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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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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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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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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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Assassinating the Democratic Process

January 2, 2008 by

-By Frank Salvato

The assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto presents a cadre of possibilities for the future of Pakistan, the South Asian and Middle Eastern regions and the world. One positive result from this barbaric event would be that her supporters in the Pakistan People’s Party would press forward in a more concerted and immediate effort to bring the democratic process to fruition in the wake of her murder, thus advancing the very principles for which she was killed. But, with iniquitous forces holding considerable influence – both inside Pakistan’s government and out – the prospects for any positive outcome to this tragedy are minuscule. With the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan has become the epicenter in the global war against Islamofascist aggression.

That Pakistan is a volatile and politically complex country is an understatement. Ever since its creation in an Indian move to independence from Britain in 1947, Pakistan has struggled with its political identity while trying to lend credence to the claim of being the home of South Asian Muslims. The osmotic migration of Muslims to Pakistan and Hindus to India served to create the Kashmiri conflict. With the USSR’s Cold War intervention in Afghanistan, Pakistan saw an influx of thousands of mujahedeen who used Pakistan as a launch point for their jihad against the Soviets. With the defeat of the Soviets in Afghanistan many of the jihadi staging and training locations in Pakistan became more permanent and those who were drawn to jihad by the fascist rhetoric of radical Islam turned their attention toward Bosnia, Chechnya, Indonesia and the infidels of the West.

Today there are both pro-democracy and pro-Islamist factions existing throughout every aspect of Pakistani society, including its government and military structures. Because Pakistan, in its creation, was to serve as a homeland for India’s Muslim population the cohesive force behind Pakistani society is Islam. But while Pakistan’s military leaders, in their quest for power and control, adopted Islamic ideology in its attempt to seek legitimacy in their rule, the seeds of democracy were sown into the political ideology of Pakistanis early on. This ideological and political dichotomy exists today.
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