Daily Archives: 2012/04/16

I am enjoying some time off this spring, albeit caring for my little guy with a stomach bug out of the gate. Nonetheless, I have some interesting thoughts to share with you today. They are a bit scattered, but I think they are all part of the bigger picture. Bear with me…

I was reading my Providence Sunday Journal when I noticed a piece in the “Parade” section which highlighted folks salaries then and now. As I perused the list of folks I came upon President Obama’s info and was struck by the continuing effort by some in the “main stream” press to portray the POTUS as some sort of working class hero. They simply noted his $48,000.00 salary as a State Senator in 1997 and then jumped right to his salary as President, a Congressionally approved $400,000.00. My thought was, did they leave out all the other stuff on purpose to mislead the reader? There was of course the $150,000.00 he earned as a local “Community Organizer”. And then there was his pay as a civil rights attorney along with his teaching salary from the University of Chicago. And of course there was his Illinois Senate seat which fetched an additional $174,000.00 per year beginning in 2004. And this is to say nothing of his very successful books along the way and Michelle’s eventual $100,000.00 + per year salary contribution to the family coffers. Now I know there is more to President Obama’s story, and I’m not suggesting these facts put him in the same bracket as Mitt Romney, but it does tell us something about who he really is and what some in the media will do to keep us from focusing on that reality. (In fairness, I would add here that I am also well aware of, and admire he and his wife’s obviously charitable hearts. Their contributions exceed those of many in Washington and this is notable. (It is his doctrine and political application I disagree with. And I feel his career should be vetted truthfully and completely this time around). That said, it is clear how the Obama campaign and its friends in the media will press the attack this election season.

Moving along, on this day when we remember the cause of freedom taken up by Patriots at Lexington and Concord in 1775, I also took note of another article out of the LA Times by Hector Bacerra. Bacerra writes about RJ Brewer, a wrestler who champions the fight against illegal immigration while working his trade for a Mexican wrestling promoter down in Arizona. What was striking was the fact that the article mentions how the Latino community attending these events are booing and chanting things like “Viva Mexico” and “Es un racista” every time Brewer takes to the ring. Even more striking is how “The LA Times” couldn’t resist painting Brewer (John Stagikas), in a racist light, noting how “he could pass for a Neo-Nazi in tights”, before calling him “thoughtful and articulate” in his arguments. As I read more and more of these types of stories coming out of the South West U.S., I begin to have a new appreciation for the battle on the Southern border. We are losing our country in more ways than we know.

And finally, on this day after the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking, I wanted to comment about a special presentation I watched on the National Geographic Channel, with “Titanic” Director James Cameron and his crew analyzing the 1912 tragedy yet again. Now it’s no secret Cameron has been consumed by the events of that fateful night and has spent a great deal of time since the 1997 blockbuster diving the wreck site. He has also been a major player in bringing to the surface thousands of hours of never before seen footage of the great liner. However, at the end of the show, Cameron, a Hollywood Liberal, could not pass up the opportunity to tag the show with his own opinions on the politics of 1912 in correlation to those of today. He was doing well highlighting many the pitfalls of human vanity and unchecked technology before going off on the class warfare thing. As if quoting from the Obama playbook, Cameron made a number of references to (the haves and the have-nots), and even threw in some global warming diatribe. In typical Progressive fashion, he ignored the generational differences and how today’s political environment is not one of arrogance and ignorance but rather complacency and preoccupation. (We know what the problems are in 2012, but do little to address them when we have the means to do so). Cameron espoused the usual unrealistic pablum as a solution but offered little along the way of individual empowerment and freedom, an unfortunate ending to a stunning HD presentation. I think that if Titanic tells us anything, it is that we must not punish success, but rather promote it and empower and enable all to strive to achieve it. The game is not one of “spreading the wealth”, but one of the creating and maintaining an economic playing field necessary for success. However, one must first choose to be a player…

Just some vacation notes…