LIE OF THE WEEK: 07-11-2008

Rev. Jesse Jackson on his remarks about Senator Obama "talking down to black people":

"My error was responding to a question before a live mic."

THE TRUTH: Actually, his error was not that he spoke his actual views on a live microphone. His error is having those views at all. Rev. Jesse Jackson is a demagogue who is dealing with a couple of issues here: First, he's jealous that Senator Obama is the actual first African-American candidate who is actually has viable chance of becoming president, unlike Rev. Jackson's two presidential runs in the 1980s. Second, he needs to realize that blaming the problems of the African-American community on racism is self-defeating and is a major reason for the issues in that community. People who believe themselves to be without fault as their world crumbles will not do anything to repair that world as they wait for those "oppressing" them to be held accountable and fix their situation. Just because Rev. Jackson had a prominent role in the civil rights era of the 1960s when racism truly was the problem in America does not justify his continuation of the same fight 40 years later, long after the entire world has changed. Senator Obama should distance himself from Rev. Jackson and instead work with other leaders in the African-American community who are speaking the truth, such as Bill Cosby. The last thing we need is for their to be any role in an Obama administration for this type of demagogy politics.

COLUMN: 07-09-2008

The death of long-time US Senator Jesse Helms should serve as a reminder of what is right and what is wrong with the conservative movement in America. Despite liberals' fondest hopes that America is turning in their direction, this couldn't be further from the truth. America is a moderate conservative country and the only times the electorate in the last 50 years has turned away from conservatives are due to two primary reasons: corruption and fascism. Corruption will always cause people to turn away from those in power to the opposition, even if that opposition has views that can only be tolerated for a few years until the corruption within the conservative ranks is cleared out. Fascism is a much bigger problem when some so-called conservatives actually reveal their true colors. Senator Helms was an unfortunate example in this regard as he attempted to use unconstitutional mechanisms on several occasions to enforce his racist views as they declined in society as a whole. The biggest example in recent years has, of course, been the fascist undertones of nearly every Bush Administration national security policy since 9/11. Rather than defending freedom by showcasing it in our society, these cowards claim to defend freedom by destroying every constitutional freedom. From investigating any anti-war protesters who were simply exercising their freedoms of speech and assembly to investigating several religious groups due to pure racism and no actual evidence whatsoever to cause any suspicions, the trend has disgusted the American people as it has proved itself to be counterproductive and actually strengthened the enemy around the world. Senator Helms can be remembered fondly for his opposition to abortion and other liberal policies imposed on Americans, but we should not forget his overall record in terms of driving America away from our core values of freedom and equality for all.

LIE OF THE WEEK: 07-04-2008

White House Spokeswoman Dana Perino on the president's decision to attend the Olympics:

“This is a decision by the president that he really wanted to go in support of our athletes,” Asked if Mr. Bush was making a political statement, she said, “He does not look at it that way, but we recognize that others may.”

THE TRUTH: President Bush is going to the Olympic Games in Beijing because he wants to use every public opportunity to try to improve his horrible legacy. He's not fooling anyone with this political calculation. His influence in America and in the world is so minimal at this point that an honorable decision to boycott the games because of Chinese abuses around the world is perceived by him and his advisers as worthless, so he's going to go and attempt to use the opportunity to show himself as a leading figure in the world. Unfortunately for him, this will be in vain and the last 6 months of his term will be dominated by the 2 candidates to replace him doing as much as possible to differentiate themselves from his terrible performance on the job. He will always be remembered as the president who put self-interest ahead of the interests of the American people and took us through 8 years of failed policies in every area of government.

COLUMN: 07-02-2008

It's a great day in the political scene in America as we watch the general election presidential campaign unfold with two candidates who were the outsiders at the beginning of the process. Both Senator Obama and Senator McCain are reaching out to the moderate conservative middle of America as they work towards the presidency. As long as neither one of them reaches too deeply into the extreme politics of the base of their parties during the campaign, then neither of them will be beholden to anyone but the American people at the end of the election and we can only hope that this will translate into an administration where the corrupt party insiders are kept out for the first time in many years. Perhaps this is too hopeful of a vision for the future, but one can at least take pride in the fact that the American people rejected the Washington insider favorites who were most corrupted by lobbyist money during the primary election process.