NIetzsche is Dead. Long Live the Western Hero!

Please update your bookmarks to Western Hero!

I'm happy to roll out a new blog with a new name and new look but with the same unhinged rants and opinionated blather readers have come to expect.
WHY?
I love God and I love the good ol' US of A, so why have a blog named after an obscure, incomprehensible God-hating continental philosopher?

It's time to go positive and consolidate my blog name and URL all at the same time.

Thanks to Andrew33 over at Kook's Manifesto for the advice!

Democrats Living in the Past

Healthcare Worthy of A Communist Politburo

Daniel Henninger observes that the Democratic party, although led by a hip young rock star, is looking oh so last century:

In a world defined by nearly 100,000 iPhone apps, a world of seemingly limitless, self-defined choice, the Democrats are pushing the biggest, fattest, one-size-fits all legislation since 1965.

And they brag this will complete the dream Franklin D. Roosevelt had in 1939.

The culture still believes the U.S. has a hipster for president. But the Obama health-care bill, and maybe this whole administration, is starting to look totally out of sync with the new zeitgeist, the spirit of the age.

Precisely.  In this age of hyper-choice, where we are free to redefine ourselves daily and videos go viral on the internet, the Democratic Politburo is imposing the largest, most expensive, all-encompassing, smother-everything program since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

RCP - Henninger

Drunk Pumpkins

If you're gonna party this Halloween, do it responsibly...

Still looking for a halloween costume?  AmyOops has the answer!

Thanks for the picture OD!

Support the Troops by Listening to the Right People

If you haven't been there, you have a hard time understanding the military and what the troops on the ground are going through.  You need some reliable voices you can depend on to give it to you straight

The pundits and politicians may have the foreign policy cred, but beware someone beating war drums who has never been in a war. 

Generals and high-level government bureaucrats can talk strategy, but how does the average citizen make sense of it all?  And what do the grunts on the ground think?

I've been to all those places you've heard about, survived rocket attacks, and came away with some cool stories, but I was not a combat troop.  I have hung out with a few SF troops and provided support for their missions in far flung places, but I am not one of them. 

BTW, if it begins with "Al" or ends in "stan" you don't want to go there, Alabama excepted.  Also stay away from placed that end in "bad."  Whoever named Islamabad knew what they were doing.         

Forrest Gump-like, I have been on the periphery of many things: 9-11, Panama invasion, South American counter-drug ops, Central America counter-insurgency, but I have never done anything heroic.  That wasn't my job.  I was a support troop.

So I must rely on trusted sources to understand what's really going on. 

Blackfive is one of the best. The bloggers are former or current Special Forces, combat infantry, Marines, and others who routinely put themselves in harms way.  If you want to sort the truth from the BS, check out their site. 

For instance, much has been made of General McChrystal's tactical directives he implemented upon taking command.  Armchair generals back home roundly criticized him for going soft on the enemy, but blackfive defended it and broke it down so the average civilian could understand it.

Other Trusted Sources
Michael Yon and Michael Totten are the two best combat journalist and foreign correspondents we have today.  They embed with the troops, talk to the locals and bring it all home to us.  Finally, Robert Kaplan is an academic who relishes getting his hands dirty.  His books are well-researched and highly readable, and demonstrate his scary ability to predict the future. 

I  am sure there are many other good writers who are there or who have been there, but these are the ones I always seek out to get the straight scoop:

Blackfive
Michael Yon
Michael Totten
Robert Kaplan

UN Protests "Summary Execution" Death by Drone

Philip Alston, UN Lord High Poobah and Ratpoopoour of Special Meddling, has demaaanded that the US stop killing terrorists and those who harbor them.

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – US drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan could be breaking international laws against summary executions, the UN's top investigator of such crimes said as he whined and pissed down his leg while trying to strike an arrogant, sanctimonious pose.

Stop!  Or we'll say stop again! 
He's presenting the matter to the assembled murderers, slave-holders, tyrants and snot-nosed pricks at the UN General Assembly:

"The onus is really on the United States government to reveal more about the ways in which it makes sure that arbitrary extrajudicial executions aren't in fact being carried out through the use of these weapons," he added, removing his thumb from his rectum.

"the really problematic bottom line that the CIA is running a program that is killing significant numbers of people and there is absolutely no accountability in terms of the relevant international laws," Alston said, placing his thumb in his mouth.

No, the onus is on you to STFU, jackass! 
Go back to skimming money off of food aid programs and abusing third-world women and little boys!  The International House of Scandal and Corruption is depending on you. Go talk to Human Rights Council Members Saudi Arabia and Cuba about international law.  Jackass!

Disclaimer:  I am a humongous fan of Predator drones and the death they visit upon  7th century, goat violating, BO stinking, America haters.  My retirement flag flew on a Predator mission.  They told me a whole platoon of jihadis got smoked that night...

Yahoo - UN Funnies

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Smear 'Em

Richard Milhous Obama Continues Assault on "Enemy" Fox

Fox News is "operating basically as talk radio," President Obama suggested in an interview airing today.

White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod said this weekend that Fox is "not really a news station."

FOX News:  The only TV station where real debate happens

Nile Gardiner identifies the key to Fox's success.  It is the only genuine arena where ideological combat takes place nightly.  No fall guys, no rigged fights, just smart, opinionated combatants duking it out in the arena of ideas:

READ MORE >>>

Harry Health Care

Senator Harry Reid, who on even one of his better days looks like he's suffering a pack of sulfurious hemorrhoids, came out yesterday in favor of socialized medicine.  He lamented the fact that Olympia Snowe (Liberal Republican from one of those northeast states where they talk funny), refuses to go along with a plan that only 25% of Americans now support:

"We hope that Olympia will come back. She's worked hard. She's a very
good legislator.

I'm disappointed that the one issue, the fact that I killed a man in Reno just to watch him die, has been something that's frightened her," Reid said.

The Blob That Ate Everything

"The more people learn about the legislative blob slouching toward passage, the less they like it."  (KC Star - McClanahan)

33% of Health Care Costs Are Due to Waste

Reuters provides an annual breakdown of the inefficiencies:

* 37% ($200 to $300 billion):  Unnecessary care such as the overuse of antibiotics and lab tests to protect against malpractice exposure

* 22% ($200 billion):   Fraud.   Fraudulent Medicare claims, kickbacks for referrals for unnecessary services and other scams.

* 18% Administrative inefficiency and redundant paperwork

* 11% ($50 to $100 billion):  Medical mistakes. 

* 5% ($30 to $50 billion):  Preventable conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes.

Wouldn't it be great if somebody, anybody in the GOP stood up on their hind legs and rallied voters to their side on this one?   Cut waste first is a simple message that a majority of voters agree with.


Is anybody in the GOP smart enough to capitalize on growing public mistrust of this "legislative blob?"

After all, like many Democratic proposals, this medical monstrosity is fundamentally un-American, according to Arthur C. Brooks:

public resistance stems from the sense that the proposed reforms do violence to three core values of America's free enterprise culture: individual choice, personal accountability, and rewards for ambition.

If the GOP can't make an issue of this, they are through as a party. 

Reuters