penny press 28 march 20, 2014 · 3/20/2014 · supplied its pulitzer-prize-winning iraq war...

Penny PressNevada, USA Volume 11 Number 28 MARCH 20, 2014

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Credits:Publisher and Editor: Contributing Editors:Fred Weinberg Floyd Brown Al Thomas Doug French Chuck Muth John Getter Pat Choate Tom Mitchell

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THE PENNY PRESS,MARCH 20, 2014 PAGE 2

By FLOYD BROWNContributing Editor

One of the most laughable stories coming out of this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is the

hullabaloo about the “Stockman Party.”

In case you missed it, Texas Congressman Steve Stockman supposedly hosted an “awesome” hot tub party on the Saturday night after CPAC concluded.

The Washington Post characterized it this way: “The real-life CPAC party, held at a suite in the Gaylord Hotel, where

the conference was taking place, featured an expletive-spewing congressman, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Tex.), offering $20 to whoever would jump into the bathroom’s hot tub, according to Slate’s Dave Weigel. Weigel witnessed Stockman, the quirky challenger who was just crushed by Sen. John Cornyn in the state’s senate Republican primary, offer this eloquent toast: ‘F*** the left!’”

But truthfully, the party story is just another media hit job based on fabricated facts. And since Stockman launched his quirky and (according to some) ill-fated campaign against Senator John Cornyn (the reigning RINO of Texas politics and a close pal of Karl Rove), the media has been in a feeding frenzy.

Mainstream newspapers around

the country are quick to publish any negative story about a Tea Party leader without even bothering to check the facts. Take theHouston Chronicle, for example. Numerous Chronicle stories would be considered libel if Stockman wasn’t a public figure.

The thing is, Stockman is misunderstood because he never cared about the perks of being in Congress. He isn’t obsessed with power like so many of the little people that populate the GOP caucus on the Hill. Instead, he’s frustrated by John Boehner’s do-nothing attitude and the pathetic leaders obsessed with protecting their jobs, the country be damned.

So why, then, did Stockman start a new campaign against John Cornyn? And did he actually fail?

I decided to set the record

straight myself by doing something novel: I asked Stockman for an interview, which he happily granted.

And while he may have been crushed in the polls, Stockman did exactly what he set out to achieve.

Let me explain…An Unusual Campaign

StrategyAs a sidenote, many were

shocked that I could even reach Stockman, because the Associated Press (AP) was reporting him missing. But the AP story was miserably researched.

You see, Stockman was reported missing while on a trip with the Committee on Foreign Affairs to study emerging threats in the Middle East. He actually gave a news conference in Egypt around the time the missing story was published… that was attended

Penny PressNEVADA USA 16 PAGES VOLUME 11 NUMBER 28 MARCH 20, 2014

Penny WisdomNo wonder Americans hate politics when, year in and year out, they hear politicians make promises that won't come true because they don't even mean them - campaign fantasies that win elections but don't get nations moving again. —Bill Clinton

The Conservative Weekly Voice Of NevadaInside:No More SenatorsRunning For Pres.

See Editorial Page 6

RON KNECHT PAGE 5FRED WEINBERG PAGE 6DOUG FRENCH PAGE 7JOHN KIRKWOOD PAGE 9LUKE HAMILTON PAGE 10MATT BARBER PAGE 11CHUCK MUTH PAGE 14

The True Story Of Stockman v Rove

Commentary

Continued on page4


by none other than the AP.No wonder the mainstream media didn’t understand Stockman’s

campaign – they couldn’t even find him!Now, here’s what I learned during my interview with him…Stockman knew Karl Rove meant to take him out in the Texas

Congressional primary, so Stockman upped the ante and forced Rove to spend millions of dollars to protect his crown jewel, John Cornyn. Cornyn has been a Rove lackey from way back, and Rove uses him for information and access.

It’s hard to say exactly how many millions Rove had to spend, but it could’ve been as much as $10 million based on all the independent committees he had trashing Stockman.

And even though Stockman lost, Rove won’t have this money to spend against Tea Party candidates all over the country in upcoming primaries. Rove’s two biggest donors, Harold Simmons and Bob Perry, passed away in the last year. And Rove is a spender. His funds won’t last forever.

So in reality, Steve Stockman has done more for Tea Party challengers than they’ll ever probably understand.

Protecting Tea Party Candidates From Rove's MoneyContinued from page 3



Nevada and WNC’s gift to nation, the dead and our vets

“Four thousand faces of American military who had perished in Iraq stared at me,” said former WNC professor Don Carlson. “I realized that this war has been perhaps one of the most impersonal wars the U.S. ever fought.”

In 2008, the army veteran saw a Roster of the Dead, then totaling 4,000. He explains that with the all-volunteer military, more than in any previous war, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been remote

to the vast majority of Americans. Impersonal.

He talked to professor Marilee Swirczek, and they envisioned a project to personalize these wars to folks and honor people who served in them with literary works, photographs and a memorial to American military personnel who died in war after September 11, 2001. It started in a creative-writing/sociology class and became a WNC exhibition in 2009, titled “Always Lost: A Meditation on War.”

The Dallas Morning News supplied its Pulitzer-Prize-winning Iraq war photos, and students, veterans and other Nevadans contributed original literary works to accompany each one. The exhibit also includes observations, from

Greek philosophers to American generals, about the effects of war on all and our obligations to those who served.

The heart of the exhibit, which has traveled since 2010, is the Wall of the Dead, with pictures and names of the dead, now 6,831 and ever growing. Kevin Burns, a professor and retired marine, named it from a Gertrude Stein observation: “War is never fatal, but always lost. Always lost.” Amy Roby, a former student, manages the project.

Always Lost is not political, not pro- or anti-war, as some folks understandably assume it may be. It is powerful, moving, humbling, stunning and thought-provoking – sometimes overwhelming. Burns explains that the photos are presented in random order, reflecting the chaotic effect of war on participants and others.

Particularly poignant is army vet Noah C. Pierce of Minnesota, who enlisted at 17, returned five years later with post-traumatic stress disorder and eventually committed suicide. His mother notes, correctly, “He died for his country, and I’m as proud of him as I was five years ago.”

Bob Crowell, Carson City Mayor and a navy vet, calls it, “our community’s gift to the nation.” He reminds us never to forget and that those who served should inspire us to a “life of honor, dignity and hard work for ourselves, our families

and our country.”Carlson hopes what began as a

classroom project in a small college in a small town in Nevada “will lead to a consequence of some healing.” Also remembrance and gratitude.

Funded via grants, donations and volunteerism, it has been glowingly recognized widely via print, radio and TV by many organizations and people. Tours are booked into 2015.

Swirczek sees the most heartening impact on Vietnam vets, who were denied the gratitude and recognition they deserved for long after that war but seem to say to today’s living service members and the dead: “We know you’re there. Thank you.” May the Vietnam vets find the closure, peace and redemption they deserve.

Spanish-American philosopher George Satayana said: “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” General Robert E. Lee offered perspective that soldiers who know the worst of it acquire: “It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.”

When Always Lost returns to Nevada, see it. You’ll bless not only all who gave their lives and all who made it home, but also those who created this memorial. RON KNECHTRon Knecht of Carson City is an economist, law school graduate and Nevada higher education regent.

The Penny Press Tips Its Cap To:NASCAR driver and former bad boy Kurt Busch who has devoted a fair amount of his time and resources to the Armed Forces Foundation. In last week’s Bristol race, he had a passenger in the form of a piece of the uniform of a soldier who had been killed in action in Afghanistan. “He’s with us today,” said Busch, “even though he’s not here. His father’s here today and it’s the least I can do.” Thanks Kurt.

Herman Bishop of Sun City Summerlin who, on his 90th birthday, flew both the Civil Air Patrol’s Cessna 206 and a Stearman N2S biplane at North Las Vegas Airport. Maybe 90 is the new 60. Go gettem Mr. Bishop.

The Penny Press Sends A Bronx Cheer And A Bouquet of Weeds To:The people who run the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange who have not already sued Xerox for so massively screwing up the system that there are literally millions of dollars of unpaid claims because people though they bought insurance and the system didn’t actually place the insurance with the insurers. Lawsuits, hell. People ought to be facing criminal charges. www.pennypressnv.com

Tips Of Our Capand

Bronx Cheers

Commentary: Ron Knecht

Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are flaming stars in the Republican Party right now.

The Tea Party folks want—desperately—for one of them to become the Party’s nominee in 2016.

Any of those guys would be a bad idea.

Not because of their political ideas. I agree with most of them.

But because—in the parlance of Oklahoma oilmen—none of them have peed a drop.

They are all first term United States Senators. Just like Barack Hussein Obama was.

And just how has the Presidency worked out for Obama?

These guys say great things. They know how to use their oratory to sweep crowds up in their enthusiasm. Just like Obama. Different words. Different ideas. But the same methods.

So far, all that proves is that a well-used tongue can get you elected President before you’re ready.

Show me anything in any of those guys’ background that shows they are any more ready than Obama was to become President and that they would do any better job.

They are Senators.

A Senator is basically Bill O’Reilly without an audience, power and a $20-million a year paycheck.

Historically, they make lousy executives because they spend their days and nights bloviating and fund raising but not doing anything of real substance. It doesn’t matter whether or not you say the right things. A self-professed conservative who has no experience or skill is just as dangerous in the White House as a socialist like

Obama.

If Ted Cruz really wants to be President, he should go back home to Texas, run for Governor, serve eight years and then come back and tell us that he now has the experience to be President because he has actually run one of the most populous states in the nation.

The same holds true for Paul and Rubio.

Being a first term Senator who says all the right things is NOT a qualification for becoming President and Barack Obama has proven that beyond all doubt.

If the Republicans want to regain the White House, they need to do what Newt Gingrich did in 1994.

They need to have some good ideas, set a legislative agenda to accomplish those ideas and THEN, use that to convince the voters that they are not the knuckle dragging Cro-Magnons the Democrats portray them as.

The 1994 Contract with America was a brilliant idea.

I have not heard a similar idea from any of the front running “candidates” in the last year.

If the GOP is serious about 2016, it should look to people who are the grown-ups in the room. People who have spent their careers actually running things.

Herman Cain comes to mind. So does Mike Huckabee. How about Susanna Martinez, the Governor of New Mexico?

They may not excite you as much as the dynamic trio, but they’ve all done things which would indicate that they can become the nation’s CEO—something which requires a completely different skill set than bloviating and fundraising.

FRED WEINBERG


OPINIONFrom The Publisher...

How About Someone Who Has Actually Run Something?


Ukraine: Cutting Through the Media SpinFiguring out what’s going on in Ukraine is like following the plot of Tinker

Tailor Soldier Spy.Bloomberg reports Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster as “Moscow-backed,” while

Al Jazeera calls Ukraine’s new government “Western-backed.” Which one is it?We’re supposed to trust what’s reported on the ground. But as wordsmith

Theodore Dalrymple says, we should take reports by foreign correspondents with a rim of salt on a margarita. Dalrymple has been on assignment in foreign lands a few times, and explains in Taki’s Magazine: “The bar at the one luxury hotel in town is often where the history, or rather report of the history, of an undeveloped country’s crisis is made.”

Critical thinking is not rampant in the press corps, while laziness is. Dalrymple goes on to write, “One of the things that surprised me was the ease with which an entire press corps could accept the most obvious untruth, usually convenient to some interested party or other, without any external compulsion to do so. I can only suppose that one of modern education’s purposes is to prevent people from thinking for themselves.”What Actual Ukrainians Have to Say

For people on the street in Ukraine, economics trumps ideology. As my wife’s Ukrainian pilates instructor says, “The people just want to eat.”

Dalrymple’s preferred source is his plumber, a Ukrainian refugee. The plumber fled Ukraine a few years ago to work his wrench in Paris. He left because everyone in Ukraine was corrupt and he had to bribe people to get anything done. Dalrymple relates the tradesman’s story: “The opposition was as bad as the government, and all political demonstrations, which were frequent even then [before the current problems], were entirely bogus.”

He says that with unemployment sky high, demonstrating was one of the few ways to make money in Ukraine. “The political system’s corrupt and vastly rich oligarchs pay a small daily subvention to the otherwise unemployed who agreed to demonstrate in their favor,” explains Dalrymple.

In other words, demonstrators would agitate for the highest bidder, whether it be the government or the opposition. The amounts paid vacillated day to day. “Principle didn’t come into it; demonstrators changed from pro-government to pro-opposition and vice versa, according to the amount on offer.”

Auburn University economics professor Dr. Lilliana Stern echoes the plumber’s comments about corruption. She is a native of Ternopil, Ukraine, where some of the deadliest demonstrations have taken place.

“You have to bribe everyone,” she told the Opelika-Auburn News. “It’s a culture of corruption. If I took my kids to the pediatrician in Ukraine, I would have to give him a bribe. … If you are a college student, you have to bribe your professors for each exam you take.

“This is what people do not realize. It’s so corrupted from the ground up, and as you get higher and higher, the degree of corruption gets outrageous.”

The people are confused by what’s going on, according to my wife’s Ukranian pilates instructor, whose mother still lives in Ukraine. Also, she’s never even heard of this Crimea place. It’s referred to as Krim where she’s from.

She also says the people don’t care who is in charge. All they care about is food and work, and there isn’t enough of either to go around. Her mother tells her that she reads both the US and Russian versions of the events in Ukraine, and the two don’t, in any way, resemble each other.Mind the Spin

Keep all of this in mind when you read that the Ukraine situation is some sort of grassroots political uprising, or that Vladimir Putin is a power-hungry ex-KGB guy who wants his former Soviet territory back at any cost. Be skeptical when you hear the US is a reluctant bystander that simply wants democracy to flourish around the world.

There’s a certain phone call between US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, where Nuland says she’d like to “have the UN glue this thing [Ukraine] together and f**k the EU.” Nuland

and Pyatt then continue to discuss strategies of working with the three opposition leaders in Ukraine.

While the US press is up in arms and pointing fingers at the Russians for leaking that conversation, the real story is somewhat different, as Daniel McAdams writes on LewRockwell.com:

“Caught red-handed actively planning and manipulating internal politics and acting as if Ukrainian opposition politicians were literally US agents to be ordered into this position or that in a new government, the US State Department behaved as a child with his hand discovered in the cookie jar.”

US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki did her best to stonewall during this briefing, but her sidestep wasn’t very good:

Q. Does not the fact that US diplomats purportedly are discussing who should and should not be in the Ukrainian government hint at some possibility of US interference here?

MS. PSAKI: Absolutely not… It’s up to the people of Ukraine, including officials from both sides, to determine the path forward. But it shouldn’t be a surprise that there are discussions about events on the ground.

Q. This is more than discussions, though. This was two top US officials that are on the ground discussing a plan that they have to broker a future government and bringing officials from the UN to kind of seal the deal. This is more than the US trying to make suggestions. This is the US midwifing the process.

PSAKI: Well, Elise, you’re talking about a private diplomatic conversation… Of course these things are being discussed. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s up to the people on the ground. It is up to the people of Ukraine to determine what the path forward is. …

Q: But I’m sorry, if you’re saying privately behind the scenes that you’re cooking up a deal, and then you’re saying publicly that this is up for Ukrainians to decide, those are two totally different things. I understand that diplomatic discussions are sensitive and you don’t want everything to come out, but those are two totally different—totally different positions.

This exchange supports Putin advisor Sergei Glazyev’s claim that the US is spending $20 million a week supplying Ukrainian opposition groups, a breach of a 1994 non-intervention agreement between the US, Russia, and the UK.Clashing Interests

While observers pine for 1989, the current situation is much different. The deposed Viktor Yanukovych was not a Moscow plant, but democratically elected. The protesters are not all Western-leaning—they merely protest for the highest bidder. And remember, Russia didn’t make a move for three months while the protests went on. Putin didn’t act until Yanukovych was run out.

“It was the infantile, nostalgic meddling of Western governments in Ukraine,” writes Brendan O’Neill, “their use of Kiev as a stage on which to have a fancy-dress re-enactment of the Cold War years, which propelled that country towards ruin.”

If you’re basing investment decisions on whether the US gets involved, it already is. And if you think this skirmish will go down the memory hole by Tax Day, forget it. Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell are itching to begin drilling in the Black Sea for oil and gas. Need I say more as to why the US is interested in the region?

Likewise, Crimea’s port on the Black Sea, Sevastopol, is Putin’s only warm-water port, and Russia has 15,000 troops stationed there. What’s more, the Russian and Ukrainian navies have coexisted side by side there for years. As Katherine Jacobsen writes for Al Jazeera, “Political happenings in Kiev and Moscow rarely affect everyday life in Sevastopol.”

But that’s beginning to change. Neither Putin nor Obama will back away quickly.

The bottom line is this: Russia wants access to its port, the US wants access to the Black Sea, and Europe needs Russia’s gas. Ukraine is the fulcrum at which these divergent desires meet.

Right or wrong, this game of chicken won’t end quickly and may not end well. Ukraine may be a black swan waiting to land. DOUG FRENCH

Commentary: Doug French


By JOHN J. KIRKWOODSpecial to the Penny Press

Mitch McConnell (R-epulsive, Ky.) is talking tough about tea party-backed candidates challenging GOP Establinishtas in this year’s midterm elections, “I think we are going to crush them everywhere,” the Senate Minority Leader told the New York Times. “I don’t think they are going to have a single nominee anywhere in the country.”

This remark is in stark contrast to tea party “Joan of Bark,” Sarah Palin, who in her keynote speech at CPAC challenged Old GOP saying,“You know that 2010 GOP election victory that swept you into power, you didn’t build that — the tea party did!”

I don’t know why people keep clamoring for a third party when we don’t even have a second one yet but with leaders like Mitch McConnell, I completely understand the frustration. It’s the same reason we kvetch when the president bows and apologizes to enemies, yet expresses disdain and hostility toward fellow Americans. It appears McConnell and “Old GOP” have taken a page out of the Alinsky Papers because they talk tougher about the tea-party than they do of the Marxist regime that is currently running the country. Did I say “running”? – I meant, “ruining.”

It appears the war to save the Republic must first be waged and won in the Republican Party. Recently I polled my readers for a list of the many accomplishments since the Tea-Party Revolution of 2010. The question went like this:

“Can you help me list 5 major accomplishments of the Republicans that swept into office in 2010? What have the Republicans accomplished since they stripped the gavel from Pelosi and handed it to Boehner? Can you name any conservative victories? Thanks ahead of time.”

I was quickly told that “the Republicans” couldn’t accomplish anything because of Prince Harry and his merry band of Cenataurs. So I revised the question to include stonewalling as an accomplishment: you know, like when John Boehner and the boys stopped the raising of the debt ceiling and defunded Obamacare. Right?

Most of those that were polled left exasperated and came up with nil but there were some who “got their GOP on” and suggested that the passing of thirty jobs bills was an accomplishment. Boasting over thirty “ceremonial” jobs bills that haven’t created one job: seems kind of like praising penis enlargement pills, but it is something, I guess.

David Steiger, co-host of the Uncommon Show quipped: “They nailed Hillary & Co. on Benghazi and the perpetrators are behind bars. The IRS has been investigated and all those involved with malfeasance have been indicted. NSA wrongdoing has been corrected and new policies enacted. Obamacare has been rendered null and void after the long fight to defund it. And the debt and deficit have been declining because Republicans who hold the purse strings said ‘no’ on the frequent abuse of the debt ceiling.”

Now that would be something to run on! Sadly, here’s the truth:Since Boehner has gaveled up, the republicans have been the complicit

party, acting more like an abused wife peeking out from behind the drapes than the Farrah Fawcett they should be – sewing the sheets together and burning the bed.

In regard to true opposition, Newt Gingrich accomplished more as

the minority leader in 1993 than John Boehner has as the Speaker of the House. If you remember, the Clinton’s had tried to pass “gays in the military,” a tax bill, and Hillary-care only to fail over and over. Gingrich, as an opposition leader, fought against Clinton failures and forged an opposition agenda with greater success than John Boehner has against Obama victories.

With the level of corruption running rampant in our nation’s capital one would expect a “Contract with America,” town-hall meetings, one minute speeches, press conferences and investigations. One would expect there to be more than Senators’ Cruz, Lee and Paul and Congressmen Gowdy and Amash to be speaking out. And you would expect them to be leading the charge and not the object of sniping from their own party.

One would expect the party that holds the purse strings to reign in the spending, stand fast on principle, and cut off funds to a travel office that has seen the lavish waste of an Imperial presidency reach 1.4 billion a year. The Obamas have out-spent all previous presidencies even with three years to go. Who in office is speaking about the transgressions? Who is calling for heads to roll on Benghazi, the NSA, Fast and Furious, and the IRS targeting?

And these are only the scandals we know about.When there are strong conservative voices acting as watchmen on

the wall, like Joe Walsh of Illinois and Allen West of Florida, they’re abandoned by the GOP leadership like David did Uriah the Hittite. When the GOP failed to “strangle in the cradle” conservative Ken Cuccinelli’s bid for the gubernatorial race in the Virginia primary election, they scuttled it with friendly fire in the general. And now Mitch McConnell is running ads against the tea-party and promising to crush their opposition.

When it comes to the silent coup of the Marxists in this country, “Old GOP” has been nothing but a spectator, and when true patriots run in from the sidelines to try and stop the bleeding they’re beaten back as “tea-party Hobbits.”

As for conservative victories since 2010, I can only think of three: Chick-fil-a, Duck Dynasty, and gun control. And what were the flashpoints of these great victories? - A guy who makes chicken sandwiches, a guy who makes duck calls and the NRA: all standing for principle against tyranny and backed by the cheers and support of “We the People!”

The only black eye that the President has received legislatively has been the NRA coordinated ass-kicking following the Sandy Hook massacre which saw both democrats and republicans jumping on the president’s gun control bandwagon only to be stopped cold by a true opposition campaign.

Immigration may be another place the president fails but it won’t be a recompense of a united GOP. If it happens it will be for the same reason that victory was had over gun control – scared democrats joining with constitutional republicans. You know, those same guys that Mitch McConnell is trying to crush in the primaries.

We Don't Need A Third Party Without A Second One



We Should Be Prepping To Protect Ourselves

The lull is almost over. Now what?I don’t need to tell the savvy readership of the Penny Press that this

economic “recovery” has been a combination of smoke and mirrors, held together with a shoestring and bubble gum. The plummeting economy, triggered by the collapse of our government-inflated housing bubble, was temporarily slowed in its break-neck decline by the Obama administration’s decision to shovel astronomic amounts of taxpayer money into a hole. In June 2010, after the first round of Quantitative Easing, the Fed had holdings of $2.054 trillion. In November 2010, deciding that things weren’t improving fast enough, QE2 was launched and we bought up another $600 billion of assets/debt. When that failed to stimulate the market into a full-on recovery, QE3 was announced in September of 2012. At that point, the Fed declared that they would be buying $40 billion/month for an open-ended duration.

Should be sufficient, right? Even the piggish appetites of our central bankers should be sated by an open-ended allowance of 400 million dollars EVERY SINGLE MONTH, right? Wrong. Just 3 months after the announcement of QE3, the Federal Open Market Committee declared that the bond-buying would be increased from $40b a month to $85b, more than doubling the amount of debt the American people were being given every month. Make no mistake; there is no money to spend on these debt purchases. This is referred to as “fiat money” as it is created by fiat, not by any market mechanisms or wealth creation. Each time money is created in this fashion, the dollar you hold in your wallet or your 401(k) gets a little weaker. The greedy progressives behind this diabolical process have discovered that they can rob you without ever touching your billfold, simply by watering down the funds they already control.

This has worked, to a degree. Along with a slavish press, the sheer volume of money spent has provided them a little cover over the past couple years. The same way that 200 gallons of plasma would keep an abdominal gunshot victim alive for a time. But if the plasma runs out and surgery hasn’t been done, dude won’t be around too much longer. Our cupboard is now running dry. China is too highly leveraged to give us any more actual money and inflation is starting to creep into the economy. The Consumer Price Index for 2013 was the highest it’s ever been, with a price inflation of 133% over 1982 prices. We’re starting to look like the Town Drunk, hunched over a half-full glass of warm beer, 10 minutes after Last Call.

So now what? We know that Washington doesn’t care about us once we’ve punched their chad in the voting booth. There are only a handful of politicians in DC who are willing to serve the people they represent

and those few are increasingly ostracized from the legislative process by the statists on both sides of the aisle. It’s true that things are looking increasingly hopeful for November’s election; but even if we repeat the success of 2010, the fruits of this election will not be felt for months (perhaps years).

As the remnant has done throughout history, we must prepare. The storm is coming, there can be little question about that. Even Doctor Evilhimself has tipped his hand enough to show that he believes a major market slow-down is likely. If even cretinous Marxists like Soros are openly preparing for another economic disaster, shouldn’t we? There has never been a better time for the American people to batten the hatches and our window of opportunity might be closing soon.

What does preparation look like in today’s world? On a most basic level, we need to be prepared physically to protect and provide for our families. That means equipping ourselves with the means to survive even if the social structure breaks down. Yes “prepper” supplies are a great idea, both for social collapse and disaster preparedness, but we should also be inculcating our families with survival knowledge that extends beyond the gear and supplies. There are plenty of good resources for this level of preparation, but two I follow and recommend are Creek Stewart of Willowhaven Outdoor and David Morris of Urban Survival.

Additionally, we should be preparing to protect ourselves and our families. In any scenario where the social compact breaks down, the predators emerge. Whether it is during a natural disaster, riots, or a targeted attack, the chaos which follows provides enough distraction for the asocial predators in our midst to operate. We must be prepared and aware enough to protect ourselves from them. Purchase a firearm. Practice with it until you are comfortable and accurate. Apply for your CCW permit, even if you don’t plan to use it. By the time you need to use a firearm, it’s too late to prepare.

Finally, we need to prepare mentally and spiritually. As much as we need to elect strong conservative men and women to office, our responsibilities do not stop at the polling place. We need to develop our knowledge of the issues facing our country. Gone are the days when we had scrupulous “experts” which could be (at least provisionally) relied on to do the right thing. Romans 3:10-18 has never been more apparent than today. Have you read Saul Alinski and Karl Marx? Are you familiar with the teachings of the Koran? Do you have a copy of The Coming Insurrection? These are the foundations upon which our opposition has built their campaign. There is no excuse for us to be unfamiliar with the enemy’s foundational tracts and tactics.

We can no longer afford to be ignorant of the repugnant. As Oliver Cromwell so aptly stated, “Keep your faith in God, but keep your powder dry.”

LUKE HAMILTON

Commentary: Lee Hamilton


No Political Fix to America’s Death SpiralThe question is not, “Is America falling?” but, rather, “Why is America

falling?”I’m currently writing from CPAC 2014, the nation’s largest gathering

of conservative political junkies. The event is being held at the beautiful Gaylord National hotel, adjacent to the scenic shoreline of the historic Potomac River. We’re just a few short miles from Washington, D.C., which, at least for now, remains the modern-day equivalent of the Roman Empire.

I say “at least for now” because America finds itself skipping along the primrose path to Rome’s ill-fated finale. I needn’t trouble you with evidence to that effect as this tragic reality is hopelessly inescapable. It’s a self-evident truth. Unless our next generation of leaders – Gen-Y Millennials – can successfully turn things around, we’re up the Potomac without a paddle.

The day’s speeches have ended and conference-going night revelers are about. The indoor balcony to my 12th-floor room faces, as the hotel website accurately boasts, a “spectacular 18-story glass atrium.” My balcony door is open wide, and the bustling din from several parties across the cavernous vestibule soaks the room.

A chorus has begun. What is this? Have party-goers launched an impromptu rendering of “America the Beautiful”?

No, this is a chant, joined by scores – a hundred or more perhaps – of young conservative bacchanalians on multiple suite balconies and from the open air bar below. What is that they’re chanting? Is that, “Amer-i-ca! Amer-i-ca!”?

At first, it’s hard to tell. It’s a booming echo that reverberates throughout the entire hotel.

And then it becomes clear.Alas, our next generation of conservative leaders are not chanting,

“Amer-i-ca! Amer-i-ca!” They are, instead, chanting, “F**k O-bama! F**k O-bama!”

And I hang my head.So, now, children at the hotel, parents, staff, tourists – both foreign and

domestic – and every other conceivable variety of guest who happens to be staying at the Gaylord National hotel during CPAC 2014 has a skewed, and likely irreversible, first impression of America’s conservative movement.

Or is it skewed?Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m certain that the vast majority of CPAC

attendees, both young and old, are as appalled and embarrassed by these drunken yuck monkeys as am I.

But I think the very fact that these blazer-clad, Cro-Magnon morons could even imagine, for a moment, that it’s somehow cool to publicly chant “F**k Obama!” – or “F**k” anything for that matter – speaks to a much larger problem, not just within the conservative movement, but, more importantly, within our entire culture.

I’m never going to win a popularity contest. It’s not my goal to be liked. I’ll probably never be a “Fox News contributor” or even broadly recognized as a dutifully compliant cog within the greater, GOP-heavy “conservative” political wheel.

That’s because I say things like this: There is no political fix to America’s death spiral.

We are drowning in a turgid river of postmodern relativism. This is a spiritual problem, not a political problem. This is a worldview matter, not a partisan matter.

Hitherto it has been “progressives” alone dumping buckets of moral relativist poison into the Potomac. But, in the last decade or so, self-styled “conservatives” have likewise begun drinking the subjectivist Kool-Aid.

Libertine libertarianism has infected the conservative movement like a cancer. Situational ethics, driven by emotional, anecdotal sob stories, are used to justify every moral wrong as an absolute right. “Get off the social issues!” they demand. “Gay marriage? No problem.”

These gun-toting, free-market “conservatives” (of which I’m both) grace us with beauties like this: “I’m a ‘pro-choice,’ ‘pro-gay’ conservative,” or, “Yeah, I’m shacking up with my girlfriend, big deal.”

Relativism blurs the fixed lines of demarcation between right and wrong, which leads to the abolition of absolute truth, which leads to pockets of moral anarchy, which leads to Barack Obama and Eric Holder deciding which laws to ignore and which laws to enforce, which leads to lawlessness, which leads to chaos.

Welcome to chaos.Yes. The “social issues” matter.The battle is not Republican vs. Democrat. Neither is it conservative

vs. liberal. The battle precedes time itself. The battle is right vs. wrong. The battle is moral vs. immoral. The battle is truth vs. the lie.

The battle is between good and evil.We’ve been playing political Ping-Pong for decades. We’ve been, as

they say, rearranging the chairs on the Titanic while Democrats take the helm for a spell, and Republicans take the helm for a spell.

The reality is that both political parties have driven us into the iceberg, and then pranced off together, hand-in-hand, to play best-of-three racquetball at the congressional bathhouse.

While here at CPAC I met an interesting fellow by the name of Frank Mitchell. Frank founded the Memphis-based, classically conservative group: “A Shining City on a Hill.” During our discussion, Frank said this: “There is no liberty without justice. Liberty without justice is only license.”

Libertine libertarianism.America cannot survive under a worldview that embraces unrestricted

moral license. Such license destroys the individual. And such license destroys the nation.

“Liberty without justice is only license.”There is only one Arbiter of true justice. And justice is defined by Him,

not by us. He sets the parameters. As both individuals, and as a nation, we are ill-advised to breach those parameters and well-served to maintain them.

America does not need a political fix. America needs a spiritual fix. MATT BARBERMatt Barber (@jmattbarber on Twitter) is an author, columnist, cultural analyst and an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. Having retired as an undefeated heavyweight professional boxer, Matt has taken his fight from the ring to the culture war.



Commentary: Matt Barber

Primary Endorsement Policy Continues to Roil GOP Waters

At the recent Washoe County Republican convention a resolution was passed declaring that the local party was “manifestly opposed” to the pre-primary endorsement “scheme” being pursued by the leaders and members of the Nevada Republican Central Committee. Not just opposed; “manifestly” opposed…whatever that means.

And while most media reports have focused on the resolution’s opposition to the state party’s pre-primary endorsement policy, an amendment was also approved that instructs “the Governor and the Republican leaders in the assembly and senate that they should not endorse candidates in the primary election” either.

So in other words, unless Gov. Brian Sandoval, Senate Minority Leader Moderate Mike Roberson and Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey rescind THEIR already-issued pre-primary endorsements (Hickey has endorsed; he’s just kept his secret), then the Nevada GOP should go forward with their own endorsements. Sauce for the goose and all.

But back to the resolution. It also declared that “the role of the Republican Party is to represent the will of registered voters identifying as Republican and promote the Republican ideals…”

And that’s why this misguided resolution is so vapid…The will of registered Republican voters is to oppose tax hikes

and limit government, which are also the ideals outlined in the GOP’s platform. And indeed that is exactly what Republican candidates such as Sandoval and Roberson ran on in 2010. But once in office, they reversed themselves, broke their word to Republican voters and betrayed the GOP’s ideals.

So if, as the Washoe resolution suggests, the role of the Republican Party is to represent the will of registered Republican voters, then it’s the OBLIGATION of the Republican Party to call out Republican elected officials who don’t represent the will of Republican voters and don’t promote Republican ideals.

The silly Washoe resolution aside, here’s what you need to know about the Nevada GOP’s pre-primary endorsement policy…

1.) Moderate establishment Republicans have an unfair advantage over grassroots conservatives because they control the special interest money and issue their own pre-primary endorsements.

2.) GOP pre-primary endorsements by the elected members of the party’s governing body would help level the playing field and result in more conservative GOP nominees. As such, moderate establishment Republicans are scared to death of pre-primary endorsements.

3.) Liberals in the media despise conservatives. Pre-primary endorsements would help conservatives. Therefore, liberals in the media totally oppose pre-primary endorsements by the Nevada GOP.

This is a no-brainer folks. If you support pre-primary endorsements you support helping elect better Republicans, not just more Republicans. If you oppose pre-primary endorsements you support electing Republicans who stand for nothing, will fall for anything and will vote with Democrats over and over and over again to raise taxes, grow government and spend more money.

Gut-check time, Nevada Republicans. Which side are you on? CHUCK MUTH(Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a conservative grassroots advocacy organization. He can be reached at www.MuthsTruths.com)


Commentary: Chuck Muth Every week in Nevada, someone is trying to screw us.

Most of the time, we elected that someone.

That's why we conserva-tives NEED a WEEKLY voice.

That's why the Penny Press has made sticking up for us little guys a whole new Nevada tradition.

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