Thursday, March 28, 2013

Happy Easter to All!

Friends, your beloved Peasant wants to wish you all a most
blessed Happy Easter! I shall be busy preparing my taxes to
file, and will have a singing session with my friends in our
Chuck Ward Celtic Song Circle this week; we haven't been
able to do a lot this past year due to some family commit-
ments, poor health, and situations turning some of our lives
topsy-turvy, so we are regrouping to sing together again as
well as to discuss how we should shape our future as a
singing group. We want to expand our circle to have more
members so we will always have members who can make it
to our sessions as well as to get us better known. We also shall
discuss singing at other venues to generate both higher name
recognition and membership, as well as booking concert gigs
around Milwaukee; free concerts at schools, retirement
homes, hospitals, parks, and so forth. One day, we may well
find ourselves performing in concert at Milwaukee's famous
Irish Fest! What started as a hobby, then turning into a tribute
to a local musician singer/songwriter friend who passed away,
has become a passion. Where it will lead, time will tell.
But we want to be prepared to meet whatever comes.
We are eager and excited!

Additionally, your ever-in-motion Peasant shall be doing some
career assessment and preparation for rejuvenating my career.
I am looking at several possibilities, including my old career
field of financial services, politics (I'm not interested in seeking
office but I may take up an old friend's offer to be his campaign
manager should he decide to seek office himself), a few busi-
ness opportunities, and some new career fields which I either
haven't considered before or else have done but didn't think
that they were right for me at the time. I'm 55 now, and I must
replenish my savings that were ravaged by this recession so
that I can retire at some point; I don't wish to work until I keel
over dead, or worse still, look for work until I do. And of
course I'm always working to expand the ranks of you all,
my beloved readers, of this blog! I want to inform and enter-
tain as many people as I can, promoting the ideas of freedom,
individual initiative and enterprise, as well as general goodness
along with concern for our fellow Americans and our fellow
inhabitants of this Earth. I shall, in time, also advertise more of
the products and services of companies with whom I shall
establish affiliate relationships with as I have done with Amazon.
com. You will see more click-on ads through which you can
visit these companies' web sites, view their wares, and do
some online shopping --- a great way to avoid crowds and
a lack of parking spaces at shopping malls and downtown
shopping districts, especially at Christmas! Keep your eyes
on this blog page for further developments!

My faithful readers, you are an integral part of not only the
success of this Peasant's Pitchfork, you are also that of my
success, period! You are the fuel in my tank, powering me
to astounding heights and exciting places! I gratefully and
humbly thank you for not only making the journey possible,
but for being my traveling companions as well! Again, have
a very Happy Easter and we'll get together at this venue
again soon after. You're all the greatest!


MEM



Thursday, March 21, 2013

Has Senator Reid No Shame?

Your favorite Peasant hopes that you, my grand readers,
all had a happy and enjoyable Saint Patrick's Day, and
that you are in good health and disposition. I went to my
favorite Irish pub, O'Donoghue's Irish Pub in Elm Grove,
as I customarily do on the day, getting together with my
friends and enjoying great food and drinks.

In the meantime, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-NV) made the most outrageous, the most fallacious,
the most hellacious statement perhaps in his entire sorry
political career; Sen. Reid hinted broadly that the recent
deaths of seven U.S. Marines in a training accident in
California was due to the sequester --- this after blaming
the Republicans for the loss of thousands of jobs in the
sequester, and for the sequester itself, never mind the
fact that the sequester was the Obama Administration's
idea. The sequester, to remind everyone, is a procedure
whcih limits the size of the federal budget. It sets a
hard cap on the amount of government spending within
broadly defined categories, which is rather a ham-handed
method of cutting budget expenditures, but can be used
to prevent a government shutdown when Congress and
the president cannot agree on budget specifics. This is
indeed the case here.

Two things to bear in mind in regards to this scene as it
plays out: the sequester is calling for an $85 billion in
budget cuts for this year, and a total of $1.2 billion in
such cuts to be spread out over the next nine years. When
you consider that the federal budget for this year is
$3,795.6 trillion, with that figure to rise steadily over
the coming nine years, you can see what a travesty that
the cuts and the sequester are! As for any jobs being
lost due to the sequester, that would involve it would seem
relatively few federal government jobs. Regarding the
terrible tragedy that befell the Marines in California,
Sen. Reid actually first stated that details about the
deaths of the seven Marines were yet to come out.
But then Sen. Reid insinuated that the sequester was
to blame for their fatalities, and that the Republicans
are to blame for the sequester, therefore the responsi-
bility for the Marines who died are on the GOP.
Incredible!

Does this horrible man have no shame? Does he even
know what shame is? Has he ever even heard of the word?
This moral microbe is politicizing the dead Marines for
political gain! Debbie Lee, spokeswoman for the grass-
roots organization Move America Forward, and a friend of
your beloved Peasant, slammed the senator from Nevada
in response:

"I'm tired of seeing our troops used as a political football
by Harry Reid and others on the left. Attempting to link
sequestration to the tragic accident that cost seven Marines
their lives is a travesty and Senator Reid should be ashamed
of himself." I agree with Debbie a thousand percent, but
Reid, as stated in the previous paragraph, does not appear
to possess any shame.

Debbie's son, Marc Allen Lee, was a Navy SEAL who dies
protecting his comrades in arms a few years ago in combat,
receiving the Purple Heart, the Bronze Heart with Valor, and
the Silver Star posthumously. She stands up for all of our
troops, including of course those who made the ultimate
sacrifice in service to our country. She does not and never
will tolerate some hack politician who would pimp our heroic
war dead for political purpose. The battle over the sequestration
of our national budget is being lost by Obama and his fellow
Democrats, and Reid's shameful stunt is at best a desperation
move to turn the tide for his side, but no one is buying it.

The Democrats are a nasty bunch to deal with when they are
winning a political battle; they are even worse when they are
losing one. Your outraged Peasant shares Debbie Lee's sense
of picque over Harry Reid's cheap and tawdry grandstanding.
Let's contact our representatives and senators in Congress to
tell them to stuff Reid and his pals' attempt to use a terrible
tragedy to further their own political agenda. And let's inform
the president that we aren't going to stand for such behavior.



MEM

Thursday, March 14, 2013

A Statesman Emerges

By now, my grand and avid readers, you have either heard of or
have heard the filibuster in the U.S. Senate a few days ago led by
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). The son of now-retired U.S. Rep. Ron
Paul (R-TX) filibustered for twelve hours and fifty-two minutes
after trying for over a week to get a definitive answer as to whether
or not the Obama administration believed it had the authority to use
drones to target and kill American citizens on American soil without
due process, finally receiving a letter from Attorney General Eric
Holder claiming that they do in fact have that authority. Senator
Rand's filibuster was mainly to oppose the nomination of Obama
choice John Brennan as CIA head but also used the occasion to
point out to our wayward president that no, he does NOT have any
such authority under the Constitution of the United States, the
bedrock of our legal code.

In his epic address to the Senate, Senator Rand sent a powerful
message to President Obama and his rotten regime. He put the
president, the attorney general, and Congress on notice that their
dangerous fantasy will not be tolerated! Brennan has been widely
criticized for being the originator and driving force behind the over-
use of drones --- aircraft designed for spying and for deploying
deadly force on chosen targets, be they objects or people. He
also has been excoriated for ignoring the ideological basis of the
radical Islamic terrorists that the U.S. is confronted by. When talk
in Washington turned to using drones to pursue American citizens
suspected of aiding the terrorists, even those on American soil,
the junior senator from Kentucky wanted a straight answer from
the White House as to the legal propriety (if any) of such activity.
The president actually responded by saying --- I kid you not ---
"It would be inappropriate," and " I haven't killed anyone yet."
Such chilling arrogance! Not taking such a cavalier answer to
such a vital question, Senator Paul launched his filibuster against
John Brennan's nomination to be the next CIA chief. This prompted
Attorney General Eric Holder to write Senator Paul a terse letter
stating thus:

Dear Senator Paul,

It has come to my attention that you have now asked an additional
question: "Does the President have the authority to use a weapon-
ized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American
soil?" The answer to that question is no.

Sincerely,

Eric H. Holder Jr.

Short and not so sweet, but definitely to the point and showing the
discomfort of the Obama administration over Senator Paul's
questions on this part of its security policy and the senator's
filibuster. Although the answer that Attorney General Holder gave
was a starting point of sorts, it does not really address the
question. But this episode certainly demonstrated to the admini-
stration that there are people in Congress and their constituents
who will not be fobbed off by noncommittal answers to key
questions on their minds in regards to the safety of our constitu-
tional law and that of the people themselves at the government's
hands.

Senator Rand Paul was, sadly, unable to sway enough of his
colleagues to vote down John Brennan's appointment to head up
the CIA, but he made his constituency, and the country, proud of
him for his courageous stand. Would that his GOP colleagues
have had this courage to make such a stand; Senator Paul was
lambasted by some establishment Republicans including Senators
Lindsey Graham and John McCain, the latter having called the
filibuster "ridiculous" and the former readily agreeing. They are
piqued more by the fact that Senator Paul is emerging as the new
face of the Republican Party as well as that of the "new guard"
replacing the tired, stale, stuffed-shirted old guard that these two
elitists are a part of. Their time in prominence is nearing the end
and they cannot or will not face it. The conservative GOP folk in
the Senate (and those in the House) loved the filibuster and have
praised Rand Paul and his efforts to the sky, and even some
Democrats on Capitol Hill who have serious doubts about the
legal and moral aspects of the Obama policy have joined the
praisefest. One Democrat even joined Senator Paul in the fili-
buster --- Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon. A stoutly liberal
Democrat, Senator Wyden also drew fellow Dems in praising
Senator Paul for his stand and accompanying action. Now that's
bipartisanship!

What will follow on this issue is yet to be seen, as is the future
of Ron Paul's political career. Some in the GOP, as well as some
conservative commentators, are tabbing him presidential timber
for 2016. But this much is certain: President Obama will have a
harder time advancing his agenda, especially as it pertains to
our country's security and that of her citizens, than he and his
lieutenants were banking on when Obama won a second term
in the White House last fall. Sorry, Mr. President, but we are
not all "Obamunists" now. Nor will we ever be.


MEM


Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Note to Hugo Chavez: Don't Let The Door Whack You On The Way Out!

Happily your busy Peasant has miraculously received
a windfall of time today, so we can get together for
a bit before the week concludes after all! And since
a bit of interesting news came to the fore yesterday
I have the time to share it with you along with my
commentary. Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan dictator,
would-have-been oil sheik, champion of Marxist
politics at home and cheerleader for Marxist
revolution in South America, and of course (wouldn't
it figure?) a pal of our President Obama, died
after a lengthy battle with cancer at the age of 58.

Chavez was, in fact, elected to be Venezuela's president
in 1998, quickly laying the groundwork for the type of
government and economy that he wanted to impose
upon his country's people. Along the way Chavez
censored radio and television stations along with
newspapers that were opposed to "Hugo Boss" and
his policies, seizing control over those who would not
sheepishly acquiesce to his demands to not criticize
same. Chavez also nationalized Venezuela's once-
thriving oil industry, its engine of prosperity which
was the backbone of the country's economy, and had
used proceeds from the industry to prop up the sagging
economy of kindred spirit Fidel Castro's Cuba as well
as to benefit other ambitious lefties around the South
American continent, among them the kingpins of Ecuador,
Bolivia, and Nicaragua, the third being the country where
its people inexplicably returned former leader Daniel
Ortega to power, about thirty years after they dumped him
in favor of reformer and free-market advocate Violetta
Chamoro. The Nicaraguans remind me of Santayana's
admonition that those who don't remember history are
condemned to repeat it. And naturally Chavez had made
his reign replete with many political prisoners whom
he had rounded up and locked up for not getting with
his statist program. Standard operating procedure for
dictators of all stripes. Hard-nosed Hugo also altered
Venezuela's constitution in order to have longer terms
as head of state, as well as to make other political
maneuvers in order to ensure his tenure would last into
perpetuity; the latter he had not been able to accomplish
at the time of his demise, but he was voted back to power
in subsequent elections albeit by the thinnest of margins
amid accusations of electoral fraud.

And of course Chavez loved to thumb his nose at the
United States, even after Barack Obama's election to
the presidency. Chavez blamed the U.S. for anything
and everything he could think of during his fourteen
years of decimating Venezuela's economy and its
citizens' freedom. Soon after Chavez drew his final
breath his successor, Vice President Nicolas Maduro
publicly blamed the U.S. for the cancer that took Chavez'
life!

Although Chavez had installed a Marxist regime in
Venezuela near the end of the last century, it was in that
very century that Marxism and its offshoot, communism were
on the wane with the fall of the Soviet bloc in Eastern
Europe, followed by the demise of the Soviet union itself,
as well as communist and Marxist regimes in Africa,
South America, central America, and the Caribbean.
Chavez had for a brief time been able to swim against the
political tide, but the Big C did what the Venezuelan people
tried to do and eventually would have done. Hugo Chavez
was a dinosaur, a creature who outlived his era. May his
tyrannical government soon follow this nasty little man
into the mists of time on the way to the political dung heap.


MEM

Monday, March 4, 2013

Odds and Ends

Your favorite Peasant is posting this little collection of news items
along with my commentary for you a few days earlier in the week
than usual; credit (or blame) an approaching snowstorm which is
estimated to cover us here in Milwaukee with up to ten inches of
the white stuff starting tonight and going through Wednesday
morning, followed by commitments that will keep me from
our getting together for our usual Thursday visits. So here is a
short compilation of news items and my take on each for your
perusal and enjoyment.

Do you remember the trouble that David Gregory, host of
long-time political news talk show Meet The Press, found
himself in when he brought with him to his show an ammo
magazine to exhibit, and the D.C. police wanted a word with
him? Well, that's all that our capital's finest did with him;
he was not arrested, not fined, not even warned about having
this particular item, which is a no-no according to Washington's
gun laws. If it had been anyone else in that city found in posses-
sing this item that person would have gotten the Nth degree
from the police, cuffs and all. But, since it was a member of
the Washington beltway core of the liberal establishment, none
of that was necessary. After all, Gregory was simply trying to
show his audience just what a big, bad piece of firearm accessory
his show-and-tell item is in order to illustrate the reason why
such things should remain forbidden by law in D.C. for any
everyday schmuck to own, even for self-defense and same for
one's home or business. One rule for the liberal establishment
elite, another rule for the peasants.

You may have, my dear readers, been following the latest budget
battle, this one involving a "sequester"; this term, as applied here,
refers to a set of automatic budget cuts that was to take effect on
March 1 if the Democrats and the Republicans in Congress could
not hash out the details for a budget. Obama and his fellow Dems
cried out that if nothing could be agreed on by the deadline, that
the sequester would begin and would absolutely gut many domestic
programs, i.e. child nutrition funding and all, and cause widespread
panic and general bedlam; the Republicans said "bunkum!", stating
that the cuts mandated under the sequestration would not only do
no such thing but the cuts are few and shallow, not able to make
any real difference in the budget as far as saving taxpayers money.
And the most serious cuts would affect the people who would be
hurt the most by such deep cuts: our military. They would
lose a new aircraft carrier, as well as various weaponry, and benefits
for our military people and their families would be in danger of
reduction. No mention of reducing unemployment benefits or
food stamps at home! Almost 50 million Americans, an all-time
record, and unemployment benefits lasting for 99 weeks (remem-
ber when they were for six weeks?), turning a program that was
meant to be a stop-gap for people who lost their jobs and were
seeking new jobs into a veritable welfare program. Shows what
Obama's and his Dem's priorities are. Anyway, it is now March 4
and the sky hasn't fallen, so the Obamanians are wiping egg off
of their self-righteous faces.

Michelle Obama made an appearance on the Academy Awards
over a week ago via big-screen to have a part in the awarding of
an Oscar trophy. It's not the first time a First Lady has done this
 --- Laura Bush did this in 2005. But with the controversy that
the Obamas have gotten for always seeking the cameras, the mics,
and the limelight away from White House duties, and cozying up
to celebrities, was it really a good idea for the current First Lady
to put in an appearance at the Oscars? Just sayin'!

Anyway, have a great week, my great readers! We'll get together
again in the coming week.


MEM