Michael+M.+Bates

Elections - Government - Michael M. Bates - President - Richard Nixon

Fifty Years Ago, Kennedy and Nixon Changed our Politics Forever

October 4, 2010 by

-By Michael M. Bates

On September 26, 1960, Senator John Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon appeared in the first of what came to be called the Great Debates. How great they truly were is subject to dispute. But there’s no doubt they altered American politics permanently.

Kennedy looked tanned and rested, while Nixon had been ill and appeared fatigued. The Republican turned down an offer of stage makeup. That may have determined the future of the Nation.

Out of about 180 million citizens, 70 million watched that debate. Many believed Kennedy won decisively. It didn’t matter that sometimes JFK’s words made little sense:
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Fifty Years Ago, Kennedy and Nixon Changed our Politics Forever”

Barack Obama - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - Liberals - Michael M. Bates - President

Barack Obama: GOP Man of the Year

September 28, 2010 by

-By Michael M. Bates

It wasn’t so long ago that the Grand Old Party was rapidly headed toward becoming the Grand Dead Party. Democratic victories in the House, the Senate, state capitols and, of course, the White House made it disheartening for those who subscribe to archaic concepts like limited government, a modicum of fiscal prudence and the Constitution.

But those Democratic victories, ironically, also brought new hope for Republicans. From humble and shadowy beginnings came a community organizer with the thinnest résumé this side of Paris Hilton’s. Yes, Barack Hussein Obama may well prove to be the GOP’s savior.

Look at all he’s accomplished thus far. When a Democratic congressman expressed his trepidation that 2010 could be a big Republican year like 1994 was, in his customary, diffidently humble way Obama said, “Well, the big difference here and in ‘94 was you’ve got me.”
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Barack Obama: GOP Man of the Year”

Barack Obama - Budget - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - Liberals - Michael M. Bates - President - Stimulus - Taxes

The Names Have Been Changed to Protect the Guilty

September 21, 2010 by

-By Michael M. Bates

These days, Barack Obama would rather talk about his birth certificate than use the word “stimulus.” At the press conference that wouldn’t end last week, Obama was asked if his latest and greatest spending proposal amounted to a second stimulus. He answered, “There is no doubt that everything we’ve been trying to do is designed to stimulate growth and additional jobs in the economy,” but adamantly avoided the dreaded s-word.

That’s understandable. The roughly trillion-dollar stimulus enacted by Obama and his large Democratic majority in Congress has become nearly as big a national joke as Obama himself.

It was an ACORN-sized scam from the beginning. When success is to be substantially measured in “jobs saved,” a criterion that’s unprovable, you know that they know how preposterous their scheme is.
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The Names Have Been Changed to Protect the Guilty”

9/11 - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Christianity - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Government - History - Islam - Islamofascism - Jews - Michael M. Bates - Religion - Taxes - Terrorism - Western Civilization

Where Are the Apologies?

September 14, 2010 by

-By Michael M. Bates

Glancing at a newspaper in the Age of Obama can be hazardous to your mental – if not physical – health.

Unemployment is rising. For 18 straight months (not that it has anything to do with The Anointed One’s time in office) food stamp participation has set records. We’re up to 40.8 million recipients. More than 50 million Americans are now on Medicaid, a program intended for the poor. One in six of our fellow citizens are in government anti-poverty programs.

Then there’s that marvelous Obama stimulus. Tax dollars putting people back to work with important, meaningful projects like developing a computerized choreography program, analyzing exotic ants, and studying if a soda tax will improve health. Shovel ready is indeed an apt description.
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Where Are the Apologies?”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Business - Capitalism - Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Freedom - Health - Jobs - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Michael M. Bates - President - Society/Culture - Taxes - Welfare

If ObamaCare Wins, Obama Loses

August 24, 2009 by

-By Michael M. Bates

“It’s like déjà vu all over again,” noted philosopher Yogi Berra is credited with saying. And so it is.

A liberal Democratic president has his heart set on pushing through a proposal strongly unpopular with most Americans. Enjoying substantial Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate, he intends to win.

So it was in September, 1977 when Jimmy Carter signed the Panama Canal treaties to relinquish United States control. An Associated Press opinion poll conducted that month found that only 29 percent of Americans favored the pact. A solid 50 percent opposed it and 21 percent expressed no opinion.

Just as Barack Obama is determined to shove a government health care program down the throats of his protesting countrymen, Carter did what was necessary to get the Senate to ratify the Panama Canal treaties. He cajoled, he promised, he threatened. It worked.
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If ObamaCare Wins, Obama Loses”

Democrats/Leftists - Journalism - Liberals - Media Bias - Michael M. Bates - Society/Culture

The “most trusted man in America” reconsidered

July 21, 2009 by

-By Michael M. Bates

Just as the media – with the exception of Larry King – were finally getting over the passing of Michael Jackson came the news that former CBS newsman Walter Cronkite died. Cronkite was an iconic figure amongst his brethren and media encomia were suitably lavish.

Cronkite was recognized, we’ve been told over and over again, as the most trusted man in America. According to USA Today:

“How did he become ‘the most trusted man in America?’ It was a Roper survey for U.S. News & World Report, Cronkite once said, and he won ‘because they didn’t poll my wife.’”

Ever the skeptic, I tried to find that poll. The Roper Center’s Web site includes a link to data gathered for a 1974 “Virginia Slims American Women’s Opinion Poll.” Cronkite did indeed do better than any other male in that sampling. But note how the question was worded:
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The “most trusted man in America” reconsidered”