If you are angry about the bonuses paid to AIG executives, then go away and read something else. What follows here is not for you. If you pump your fist and say "yeah!" when you hear Barney Frank, or Nancy Pelosi or Harry Ried or Barack Obama rant like whining little brats about how unfair and greedy private business is, then please just ignore this and go back to drinking your unemployment checks or smoking your welfare payments. You are beyond help. Let's pause for a moment and try to understand why anyone cares about the word "bonus" and how it relates particularly to AIG.  "Bonus" is a great word for demagogues to beat on with thier ugly sticks. When you hear the word "Bonus" it has the implication of something "extra" given to someone for performance above and beyond the call of duty. But, in the world of business, which a lot of people are not savvy to... it can mean a lot of different things. Instead of the word bonus, let's substitute the words tax payment. With AIG, it is basically the same thing. Salaries there are being met with the help of your tax money. A lot of people don't like that to begin with. I'm one of those people. But  in a practical sense what exactly is our tax money enabling AIG to do?  Our tax money is, among other things, enabling AIG to secure the insurance policies of businesses all around the country and the world, so that they can cover thier potential liabilities and function and provide services to you and me. To some degree a rather useful purpose. But, I wasn't asked if I thought AIG's crumbling finances should be propped up with the money that comes out of my paycheck. No one was asked that. So let's turn the video camera away from the smooth glass and steel tower of AIG that so often has been featured in the news media for a moment, and pan across the United States congress. Let's pan way, way back to a point where the entire floor of the House of Representatives is in view. Now let's do a split screen.  Another camera in the Senate is now panned way back to show you the entire Senate floor on the right side of your screen. And let's have a rolling tag line under the image keeps us updated on what the President is doing. There, in those two bodies of legislature and in the executive office, are the biggest, boldest, most outrageous peddlers of deciet and treachery this country has ever faced. And they have all gotten bonuses, every last one of them, from your tax money. But they don't want you to know that.  They would rather have you angry at AIG executives, because it takes your attention away from the hideous, overstuffed bonuses all those Representatives and Senators in congress have stolen from you. Earlier while talking about AIG I said, lets substitute the words "tax payment" for the word bonus.  Now, lets substitute the word "Earmark" for the word bonus. Same thing, but far, far more insidious. The executives at AIG who recieved salaried bonuses covered by tax payments had a contractual agreement to recive that specific amount of money as compensation for doing specific work.  But your state Senator, your state Representative... makes no such deal with you.  They take thier bonus money from your paycheck without restraint, without asking your permission, without the requirement of performing specific tasks in return for it, without having to explain it to you, without having to ever acknowledge that they took it. In fact sometimes we don't find out till much, much later exactly how much bonus money they took for themselves in form of earmarks, and exactly what they spent it on, because they try to hide it, bury it deep..., deep inside of innocent looking bills, like pirates burying thier stolen treasure in a deep hole on some deserted island hoping to keep it from  prying eyes. But what happened recently?  You started noticing.  You started catching these pirates stealing your money and burying it away for themselves. And that made you mad. Pirates don't like angry mobs. Angry mobs scare them because an angry mob might decide that they don't want these pirates around any more and might kick them off thier ship. So what did these pirates who stole bonuses for themselves in the form of secret earmarks do?  They formulated a plan to divert attention from thier thieving ways. They gave away your money to a legitimate business that was failing , to make themselves seem like good guys, like the mafia boss who gives a little of his ill gotten blood money back to the poor people in his neighborhood to make himself seem like a hero. And these pirates made you hate the legitimate business for using the money they gave them to save them. They played you. Obama's trying to pull off a mock triangulation routine but it's not going to work. He can't put himself above a fray that he created. He was out there the other day berating congress and saying he's just trying to fix problems he inhereted. Obama has two stage props that he uses wherever he goes. The Teleprompter and the Bush Administration. That way nothing is his fault, and he doesn't have to remember anything he wants to say. You notice how perturbed Obama gets when a press corp memeber tries to ask him a tough question? Obama is like an infant. He's a little toddler that all the adults think is cute and adorable and who fusses and wets his diaper anytime he's given the least little pressure from anyone in media. His teleprompter is his security blanket, our taxes are his pacifier, Pelosi is his mommy, Reid is his daddy, and Barney Frank is is strange cousin from Boston. I have not seen any signs of real leadership from Obama. His brain was injected with the folly of liberal hate throughout his formative years and we now have a liberal infant filled with hate for wealth and an attitude clearly... very very clearly ... in which he feels that he is a superior bieng to anyone who has personal wealth, which he currently defines as anyone netting over 250K. He is the essence of untaintable purity in his own mind and he is bent on cleansing the infection of wealthiness from our society. He believes there is integrity in the failure to achieve, purity in poverty, and that the only "good" folks are those who are forever struggling to make ends meet. But if you make it, he'll take it. If you achieve, he'll relieve you of your money. Looks like his poll numbers are slipping, so it's off to have a few laughs with Leno and tour the country like a one man stand up comedy act or the Michael Jackson of politics trying to redeem his image by standing around for press cameras in some cool shades and blowing kisses to the crowds.  This is our President? Do we really need this? Sheesh.
 

- Mike Silverman

We are not amused Mr. President, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Reid and Mr. Frank.  All the vitriol and hatered you are spewing at the AIG Corporation is not going to distract us from the fact that you have just spent this country into bankruptcy for the foreseeable future and accomplished nothing in the process. Your hypocritical ranting and raving at "executives" and bonuses is not going to make us forget about your socialist agenda to seize control of the healthcare industry, the banking industry, to force economically unsound environmental policies on businesses that will raise costs for all Americans, your rollback of laws designed to keep us safe from terrorism, and your irresponsible continuation of the banking regulations that required a percentage of loans to be granted to those who could not afford them.

I find it very disturbing that the self-annointed Conservative illuminati bloggers and media pundits in the DC beltway still find themselves reluctant to proclaim the prinicples of the ideology.  This highlights why the Republicans are crumbling as an institution.  The tremendous opportunity being wasted by those on our side who seek to criticize Conservatism as out-of-touch or a values system that doesn't belong in this day and age is heartbreaking. This is a moment in history that is crying out for unity all the way back to our founding fathers. It is important that we all stand on solid ground with an approach to reaching out by defining the prinicples of Conservatism, and bringing home the foundational values of Conservatism as a rising tide lifting all boats, wanting everyone big or small to succeed, sweeping away the debris of red tape and government tax burdens to open opportunites as wide as they can be. A leader motivates people with grand vision, not policy wonking. Look at Obama, he sold a fantasy to a public that was ready to buy into anything that would change What they felt was wrong with the Bush administration. It was a phony pledge of cutting waste and restoring consumer confidence, ending war and making peace with world leaders who want to destroy us. It was all a ruse, just like his phony economic summit and phony healthcare summit where he asks people to form groups and come up with answers to all of our problems in a few hours. Absolute garbage and nonsense, a sideshow designed to make it seem like he's being bi-partisan or non-partisan. Conservatism is a real philosphy with principles that work. Conservatism is not a complicated philosophy, it's a common sense approach to life that people more often than not follow without even realizing it. There's a golden moment here, when the heralds of Conservative values should all be standing up to enjoin a common cause, to restore the real vision of this country, the freedom from which everything great that we have attained as a nation has arisen. To restore the reverence the Constitution deserves as the document that has so far kept us from falling into the tar pits of socialism and communism. To put the real history of our country back into its proper perspective. At this pivotal moment we can't afford to have petty bruised egos in the punditry of elitist Conservative circles trying to undercut the push to salvage the American way of life.
 
 I think what the liberals fear most about talking about thier goals of a socialized American society, is that they KNOW liberal ideas can not withstand being debated. Liberalism falls flat on its face when it has to be defended in logical rational context. When exposed, liberalism makes no sense at all, and in fact is clearly antithetical to freedom. The liberals know that Obama's agenda is pure socialism and can only succeed without debate. I work in customer service at a major international company that is currently in the process of laying off about 2400 people worldwide. People who I know and have worked with have been cut, fortunately no one in my immediate group, but it certainly puts focus on the fact that a slowdown in the economy effects everyone, even big coporations that are in the black financially such as the one I work for have had to make some cutbacks due to a depressed market, cutbacks that effect people's livelihood. All the spending bills being crafted and passed in DC are not going to drive people to increase personal consumption. Most people know this about thier own situations. And that's why there's is palpable disgust with the exorbitant spending coming out of DC. It not only will do nothing to restore the consumer base of the country's business, but it also drives down the markets that invest in  businesses because of the uncertainty that comes from the government artifically propping up failing consumer industries. Putting pressure on big companies by raising taxes on them is putting people OUT OF WORK. The evidence is everywhere.    Everything that is great about our culture and society arises from one single overarching ideal, freedom.  Socialism and facism, both of which are in the process of happening, is pure poison to freedom. Our founders gave us an incredible document for structuring our government so that it does not become a debacle like the socialized European nations who are collapsing under thier own failing systems. We need to turn the country's vision, heart, and soul back to understanding why we have progressed as far as we have. And why this agenda of destructive government intrusion is exactly the opposite vision that our founders had for this country.

 - Mike Silverman

Barney Frank was grilling CEO's yesterday at the congressional class warfare barbecue. Hearing his tax-fattened jowls mumble and babble about what he thinks top executive pay in private companies should be was sickening. Listening to Barney Frank talk is like listening to cow flatulence. Al Gore should be putting cork in frank's mouth to keep him from contributing to global warming. I swear that gas bag could power a fleet of dirigibles on a world wide journey with one exhale of his breath while he berates CEO's for taking bonuses. That fool is working hard to get people to forget his role in the Freddie Mac / Fannie Mae debacle by pretending to be a hero as he plays class warfare games. How we can be so ignorant in my home state as to re-elect that blathering  boob to office over and over is beyond my comprehension. Barney Frank needs to buy a bra for his mouth, because he is definitely an over exposed boob.

Let's briefly look at just a few examples of Liberals in thier role of dissent, protest, and expression of "free speech". In 1989 the world was exposed to "Art" in the form of a plastic crucifix submerged in urine. It was titled  **** Christ. ( the asterisks are a word beginning with the letter P and ending in ISS)  Supporters claimed it to be an issue of free speech and thus the artist's right to express his opinion. In another infamous example, The Berkeley California City Council voted to send a message to the Marines that they're not welcome in the city. It also voted to give Code Pink its own parking spot outside the Marine recruiting center, which allows a group member to protest during the center's office hours. Code Pink founder Jodie Evans said ""We're trying to end the war, and military recruiting is a way that continues war. One of the pillars of war are soldiers that fight it.". Clearly an attack on the men and women risking thier lives to protect our country, but... of course... that's lauded as free speech. Whenever Liberals protest, mock, denigrate, ridicule, with ad hominem attacks, or at times violent attacks, the symbols or monuments or institutions of our country that define conservative values , millions of liberal media types rush to thier defense. The ACLU leaps out of the bushes with thier tails wagging ready to help them, and anyone who criticizes thier protests as wrong headed is labeled as intolerant and phobic. And now we get to Rush Limbaugh, a Conservative political analyst who with rational context, relevancy, and intellectual honesty declared that he hopes Obama fails. Fails in his goals of redistribution of wealth and government central planning. Fails in his plans to weaken the defense of the country by doing things to embolden our enemies such as shutting down Guantanamo bay detention center and granting Iraqi and other middle eastern tyrants propaganda opportunities with unconditional face to face talks. For expressing his opinion, intellectually supported and mild by far in comparison to the riotous over-emotional approach of the left in thier methods of protest and dissent, he is now the focus of attack by liberal militants in the Democrat party ( The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ) who can not bear to have any of thier political icons or deities critiqued, especially not thier dubious leader Barack Hussein Obama. Rush Limbaugh has what none, not one..., of the Liberal media dogs and left wing kook groups has, the ability to coherently and rationally defend his views.  And he has the courage to speak his mind without fearing what a tidal wave of liberal critics will undoubtedly say and do as a result. The Republicans in DC could learn something by observing how Rush Limbaugh vigorously defends the institutions that made this country great, fearlessly denouncing the intellectually vacant arguments of all the liberal architects of socialism who are given credence in the news and entertainment media and pop culture. One might assume , that since the Democrat party won the Presidential election, and holds majorities on both houses of congress, that they wouldn't be so concerned what one .... ONE.... political commentator says on his radio talk show.  Beyond being an outrageous attack on Mr. Limbaugh, this is interesting for what it says about the insecurity of the Democrats. If Obama's own party believes he is not strong enough to survive some critique on a talk show, we need to be very worried about how he will respond in the face of a national emergency,... and maybe this just proves that Rush Limbaugh's criticism of Obama is exactly right.
 
- Mike Silverman

Here is my review of Obama's Inauguration speech.  THUD!  That's all.   Instead of giving a speech he could have stood up there, and said "pardon me..." pulled out a handkerchief and blown his nose, then walked away... and it would have been equally as relevent as the speech he made. As for reverend Lowry's so-called Benediction, sounds like he studied at the feet of Pastor Wright, closing his "prayer" with an inappropriate silly and insulting rhyme. I suspect the massive crowds were supremely disappointed all the way through this debacle.

- Mike Silverman

 - Mike Silverman,

We need someone with GUTS to be the Republican party's Conservative leader. That is what is so infuriating, so frustrating, so deep down disturbing about the Party at this point. Look, we can see liberals all the time boldly standing up for the things they believe, regardless of how illogical they are..., but where is the boldness among Republicans? Where is that energy and drive and absolute commitment to purpose in a Conservative leader among Republicans? The liberal Democrats have the GUTS to do and say what they want. The Republicans lack GUTS, they lack COURAGE. Compared to the Democrats they're a bunch of flitting ballerinas tiptoeing and pirouetting around every controversial issue. And they're not even good at that. They're uncoordinated disjointed ballerinas. Maybe I'm just getting tired. Maybe it's just a fantasy and I'm being foolish to believe our country can produce another great thinker like Jefferson or Adams who knows what it takes to be an inspirational ideological leader among men. It seems like we throw opportunities away when they come to us. I was inspired about the possibility of a Palin VP possibly becoming a Palin presidency, but maybe..., maybe it was doomed to fail regardless. The longer we let liberalism seep into the fabric of our culture the harder it's going to be to find the Conservative who will take it all on and prove that our country's government can be restored to it's proper place and role as our founders intended.

We seem to have lost some former Conservative advocates like Gingrich, who want to take a moderate approach now... not be critical of Obama... etc..., and I think we should not try to pull them back in thier current state... because if they will throw away standing firm for Conservatism for the sake of appearing malleable and polite and gently concerned... basically be the New Tone Republicans ..., then we can't trust thier approach or thier dedication to Conservative ideology. We need someone with the GUTS to be a Conservative leader in political office. It's become plain that Conservatism is on par with the stance the Whigs of the Revolutionary War took against the Loyalists... a bunch of colonists who didn't want to upset the status, who felt that things would be better under the Monarchy. The colonial era Loyalists are like the Moderates of the Republican party today. This is a Revolutionary War of sorts, but instead of military battles we are fighting decay and rot within the Party leadership. Just like it took a General Washington to keep the fight going, to never give it up even under the harshest conditions, we need someone with that same grit to carry the Conservative banner high and be proud to do so. Conservatives... genuine Conservatives should be proud to defend the things we believe. We should be energized and motivated to bring the positive values of freedom and life to the table and have no fear of declaring those ideals openly and with strength. We can't fight a battle like this from a position of cowardice and soft tones. We can't rally people by expressing moderate views.