Just Americans Making Ethical Statements Weblog

At 8PM, The Florida Polls will Close, and Romney will be Declared the Winner in the Florida Primary

JAMES — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:43:02 +0000

The Florida primary had more eligible registered voters than Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina combined. The biggest primary yet in the 2012 Presidential race, the polls in the Florida panhandle will close at 8:00pm EST, and Romney will be declared the victor of this round.

Presently, 46% of the precincts have reported, and Romney leads the pack with 49% to Gingrich’s 30%. Rick Santorum comes in at 13% and Ron Paul at 7%.

None of the candidates are hinting at dropping from the race, with Santorum and Paul already campaigning in Nevada.

Waking the Sleeping Giant

JAMES — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:46:52 +0000

The article below was written by Gary Hubbell, a rancher, fishing guide and real estate agent, in Aspen Colorado of all places….Someone picked this up and began circulating it. To confirm its authenticity, someone emailed Gary and received the following reply:

Yes, indeed, I did write that. Thanks for your compliments.

Regards,

EXCELLENT ARTICLE. NEVER EVER WOULD I HAVE THOUGHT THIS WOULD COME OUT OF ASPEN ,
http://www/.aspentimes .com/article/20100228/ASPENWEEKLY/100229854/

Barack Obama has awakened a sleeping nation
Gary Hubbell
Aspen Times Weekly February 2010

Barack Obama is the best thing that has happened to America in the last 100 years. Truly, he is the savior of America ‘s future.

Despite the fact that he has some of the lowest approval ratings among recent presidents, history will see Barack Obama as the source of America ‘s resurrection. Barack Obama has plunged the country into levels of debt that we could not have previously imagined; his efforts to nationalize health care have been met with fierce resistance nationwide; TARP bailouts and stimulus spending have shown little positive effect on the national economy; unemployment is unacceptably high and looks to remain that way for most of a decade; legacy entitlement programs have ballooned to unsustainable levels, and there is a seething anger in the populace.

That’s why Barack Obama is such a good thing for America . Here’s why.

Obama is the symbol of a creeping liberalism that has infected our society like a cancer for the last 100 years. Just as Hitler is the face of fascism, Obama will go down in history as the face of unchecked liberalism. The cancer metastasized to the point where it could no longer be ignored.

Average Americans who have quietly gone about their lives, earning a paycheck, contributing to their favorite charities, going to high school football games on Friday night, spending their weekends at the beach or on hunting trips – they’ve gotten off the fence. They’ve woken up. There is a level of political activism in this country that we haven’t seen since the American Revolution, and Barack Obama has been the catalyst that has sparked a restructuring of the American political and social consciousness.

Think of the crap we’ve slowly learned to tolerate over the past 50 years as liberalism sought to re-structure the America that was the symbol of freedom and liberty to all the people of the world. Immigration laws were ignored on the basis of compassion. Welfare policies encouraged irresponsibility, the fracturing of families, and a cycle of generations of dependency. Debt was regarded as a tonic to lubricate the economy. Our children left school having been taught that they are exceptional and special, while great numbers of them cannot perform basic functions of mathematics and literacy. Legislators decided that people could not be trusted to defend their own homes, and stripped citizens of their rights to own firearms. Productive members of society have been penalized with a heavy burden of taxes in order to support legions of do-nothings who loll around, reveling in their addictions, obesity, indolence, ignorance and “disabilities.” Criminals have been arrested and re-arrested, coddled and set free to pillage the citizenry yet again. Lawyers routinely extort fortunes from doctors, contractors and business people with dubious torts.

We slowly learned to tolerate these outrages, shaking our heads in disbelief, and we went on with our lives.

But Barack Obama has ripped the lid off a seething cauldron of dissatisfaction and unrest.

A former Communist is given a paid government position in the White House as an advisor to the president. Auto companies are taken over by the government, and the auto workers’ union – whose contracts are completely insupportable in any economic sense – is rewarded with a stake in the company. Government bails out Wall Street investment bankers and insurance companies, who pay their executives outrageous bonuses as thanks for the public support. Terrorists are read their Miranda rights and given free lawyers. And, despite overwhelming public disapproval, Barack Obama has pushed forward with a health care plan that would re-structure one-sixth of the American economy.

Literally millions of Americans have had enough. They’re organizing, they’re studying the Constitution and the Federalist Papers, they’re reading history and case law, they’re showing up at rallies and meetings, and a slew of conservative candidates are throwing their hats into the ring. Is there a revolution brewing? Yes, in the sense that there is a keen awareness that our priorities and sensibilities must be radically re-structured. Will it be a violent revolution? No. It will be done through the interpretation of the original document that has guided us for 220 “FANTASTIC” years— the Constitution. Just as the pendulum swung to embrace political correctness and liberalism, there will be a backlash, a complete repudiation of a hundred years of nonsense. A hundred years from now, history will perceive the year 2010 as the time when America got back on the right track. And for that, we can thank Barack Hussein Obama.

Gary Hubbell is a hunter, rancher, and former hunting and fly-fishing guide. Gary works as a Colorado ranch real estate broker. He can be reached through his website, aspenranchrealestate.com

“Why I’m Wearing White”: Vanderbilt Student Speaks Out About Admin “Attacks” on Religious Groups on Campus

JAMES — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:38:22 +0000

Beginning last spring, Vanderbilt began implementing a new non-discrimination policy that undermines the integrity of many student religious organizations. As a student leader in one of these organizations, I had a front-row seat to the drama that unfolded behind closed doors as many in the religious community attempted to dialogue with the administration. Like so many others, I was dedicated to pleading the case of religious life — but only in private.

Then I received the chancellor’s email last week and something inside of me snapped. I realized that the rest of the Vanderbilt community deserves a more accurate picture of what had been transpiring privately for so many months. So this is a public plea. A public and passionate plea for myself and any other student who wants the opportunity to make choices for religious organizations based on their religious beliefs.

It’s that simple.

Yet, throughout this process the university has consistently obscured the facts in an effort to gain acceptance for a policy that is widely unpopular amongst those it will affect. I’m going to try to clear up a few of those facts, and then I’ll go on to explain what I believe.

From the beginning, Vanderbilt has denied crafting a new, more expansive non-discrimination policy. Instead, administrators have tried to convince us this is actually a case of a few organizations being asked to conform to a longstanding practice.

According to this story, various offices are finally “catching up” with a policy that has been in place across the university all along. But no matter how the facts are framed, the reality is that the student organization handbook was altered last December, when a section specifically protecting religious association was removed, as highlighted by The Hustler in September 2011. Then, in April, a number of organizations were placed on provisional status as constitutions that had been easily approved in previous years were evaluated under this new standard. Call it a policy change or call it “catching up.” Either way, something changed. And that change will have real consequences for student organizations.

So far, the refrain echoed by a variety of university officials is that for all intents and purposes, business will continue as usual. But in a meeting with the Interfaith Council last Tuesday, Dean of Students Mark Bandas went so far as to admit that religious organizations could come under investigation if there was suspicion that members used religious criteria in voting for their leaders.

Let’s say that you’re a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and that you’re running for president of the organization. You win the election, but the student that you beat feels that he lost because members of the organization cast their votes based on his religious beliefs. According to Bandas, Vanderbilt would have grounds to investigate your organization for discrimination if the other student lodged a formal complaint. That hardly seems like business as usual to me.

For full letter/ article: http://www.insidevandy.com/opinion/columns/article_bed4c3ac-4aec-11e1-8813-0019bb30f31a.html

A Great 1:19 Minutes from the Tennessee College Republicans: The Debt Generation

JAMES — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:34:42 +0000

Buyer’s remorse!!

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/01/whoa-must-see-tennessee-college-republicans-release-the-debt-generation-video/

Perhaps Obama Should Follow The Lead of Geithner & Clinton: Call It Quits

JAMES — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:53:59 +0000

Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner put his “resume” into the marketplace by saying that he didn’t think that President Obama would ask him to continue in his position IF the President were able to win a second term. Geithner even hinted that if asked, he was ready for a change, and would “move on”.

Then yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said that she was ready to get “off the high wire of American politics”, and would not return to her position if a second term for Obama were to become a reality.

These type of statements are not unusual in any White House administration. But, perhaps Barack Obama should take a cue from these two high profile Cabinet members, and decide that a second term just isn’t what he wants!

Just Saying!!!!

Obscure Florida Law Requires “TaxPayer Funded” Sports Stadiums to be Used as Homless Shelter

JAMES — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:01:55 +0000

Could the new Marlins ballpark or the Tampa Bay Rays‘ Tropicana Field serve as a homeless shelter for the 270 or so nights a year that they’re not used for baseball?

If two Florida lawmakers have their way, they might. As reported by the Miami Herald, state legislators have unearthed an obscure law that has not been enforced since it was adopted in 1988. It states that any ballpark or stadium that receives taxpayer money shall serve as a homeless shelter on the dates that it is not in use.

Now, a new bill would punish owners of teams who play in publicly funded stadiums if they don’t provide a haven for the homeless. Affected ballparks would include the Miami Marlins‘ new ballpark in Miami’s Little Havana, the Tampa Bay Rays’ Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg and several spring training facilities. It also includes the homes of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Miami Heat, Jacksonville Jaguars and Florida Panthers.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/florida-law-turn-ballparks-homeless-shelters-151458504.html

Starbucks “BUYcott” to Support Their Support of Gun Rights

JAMES — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:50:06 +0000

The National Gun Victims Action Council has declared a Valentine’s Day boycott of Starbucks to protest the coffee chain’s support for American gun laws. TTAG Commentator Greg in Allston has a counter-proposal (so to speak) . . .

“OK everyone, let’s have some real fun, shall we? Good! Listen up and please hear me out. The antis are planning a boycott. Let’s counter with a BUYcott. On February 13, 14 & 15, please make the effort to go to Starbucks and buy something. Don’t like their coffee? Get a tea, a cocoa, a pastry, anything. Thank the clerk for Starbucks’ support of the Constitution. And here’s the cool bit . . .

Pay with two dollar bills. Thomas Jefferson, Mr. Liberty himself. If Starbucks sees a huge influx of payment in two dollar bills, people in general, and Starbucks management in particular, are sure to notice.

Why the day before and the day after you ask? Simply to show that we have the power (financial, organizational and political) and the wherewithal to absolutely swamp anything that the antis can muster. Bomb Starbucks with 2A love and money. Three days in a row. What’s it going to cost you? Twenty bucks tops.

There’s a Starbucks a block away from where I work in Cambridge. I plan on giving them a little extra business.

Link to this post: http://wp.me/pOQae-q1Z Spread the word.”

Prebuttal to Obama’s State of the Union Address: Red Solo Cup, Let’s Have a Party

JAMES — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:09:49 +0000

The only way to get through the speech………..

TSA “Holds” Sen. Rand Paul @ Nashville Airport after He Refused Gov’t-Sanctioned Groping

JAMES — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:03:10 +0000

…… OK, Patdown…………….

Sen. Rand Paul told his communications director this morning he was being detained by TSA at the Nashville airport.

The Twitter account associated with Paul staffer Moira Bagley, @moirabagley, tweeted around 10 a.m., ET, “Just got a call from @senrandpaul. He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.”

A TSA spokesman disputed that Paul was ever “detained.” But he was not granted access to the secure area of the airport when he tried to board a flight Monday morning.

The standoff was short-lived. By late morning, according to TSA, Paul had been booked on another flight and made it through the screening process.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/rand-paul-in-pat-down-standoff-with-tsa-in-nashville/

Note: The Senator has since said that the TSA Agent “warned” him that if he attempted to “use his cellphone” they would give him the aforementioned patdown!

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Announces Her Resignation: “I Have More Work to do on My Recovery”

JAMES — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:12:26 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona announced Sunday she intends to resign from Congress this week to concentrate on recovering from wounds suffered in an assassination attempt a little more than a year ago that shook the country.

abcnews.go.com

“I don’t remember much from that horrible day, but I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice,” the Democratic lawmaker said on a video posted without prior notice on her Facebook page.

“I’m getting better. Every day my spirit is high,” she said. “I have more work to do on my recovery. So to do what’s best for Arizona, I will step down this week.”