Frank+Salvato

Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - Frank Salvato - Islamofascism - Liberals - Military - North Korea - Nuclear Bomb - President - Security/Safety - Terrorism

Denying Reality Brings Us Closer to Nuclear Midnight

April 21, 2010 by

-By Frank Salvato

There has been quite a bit of talk about nuclear terrorism as of late, thanks to the pseudo-summit hosted by President Obama regarding nuclear non-proliferation and the policing of weapons of mass destruction and nuclear weapons elements. I say pseudo-summit because although there was an “agreement” reached by each of the 47 countries in attendance, it was not binding and should not be misconstrued as any type of treaty. Still, shining the spotlight on unsecured nuclear material currently accessible by the black market is an important thing to do and in that respect I tip my hat to President Obama for his effort.

During the summit, President Obama stated:

“The single biggest threat to US security would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon. This is something that could change the security landscape around the world for years to come.”

Indeed, the thought of a terrorist produced nuclear event in an American city – or any major world city, for that matter – is nothing short of bone-chilling. Truth be told, a nuclear event in Manhattan would present a trophy for al Qaeda, Hezbollah or any number of militant radical Islamist terror groups , that would last generations. It is for this reason that Mr. Obama initiated the summit in the first place; to assure that terrorist organizations never attain nuclear capability.
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Denying Reality Brings Us Closer to Nuclear Midnight”

Budget - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Frank Salvato - Journalism - Media - Media Bias - President - Taxes - Tea Party

Demonizing the Tea Party the Chicago Way

April 14, 2010 by

-By Frank Salvato

“So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a single loss. If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose. If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.” – Sun Tzu, 6th Century, BC.

One way to tell how effective the Tea Party movement has been is to gauge the severity of the attacks on the movement by its detractors. It is fair and logical to deduce that the more severe the attacks, the more threatened the attackers feel. Judging from the most recent attacks on the Tea Party movement – and because the Progressives and Liberal Democrats are completely invested in “feelings” instead of facts – those opposed to limited government and the constitutional rule of law are feeling quite threatened.

Anyone paying attention to the mainstream news media has noticed a recent uptick in the number of news stories about the Tea Party movement. While media outlets such as FOX News, The Washington Times, BigGovernment.com, NewsMax.com and talk radio portray the Tea Party movement in a favorable light, the “alphabet media,” its cable brethren and the Progressive blogs are painting the movement as having emanated from the fringe; a group consisting of a bevy of Timothy McVeigh’s on steroids. Truth be told, this isn’t because they are grossly ideological in their reporting – although that lends to the zealousness of their actions – as much as it is a coordinated tactic to neuter the power of the Tea Party movement. The Progressive’s attacks on the Tea Party movement are straight from Rules for Radicals; they are a textbook Saul Alinsky play…and they are only going to get more vicious as the 2010 and 2012 elections approach.

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Demonizing the Tea Party the Chicago Way”

Barack Obama - Budget - Communism - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Federalism - Frank Salvato - Government - Health - Liberals - Socialism - Taxes

The Constitutional Crisis Started Long Ago

March 31, 2010 by

-By Frank Salvato

The cry that our country is in the midst of a “constitutional crisis” is heard frequently in our society but those who are making the claim at this particular point in time are correct. The United States Constitution and the entirety of the Charters of Freedom are under attack and the well-being of our country, nay, its very existence as the Framers intended, hangs in the balance.

Many are decrying the Progressive’s passage of healthcare legislation as a perfect example of the crisis facing our country. They are citing Congress’s bastardization of the Commerce Clause to mandate the purchase of health insurance by every US citizen, along with the legislation’s usurpation of the 10th Amendment. In both cases they would be correct, if an accurate and honest interpretation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is employed.

Anyone who has digested the Federalist Papers and Anti-Federalist Papers understands that the Framers intended for the US Constitution to set forth a limitation of powers for the federal government. In doing so the Framers meant to protect the rights of not only the States, but of the minority and the individual. The federal government’s actions today have shattered those protections and take aim at the Constitution itself, challenging its charter as the “Law of the Land.”
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The Constitutional Crisis Started Long Ago”

Barack Obama - Budget - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Frank Salvato - Government - Health - House of Representatives - Liberals - Nancy Pelosi - President - Senate - Socialism - Taxes - The Law

‘I Will Support and Defend the Constitution of the United States’

March 21, 2010 by

-By Frank Salvato

“An elective despotism was not the government we fought for; but one in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among the several bodies of magistracy as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being effectually checked and restrained by the others.” – James Madison

As the American people stare down the barrel of a Progressive ideological coup in the form of the institution of so-called “healthcare reform,” it is tremendously important that we take heed of how Progressive Democrats are going about achieving their long sought-after goal. To be succinct, it has been an ugly and often times unconstitutional process. But the bribing of Senators with taxpayer monies, the bartering of favors by the White House and the threats of withheld support for Democrat candidates by President Obama himself, pale in comparison to the tactic soon to be employed by House Speaker and über Progressive Nancy Pelosi.

The Self-Executing Rule, better known as “Deem & Pass,” is an unconstitutional procedural tactic that exists in the US House of Representative’s rules. It is stunning that it exists and it is equally as stunning that it was ever allowed to be adopted as a legitimate procedure.

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‘I Will Support and Defend the Constitution of the United States’”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Federalism - Frank Salvato - Free Trade - Government - Jobs - Liberals - Socialism - Taxes - Welfare

We Simply Can’t Afford Another Entitlement Program

March 18, 2010 by

-By Frank Salvato

Congressional Progressives are arm-twisting, threatening, promising and cajoling each and every member of the Legislative Branch in an effort to advance proposed healthcare insurance reform legislation. They are setting the stage to use the reconciliation process to advance the legislation in the Senate, even though the process was created to address budgetary financial issues, exclusively. And one House member, Louise Slaughter (P-NY), is even concocting procedure that would literally bypass any need for the House to vote on the Senate proposal. The effort that is going into circumventing the will of the American people is wickedly stunning.

But in the end, there is only one question that lawmakers of every political persuasion must ask themselves when it comes time to cast their votes: can we, as a nation, really afford to add another behemoth entitlement program onto the backs of the American taxpayers?

We have heard all of the arguments about how it will and won’t affect healthcare insurance premiums. Ironically, even the Senate Majority Whip, Dick Durbin (D-IL), has come to admit that the Progressive’s healthcare insurance reform legislation will not lower the cost of healthcare insurance premiums and said as much on the floor of the Senate:
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We Simply Can’t Afford Another Entitlement Program”

Barack Obama - Budget - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - GOP - Government - Liberals - Republicans - Senate - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

How Quick the Message Fades

March 10, 2010 by

-By Frank Salvato

It is stunning to find out that there are still some elected officials in Washington DC – especially on the Right side of the aisle – who don’t fully understand the message being sent by the American citizenry regarding their grotesque spending addiction. No, I’m not talking about earmarks or pork barrel spending, which in and of themselves should be egregious enough to warrant defeat in the next election. I am referring to how US Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) was thrown under the bus when he demanded that his fellow Senators actually allocate existing funds for a program they wanted to implement.

As reported by Fox News:

“Kentucky Republican Jim Bunning had been holding up action for days but conceded after pressure intensified with Monday’s cutoff of road funding and extended unemployment benefits and health insurance subsidies for the jobless.

“Bunning wanted to force Democrats to find ways to finance the bill so that it wouldn’t add to the deficit, but his move sparked a political tempest that subjected Republicans to withering media coverage and cost the party politically. Bunning’s support among Republicans was dwindling, while Democrats used to being on the defensive over healthcare and the deficit seemed to relish the battle.”

In other words, Bunning was trying to do what the American people are demanding – that government be fiscally responsible; that government stop adding to the deficit; that Congress stop spending borrowed money – and the Congressional Republicans threw him under the bus, frightened of how supporting his effort would “appear.”

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How Quick the Message Fades”

Barack Obama - Budget - Congress - Conservatives - Constitution - Elections - Frank Salvato - Free Trade - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Liberals - Media - Media Bias - Republicans - Socialism - Taxes - Tea Party

Some Tough Medicine for Getting Back to Good

March 3, 2010 by

-By Frank Salvato

I just watched an important video. It was a United News newsreel from December 2, 1945, and captured the official Japanese surrender proceedings aboard the USS Missouri, proceedings that brought World War II to an end. As I watched, I wondered how it must have sounded to my Father, who was fighting in the South Pacific during that time.

It would be impossible for me to be able understand how he must have felt at hearing Gen. MacArthur say,

“Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it, always. These proceedings are closed.”

My Father volunteered for military service during World War II, as did many who fought for the Allies from all countries. They did so not only because they understood the existence of evil in the world, but because they wanted to preserve the “way of life” their countries afforded them. For my Father it was to advance our American heritage – freedom, liberty, constitutionality and opportunity – to his children. It was for this belief that he risked life and limb in one of the bloodiest episodes in world history.
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Some Tough Medicine for Getting Back to Good”

Anti-Americanism - Congress - Constitution - Education - Federalism - Founders - Frank Salvato - Government - History

Our Federal Government’s Basic Purpose

February 22, 2010 by

-By Frank Salvato

In February of 2009, legislation was introduced in the 111th Congress that would protect the First Amendment rights of United States citizens when faced with malicious lawsuits, brought against them in foreign courts, claiming defamation. The Free Speech Protection Act of 2009 is meant not only to secure and assure a US citizen’s First Amendment right to free speech in the aforementioned circumstance, but to serve as a tool in guaranteeing our nation’s sovereignty under constitutional law. As of this writing, Senate Bill 449, officially titled as introduced as “A Bill to Protect Free Speech,” languishes in the Senate Judiciary Committee. We all must ask why.

The Free Speech Protection Act of 2009 (the short title for S449) is meant to protect writers, authors, lecturers and any other US citizen against “libel tourism,” a phrase emanating from a lawsuit over the book Funding Evil, by Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, explained in a short film titled The Libel Tourist and in an article titled, A Federal Law is Needed to Deter Libel Tourism, by Daniel J. Kornstein. Mr. Kornstein refers to libel tourism as:
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Our Federal Government’s Basic Purpose”

Conservatives - Elections - Frank Salvato - Government - Liberals - Taxes - Tea Party

The Tea Party Movement, The GOP & Making It Work

February 2, 2010 by

-By Frank Salvato

Only the most partisan and/or politically ignorant among us would fail to recognize the magnitude, importance and the consequences of the Tea Party Movement. To be certain, it is a force to be reckoned with. But, as with the science of storms, there is a danger when two forces compete to occupy the same space. We of the Right side of the aisle must recognize this danger and insist that actions are taken, definitions are designated and roles are recognized, lest we turn an important moment in time into catastrophic history.

The Tea Party Movement

The first thing we have to do is to recognize and understand exactly what the Tea Party Movement is, where it came from and why.

Many in the political world have erroneously identified the Tea Party Movement as a political group not unlike the Democrats, Libertarians or Republicans. In fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Proof to this reality is in the fact that people who have embraced the Tea Party Movement come from every flavor of politics. When over a million people descended on Washington in the name of the Tea Party Movement last Fall, the crowd was comprised of people from every political party – sans the Progressives, every social background, every religion and every race. To say that it is dominated by any one political party is to make a huge mistake.

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The Tea Party Movement, The GOP & Making It Work”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Capitalism - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Founders - Frank Salvato - Freedom - Government - Liberals - President - Republicans - Rights - Society/Culture - Taxes - The Law - Western Civilization

The Time Is Ripe for Divide & Conquer

January 25, 2010 by

-By Frank Salvato

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that the Obama Administration is doing everything they can to place the blame for Republican Scott Brown’s victory in the Massachusetts Senatorial Special Election on Martha Coakley. It is their modus operandi. When someone or some organization becomes a political liability, the Obama team throws it under the bus. They did it to Rev. Jeremiah Wright. They did it to Bill Ayers. They did it to ACORN. And now they are doing it to Martha Coakley. No, we shouldn’t be surprised. In Chicago Democrat politics, political liabilities are “dealt with,” and Barack Obama is a Chicago Machine Progressive-Democrat.

Martha Coakley wasn’t always a “liability,” though. In her defense it should be pointed out that as recently as 2006, Coakley won election as the Massachusetts Attorney’s General by a decisive margin, garnering 73% of the vote. By any standard, a statewide election victory tallying 73% of the vote is impressive. Coming off that kind of power victory, we can discern that Coakley knows how to execute a political campaign. Further, with such a lopsided victory achieved, it would have been logical that she would have been a strong candidate, against all comers, to safely retain the late Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat…if left to her own devices.
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The Time Is Ripe for Divide & Conquer”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Congress - Democracy - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Frank Salvato - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Rights - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes

The Janus Face of the Progressive Democrats

January 8, 2010 by

-By Frank Salvato

“Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see the things thou dost not.” – William Shakespeare

America, when exactly did we come to tolerate politicians lying to us – bald-faced –about things that actually matter? When did we start to put up with being lied to by our elected officials and accepting it as the status quo? When did we come to accept that disingenuous political spin was just part of the process; that deceiving the electorate was tolerable…at any level? I ask because as I try to reconcile the “hope and change” propaganda with the actions of the Obama Administration, well, let’s just say the campaign rhetoric appears to have been crafted by P.T. Barnum.

Examples of intellectual malfeasance exist on both sides of the aisle but it is dramatically more prevalent on the political Left and since the Progressives have hijacked the Democrat Party it has gotten worse. There doesn’t seem to be a day that goes by where news comes out of Washington DC that is literally unbelievable.
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The Janus Face of the Progressive Democrats”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Frank Salvato - Free Trade - Health - Liberals - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes

At This Point It’s About Defining the “Win”

December 20, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

Does anyone remember back to when the current healthcare reform initiative began? What were the goals? What were the reasons for the subject even being broached? Progressives and Democrats insisted that the healthcare system was broken because there were millions of people (figures varied, but averaged around 37 million) who were uninsured and that those who had health insurance were subject to continuously rising insurance premiums and diminished coverage. The goal, Progressives and Democrats said, was to provide every American with health insurance and lower healthcare costs for all…all by the end of President Obama’s first term.

Today, as we approach the end of President Obama’s first term, the House and Senate bills that are being presented to the American people fail – miserably – to achieve these two basics goals. Instead, they present as a wish list for special interest groups, establish an unnecessary and additional government bureaucracy and stand as testimony to the opportunistic ineptitude of today’s Progressive controlled Democrat Party. The only saving grace is that these bills will have to go through the reconciliation process before they are presented to President Obama for his signature, at which time the final product will become the law of the land…for now, at least.

Interesting in all of this is how the target goals have changed.

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At This Point It’s About Defining the “Win””

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - California - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Conservatives - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Education - Founders - Frank Salvato - Free Trade - Freedom - History - House of Representatives - Liberals - President - Religion - Socialism - Society/Culture - State Government - Taxes - The Law

American Liberty v. Obama’s Social Engineering

December 13, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

After the General Election of 2008 I made a conscious effort to give President Obama a chance. I wanted to give him an opportunity to be true to his word; to prove that he was committed to governing from the center. I also wanted to demonstrate that I was not of the same ilk as the Bush-hating, “he stole the election,” fact-ignoring Progressive malcontents that served to divide the country over the eight years of the Bush Administration. But now, a year after the election, and as we approach a full year of the Obama Administration, it has become abundantly clear that Mr. Obama has abandoned almost all of his campaign promises (but for his commitments to the SEIU) and is governing from the far Left. He has instituted a campaign of social engineering that can only be described as a direct threat to liberty.

Liberty
Liberty is defined as, “freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.” It was the single most motivating factor in the American Revolution and war for independence. Our Founders and Framers risked their lives to free the people of what would become our nation from the elitist tyranny of King George and his court, a tyranny that choked liberty – personal and societal – dead.

In addition to the limitations placed on religious freedom and freedom of speech, taxation was excessive and exploitative and it was imposed without representation. Many of the colonists believed the denial of direct representation in the British Parliament was an illegal denial of their rights, as colonists were considered Englishmen subject to the king’s rule. Thus the credo, “no taxation without representation,” served as the rallying cry for Patriots in each of the thirteen colonies as they coalesced into a movement toward American independence.

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American Liberty v. Obama’s Social Engineering”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Capitalism - Chicago - Congress - Conservatives - Constitution - Economy/Finances - Frank Salvato - House of Representatives - Illinois - Liberals - President - Society/Culture - Taxes

Is the Constitution Just a Grand Suggestion?

December 4, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

Listening to the John & Cisco morning radio program here on Chicago’s WIND AM 560 this morning, I was suddenly stopped dead in my tracks. One of the hosts, John Howell, asked Chicago Tribune editorialists Clarence Page about a contentious issue; whether candidates for the office of President of the United States of America should have to present proof of citizenship before being allowed to vie for the office. Mr. Page’s answer was not only a slight to the Constitution; it placed him firmly in the camp of the constitutionally illiterate.

When asked if vetting candidates for national office, specifically the presidency, wasn’t something that all Americans could agree upon, Mr. Page replied:

“You can never please some people, as you can see. I know Liberals who believe John McCain should be challenged because he wasn’t born in the US, because he was born in the Panama Canal Zone and…ah…they will point to different constitutional loopholes…ah…that they say would disqualify him. I remember George Romney, Mitt’s Dad…ah…went through the same thing…ah…back in the 60s. As far as I’m concerned, why can’t Madeleine Albright be a good president even though she wasn’t born a citizen? Or the governor of Michigan right now? This is the kind of thing…folks are kind of groping for any reason to disqualify a president or presidential candidate that they don’t like and…ah…I just find it to be a specious debate…I think we’ve got more important issues to worry about…maybe that’s just me (laughter).”

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Is the Constitution Just a Grand Suggestion?”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Elections - Frank Salvato - House of Representatives - Liberals - President - Senate - Society/Culture - Taxes

Have Democrats Been Marginalized Within Their Own Party?

November 25, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

We have heard a lot over the past year or so about how President John F. Kennedy wouldn’t be able to garner his political party’s nomination for the presidency in today’s Democrat Party. An examination of his political platform and the principles he embraced would today place him on the right side of the aisle. So, why is it that in just under fifty years the political ideology of the most revered Democrat to hold office in modern times is shunned by the party he served? It’s because his party – the Democrat Party – isn’t the party of Democrats any longer.

Sure, there are still some issues that Democrats view in the same light they did back in the 1960s. Democrats are more prone to being anti-war than their Conservative counterparts. They still believe in a larger role for government in the private sector. And they still believe that government has a significant role to play where poverty and the disenfranchised are concerned. Many, like Kennedy – and Roosevelt before him – also continue to believe in a strong national defense, although they still possess a great deal of concern about the “military industrial complex.”

But today’s Democrat Party agenda, while holding to these core issues, has evolved into a completely different political party, complete with a foreign – as in not of the Democrat Party of old – agenda. In fact, many a Democrat has come forward to espouse, “It isn’t your Dad’s Democrat Party anymore.”

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Have Democrats Been Marginalized Within Their Own Party?”

Afghanistan - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Frank Salvato - GOP - House of Representatives - Islamofascism - Israel - Liberals - Palestinians - President - Religion - Society/Culture - Terrorism

Confronting the Spin on the Fort Hood Massacre

November 19, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

It is sad and disturbing commentary on the state of American culture when the facts surrounding an event, such as the slaughter that took place at Fort Hood, can not only be manipulated to facilitate a political ideology but blatantly ignored in the pursuit of a political agenda. In the face of the most potent enemy the United States and the free world has ever know – aggressive and violent radical Islam – our leaders and members of the mainstream media are doing just that; manipulating the truth to facilitate an agenda, and we are all in danger because of it.

By now, everyone in the world knows the details surrounding the massacre at Fort Hood, Texas. US Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, in committing not only an act of terrorism but an act of treason, perpetrated the most deadly terrorist act on American soil since the attacks of September 11, 2001. Actions and statements made by Hasan prior to his murderous spree indicate beyond doubt that he was not only opposed to US military action in the Iraqi and Afghan theaters and that he felt it was appropriate for Muslims in those countries to kill US and NATO soldiers in response to “the infidel occupiers,” but that he made a purposeful and premeditated choice to execute his jihad. Yet, President Obama, his spokespeople and members of the mainstream media are hyping the “backlash against Muslims” sentiment while completely ignoring – and in some cases arguing against – the mountain of evidence that points to the fact that Hasan was a radical Islamist and a jihadist.

Four Qualifications for Terrorism

Alan Colmes erroneously cited a definition for the word “terrorism” as used by Webster’s Dictionary during a recent stint on The O’Reilly Factor. While Webster’s is a wonderful resource for everyday use in divining the meaning of words, where terrorism is concerned it falls short.
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Confronting the Spin on the Fort Hood Massacre”

Barack Obama - Christianity - Democrats/Leftists - Frank Salvato - Free Speech - Iran - Islam - Islamofascism - Israel - Liberals - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Terrorism - Western Civilization

Pretending to Speak for an Entire Culture

November 4, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

One of the things that brings me to the boiling point is when I hear elected officials tell me what “Americans want” or what “Americans think.” To believe that today’s federally elected politicians understand – or care – what their constituents want, never mind Americans on the whole, after they belittled town hall attendees and ignored the citizenry’s opposition to government-run healthcare is to exist in fantasyland. No, federally elected politicians (and in many cases local politicians, as well) only invoke the wants and thoughts of “Americans” when they want to bolster their political positions and those have more to do with special interest groups and ideology than what Americans really think and want.

How many times have you heard Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, President Obama or any number of their surrogates – and to be fair and honest, it does happen on both sides of the aisle – begin a sentence with, “What Americans really want…” or “The Average American thinks that…” It is an insult to the intelligence of the citizenry, no matter how dumbed-down the American populace has become.

Another facet to this intellectual arrogance is when an elected official or public figure uses a “broad brush” to address an entire group or demographic, regardless of whether it is favorably or unfavorably.

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Pretending to Speak for an Entire Culture”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Founders - Frank Salvato - Free Speech - Liberals - President - Society/Culture - Supreme Court - The Law

When Ideology Masks Ignorance

October 26, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

After giving a talk to a group of family values minded Freeport, Illinois area residents addressing three major threats facing the United States – which I term “The Perfect Storm,” and a solution to a problem that safeguards the US Constitution, I found myself personally and ideologically assailed by a letter-writer to a local newspaper, a Ms. Patricia Wemstrom. I take issue with her critique not only because she mischaracterized each and every point that I made at the event, but also because she wasn’t even in attendance.

The critique was caustic and hateful in nature:

“I am surprised by the hatred, bigotry and lack of knowledge expressed by Frank Salvato in the front page story of Oct. 18. (“Speaker Warns of Threats”) It seems to me the danger to this country rest not so much in ‘Radical Islam,’ but in people like Salvato.”

Such explosive rhetoric emanating from a person who wasn’t in attendance and who never attempted to contact me for any clarification leads me to believe – through the context of experience – that Ms. Wemstrom is not only of the Progressive or Liberal political ideology but, also, either uneducated on the issues, disingenuous and partisan in her approach, or both.

Although out of order of presentation I will attempt to clarify the misinformation presented by Ms. Wemstrom…in the interest of truth and education.
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When Ideology Masks Ignorance”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Congress - Conservatives - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Founders - Frank Salvato - History - Liberals - Military - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Terrorism - Western Civilization

It’s Time to Pay Close Attention to the Politicians

October 9, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

I have long said that we, the citizens of the United States, must demand good government over politics from our elected officials. The need for this demand has grown exponentially over the past four decades. While We the People were pre-occupied with the trappings of the self-centered 1960s, the self-absorption of the 1970s, the greed culture of the 1980s and the falsely elevated self-esteem culture of the 1990s, political opportunists and special interest operatives, cloaked in the façade of public service, quietly took control of our federal government. Now we are paying the price of cronyism politics over good government.

The Founders and the Framers conceived of and created our Constitutional Republic with the understanding that every American citizen would cherish the Charters of Freedom – The Declaration of Independence, The US Constitution and The Bill of Rights – as a contract, a covenant between citizen and government. In keeping up our end of the contract, the Framers took for granted that we would work to be constitutionally literate while providing governmental oversight. It never occurred to them that we would abdicate our responsibility to liberty, to freedom, the gifts they fought a Revolutionary War to attain for themselves, for us and for future generations of free Americans. It never occurred to them that those who would be bequeathed liberty and freedom would ignore their maintenance in deference to a culture of narcissism.

Today, looking upon what our government has become – a gaggle of political opportunists, special interest courtesans and revolutionary neo-Marxists – the Founders, Framers and revolutionaries would have to wonder if it was all worth their sacrifices and the sacrifices made by their families.

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It’s Time to Pay Close Attention to the Politicians”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Frank Salvato - Freedom - Iran - Islam - Islamofascism - Liberals - Military - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Terrorism

The Only Real Strategy for Afghanistan

October 6, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

There has been quite a bit of criticism directed at President Obama for his handling – or mishandling – of the Afghan theater in the global conflict with radical Islamists. To be certain, it should be the number one or, at the very least, number two item on his list of priorities. That it is not is deserving of criticism. But the catalyst for this dysfunctional thinking emanates from the reality that we, as a nation, don’t have a proper understanding of the conflict at hand and, therefore, have very different opinions – some based in fact but most influenced by ideology – as to the consequences of implementing the wrong strategy.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, then candidate Barack Obama identified the Afghan theater as the only “legitimate” military theater in which the US military was engaged. He did so in a politicized attempt to paint the Iraqi theater as illegitimate; an optional battle theater championed by his opponent. Whether or not you agree with that belief is irrelevant to the fact that Mr. Obama identified the Afghan theater as being “the good war.” This declaration, along with his promise to support the generals on the ground, intimated that he was going to respect the judgments and opinions of the field commanders with regard to strategy and assessment. That understood, it really shouldn’t be too much for the American people to expect their president to follow through on his campaign promises.

The Enemy

Ongoing military campaign aside, we have never really accurately profiled the enemy and therefore have never really been about to honestly contemplate a successful strategy for achieving victory in not only the Afghan theater but in the overall global conflict with radical Islamists.
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The Only Real Strategy for Afghanistan”

ACORN - Anti-Americanism - Anti-Semitism - Barack Obama - Budget - Campaign Finance - Chicago - Congress - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - House of Representatives - Liberals - Socialism - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Why Obama Will Throw ACORN Under the Bus

September 30, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

The spotlight of scrutiny is shining brightly on ACORN these days and rightly so. Where ACORN’s defenders have the audacity to insist that the employees caught on undercover videotape giving advice to a perceived “pimp” and “prostitute” on how to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and internationally traffic in underage Guatemalan prostitutes were simply “a few bad employees,” anyone with a brain recognizes that the problem is systemic in the organization. But what some are misdiagnosing or not completely understanding is how President Obama could be so nonchalant about the issue in recent interviews. It’s because ACORN – for Mr. Obama – has served its purpose and just like Van Jones, Tom Daschle and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, ACORN is about to be tossed under the bus.

In past articles and in many radio interviews, I have insisted that Barack Obama is just another Chicago machine politician, albeit a very successful one (If you don’t understand the phrase “Chicago machine” read the book Boss by legendary Chicago journalist Mike Royko). And like every good Chicago machine politician, Barack Obama is following the cardinal rules:

  • Do what you have to in order to get elected.
  • Once elected, consolidate as much power as you possibly can.
  • Reward those who helped you get elected.
  • Position yourself for re-election and your retention of power.

In each of the steps Barack Obama has performed so far he has done so in a most exemplary fashion.

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Why Obama Will Throw ACORN Under the Bus”

Democrats/Leftists - Flight 93 - Frank Salvato - Islam - Islamofascism - Military - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Terrorism - Warner Todd Huston - Western Civilization

“Please, God, No…It’s So Hot, I’m Burning Up”

September 12, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

“The floor is completely engulfed. We’re on the floor, and we can’t breathe, and it’s very, very, very hot…I’m going to die, I know it. Please, God, no. It’s so hot, I’m burning up!” These were some of the last words of Melissa Doi, 32, one of the thousands of innocent victims that perished at the hands of radical Islamists on September 11, 2001. In all, 3,017 souls were lost and 6,291+ people were injured on that fateful day by al Qaeda terrorists in New York City, Arlington County, VA, and Shanksville, PA. Now, eight years later, one of the biggest fears held by counterterrorism experts and experts on radical Islam is coming to pass and we are less safe for it.

One of the biggest fears advanced by myself and people who I have had the honor of working with in the quest to educate Americans on the threats and dangers posed by radical Islamists, is that the American people would soon forget the horrors of September 11th; that they would start to forget the sense of helplessness they felt as they watched the World Trade Center collapse into the streets of New York City, the carnage at the Pentagon and the despondency of rescuers demonstrated in a field in Shanksville. We all understood that there would be a waning of the immediacy felt in the aftermath of the attacks – immediacy of response, education and prevention – but we feared the encroachment of apathy to the grotesque loss of life and butchery foisted upon the American people on that day. We feared it because we all understood – and still believe today – that to abdicate vigilance to the threat of Islamist aggression is to set the stage for another catastrophic event.

In the days after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Liberal media (formerly referred to as the mainstream media) began to remove the images of the attacks from our television screens. Gone were the images of dust-covered people wandering the decimated streets of New York. We were no longer able to see the images of heroic firefighters and Pentagon workers frantically searched for people to rescue. And we were no longer provided the images of frustrated first responders – professionals trained to save lives – milling about the wreckage of an airliner in a field with no one to save. The media explained the removal of these images – these realities – by insisting it was done in the name of preventative tolerance; to quell any hatred, any catalyst for retribution toward the Muslim community.
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“Please, God, No…It’s So Hot, I’m Burning Up””

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Frank Salvato - Free Trade - Health - Liberals - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes

Challenging the Status Quo

August 31, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

With the death of US Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) the Democrats lose their sixty-seat filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. This will make the passing of Obama agenda legislation – specifically healthcare – more difficult until Massachusetts seats its next Junior Senator, who promises to be a Democrat. The loss of even one Democrat in the Senate is cause for concern for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) because he has a rogue element within his Democrat caucus, the Blue Dog Democrats. In Washington, it is all about counting the votes at any given moment on any piece of legislation. As they say, politics makes for strange bedfellows.

In the US House of Representatives the Democrats have a lock on the majority. According to the Office of the Clerk of the US House of Representatives, the congressional profile stands at: 256 Democrats, 178 Republicans, 0 Independents and 1 Vacancy. These numbers give the Democrats, as a party, a 78 vote majority in the House.

In the Senate, Democrats have a lock on a majority as well: Democrats number 57, Republicans have 40 seats, and Independents and Independent Democrats have one seat each.

In addition to the fact that it matters which party is in the majority, in both chambers of Congress, it also matters who the parties elect as their leaders.

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Challenging the Status Quo”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Congress - Conservatives - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Frank Salvato - Free Trade - Freedom - Health - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes

‘You Have Awakened the Sleeping Giant’

August 18, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

One of the benefits coming from the recent congressional town hall meetings – of which there are many – is that we now know to what extent the elected class in Washington DC is cognizant of their constituents’ positions on the issues; specifically, healthcare. They aren’t, especially on the Left side of the aisle. Instead, the elected class in Washington – and it is true for an overwhelming majority on both sides of the aisle – has opted-out of their sworn duty to represent their constituents in deference to a blinding loyalty to their political party organizations and the ideologies they hold.

While many of the elected officials in question, their aides, the DNC, MoveOn.org, Organizing for America and the agenda-driven  mainstream media talk about the “angry” and “vocal” nature of the town halls, they allude to the notion that the American citizens attending these meetings are not letting the elected officials speak; that they are “shouting down” the Congressmen and Senators as they try to explain a “very complicated” healthcare plan to their constituents. Nothing could be further from the truth.

To believe that the American people haven’t heard – ad nauseam – the plethora of contorted and contrived talking points meant to sell this gigantic over-reach of government into the private sector health insurance industry is to lie, bald-faced, to anyone within earshot.

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‘You Have Awakened the Sleeping Giant’”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Congress - Conservatives - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Founders - Frank Salvato - History - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - President - Society/Culture

“Birther” Label Overshadows a Real Issue

August 15, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

I have always been one to say that I cannot know the answer to the “birthers’” question of whether Mr. Obama is eligible to hold the Presidency. I can’t answer the question because I am being kept from examining the only documents that do exist to prove the point. To date, I have heard all the arguments and seen all the propaganda – from both sides of the issue – and for all the uproar there is only one way to know who is right and who is mistaken. But the “birther” issue is a literal smoke-screen issue and one that is covering up a much more serious one; one that threatens to produce a constitutional crisis.

In examining this subject in the days after it first presented, our non-profit organization, BasicsProject.org, tasked with educating and informing the citizenry on matters that include constitutional literacy, began to ask questions in an effort to honestly understand the facts of the matter. As our examination progressed it became abundantly clear that there exists no mechanism for the enforcement of Article II, Section 1 of the United States Constitution, which states:

“No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”

During our examination of the issue we contacted each of the State Boards of Election and/or Secretary of State’s offices to ask whether they or another organization within their jurisdiction required candidates for the Executive Branch offices to present first-source, vaulted proof of their prerequisite satisfaction of Article II, Section 1. They shared with us that their candidacy filing requirements for any elected office includes:
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“Birther” Label Overshadows a Real Issue”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Frank Salvato - Health - Liberals - President - Society/Culture - Taxes

Reading Legislation… It’s Your Job!

August 2, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

It would appear that some of our elected officials – oh heck, let’s say most of our elected officials – believe it isn’t necessary to read legislation before voting on it. A perfect example of this is playing out right now in Congress with regard to the healthcare legislation where several high-ranking elected officials have unabashedly stated that expecting elected officials to read legislation, in its entirety, before voting on it, is to expect too much. Really…

Recently, at a National Press Club Luncheon, Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said:
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Reading Legislation… It’s Your Job!”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Communism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Frank Salvato - Freedom - Health - Liberals - President - Socialism - Society/Culture

A Government Run by Mrs. Kravitz

July 31, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

If you are a Baby Boomer you, no doubt, remember the television series Bewitched, starring Elizabeth Montgomery. Ms. Montgomery played Samantha Stevens, a witch who was married to a mortal and who lived in a quintessential American suburb. One of the regular characters – and one of the funnier characters – was a neighbor of the Stevens’, Gladys Kravitz, played by Alice Pearce and then Sandra Gould. An incredibly nosey neighbor, Gladys Kravitz was always just moments away from being able to prove to her husband, Abner, that “something very strange is going on over at the Stevens’ house.” Gladys Kravitz was the model busybody and, if she were alive and real today, she would, no doubt, be a member of the 111th Congress.

Gladys Kravitz knew everything and nothing at all, all at the same time. Her advice was most always wrong and her opinion was most always uninformed but this didn’t mean that she ever gave thought to not offering both to anyone and everyone with whom she came in contact. Mrs. Kravitz, as Samantha always called her, believed that she was always right, even without knowing all the facts or understanding all the issues. That she existed was enough reason for her input to be solicited and Lord help you if you didn’t act on her advice in an expeditious manner! Just ask Abner!

As I remember the character I can’t help but think that we have a factionalist gaggle of Mrs. Kravitzs currently running our government. Then, in deference to Ms. Pearce, Ms. Gould and the writers of Bewitched, I reconsidered…the gaggle now in control of the US government is much worse. The 111th Congress can only be described as being run by a minority of know-it-alls who insist they know what’s best for you, for me, for our entire country without any practical experience to support their arrogance and without any understanding of reality to sustain their bloated sense of elitist superiority.
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A Government Run by Mrs. Kravitz”

Congress - Conservatives - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Frank Salvato - GOP - Liberals - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes

Instituting a Safeguard Against Political & Ideological Tyranny

July 25, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

It is fairly clear, to anyone paying attention, that the people of the United States are currently suffering the political tyranny of the special interest minority. We arrive at this point not because the character of the nation has changed dramatically – we are still a center-right nation ideologically, although we have become more permissive in our social views – but because we have fallen prey to exactly the political malady James Madison feared we would: factionalism.

This factionalism exists within both political parties, as well as throughout our society.

Neo-Marxists have come to power in the Democrat Party even though the majority of Democrats could be considered moderate to centrist. And because of the hierarchical system utilized by our federal Legislative Branch, this minority faction of the Democrat Party has come to power nationally.
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Instituting a Safeguard Against Political & Ideological Tyranny”

Anti-Americanism - Democrats/Leftists - Frank Salvato - History - Hollywood - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

Amid All the Celebrity Deaths, A Reality Check

July 14, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

Some have labeled the summer of 2009, the Summer of the Celebrity Death Watch, and one could successfully argue the point. Ed McMahon, Karl Malden, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays, David Carradine, Koko Taylor, Fred Travalena and, most notably, Michael Jackson – to name but a few off the top of my head – have all passed away over the course of June and July. While the mortality of a generation is always catalyst for priority re-evaluation and reflection, it is the caliber of “the catalyst” – those we have elevated to iconic status – that exposes just how superficial our American culture has become.

This is not to say that I don’t appreciate the successes and contributions, the talents and the prowess those who have passed over the last month and a half have shared with the world. As someone who was part of the entertainment industry in my youth, I certainly appreciate the talents of pitchmen, actors and musicians passed. And even though a few of those who are now celebrated had colorful and sometimes disturbing personal lives or political views that differed from mine, I am able to divorce the ugly flaws of man and political ideology (within reason) to appreciate the talents they shared with the world.

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Amid All the Celebrity Deaths, A Reality Check”

Elections - Frank Salvato - Free Speech - Freedom - History - Islam - Islamofascism - Religion - Rights - Society/Culture - Terrorism

Genocide or Massacre, US Repeating Mistakes of the Past

June 29, 2009 by

-By Frank Salvato

“We come here today partly in recognition of the fact that we in the United States and the world community did not do as much as we could have and should have done to try to limit what occurred…All over the world there were people like me sitting in offices who did not fully appreciate the depth and speed with which you were being engulfed by this unimaginable terror.”
– Pres. Bill Clinton in his apology to the Rwandan people for his lack of intervention during the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

“It is not productive, given the history of US-Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling — the US president, meddling in Iranian elections.”
– Pres. Barack Obama commenting on Iran’s stolen 2009 election.

Reports coming out of Iran, limited though they are, state that a massacre took place on June 24, 2009, in Tehran’s Baharestan Square. Iranian basij, club-wielding militiamen, savagely attacked pro-freedom protesters, throwing some of them off a pedestrian bridge. They attacked them with batons, tear gas, bullets and, in at least one location, axes. What was the catalyst for this slaughter? Their desire for liberty and freedom, rights guaranteed to every human being under Natural Law.

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Genocide or Massacre, US Repeating Mistakes of the Past”