R-E-S-P-E-C-T - Find out what it means to me...

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A Forgotten American Value

There was a time when respect meant something in America.  Fact is it really wasn't all that long ago.  I have a pretty good memory you see, and good memories have a way of sticking around.

When I think back it seems the beginning of the end of respect in American culture and life started as a backlash to the forced retirement of Richard Nixon from the White House during the post-Watergate era.

When Nixon ran for reelection in 1972 McGovern was never ever a serious threat and Nixon won every single state except Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, in one of the greatest landslides in electoral history.

The Watergate made no sense as there was no chance Nixon could lose.  In the previous four years he ended the Viet Nam war, lowered the threat of nuclear annihilation by his Soviet inroads, he was the first world leader to open the doors to China, and life was pretty darn good.

Yet there were people on his staff, the California mafia in particular, who were so paranoid they thought Howard Hughes was working with Larry O'Brien (head of the Democrat National Committee DNC and former knight in John Kennedy's Camelot), the mob, the news media and China to bring down the president.

So they ordered the Watergate break in to find evidence in the DNC headquarters.  For the first time the Cubans breaking in got caught after long careers with the CIA.  The trail then conveniently led to the West Wing of the White House and the top staff members of the president.

Thanks to the terribly botched break in, capture and pointing fingers, everything moved fast, perhaps too fast, for a thorough government investigation.  Before long there was 18 minutes missing from a White House tape and tens of thousands of dollars in cash being passed between a series of dark and shadowy secret agencies, organizations and groups.

In terms of people being out to get them no matter what happened in the election, there were some pretty good reasons for paranoia.  Attempts by the White House palace guards to gain political influence over the intelligence agencies was intense and only J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI had the power to resist the White House staff.

And then there was the Kennedy assassination.  Just 12 years earlier JFK was killed.  Bobby Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were killed about five years later.  Nixon had been defeated by JFK and Nixon people always felt the truth about the Kennedy assassination never came out.

Were the Kennedy's killed because they upset the military industrial complex by wanting to end involvement in the rapidly escalating Viet Nam war?  Or was it the mob and CIA who were upset because of the Bay of Pigs fiasco?  Maybe it went back to Jimmy Hoffa, mortal enemy of the Kennedys from the days he was President of the powerful Teamsters Union and was driven from office into jail by a relentless Bobby Kennedy?

As far as the Nixon cronies were concerned someone was out there powerful enough to kill presidents and anyone else involved if these mysterious forces felt threatened.  I think the Nixon political people were determined to find them first.

Anyway, you get the drift, there were a lot of reasons to be paranoid.  The mafia, Jimmy Hoffa, Castro, Communists, Cuban Freedom Fighters, Howard Hughes, the military, FBI, CIA, Soviets, KGB, Kennedy family and so on.

Someone clearly set them up as a warning or in retaliation for something and people that break the law deserve to get broken.

So Nixon wins by a landslide in 1972 and the Watergate investigation is underway.  His aides forgot to tell him some things that took place?  He covers up for their bungled break in though he most likely didn't know it took place.

Check out this time line.

The Watergate break in is June 17, 1972.

Nixon wins reelection on November 7, 1972.

Watergate trial begins in January, 1973.

Nixon fires top aides in April, 1973.

Butterfield tells Senate of Nixon's tapes on July 16, 1973.

Nixon resigns from Office August 9, 1974.

Just before he wins one of the most resounding landslide victories in American political history a break in took place that would bring down a presidency.

The aftermath brought Ford to the presidency, the pardon of Nixon by Ford, and finally Ford's defeat by Carter.  Historically speaking, it was one of the most remarkable periods ever as the strength of the Constitution, the fairness of the judiciary, the ability for the nation to function for two years without a president who was buried in the legal battle for survival, and the media.

Oh yes the media.  They hated the White House palace guard more than anyone.  Not only did Nixon almost beat the beloved leader of the liberal cause, Kennedy and his Camelot in 1960, but here he was back in the White House elected 8 years after JFK.

In the eyes of the media Nixon was back to dismantle the Kennedy legacy, and the rise of the liberal media legacy, and Watergate gave the liberals and media the perfect reason to go after Nixon and his people.  Little did they know they were pawns like everyone else involved.

The aftermath was a terrible polarization between liberals and conservatives, democrats and republicans, academia and the military, and on and on.  Unlike previous times, this time it was a fight for survival of their cause.

By the late 1970's there were many seeds of hatred, intolerance, judgment, bias and fear planted throughout the land fueled by a conviction that the other guy was out to destroy me so my only hope was to destroy him first.

Reagan brought a brief respite from the bitterness, perhaps because he had been both a democrat and a republican, but it didn't last long after.

Ever since it has been clear that the core of our malaise was our failure to respect the right of others to disagree.  Yes, loss of R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  The powerful feminist anthem by soul singer Aretha Franklin in 1967.  Aretha wailed it:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Find out what it means to me

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Take care ... TCB

"TCB" is an abbreviation that was commonly used in the 1960s and 1970s, meaning Taking Care (of) Business.

We all need to remind each other to respect our right to disagree, and respect the opinions of others as you would want them to respect your opinions.

In the past people could disagree without hating.  My best friends worked against me in political campaigns yet we still shared a beer every week and laughed about our campaigns. All of the competitions of life should make us understand the need to respect and listen to each other but we don't.

Maybe the feminists will allow us to borrow Aretha's anthem for another cause, the need for renewing respect in our lives, politics and religions.

Just for fun I checked the definition of respect from my current dictionary and from my collection of old dictionaries, this one from 1906.  Words are my playground and the more I study them the more I understand their secrets.

Over 100 years ago respect had a lot more significance than it has today.  The following are the current and 1906 dictionary definitions of respect.  Use this as a good refresher of what we need to work to achieve.

Internet Free Dictionary - 2012

re·spect (r -sp kt )

tr.v. re·spect·ed, re·spect·ing, re·spects

1. To feel or show deferential regard for; esteem.
2. To avoid violation of or interference with: respect the speed limit.
3. To relate or refer to; concern.

n.
1. A feeling of appreciative, often deferential regard; esteem. See Synonyms at regard.
2. The state of being regarded with honor or esteem.
3. Willingness to show consideration or appreciation.
4. respects Polite expressions of consideration or deference: pay one's respects.
5. A particular aspect, feature, or detail: In many respects this is an important decision.
6. Usage Problem Relation; reference. See Usage Note at regard.

The New American Encyclopedic Dictionary - 1906

respect (rĕ-spĕct )
v.t. [Fr. respecter, from Lat. respectus, pa. par. of respicio=to look back on, to look at: re=back, again, and specio=to look, to look at; Sp. respectar, respetar; Ital. rispettare.]

1. To look back upon.
2. To look toward; to face or look in direction of.
             "Palladius adviseth, the front of his house should so respect the south, that in the first angle it receive the rising rays of the winter sun." - Browne.
3. To take special notice of; to regard attentively; to regard as worthy of motice.
            "What should it be that he respects in her?"
                        Shakespeare: Two Gentlemen of Verona, iv.4.
4. To heed. to consider, to regard.
            "Do you persuade yourself that I respect you?"
                                Shakespeare: Measure for Measure, iv.1.
5. To view or regard with some degree of reverence; to esteem; to look up to with reverence or respect.
6. To have reference or regard to; to relate to.

[Respecting, 3.]

                To respect a person or persons, to respect the person: To show undue favor or bias toward; to suffer the opinion or judgment to be influenced or biased by a regard to the outward circumstances of a person, to the prejudice of right and equity.

rĕ-spĕct , s. [Fr., from Lat. respectum, accus. of respectus=a looking at, regard, from respectus, pa. par. of respicio=to look back upon, to respect (q. v.).]

1. The act of looking at with attention; the act of noticing; a looking toward; attention, regard, care.
                "I will have respect unto the statutes continually." - Psalm cxix. 117
2. Relation, regard, reference [¶].
3. The act of holding in high esteem or regard; regard; reverence; the deportment or course of action toward another which proceeds from a feeling of esteem, regard, or reverence toward such person.
4. (Pl.): An expression of esteem and regard; as, Give him my respects.
5. Respected character or position; respectability, repute.
                "Many of the best respect in Rome."
                                Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, i. 2.
6. Goodwill, favor.  (Genesis iv. 4.)
7. Partial regard; undue bias to the prejudice or right and equity.
                "It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment."
                                Proverbs xxiv. 23.
8. Consideration; motive in reference to something.
                "Whatsoever secret respects were likely to move them."
                                Hooker: Eccles. Polity.
9. Point or particular; point of view; matter, feature.
                "She will be ruled in all respects by me."
                                Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, iii. 4.
10. Modest and becoming behavior; decency.
                "Talk with respect, and swear but now and then."
                                Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice, ii. 2.
11. Deliberation, reflection.
                "The icy precepts of respect."
                                Shakespeare: Timon of Athens, iv. 3.
12.Caution, care.
                "He it well did ward with wise respect."
                                Spenser: F. Q., V. xii. 21.

[¶] 1. In respect: Comparatively speaking; relativity.
                "He was a man; this, in respect, a child."
                                 Shakespeare: Henry VI., Pt. III., v. 5.
2. In respect of, or to:
            (1) In comparison with; relatively to.
                "In respect of a fine workman I am but a cobbler."
                              Shakespeare: Julius Caesar. i. 1.
            (2) On account of; by reason of; in consideration of; as regards.

Do you see how much we are losing from the true meaning of respect?
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Obamaville March 14 - Primaries and March Madness - America's Entertainment

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International Negotiations American Style

For those of you who think we like to mix politics and entertainment, you got it right.  Last night was the pre-opening round of the NCAA tournament when those teams "on the bubble", yet another odd form of media slang, had to play to get into the tournament.

There were two NCAA games and four NIT games and March Madness doesn't even start until tomorrow.  Make no mistake, however, this is really big stuff, much more important than political primaries.

Why even UK Prime Minister David Cameron flew in and he and President Obama took a break from critical world affairs to run down to Dayton, Ohio for the night to see one of the NCAA play-in games.

Play-in games were an underhanded trick by the NCAA to allow more teams into the tournament without adding a huge number of teams, so four teams play each other for the right to play in the NCAA.  In truth it was a way to take advantage of the massive money made from tournament games.

Of course as the last teams to qualify they get the worst seeding so what does that mean to the winner of these games, they play the top seeded teams in the tourney in their next game. So Western Kentucky, after staging the greatest four minute comeback in NCAA tournament history, now has to face the top team in the nation, the mighty Kentucky Wildcats who are the concensus favorite to win the national championship.  The game is in Louisville.

By the way, as our two heads of state watched on Western Kentucky staged the greatest five minute comeback in NCAA history as they came from 16 points down to win 59-58 over Mississippi Valley State.

The next game in Dayton saw even more history made as BYU staged the greatest comeback in the NCAA history by coming from 25 points behind.  Previously, the largest deficit overcome was 22 points in 2001 when Duke fought back to beat Maryland 95-84 in the national semifinals.

Back to our leaders, we all know Obama loves basketball.  In fact it has been good for basketball and good for Obama politically.  But the Brits, well they have a little problem with strange games in the colonies such as basketball and leaders going out for a good time. Check out this fun report of the game by the London Daily Mail.

The London Daily Mail

Don't risk looking like a basket case, Dave

By Melissa Kite

PUBLISHED: 06:17 EST, 14 March 2012 | UPDATED: 09:52 EST, 14 March 2012

British Prime Ministers are good at many things, but high-fiving whilst eating hotdogs has never been one of them.

David Cameron did his best to look like he was enjoying all the slam-dunking action at the basketball, but this really isn’t our thing, is it? I mean, the only thing we Brits have ever put in a basket for cultural or leisure purposes is a piece of chicken.

Barak Obama invited Mr Cameron to watch Western Kentucky University take on Mississippi Valley State in the opening game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's Basketball tournament, known as March Madness, apparently.

At half-time, the pair were interviewed by Clark Kellogg of CBS Sports and Mr Cameron, an Old Etonian more used to cricket, rugby and The Eton Wall game, tried to pretend he was lovin’ it.

The Prime Minister said: “I'm enjoying it. It's fast, it's pretty fast and furious. It's hard to follow sometimes exactly who's done what wrong.”

Which is a bit like British politics, I suppose. One minute you’re a popular leader in an open-necked shirt hugging hoodies, the next minute you’ve got a fractious coalition to lead and just when you should be worrying about your Budget statement and an impending re-shuffle, you have to get on a plane to the United States and eat hot dogs in front of the cameras at a basketball match.

Asked if the President was helping him make sense of it all, Mr Cameron said: “He's giving me some tips. He's going to help me fill out my bracket.”

I don’t know what that means, but I’m guessing it’s not about the pair of them doing a spot of DIY shelf assembly.

It’s always the same when British Prime Ministers meet US Presidents. Remember the banter when Tony Blair hobnobbed with George W Bush at Camp David? There was some gobbledegook talked then about how they used the same toothpaste.

In the effort to be folksy and populist, to mingle British and American culture together to achieve a sort of transatlantic mateyness, something always gets lost in translation.

It makes you long for the days when world leaders simply held talks behind closed doors then gave a short press conference in the Rose Garden. At least we could understand what they were on about.

What about the political primaries?

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.  Santorum was the surprise winner of both Mississippi and Alabama although I don't understand why the media was surprised since the two states are 80% evangelical and Santorum is the pride of the social moral majority issues.

A bigger surprise was how that liberal from Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, managed to split the vote with Preacher Santorum and Professor Gingrich.  Since Mitt also won primaries in Hawaii and Guam he actually finished third in the two southern states (just barely) yet still walked away with more delegates to the GOP convention.

So I guess the lesson this week is losing can still be winning in politics in America.

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America's Newest Heroine - Lori Anne Madison

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Lori becomes 1st 6 year old to qualify for National Spelling Bee

America loves and needs a new heroine and our newest comes in a diminutive package packed with knowledge, smarts and wit, 6 year old Lori Anne Madison from Virginia.

This week she took the long and lonely journey to the pinnacle of national competition when she became the youngest person to ever qualify for the highly regarded National Spelling Bee.

Imagine that, a competition for all elementary and secondary students in the USA, meaning kids from 8 to 18, and she is one of the 277 brightest kids in America.

I have a thing for academic pursuit ever since I started correcting my teachers in grade school so seeing one achieve such a lofty honor as qualifying for the National Spelling Bee boggles the mind when you consider at her age I was probably still playing cowboys and Indians.

If you get a chance check out her interviews as her feat was quickly picked up by the national and world press as if they could not believe America had any smart 6 year olds.  Her maturity and charm belie her years.

Did I fail to mentioned that this young genius is home schooled?

Here is what the world news had to say about Lori .

Six-year-old girl in National Spelling Bee

(Reuters) - A 6-year-old girl will become the youngest contestant ever in the Scripps National Spelling Bee after winning a regional competition in Virginia.

Lori Anne Madison, of Woodbridge, Virginia, won the Prince William County spelling contest last week, beating out 21 top elementary and middle school competitors. Her winning word: "vaquero," a word of Spanish origin meaning cowboy.

"My parents quiz me. I read lists and I have a really good memory," Madison, who is home-schooled, told Fox's WTTG-TV.

Madison was believed to be the youngest competitor ever, the Cincinnati-based National Spelling Bee said on Tuesday. Based on incomplete records, the previous youngest contestant was 8, it said.

The spelling contest has been held since 1925. This year's event will be held May 29 to June 1 in Washington with 277 spellers from the United States, U.S. territories and other countries.

Madison will be sponsored by the News & Messenger newspaper of Manassas, Virginia.

(Reporting By Ian Simpson; Editing by Daniel Trotta)

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March Madness Begins as Top 25 fall like Dominos

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It was the Mad Hatters Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland where all is not what it seems this last week of the college basketball season before the beginning of March Madness this Thursday.

As the top 25 college teams finished their regular season and headed into the conference tournaments, the last warm up before March madness, there were high hopes for a successful post season launch.

Of course the field was filled with the usual characters that have dominated college basketball for the past 500 years as you can see from the standings, with most top ten teams old hands in March Madness.  Here was the top 25:

Top 25

1.Kentucky

2.Syracuse
3.Kansas
4.North Carolina
5.Missouri
6.Duke
7.Ohio St.
8.Michigan St.
9.Marquette
10.Michigan
11.Murray St.
12.Baylor
13.Georgetown
14.Wisconsin
15.Indiana
16.Wichita St.
17.Florida St.
18.San Diego St.
19.Creighton
20.UNLV
21.Temple
22.Florida
23.Notre Dame
24.Gonzaga
25.Iowa St.

Before the long week was over and the NCAA field was set on Sunday night absolute carnage raged as 21 of the top 25 teams lost.  That may very well be a new record in NCAA history with 84% of the top 25 teams losing the last week of the season.

The biggest upset of all went to Vanderbilt from Nashville as they upset #1 Kentucky in the SEC finals.  But 9 of the top 10 lost, only Missouri survived.  The four who did not lose in the top 25, in red, still lost 19 games between them during the season.

In terms of which are the smartest teams, The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, at the University of Central Florida, calculated the six-year graduation results for athletes who entered school during the 2003 and 2004 school years. The analysis does not count players who left college early to play professional basketball.

Only the following teams have graduated 100 percent of their basketball team members, Belmont, Brigham Young, Notre Dame and Villanova.  Vanderbilt awarded degrees to 93 percent of its players.  This was as of last year so maybe we will get to see how smart the teams are this year.

Ironically, Vanderbilt, the upset winner over Kentucky, is known more for the mind than the muscle as they won just their first SEC conference tourney title in 61 years.  Yes, Truman was president the last time they won.

The first round opponent for Vandy is the other egg head team of the tourney, Harvard, who has not played in the tournament since 1946, a 66 year absence.  It was in keeping with the other first-time achievements this season for the Crimson, who cracked the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time, and clinched their first outright Ivy League title since 1946.

This could be the most balanced and/or upset prone field in years as Kentucky, who appeared to be a notch above the rest all season, seemed to run out of gas in the SEC tourney.

Stay tuned to more from Wonderland.

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Countdown to St. Patrick's Day

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The magnificent Cliffs of Moher

Being my maternal grandfather was 100% Irish it is required that I post a countdown to St. Patrick's Day.  Attention: 8 more days until the number of Irish in America reaches over 300 million.

Cheers and check out the song by Irish artist Jim McCann.

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Politics in America - the Clash of the Titans - Axelrod & Plouffe versus Palin & Limbaugh

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The Shadow Campaign moves to the Forefront as the Chicago Gang goes for the Conservative Kill

Politics in America is about to hit a new high or low depending on your point of view.  This past week brought to the forefront the underlying organizations who will most likely decide the future of America.

The four Shadow combatants now squaring off might as well be the ticket for the Democrat and Republican party because they have the potential to make the real candidates nothing more than wallpaper.

As a matter of fact, none of the four has any particular loyalty to a political party although they have taken the spoils of office as income sources in the case of the Democrats.

What is clear is there are no more powerful opinion makers, policy makers and spokespeople for the liberal and conservative causes that fight for control of the American political system every couple of years.

Make no mistake, nothing is done by the president without first checking with his surrogates David Axelrod and David Plouffe, and most times what the president does is what they told him to do.

Between the two they control access to the president and activities of the president.  They decide who gets what in terms of government aid and loans and if they don't sign off on policy it probably won't happen.

On the conservative side you have media titan Rush Limbaugh and media star Sarah Palin, the only one of the four to have run for major office or to have served in office as governor.

As non-candidates they hold sway over massive resources and can influence the entire campaigns from Super PACs and candidates to public opinion and political activism.

It is very rare that those operating in the shadows of a campaign come to the forefront but this time it happened and the result will be one of the most interesting, entertaining and brutal campaign perhaps in our history.

These four Titans can influence billions of dollars in campaign spending and they hold the keys to success of either President Obama or Mitt Romney, the most likely Republican candidate.

This week is a prime example of the Puppet Masters at their best as the liberal Titans made an early move to neutralize the conservatives.  It was broad based, well coordinated and did result in a few darts hitting their targets but it was far from a fatal blow.  Here is what took place.

The destruction of the twin pillars of the right, Rush Limbaugh & Sarah Palin

Make no mistake, the most important thing to the Chicago gang running the Obama campaign is the total destruction of the spokespeople of the conservative movement, Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin.

This past week Palin was scheduled for termination from the political scene with the release of the HBO movie about her based on the research of the Game Change book by MSNBC contributors John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.

The movie was directed by Jay Roach of Austin Powers and The Little Fockers fame which makes him more than qualified to do a film on the 2008 political race.  His political leaning is obvious as this was his second venture to destroy the career of a conservative Republican.

He tried it first with Recount, a film attempting to show that George Bush stole the 2000 presidential election in Florida.  In spite multiple appearances by the writers defending the "fair and balanced" portrayal of Sarah Palin, early reviews, even by liberal leaning critics, find that hard to believe as the film was clearly another effort to trash Palin's career.

Yet to be determined is the role anyone from the Obama campaign played in making sure Palin was out of the political scene during this campaign with the release of the film, curiously just before Republicans will select the opponent to the president.

Since HBO is owned by liberal Time Warner and MSNBC is owned by GE, yes the same company that made $9 billion in one quarter and paid no federal taxes, it seems as if the Hollywood liberals have found a cause to unite them, the final destruction of Sarah Palin.

Ironically, the Obama campaign came out with a Hollywood puff piece. a  17 minute major motion picture on how Obama saved America since being elected, and released it at the same time the Sarah Palin film was being released.

Do you find it a little ironic that the same week Obama officially launches his presidential campaign, his people orchestrate a nationwide assault on Rush Limbaugh to destroy his credibility, the Obama campaign releases a major minor motion picture on the hero Obama who has solved all our problems, and his cohorts at MSNBC, HBO and Time Warner release a major motion picture doing a trash job on Palin?

The problem with Chicago politicians all the way back to the days of Al Capone is that they just don't know when to quit when it comes to defeating their opponents.  Look how the Chicago gang  botched up the Valentine's Day massacre by killing everyone, leaving no one to tell their story to the press.  What good is a great hit if no one knows it was your hit?

Chicago provided the winning margin for John Kennedy's election back in the Richard Daly days getting 100,000 votes for the soon to be president out of Chicago graveyards.

When Barak Obama first ran for US Senate he was behind in the Democrat primary and his opponent mysteriously withdrew from the race though he was leading in the polls and went to work for Goldman Sachs.

Again in the general election his Republican opponent, also leading at the time, also withdrew from the campaign and went to work for Goldman Sachs.  I guess it was no coincidence that Obama's first chief of staff and now mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, also worked for Goldman Sachs.

So it is not surprising that this week saw a major flurry of activity against Limbaugh and Palin that left Obama smiling and emboldened and must have the Axelrod gang giggling like, well Chicago politicians.  After all, Limbaugh with his millions of conservative followers was also a force standing in the way of Obama getting reelected.

At the same time Palin, a force with the Tea Party, conservatives and many women's groups, was the only Republican politician who really got under Obama's skin in 2008 and since and brought out his true colors.

Never had a presidential candidate like Obama spent his time attacking the vice presidential candidate, Palin, like he did.  She singlehandedly stood between him and an anti-Bush landslide which he felt was his birthright having attended Harvard, and she denied him the glory of an electoral landslide to push his agenda of change.

Woe are those who cross a Chicago political boss and isn't his campaign located in the Windy City and not the east coast?  Must be because Oprah lives there.

So how did their political assassination and character destruction campaigns against Limbaugh and Palin work out?

Well, after all the liberal media filled the airways with how Limbaugh had lost his credibility, had lost a staggering 50 advertising sponsors since he shot his mouth off about a college woman before apologizing twice, and it looked like he would have his show cancelled.

Once again the Obama boys just might have exaggerated a little and overplayed their hand a lot.  Maybe Limbaugh lost 50 advertisers, but they forgot to mention on all those fair and balanced news shows that he is broadcast on over 600 stations and has over 1,800 advertisers with a whole lot waiting in line because his show is sold out.

Who is going to fire Rush when he owns his own show?  He has a $400 million broadcasting contract that is only half complete and he made over $64 million last year alone.  Most important, he has over 20 million loyal fans who could care less what he might have said bad about some liberal.  They have watched too many liberals try to destroy Rush and Sarah.

Then there is Sarah Palin.

After four years of the meanest attacks, most vicious lies and dirty underhanded tricks to discredit her they have failed to silence the Alaskan Grizzly.  What the liberal media did to her will haunt them forever in the history books when the truth can be told.

They are fools to think anyone in the public will buy into the lie that Game Change was anything but a Palin trash job by Obama surrogates who were trying to keep the president's hands from getting too much dirt on them.

Palin still has her broadcasting job where she can still tell the truth about Obama.  She still lives in Alaska where the Chicago boys won't go though they have often sent their own surrogates to dig up dirt on Palin.  She still has her organization with millions of gun toting fans and grizzly mothers along with her PACs and other fund raising groups.

Just like Rush, she is laughing all the way to the bank as every Palin book outsells the books by Obama and his legions of book writing liberals calling for the takeover of America and the redistribution of America's wealth.

The Shadow Campaign Titan Team Players

This secret Shadow Campaign, in which the two teams are now fully exposed, pits Axelrod, a New York kid who grew up in the lower east side of Manhattan before moving to Chicago for college, and Plouffe, a Delaware native with a long history in liberal political campaigns, as the liberal Titans.

Representing the conservative cause are Limbaugh, who grew up in Missouri, attended college in Missouri and went on to fulfill his lifelong dream to be a radio personality and Sarah Palin, perhaps the most dissected political personality in existence who is still alive. Sarah is a hard nosed, basketball playing, gun toting, hunter, fisherman, bush pilot and politician from Alaska.

This is going to be a most interesting and entertaining campaign.

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Remember the Japanese Earthquake - Mother Earth's Wake Up Call

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A moment in time when the land and the seas cried out

It was one year ago Sunday, March 11, that a massive earthquake hit just off the shore of Japan triggering the worst natural disaster in modern history.  The ensuing tsunami and collateral damage to nuclear reactors and Japanese infrastructure will not be known for years.

What happened in the waters off the coast of Japan changed the course of history as it demonstrated the fallacies of mankind in concentrating energy production and manufacturing in one place, allowing one country to dominate the world auto parts manufacturing market, and demonstrated how a natural event could result in a worldwide economic crisis and a disruption in all international commerce.

Well Japan survived but the people of Japan will be victims for generations to come so on this first anniversary of the Japanese disaster we would all do well to remember the victims in our prayers and urge our leaders to learn of our potential vulnerabilities from a natural disaster and prepare for it.

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