Just Tell The Truth, Communists
I had a shouting match with a communist organizer last month. He set up a petition to recall Sheriff Joe Arpio outside the public library in Scottsdale, Arizona. He saw me coming and started waving his petition and yelling at me to sign. I don’t want to join the Communist party, and I don’t feel like giving up my freedom to join some club full of crackpots. I’ve been hearing about the communist agenda for fifty years. I’m really tired of hearing about it. So I yelled “Commie” at the guy.
That made him mad. He started yelling back at me, and it turned into a showdown. We attracted a crowd. They started laughing, so he took his petition and left. There are only a few public places that people gather, and the communists found them all. They obviously took my picture and put it on the communist I-cloud. Total strangers are coming up to me and arguing about communism now.
I’ll tell you what I said to them.
Communism is like an old tired ideology that was useful 75 years ago but has really run its course. You can’t be a communist in a Constitutional Democracy because it’s like pounding a square peg into a round hole. American law is based on contract law and individual rights. Communism is a collective, where a handful of elitists make the decisions for you.
I can bore a communist to death. They get up and leave because communism itself is boring. These are people who spend their entire lives not having fun. They are completely self-absorbed, and they have some sort of self-hate that they take out on others. Communism is like inviting the most boring person you ever met to your birthday party.
I also told them that they need to tell people that they’re communists and not go sneaking around pretending to be Democrats and Republicans. If communism is so wonderful, they why don’t they want to share the message? No, they have to confuse everybody -because they’re completely insane!!
Photo credit: rot ist die farbe der hoffnung (Creative Commons)
An Eagle Scout’s Take On The Current Boy Scout Controversy
Yesterday, Western Journalism linked to an article about the controversy over allowing openly gay boys into the Boy Scouts of America.
It looks like after relentless pressure, the Boy Scouts are caving into the homosexual agenda (which as I will explain later has nothing to do with homosexuality per se.)
This just might be the last straw for me…
First, some background. From 1998 until 2004, I was a proud member of BSA Troop 199 in Oldwick, New Jersey. I made a lot of friends and even acquired a few mentors during my time in the scouts. One of my proudest accomplishments in my 26 years was attaining the rank of Eagle Scout in October 2004. I remember the ceremony as if it was just yesterday. It was a lot of hard work, but it was more than worth it.
I am still in touch with several of my fellow Eagle Scouts (some of whom just might be reading this right now!) And man do we have a strong opinion on what is happening to the program we were privileged to be a part of during our teenage years.
I do know some “scout dads” who will cease any involvement, current or former, with the Boy Scouts should they yield to the gay lobby.
I should also mention (proudly) that I am a theologically and culturally conservative Christian who after attending a more moderate church for 15 years was saved earlier this year after attending an Independent Baptist church for two weeks. I am proud to call Sun Valley Baptist Church in Anthem, Arizona my new home church.
The reason why I am specific in terms of what kind of Christian I am is because sadly, a LOT of Christianity has been watered down in America. Whole denominations are indifferent to traditional marriage, “social justice,” the increasing usurpation of our God-given liberties under multiple recent administrations, and even abortion.
When it comes to marriage, I subscribe strictly to its biblical definition. (To some people, that makes me a “bigot,” an accusation I will proudly wear with a badge of honor.) Why, you may ask? Because God did not create Adam and Steve, nor Alice and Eve. He created Adam and Eve. End of story.
I believe that Christians are to hate sin while at the same time loving the sinner. It is not gays themselves I am opposed to. It is the gay lifestyle, which is shamelessly promoted on television, Hollywood, the rest of the media, and the Democratic Party (this should not suggest that I am any fan of the Republican Party, FYI.) It is specifically promoted as a “normal” lifestyle, which just simply is not true to the many of us Christians who read the Bible for ourselves.
It is not the job of Christians to call them names (i.e. “perverts”, “queers”, or worse.) Unfortunately, some Christians will distract fellow church-goers from the fact that they are sinners by just demonizing gays (or immigrants or Muslims) all the time. These Christians should know better as we are all sinners, whether we like it or not.
The so-called “homosexual agenda” is not about homosexuality. It is not about “equality.” It is about gaining special privileges that straight people do not have (i.e. “hate crime” laws.) What they will end up doing, whether they realize it or not, is direct more animosity towards gays. (And Christians who hate sin yet love sinners at the same time are accused of hating gays?!)
I know of many gays, especially some of my fellow libertarians, who refuse to let their sexual orientation define them. This is a wonderful thing in and of itself. (And did you hear about the gay tea party activist who opposed “marriage equality”?)
If the Boy Scouts do indeed lift this gay ban, they will join the media and Hollywood in saying that “it’s okay to be gay.” Of course, that flies right in the face of the laws of God. I challenge any liberal reading this to show me Biblical truth to the contrary.
And I don’t have any time for such organizations, especially now that I know I am going to Heaven. Nor will my children, should God choose to bless me with them at some point down the road.
It’s not that I am afraid of gays per se. I have a few gay friends and even a gay relative whom I love dearly and pray for. And if one of them invited me to their “wedding ceremony” should he/she decide to get “married”, I would not turn them down (although I know they are committing a sinful act and will be praying for them ASAP after the “festivities” are over with.) It’s just that the gay lifestyle goes against God’s word. That’s the deal breaker for me.
As a libertarian (a very misunderstood term, but that’s for another time) AND a Christian, I believe that one of the best gifts God gave us was the gift of free will (which even includes the freedom to refuse to acknowledge there is a God.) Of course, there are consequences for using this gift the wrong way. But such is the Christian life.
And if gays wanted to start their own program similar to the Boy Scouts in nature, I think they should be more than free to do so, assuming parents of prospective members are comfortable with such a program. But the Boy Scouts has every right to discriminate in this way as they are a private organization.
In fact, I would argue that in a truly free society, it should be the right of ANY business or organization to discriminate based on (dare I say it) race, religion, creed, national origin, or sexual orientation, among pretty much any other basis.
Now I am no racist or bigot, and I would likely refuse myself to patronize any restaurant or business that did discriminate in such a way. But the freedom to discriminate like this should exist nonetheless. Discrimination is a two-way street, after all. Black restaurant owners could refuse to serve KKK members. And gays should be free to not serve anyone they deem is homophobic.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll be watching this story like an Eagle…
Photo credit: Preston Kemp (Creative Commons)
What Difference Does It Make…?
Author’s Note - I began my most recent post with the following:
“I never imagined that I’d find myself quoting Bill’s one-time heart throb (okay, eons of time ago), but using her just happens to suit my purpose. (Guess Bill and I aren’t so different after all….)”
Due to an inadvertent title change (the title was to have been the same as this one’s), readers were no doubt puzzled by this. Hopefully, this will clear things up.
Anyone who registers even the faintest EKG response realizes that the “Mainstream Media” isn’t mainstream. So if you felt your not insignificant intelligence was being insulted…and therefore didn’t dive headlong into the piece, I’d ask you to reconsider, as I believe our perception of the establishment media (which almost no one in this audience either reads or watches) is at the very root of all that ails us…and I mean that with absolute sincerity!
Note that I did not say that the endangered media is the problem, but that our perception of it is. Hear me out….
Every national Conservative pundit I know, with the exception of Rush Limbaugh (who has famously – and accurately – dubbed them the “Drive-by” or “Endangered Media”), Michael Savage, and Joseph Farah (who both refer to them as the “so-called ‘mainstream’ media”), mindlessly refers to them as the “mainstream” or “MSM” – freely bestowing upon them the highest of both compliments and credibility!
Would we have called the Communists’ Pravda (far more conservative today than our own state-controlled press!) the Soviet Union’s “mainstream” media? Of course not! It was nothing more than a state-owned organ of propaganda…and while George Soros may not own the New York Times outright (or even in part), it is clear that he, his allies, and his pawns are in lockstep with its entire agenda. (Obviously everything I have said about the networks applies to the so-called “Newspaper of Record,” as well as to its counterparts from coast to coast – whose viewership and coffers are also universally, and happily, “on the brink.”)
To put this in perspective I will recount an experience I had last spring, when AZ State Representative Carl Seel took me by to introduce me to then Speaker of the House, Andy Tobin. It was a Friday afternoon, perhaps 2:00 or 3:00, and the Speaker had gone for the week, as it turned out. His secretary dutifully wrote down my name and phone number, however, promising to have him call me…which, of course, he never did. I knew little about the Speaker at that time, but have since learned all I need to know: he’s a “Republican” – not a Conservative, and a “politician” – not a Statesman, as best I can tell. (It’s difficult, of course, to know any of our “representatives” well when they refuse to respond to their constituents!
As I left his office that day, and passed through the deserted anteroom, there on a freshly-polished inlaid-Mahogany desk, positioned with almost reverential deference it seemed, was a symbol of everything that was wrong with our “veto-proof” Republican Legislature, buoyed up (?) by our Republican (CINO) Governor. There, as a voice from the past, lay the day’s copy of the once-great, once-revered Arizona Republic – no doubt in a far-distant time, the voice of the People of the Great State of Arizona…but no longer.
Like every other “news” outlet and major establishment newspaper in America, it had long since ceased to speak for the People, but had become a pointed instrument through which the errantly-named “servants of the People” could oppress them (in the name of “the oppressed”), and deprive them of their God-given, and at one-time Constitutionally-protected, rights.
Yet how are The Republic and its ideological counterparts nationwide referred to by virtually everyone on our side to this day? As the “mainstream media” – the theoretical “voice of the People.”
In truth, however, almost none of us reads The Republic any more (I know of no one personally); and its circulation attests to that; but as long as the politicians (our putative representatives) do – and as long as they mindlessly accept that the rest of us do – it will continue to inform their every emotional impulse. (I almost said “every thought,” but would have missed the mark in so doing!)
Make no mistake about it, John McCain, Jon Kyle (formerly), and now Jeff Flake have no doubt that The Republic speaks both FOR and TO the citizens of Arizona…although nothing could be further from the truth. (Circulation today is 275,622 daily, and 483, 556 on Sunday, out of a population of 4,289,323, or some 1,578,471 households; thus making the portion of households receiving The Republic 31% on Sunday, but only 17% during the week.
As long as they (our elected officials) believe that The Republic speaks for (and to) the citizens of Arizona, however – and they no doubt will continue to do so until we drive them from office for failing to represent us – they will continue to rule over us with disdain and disregard for our sovereignty and for our rights.
While they may well know that these outmoded organs no longer represent the views of the People, they simultaneously know that they DO represent the views of the elite Ruling Class…and towards the latter is clearly where their loyalty lies! (There are exceptions among elected officials, but they are just that…and rare indeed!)
Our president’s mentor Saul Alinsky said this: “Always remember the first rule of power tactics: Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have” (pp. 126-127, Rules for Radicals).
As long as we the People – and our “leaders” – continue to accept that the OEM (Obsolete Establishment Media) either represents the People, or is being listened to by the People, they will continue to be considered the voice of authority, the FINAL word on what WE want or believe.
And yet, they have ONLY the power which WE, the People, give them…and no more. (Those whom we employ to represent us may choose to follow the lead of the OEM, but as their employers we can terminate their employment when we finally rise up and do so (John McCain being the perfect place to start!).
This all begins, of course, with an understanding of the true strength of our position, and the abject weakness of theirs! (That is what this entire article has been about.) We needn’t mindlessly and obsequiously grant them a status and an authority which not only belie reality, but are completely undeserved!
So here is a tip for all of us: Turn them off! Don’t buy, watch, or read them…and refer to them no more as the “mainstream media” or “MSM”! You wouldn’t consciously give money to the DNC (or perhaps even the RNC at this point!), so why would you give money to, or otherwise support, those who trumpet their failed message to the world, in defiance of the voice of the majority of the American People?
Enough is enough! We don’t need to “tune in” in order to know what they are up to! (If you couldn’t write their every story, giving their every officially-approved party line – on any subject, on any given day – then, with respect, you haven’t been paying attention!) Any one of us could write for any one of their publications starting tomorrow…or sooner! All we’d need to do is lip-sync their anemic platitudes…and cease to engage in rational thought. Like you, however, I’m afraid I can’t – and won’t- do that!
To be continued….
Tom Ballantyne is the author most recently of Uncommon Sense…Apparently! A Call To Arms, and Oh Really, O’Reilly! – both available at Amazon.com and at his website: www.UncommonSenseNow.com. You may email Tom with comments at ThomasMBallantyne@gmail.com.









Liars And Tyrants And Bureaucrats – And The MEDIA
Who’s in charge here, anyway? The Obama administration is responsible for everything, but knows nothing. America is in ruins, scandal, and no one’s to blame. Evidently, the buck permanently stopped with George W. Bush.
The ever so smug White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, has had a tough go of it lately creatively answering questions saying he doesn’t know anything and the president had absolutely no knowledge or involvement – in anything. Apparently, ‘at no time was the Obama administration aware of what the Obama administration was doing.’
It’s funny, infuriating, and sad all at the same time. The most corrupt government in American history has not, is not, and will not be held accountable for their actions.
I hope I’m wrong; nothing will come from any of this.
With Americans as uninformed and disinterested as we’ve ever seen, consider the mounting information that continues to be brushed under the rug. If President Obama were a Republican, he never would have been reelected in 2012 and he’d be impeached in 2013.
But the media refuses to report the truth – unless they are practically forced to – about anything remotely negative on Obama, and four years of this has not only led to a well- insulated president, but also citizens who are not hearing many facts.
A CNN poll last week revealed 53% of Americans still approve of the job Obama is doing as president! Since it’s nearly impossible to estimate how many of these are die-hard liberals, progressives, Democrats, and college students, we should assume a majority of them have little interest or knowledge of Obama’s actual record. Gallup also has Obama’s approval right around 51%. So – what gives? His approval should be in the 30’s.
It’s been suggested that the media can tilt an election by approximately 8 points. I’d also say they can influence polls and approval ratings by making a devil seem like an angel.
America has reached a tipping point. While people are getting more frustrated, government is becoming more arrogant and evasive. Here are some stories that come to mind.
Who can forget the Obamacare monstrosity that was rushed through Congress and then crammed, forced, and stuffed down the American people’s throats? Nancy Pelosi infamously told us we’d have to pass the bill to find out what was in it, and now it’s old news. The lies have been told, the people have been deceived, and more than $1 trillion in new taxes and more than $2 trillion in new spending later, the Democrats have gotten away with their abuse of power Scott-free.
Even HHS Secretary Sebelius admitted insurance premiums will increase and approximately 24 million Americans will lose their current coverage once Obamacare kicks into gear. Because of this, some employers are already cutting full-time workers hours so they won’t be forced to pay for as many employees’ insurance plans.
Blue Cross Blue Shield, for one, has proposed a 25% rate increase for many of their plans.
Insurance rates have gone up, people have lost health care coverage, employers have been forced to drop certain plans, and countless medical costs have gone up because of the upcoming changes in the law – forced upon the majority of Americans.
A few years ago, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was begging our own government for help protecting the U.S./Mexico border. Citizens were having property damaged or stolen, deaths were reported, and Mexican gun cartel activity was traced nearly 100 miles into Arizona. What happened? The Obama administration sued the state of Arizona for enforcing their immigration laws.
Next, when it came to the deaths of American and Mexican citizens, the reckless Fast and Furious gun-running operation was forgotten shortly after Obama protected Erik Holder and the (In)Justice Department by exercising his executive privilege – after it was confirmed Holder lied and was held in contempt of Congress.
One scandal I thought would stick was Benghazi. The evasive runaround, the administration’s laughable talking points, and the complicit media silence kept people uninformed. The scandal didn’t stick, but it does stink. The spin and media puppet show shielded Obama and leading up to the 2012 Presidential Election, the Obama administration received extremely little scrutiny for the Benghazi incident and how it was mishandled back in D.C.
Remember the stimulus debacle? We’re talking about massive spending of taxpayer money on green energy scams; I mean “investments.” Jobs were promised and immediate economic growth was predicted and yet, one after the other, these companies failed miserably.
Solar Trust for America, declared bankruptcy after receiving $2.1 billion in loan guarantees from the Department of Energy. First Solar blew through $1.46 billion, Solyndra wasted $535 million, Fisker Automotive received $529 million, Evergreen Solar spent $527 million, and the list goes on.
Now, we see the current, growing AP scandal involving information leaks as well as the DOJ seizing records of several Fox News employees while they targeted reporter James Rosen.
It’s also been confirmed the IRS has targeted the Tea Party, Christians, and many conservative groups including Republican business executives that simply donated to the Romney campaign.
Naturally, no one in the Obama administration knows anything.
To end with a ‘you just can’t make this stuff up’ storyline twist, the crony slated to take over Obamacare for the IRS, Lois Lerner, will apparently take the 5th in the ongoing investigation of IRS corruption.
I also faintly recall ongoing investigations regarding voter fraud in the 2008 and 2012 elections.
Geez, I hope the media or Obama justice Department find some answers they’re not seeking.
It’s all “ongoing.” Most of us are not holding our breath.