Robert Laurie Presents: The Robalution - A Conservative Voice In A World Gone Mad

“This is the first president that actually writes his own books since Teddy Roosevelt and arguably the first to write them really well since Lincoln. If you accept the premise, and I do, that the United States is the most powerful country in the world, then Barack Obama is the most powerful writer since Julius Caesar. That has to be good for American artists.”

That’s a quote from NEA chairman Rocco Landesman, the man Obama handpicked to run the education union.

Where to begin?

We could start with the fact that Caesar was a man who took a republic and turned it into an Empire.  If that’s what the NEA wants us to think of Obama, so be it.

We could point out that the category of politically powerful authors includes such luminaries as Hitler and Lenin, so being a world leader who wrote a book isn’t necessarily something to be so impressed with.

Maybe we could point out other, far superior historical figures who published books.  Frankly, Obama has done nothing to put himself in the same class as people like:

Winston Churchill
Benjamin Franklin
Ulysses S. Grant
Ronald Reagan
Dwight Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy (a Pulitzer Prize winner)

If we wanted, we could make the argument that the works of Teddy Roosevelt, which Landesman dismisses, are themselves far superior to anything Obama has put to paper.  In particular, African Game Trails and The Rough Riders are fascinating, entertaining reads for anyone interested in history.

Leaving the political realm, writers like Shakespeare, Twain, Hemmingway, Hawthorne, Eliot, and Dickens have done more to shape U.S. and world culture than Obama could ever hope. 

In the end, however, all we have to do in order to discredit Landesman’s claim is point out the fact that America’s top NEA official is a sycophant moron who thinks Lincoln wrote a book.

He didn’t.

One hopes the teachers who make up the membership of the NEA are smarter than its leader.

- Robert Laurie

Rep. Bart Stupak has been on a crusade to remove federally funded abortion from the House health care bill and, as a result, has raised the ire of Nancy Pelosi.

While being interviewed on C-Span’s “Washington Journal, Stupak admitted that his own party was angry with him, but vowed to fight provisions that would use taxpayer dollars for abortions.

“The Speaker is not happy with me,” Stupak said.

Maybe that’s because, by fighting the included abortion language, Stupak is punching a big hole in democrat claims that abortion isn’t funded in the first place.

Whatever the reason, any democrat who manages to anger “crazy-eyes” Nancy is OK in our book.

- Robert Laurie

Speaking of Kenneth Feinberg, he was made available to the press yesterday for a series of round-robin interviews.  There was only one problem: Barry tried to ban Fox News reporter Major Garrett from the proceedings.

As a result, the bureau chiefs of the five major news outlets got together and made a decision.  Either the White House would let Fox in on the interview process, or none of them would be taking part.

The White House tucked its tail between its legs, and immediately backed down, all but conceeding defeat in the war with FNC.

Kudos to the media for finally standing up to the bullying tactics of this administration.

- Robert Laurie

According to the White House, President Barack Obama was not made aware that his own “Pay Czar,” Kenneth Feinberg, was going to cut executive pay this week. 

Let that sink in. 

There are only two options here.  A: Obama is flat-out lying, or B: Feinberg just enacted one of the biggest extensions of federal power over the private sector in US history, and Obama knew nothing about it.

Furthermore, according to an article at politico.com, Feinberg believes that “Obama had no legal authority to veto or modify the pay plan he submitted Wednesday.”

So, the Pay Czar now has the authority to control salaries, occupies a position that exists without threat of congressional review, and exercises his power at a level that is unquestionable, even by the president who appointed him?

Welcome to your Coup, America.  Mr. President, please kneel and kiss the ring of your Czar.

Oh wait, Feinberg doesn’t like being called a Czar.  According to the Politico, he prefers to go by his more formal title : “Special Master.”

I feel so much better.

- Robert Laurie

Last year, when George W. Bush started handing out cash to major banks and corporations, there were very few strings attached.  At the time, conservatives (at least the ones who were paying attention) were screaming about the fact that the handouts were clearly unconstitutional.  The complaints fell on deaf ears.

Fast forward about six months.  Barack Obama comes to power and, in February, signs another unconstitutional law.  This time, the government is granted the power to control the salaries of executives running businesses that had not yet paid back their bailout loans.

Later, Barney Frank suggested that the law should be made even more unconstitutional by extending it to cover ALL executives, whether they’d taken TARP money or not.

Until now, Dems had wisely opted not to take any further action in the matter. 

Today, however, Obama decided it was time to get tough.

Execs at 15 companies that have yet to repay their bailout loans will have their salaries slashed.  The lucky ones will lose 50% of their pay, while the not-so-lucky will lose up to a whopping 90%.

Never mind that there is nothing in the Constitution granting the government power to bailout failing companies.

Never mind the fact that the Constitution specifically forbids the taking of personal wealth or property without compensation.

Never mind that the contract these companies signed with the government contained no provisions that would allow the Obama administration to take this action.

Never mind that the president, for a time, refused to even allow these organizations to repay the loan, opting instead to maintain control over them.

Clearly, to this president, quaint notions like the Constitution and legal precedent have little meaning.  Time and again, he shows that he has no respect for our founding documents, and the courts are simply another tiny obstacle in his plan to “remake America.”

Populist drones on the left will, of course, mock the wealthy that have just had their paychecks stolen by this out-of-control megalomaniac.  However, thinking people can see the slippery slope. 

It’s easy to envision a future where crooks like Frank get their wish, giving the “Pay Czar” the power to control ALL of our salaries. 

What’s that?  You don’t make millions, so it won’t matter to you?   Bury your you head if you like, but remember: According to Obama’s desired tax increases, everyone making over $250,000 is wealthy.  If you’re above the 250K line, he considers at least some portion of your income to be undeserved.  In his mind, some of those evil profits should be used, as he put it, to “spread the wealth around.”    

Wouldn’t it just be easier to let the Pay Czar cap ALL annual net pay at two hundred and fifty thousand?

Politicians and movie stars will, of course, be exempt.

- Robert Laurie

Ever since the Olympic Committee chose Rio De Janero as the site of the 2016 games, officials there have been saying that they will “clean up” the notoriously crime ridden city.

Hmmmm.  I’d suggest starting by putting an end to the paramilitary gang wars which, this weekend, became so violent that they started bringing down police helicopters. 

Just a suggestion.

- Robert Laurie

Today, the Obama administration issued new legal guidelines to federal drug enforcement agents.  Under the new rules, those who grow, supply, and use medicinal marijuana in states that have legalized it, will no longer be targeted by the DEA, as long as they are in strict compliance with their state’s laws. 

This is a big shift away from the policies of the Bush administration, which ordered its agents to go after users and suppliers regardless of their compliance with state law.

Ladies and gentlemen, listen up, because I want to make this very clear.  All of you who send me mail, day in and day out, claiming I’m just some crackpot racist who opposes every Obama policy because he’s black?  This is for you.

OBAMA HAS DONE SOMETHING I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE WITH.

Got that?  Everybody clear?  OK.  We can move on.

Currently, 15 states have passed legislation easing restrictions on medicinal marijuana, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. 

Here at the Robalution, we believe that this is, and has always been, a state’s rights issue, and we’re happy to see the government finally recognize that.  Don’t want legal marijuana in your state?  Fine. Ban it locally.  There is nothing in the Constitution that gives the U.S. government the powers that they were exercising under President Bush.  If only they’d recognize that the same holds true with alcohol, tobacco, and firearms, we’d be rid of one the worst federal agencies in U.S. history.

Now it’s time to hold the administration’s feet to the fire regarding other upcoming 10th amendment battles, not the least of which will be states who plan to resist a government run health care plan. 

The battle over state sovereignty is the single most important issue facing this country, and it’s starting to come to a head.  If you’d like to know more about the fight, please, please, please, go to the Tenth Amendment Center and read up. 

- Robert Laurie

Back in the 1970’s, before global overcrowding was their big issue, and long before they’d managed to convince the world of global warming, the Democrats, Socialists, and Communists were worried about global cooling.  They’d run around publishing books about the second ice age, claiming that one day the snow would start falling and, God help us, it wasn’t going to stop.   Mankind was doomed.  We were headed for nuclear winter, whether we dropped the bomb or not.

Like most of their fictions, it was based on a lot of phony statistics and hokum, designed to bring the West down a peg or two.  Needless to say, it never came to pass and they quietly moved on to the next world-threatening, capitalist-created dilemma.

Maybe they should have held out a little longer, because the world has started to realize what a sham global warming is, and it’s getting a might chilly out there.

There’s a great BBC article  this weekend regarding planetary temperature, the fact that it peaked in 1998 and has been declining ever since, and how its ups and downs likely have more more to do with natural cycles than human impact.  If you’re interested in common sense over dogma, it’s a good read.

Those of you in Austria, brace yourself for the earliest measurable snowfall in your history.

If you’re reading in the comfort of the Dakotas, enjoy digging out from last week’s storms.

Montana, you’d better bundle up.  A record breaking deep freeze is on the way.  It’s expected to ravage Idaho’s potato crop.

Whatever you do, please don’t ask Al Gore about how he likes to repeat Greenpeace lies.  As demonstrated this weekend, he will turn your microphone off, and you will be asked to leave.

Bundle up, folks, and keep saving up for those Gore-invested carbon credits.  Al has to make a living somehow.

“Global Warming” has, in the press, already morphed into the more ambiguous “Climate Change.”    Please, wake me when the “Global Cooling” crackpots recognize that their second chance is just around the corner.

- Robert Laurie

As if you needed more proof that the Nobel Peace Prize is a complete joke, it was just awarded to Barack Obama.  That’s right, the prestigeous medal, once famously bestowed upon Yasser Arafat, has been given to the American Pope because apparently he has bestowed “hope for a better future” upon the peoples of the Earth.  Oh, and he wants to get rid of nuclear weapons, too.

I guess we’re all just supposed to ignore the fact that this peace prize winner is still waging the two wars that made George Bush the mortal enemy of the “enlightened” world.

Taking a momentary detour into reality, we can see it becoming increasingly obvious that the Nobel Prize has little to do with peace, and more to do with rewarding those who bring the U.S. down to its “proper” place in the world. 

Here are some past recipients:

1994 - Yasser Arafat - Nobody loves peace like a terrorist, right?

2002-   Jimmy Carter - Allegedly, this was about his decades spent resolving conflicts peacefully.  Most believe that it was really awarded for his constant bad-mouthing of Israel and the Bush administration.

2004 - Wangari Maathi - Maathi is an African AIDS worker who famously claimed that western (read U.S.) scientists had invented the deadly virus to depopulate Africa.  She later tried to deny that she’d ever made the statements.

2005 - The International Atomic Energy Agency - The claim that this award was given for the IAEA’s attempts to “stop the spread of nuclear weapons” is preposterous.  Make no mistake; this was given solely because Bush never found his Weapons of Mass Destruction.

2007 - The Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change - This is Al Gore’s baby.  America uses too much of everything, kids.  Remember how wasteful you are, how you’re ruining the planet, and how George Bush is evil.

2009 - Barack Obama - Barry was nominated for the award after serving a grueling 11 days as president.  9 months later, he’s been given the nod.  His accomplishments? Costing America 2.8 million jobs, devaluing its currency to the point where the world wants to ditch it, apologizing for the evils of the US every time he leaves its borders, and appeasing dictators and thugs the world over. 

So, if you find it odd that Barack got the peace prize while his administration attempts to prosecute those who kept the peace in the U.S. for the last eight years, you shouldn’t.  The award no longer has anything to do with peace and it apparently has little to do with actual accomplishment either.

…but thanks for giving us “hope,” Mr. President. 

- Robert Laurie

Rumors are flying that, behind the scenes, John McCain is flexing his muscle in an attempt to “reshape” the Republican Party.  If you’re like me, you’re stunned that anyone is still listening to him.  Didn’t the spectacular failure of his candidacy squander whatever clout he once had? 

In a word, no.

No one’s saying he’s the renegade powerhouse he was during the Clinton years but make no mistake, he still has a following. In moderate circles, McCain is as well respected as ever.  He has a long history with the GOP elites, most of whom are more than willing to blame Palin for the great train wreck of 2008. 

The reality of ‘08 is that the nation just didn’t buy what McCain was selling.  He was in serious trouble long before Palin showed up. McCain’s senatorial history is one of indecision, waffling, and gamesmanship punctuated by a deft ability to play both sides of the aisle.  It works well in Congress, but it’s a difficult sell when you’re running for President.  Obama presented himself as a leader, a statesman, and a man with a plan.  His successes and failures since the election are irrelevant.  People who were on the fence shunned McCain because next to Obama, he looked and sounded weak.   

So now, quietly, McCain is trying to reform the GOP.  The goal is to make sure it stays the kind of place where people like himself will have a home, despite the overwhelming wishes of the party membership. During the next few months, expect to see the Lindsey Grahams of the world repaying their old buddy John by circling the wagons against an increasingly angry conservative base. 

The question, however, remains.  McCain’s brand of “moderate Republican” is really more akin to “early 60’s democrat.”  If he couldn’t sell it in ‘08, what makes him think it’s what his party needs now?

McCain’s philosophical ship has already sunk once.  Is anyone out there honestly interested in a second trip?

- Robert Laurie