Frank Salvato

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Obama, Acorn & Their Starring Role in the Mortgage Crisis

October 16, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

Barack Obama, congressional Democrats and Progressive-Left operatives – with the help of the mainstream media – have done a great job of spinning culpability for the mortgage crisis onto the Bush Administration, congressional Republicans and, in particular, John McCain. This is a notable moment in the history of political spin because as the facts present, Democrats and Progressive-Leftists – not Republicans –are the ones directly responsible for the current financial crisis in which our country is embroiled. At the center of this culpability are Barack Obama and ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

In order to understand how Barack Obama and ACORN are directly to blame for the mortgage meltdown, we first have to understand what ACORN is and how Barack Obama was affiliated with them…and make no mistake; Barack Obama was most definitely affiliated with ACORN.

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Who Did You Know, Sen. Obama, and When Did You Know Them?

October 11, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

There has been much talk, both pro and con, about whether Sen. Barack Obama’s “associations” matter with regard to his qualifications to hold the office of President of the United States. This argument, this avenue of political discourse, misses the point. Whether or not Sen. Obama has associations with criminals, terrorists and other nefarious and infamous individuals pales in comparison as to whether he has been influenced by them.

We have heard the names of the people on the list of radicals and ne’er-do-wells that Barack Obama says he knows but doesn’t know; has worked with but hasn’t worked with; has taken money from but hasn’t taken money from. They include but are not limited to:

Williams Ayers, Saul Alinsky, Don Warden (aka Dr. Khalid Al-Mansour), Frank Marshall Davis, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Fr. Michael Pfleger, Rashid Khalidi, Tony Rezko, Franklin Raines, James Johnson, Nadhmi Auchi, Joseph Aramanda, Louis Farrahkan, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Kevin Wardally.

While it is legitimate to question whether it demonstrates good judgment to associate with such decidedly radical ideologues, it is more important to understand whether or not Sen. Obama has been influenced – at any point in his life – by any of these people.
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The Reid-McConnell Bailout Bribe

October 7, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

Let me see if I have this right. We the People express our overwhelming disdain for a government manufactured, taxpayer-funded bailout of semi-coerced greed merchants on Wall Street and the Senate’s answer is to leave the offending legislation intact and entice weak politicians into voting for the package by adding sweetheart tax legislation to it. Can this possibly – in the most incredible of circumstances – be correct?

Just as I finished setting up my new television I found myself clearing away the debris and dust from a bazooka shot that destroyed it. You see, I felt the destruction needed to be that much more definitive as the cause for the need to do so was that much more offensive.

It is one thing to watch a political charlatan like Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) lie through his teeth about his role in constructing the financial catastrophe in which we are now mired; that warrants an “Elvis Episode.” But when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and – incredulously – Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stand before the nation, on national television, and congratulate themselves for: a) working together in a bi-partisan manner, and b) working in a bi-partisan manner to achieve something an overwhelming majority of their bosses (the electorate) oppose, well, that calls for a response ala Gen. George S. Patton; therefore the bazooka.
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Give Us Our Money Back. We’ll Fix It!

October 5, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

The ultimate example of opportunistic politics before good government was displayed in Washington over the past several days. Political operatives from both sides of the aisle did everything in their power to create a government-based solution to the financial crisis facing our country; a government-created problem. In the end the US House of Representatives voted down the highly contentious Wall Street bailout bill mostly due to the fact that we are within the 30-day window when voters do not forget actions taken by their elected officials. If only the public’s attention were always so focused.

In the end 90 House Democrats joined with 133 House Republicans in an effort to stop a measure that would have seen the biggest expansion of government in US history. In effect, it would have placed the coyote in charge of the hen house.

Many in our citizenry viewed the now-dead proposal as a “no fault” measure that would have allowed those responsible for this financial malfeasance to escape culpability and with good reason. Watching US Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and US Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) – along with their leadership, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senior Senator from New York, Charles Schumer – harangue about how Democrats were taking the lead in crafting “bi-partisan” legislation to “rescue” the average American from the evils of Wall Street was the ultimate exercise in political hypocrisy .

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Let’s Blame Barney Frank, Chris Dodd & Bill Clinton

October 1, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Frank Salvato

Now I know how Elvis Presley felt when he shot his television! Watching Barney Frank (D-MA) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) pontificate about how they are going to save the country in it’s time of financial crisis made me nauseous. How is it that these two charlatans can fain concern when they are among the principles responsible for getting the taxpayers into this mess?

By now even the most intellectually stunted among us understands that the first casualty of politics is honesty. No matter how superficial or how serious the matter, inside the beltway spin doctors take the facts, carve out anything that points to their client’s guilt or responsibility in any given matter and then figure out how to package it so they can level a charge of irresponsibility and ineptness at their opponents or opposing colleagues. Kool-Aid drinking political sycophants glom on to these talking points and suddenly the innocent are the guilty and the inept and responsible are pointing fingers of blame.
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McCain or Obama? How About This Referendum…

September 22, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

To say the least, there is quite an ideological and political gulf between John McCain and Barack Obama. So too, is there a great deal of difference between their running mates, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. On just about every issue examined during this interminably long presidential election cycle the two tickets stand miles apart. From taxes to the struggle with radical Islam, energy independence to American sovereignty, McCain and Obama, Palin and Biden, stand diametrically opposed in their approaches to the issues. But one subject seems to be championed by both sides and by all the players, honesty.

To be certain, honesty, truthfulness, is a precious commodity in American politics. From the very days of our country’s creation many of those questing for political power have walked the fine line of fact and fiction in an effort to paint themselves in a better light than their opponents. With the advent of the professional “spin doctor” the line between fact and fiction blurred to an almost illegible point. Today, the process has become somewhat more simplistic, less refined and artful, almost crude in that Washington politicians have taken to simply calling each other “liars.”

Both John McCain and Barack Obama have taken issue with each other’s campaign ads, calling into question the validity of statements, requesting apologies and retaliating in kind. Statistics get cherry-picked and legislative attributions get skewed. Obama surrogate Jimmy Carter – father of the West’s modern day conflict with radical Islam – even went as far as to say that John McCain was unfairly playing up his stay at the luxurious Hanoi Hilton. And where McCain’s responses to Obama’s less than fully-truthful allegations may begin with his trademark salutation “my friends,” Obama’s mouthpieces respond to any less-than-thoroughly-accurate contention with a good amount of indignance, arrogance and caustic vitriol. Obama’s surrogates are even worse.
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Palin and the Power of Real American Women

September 8, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

It is the consensus among conservative new media pundits – and the Conservative mainstream for that matter – that the speech Governor Sarah Palin gave in accepting the Republican Party’s vice presidential nomination effectively put the Progressive-Left and the Democrat Party on notice. The double-standard hypocrisy demonstrated by the Leftist mainstream media on behalf of Barack Obama’s campaign will not stand. If the cowards of the Progressive-Left want a fight, they’ve got one…and it’s with someone who plays hockey. Oops!

I was raised by a good mother, no, a great mother. She instilled in me the critical thinking skills needed to divine right from wrong, good from evil. She also provided me with an appreciation for compassion so that I might understand when to “give someone a fish” and when to “teach someone how to fish.” My mother didn’t abandon me to the education system, in fact, I knew how to read and do simple mathematics before I was enrolled in kindergarten. She took seriously her obligation to explain world events to me just as she understood that at times it was more important to play, to enjoy life, than to allow time to pass without amassing memories to hold for my lifetime. She knew who my friends were, who their parents were, where we were and what we were doing. She was a responsible parent and to this day she remains a dear and close friend.

I mention all this because I grew up in a household where the mother was civically engaged. She was active in the school organizations throughout my academic career and that of my sister. She then moved into village politics and eventually ended a long and distinguished career as a senior staffer to the Illinois Senate President back when Republicans controlled both houses of the legislature and the governor’s mansion. During her political career she served as the Executive Director of the Republican Party for our county; the second most effective Republican county in the United States at the time. While serving in this position it wasn’t uncommon for her to put in twelve or sixteen hour days, coordinating, pacifying politicians, handling the media, you name it, this “jack-of-all-trades” not only did it, she did it well; better than anyone who has come since, to be sure.

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The Artificially Inflated Self-Esteem of Barack Obama

August 26, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

As we wind our way ever further down the agonizingly long road to the 2008 presidential elections one thing has become glaringly clear: Barack Obama has a pretty healthy ego. It goes without saying that most people who become politicians have a penchant for self-aggrandizing. It does take a certain amount of self-confidence to engage in the American political process and that process requires one to effectively market oneself. But there is a considerable difference between self-confidence and narcissism. Barack Obama has crossed that line.

It was during his “fact-finding trip” to the Middle East and Europe that all doubt was removed with regard to whether Obama was confident or egocentric. The first red flag — and admittedly, this could have been the doing of his handlers but as they say, the buck stops… — was that even though he went to great pains to indicate that he was traveling overseas as part of a “Senatorial fact-finding mission” he traveled with campaign signs, signs that appeared in Israel as well as in Germany.

The first question that entered my mind was, why would someone engaged in a governmental fact-finding mission, as part of a group of elected officials — presidential candidate or not — have the audacity to even think about campaigning overseas…to foreign nationals…who cannot vote in an American presidential election?

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Ignoring ‘The Perfect Storm’ at Our Own Peril

August 19, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

The mainstream media and the presumptive nominee from the Democrat Party have done a pretty good job of steering the electorate’s attention to issues of a domestic nature. It wasn’t hard to do. With gasoline prices hovering around four dollars a gallon, combined with the self-induced but limited financial crisis created by proprietary lenders and a healthcare system that’s being raped by grifting lawyers and robber-baron insurance companies, it is easy to understand why voters would fall prey to diversionary tactics of the political power seekers. But we do so at the expense of the well being of our nation. We do so ignoring “the perfect storm.”

French Nobel prize winner and reformed communist Andre Gide once said, “The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity.” We in the United States, especially those who are politically aware, can identify with this phrase because our political parties have taken to questing for political power rather than the execution of good government. While there are some elected officials who sincerely strive to serve our nation and its people, the great majority of those who inhabit the halls of government – whether at the local, state or national levels – do so to move their political agendas forward and to institute their party’s special interests. In doing so they abdicate the duty of their positions in that they are not representing the will of their constituents.
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Moqtada al Sadr’s Penchant for ‘Community Organizing’

August 15, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

Radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al Sadr is planning to disarm his Mahdi Army and oversee its transformation from Islamist fighting force into a civic and social service organization. Al Sadr wants us to believe that this cadre of anti-American jihadists is going to voluntarily lay down their weapons and all become “community organizers.” The truth is that al Sadr has been an attentive student, having studied the transformations of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza from violent jihadi organizations into armed factions validated by the electoral and political processes.

It has become clear to the wide array of jihadis fighting against US and Coalition forces in Iraq that they cannot win militarily. The superiorly trained and equipped militaries of the West – the US leading the way – are simply too potent to engage on the battlefield. Even in the streets of Anbar Province, where jihadis employ terrorist hit-and-run, urban guerilla tactics, the dark hearts of the jihadi taskmasters have come to understand that Allah will not have his bloodlust satisfied through direct and/or indirect military confrontation with the West.

So, Moqtada al Sadr, understanding the limitations of his military abilities in his stand-off with the West, has chosen to take one step backward to take two steps forward. He is yielding on the military battlefield in deference to engaging on the socio-political battlefield. This is not a unique approach to circumventing the advancement of liberty by those who strive to oppress.

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Hey, Barack, Hillary Only Suspended Her Campaign

August 6, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

In the turbulent wake left by Barack Obama’s world tour – his campaign to be loved by all, less a significant percentage of the American people – it seems something has slipped the minds of David Axelrod and David Plouffe; Hillary Clinton didn’t quit her campaign, she suspended it. This becomes increasingly significant as more Americans – more Democrats, Progressive-Leftists and especially Democrat superdelegates – realize that Barack Obama is less about substance and more about marketing; more about “flash.”

In light of the shameful snubbing Barack Obama inflicted upon the wounded US military personnel at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, it is painfully clear that he is not the candidate of “change.” If anything he is this election cycle’s version of the status quo; a hybrid of inflated rhetoric and Madison Avenue glitz. He offers hollow bumper-sticker catchphrase solutions (“yes we can,” “hope,” and “change”) to political, social and ideological problems he is ill-equipped to address professionally. This is the typical trade-craft of a political operative possessing an extremely limited political resume.

Those not blinded by the “bright, shiny thing” – the distractions of the hollow rhetoric and media marketing – understand that Obama is a political creation of the Chicago Democrat Machine; the Chicago Daley Machine. He is a slickly choreographed media tool meant to reinvent the image of the Democrat Party for the 21st Century. The first clue to this reality is the fact that his main campaign handler (some would say “puppet master”) is David Axelrod, a longtime strategist for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who fancies himself a “strategist in urban politics.” More recently, proof of the Chicago connection can be seen in the fact that the DNC moved a major portion of its operations to Chicago.

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Lecturing Europe While Accepting the Social Structure of Brutality

July 31, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

New York Times columnist David Brooks recently wrote, “The reason we have a democracy is that no one side is right all the time. The only people who are dangerous are those who can’t admit, even to themselves, that obvious fact.” Aside from the glaring error in his declaration that we live in a democracy (the United States is actually a Democratic Republic, not a democracy) his assertion is spot on. In light of the logic in Mr. Brook’s statement, it would seem that the woman slated to be Barack Obama’s “Muslim liaison” is dangerous, especially to women.

While Barack Obama was lecturing tens of thousands of Germans during his “fact-finding tour” – interesting that he declared he was going to the Middle East and Europe to “listen” and ends up pontificating – his campaign created the position of “Muslim Liaison;” a position meant to serve as a conduit between his campaign and the Muslim community. Presumably, this position was created because his campaign realized that their Islamophobia (he has yet to address a Muslim forum or talk at a Mosque) was incredibly hypocritical and served to disenfranchise and discriminate against the American-Muslim community.

The likely candidate for this position is Hiam Nawas, a Jordanian-American who served in a similar capacity for the ill-fated 2004 presidential campaign of aspiring politician Wesley Clark (interestingly, for someone who served in a recent presidential campaign the Internet is stunningly devoid of any substantial biographical information on Ms. Nawas).
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It’s Official…James Baker Has Lost His Mind

July 17, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

Anyone familiar with the threat posed by the advancing American Fifth Column understands all too clearly that our Constitution is under attack. Whether it is the insistence that the Constitution is a living document meant to conform to the will of the times or the institution of political correctness – a shadow set of laws effectively usurping the laws of our Constitutional Republic – the American Fifth Column is slowly, incrementally, systematically, chipping away at the wisdom as set forth by our Founders and Framers. With news that a non-governmentally charged commission is introducing a measure that would impose “group think” on the Commander-in-Chief, it is evidenced that the American Fifth Column is on the march.

Recently, a story surfaced regarding the War Powers Resolution of 1973.

The resolution states:

“… the President of The United States of America can send troops into action abroad only by authorization of Congress or if the United States of America is already under attack or serious threat. The War Powers Act requires that the president notify Congress within 48 hours of committing troops to military action and forbids troops from remaining for more than 60 days without an authorization of force or a declaration of war.”

This is already a stretch on the authority placed in the Executive Branch by our Framers. Article II, Section 2 of the United State Constitution states:
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Once Again, It’s About Associations and Judgment

July 13, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

There has been much ado about Barack Obama’s associations and the judgment used in maintaining and entering into those associations. Obama’s associations with Jeremiah Wright, Williams Ayers, Frank Marshall Davis, the Progressive-Left activist group ACORN and his ideological association with Saul Alinsky are all perfect examples of his judgment, his willingness to associate with radical and troubled individuals and organizations. Is it fair to judge Barack Obama by his associations and the judgment used in acquiring and maintaining those associations? Sorry Mr. Colmes, all is fair in love and war…and politics.

Many of us have a friend or acquaintance that may possess a questionable background. Such is life. Many of us like to believe that, with our help, these individuals can straighten out their lives, or “see the light,” setting themselves on a path of health, prosperity and productivity. It is noble to want to help those in need or those whose full potential has not been recognized. It’s what Americans do. But we Americans expect more from our leaders. We do so because we want to believe in them, in their judgment. We want them to have vision and foresight, judgment that proves to us that they possess the ability to stay above the fray. This is exactly the problem that Barack Obama is having with the electorate. His judgment hasn’t allowed him to “stay above the fray.” In fact, by his own refusal to readily explain and disassociate himself with the less than savory characters and organizations noted above, he chooses to remain “in the fray.” Not a good place to be for someone who wants to be the leader of the free world.
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How Many Rights Are Democrats Willing to Forfeit?

June 9, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

With the announcement that Hillary Clinton is abandoning her quest for the Oval Office the Democrat National Committee (DNC) – and specifically the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee – has effectively selected the candidate for their party. I say selected because, by construct, the decision making process was taken away from the party faithful and placed in the hands of an elitist class of party insiders. These party insiders – superdelegates and the DNC Executive Committee – have literally usurped the will of the people by marginalizing the popular vote in deference to manipulated vote worth and their own self-importance.

The right to vote – the right to have our votes count – is the fundamental bedrock of our Constitutional Republic. It is through this fundamental right, this Constitutional Right, that We the People affect our control over government. Through our ballot choices we select delegates to the Electoral College who represent our amassed votes. These delegates, in turn, vote for the President of the United States. This process serves as a safeguard against mob rule and the bad choices to which emotionalism can lead. The Framers were brilliant in this respect.

Party politics is a bit different, although it has been based on this model in the past.

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Loyalty to Self Over Country

June 2, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

Like it or not, the reality is that we live in an extremely self-centered society. If you take issue with this statement just watch how pedestrians enter into crosswalks during rush hour. Ignoring that pedestrians only have the right of way when they are within the crosswalk, today’s bipeds don’t hesitate at all to walk directly in front of moving vehicles, expecting to be protected from trauma by their imagined “right” to occupy a space versus a 4,000lbs vehicle. While this example illustrates how being self-centered – or arrogant…or vacuous – can cause personal harm, these same character flaws can cause harm to the country.

It could be argued that the arrogance prevalent in today’s American culture is a direct by-product of our entitlement society; a society that manufactures high self-esteem and then bestows it on people who have done nothing to deserve it. Logic mandates that when a person believes that he is the “end all be all” it isn’t that far of a stretch for that person to develop a belief that he is owed the good things of life; to expect things rather than to work toward earning them. This can lead to a culture populated entirely with “chiefs” with nary an “Indian” to be found. A society – or an organization, government, team, etc. – cannot function when everyone expects to be the boss.

This prevailing character flaw is effecting more than the individual. Its collective societal impart is corroding the fiber of our nation and doing so in every walk of life.

In education we are seeing teachers, administrators and union infiltrators narcissistically injecting their special interest topics into class curriculum and beyond. Where in eras past the onus of education was on the mastery of the tools that contribute to the gathering of information, its discernment and the development of critical thinking skills, today there is more emphasis placed on sex education than reading and on diversity than the accurate teaching of American history.

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Government of the People or By the Faction?

May 13, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

Now comes news that George McGovern has called for Hillary Clinton to withdraw from the Democrat’s primary race. Pardon me for my raised eyebrow but how much of a fool would someone have to be to take campaign advice from the man who got slaughtered by Richard Nixon? Losing an election by a landslide really shouldn’t qualify someone to dispense political advice unless it’s how to deliver a concession speech without looking bitter.

The facts, as they present, make it abundantly clear to anyone not blinded by political emotionalism, anyone not hoodwinked by the bumper-sticker gotcha games of this election cycle, that the Democrat’s primary race is simply too close to call. Those backing Barack Obama who insist that Hillary Clinton can’t win are factually in error. With the existence of “superdelegates” and two disenfranchised state electorates the wildcards are in place. In fact, there are several scenarios that could play out that would see Hillary Clinton as the Democrats’ nominee. Whether any of them will play out remains to be seen but stranger things have happened.

The larger point here is this. To insist that a candidate – any candidate from any party – remove themselves from political contention when the contest is too close to decidedly understand the winner, when neither candidate can amass an insurmountable number of committed elected delegates, is to usurp the election process. Unless the Democrats want to go down in the history books as having been a dictatorially elitist political regime in the 2008 election cycle they must allow the convention and the convention process play out, a scenario that the DNC leadership is scurrying to avoid at all costs.

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Ceasefires in Islam: Not Always What They Seem to Be

May 8, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

It seems as though every other day we hear there is another “ceasefire” in the Middle East. This is chiefly because there is so much violent Islamofascist aggression throughout the Middle East but it is also because of something more. Just as there is no exact translation between the Arabic and English languages, we in the West would be wise to realize that this “inexactness” exists as a constant in the relationship between the cultures of Islam and Western Civilization. This convolution of conceptual understanding is aptly illustrated where the subject of military ceasefires is concerned.

In the West, a < href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceasefire">ceasefire is commonly understood to mean a temporary cessation of violence or hostilities for an agreed time period or within a defined geographical area. In many cases, ceasefires have been instituted to facilitate negotiations that produced an armistice, peace treaty or unconditional surrender. Regardless of the goal – achieved or sought – in most every ceasefire agreement the terms and conditions are clearly defined so that each side has a clear understanding of what is required and what is to be considered a breach of contract, as it were.

To say that we in the West are engaged in a clash of civilizations with the fundamentalist Islamic culture would be a fair statement. Hundreds if not thousands of radical jihadist groups are mounting a violent global offensive against Western Civilization in a third attempt at establishing a global Caliphate. This contention is validated by history and we need only be good students of events passed to understand it.
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Barack Obama: It’s More About His Choices

April 28, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

Many of the more conservative talking heads – and even some on the Left side of the aisle who support Hillary Clinton – are espousing their concern about Barack Obama’s “associations.” They point to Obama’s spiritual advisor, Jeremiah Write, and note his “friendly” relationship with unrepentant domestic terrorists William Ayers and his partner Bernadine Dorhn and wax alarmingly about his willingness to associate with such people. Certainly, Wright, Ayers and Dorhn are interesting if not contemptible people but a person’s associations concern me less than a person’s choice to defend those associations.

The moment the Jeremiah Wright issue was brought into the public eye the taboo of aggressively examining the background of the first Black man with a real chance to capture the presidency was lifted. Begrudgingly, the star-struck mainstream media – so in awe of Barack Obama’s “rockstar” political presentation – has begun, ever so apathetically, to cover the issues of his candidacy that the new media has exposed.

When the racism and bigotry of Obama’s spiritual leader, Jeremiah Wright, was first exposed in February of 2007 by The New Media Journal’s Erik Rush in a column titled Obamination, all those critical thundered that Obama had to denounce not only Wright’s statements, but the church and the man himself. What Obama responded with was a denunciation of the statements and a redirection. He chose to redirect the conversation to one about race in America. Obama made a conscious decision – a choice – to tacitly defend his pastor of 20 years even though it was plain to the world that Wright was a bigot, a racist and a socio-political opportunist.

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Change Doesn’t Come by Electing a President

April 21, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

We have heard during this presidential election cycle – ad naseum – how our country is in dire need of “change.” We are promised by each of the candidates that they are the ones – the only ones – who can bring about this much needed change. Of course, this is all disingenuous politicking. The fact of the matter is this: the office of the presidency is quite limited in its power to affect any change at all. The real entity capable of affecting immediate and dramatic change in government, the governmental branch with the real power, is the Legislative Branch.

When we examine the Charters of Freedom – and specifically the US Constitution – it is clear that the Executive Branch is charged with executing the laws of the land created by the Legislative Branch (with the consent of the Executive Branch via the signature of the President) and that the Legislative Branch is charged with crafting legislation; charged with debating, weighing and then enacting legislation that would become the law of the land. The Framers even established a mechanism where the Legislative Branch might “override” a presidential veto should the Executive Branch oppose legislation brought forth by an enlarged majority of Congress.

This factuality accepted, it is next to impossible, but for the bully pulpit afforded the stature of the presidency, for the President of the United States to be an effective “change agent.” While he (or she) can certainly execute executive orders and signing statements, the fact remains, it is Congress that holds the power to legislate and fund laws and government programs. Therefore, simple logic mandates that for all the tall rhetoric of “change” coming from the presidential candidates – especially the Democrats – their promises will, for the most part, ring hollow. In order to bring about real change in government, one must “change” the Legislative Branch. In this truth the American people are in luck.
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Swinging Like Monkeys from the Branches of the Liberty Tree

April 17, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

Recently, in a Chicago suburb, a village trustee was issued a citation for disorderly conduct when she informed two less than discerning parents that the trees of the village were to be respected as elements of nature, not utilized like playground equipment. The citation was issued after the parents mistook verbiage used as that of being racist. It should be disturbing to all of us that a citation was issued because of words used in a non-aggressive fashion. Even more disturbing is that our society is willing to disregard free speech rights in pursuit of political correctness.

On seeing two children climbing in a less than mature magnolia tree – and upon witnessing the damage they were causing to the tree – Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, the village trustee in question, asked the parents, who were supervising the children, to remove them from the tree. She cited safety concerns and the fact that they were damaging the tree. This resulted in the parents effectively telling Ms. Ramirez-Sliwinski to trumpet her opinion out of her rectum. It was at this point that the “offensive verbiage” was uttered.

Upon the parents’ suggestion that Ramirez-Sliwinski explore the possibility of turning her opinion into a suppository, Ramirez-Sliwinski said,

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Women in Islam: Suffering the Barbary of an Ideology

April 7, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

News spread quickly that anti-Islamofascism activist Dr. Wafa Sultan has gone into hiding, along with her family. They are in hiding because of her participation in a recent debate on Al-Jazeera in which she challenged Egyptian Islamist Talat Rheim over Dutch cartoons of Mohammed and the ideology of Islam in general. For her truthful criticisms of Islam Dr. Sultan earned a fatwa, a “religiously” decried death sentence, from an Islamic scholar. That she criticizes Islam is enough justification in the eyes of the radical Islamist to kill her. That she is a woman infuses into the fatwa an unbridled viciousness and a need for expediency.

In the al-Jazeera interview, Dr. Sultan proclaimed:

“…any belief that chops off the heads of its critics is doomed to turn into terrorism and tyranny. This has been the condition of Islam, from its inception to this day. Islam has sentenced [its critics] to prison, and whoever crosses the threshold of that prison meets his death… If you want to change the course of events, you must re-examine your terrorist teachings, you must recognize and respect the right of the other to live, you must teach your children love, peace, coexistence and productive work. When you do that, the world will respect you…”

Not long after Dr. Sultan’s remarks, Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of Islam’s most respected scholars, presented his religious edict and denounced Dr. Sultan, calling for her death. Qaradawi, it should be noted, has also declared the killing of American soldiers in Iraq and suicide bombings against Israel as a religious obligation for all Muslims. Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy, describes Qaradawi as, “one of the world’s pre-eminent Islamofascists.”

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The Insolent Arrogance of the Progressive-Left

April 2, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Frank Salvato

A recent event in Chicago illustrates the arrogance and narcissism of the Progressive-Left – and in particular the anti-war Progressive-Left. During Easter services at Holy Name Cathedral Catholic Church in Chicago, six anti-war protesters staged a political demonstration disrupting religious services. They shouted generic anti-war slogans and squirted fake blood on themselves and the parishioners in attendance. Their goal was to attract attention to themselves and – therefore – their cause. It worked.

The group of three men and three women, who call themselves Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War (interesting self-commentary on the three “men” involved), issued a statement saying they purposely targeted Holy Name Cathedral – specifically on Easter – to reach a large audience, including the press, which usually covers the services.

A representative of the International Solidarity Movement told the Chicago Tribune that he attended the protest to serve as a witness for the Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War.

Chicago Police removed the protesters and charged them with one count of felony criminal damage to property and two counts each of misdemeanor simple battery.

Where to begin…
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Barack Obama’s Word Games

March 4, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

Much is being made of Barack Obama’s oratory skills. True, he is quite good when it comes to captivating a crowd of sycophants and this includes the lemmings in the mainstream media. But if words matter, as Obama (and surreptitiously Duval Patrick) claims they do, then we must acknowledge that in this case words do make the man, in this case Mr. Obama must be judged in his words and in the deeds that back-up those words.

Ironically, I agree with Mr. Obama when he says that words matter. One of the harshest criticisms I have had of the Bush Administration is that communication between the presidency and the American people has been, at best, horrible. While I can lay much of the blame on a hateful mainstream media who wouldn’t cover the White House if it was on fire, a gaggle of journalistic abortions hell-bent on achieving an anti-Bush/anti-Republican agenda, so too blame must be laid at the feet of an administration that failed to use all the tools available to the bully pulpit to get its message across.

Words do matter. In a society that has grown so delinquent in teaching its populace critical thinking skills, words — and the choice of words — have become the upper-tier chess pieces in the tactical game of attaining and holding on to power. Of course, this is nothing new.

Great people through time have understood the importance of words, their meaning and their successful communication. Cicero, Aristotle, Plato, John Locke and Thomas Hobbes certainly knew the importance of words. Through their philosophy the seeds of our uniquely American ideology were planted. Those who understood the importance of their message, their words — Franklin, Adams, Jefferson and Madison — were able to manifest the American experience, to motivate a people to the quest of freedom and liberty. These great men — our Founders and Framers — also had a penchant for words as is evidenced by the Charters of Freedom, which stand alone in their ideology of liberty.

But just as there were great people who used words to move humanity to good, so too were their very evil, narcissistic men who used words to manipulate masses of people into ideologies of oppression and inequity, who used words to capture power from people, who used words to steal liberty, usurping the Natural Law of man.

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The Race Card May Have Been Dealt, But Who’s Playing It?

February 26, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

Just before the South Carolina Democrat primary there was a great deal of talk about the Clinton campaign having played the “race card.” Not too many people flinched at the thought and rightfully so; the Clinton’s have a vicious and relentless political attack machine. But looking at the voter demographics from the states that compiled data based on “race,” it would seem that even though the Clinton’s may have dealt the “race card,” it is the black community that is playing it…all across the country.

Where some among the disingenuous Left will try to characterize this as a criticism of Barack Obama’s campaign, it is not. I have a complete and potent set of arguments against electing Barack Obama to the highest office in the land, among them: his lack of tangible experience leading anything, his lack of significant political achievement, his affection for Marxist ideology in the form of his emulation of Saul Alinsky and Frank Marshall Davis and his pilfered penchant for manipulating the more susceptible among the American people with his hollow rhetoric of Clintonian “change” and “hope.” That Obama is unqualified to be President of the United States is an understatement of the most dramatic kind, but this missive is not about Obama’s lack of qualifications.

No matter where we go in the United States it is hard to escape the insincere blathering of those who promote tolerance and diversity, the American Fifth Column. We see commercials that promote racial, cultural, religious and sexually oriented harmony but the fact is it is less practiced than we would be led to believe. To prove this point all one has to do is dress up like a Marine and walk down the streets of Berkeley. Or try to bring up a cogent point that takes issue with one of the more vulnerable points of Al Gore’s argument about global warming in Los Angeles. Or try to explain to the Columbia University faculty why those who hide behind the false label of the “religion of peace” should answer for their committed atrocities against not only women in their culture but against all those who do not submit to the will of Allah. Try employing any of these actions, and more, in the presence of the American Fifth Column and you will be branded a murderer, a truth denier, a bigot, a racist.

But getting back to the “race card” issue…

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We Need to Be Careful for What We Wish

February 19, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

As the primary cycle rolls on, those who understand the danger of a Hillary Clinton administration are gleefully watching her tumble in the polls. Barack Obama’s campaign “performances” have played to the basest emotions of America’s left-leaning community and, ironically, doing so with a recycled version of Bill Clinton’s 1992 messages of “change” and “hope.” But as much as Ms. Clinton’s demise may fill Conservative hearts with a sense of satisfaction we really should be careful for what we wish.

Of course, there are many reasons to oppose a Clinton II administration, especially in these internationally conflicted times.

Hillary Clinton ®C by her insistence that she served as co-president ®C was complicit in treating the issue of Islamofascist terrorism as a “law enforcement issue” rather than an act of war. This is, of course, absurd for the simple fact that our enemy literally declared war on us in 1996 and then again in 1998. One can just imagine bin Laden and al Zawahiri sitting in their Tora Bora cave, scratching their heads at the non-action of the Clintons saying to one another, “Do you think that email went through? You know, these things get lost in cyber space every now and again. Go ahead, Ayman, send it again and this time use some exclamation points so they know we mean it.”
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Stepping Back from the Conservative Abyss

February 11, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

“If you are looking at substance rather than if there is an ‘R’ or a ‘D’ after his name, manifestly, if he’s our candidate, then Hillary is going to be our girl, because she’s more conservative than he is…” – Ann Coulter on Hannity & Colmes

If Conservatives and Republicans don’t squelch their anger toward the apparent party nominee we will be falling into the trap the Liberal Left has set for us; the trap that splinters the Conservatives within the Republican Party so that another Clinton (or Democrat) can get into the White House with less than a majority of the national vote. We will be acting emotionally instead of intellectually; exactly as the Liberal Left wants us to.

I support Conservative principles and ideals. I would have enjoyed having a true Conservative on the ballot in November because I believe, given the choice, the nation would have voted “right.” But the reality of the situation, as it stands, is that dedicated Conservatives don’t have a horse in the November presidential contest. The choice now is this; do we fold altogether and literally hand the White House to a woman who idolizes the Socialistic tenets of Saul Alinsky or an untested freshman senator with no political paper trail, or do we advance intelligently, salvaging what we can?
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Duty. Honor. Country. Civic Responsibility.

February 5, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

A good friend of mine, a retired firefighter and Korean War Era Marine – a fine and good American if there ever was one, recently sent me an email on the realization that John McCain was the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. In it he espoused the exact sentiment that I fear most going into the November elections. In essence, he said that if McCain wins the nomination he will not be voting…period. I have heard this pronouncement coming from the talk radio elite as well. While it is appropriate to thrash out intra-party ideological differences in the primary elections it is thoroughly irresponsible to abdicate civic responsibility by narcissistically refusing to protect the country from the lesser of the two candidates offered in November.

The battle to convince litmus test voters that theirs is a constitutional obligation to vote for the better of the two candidates presented in November is not an easy one. Over the years politicians, both genuine and opportunistic, have pounded the idea into our heads that we must always choose the best candidate. But what happens when the best candidate isn’t offered on the final ballot? What happens when a political faction’s “darling” doesn’t make the cut? Many true Conservatives are in that very position today.

The fact of the matter is that we have never – ever – voted for the best candidate in any election. Each and every politician who has ever run for office has had their weak points and their detractors, whether legitimate or contrived. In reality, each election that our country holds, whether local, county, state or national, is a contest in which the better candidate is selected. This being said, it is understandable why many political analysts recognize that it is easier to get voters to the polls to vote against something than to vote for something.
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Examining the Definition of ‘RINO’

January 28, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

I have been avoiding the discussion of who I am supporting for the Republican presidential nomination in deference to urging others to thoroughly examine the platforms, agendas and records of all those in contention. Only by taking the time to circumvent the agenda-driven propaganda of the mainstream media (and in some cases its non-coverage of certain candidates) can we truly understand who each candidate is and what he – or she – stands for. With both my first and second choices now out of the race I believe it is time to examine the Conservative communities troubling propensity to self-destruct and the accurate definition of the term “RINO.”

For the record, the two candidates that represented my vision of what leaders should be were – and still are to a certain extent – Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter. Both of these men are strong on defense and understand that no other issue really amounts to much if we lose the wars against Islamofascist aggression and the American Fifth Column. Given that, they too realize that our tax system, in dire need of restructuring, caters to congressional opportunism and financial malfeasance and that the government ought to start diminishing its role in Social Security so that we can lessen our government’s “tax footprint” and continue the creation of an ownership society. They both have considerably more experience in government and non-caustic inside-the-beltway politics than any of the Democrats running for the White House yet they still hold true to the belief that elected officials serve their constituents.

Both of these good and decent men are now out of the race and are so for many reasons, chief among them: a lack of adequate media coverage and a lack of support from those who should have known better. Now we are left with yet again another election where we – we who place the well-being of our nation before special interest litmus tests and victory at the cost of compromise – are left with the task of electing the “lesser of two evils.”
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A Focus on Ignorance in Nevada

January 21, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

During the recent primary debate between Democrat presidential hopefuls in Nevada, one of the more credible pollsters, Frank Luntz, convened a focus group of undecided Democrats. As the debate progressed each focus group member’s approval or disapproval – their “feelings” – on each of the candidate’s statements was noted. What Mr. Luntz’s focus group actually recorded was proof positive of the Left’s constitutional illiteracy.

In all the years that I have been politically aware, I have never witnessed a group of people so completely ignorant of not only the issues and our nation’s geopolitical situation, but of how our government works. This became über-evident when the total of the group blamed the Executive Branch of our government – and President Bush in particular – for producing “tax-cuts for the rich” and for aiding “big oil” in their pursuit of corporate welfare.

One of the most basic, the most elementary components in federal government is the assignment of powers and responsibilities among its three branches. The Executive Branch is charged with the execution of the day-to-day management of the country. Under the constitutional doctrine of the separation of powers, the Executive Branch is neither supposed to make laws nor interpret them. These two roles are reserved for the Legislative Branch and the Judicial Branch, respectively.

This being understood, why did each and every one of the undecided Democrats in Frank Luntz’s Nevada focus group blame President Bush for things that only Congress has the authority to enact?

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