Rational Nation USA

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny I rarely give credit to the stink hole of progressive thought Think Progress because, well, because it is a stink hole of anti concepts in motion, designed for the progressive collectivist sheeples. However, even the clueless get it right every so often. Think Progress recently reporting on American Enterprise Institute and the centrist Brookings Institution view the Republicans are the problem caught my eye. This because I've been saying for nigh on 15 years they are the problem. Here is the the text minus the stink hole of progressive thought's comments. Two leading political scholars — representing the conservative American Enterprise Institute and the centrist Brookings Institution – have published a must-read article, “Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem.” Skip Rep. Allen West, a Florida Republican, was recently captured on video asserting that there are “78 to 81” Democrats in Co

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny President Obama politicizing his decision that resulted in the death of bin Laden. Perhaps it was not really a good decision. Time magazine securing a memo that could indicate the President was covering his on arse should the mission to take out bin Laden have went wrong. Ben Shapiro writing a column on how the President in his opinion, did just that. Before beginning my analysis of the above let me say I have real issues with many of the President's policy decisions and I certainly have issues with his desire to grow the federal government beyond recognition. Recognition when compared to what our constitutional republic should look like and how it should function. Now for my take on the most recent brouhaha. The memo secured by Time and as reported by Mr. Shapiro in Breitbart.com . Breitbart.com - Received phone call from Tom Donilon who stated that the President made a decision with regard to AC1 [Abbott

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA  Liberty -vs- Tyranny What follows is something even the most callous will have difficulty imagining. But considering from whence the idea came perhaps no one shouldn't be all that surprised. Daily Mail Egyptian husbands will soon be legally allowed to have sex with their dead wives - for up to six hours after their death. The controversial new law is part of a raft of measures being introduced by the Islamist-dominated parliament. It will also see the minimum age of marriage lowered to 14 and the ridding of women's rights of getting education and employment. Egypt's National Council for Women is campaigning against the changes, saying that 'marginalizing and undermining the status of women would negatively affect the country's human development'. Dr Mervat al-Talawi, head of the NCW, wrote to the Egyptian People’s Assembly Speaker Dr Saad al-Katatni addressing her concerns. Egyptian journalist Amro Abdul

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny No time to post, needed break.

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Is the GOP becoming less anal as a party? For a party that has maintained a predominately reactionary outlook when it comes to gay rights and gay unions perhaps Romney selecting openly gay Richard Grenell as his foreign-policy spokesman is a hopeful sign. the Atlantic - The recent hiring of Richard Grenell, Mitt Romney's openly gay foreign-policy spokesman, represents a breakthrough in the world of Republican presidential campaigns. Grenell isn't the first out gay person to serve as a high-level staffer to a GOP nominee, but as far as I can tell, he is the first such press spokesman -- the first to serve as the public face of the all-but-certain Republican nominee -- and on the historically sensitive issue of national security, no less. As an openly gay Republican in presidential politics, Grenell joins a small fraternity of out GOP staffers, instantly becoming the highest-profile of the band. His rise signal

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Mathew Owens, brutally beaten lies in a Alabama hospital in ICU fighting for his life. He was beaten by a gang of approximately twenty with pipes, paint cans and chairs. The gang left him on his front porch presumably to die . Tonight, as I read the sketchy reports of this brutal beating by a gang of approximately twenty I can't help but wonder just where the national mainstream media is hiding. I can't help but ask when Our President , who not too long ago weighed in heavily on a circumstance that resulted in the loss of life, might have some remarks on this incident. Along with words of kindness and support for Mathew Owens family. Perhaps Our President, like NBC, ABC, and others are too busy to be concerned. It has been reported by a witness that as the gang walked away someone said "Now that’s justice for Trayvon.” The Daily Caller - Hey, that’s what he gets for having a similar skin color to some

On Teaching Kahlil Gibran No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge. The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness. If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind. The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding. The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it. And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither. For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man. And even as each one of you stands alone in God's knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his un

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny It is quite obvious the end is near for Representative Ron Paul and his valiant run to restore liberty in America by winning the Presidency of the United States. Even though his valiant and patriotic effort will not propel him to the general election his Revolution will continue. Ron Paul has inspired the young as well as the old. Individuals who love liberty and understand the need to return to constitutional governance will carry on the fight!. Philadelphia (CNN) – Ahead of Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary, presidential hopeful Ron Paul painted his long-shot campaign as a new American revolution at a rain-soaked event outside Independence Hall. “In our early history, we had a major undertaking overthrowing an empire,” Paul said. “And in some ways that is what we are doing now.” Paul’s supporters call his campaign the “Ron Paul Revolution,” and they turned out in a steady, hard rain outside the hall where the

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Keith Olbermann, the extreme left wing blowhard (think Rush Limbaugh on the right), whom I agree with about .0001% of the time is right about the presidential "dog" politics of last week. As is George Will. ABC - After a week of dog-eat-dog politicking between President Obama and Mitt Romney’s respective campaigns, Keith Olbermann said today that the “dog-gate” controversies have gotten out of hand. Politicos, pundits and the presidential-campaign watching public spent the past week pondering which is worse, a presidential candidate who put his dog in a kennel strapped to the roof of his car for a 12-hour drive or a president who ate dog meat as a child living in Indonesia. “It raises the level of absurdity to something exponential,” Olbermann said on “This Week” about the Romney campaign criticizing Obama for consuming dog meat when he was 6 years old. “With so many valuable questions going on, we’re w

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Gov. Jeb Bush Sen. Marco Rubio Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio, who earlier endorsed Mitt Romney has announced his support for Jeb Bush to be named the Vice Presidential candidate on the Republicans national ticket. As the moderate Romney continues to strengthen his support among the republican party establishment, and the more conservative wing of the party is beginning to coalesce around  the presumptive nominee it is looking more and more that...  the more things change the more they actually stay the same. The bottom line folks is the choice in November 2012 is almost certain to be between  Obama and Obama Light. The only real difference is Obama Light (Romney)  actually has had real life business experience and real business accomplishments. As for Rubio, well I guess he just reenforced his hand with the party power structure. He is a big "R" establishment statist republican after all. ( CNN ) –

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny The environmental wacko's, in typical fascistic form weigh in on global warming and climate change, calling for "making the skeptics pay" for daring to question questionable science. Infowars.com - “Let’s start keeping track of them…let’s make them pay” Writing for Forbes Magazine, climate change alarmist Steve Zwick calls for skeptics of man-made global warming to be tracked, hunted down and have their homes burned to the ground, yet another shocking illustration of how eco-fascism is rife within the environmentalist lobby. Comparing climate change skeptics to residents in Tennessee who refused to pay a $75 fee, resulting in firemen sitting back and watching their houses burn down, Zwick rants that anyone who actively questions global warming propaganda should face the same treatment. “We know who the active denialists are – not the people who buy the lies, mind you, but the people who create the l

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Gee, what a surprise. As the old adage says, "the more things change the more they stay the same." SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - The Republican Party establishment has withstood the tea-party revolution. Skip The 2012 meeting of the Republican national command shows just how little has actually changed in the Grand Old Party since the tea-party movement helped Republicans capture the U.S. House majority two years ago and announced that they were a powerful force in American politics. While tea-party activists have won county chairmanships and seats on state central committees, few (if any) activists have clinched slots on the Republican Party’s 168-member governing committee. That’s not to say that tea-partiers have disappeared or that they won’t get their moment in the sun — but it may take years for them to climb the party ladder the same way as everyone else. GOP elders sympathize with the movement’s ideas a

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Alton L. Hayes III Here we have it folks. A black youth beats the sh*t out of a white youth in Chicago. His reason? Because the dude was white and Alton is pissed off about the Trayvon Martin shooting. Excerpt from Fox Chicago Alton L. Hayes III, a west suburban man charged with a hate crime, told police he was so upset about the Trayvon Martin case in Florida that he beat up a white man early Tuesday. Hayes and a 15-year-old Chicago boy walked up behind the 19-year-old man victim and pinned his arms to his side, police said. Hayes, 18, then picked up a large tree branch, pointed it at the man and said, “Empty your pockets, white boy.” The two allegedly rifled through the victim’s pockets, then threw him to the ground and punched him “numerous times” in the head and back before running away, police said. Hayes and the boy are black; the victim is white. After being arrested, Hayes told police he was upset by

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny "You have to campaign to govern, not just to win." - Mitch Daniels, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels offered the above advice to Mitt Romney, the presumptive republican presidential nominee. In this age of political platitudes, sophistry, hyperbole, and driving negativism more appropriate words would be hard to find. Coming from any politician. A few key excerpts from a CNN Politics article. The governor, who's often cited as a potential Republican running mate for Romney, reportedly told the newspaper that "political victories that follow 'slash-and-burn' campaigns seldom lead to great accomplishments," referring to the already-bitter war underway between Romney and the president's re-election campaign. "Spend the precious time and dollars explaining what's at stake and a constructive program to make life better," Daniels said. "And as I say, look at everythi

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Sometimes it seems right to begin at the end. Let me explain. I was browsing through some politically focused sights, the usual mix of liberal, conservative, and libertarian. One really caught my interest, mostly because the article was filled with common sense and lacked what has become so common today; a sense of pure partisanship. After completing the article I found myself reflecting on the simple wisdom contained in a article that will never, although it should, hit the main stream media. And so, I begin the article at the end. Sandy Salt - Who are these flash-mob voters you ask, well I like to call them the Angry Joes & Janes of the middle that are not right or left wingers. These are fiscal conservatives that hate the idea of the government wasting their hard earned dollars. They are compassionate and willing to lend a had, but don't want to feel like their charity is at the end of the billy club.

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Just some numbers. You be the judge of either how significant OR inconsequential they may be. ( CNSNews.com )- In the 39 months since Barack Obama took the oath of office as president of the United States, the federal government’s debt has increased by $5,027,761,476,484.56. Although he has served less than a term, Obama is now the first American president to see the federal government's debt increase by more than $5 trillion during his time in office. During the full eight years that George W. Bush served as president, the federal government's debt increased by $4,899,100,310,608.44. (Rising from $5,727,776,738,304.64 to $10,626,877,048,913.08.) The $5,027,761,476,484.56 that the debt has increased during Obama's presidency equals $16,043.39 for every one of the 313,385,295 people the Census Bureau now estimates live in the United States. { Read More } Banana's seem ever closer to home... Via

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny The Iron Curtain Memorial in Budapest The Iron Curtain that spread across eastern Europe following the end of WW II eventually fell. When the west (the Allies) effectively won the Cold War the curtain, a most glaring construct of totalitarian tyranny saw its last days. Now in 21st century America, a bastion of freedom and liberty, legislation is moving through the Congress that at it's core has the potential of creating an "Iron Curtain" for USA citizens. And without the due process of law. Investors Business Daily -The Republican House of Representatives may soon follow the Democratic Senate and give the IRS the power to confiscate your passport on mere suspicion (emphasis mine) of owing taxes. There's no place like home, comrade. 'America, Love It Or Leave It" might be an obsolete slogan if the "bipartisan transportation bill" that just passed the Senate is approved by th

from the desk of: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Perhaps the most insightful and powerful words I've read in quite some time. Utopianism substitutes glorious predictions and unachievable promises for knowledge, science, and reason, while laying claim to them all. Yet there is nothing new in deception disguised as hope and nothing original in abstraction framed as progress. A heavenly society is said to be within reach if only the individual surrenders more of his liberty and for the general good, meaning the good as prescribed by the state. If he refuses, he will be tormented and ultimately coerced into compliance, for conforming is essential. Indeed, nothing good can come of self interest, which is condemned as morally indefensible and empty. Through persuasion, deceit, and coercion, the individual must be stripped of his identity and subordinated to the state. He must abandon his own ambitions for the ambitions of the state. His first duty must be

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny This sight fully and wholeheartedly supports the second amendment rights of all verifiability sane and mentally stable Americans to bear arms. Indeed, just as the founding fathers so correctly understood it is crucial to a free society that it's citizens are insured the right to bear arms. It is the only way in which the individual citizen has to protect themselves against the threat of a tyrannical government. However, especially in light of the FACT that President Obama has not threatened to take away this right, rocker Ted Nugent's remarks are just a bit over the top and really constitutes nothing more than extreme right wing hyperbole and propaganda. Here is what the rocker had to say. Ted at the 56 second mark of the video. CNN certainly did it's best to tip toe around Ted's remarks while giving great extended play to Debbie (Wacko) Wassermann Schultz's OPINION. CNN - "If Barack Obama

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Since 1980 total Federal Tax increases have totaled 3.3% of GDP. If President Obama is reelected the possibility of a huge 3.5% Federal Tax increase in quite likely. Impact on the business sector, our economy, and the middle class in particular will be staggering. AEI - All the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts. Gone. It would have been the Mother of All Tax Hikes, a $3 trillion tax increase during shaky economic times. It would have broken a campaign promise not to raise taxes on middle-income Americans. President Obama was shockingly close to embracing such a plan back in 2009. And if he’s reelected in 2012, Obama may well reconsider the idea and let all the Bush tax cuts expire as they are scheduled to do in 2013. At least, that’s the story—and prediction—told by journalist Noam Scheiber in his new book, The Escape Artists: How Obama’s Team Fumbled the Recovery. Short version: In the fall of 2009, Obama’s chie

Cross-posted at the Left Coast Rebel " Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force...Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action ." - George Washington Due to a busy schedule I didn't catch Peggy Noonan op-ed in Saturday's WSJ on the Republican party's trigger-happy war policy. Plus, Noonan -- Ronald Reagan's speechwriter -- draws up an interesting anti-war John Wayne analogy to what passes as "strong on defense" in the Republican party today... Finally, in foreign affairs the Republican candidates staked out dangerous ground. They want to show they’re strong on defense. Fine, we should have a strong defense, the best in the world. But that is different from having an aggressive foreign policy stance, and every one of the GOP candidates, with the exceptions of Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman, was aggressive. This is how their debates sounded:  We should bomb Iran Thursday. No, stupid, we should bomb Iran on

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny “Entrepreneur’s Credo I do not choose to be a common man, It is my right to be uncommon … if I can, I seek opportunity … not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen. Humbled and dulled by having the State look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; To dream and to build. To fail and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole; I prefer the challenges of life To the guaranteed existence; The thrill of fulfillment To the stale calm of Utopia. I will not trade freedom for beneficence Nor my dignity for a handout I will never cower before any master Nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect. Proud and unafraid; To think and act for myself, To enjoy the benefit of my creations And to face the world boldly and say: This, with God’s help, I have done All this is what it means To be an Entrepreneur.” ― Thomas Paine, Common Sense   As I listened to the President and h

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Given the American liberal establishments approval and acceptance of all things Muslim it is not at all surprising to find them silent on the following. Saudi Arabia has decided to bar gays and tom boys from its government schools and universities within a crackdown against the spread of this phenomenon in the conservative Moslem Gulf Kingdom, a newspaper said on Monday. The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the most feared law enforcement authority in the oil-rich country, has been asked to enforce the new orders, Sharq Arabic language daily said. “Instructions have been issued to all public schools and universities to ban the entry of gays and tom boys and to intensify their efforts to fight this phenomenon, which has been promoted by some websites,” it said. The paper did not make clear who issued those instructions but said gay and tom boy students can go back to schools and uni

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Trayvon Martin Finally... George Zimmerman the 28 year old man responsible for the death of Trayvon Martin the 17 year old Florida teenager has been charged with 2'nd degree murder. It is as it should be. Now perhaps the media, the politicians, Sharpton, Jackson, and the pundits on the left and right will give space and allow the justice system to work. The death of Trayvon, a young man just beginning life is indeed a tragedy that affects us all in one way or another. At the very least it requires us to look at society and how it values life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Or at the very least it should. There are those who say this incident was racially motivated because Trayvon a black was killed by a white/Hispanic. I am not so sure based on the limited knowledge we now have. Certainly more will surface as the case goes to trial. This is as it should be. One can not help but wonder what the call for

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Rarely do I visit the Daily Beast. When I do, more often than not I find the material less than interesting or substantive. Today was just a bit different. The Conversation about women’s bodies exists largely outside of us, while it is also directed at (and marketed to) us, and used to define and control us. The Conversation about women happens everywhere, publicly and privately. We are described and detailed, our faces and bodies analyzed and picked apart, our worth ascertained and ascribed based on the reduction of personhood to simple physical objectification. Our voices, our personhood, our potential, and our accomplishments are regularly minimized and muted. As an actor and woman who, at times, avails herself of the media, I am painfully aware of the conversation about women’s bodies, and it frequently migrates to my own body. I know this, even though my personal practice is to ignore what is written about me. I