John+Armor

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That Coal-Fired Furnace in the Sky

May 23, 2009 by

-By John Armor

Did anybody else notice that the phrase “global warming” has largely disappeared from public discourse? All but the slowest environmentalists have dropped that phrase because for the last three years the globe as been cooling off. So, the new phrase is “climate change.”

As a public service, I’d like to explain this phrase by reference to a pair of coal-fired furnaces, one in Birmingham, Alabama, the other one in Baltimore, Maryland. My mother grew up in Birmingham almost a century ago, in a rambling, wood-framed house on Warsaw Street. It had sleeping porches for summer heat, and a coal furnace for winter cold.
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That Coal-Fired Furnace in the Sky”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Censorship - Communism - Congress - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Fairness Doctrine - Free Speech - John Armor - Liberals - Media Bias - Society/Culture

The Oprah Winfrey Solution

May 19, 2009 by

-By John Armor

I have enjoyed Oprah Winfrey’s work on television since she showed up as the second banana on People are Talking with Richard Scher on WJZ in Baltimore, four decades ago. Now, she is the leading talk show host in the known universe. Although her audience has decreased from nearly 9 million in 2005 to 7.3 million in 2008, she is still the top of her profession.

Oprah’s success demonstrates that several efforts of the current Administration to restrict both freedom of the press, and freedom of speech are both wrong and unconstitutional. There is a proposed bill in Congress which would institute government controls on contents on the Internet. The FCC is pursuing two efforts, called respectively “diversity” and “localism.”
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The Oprah Winfrey Solution”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - Free Speech - John Armor - Judges - Liberals - Race - Religion - Rights - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Supreme Court - The Law

Want Another Bigot on the Court? You Got It.

May 13, 2009 by

-By John Armor

Sometimes even when you attend an event, and take part in it, it still takes time to understand it. I had the honor to speak at the Knoxville Tea Party, as Ben Franklin, a printer from Philadelphia. The visible, massive driving force for that and all 750+ Tea Parties with 1+ million people in attendance was taxes. But the real issue was larger and deeper than taxes.

When the mainstream media attempt to deal seriously with this phenomenon, they phrase it as “conservative” as opposed to “liberal.” Sometimes it’s no such thing. The Tea Parties are related to the present issue of the “rebranding” of the Republican Party.

Long ago, when ice covered the Earth and the last dinosaurs were staggering to their deaths, I was in advertising. “Rebranding” meant putting a new name and a new slogan on an old product that the people demonstrably did not want. That change was intended to market the goods despite endemic defects.
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Want Another Bigot on the Court? You Got It.”

Family - John Armor - Society/Culture

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night

May 9, 2009 by

-By John Armor

Actually, it was a dark and stormy weekend.

On Friday, right after the computer office closed, our tower-broadcast Internet access failed. It remained out until Monday morning. Meanwhile, Michelle and I had two articles each that were on deadline. But that was the easy part.

We have a good friend who is an adopted grandmother, named Gibson Jefferson McConnaughey, almost 91 years old. A week ago, she was fine for her age. Thursday she was in the hospital with serious complications from a blood clot. Saturday morning she died. Until an hour before she died, she was conscious and talking with us.
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It Was A Dark and Stormy Night”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Congress - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Europe - John Armor - Liberals - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

Homeland Security’s Unsecure Secretary

April 29, 2009 by

-By John Armor

Today comes news that the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, is replacing Roger Mackin with Phillip Mudd. Who? What? So?

Roger Mackin was the undersecretary for intelligence and analysis. He was responsible for the memo issued just before the 750+ Tea Parties attended by 1 million+ Americans. You know that memo, which said people who oppose abortion, attend church, and own legal guns are potential terrorists. And don’t forget that it also said veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan are risky, too.

Before talking about that appalling memo, let’s back up a minute. What is the purpose of the Homeland Security Department? It is to protect Americans in their homes, businesses, schools and shopping malls from being slaughtered by (mostly) Islamofascists who have announced their intentions to keep killing Americans, as they did on 9/11.
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Homeland Security’s Unsecure Secretary”

Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - John Armor - Liberals - President - Socialism - Society/Culture - Taxes

‘Getting Around Congress?’ — It’s Much Worse than That

April 24, 2009 by

-By John Armor

The Treasury Department announced today that it would “convert its preferred stock in the nation’s largest banks into common stock.” The stated advantages were that this would allow Treasury to aid more banks without going back to Congress for more money than what was already approved. Some Administration officials even said that this would “get around Congress.”

That alone would be bad enough. But the actual meaning of this action subverts the entire Constitution and is an assault on the American people. It is a take-over of American government, similar to the take-overs that occur every month or so, in tin-pot dictatorships around the world.
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‘Getting Around Congress?’ — It’s Much Worse than That”

Congress - Conservatives - Constitution - Economy/Finances - Founders - History - John Armor - Society/Culture - Taxes - Tea Party

Tea Bags and A Gray Wig in Tennessee

April 21, 2009 by

-By John Armor

As regular readers know, I very seldom rely on other people’s reporting. Most reporters are lazy, or biased, or both, so you cannot trust what you read or watch from them. There are shining exceptions, and one of those is Michelle Malkin. At the end of this column I’ll cite two of her columns that cover much necessary background on the Tea Parties around the nation on 15 April.

In the meantime, let’s talk about white stockings, a gray wig, and a trip to Tennessee.

Last week I was asked to take part in the program of the Knoxville Tea Party this Wednesday. The invitation was not to me, technically. It was to my friend Ben Franklin. Here’s how I was dressed when I arrived in Knoxville:
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Tea Bags and A Gray Wig in Tennessee”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Communism - Congress - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - John Armor - Liberals - Media Bias - Military - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

Bonfire of the Platitudes

April 17, 2009 by

-By John Armor

President Obama’s trip to Europe last week offered several more opportunities to observe his speeches. I listened to several of them, to see if they had changed at all. They had not.

On my desktop I have stored two Doonesbury cartoons from decades years ago. Back then, when many of Doonesbury’s characters were still the same ones we both knew in college, I admired his work. (That was before his politics turned vicious and non-factual, shall we say._ The best of a cartoonist’s skill is to skewer his subject with a handful of words and a few strokes of the pen.
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Bonfire of the Platitudes”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Communism - Congress - Conservatives - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - John Armor - Liberals - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - The Law

Symptom of a Constitutional Disease

April 9, 2009 by

-By John Armor

On special occasions, I wear a red silk tie printed with 56 signatures, all but one of them in black; the featured one in white is “Th. Jefferson.” The names are, of course, the signers of the Declaration of Independence. When asked, I tell folks I practice law for a bunch of dead guys. They pay me nothing. But it is an honor to represent them, especially when it reaches into the Supreme Court.

That brings me to President Obama’s nomination of Harold Koh, Dean of Yale Law School, as Legal Advisor to the State Department. This nomination is a symptom of a constitutional disease that will cause great, and possibly fatal, damage to our Constitution in the next four years.

That is a bold and harsh charge. Here is the proof:
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Symptom of a Constitutional Disease”

Barack Obama - Budget - Congress - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - John Armor - Liberals - Media Bias - Society/Culture - Taxes

Getting Rid of Toxic Congressmen

April 2, 2009 by

-By John Armor

The mantra today is that we must get the toxic assets out of the banks and other financial institutions. That way, the banks will be on a sound footing, going forward. That may or may not be true. But, who are the experts assuring us that various steps are needed, now?

Well, two key people in this process are Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) and Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). Barney Frank had a sexual relationship with the federal official in charge of new products from Fannie Mae. Those new products were the bundled toxic assets that collapsed and started the meltdown.

Frank also accepted large contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sources. And he was saying in Congress that these government-created corporations were “sound” just before the bottom fell out of the financial markets. Lastly, Frank has been at the head of the pitchfork and torches brigade, marching up the hill towards the AIG castle.
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Getting Rid of Toxic Congressmen”

Book Reviews - Crime - John Armor - Media Bias

The Professor and the Madman

March 27, 2009 by

-By John Armor

The title of this column is also the title of a book by Simon Winchester, published in 1998. The subtitle introduces the three, seemingly unrelated subjects of the book, “A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary.”

I’d never heard of this book. It was only in the house because it was in Michelle’s apartment in New York. And it was there only because she ran a book sale at her church in Manhattan, and it was an orphan – donated for sale but not bought by anyone. Yet it turned out to be an excellent book.
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The Professor and the Madman”

Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - History - John Armor - Society/Culture

Kiss Me, I’m Irish

March 20, 2009 by

-By John Armor

On St. Patrick’s Day, everyone is Irish. Maybe just for the moment, or for the next few beers. O’Hara, O’Leary, O’Bama. But some of us have real, biological connections to the Emerald Isle.

One of the reasons I was delighted to make a trip to Ireland last year was the chance to close the circle. By a happenstance the year before, I found the oldest proof of my European ancestors. On the Internet I stumbled across the website of the Compass Inn in Ligonier, Pennsylvania.
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Kiss Me, I’m Irish”

Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - John Armor - Liberals - Media Bias - President

Remember Chance the Gardener?

March 14, 2009 by

-By John Armor

Spring is a very special time, here on the Eastern Continental Divide. This was a particularly harsh winter. The first task on this first truly warm and sunny day was to patrol the grounds and see which plants had survived, and which had not.

We were worried about the red maple planted just last summer. It and the wisteria made it through with flexible small branches, not small and brittle ones. Both plants were presents from dear friends, and one of those friends did not survive the winter. So it was good to see that her plant survive.

Michelle is a bit of a gardener; I am not. But we both appreciate the results. And this tour reminded me of one of the most successful gardeners of all time. How many of you remember Chance the Gardener?
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Remember Chance the Gardener?”

00Publius Contributor - Health - John Armor - News - Society/Culture - Taxes

Things I Don’t Want to Write About

February 14, 2009 by

-By John Armor

When you write a weekly column for 15 years, there comes a time when you have a column due, and only a handful of subjects you don’t want to write about in your knapsack. Judge for yourself whether you want to read about a stolen hat, a blocked intestine, a frozen underground pipe, or how cold it’s been the last two weeks.
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Things I Don’t Want to Write About”

00Publius Contributor - Anti-Americanism - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Islam - Islamofascism - Israel - John Armor - Liberals - Media Bias - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

Bigot, Marxist, Tenured Professor

February 3, 2009 by

-By John Armor

A movement has begun among American college professors to boycott Israeli universities and professors and Israeli culture, over the “oppression” of Palestinians by Israelis. I read some of the press accounts of this academic movement, and decided to investigate its leader.

David Lloyd, Professor of English at the University of Southern California, is the leader of this US effort. Anti-Semitism is commonplace in Europe, where such boycotts are old news. The background of Dr. Lloyd doesn’t look that bad on first glance.

On his Biographical Sketch, there are only a few hints that the man is off-balance. Half of his writing about literature is dedicated to the Irish. As a fellow Irishman, I consider all the Irish potentially dubious.
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00Publius Contributor - Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Founders - History - John Armor - News - President - Society/Culture

Ideals of Our Founding Fathers

January 26, 2009 by

-By John Armor

Thank you Mr. President for this interview. We’re both lawyers and students of history. I look forward to your comments on the “ideals of our Founding Fathers” you referenced in your Inaugural Address.

Which Founders are you particularly thinking of?

Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Franklin? That’s a superlative group.

Yes, of course, we must exclude that slavery matter. Both Washington and Jefferson, until they died, held slaves.
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00Publius Contributor - Barack Obama - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Entertainment - History - John Armor - Liberals - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Taxes

Coming Soon to TV Near You!

January 24, 2009 by

-By John Armor

Notice how the screen writers for TV like a pack of pigeons on a handful of popcorn kernels? One finds brief success. The others hurry to claim a part of it. A few years ago CSI succeeded. Suddenly the TVs were full of “dead people” shows (as we call them with guilty pleasure).

Now, another shift has occurred. In the new wave of “dead people” shows, the heroes and heroines are solving crimes with their minds, not microscopes and chemistry sets. These involve intuitive leaps while the camera is tight on the eyes of the star. Think of all those spaghetti westerns by Sergio Leone with interminable shots of Clint Eastwood’s brooding brow.
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00Publius Contributor - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Congress - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - John Armor - Media Bias - News - President - Society/Culture

Eric Holder: Crook. Liar, Attorney General

January 20, 2009 by

-By John Armor

I watched as much as I could tolerate of the confirmation hearing for Eric Holder to be Attorney General in the Obama Administration. He claimed that his participation in the last minute pardon of Marc Rich was “a mistake” and that he had “learned from it, and would be a better Attorney General because of it.”

The nature of his mistake was that he “did not know” the details of Marc Rich’s crimes and situation.

Let’s examine those claims.

The Department of Justice has a Pardons Attorney who is assigned the duty of examining each request for a pardon. That person is supposed to prepare a report stating the pros and cons of pardoning each particular person. That report is supposed to go to the President before he acts. Included in that report should be the conclusions and recommendations of the lead prosecutors on the case.
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00Publius Contributor - History - John Armor - News - Science - Society/Culture

The Silence of Snow

January 12, 2009 by

-By John Armor

Whenever there is a decent snow storm at night, as there was in the Blue Ridge this week, the following morning reminds me of a handful of perfect days in my life, fifty years ago in Salisbury, Maryland.

Salisbury was then a very small town. Located on the Eastern Shore, it was halfway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, about 20 miles away from each. As a six year old boy, I had no comprehension of the influence of geography on weather. All I knew was, there was a sled in the front hall that had been there since September, and the snow for that sled fell everywhere except in my home town.
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00Publius Contributor - Anti-Americanism - Congress - Constitution - History - John Armor - Media Bias - News - Patriotism - Society/Culture

A Voice Crying in the Wilderness

January 2, 2009 by

-By John Armor

The end of the year is traditionally a time of appraising the last year, and estimating what the next will bring. I’ll skip my personal history and my estimates for my family. Instead, the subject is what I have done for almost 40 years, now.

I’ve spent those years primarily in research, writing, teaching, and practicing constitutional law. At this time, I conclude that the Constitution is in serious trouble.

The idea of creating a democratic republic was extremely rare in 1776 when the intent was stated in the Declaration, as in 1787 when the Constitution was written. The irony is that our nation under that document has prospered mightily, and has survived longer than any other government under any other written constitution in the history of the world.
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00Publius Contributor - Barack Obama - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - John Armor - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - The Law

Governor Blago’s Pit Bull’s Tactics

December 24, 2008 by

-By John Armor

Governor Rod Blagojevich has announced that he is going to “fight until I take my last breath,” in an effort to avoid impeachment by the Illinois legislature. But his first defense tactic came not from the Governor himself, but from his high-priced pit bull (excuse me, defense counsel). Criminal defense expert Ed Genson has attacked the Members of the Illinois House for even thinking about using the tapes made by federal agents on which the Governor, in foul-mouthed tirades, demanded bribes be paid to him or his wife, in return for his appointment of Barack Obama’s replacement in the US Senate.

What did Ed Genson say was wrong with the tapes? Did he deny that Governor Blago said what was on those tapes? No. Did he deny that the foul-mouhed demands made by Blago amount to the sale of his services as Governor for cash and other benefits? No. Did he deny that if Blago did this, he is unfit to remain as Governor of Illinois? No.

Attorney Genson said that use of the tapes by the Illinois House as part of the impeachment process would be “unconstitutional,” and therefore they shouldn’t use that evidence.
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Come Back to 1600, Johnny Dean, Johnny Dean

December 21, 2008 by

-By John Armor

I’m certain that all of you, being well-read folks, recognized the reference to the play that Robert Altman directed and then turned into a movie, “Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.” That quirky play and movie involved a group of women reaching back to what their lives were like a generation before, when Jimmy Dean was alive and they created a fan club for him.

Today, we need a return to Johnny Dean, not Jimmy. Remember Johnny? He was in all the papers. He even wrote a new book a few years ago to make a few bucks and to remind the world that he wasn’t dead yet. Careerwise, he’s dead. But we’re talking biologically.

John Dean was Counsel to President Richard Nixon. He was asked to write a report on the Watergate situation. It was supposed to be a whitewash, concluding that the President had nothing to do with the break-in or the cover-up. Not much was said about the Dean Report. However, all Hell broke loose when John Dean grew a conscience, or just adjusted to the winning side politically. and told the Senate Watergate Committee that there was “a cancer on the Presidency.”
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00Publius Contributor - Barack Obama - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - John Armor - Media Bias - News - President - Socialism - Society/Culture

Doncha Love Chicago Deep-Bleep Politics?

December 16, 2008 by

-By John Armor

Mark Twain noted that any word becomes funny when repeated often enough. The arrest of Illinois Governor Blagojevich provided proof of that, in the excerpts from the tapes.

Here’s my analysis of the Chicago situation (Blagojevich fought his way up from the South Side) in the language of the soon-to-be former Governor, and his equally articulate wife.
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A Bridge Loan to Nowhere

December 8, 2008 by

-By John Armor

As I write this on Thursday, December 4, I’m watching the Big Three auto presidents talking to the Senate Banking Committee, chaired by Chris Dodd, Democrat from Connecticut. In the interests of accuracy, GM, Ford and Chrysler should instead be called the pathetic two and a half.

Normally, the questions asked by Committee members at these hearings are as self-serving and vacuous as the prepared remarks of the high-level witnesses. Today was an exception. Chairman Dodd’s first question went right to the point.

“No matter what we do here, nothing happens until people go into dealerships and buy cars?” The auto presidents had to agree.

The Ranking Minority Member, Senator Shelby of Alabama, followed with an equally pointed question:
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00Publius Contributor - Crime - John Armor - News - Society/Culture

The Prince of Dark Corners

December 4, 2008 by

-By John Armor

The Prince of Dark Corners was either a dangerous, wanton criminal, or a generous, hard-working hero to hundreds of needy families, a century ago in the area not far from my home. It is also the title of a one-man show about Major Lewis Redmond, who died hereabouts in 1906.

Like many (former) fugitives, he had dozens of bullet holes in his body. Unlike most fugitives, he did not die young. He died at home and at peace because he just plumb wore out. He was accused of many things, but the main thing he did was develop a wide-reaching bootleg liquor operation, not once but several times, and provided steady income that kept many families from starvation in the decades after the Civil War.

Dark Corners was the area where North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia borders come together. It was unclear, deep in the woods, exactly where the borders were. And wanted criminals found it handy to set up shop there, and move from point to point when the local authorities from one state or another got too hot on their heels.
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00Publius Contributor - Family - John Armor - News - Society/Culture

One Swan A-Swimming

November 26, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By John Armor

Three miles south of Highlands, North Carolina, the road to Dillard, Georgia, goes through a golf course. It is not just any golf course. It is the one that the great Bobby Jones designed just before he created his masterpiece at Augusta.

Jones had a personal stake in the Highlands Country Club course. He built his retirement home straight across the crescent-shaped lake which surrounds the 18th green, from the flag. Like the rest of the course, the 18th is a demanding hole, a chip across the lake to a teacup of a green that slopes away to all sides so approach shots that are only slightly off, “get wet” as the golfers say.
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00Publius Contributor - Budget - Business - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - John Armor - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Taxes - The Law

The Pinball Bailout?

November 17, 2008 by

-By John Armor

Is the proposed bailout of the “big three” auto makers really for them? Or is it something else entirely?

Here I sit in a farmhouse on the Eastern Continental Divide. From my front porch, I can see most of upstate South Carolina. In that territory are several auto manufacturing plants that are doing just fine, thank-you-very-much. To my left, or west, is the Tennessee border. Over those mountains are several more auto plants which are quite healthy, also.

So, let’s chuck in the trash the idea that auto manufacturing in the US is failing generally. It isn’t. It is just the “big three” American manufacturers. Properly, it should be called the “big two and a half,” since Chrysler is in the bucket, once again.
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00Publius Contributor - Barack Obama - Censorship - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Europe - GOP - John Armor - Media Bias - News - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture

The Barack Obama – King George Connection

November 16, 2008 by

-By John Armor

Barrack Obama seems poised, based on his associates and his appointments to date, to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine for American radio programming, If he does that administratively through his naming of a new Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, he’ll be taking a page out of King George III’s book of policies toward the American colonists.

Say what?

Isn’t that a bit of a stretch since the number of radio stations in 1776 was shockingly low, and King George did not have a Royal Communications Commission? Well, actually he did, and thereon hangs a tale.
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President Obama: How Bad Will It Be?

November 8, 2008 by

-By John Armor

Let us take two sources – the statements made by Barack Obama as a candidate and the lessons of history – combine them and make some predictions. The results are not pretty.

These three results — a new World War, a new Great Depression, and permanent damage to the Constitution – are given in decreasing order of damage to the United States. That happens to be the reverse of their odds of happening. Though to me, as a student of the US Constitution, the last item is still critically bad.

Based on his repeated comments about Iran and Pakistan, Obama will coddle our sworn enemy, Iran, and will invade and antagonize our shaky but critical ally, Pakistan. Yes, I know we have done cross-border raids into Pakistan’s lawless border territory. But we have kept those in the lowest possible profile to avoid antagonizing a critical ally whose population is mostly Muslim and who possesses working nuclear weapons.
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‘Smoke and Mirrors,’ The Anderson Analysis

November 4, 2008 by

-By John Armor

Anybody remember John Anderson? Let’s not always see the same hands. John Anderson was a Congressman from Illinois who ran as an independent for President in 1980. I remember him well, because I was involved in his campaign from the beginning.

Yes, all my life I’ve had a penchant for lost causes. Call it the Rhett Butler syndrome – Rhett joined the Confederacy only after the burning of Atlanta. I wrote a key memorandum to John Anderson urging him to drop out of the Republican Party and out of a debate in Dallas on 22 March as I recall, declare as an independent, and use the method I suggested to make the ballot in all 50 states. He did that, and that, and achieved that access.

Anyway, fringe candidates don’t have the same obligation to avoid saying anything that will offend anyone, on any basis, to the extent that can be done. Therefore, fringe candidates occasionally speak snippets of truth that go right to the heart of the matter. Anderson did that in 1980.
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