Thursday, January 30, 2014

Left-Wing Pluralism and Tolerance on Parade

On Friday of last week New York Gov.
Andrew Cuomo, son of former Gov.
Mario Cuomo and staunch liberal
Democrat like his dad, demonstarted
his snese of political pluralism by
displaying his tolerance for those in
New York with whom he is not at all
politically copacetic. The governor
said that they were not welcome in
the Empire State.

Your faithful Peasant explains:
during a radio interview that day,
Gov. Cuomo was discussing how
Republicans are at odds with each
other, conservatives against moderates
when he made this intemperate statement:

"Their (here Cuomo was referring to
the conservatives) problem is not me
and the Democrats; their problem is
themselves ... Who are they? Are they
extreme conservatives who are right-to-
life, pro-assault weapon, anti-gay? Is
that who they are? Because if that's who
they are and they're extreme conservatives,
they have no place in the state of New York,
because that's not who New Yorkers are."

Let's examine the heated and haughty words
of New York's governor, shall we? First, it
is true that there is some infighting in the GOP
between the conservatives in the Reagan wing
and the moderates and liberals in the Rockefeller
wing of the party. This is not the first time
that this has occurred, nor is it anything to be
alarmed about. Such spirited discussions are
healthy for the party, and has generally benefited
Republicans heading into presidential elections.
These set-tos clarify what the party stands for,
making it clear what the party platform offers
to the electorate. Anyway, the Democrats have
certainly had their intraparty disagreements over
the years; remember the 1968 convention in
Chicago? Fighting inside of the convention hall
and worse fighting outside of it.

Second, it is apparent that Gov. Cuomo has a
problem with New Yorkers who are opponents
of abortion-on-demand, who are supporters of
the Second Amendment to the Constitution
which guarantees Americans the right to keep
and bear arms, so-called assault weapons included,
and those who may question the granting of the
same rights to gay people which straight people
have, or at least question how can such rights be
granted to gay people while still having reservations,
be they medical, scientific, or religious, regarding
the legitimacy of their sexual preferences. Being a
good and proper left-winger, the governor reflexively
rails against such notions and those who hold them.
And he certainly pays the proper lip service to the
lefty pieties of pluralism and tolerance; it's just that,
as many lefties often do, Cuomo does not apply
these very pieties to conservatives. As we on the
conservative side of the American political divide
know, the lefties preach one thing while practicing
the opposite, while holding us to the sane standards
that they themselves selectively adhere to, whenever
they adhere to them at all. Additionally, Gov. Cuomo
seems to think that he does not have to be the gov-
ernor of all the people in his state; that he can pick
and choose his constituents, to serve only those whom
he approves of. What an elitist pig!

Third, if your favorite Peasant may be permitted a
slight indelicacy in choice of words, just who the
hell is Gov. Andrew Cuomo to say who is and is
not welcome to reside in and participate in the
political arena of the state of New York? Now,
he did try to leaven his arrogant words in an open
letter to the editor of the New York Post two days
later, however the damage could not be undone;
Cuomo tried to convince New Yorkers that he
was simply stating that a political candidate could
not win in a statewide race in their state with strong
conservative political views. As if either the people
of the state of New York were not paying attention
to the flap, or that they are irrevocably stupid.
Cuomo even said that "it is fine" to be anti-gun
control and anti-choice (on abortion) (!). This is
the kind of game-playing that left-wing politicians
engage in when they try to hoodwink the public,
and it is beyond sickening. Just as far beyond
sickening as they are for preaching pluralism and
tolerance, and respecting people who are different.
Sure, as long as the difference is not political, i.e.
a person who is a conservative rather than a liberal!
And we've seen how our left-wing president whom
we are presently saddled with practices pluralism
and tolerance, setting the IRS and the NSA on Tea
Party groups for daring to question and criticize
His Imperial Presidential Majesty!

And fourth, Andrew Cuomo's dad ran against Ed Koch
for the mayoral office of New York, using a slogan
staright out of Archie Bunker's playbook: "Vote for
Cuomo, not the homo". That's right, Mario Cuomo
tried to make negative political hay out of Ed Koch's
bachelorhood. While Koch never married, there is
no evidence showing the late New York mayor to
have been gay, but that didn't mean anything to
Mario and his son, who had a prominent and visible
role in the former's campaign. So not only is Andrew
Cuomo intolerant of people with opposing political
views, the second generation New York governor
is a raving hypocrite as well.

This is how the Left deals with dissent and dissenters.
This is why there is a Tea Party movement. This is why
conservatives are fighting to take back one major
political party, neutralize the other, and reclaim our
great country. And this is why Andrew Cuomo is unfit
to be governor of his home state, and to hold any
governmental office, appointed or elected. May the
people of the Empire State remember their governor's
divisive, intolerant, and hateful words when he comes
up for re-election.


MEM

Friday, January 24, 2014

Bob Grant, R.I.P.

On New Year's Eve conservative talk radio
saw one of its longest-shining lights go dim.
Bob Grant, one of the forefathers of conser-
vative talk radio and of the "combat talk"
format, died at the age of 84.

Born Robert Ciro Gigante (he was of Italian
extraction), Grant's career spanned seven decades,
from the 1950s to 2013, the year of his passing.
Grant graduated from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign with a degree in journalism,
soon going to work in the news department at
WBBM-AM in chicago, followed by a stint at
KNX-AM in Los Angeles as a radio personality
and television talk show host, then going on to
serve in the U.S. Naval Reserve during the Korean
War. Grant was, after guest-hosting for another
early conservative talker Joe Pyne, chosen to be
Pyne's successor. The year was 1964, and it
was the year Grant's career took off. Grant would
go on to host three different radio shows that year,
making an indellible mark in radio and in broad-
cast political discussion.

Along the way, Grant did garner controversy with
some of his statements and actions; in 1973 he
scheduled U.S. Rep. Ben Rosenthal (D-NY) as
a guest. Rosenthal, who at the time was leading
a boycott of meat, changed his mind about going
on Grant's show. Grant, in discussion with a caller
about the matter, called Rosenthal a "coward",
which prompted the congressman to file a complaint
with the FCC. the tussle went up to the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit,
which ruled in favor of Grant, due to the fact that
Grant offered the congressman an invitation to
be on his show, thereby granting Rosenthal equal
time.

In 1984, Grant was hired by WABC-AM, which was
inaugurating a new talk radio station. Starting with a
morning time slot, then going to one in the afternoon,
Grant dominated the ratings in both periods. However,
Grant's lengthy stay at this post ended when he remarked
to a caller that he had "a hunch that (Commerce Secretary
Ron Brown) is the only survivor" of a 1996 plane crash
which was believed to have no survivors, further stating
that "... Maybe it's because, at heart, I'm a pessimist."
Brown was a member of Democrat Presidnet Bill Clinton's
administration at the time. After a lengthy media campaign,
Grant was fired from his show.

Grant would also make other incendiary remarks during his
long, storied, and checkered career, prompting some to call
him "racist" and "homophobic". Your faithful Peasant will
state here that, while Grant was a boost for conservative
talk radio as an alternative forum for conservatives to
gather around, Grant was nearly the finish for the format
with some of his content. While some of what Grant said
on air could be debated as to its appropriateness or lack
thereof, a few statements, such as the one regarding Ron
Brown, were definitely beyond the borders of good taste,
tact, and decency. That being said, Grant was the inspiration
for several current conservative talkers who are prominent
in the media, among them Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity
and Glenn Beck. Grant even met and advised these present
luminaries. So Bob Grant did some good which ultimately
outweighed his errors, and all conservatives as well as
those who appreciate hearing other points of view besides
that of the establsihment have benefitted greatly as a
result. The on-air talent, in subsequent years, were more
refined and prudent in their commentary, thus helping the
nascent conservative talk show format grow and mature.

May Bob Grant rest in peace.


MEM

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Still More Technical Troubles

My dear readers, your exasperated Peasant
is still having problems in posting this blog,
and some days I cannot even access it! On
those days when I go to Blogger to access my
blog site all I get is a blank screen, with a
little blurb in the lower-left corner of the screen
saying "Done!" (yes, exclamation point included;
one wonders if one is being BS'ed or is being
insulted when this occurs).

So far, since I last brought up my technical woes
with my blog site I have still been able to post
when I regularly do, although on the days when
I have been able to access my blog and get the
cursor to appear in the text box so I can type
the text I have had to write two or even three
compositions, place them in my "Draft" folder,
and keep them there until I am ready to post
each piece. I am trying to "outsmart" this
technical malady, as it were, so that we will
be able to get together each week for our
visits. As I am no MIT grad, nor even a half-
way talented amateur computer geek, I am
personally unable to remedy this hiccup. And
as I have mentioned before, Google, the
company which owns and operates Blogger,
the blogging site where this blog resides,
does precious little in maintaining the site.
Whenever they give it any attention, they seem
to poke at it, and it then takes so long for any
difficulty to be taken care of. When I established
this blog four years ago, Blogger was still an
independent entity but soon after was bought
by Google. Beforehand, there weren't even
any technical snags worth mentioning on
Blogger; that is not to say that Google has
been incompetent in its operating Blogger,
many troubles online crop up because of very
heavy user traffic on some days, affecting many
a web site. But Google seems rather cavalier in
its maintenance of Blogger, at least where Blogger's
users are concerned. You see, we who make use
of Blogger do so for free. No money from the
users, no urgent need to provide maintenance
service. At least, that's your favorite Peasant's take
on the matter. If this is so, however, it is a lousy way
to get a free of charge user like me to pay to upgrade
in order to get more attention to technical glitches
when they manifest.

Oh, and another problem has arisen: I am, reluctantly
dropping Dr. Tim Nerenz' blog, as he no longer blogs
about political and economic topics but has turned his
blog over to exhibiting his beautiful photographic
artwork. His photos are magnificent to be sure, but
your consistent Peasant wants to give links to only
those blogs by other bloggers who blog about just
politics and economics, as these are the topics whcih
you are so keenly interested in, hence your reading
this blog every week. Now, this is itself not a problem,
but replacing the link to it with that of another blog
I want to introduce to you has become a problem,
as a new technical bugaboo won't let me! If and when
I get this resolved I shall formally introduce the new
blog and its author to you; this much I'll say for now,
this is a wonderful blog written from the perspective
of a wife, mother, activist, and home schooler to her
children. Later on, when I will be able to introduce
this lady and her blog you'll simply flip!

Anyway, I just wanted to keep you all abreast of this
matter, and let you know what I am doing about it.
Your grateful Peasant thanks you, my fantastic readers,
for your patience and understanding. See you back here
soon!


MEM



Wednesday, January 8, 2014

How to Replace Obamacare

Between the false promises that President Obama made
concerning the so-called Affordable Care Act and the
bizarre beyond words web site to register for it, his
health care scheme (scam?) is a failure of epic
proportions. But be of good cheer, my fabulous readers!
There is a web site, Prescription for America, which
has listed some wonderful alternatives in health care
coverage which would give more and better coverage
to us and our families, and for lower premiums and
deductibles. Here is the link:

http://prescriptionforamerica.rightforge.com

Among the ideas shared here are the following:

*Federal health care vouchers. Federal programs, including
Medicare and Medicaid into vouchers that individuals can
use to purchase health insurance of their own choosing,
which gives them exactly the coverage that they seek.

*Universal health insurance tax credits. Everyone would
receive a lump-sum tax credit to purchase good quality
private health insurance.

*Make health insurance portable from job to job.
This is done with at least some retirement benefits;
why not health insurance?

*Cap health care lawsuit payouts. The imposition of
caps on health care lawsuit judgements re: non-economic
and punitive damages would keep health insurance costs
down all around.

*Health care courts. State-based, these --- along with
expert medical panels would replace expensive health
care lawsuits which ultimately enrich the lawyers.

*Loser-pays rule. this would stop frivolous lawsuits
from getting through the courthouse door, as the loser
would be made to pay all the legal costs involved.

*End federal involvement in health care. According to
our Constitution, health care is the responsibility of the
states and the private sector, NOT Uncle Sam!

*Health care block grants. This would replace Medicare
and Medicaid with block grants which would go to the
states where the state governments would decide how to
spend the money. As the state governments and the citizens
of the states are closer to the level where their health care
needs are, they have a clearer view of what is required and
what they should obtain.

*Health savings accounts for workers and seniors. A great
idea from the Bush II days that sadly has been swept away
by Obama and his plans to ultimately nationalize our health
care coverage.

*Allow states to reform health care for the poor. Relax the
current rules and eliminate much of the red tape to give
states the flexibility to more efficiently take care of the poor
re: their health care coverage.

And there are many more ideas posted there, and you can vote
on which ones you want to put into an alternative package to
put up in place of Obamacare. In the meantime, we can ---
and should --- contact our representatives and senators in
Washington to discuss these ideas with them and get them
to support these true reforms to our health care insurance.
These ideas would not only save us much money but would
also preserve our freedom of choice in the marketpalce, as
well as our freedom in general. And let's make these ideas
campaign issues for the 2014 and 2016 elections! We can
stop the Obamacare juggernaut yet!



MEM