regions people and its resources. With countries such as Iran inserting themselves in a political way, the influences of what has been successfully suppressed for so long will rear its ugly head. It is one thing to tell the people of the region who want more for themselves and their families that their voice is being heard. It is also another thing to make them think that what they are giving up in the process is a good thing, because what they often get as a replacement is far worse.
America’s role in the region should be to counter act these forces and still balance the peace with making clear the choice that the citizens of the region have in front of them. I said last week, “You cannot win an argument if you are not willing to make the argument.”
America’s leadership role has never been needed more than now. But we cannot lead in this effort until our own house is put into order.
Look at the protests we are witnessing here. Some equate the protests in the Mid East as messy democracy in action. Some equate the protests in our own cities as messy democracy in action. No question, messy democracy is happening, but when messy democracy results in deeper oppression then you are no further ahead than you were before. This is why America must step up to the plate and support the forces that will provide the growth of democracy in real time and in a real way.
As a student of political history I find these events spectacular. Never before have I seen two opposing cultures protesting for so much change at the same time but on the opposite sides of he world. We can watch the events unfold in the morning here live on TV while it is night time there and the same goes for them.
The operative word is watching. Both sides see unrest and both sides are watching for the erosion of influence. In the Middle East, observers watch for the radical element to take steps in the process of control. Here we are watching how the conservative side is taking steps in the process of control. In both cases, no one is asking the question what is right for democracy to grow and what is right for the people of the region. When we ask these questions we will find out that geography becomes a small piece of real-estate. When we ask these questions we will find out quickly the process starts with the people. When we ask these questions a government and its leaders that truly want democracy will listen.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: The process of our democracy started with a discussion of a handful of men who we called patriots. Our process of democracy settled on a small piece of real-estate because our leaders were smart enough to listen!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Turmoil:
Friday – February 18, 2011
Turmoil:
Just look around you. In this country, we have unions protesting Governors who were elected to clean up shop and bring failing budgets into fiscal order from fiscal disorder. Governor Walker (R) of Wisconsin has a multi billion dollar budget to reconcile and collective bargaining is the one reason why the state is drowning in debt. This has become the nation’s most aggressive anti union legislation to date.
If the Governor can get his vote to end collective bargaining then the tax payer gets the right to approve salary increases for union members. How un – American. I say this in jest, of course!
Wisconsin is the nation’s birthplace of the national union that represents all non federal employees. Since 1959, Wisconsin has been the leader in comprehensive collective bargaining laws. Now it might lead the nation in reform. Governor Walker is asking that union members pay for a bigger share of their healthcare and contribute a greater share to their pensions. The alternative is layoffs. Not to much to ask for seeing that regular citizens are being laid off by the thousands.
Yesterday, protestors were in Wisconsin protesting Governor Walker’s move to eliminate collective bargaining from state unions. The Democrats in the State House fled on a bus so that they could not vote on the measure. This is turmoil. If someone did that in the private sector they would be fired.
However, this is what unions do and this is the power they wield. This is also a reason they should not be permitted to contribute to political campaigns. Every Democratic State Senator that fled, were supported by the states public unions. So, when they are told to get out of town, so a vote can not occur, they get out of f town.
What is being lost in the discussion is that there is no more money. In many cases, the tax payer, who pays the salary of these state employees, make far less in salary than the union members do.
Public employee unions are a big problem. They are powerful and are supported by many in the federal government. Many union members retire with great benefits; far more than the tax payer who provides these benefits. Now it’s a matter of what can the tax payer afford and not what the unions want.
It is difficult to fire or reprimand any union member. For instance our education system has failed and our kids are not being taught. This is another reason to reconsider the value of what we, as tax payers, are getting for our dollar.
If you use the once powerful auto unions as an example, those who bankrupted Detroit, with demands that made our auto companies fail and made them uncompetitive the same is happening to the states. The states have one benefit the auto companies don’t have. They have a revenue stream, regardless if they produce good product or a bad product. There is a bad product being sold by these public unions and some governors are now in a position to do something about it, because the revenue stream has to be used more efficiently.
Unions and their members should be held accountable and collective bargaining must stop and be replaced with merit performance. The private sector will bring the country back if there citizens didn’t have to pay for bad products in the way of service and unaccountable employees that get paid with tax revenue.
Today is the second anniversary of the Obama stimulus program. Like the Unions who keep taking and taking where is the performance measurement. The President said if he got the stimulus money unemployment would not go past 8%, what is it today 9.6%. The president said that shovel ready jobs would be immediate, where are they? The president said the stimulus would create private sector jobs, where are they? The new job numbers were released yesterday. Another 410,000 new jobless claims were recorded. We need 325,000 jobs to be created per reporting period to get back to a normal economy.
For almost two years, the number of 400,000 jobless claims per reporting period has been a constant. American companies don’t like the new regulations that this administration has implemented so they don’t hire and they layoff. They don’t like Obamacare and they don’t like high taxes, so they don’t hire and they layoff. One other reason why the jobless numbers are so high is that America’s premiere companies are high tech companies and they don’t hire a lot of people. For the most part, American companies are now running lean and mean and are more productive as a result.
The President spent last night in San Francisco. He had a nice dinner in a private home and met with the creator of Facebook, and executives from a few more high tech companies. He met with them to huddle and to see what can be done to create jobs.
If the high tech industry traditionally doesn’t hire a lot of people then why is he meeting with them? Facebook is worth about 50 billion dollars and they employ only 2,000 people. Other high tech companies have the same hiring profiles. Maybe they have some ideas that they will share with him and maybe they don’t. But, if he asks them to hire, he might get an empty stare. He, for sure, will get a large campaign donation from them!
Turmoil is the word of the day. More demonstrations in the Mid East are occurring. Some of them were in Iraq, some in Bahrain, some in North Africa and some in Yemen. We had some demonstrations as well in this country. In each case, government was the target and the subject. In each case the status quo is being questioned. In each case, money and security be it civil or social is being questioned.
Turmoil is sometimes the cause for change and sometimes the reason for change. With poor economic numbers and powerful unions asking and demanding more from the tax payer we can make the argument to our government workers and our leaders in government that we as tax payers have not caused the turmoil you have and your ways must change?
I wrote in the FORUM on Wednesday, “You cannot win an argument if you are not willing to make the argument.” It is now time to make the argument!
As I end the week, think about this: “My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! ~Thomas Jefferson
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: Turmoil is the biggest reason to argue about what needs to change. It can be about Unions and it can be about not being able to govern and make good on your promises. Either way turmoil will not go away soon.
Turmoil:
Just look around you. In this country, we have unions protesting Governors who were elected to clean up shop and bring failing budgets into fiscal order from fiscal disorder. Governor Walker (R) of Wisconsin has a multi billion dollar budget to reconcile and collective bargaining is the one reason why the state is drowning in debt. This has become the nation’s most aggressive anti union legislation to date.
If the Governor can get his vote to end collective bargaining then the tax payer gets the right to approve salary increases for union members. How un – American. I say this in jest, of course!
Wisconsin is the nation’s birthplace of the national union that represents all non federal employees. Since 1959, Wisconsin has been the leader in comprehensive collective bargaining laws. Now it might lead the nation in reform. Governor Walker is asking that union members pay for a bigger share of their healthcare and contribute a greater share to their pensions. The alternative is layoffs. Not to much to ask for seeing that regular citizens are being laid off by the thousands.
Yesterday, protestors were in Wisconsin protesting Governor Walker’s move to eliminate collective bargaining from state unions. The Democrats in the State House fled on a bus so that they could not vote on the measure. This is turmoil. If someone did that in the private sector they would be fired.
However, this is what unions do and this is the power they wield. This is also a reason they should not be permitted to contribute to political campaigns. Every Democratic State Senator that fled, were supported by the states public unions. So, when they are told to get out of town, so a vote can not occur, they get out of f town.
What is being lost in the discussion is that there is no more money. In many cases, the tax payer, who pays the salary of these state employees, make far less in salary than the union members do.
Public employee unions are a big problem. They are powerful and are supported by many in the federal government. Many union members retire with great benefits; far more than the tax payer who provides these benefits. Now it’s a matter of what can the tax payer afford and not what the unions want.
It is difficult to fire or reprimand any union member. For instance our education system has failed and our kids are not being taught. This is another reason to reconsider the value of what we, as tax payers, are getting for our dollar.
If you use the once powerful auto unions as an example, those who bankrupted Detroit, with demands that made our auto companies fail and made them uncompetitive the same is happening to the states. The states have one benefit the auto companies don’t have. They have a revenue stream, regardless if they produce good product or a bad product. There is a bad product being sold by these public unions and some governors are now in a position to do something about it, because the revenue stream has to be used more efficiently.
Unions and their members should be held accountable and collective bargaining must stop and be replaced with merit performance. The private sector will bring the country back if there citizens didn’t have to pay for bad products in the way of service and unaccountable employees that get paid with tax revenue.
Today is the second anniversary of the Obama stimulus program. Like the Unions who keep taking and taking where is the performance measurement. The President said if he got the stimulus money unemployment would not go past 8%, what is it today 9.6%. The president said that shovel ready jobs would be immediate, where are they? The president said the stimulus would create private sector jobs, where are they? The new job numbers were released yesterday. Another 410,000 new jobless claims were recorded. We need 325,000 jobs to be created per reporting period to get back to a normal economy.
For almost two years, the number of 400,000 jobless claims per reporting period has been a constant. American companies don’t like the new regulations that this administration has implemented so they don’t hire and they layoff. They don’t like Obamacare and they don’t like high taxes, so they don’t hire and they layoff. One other reason why the jobless numbers are so high is that America’s premiere companies are high tech companies and they don’t hire a lot of people. For the most part, American companies are now running lean and mean and are more productive as a result.
The President spent last night in San Francisco. He had a nice dinner in a private home and met with the creator of Facebook, and executives from a few more high tech companies. He met with them to huddle and to see what can be done to create jobs.
If the high tech industry traditionally doesn’t hire a lot of people then why is he meeting with them? Facebook is worth about 50 billion dollars and they employ only 2,000 people. Other high tech companies have the same hiring profiles. Maybe they have some ideas that they will share with him and maybe they don’t. But, if he asks them to hire, he might get an empty stare. He, for sure, will get a large campaign donation from them!
Turmoil is the word of the day. More demonstrations in the Mid East are occurring. Some of them were in Iraq, some in Bahrain, some in North Africa and some in Yemen. We had some demonstrations as well in this country. In each case, government was the target and the subject. In each case the status quo is being questioned. In each case, money and security be it civil or social is being questioned.
Turmoil is sometimes the cause for change and sometimes the reason for change. With poor economic numbers and powerful unions asking and demanding more from the tax payer we can make the argument to our government workers and our leaders in government that we as tax payers have not caused the turmoil you have and your ways must change?
I wrote in the FORUM on Wednesday, “You cannot win an argument if you are not willing to make the argument.” It is now time to make the argument!
As I end the week, think about this: “My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! ~Thomas Jefferson
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: Turmoil is the biggest reason to argue about what needs to change. It can be about Unions and it can be about not being able to govern and make good on your promises. Either way turmoil will not go away soon.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
The test we cannot afford to fail:
Thursday –February 18, 2011
The test we cannot afford to fail:
I am seeing something that is concerning me. I hate to bring doom and gloom everyday to the internet space that we all share. I hope that my dialog is not one that turns people off because I talk about retaining liberty and freedom all the time.
I can’t help but see what is happening to our society. I can’t help but put the pieces together that are now playing out in the world and realize how it affects us here at home. We are living in a time when the freedoms, traditions and liberties of free countries are at risk. We are living in a time when some would prefer one dominant type of government that rules the world.
The test I am referring to is the test that we will all take at some point and that is when we have to answer the primary question: what kind of country do you want to live in? We can fail this test, if we are not strong in turning away those that would do away with our Constitution, because they are of another faith and culture.
The biggest threat we have now is apathy and forgetting about the basics in American freedom. The biggest threat we have now is that a large portion of our society who just don’t know history and don’t have any feeling about retaining our culture as Americans.
Case in point: Last November, I had a conversation with someone of color. I won’t get into the particulars of the situation, because that is not what is important. But suffice it to say, it was purely innocent on my part and hers. This person asked me what the date was. My response was November 19th and she said are you sure and I responded yes. I then went on to ask if she knew what this date in history represented. She said you just told me it was the 19th. I then - said no, I asked, do you know what date in history it is today? She said no, tell me. I responded on November 19th in 1863 Abraham Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address. Her response was, “Oh yes that was the day he freed us.”
Suffice it to say, I was polite and explained the difference between the Emancipation Proclamation and the Address in 1863. I only bring this story up, because it represents the apathy and lack of knowledge about how our own culture and how it has given us freedom and liberty no matter your faith, color and nationality. She did say she was embarrassed for not knowing the answer and that she would read more.
You might not view this story in the same way I do. But believe me it is symptomatic of a society and culture that is not aware of its place in history and the importance that is placed on the citizen of a free society to know everything there is to know about it. When people forget history and their place in history, then anything is possible when others are trying to change it. When people forget their history they become vulnerable and weak.
The test we are failing is now on display for the world to see. Our adversaries look at our society as one that is confused and not willing to fight to retain our American culture.
This week, we found out that an American news reporter, Lara Logan, was brutally and repeatedly raped ( in the streets) and beaten in Egypt during the protests for democracy. Nothing was done, nothing was mentioned and the rapists are still at large. As this movement for Democracy grows in Egypt, we will witness the brutality of their culture as it is hijacked by another.
Our own President and Secretary of State have been mute on the incident. Other news reporters from FOX were beaten and sent to the hospital. As we witnessed the downfall of Egypt’s government we were caught up in the excitement. But the excitement will be overshadowed very quickly as this movement of terror results in a government of terror.
I am once again focusing on the Muslim Brotherhood and the Muslim faith. As Ms. Logan was being raped, her rapists were calling her JEW,JEW, JEW! This is not the act of religious minded people who preach for peace and unity. This was an act of brutal Islamist that are fanatical and that are dangerous. The test we just failed is not demanding justice from our leaders and our leaders demanding that the thugs be brought to justice. The test is only beginning. Under Sharia Law or Islamist law it takes four men to witness a rape for someone to be brought to justice. By the way Ms. Logan was rescued in part by a group of women.
The Islamists want to replace all constitutions and all law around the world with Sharia Law. Sharia law covers all aspects of life, including how a man and woman should have sex, for instance. Roughly there are five areas of Sharia law:
1. Belief-Allah, His angels, His books, His prophets, the Day of Judgment and the decrees of God.2. Moralities-giving good counsel, humility, patience and so forth.3. Devotions-the Five Pillars, alms, pilgrimage to Mecca, and jihad.4. Transactions-business law, marriage, divorce and disputes.5. Punishments-stoning, amputation, lashings, and retaliation
The important thing about Sharia law is that it is perfect and sacred. Any law based upon a democratic process is offensive to Islam, because such law is based upon people. Sharia law is based upon the Koran and Mohammed, the only perfect guidance. Therefore, it is an offence to Islam for Muslims to have to live under democratic constitutional law. This is the reason that Muslims want to replace our banking laws with Sharia law and replace our family law with Sharia law.
As we discuss our free society and welcome those who say they want to participate, we should be skeptical and keep our guard up. As we discuss our free society, Iran is moving their naval vessels into the Ports of Syria across form the Israeli shores. As we discuss our free society, our adversaries are moving quickly to force this deliberate change across the world under the guise of religious freedom.
I’m not advocating prohibiting any one from practicing their religion in as much as I am warning everyone against this movement taking over the world in the name of a religion.
But don’t listen to me, just read the headlines, review your history and when you find yourself becoming a second class citizen behind those that practice Sharia law under the Muslim faith don’t blame me.
Our Constitution our freedoms and our liberty are in direct contrast to Sharia law and the Muslim faith. It should be enough to guard against it, but we have never been tested this way before. I hope that we can pass the test with knowledge of our practices and retaining our rights as they are guaranteed under our one and only constitution.
John Adams said: “Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.” Under Sharia Law and the Muslim faith this would never happen!
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: Retain your Freedom and your liberty by refusing to let any part of it be taken away by those who are outside of our culture! This is the test that is coming next semester.
The test we cannot afford to fail:
I am seeing something that is concerning me. I hate to bring doom and gloom everyday to the internet space that we all share. I hope that my dialog is not one that turns people off because I talk about retaining liberty and freedom all the time.
I can’t help but see what is happening to our society. I can’t help but put the pieces together that are now playing out in the world and realize how it affects us here at home. We are living in a time when the freedoms, traditions and liberties of free countries are at risk. We are living in a time when some would prefer one dominant type of government that rules the world.
The test I am referring to is the test that we will all take at some point and that is when we have to answer the primary question: what kind of country do you want to live in? We can fail this test, if we are not strong in turning away those that would do away with our Constitution, because they are of another faith and culture.
The biggest threat we have now is apathy and forgetting about the basics in American freedom. The biggest threat we have now is that a large portion of our society who just don’t know history and don’t have any feeling about retaining our culture as Americans.
Case in point: Last November, I had a conversation with someone of color. I won’t get into the particulars of the situation, because that is not what is important. But suffice it to say, it was purely innocent on my part and hers. This person asked me what the date was. My response was November 19th and she said are you sure and I responded yes. I then went on to ask if she knew what this date in history represented. She said you just told me it was the 19th. I then - said no, I asked, do you know what date in history it is today? She said no, tell me. I responded on November 19th in 1863 Abraham Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address. Her response was, “Oh yes that was the day he freed us.”
Suffice it to say, I was polite and explained the difference between the Emancipation Proclamation and the Address in 1863. I only bring this story up, because it represents the apathy and lack of knowledge about how our own culture and how it has given us freedom and liberty no matter your faith, color and nationality. She did say she was embarrassed for not knowing the answer and that she would read more.
You might not view this story in the same way I do. But believe me it is symptomatic of a society and culture that is not aware of its place in history and the importance that is placed on the citizen of a free society to know everything there is to know about it. When people forget history and their place in history, then anything is possible when others are trying to change it. When people forget their history they become vulnerable and weak.
The test we are failing is now on display for the world to see. Our adversaries look at our society as one that is confused and not willing to fight to retain our American culture.
This week, we found out that an American news reporter, Lara Logan, was brutally and repeatedly raped ( in the streets) and beaten in Egypt during the protests for democracy. Nothing was done, nothing was mentioned and the rapists are still at large. As this movement for Democracy grows in Egypt, we will witness the brutality of their culture as it is hijacked by another.
Our own President and Secretary of State have been mute on the incident. Other news reporters from FOX were beaten and sent to the hospital. As we witnessed the downfall of Egypt’s government we were caught up in the excitement. But the excitement will be overshadowed very quickly as this movement of terror results in a government of terror.
I am once again focusing on the Muslim Brotherhood and the Muslim faith. As Ms. Logan was being raped, her rapists were calling her JEW,JEW, JEW! This is not the act of religious minded people who preach for peace and unity. This was an act of brutal Islamist that are fanatical and that are dangerous. The test we just failed is not demanding justice from our leaders and our leaders demanding that the thugs be brought to justice. The test is only beginning. Under Sharia Law or Islamist law it takes four men to witness a rape for someone to be brought to justice. By the way Ms. Logan was rescued in part by a group of women.
The Islamists want to replace all constitutions and all law around the world with Sharia Law. Sharia law covers all aspects of life, including how a man and woman should have sex, for instance. Roughly there are five areas of Sharia law:
1. Belief-Allah, His angels, His books, His prophets, the Day of Judgment and the decrees of God.2. Moralities-giving good counsel, humility, patience and so forth.3. Devotions-the Five Pillars, alms, pilgrimage to Mecca, and jihad.4. Transactions-business law, marriage, divorce and disputes.5. Punishments-stoning, amputation, lashings, and retaliation
The important thing about Sharia law is that it is perfect and sacred. Any law based upon a democratic process is offensive to Islam, because such law is based upon people. Sharia law is based upon the Koran and Mohammed, the only perfect guidance. Therefore, it is an offence to Islam for Muslims to have to live under democratic constitutional law. This is the reason that Muslims want to replace our banking laws with Sharia law and replace our family law with Sharia law.
As we discuss our free society and welcome those who say they want to participate, we should be skeptical and keep our guard up. As we discuss our free society, Iran is moving their naval vessels into the Ports of Syria across form the Israeli shores. As we discuss our free society, our adversaries are moving quickly to force this deliberate change across the world under the guise of religious freedom.
I’m not advocating prohibiting any one from practicing their religion in as much as I am warning everyone against this movement taking over the world in the name of a religion.
But don’t listen to me, just read the headlines, review your history and when you find yourself becoming a second class citizen behind those that practice Sharia law under the Muslim faith don’t blame me.
Our Constitution our freedoms and our liberty are in direct contrast to Sharia law and the Muslim faith. It should be enough to guard against it, but we have never been tested this way before. I hope that we can pass the test with knowledge of our practices and retaining our rights as they are guaranteed under our one and only constitution.
John Adams said: “Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom.” Under Sharia Law and the Muslim faith this would never happen!
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: Retain your Freedom and your liberty by refusing to let any part of it be taken away by those who are outside of our culture! This is the test that is coming next semester.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
A bold daring act would be nice now:
Wednesday – February 16, 2011
A bold daring act would be nice now:
On this date, in 1804, the American frigate Philadelphia burned. The capture of the USS Philadelphia in Tripoli by pirates at the end of October 1803, seriously reduced the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean force and potentially increased the enemy's seagoing offensive power. Though it turned out that Tripoli lacked the resources needed to operate the captured frigate, this was by no means clear at the time and Commodore Edward Preble began planning to eliminate the problem. The idea of recapturing the Philadelphia in Tripoli's well-fortified harbor offered little chance of success, but her destruction appeared feasible, if heavy losses by the raiding party were accepted.
There was no shortage of volunteers for this hazardous mission. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Commanding Officer of the schooner Enterprise, was appointed to lead the operation, which would be conducted using a recently captured local ketch that was appropriately renamed Intrepid. With a crew taken from Enterprise and the flagship Constitution, plus a Sicilian pilot who was familiar with Tripoli harbor, Decatur sailed from Syracuse on February 3, 1804. Storms kept Intrepid at sea for nearly two weeks, with her people enduring much from crowded circumstances, poor food and the generally filthy condition of their vessel.
On February 16, Decatur approached Tripoli, keeping all but a few of his men below decks to maintain Intrepid's appearance as a local trading vessel. That night, navigating by moonlight, he sailed into the harbor and, claiming to have lost his anchors, requested permission to tie up alongside the Philadelphia. This was granted, but the disguise was discovered as the two came close and an alarm cry rang out. Decatur immediately ordered his men to board, which they did so swiftly that the frigate's guards had no time too organize resistance. Most jumped overboard and swam ashore, while the Americans rapidly prepared to burn their prize. Less than twenty minutes later, the Philadelphia was blazing brightly. Casting off just ahead of the flames, the Intrepid's men rowed out of the now well-lighted harbor, pursued by gunfire. The operation was a complete success: Philadelphia burned to the waterline and sank, while none of the raiders were killed and only one injured. In the words of British Admiral Horatio Nelson, this was "the most bold and daring act of the age".
Our history has included many daring acts. This incident was only one of many that included the Barbary Coast pirates who were of Muslim faith. Jefferson knew the dangers that these pirates created to free trade and peace in the region. The Barbary Coast War was America’s first confrontation with the Islamic world it also helped forge a new nation’s character.
Our history started with the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock and culminated with the adoption of the Constitution. We have had many assaults on our liberty and freedoms since then but none as great as we are experiencing today. The words of Admiral Nelson do not ring true today. Our leaders do not act with courage and do not know what daring acts mean anymore. We do not need daring acts through big budgets so that an agenda is moved forward by the Progressives. We do not need ongoing negotiations with an enemy that is bound and determined to change our system of government through daring acts that would require adoption of their constitution and their laws.
Today, young people are demonstrating in Iran. They are daring the system to change their ways. The Clerics and the government leaders there are now saying it is time for executions of those who are protesting. Last week, daring acts of citizens in a public square toppled a dictator in Egypt. But when daring protestors here protest against big government and for the return to liberty they are demonized.
Daring acts by one U.S. President culminated in the down fall of the Soviet Union and ended the Cold War without firing a shot and for liberating another country from a tyrannical invader. George H.W. Bush received the Medal of Freedom yesterday for that and many more daring acts of fighting for freedom. This was truly a result of daring acts by a daring man who knew that you cannot win arguments if you are not willing to make the argument.
Conservatism is the natural philosophy of this country. The daring acts of the forefathers and some who came after them fortunately are a model that can be used as an inspiration to others. However, when a government is as guilty as others in robbing the liberty and the freedoms of its own people, it can no longer be the model for change that the rest of the world now needs.
The President said, in support of the protestors in Iran, "What we can do is lend moral support to those who are seeking a better life for themselves." He also said, "You can't maintain power through coercion, at some level in any society, there has to be consent." If we are to give moral support the coercion of our own government here must stop. Those who dare to protest for a better life abroad already know that there needs to be consent in order to have liberty and freedom. They need a daring act to ensure they get the liberty and freedom they are fighting for. The question is who will dare to act.
A daring act would be to give more than moral support to those who are fighting for freedom in their own country. A bold daring act would be to publicly support those who are making the argument for liberty and freedom abroad and domestically and demand that their government meets it with consent instead of ideology through coercion. Our leaders must realize that these bold and daring acts will bring peace and prosperity to the world.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: Never be afraid to make the bold and daring argument for liberty and freedom. Because your government will never do that for you!
A bold daring act would be nice now:
On this date, in 1804, the American frigate Philadelphia burned. The capture of the USS Philadelphia in Tripoli by pirates at the end of October 1803, seriously reduced the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean force and potentially increased the enemy's seagoing offensive power. Though it turned out that Tripoli lacked the resources needed to operate the captured frigate, this was by no means clear at the time and Commodore Edward Preble began planning to eliminate the problem. The idea of recapturing the Philadelphia in Tripoli's well-fortified harbor offered little chance of success, but her destruction appeared feasible, if heavy losses by the raiding party were accepted.
There was no shortage of volunteers for this hazardous mission. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Commanding Officer of the schooner Enterprise, was appointed to lead the operation, which would be conducted using a recently captured local ketch that was appropriately renamed Intrepid. With a crew taken from Enterprise and the flagship Constitution, plus a Sicilian pilot who was familiar with Tripoli harbor, Decatur sailed from Syracuse on February 3, 1804. Storms kept Intrepid at sea for nearly two weeks, with her people enduring much from crowded circumstances, poor food and the generally filthy condition of their vessel.
On February 16, Decatur approached Tripoli, keeping all but a few of his men below decks to maintain Intrepid's appearance as a local trading vessel. That night, navigating by moonlight, he sailed into the harbor and, claiming to have lost his anchors, requested permission to tie up alongside the Philadelphia. This was granted, but the disguise was discovered as the two came close and an alarm cry rang out. Decatur immediately ordered his men to board, which they did so swiftly that the frigate's guards had no time too organize resistance. Most jumped overboard and swam ashore, while the Americans rapidly prepared to burn their prize. Less than twenty minutes later, the Philadelphia was blazing brightly. Casting off just ahead of the flames, the Intrepid's men rowed out of the now well-lighted harbor, pursued by gunfire. The operation was a complete success: Philadelphia burned to the waterline and sank, while none of the raiders were killed and only one injured. In the words of British Admiral Horatio Nelson, this was "the most bold and daring act of the age".
Our history has included many daring acts. This incident was only one of many that included the Barbary Coast pirates who were of Muslim faith. Jefferson knew the dangers that these pirates created to free trade and peace in the region. The Barbary Coast War was America’s first confrontation with the Islamic world it also helped forge a new nation’s character.
Our history started with the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock and culminated with the adoption of the Constitution. We have had many assaults on our liberty and freedoms since then but none as great as we are experiencing today. The words of Admiral Nelson do not ring true today. Our leaders do not act with courage and do not know what daring acts mean anymore. We do not need daring acts through big budgets so that an agenda is moved forward by the Progressives. We do not need ongoing negotiations with an enemy that is bound and determined to change our system of government through daring acts that would require adoption of their constitution and their laws.
Today, young people are demonstrating in Iran. They are daring the system to change their ways. The Clerics and the government leaders there are now saying it is time for executions of those who are protesting. Last week, daring acts of citizens in a public square toppled a dictator in Egypt. But when daring protestors here protest against big government and for the return to liberty they are demonized.
Daring acts by one U.S. President culminated in the down fall of the Soviet Union and ended the Cold War without firing a shot and for liberating another country from a tyrannical invader. George H.W. Bush received the Medal of Freedom yesterday for that and many more daring acts of fighting for freedom. This was truly a result of daring acts by a daring man who knew that you cannot win arguments if you are not willing to make the argument.
Conservatism is the natural philosophy of this country. The daring acts of the forefathers and some who came after them fortunately are a model that can be used as an inspiration to others. However, when a government is as guilty as others in robbing the liberty and the freedoms of its own people, it can no longer be the model for change that the rest of the world now needs.
The President said, in support of the protestors in Iran, "What we can do is lend moral support to those who are seeking a better life for themselves." He also said, "You can't maintain power through coercion, at some level in any society, there has to be consent." If we are to give moral support the coercion of our own government here must stop. Those who dare to protest for a better life abroad already know that there needs to be consent in order to have liberty and freedom. They need a daring act to ensure they get the liberty and freedom they are fighting for. The question is who will dare to act.
A daring act would be to give more than moral support to those who are fighting for freedom in their own country. A bold daring act would be to publicly support those who are making the argument for liberty and freedom abroad and domestically and demand that their government meets it with consent instead of ideology through coercion. Our leaders must realize that these bold and daring acts will bring peace and prosperity to the world.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: Never be afraid to make the bold and daring argument for liberty and freedom. Because your government will never do that for you!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
When is a Duck a Duck-no offense to Ducks!
Tuesday – February 5, 2011
When is a Duck a Duck – no offense to Ducks!
You have all heard the expression when is a Duck a Duck. If it walks like a Duck, if it quacks like a Duck and if it looks like a Duck then it must be a Duck or more simply put it could even be a Politician.
The fiscal Budget for 2012 has been delivered to Congress. This is a yearly ritual in which we have all become acquainted with and have become immune to because it is just another excuse to spend our money.
The new budget that was submitted to Congress yesterday is a 3.7 trillion dollar expense plan. It is a 3.7 trillion dollar plan that not only keeps us in debt but raises our debt. It will raise the deficit by another 7 trillion dollars over the next ten years. What happened to the campaign promise the president made saying that he would reduce the deficit by half by the end of his first term? I guess he is ducking out of that promise.
The important number to understand now is the 1.65 trillion dollars in red ink in this year’s budget. The red ink was supposed to be 1.48 trillion it has now gone up by 170 billion dollars in just five weeks. The reason is because of a new calculation that is now being used. It takes into account the tax cuts and the social security tax holiday for this current fiscal year. But more importantly the rise in this year’s deficit is compounded by an economy that is not growing and expanding as rapidly as was hoped for. We are not even close to reducing the deficit for next year let alone this year.
The new budget does not touch Medicare and Social Security. Erskin Bowles the Democratic Co-Chair of the Deficit panel said “this budget is no where near approaching and solving the nightmare that he sees coming.” The problem is neither side is going first in recommending the actions necessary to solve this spending crisis. The Republicans don’t want to be seen as the devil that will cut benefits to the seniors and the democrats can’t afford to turn off their base by recommending budget cuts to entitlement programs and other social programs. We are in a debt crisis and until the president understands this we will not have a budget that reflects the cure to the problem.
Some of the budget cuts that we do know about are cuts that will reduce assistance to the poor in heating their homes. PEL grants are up for review and will require stringent application requirements. Other cuts are in home mortgage deduction for the wealthy and deductions for contributions made to charities. These cuts are for political demonization. Who will want to reduce assistance to the poor so that they can’t heat their homes? Who will want too make the application process for students who need the PEL grants harder to get. Who will take away the mortgage deductions and deductions for contributions made to charities?
There is also 5.5 billion dollars for a train to no where in California. This is for a Bullet Train that the president says will “wisk” passengers through town at 120 miles per hour on an 800 mile route. The first 55 miles of the proposed route stop’s in a town where the majority of its citizens reside in a prison. The theory behind this budget allocation is that once work begins on laying track it will be hard to stop future funding. There has been 8 billion dollars given to mass transit systems in California and they still don’t work. This is only one example of the waste that will turn into fraud. The country can’t afford this train now so why even talk about it.
The deficit the debt and the spending habits in Washington must be managed with one thought in mind. A balanced budget to cover only the essentials is what we must start with and what we must maintain going forward.
The President wants to have government live within its means. He says his budget will let us do that. However, with boondoggle programs such as a Train to no where it seems that this money can be used for something a little more beneficial like paying down the deficit. The president says he wants to contribute to the things he wants and the things that are important to him. That is the problem. It is not up to him to decide on what we need.
This new budget does not provide for any meaningful cuts and does not bring our spending into anything that comes close to living within our means. The president has once again ducked out on his responsibility.
Some one described something to me yesterday that really brought into focus what we are dealing with. It’s called the have’s and have s not: The have not’s think that they should be given aid and social assistance to even things out. The have’s think that things are being taken away from them. If we could start out in the budget process and eliminate what these two groups want then we might be able to create a budget that truly lets us live within our means.
A leader that can do that is not ducking out on the responsibility but would provide the environment for the nation to grow and become economically healthy in a secure way.
When a President walks like a leader, looks like a leader, acts like a leader and talks like a leader then he must be a leader. But when a president ducks form responsibility he becomes a lame duck.
George Washington said: “Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse.” Washington was a leader and that is why he is known as the father of our Country.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: We must become leaders and we must not let the politicians duck out of their responsibility to us.
When is a Duck a Duck – no offense to Ducks!
You have all heard the expression when is a Duck a Duck. If it walks like a Duck, if it quacks like a Duck and if it looks like a Duck then it must be a Duck or more simply put it could even be a Politician.
The fiscal Budget for 2012 has been delivered to Congress. This is a yearly ritual in which we have all become acquainted with and have become immune to because it is just another excuse to spend our money.
The new budget that was submitted to Congress yesterday is a 3.7 trillion dollar expense plan. It is a 3.7 trillion dollar plan that not only keeps us in debt but raises our debt. It will raise the deficit by another 7 trillion dollars over the next ten years. What happened to the campaign promise the president made saying that he would reduce the deficit by half by the end of his first term? I guess he is ducking out of that promise.
The important number to understand now is the 1.65 trillion dollars in red ink in this year’s budget. The red ink was supposed to be 1.48 trillion it has now gone up by 170 billion dollars in just five weeks. The reason is because of a new calculation that is now being used. It takes into account the tax cuts and the social security tax holiday for this current fiscal year. But more importantly the rise in this year’s deficit is compounded by an economy that is not growing and expanding as rapidly as was hoped for. We are not even close to reducing the deficit for next year let alone this year.
The new budget does not touch Medicare and Social Security. Erskin Bowles the Democratic Co-Chair of the Deficit panel said “this budget is no where near approaching and solving the nightmare that he sees coming.” The problem is neither side is going first in recommending the actions necessary to solve this spending crisis. The Republicans don’t want to be seen as the devil that will cut benefits to the seniors and the democrats can’t afford to turn off their base by recommending budget cuts to entitlement programs and other social programs. We are in a debt crisis and until the president understands this we will not have a budget that reflects the cure to the problem.
Some of the budget cuts that we do know about are cuts that will reduce assistance to the poor in heating their homes. PEL grants are up for review and will require stringent application requirements. Other cuts are in home mortgage deduction for the wealthy and deductions for contributions made to charities. These cuts are for political demonization. Who will want to reduce assistance to the poor so that they can’t heat their homes? Who will want too make the application process for students who need the PEL grants harder to get. Who will take away the mortgage deductions and deductions for contributions made to charities?
There is also 5.5 billion dollars for a train to no where in California. This is for a Bullet Train that the president says will “wisk” passengers through town at 120 miles per hour on an 800 mile route. The first 55 miles of the proposed route stop’s in a town where the majority of its citizens reside in a prison. The theory behind this budget allocation is that once work begins on laying track it will be hard to stop future funding. There has been 8 billion dollars given to mass transit systems in California and they still don’t work. This is only one example of the waste that will turn into fraud. The country can’t afford this train now so why even talk about it.
The deficit the debt and the spending habits in Washington must be managed with one thought in mind. A balanced budget to cover only the essentials is what we must start with and what we must maintain going forward.
The President wants to have government live within its means. He says his budget will let us do that. However, with boondoggle programs such as a Train to no where it seems that this money can be used for something a little more beneficial like paying down the deficit. The president says he wants to contribute to the things he wants and the things that are important to him. That is the problem. It is not up to him to decide on what we need.
This new budget does not provide for any meaningful cuts and does not bring our spending into anything that comes close to living within our means. The president has once again ducked out on his responsibility.
Some one described something to me yesterday that really brought into focus what we are dealing with. It’s called the have’s and have s not: The have not’s think that they should be given aid and social assistance to even things out. The have’s think that things are being taken away from them. If we could start out in the budget process and eliminate what these two groups want then we might be able to create a budget that truly lets us live within our means.
A leader that can do that is not ducking out on the responsibility but would provide the environment for the nation to grow and become economically healthy in a secure way.
When a President walks like a leader, looks like a leader, acts like a leader and talks like a leader then he must be a leader. But when a president ducks form responsibility he becomes a lame duck.
George Washington said: “Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse.” Washington was a leader and that is why he is known as the father of our Country.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: We must become leaders and we must not let the politicians duck out of their responsibility to us.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Necessity:
Monday – February 14, 2011
Necessity:
“The necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that ‘if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.’ it is a very serious consideration...that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event.” Samuel Adams, speech in Boston, 1771
This is one of my most favorite quotes of the Founding Fathers. It tells of the value of circumspection. It tells us to be strong and it warns us of what an attack on our liberty does. It also says that it is incumbent on us to preserve the liberty for the millions that are yet unborn.
If I had a word of advice for those in Egypt, who brought change by virtue of the public square, it would be to read the quote that I opened with today.
The voice of the people of Egypt was heard. That is the greatest thing any democracy can ask for. And that is exactly the necessity of ensuring that the people get the democracy they want. The Egyptian constitution was suspended and the parliament was dissolved. The military is clearly in charge as it always has been.
As we view the events that have occurred and the events that are yet to unfold in Egypt, our country must take the lead. Our elected representatives must not talk unless there is something to say. Our country must invest whatever resources are necessary to ensure that a western style democracy is established. Our country must take the lead so that the true voices of democratic rule are heard. This is a necessity.
Someone asked me what is the difference between the revolution in Egypt and ours? My response was 250 years and no live video on the chat sites. This might be a humorous thought to some, but it is a serious thought that must be considered. The movement of democracy is a delicate thing to achieve in a region that is ripe with a fundamentalist desire and their necessity to install their belief system.
In the two hundred and thirty plus year history of our democracy we have had a revolution a civil war an industrial revolution and now a political revolution. We have established our democracy and have been fortunate to thwart most assaults on our liberty. The formula of democracy starts with liberty and recognizing what you want as a people and as a society.
The people of Egypt have said they didn’t want the rule of the former regime, but they have not said what they want as a replacement. The forces that will impose their will and their power will be felt and will be made clear very soon. However, we, as a nation, that has a duty to spread democracy, can take the lead and can start the process of establishing a western style democracy there now.
We can do this through helping with the process of writing a constitution, establishing an economy and encouraging entrepreneurship. We can do this without bringing our party politics into the process, but rather show the benefits of the party process.
Most in the world observe what happens in the United States through the prism of wanting what we have here. We must realize here that there is a gap between Americans who want to govern themselves and politicians who want to rule over them. This political gap today is as big a gap between the colonies and England as we had during the 18th century. I believe that the American people don’t want to be governed from the left, the right or the center. They want to govern themselves.
There is no difference of what went on here early in our history than what has occurred in Egypt. Revolution is revolution, but the revolution must be one that makes it possible for liberty to grow. Jefferson said, "The main body of our citizens... remain true to their republican principles; the whole landed interest is republican, and so is a great mass of talents. Against us are... all timid men who prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty... We are likely to preserve the liberty we have obtained only by unremitting labors and perils. But we shall preserve it, and our mass of weight and wealth on the good side is so great as to leave no danger that force will ever be attempted against us." -- Thomas Jefferson to Philip Mazzei, 1796. ME 9:336
Jefferson also said, "a little rebellion now and then is a good thing" The rebellion in Egypt has occurred, so why not share the great history that we can boast about after the seeds of revolt were planted here. I believe the message of America is great one that should not be limited by the region and the prevailing views of some. It should be broadcast and spoken about. It should be made available to the Egyptian people so that they can also say their revolution was as great as ours, because it was a move towards democracy.
The big difference between now and two hundred and thirty five years ago is that a message can be sent in seconds, so why not take advantage of it? It becomes necessary by virtue of necessity, that the seeds of liberty be planted quickly to encourage rapid growth rather than slow growth that can be halted by the opposing forces that will reject democracy and the liberty that comes with it.
The people of Egypt must also be told, as Jefferson reminds us, "No government can be maintained without the principle of fear as well as duty. Good men will obey the last, but bad ones the former only. If our government ever fails, it will be from this weakness." --Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1814.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: If you want the world to become a democracy then it is a necessity to speak the words of history that created our great democracy. We should boast about our liberty, as a result of our democracy, and we should show others in the world how to grow a democracy.
Necessity:
“The necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that ‘if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.’ it is a very serious consideration...that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event.” Samuel Adams, speech in Boston, 1771
This is one of my most favorite quotes of the Founding Fathers. It tells of the value of circumspection. It tells us to be strong and it warns us of what an attack on our liberty does. It also says that it is incumbent on us to preserve the liberty for the millions that are yet unborn.
If I had a word of advice for those in Egypt, who brought change by virtue of the public square, it would be to read the quote that I opened with today.
The voice of the people of Egypt was heard. That is the greatest thing any democracy can ask for. And that is exactly the necessity of ensuring that the people get the democracy they want. The Egyptian constitution was suspended and the parliament was dissolved. The military is clearly in charge as it always has been.
As we view the events that have occurred and the events that are yet to unfold in Egypt, our country must take the lead. Our elected representatives must not talk unless there is something to say. Our country must invest whatever resources are necessary to ensure that a western style democracy is established. Our country must take the lead so that the true voices of democratic rule are heard. This is a necessity.
Someone asked me what is the difference between the revolution in Egypt and ours? My response was 250 years and no live video on the chat sites. This might be a humorous thought to some, but it is a serious thought that must be considered. The movement of democracy is a delicate thing to achieve in a region that is ripe with a fundamentalist desire and their necessity to install their belief system.
In the two hundred and thirty plus year history of our democracy we have had a revolution a civil war an industrial revolution and now a political revolution. We have established our democracy and have been fortunate to thwart most assaults on our liberty. The formula of democracy starts with liberty and recognizing what you want as a people and as a society.
The people of Egypt have said they didn’t want the rule of the former regime, but they have not said what they want as a replacement. The forces that will impose their will and their power will be felt and will be made clear very soon. However, we, as a nation, that has a duty to spread democracy, can take the lead and can start the process of establishing a western style democracy there now.
We can do this through helping with the process of writing a constitution, establishing an economy and encouraging entrepreneurship. We can do this without bringing our party politics into the process, but rather show the benefits of the party process.
Most in the world observe what happens in the United States through the prism of wanting what we have here. We must realize here that there is a gap between Americans who want to govern themselves and politicians who want to rule over them. This political gap today is as big a gap between the colonies and England as we had during the 18th century. I believe that the American people don’t want to be governed from the left, the right or the center. They want to govern themselves.
There is no difference of what went on here early in our history than what has occurred in Egypt. Revolution is revolution, but the revolution must be one that makes it possible for liberty to grow. Jefferson said, "The main body of our citizens... remain true to their republican principles; the whole landed interest is republican, and so is a great mass of talents. Against us are... all timid men who prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty... We are likely to preserve the liberty we have obtained only by unremitting labors and perils. But we shall preserve it, and our mass of weight and wealth on the good side is so great as to leave no danger that force will ever be attempted against us." -- Thomas Jefferson to Philip Mazzei, 1796. ME 9:336
Jefferson also said, "a little rebellion now and then is a good thing" The rebellion in Egypt has occurred, so why not share the great history that we can boast about after the seeds of revolt were planted here. I believe the message of America is great one that should not be limited by the region and the prevailing views of some. It should be broadcast and spoken about. It should be made available to the Egyptian people so that they can also say their revolution was as great as ours, because it was a move towards democracy.
The big difference between now and two hundred and thirty five years ago is that a message can be sent in seconds, so why not take advantage of it? It becomes necessary by virtue of necessity, that the seeds of liberty be planted quickly to encourage rapid growth rather than slow growth that can be halted by the opposing forces that will reject democracy and the liberty that comes with it.
The people of Egypt must also be told, as Jefferson reminds us, "No government can be maintained without the principle of fear as well as duty. Good men will obey the last, but bad ones the former only. If our government ever fails, it will be from this weakness." --Thomas Jefferson to John Wayles Eppes, 1814.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: If you want the world to become a democracy then it is a necessity to speak the words of history that created our great democracy. We should boast about our liberty, as a result of our democracy, and we should show others in the world how to grow a democracy.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Prime time: You might want to pass this along.
Friday – February 11, 2011
Prime time: You might want to pass this along.
There is a huge sucking sound coming from the Middle East. It’s called a vacuum I’m not talking about a Hoover or a Dyson. The Egyptian military is now in the process of aligning itself. It is dangerous for any country to rely solely upon the military to bring order and continuity to the country when there is internal strife.
News reporting outlets in Egypt and the Middle East are now reporting that Hozni Mubarak’s Vice President Omar Suleiman is now the DeFacto President. Some are now saying that Suleiman is a CIA plant of the United States. In a power vacuum, disinformation is used to either compliment the situation or to cause for further internal disorder.
The disinformation yesterday was that Mubarak was going to step down. This was good for the opposition forces moral. But the disinformation of Suleiman being a plant for the U.S. was good for only one group, that being the Muslim Brotherhood, who is now organized to take over.
I have spent considerable time this week on the question of the brotherhood, terrorism and its member groups. I am concerned that our Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified that the “Muslim Brotherhood is largely a secular organization.” The motto of the Muslim Brotherhood is: “Allah is our objective; the Quran is our constitution, the prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.” The stated goals of the brotherhood are the danger and if we don’t understand this then we will never understand anything in the Middle East.
I am concerned that our intelligence sources did not act upon any of the information that was known about the turmoil that lead up to the protests in Egypt. I am concerned that we will throw an ally overboard and not protest that actions of other allies when they do wrong. I am concerned that there is no intelligence in Washington D.C. I don’t particularly enjoy showing any prejudice in my opinions unless there is considerable evidence to do so.
There is much evidence that points to how these terror groups organize and how they shape their message to recruit. Some call for a fundamental transformation. The key word here is fundamental. This word also translates to what is the fundamentalist’s desire - an Islamic State that borders Israel. This is all being done under the guise of peace and change for the future.
The future is here. There are now reports of violence on the Egyptian and Gaza borders. In addition, yesterday’s events have now sparked numerous protests in Jordan and Algeria calling out for fundamental change. Yes, there is now a vacuum in the center of the Middle East. This weekend will be a pivotal point in maintaining the peace. It will be a pivotal point in who will fill the vacuum that has now been created.
We all hope for peace and true brotherhood that will spur on a democracy in Egypt and beyond in the Middle East. However, a democracy will never survive where the enemies of democracy will pervert it. This is the history of the region.
When people aren’t ready for prime time they will revert back to the reruns. My fear is that a rerun of history will now play out in the most unstable of environments. Violence and war in the region is now a real possibility, because of the converging forces that are at play. Mubarak will not step down until September this should be enough for everyone to seek the reforms that are necessary to ensure that the seeds of democracy are well planted. However, in a vacuum nothing can be planted except for more revolt which encourages political and religious uncertainty. This is the history of the region.
Our adversaries believe that our government is weak and ill prepared because there are amateurs in charge that are not ready for prime time. Every political event that has occurred around the world be it Iran, North Korea and now Egypt over the last two years has been met with a naïveté that ignores the facts and does not understand the threat. It has been met with a speech filled with rhetoric. Empty words make for empty policy. This is why our allies feel they cannot trust or afford to listen to us anymore. This is why our enemies make the provocative moves that they do. This is the history of the region.
In my research, I have come across many quotes in history that, hopefully, has supported my view and stance on the many issues that I have written and spoken about. Today, I have two quotes that should send alarming shivers up any ones spine as we are now confronted with losing Egypt, as we lost Iran.
John Quincy Adams on Islam:
“In the seventh century of the Christian era a wandering Arab, of the lineage of Hagar, the Egyptian, combing the powers of transcendent genius with the preternatural energy of a fanatic and the fraudulent spirit of an imposter, proclaimed himself as a messenger from heaven, and spread desolation and delusion over an extensive portion of the earth.
Adopting, from the sublime conception of the Mosaic law, the doctrine of one omnipotent God, he connected indissolubly with it the audacious falsehood, that he was himself his prophet and apostle. Adopting from the new revelation of Jesus, the faith and hope of immortal life, and of future retribution, he humbled it to the dust by adapting all the rewards and sanctions of his religion to the gratification of the sexual passion.
He poisoned the sources of human felicity at the fountain, by degrading the condition of the female sex, and the allowance of polygamy; and he declared undistinguishing and exterminating war as part of his religion against all the rest of mankind. The essence of his doctrine was violence and lust; to exalt the brutal over the spiritual part of human nature.
Between these two religions, thus contrasted in the characters, a war of more than twelve hundred years has already raged. That war is yet flagrant; nor can it cease but by the extincture of that imposture, which has been permitted by Providence to prolong the degeneracy of man. While the merciless and dissolute are encouraged to furnish motives to human action, there never can be peace on earth and good will toward men. The hand of Ishmael will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him.” John Adams, 1830
–John Quincy Adams, “Christianity—Islamism.” “Unsigned essays dealing with the Russo-Turkish War, and on Greece,” originally published in The American Annual Register for 1827—1829 (New York, 1830), Chs. X-XIV: 267—402.
Winston Churchill on Islam:
“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.
A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.
Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it.
No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.”
Sir Winston Spencer Churchill (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899).
These men were ready for prime time. They knew the direction they must go because they knew history. They knew what America was and what Europe had to be.
These are not my words. The words of Adams were spoken over two and fifty years ago. The words of Churchill were spoken some sixty years ago. Don’t trust me, trust the men of history whose words have been passed down to us to observe, read and understand.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: I put a lot of trust in the words of history because many of the leaders that I have researched and have become fond of were ready for prime time. The ones that I disfavor are the ones that aren’t ready for prime time and who will jeopardize my security and my families security because of their inability to understand what history’s story tell us.
Prime time: You might want to pass this along.
There is a huge sucking sound coming from the Middle East. It’s called a vacuum I’m not talking about a Hoover or a Dyson. The Egyptian military is now in the process of aligning itself. It is dangerous for any country to rely solely upon the military to bring order and continuity to the country when there is internal strife.
News reporting outlets in Egypt and the Middle East are now reporting that Hozni Mubarak’s Vice President Omar Suleiman is now the DeFacto President. Some are now saying that Suleiman is a CIA plant of the United States. In a power vacuum, disinformation is used to either compliment the situation or to cause for further internal disorder.
The disinformation yesterday was that Mubarak was going to step down. This was good for the opposition forces moral. But the disinformation of Suleiman being a plant for the U.S. was good for only one group, that being the Muslim Brotherhood, who is now organized to take over.
I have spent considerable time this week on the question of the brotherhood, terrorism and its member groups. I am concerned that our Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified that the “Muslim Brotherhood is largely a secular organization.” The motto of the Muslim Brotherhood is: “Allah is our objective; the Quran is our constitution, the prophet is our leader; Jihad is our way; and death for the sake of Allah is the highest of our aspirations.” The stated goals of the brotherhood are the danger and if we don’t understand this then we will never understand anything in the Middle East.
I am concerned that our intelligence sources did not act upon any of the information that was known about the turmoil that lead up to the protests in Egypt. I am concerned that we will throw an ally overboard and not protest that actions of other allies when they do wrong. I am concerned that there is no intelligence in Washington D.C. I don’t particularly enjoy showing any prejudice in my opinions unless there is considerable evidence to do so.
There is much evidence that points to how these terror groups organize and how they shape their message to recruit. Some call for a fundamental transformation. The key word here is fundamental. This word also translates to what is the fundamentalist’s desire - an Islamic State that borders Israel. This is all being done under the guise of peace and change for the future.
The future is here. There are now reports of violence on the Egyptian and Gaza borders. In addition, yesterday’s events have now sparked numerous protests in Jordan and Algeria calling out for fundamental change. Yes, there is now a vacuum in the center of the Middle East. This weekend will be a pivotal point in maintaining the peace. It will be a pivotal point in who will fill the vacuum that has now been created.
We all hope for peace and true brotherhood that will spur on a democracy in Egypt and beyond in the Middle East. However, a democracy will never survive where the enemies of democracy will pervert it. This is the history of the region.
When people aren’t ready for prime time they will revert back to the reruns. My fear is that a rerun of history will now play out in the most unstable of environments. Violence and war in the region is now a real possibility, because of the converging forces that are at play. Mubarak will not step down until September this should be enough for everyone to seek the reforms that are necessary to ensure that the seeds of democracy are well planted. However, in a vacuum nothing can be planted except for more revolt which encourages political and religious uncertainty. This is the history of the region.
Our adversaries believe that our government is weak and ill prepared because there are amateurs in charge that are not ready for prime time. Every political event that has occurred around the world be it Iran, North Korea and now Egypt over the last two years has been met with a naïveté that ignores the facts and does not understand the threat. It has been met with a speech filled with rhetoric. Empty words make for empty policy. This is why our allies feel they cannot trust or afford to listen to us anymore. This is why our enemies make the provocative moves that they do. This is the history of the region.
In my research, I have come across many quotes in history that, hopefully, has supported my view and stance on the many issues that I have written and spoken about. Today, I have two quotes that should send alarming shivers up any ones spine as we are now confronted with losing Egypt, as we lost Iran.
John Quincy Adams on Islam:
“In the seventh century of the Christian era a wandering Arab, of the lineage of Hagar, the Egyptian, combing the powers of transcendent genius with the preternatural energy of a fanatic and the fraudulent spirit of an imposter, proclaimed himself as a messenger from heaven, and spread desolation and delusion over an extensive portion of the earth.
Adopting, from the sublime conception of the Mosaic law, the doctrine of one omnipotent God, he connected indissolubly with it the audacious falsehood, that he was himself his prophet and apostle. Adopting from the new revelation of Jesus, the faith and hope of immortal life, and of future retribution, he humbled it to the dust by adapting all the rewards and sanctions of his religion to the gratification of the sexual passion.
He poisoned the sources of human felicity at the fountain, by degrading the condition of the female sex, and the allowance of polygamy; and he declared undistinguishing and exterminating war as part of his religion against all the rest of mankind. The essence of his doctrine was violence and lust; to exalt the brutal over the spiritual part of human nature.
Between these two religions, thus contrasted in the characters, a war of more than twelve hundred years has already raged. That war is yet flagrant; nor can it cease but by the extincture of that imposture, which has been permitted by Providence to prolong the degeneracy of man. While the merciless and dissolute are encouraged to furnish motives to human action, there never can be peace on earth and good will toward men. The hand of Ishmael will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him.” John Adams, 1830
–John Quincy Adams, “Christianity—Islamism.” “Unsigned essays dealing with the Russo-Turkish War, and on Greece,” originally published in The American Annual Register for 1827—1829 (New York, 1830), Chs. X-XIV: 267—402.
Winston Churchill on Islam:
“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.
A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.
Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it.
No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.”
Sir Winston Spencer Churchill (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899).
These men were ready for prime time. They knew the direction they must go because they knew history. They knew what America was and what Europe had to be.
These are not my words. The words of Adams were spoken over two and fifty years ago. The words of Churchill were spoken some sixty years ago. Don’t trust me, trust the men of history whose words have been passed down to us to observe, read and understand.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: I put a lot of trust in the words of history because many of the leaders that I have researched and have become fond of were ready for prime time. The ones that I disfavor are the ones that aren’t ready for prime time and who will jeopardize my security and my families security because of their inability to understand what history’s story tell us.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
I am outraged. How about you?
Thursday – February 10, 2011
I am outraged. How about you?
When I hear about all that is happening in the world I get pretty outraged. I am no different than anybody else on the left when I get outraged. The only difference is that the people on the left wait for things to be outraged about.
Quite honestly, I have more important things to do than just wait for some event to happen so that I can go public with my outrage. But there is a strategy within that strategy. The left will find a cause for everything. The left will find a way to go public and to get the public’s sympathy, regardless if it deserves the public’s sympathy. This is how they move their entire agenda forward.
Only 1/3 of the nation’s population considers themselves to be liberal. So how can the liberals get their cause amplified? They have a complicit media, which we already know about. Like so many other groups that always want to push for change, because of an agenda, they wait for an event. For instance, the events in Egypt over the past two weeks were caused by those that wanted to be outraged and found the appropriate time to show that outrage. Don’t get me wrong, the common everyday Egyptian citizen has good reason for demonstrating and wanting change. But the events in Egypt have now brought in the other groups that were waiting for specific events to unfold so that they would be propelled to the forefront such as the Muslim brotherhood.
Many in this country say that similar events in Egypt will never happen here. Don’t be fooled, the latest terror assessments are now warning of homegrown jihadists and home grown terrorists that have been radicalized. Don’t be fooled, there are leftists organizations that are waiting to protest because of an agenda.
There are many terrorist organizations around the world one of them is Al – Queda. It is an international terrorist organization founded in the late 1980s, by Osama bin Laden and Muhammad Atef. Al-Qaeda calls for the use of violence and force in bringing about the end of non-Islamic governments and, in particular, a wish to drive the US armed forces out of Saudi Arabia and Somalia. Establishing training camps in areas such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya and Saudi Arabia, al-Qaeda is responsible for the proliferating of terrorists throughout the world, and providing them with military equipment and financing. Al-Queda quite simply means ‘the base’ in Arabic. It is also affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Qaeda has its origins in the uprising against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Thousands of volunteers from around the Middle East came to Afghanistan as mujahideen, warriors fighting to defend fellow Muslims. In the mid-1980s, Osama bin Laden became the prime financier for an organization that recruited Muslims from mosques around the world. These "Afghan Arab" mujahideen, which numbered in the thousands, were crucial in defeating Soviet forces.
After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, bin Laden returned to his native Saudi Arabia. He founded an organization to help veterans of the Afghan war, many of whom went on to fight elsewhere (including Bosnia) and comprise the basis of al-Qaeda.
Bin Laden also studied with radical Islamic thinkers and may have already been organizing al-Qaeda when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. Bin Laden was outraged when the Saudi government allowed U.S. troops to be stationed in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam. In 1991 he was expelled from Saudi Arabia for anti-government activities.
As this base evolves their doctrine for violence is now being adhered to. Their outrage at the west is now amplified in a way that it becomes appealing to those who want to be outraged but can’t find the means or even the reason to be.
When you hear someone say it can’t happen here show some outrage. Explain how Al-Qaeda found its roots and explain how Osama Bin Ladin came to power. Explain how each terror group be it the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas or Hezbollah have deep roots that can control those who are sympathetic to their form of revolution. Explain how their web has now infiltrated many of the world’s most successful democracies and will destroy them from within. Explain how the left has slowly taken our rights away. Explain how the left has falsely demonized those on the right. Start by showing the outrage that we should now be demonstrating before events occur that others are waiting to take advantage of.
Outrage, when it is channeled, can be a great tool to peacefully let your positions become known. Outrage, when it is channeled can help in the struggle against the left and those who want to destroy us from within. Two thirds of the nation’s population now identify themselves with being conservative and or independent. If these numbers are true and if we can collectively demonstrate our outrage we will win the battle in restoring our way of life and our liberties that our founding fathers wanted. They, too, were outraged and they acted upon the events of their day.
Abraham Lincoln said: "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
The great struggle of our day is to preserve the best of America so that the best of America will always shine in its example and in its deeds.
John Adams said:” While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.... If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security.”
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: It is ok to show some outrage because there is a lot to be outraged about. The threats to our security as individuals and as a society are something that we must be aware of at all times. It begins with knowing our history and knowing the history of those that threaten us. Our adversaries do this so why shouldn’t we?
I am outraged. How about you?
When I hear about all that is happening in the world I get pretty outraged. I am no different than anybody else on the left when I get outraged. The only difference is that the people on the left wait for things to be outraged about.
Quite honestly, I have more important things to do than just wait for some event to happen so that I can go public with my outrage. But there is a strategy within that strategy. The left will find a cause for everything. The left will find a way to go public and to get the public’s sympathy, regardless if it deserves the public’s sympathy. This is how they move their entire agenda forward.
Only 1/3 of the nation’s population considers themselves to be liberal. So how can the liberals get their cause amplified? They have a complicit media, which we already know about. Like so many other groups that always want to push for change, because of an agenda, they wait for an event. For instance, the events in Egypt over the past two weeks were caused by those that wanted to be outraged and found the appropriate time to show that outrage. Don’t get me wrong, the common everyday Egyptian citizen has good reason for demonstrating and wanting change. But the events in Egypt have now brought in the other groups that were waiting for specific events to unfold so that they would be propelled to the forefront such as the Muslim brotherhood.
Many in this country say that similar events in Egypt will never happen here. Don’t be fooled, the latest terror assessments are now warning of homegrown jihadists and home grown terrorists that have been radicalized. Don’t be fooled, there are leftists organizations that are waiting to protest because of an agenda.
There are many terrorist organizations around the world one of them is Al – Queda. It is an international terrorist organization founded in the late 1980s, by Osama bin Laden and Muhammad Atef. Al-Qaeda calls for the use of violence and force in bringing about the end of non-Islamic governments and, in particular, a wish to drive the US armed forces out of Saudi Arabia and Somalia. Establishing training camps in areas such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya and Saudi Arabia, al-Qaeda is responsible for the proliferating of terrorists throughout the world, and providing them with military equipment and financing. Al-Queda quite simply means ‘the base’ in Arabic. It is also affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Qaeda has its origins in the uprising against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Thousands of volunteers from around the Middle East came to Afghanistan as mujahideen, warriors fighting to defend fellow Muslims. In the mid-1980s, Osama bin Laden became the prime financier for an organization that recruited Muslims from mosques around the world. These "Afghan Arab" mujahideen, which numbered in the thousands, were crucial in defeating Soviet forces.
After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, bin Laden returned to his native Saudi Arabia. He founded an organization to help veterans of the Afghan war, many of whom went on to fight elsewhere (including Bosnia) and comprise the basis of al-Qaeda.
Bin Laden also studied with radical Islamic thinkers and may have already been organizing al-Qaeda when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. Bin Laden was outraged when the Saudi government allowed U.S. troops to be stationed in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam. In 1991 he was expelled from Saudi Arabia for anti-government activities.
As this base evolves their doctrine for violence is now being adhered to. Their outrage at the west is now amplified in a way that it becomes appealing to those who want to be outraged but can’t find the means or even the reason to be.
When you hear someone say it can’t happen here show some outrage. Explain how Al-Qaeda found its roots and explain how Osama Bin Ladin came to power. Explain how each terror group be it the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas or Hezbollah have deep roots that can control those who are sympathetic to their form of revolution. Explain how their web has now infiltrated many of the world’s most successful democracies and will destroy them from within. Explain how the left has slowly taken our rights away. Explain how the left has falsely demonized those on the right. Start by showing the outrage that we should now be demonstrating before events occur that others are waiting to take advantage of.
Outrage, when it is channeled, can be a great tool to peacefully let your positions become known. Outrage, when it is channeled can help in the struggle against the left and those who want to destroy us from within. Two thirds of the nation’s population now identify themselves with being conservative and or independent. If these numbers are true and if we can collectively demonstrate our outrage we will win the battle in restoring our way of life and our liberties that our founding fathers wanted. They, too, were outraged and they acted upon the events of their day.
Abraham Lincoln said: "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
The great struggle of our day is to preserve the best of America so that the best of America will always shine in its example and in its deeds.
John Adams said:” While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.... If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security.”
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: It is ok to show some outrage because there is a lot to be outraged about. The threats to our security as individuals and as a society are something that we must be aware of at all times. It begins with knowing our history and knowing the history of those that threaten us. Our adversaries do this so why shouldn’t we?
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
When is it alright?
Wednesday – February 9, 2011
When is it alright?
Yesterday’s topic was: When does it become right? The purpose of yesterday’s FORUM was to bring into view a few items in the news that will have an affect on our society and our future. The question of multiculturalism is not just contained to Europe or the mid east anymore. The question: when does it become right? That can only be answered when the left is successful in incorporating these groups into our everyday life here at home regardless of the outcome and the threat.
The word caliphate is now in our vernacular. The identity of the Muslim Brotherhood is now on the front page. Protestors are out in the streets, not only in Egypt, but here in this country talking about the down fall of capitalism and the rise of Islam. The religion of Islam is one that should not be prohibited, but the move towards the rise of Islamofacism under the guise of Islam is what should be prohibited.
When is it alright for the left to support the actions of these groups under the argument of democracy? It is not alright - because Democracy is not based on Sharia law. When there are honor killings and beatings based on Sharia law or Islamic tradition it becomes incumbent on all democracies to stop the movement from expanding.
Part of the goal and the strategy of the radical elements of Islam is to destabilize organized governments and the democracies that they oversee. If you dig deep enough and start to peel back the skin on the organizations that preach this new form of religion, you will find the common threads of radicalism that bind.
For instance, in Lebanon, the group Hezbollah was given a seat in government. Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, now has an ever growing voice in the country and the region. It is a fact that Iran controls and supports Hezbollah and they also have deep ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Under the guise of free elections and free speech, these terror organizations will gain a foothold into all societies and will bring their law to the streets.
When is it alright for Americans to live under these laws and the new rule of a new world order? The radicals on the left, along with the religious radicals, believe that capitalism is over and that it is fashionable to speak about it. When our own government acts in concert with the new policies that favor these groups and then makes it so that whole industries answer to government, we have the beginnings of the failure that these groups seek.
Part of the destabilization comes when the basic comforts of life don’t exist any longer. I am not talking about the absence of a wide screen TV or the absence of your favorite CD in the store. I am referring to jobs and hope. I am referring to the young who take to the street in protests and become wrapped up in the radical elements with the promises of hope and change. In short, the radical religious elements look for weak spots in the world to promote their agenda because to some it becomes appealing and a last resort.
If you look to places like Tunisia and Egypt where people are at the end of their rope the young become restless and the young become belligerent to their governments. This is the beginnings of the destabilization that the radical elements of Islam and other terror groups take hold of.
Former Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said in September of 2005, “Iraq would serve as the base of a new Islamic Caliphate to extend throughout the Middle East, and which would threaten legitimate governments in Europe, Africa and Asia.”
U.S. General Abizaid told the House Armed Services Committee in September of 2005, “They will try to re-establish a caliphate throughout the entire Muslim world. Adding that the “caliphate’s goals would include the destruction of Israel.” He went on to say, “Just as we had the opportunity to learn what the Nazis were going to do, from Hitler’s word ‘Mein Kampf’, we need to learn what these people intend to do from their own words.”
The Muslim Brotherhood gave rise to Hammas and Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda’s current commander was from the brotherhood. Mohammad Atta, of 9/11 fame, was a member of the same brotherhood that the blind sheik whom I wrote about yesterday was radicalized in.
The Ikhwan, which is Arabic for the brotherhood, said in their Shura Council of the Muslim Brotherhood: “The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western Civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”
When is it alright to speak this way, let alone bring others up to perform these acts? It’s never alright and we must start to realize that it is not alright to be threatened and have our security put at risk, because of the political correctness that we are guilty of here.
It is okay to peel back the skin and expose these groups for what they are. When is it alright to extend a helping hand in the name of brotherhood? Well, you see now that we can’t even trust that anymore.
Giving power to those that would destroy in the name of a religious movement is dangerous to all democracies and all people who want real peace.
Abraham Lincoln said: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: It’s alright to question the legitimacy of power and that’s why a country such as ours lets the character of its people speak every two years. But then, our forefathers were the model of what true character was.
When is it alright?
Yesterday’s topic was: When does it become right? The purpose of yesterday’s FORUM was to bring into view a few items in the news that will have an affect on our society and our future. The question of multiculturalism is not just contained to Europe or the mid east anymore. The question: when does it become right? That can only be answered when the left is successful in incorporating these groups into our everyday life here at home regardless of the outcome and the threat.
The word caliphate is now in our vernacular. The identity of the Muslim Brotherhood is now on the front page. Protestors are out in the streets, not only in Egypt, but here in this country talking about the down fall of capitalism and the rise of Islam. The religion of Islam is one that should not be prohibited, but the move towards the rise of Islamofacism under the guise of Islam is what should be prohibited.
When is it alright for the left to support the actions of these groups under the argument of democracy? It is not alright - because Democracy is not based on Sharia law. When there are honor killings and beatings based on Sharia law or Islamic tradition it becomes incumbent on all democracies to stop the movement from expanding.
Part of the goal and the strategy of the radical elements of Islam is to destabilize organized governments and the democracies that they oversee. If you dig deep enough and start to peel back the skin on the organizations that preach this new form of religion, you will find the common threads of radicalism that bind.
For instance, in Lebanon, the group Hezbollah was given a seat in government. Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, now has an ever growing voice in the country and the region. It is a fact that Iran controls and supports Hezbollah and they also have deep ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Under the guise of free elections and free speech, these terror organizations will gain a foothold into all societies and will bring their law to the streets.
When is it alright for Americans to live under these laws and the new rule of a new world order? The radicals on the left, along with the religious radicals, believe that capitalism is over and that it is fashionable to speak about it. When our own government acts in concert with the new policies that favor these groups and then makes it so that whole industries answer to government, we have the beginnings of the failure that these groups seek.
Part of the destabilization comes when the basic comforts of life don’t exist any longer. I am not talking about the absence of a wide screen TV or the absence of your favorite CD in the store. I am referring to jobs and hope. I am referring to the young who take to the street in protests and become wrapped up in the radical elements with the promises of hope and change. In short, the radical religious elements look for weak spots in the world to promote their agenda because to some it becomes appealing and a last resort.
If you look to places like Tunisia and Egypt where people are at the end of their rope the young become restless and the young become belligerent to their governments. This is the beginnings of the destabilization that the radical elements of Islam and other terror groups take hold of.
Former Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said in September of 2005, “Iraq would serve as the base of a new Islamic Caliphate to extend throughout the Middle East, and which would threaten legitimate governments in Europe, Africa and Asia.”
U.S. General Abizaid told the House Armed Services Committee in September of 2005, “They will try to re-establish a caliphate throughout the entire Muslim world. Adding that the “caliphate’s goals would include the destruction of Israel.” He went on to say, “Just as we had the opportunity to learn what the Nazis were going to do, from Hitler’s word ‘Mein Kampf’, we need to learn what these people intend to do from their own words.”
The Muslim Brotherhood gave rise to Hammas and Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda’s current commander was from the brotherhood. Mohammad Atta, of 9/11 fame, was a member of the same brotherhood that the blind sheik whom I wrote about yesterday was radicalized in.
The Ikhwan, which is Arabic for the brotherhood, said in their Shura Council of the Muslim Brotherhood: “The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western Civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.”
When is it alright to speak this way, let alone bring others up to perform these acts? It’s never alright and we must start to realize that it is not alright to be threatened and have our security put at risk, because of the political correctness that we are guilty of here.
It is okay to peel back the skin and expose these groups for what they are. When is it alright to extend a helping hand in the name of brotherhood? Well, you see now that we can’t even trust that anymore.
Giving power to those that would destroy in the name of a religious movement is dangerous to all democracies and all people who want real peace.
Abraham Lincoln said: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: It’s alright to question the legitimacy of power and that’s why a country such as ours lets the character of its people speak every two years. But then, our forefathers were the model of what true character was.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
When does it become right?
Tuesday – February 8, 2011
When does it become right?
Today’s title is an important one, because we need to ask the question: When does it become right.
I am all for world peace. I am all for getting along with our neighbors. I am all for reaching out to find peaceful solutions too many of the problems that cause violence. I am all for exploring ways to better our society.
But sometimes, in the process, you must start to ask the question: When does it become right - in order to find a solution.
Recently, Chris Mathews of MSNBC compared the Tea Party to the Muslim Brotherhood. There are a few facts about the Muslim Brotherhood that you might not be aware of.
One of the key figures that we must consider when we discuss the Muslim Brotherhood and its history is Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman. His involvement with terrorism goes back many years. He was identified in as a participant in the plot to assassinate Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. Rahman was the spiritual leader of a group of young people who had just formed a new cell of the radical group call Jama’at al-Jihad, and they asked him what the fate should be of a ruler who has ignored the law of God. Abdel Rahman’s reply was: “Death.”
The argument of death has been a necessary step for Muslim extremists to justify violent actions against their own governments. Islam traditionally requires believers to be obedient to the ruling powers, but labeling political leaders as being un-Muslim allows for them to argue that they are, therefore, illegitimate rulers over Muslims and can be removed by force.
The Muslim Brotherhood took credit for assassinating Egypt’s former President Anwar Sadat. Rahman was indicted for the assassination, because he was accused of issuing a fatwa ordering Sadat’s murder. Eventually, he was acquitted, but even today he makes it quite clear that he does not consider Sadat to have been a Muslim: “Sadat was not a Muslim. He made a mockery of Islam and its principles.” Anwar Sadat, Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin signed the Camp David Peace Accords which created the blue print of peace between Egypt and Israel and the region for thirty years.
Omar Abdel Rahman may have begun his jihad by first attacking the government of his home country, but he eventually moved on to a bigger target: the United States. Rahman blames the West, in general, and the United States in particular, for all the evils committed by his own government in Egypt. He has, therefore, decided that Arab leaders like Hosni Mubarak are not independent actors; instead, they are merely the pawns of the West.
While living in the United States, Rahman continued to preach his brand of violent, extremist Islam — even to the point of becoming a very controversial figure within the Muslim community of New York City. On October 1st, 1995, Rahman was convicted with nine others for their involvement in a conspiracy to plant bombs at New York landmarks like the United Nations building and FBI offices. These people were also accused (but not convicted) of being involved with the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center which caused six deaths and more than one thousand injuries.
He is currently serving life plus 65 years at the Supermax penitentiary in Florence, Colorado for seditious conspiracy, solicitation and conspiracy to murder Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, solicitation to attack a military installation and bombing conspiracy. The Sheik is but only one cleric that continues to stir the waters of peace in a world that is now struggling with multiculturalism on a country by country basis.
The Brotherhood is now making demands in the development of Egypt’s new government. We must consider all the implications in allowing this group to participate. They are committed to destroying the Camp David Peace accords and they are committed to destroying Israel. We must ask the question when does it become right to give extremism a seat at the table. The fact is Egypt would be in a better place, if they only had the Tea Party to worry about.
Chris Mathews knows all to well the details of the Sheik and the Brotherhood. He however continues in his quest and his battle against a group of people who have not committed any violence namely the Tea Party. When you mix politics with the vengeance that Mathews obviously harbors, it becomes dangerous. This is a perfect example of asking the question: when does it become right?
The Sheik and Chris Mathews might not have loaded the gun or lit the fuse, but they are however, responsible for the words that cause others to load the gun and light the fuse.
When we ask the question: when does it become right to compare the tea party to the Muslim Brotherhood we can then legitimately ask the question when does it become right for any violent organization to ask for political clout? The President, himself, said the brotherhood is anti American. So, when does it become right to consider them a trusting member for peace?
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: Anything becomes right when enough people make it right this goes for violence and for peace. It begins with asking the right question: when does it become right!
When does it become right?
Today’s title is an important one, because we need to ask the question: When does it become right.
I am all for world peace. I am all for getting along with our neighbors. I am all for reaching out to find peaceful solutions too many of the problems that cause violence. I am all for exploring ways to better our society.
But sometimes, in the process, you must start to ask the question: When does it become right - in order to find a solution.
Recently, Chris Mathews of MSNBC compared the Tea Party to the Muslim Brotherhood. There are a few facts about the Muslim Brotherhood that you might not be aware of.
One of the key figures that we must consider when we discuss the Muslim Brotherhood and its history is Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman. His involvement with terrorism goes back many years. He was identified in as a participant in the plot to assassinate Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. Rahman was the spiritual leader of a group of young people who had just formed a new cell of the radical group call Jama’at al-Jihad, and they asked him what the fate should be of a ruler who has ignored the law of God. Abdel Rahman’s reply was: “Death.”
The argument of death has been a necessary step for Muslim extremists to justify violent actions against their own governments. Islam traditionally requires believers to be obedient to the ruling powers, but labeling political leaders as being un-Muslim allows for them to argue that they are, therefore, illegitimate rulers over Muslims and can be removed by force.
The Muslim Brotherhood took credit for assassinating Egypt’s former President Anwar Sadat. Rahman was indicted for the assassination, because he was accused of issuing a fatwa ordering Sadat’s murder. Eventually, he was acquitted, but even today he makes it quite clear that he does not consider Sadat to have been a Muslim: “Sadat was not a Muslim. He made a mockery of Islam and its principles.” Anwar Sadat, Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin signed the Camp David Peace Accords which created the blue print of peace between Egypt and Israel and the region for thirty years.
Omar Abdel Rahman may have begun his jihad by first attacking the government of his home country, but he eventually moved on to a bigger target: the United States. Rahman blames the West, in general, and the United States in particular, for all the evils committed by his own government in Egypt. He has, therefore, decided that Arab leaders like Hosni Mubarak are not independent actors; instead, they are merely the pawns of the West.
While living in the United States, Rahman continued to preach his brand of violent, extremist Islam — even to the point of becoming a very controversial figure within the Muslim community of New York City. On October 1st, 1995, Rahman was convicted with nine others for their involvement in a conspiracy to plant bombs at New York landmarks like the United Nations building and FBI offices. These people were also accused (but not convicted) of being involved with the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center which caused six deaths and more than one thousand injuries.
He is currently serving life plus 65 years at the Supermax penitentiary in Florence, Colorado for seditious conspiracy, solicitation and conspiracy to murder Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, solicitation to attack a military installation and bombing conspiracy. The Sheik is but only one cleric that continues to stir the waters of peace in a world that is now struggling with multiculturalism on a country by country basis.
The Brotherhood is now making demands in the development of Egypt’s new government. We must consider all the implications in allowing this group to participate. They are committed to destroying the Camp David Peace accords and they are committed to destroying Israel. We must ask the question when does it become right to give extremism a seat at the table. The fact is Egypt would be in a better place, if they only had the Tea Party to worry about.
Chris Mathews knows all to well the details of the Sheik and the Brotherhood. He however continues in his quest and his battle against a group of people who have not committed any violence namely the Tea Party. When you mix politics with the vengeance that Mathews obviously harbors, it becomes dangerous. This is a perfect example of asking the question: when does it become right?
The Sheik and Chris Mathews might not have loaded the gun or lit the fuse, but they are however, responsible for the words that cause others to load the gun and light the fuse.
When we ask the question: when does it become right to compare the tea party to the Muslim Brotherhood we can then legitimately ask the question when does it become right for any violent organization to ask for political clout? The President, himself, said the brotherhood is anti American. So, when does it become right to consider them a trusting member for peace?
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: Anything becomes right when enough people make it right this goes for violence and for peace. It begins with asking the right question: when does it become right!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Monday – February 7, 2011
WWJD?
I am sure you have heard this question before – WWJD? What would Jesus Do? Some have made this acronym into something else they would ask. Such as WWRD - What would Reagan Do?
As I researched more about Reagan, I became more impressed by the stories I have come across and by the history that this man was part of and created, I can’t help but ask the question: What would Reagan Do - today? Don’t get me wrong, I am not elevating him to the stature of Jesus, but I do think his personal constitution is what made him great!
Reagan seized the moment of greatness when he asked the question in a Presidential debate with Jimmy Carter in 1980: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” This was a moment in history that we as a nation must never forget. This simple question made millions of voters think for the first time as to what is necessary in a leader.
Reagan made us proud as a nation and as a people and he made us think big. He was able to translate emotion into words and words into emotion that brought change. Political adversaries then were not political enemies then.
The question today is how can we learn from past history and past greatness to help guide us through the events we find ourselves in today? There is a story that typifies how politics have changed in this country. Reagan had a Democratic Congress to deal with. Reagan’s nature didn’t permit him to complain about it, he embraced it and was able to win the debate based on ideas and not on political one-upmanship. Reagan and Tip O’Neal (Democratic Speaker of the House) were political adversaries during the day, but at night they would meet and share stories and friendship. Unfortunately, this is not possible today, nor is it permitted any longer. The polarity that now exists in government and our society prohibits the nation from being great and thinking big.
If you look back in our history and ask the questions as to who were our best, biggest and brightest leaders, you will see that most of them didn’t come from the ranks of government. Many of our leaders came from humble beginnings and served, because their greatness was recognized and because of their deeds and big ideas. The place in history also has a bearing on how greatness is recognized and greatness is born.
Just because you want to be great doesn’t necessarily mean that you are or will be. I cannot think of one person today who could begin to fill the shoes of the great man who occupied 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the 80’s. There was no disconnecting between what Reagan wanted and what Reagan pursued. A big part of greatness comes from knowing who you are and how you bring others into rethinking their position and how their position can help or hinder a plan.
Our President today says that he strongly relates to Ronald Reagan. I cannot accept this nor do I even begin to believe it. In his first year, our President had identified himself with FDR and the New Deal. You can see where it has gotten us today. In his second year, our President identified himself with Lincoln. Who has this president really freed from the chains of government’s reach into our lives? Our president now claims to have a similarity to Reagan because he is a transformational president. Our President is now reaching out to business like Reagan. However, a President cannot ask business to invest or open their pocket books to hire people like the president did last week. Business has to feel confident and must be able to hire people for expansion and profit. Business cannot hire for the plans of government alone, especially when those plans would hinder profit and expansion.
Last week, the new job creation numbers for January were announced. Only 36,000 new jobs were added. The unemployment rate went down to 9%. The reason why the new number of unemployment went down is that the government does not take into account the people who have just stooped looking for work and those who are now off the unemployment roles. We need at least 125,000 jobs created per month just to keep up with population growth and the creation of another 200,000 jobs a month to sustain strong economic growth. This is where the figure of 325,000 jobs created per month is needed for an economy that is growing and sustainable, 36,000 jobs just doesn’t do it.
I ask the question, what would Reagan do today? Better yet, what would he say? He said on January 20, 1981 – in his first Inaugural Address:
“Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, causing human misery and personal indignity. Those who do work are denied a fair return for their labor by a tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity.
4
But great as our tax burden is, it has not kept pace with public spending. For decades, we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary convenience of the present. To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals.
5
You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we are not bound by that same limitation?
6
We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow. And let there be no misunderstanding—we are going to begin to act, beginning today.
7
The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades. They will not go away in days, weeks, or months, but they will go away. They will go away because we, as Americans, have the capacity now, as we have had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom.
8
In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem.”
Today our leaders have told us and have acted in a way that Government is the cure to our ills. In all of our history has government ever been the cure? Today I ask the question: What would Reagan do? We know what he would say, because he said it thirty years ago. This is what Reagan knew and this was part of the principles that Reagan left in a legacy that we can again enjoy and still duplicate if we have the will. Reagan would have us do the things that would have us live up to our potential rather than being the servants of what government’s potential is.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: Reagan told us about “a time for choosing” and our “rendezvous with destiny” these are big dreams that only Ronald Reagan could realize and then make us feel that it is our time to choose because of our destiny as a great nation. No doubt this is what Reagan would do again today!
WWJD?
I am sure you have heard this question before – WWJD? What would Jesus Do? Some have made this acronym into something else they would ask. Such as WWRD - What would Reagan Do?
As I researched more about Reagan, I became more impressed by the stories I have come across and by the history that this man was part of and created, I can’t help but ask the question: What would Reagan Do - today? Don’t get me wrong, I am not elevating him to the stature of Jesus, but I do think his personal constitution is what made him great!
Reagan seized the moment of greatness when he asked the question in a Presidential debate with Jimmy Carter in 1980: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” This was a moment in history that we as a nation must never forget. This simple question made millions of voters think for the first time as to what is necessary in a leader.
Reagan made us proud as a nation and as a people and he made us think big. He was able to translate emotion into words and words into emotion that brought change. Political adversaries then were not political enemies then.
The question today is how can we learn from past history and past greatness to help guide us through the events we find ourselves in today? There is a story that typifies how politics have changed in this country. Reagan had a Democratic Congress to deal with. Reagan’s nature didn’t permit him to complain about it, he embraced it and was able to win the debate based on ideas and not on political one-upmanship. Reagan and Tip O’Neal (Democratic Speaker of the House) were political adversaries during the day, but at night they would meet and share stories and friendship. Unfortunately, this is not possible today, nor is it permitted any longer. The polarity that now exists in government and our society prohibits the nation from being great and thinking big.
If you look back in our history and ask the questions as to who were our best, biggest and brightest leaders, you will see that most of them didn’t come from the ranks of government. Many of our leaders came from humble beginnings and served, because their greatness was recognized and because of their deeds and big ideas. The place in history also has a bearing on how greatness is recognized and greatness is born.
Just because you want to be great doesn’t necessarily mean that you are or will be. I cannot think of one person today who could begin to fill the shoes of the great man who occupied 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the 80’s. There was no disconnecting between what Reagan wanted and what Reagan pursued. A big part of greatness comes from knowing who you are and how you bring others into rethinking their position and how their position can help or hinder a plan.
Our President today says that he strongly relates to Ronald Reagan. I cannot accept this nor do I even begin to believe it. In his first year, our President had identified himself with FDR and the New Deal. You can see where it has gotten us today. In his second year, our President identified himself with Lincoln. Who has this president really freed from the chains of government’s reach into our lives? Our president now claims to have a similarity to Reagan because he is a transformational president. Our President is now reaching out to business like Reagan. However, a President cannot ask business to invest or open their pocket books to hire people like the president did last week. Business has to feel confident and must be able to hire people for expansion and profit. Business cannot hire for the plans of government alone, especially when those plans would hinder profit and expansion.
Last week, the new job creation numbers for January were announced. Only 36,000 new jobs were added. The unemployment rate went down to 9%. The reason why the new number of unemployment went down is that the government does not take into account the people who have just stooped looking for work and those who are now off the unemployment roles. We need at least 125,000 jobs created per month just to keep up with population growth and the creation of another 200,000 jobs a month to sustain strong economic growth. This is where the figure of 325,000 jobs created per month is needed for an economy that is growing and sustainable, 36,000 jobs just doesn’t do it.
I ask the question, what would Reagan do today? Better yet, what would he say? He said on January 20, 1981 – in his first Inaugural Address:
“Idle industries have cast workers into unemployment, causing human misery and personal indignity. Those who do work are denied a fair return for their labor by a tax system which penalizes successful achievement and keeps us from maintaining full productivity.
4
But great as our tax burden is, it has not kept pace with public spending. For decades, we have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary convenience of the present. To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals.
5
You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but for only a limited period of time. Why, then, should we think that collectively, as a nation, we are not bound by that same limitation?
6
We must act today in order to preserve tomorrow. And let there be no misunderstanding—we are going to begin to act, beginning today.
7
The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades. They will not go away in days, weeks, or months, but they will go away. They will go away because we, as Americans, have the capacity now, as we have had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom.
8
In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem.”
Today our leaders have told us and have acted in a way that Government is the cure to our ills. In all of our history has government ever been the cure? Today I ask the question: What would Reagan do? We know what he would say, because he said it thirty years ago. This is what Reagan knew and this was part of the principles that Reagan left in a legacy that we can again enjoy and still duplicate if we have the will. Reagan would have us do the things that would have us live up to our potential rather than being the servants of what government’s potential is.
Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives
A footnote: Reagan told us about “a time for choosing” and our “rendezvous with destiny” these are big dreams that only Ronald Reagan could realize and then make us feel that it is our time to choose because of our destiny as a great nation. No doubt this is what Reagan would do again today!