Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish

The career of a supposedly distinguished journalist and member
of the White House Press Corps, the elite (and elitist) reporters
who cover the President, has suddenly ended. Helen Thomas,
89, a member of the White House Press Corps for half a century,
resigned in disgrace on the heels of her statement that the
Israeli Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go back
to Poland ... Germany ... the United States." Thomas made her
stinging remarks in a response to a question asked of her at
a gathering of journalists in Washington a few days ago;
her remarks were captured on tape and have gotten wide play.

Thomas, who is of Lebanese descent, has long given accounts of
the goings on at the White House filtered through a left-wing
prism. She has pitched hardballs at Republican presidents while
lobbing softballs at Democrat presidents. But even when taking
her ethnicity into account, Thomas sank to a new nadir for bias
--- a nadir tainted with bigotry and complete abandonment of
the obligation of her trade to impartiality, even though just
sounding off at a party.

While many Jews have emigrated to Israel since its founding in
1948, coming from "Poland ... Germany..." etc., many more Jews
have lived in that location long before the declaration of Israel
as a sovereign nation; Israel is situated where the ancient
kingdoms of Judea and Israel reigned many, many centuries ago,
centuries before the birth of Christ. Jews have, therefore,
lived in this land for some millenia, constantly surrounded by
hostile neighboring states forever trying to eradicate them.
This is even more so the case today. The Palestinians and Iran
are the most immediate threats to Israel and her people, with
many more not far behind.

Thomas said what many on the political left, in the U.S. and
around the world, are thinking concerning Israel and the Jews.
She was much less impolitic and much more candid in her words,
delivered with a laugh no less(!). She quickly apologized, but
whether she did so voluntarily or by orders from her employer,
Hearst Newspapers, is unknown. What is known, however, is her
open admission of being a hater; in 2002 Thomas was quoted as
saying, "I censored myself for 50 years ... Now I wake up and
ask myself 'Who do I hate today?'" Some days it was GOP pres-
idents, others it was those waging war on radical Islamic
terrorism' now it is the nation of Israel and the Jewish people.
Her vitriolic questioning of then-President George W. Bush
and the military action he took drew cheers from the so-called
mainstream media and the political left. And Thomas lambasted
President Barack Obama just a few weeks ago, demanding he state
when he was going to get our troops out of Afghanistan. It is
also apparent that 9/11 means nothing to Helen Thomas!

So the woman known as "The Dean of the White House Press Corps"
leaves her longtime beat. Good riddance to bad rubbish! The
quality of American journalism has just gone on a rocket ride.


MEM

The Tea Party Movement's Latest Triumphs

More notches have been carved into the Tea Party Movement's
gun handle. Rand Paul, son of U.S. Representative Ron Paul
(R-TX) won Kentucky's U.S. Senate primary over state GOP
favorite Trey Grayson, currently Attorney General for
Kentucky. Paul will now run in November for the seat being
vacated by retiring Sen. Jim Bunning (R). This is Paul's
first campaign for public office and he pulled off a big
upset in knocking off establishment choice Grayson ---
with a little help from the Tea Party folks!

In Nevada, Sharron Angle emerged victorious from a field
of Republican candidates to be the Nevada Republican Party's
nominee for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Harry Reid
(D), the Senate Majority Leader and key Obama ally on Capitol
Hill. Angle, a current member of the Nevada legislature,
was the choice of the Tea Party activists in that state
and had received campaign contributions from Tea Party
people hailing from every state in the union! This kind
of help and commitment is the hallmark of the movement;
constitutionalists from all over the country banding
together to elect like-minded candidates for public office,
contributing time, work, and money to take back our nation
from the statists who currently have control of our federal
government, as well as some of our state and local governments.
We have shown that "We The People" CAN reclaim our country,
CAN determine the direction of our country, CAN make a
difference! And do we have the liberal establishment running
scared!

My wonderful readers, we have the enemy on the run. Now is
the time to crank up our efforts and put more pressure on
the foe! Come to the Tea Party rallies, volunteer your time
to help a worthy candidate, contribute whatever money you
can, write letters to the editors of your local newspapers
in support of your chosen candidates, start a blog ---
all of these activities advance our cause! This is how we
will sow the seeds for the harvest of victory in the fall,
and in 2012! Your favorite Peasant will be there, doing all
I can to help our noble efforts, and of course I'll have my
trusty pitchfork handy!


MEM

A Thousand Apologies!

Greetings to my wonderful, loyal readers!

Your favorite Peasant hopes that you all had a happy
and safe Memorial Day.

Regretfully, I do not have an article for you this week.
Between having some unexpected things come up, and having
some technical difficulties with my blog's web site I am
sorry to report that I don't have anything ready to share.
I am having trouble putting up links to articles and videos
on my blog; the typed link names don't appear in blue as they
once did, and that leaves it to you, my dear readers, to enter
the links manually into your browsers to gain access to all
corresponding articles and blogs, even web sites and e-mail
addresses. I will persevere, however, in getting this solved.
In the meantime, at least I can still give you links; just
please keep in mind the information I gave in the previous
sentence here.

Also, I am working on eradicating the problem with my blog's
text appearing in an uneven manner. I have had this bugaboo
since day one and I apologize to you, my fantastic readers,
for that as well.

Your faithful Peasant humbly apologizes to you, my fabulous
readers, for any inconvenience and disappointment resulting
from all of this. Thank you all for your understanding! We'll
regroup and get together next week.

MEM

In Observance of Memorial Day

My dear readers:

Your favorite Peasant wishes you all a wonderful Memorial Day
holiday! One week from today, Monday May 31, is this year's
date of the day in which we remember the sacrifices that our
brave soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast guardians and
merchant marines have made --- including making the ultimate
sacrifice --- giving their lives in the cause of winning and securing
our nation's freedom. Freedom isn't free, it has a steep price;
it is, though, not a luxury but a necessity!

After memorial Day I'll be back with more stories from our 
political scene to share and comment on. We'll talk about the
Tea Party Movement's latest successes in getting conservative
candidates nominated in party primaries and elected in special
elections around the country, as well as taking a look at other
happenings of interest to we "right-minded" people! I'll also
have a surprise to share with you!

So, enjoy the coming Memorial Day holiday and the long
weekend ahead. Enjoy your cookouts, your picnics, perhaps
a swim in a pool or swimming hole, and work on your suntans.
Enjoy the company of your families and friends. And all the while,
keep in mind our fellow Americans who, by their service and
sacrifice, made for us a country and a society where such
leisure time and activities are possible!

Joy to you all!


MEM

Wisconsin's GOP to Gather in Milwaukee May 21-23

For any of you, my fantastic readers, who might be visiting Milwaukee this coming
weekend and want to make use of your political juices, the Wisconsin State Repub-
lican Convention is being held in Beertown, hosted by the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
Commencing Friday, May 21, and concluding Sunday, May 23, the convention is a
great place to go to meet the GOP's candidates for public office before the
state's primaries in September. Candidates for the state legislature, for the
U.S. House and Senate, for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor will
be on hand to address the gathering, as well as attend receptions to meet and greet
the convention attendees. This event will therefore be a splendid opportunity to
let the candidates know where you stand on the issues and what you want to see
done. Even if you aren't a delegate, even if you aren't a resident of the Badger
State, for a nominal admission price you can attend as a guest of the convention
and meet the candidates, as well as view the action on the convention floor!

The Tea Party folks will be on hand, to be sure. We will make our presence felt,
our views heard, and our concerns listened to and respected. We must reclaim the
Republican Party and reestablish it as our ideological home and our political
base, on our way to reclaiming our country from the Obama regime and the Democrat
Party. Either we smash the liberal establishment, or it will smash us!

So if you plan to be in Milwaukee during the weekend of May 21 - 23, do drop by
the Hyatt to visit the state GOP confab and the party's lineup of candidates
and have some fun! Who knows, you might even get to meet your favorite Peasant!

TO REGISTER: You can register online at www.wisgop.org/convention2010


FOR MORE INFORMATION: e-mail John Waclawski JWaclawski@wisgop.org with
any questions concerning the convention. For questions regarding the Hyatt
and its accomodations and related items call: (414) 276-1234.

THE HYATT HOTEL'S ADDRESS: 333 W. Kilbourn Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53202

NOTE: Your faithful Peasant has just learned that the Hyatt is now entirely booked
for reservations; they have no more rooms for the convention weekend. But you
can call around to other Milwaukee vicinity hotels and motels for lodging.
Those of you who are locals like your dependable Peasant can just drive or take
the local bus or a taxi to the Hyatt.

Enjoy!


MEM

Coins, Currency, and Conservatives

On the first day of this month I had the pleasure of attending a coin show
in downtown Milwaukee. As it had participating coin dealers from all over
the country, the event was held in a gigantic facility, the Frontier Airlines
Center, to accomodate everyone and everything. While there, your favorite
Peasant had the opportunity to view many fantastic rare coins, loads of rare
currency, and meet some fantastic people. A third-generation numismatist
myself, I marked the dates of the show on my calendar.

Of the many wonderful people I met there, every one of them was politically
conservative or libertarian. Every one! It's no accident nor coincidence
that coin and currency collectors are of either of these political varieties;
as collectors of not merely money but pieces of our country's history and
heritage they have a reverence for these items, as they have for our country
itself.

These folks also have an understanding of, and appreciation for, the roles that
gold and silver have had in our monetary system. Some of these coin enthusiasts
own gold U.S. coins; most of them own silver coins from the days when our silver
coinage was not alloyed with other metals. In addition, the currency from those
days was backed by precious metals, unlike the currency we have today. Back then,
our money supply was linked to reserves of gold and silver --- no fiat money
existed, no ridiculously easy credit nor costly social programs either. U.S.
currency bore the words "silver certificate". Our federal government, and most
of the citizens, lived within their means and the former did not resort to
tinkering with our money supply to "find" money to pay for whatever items or
programs either. Coin and currency collectors note the contrast between how
things were then and how things are today, lamenting the current state of our
money, not to mention the massive federal budget and deficit as well as the
monstrously huge national debt.

In the last century our government took our dollar off of the Gold Standard,
and our paper money no longer bears language describing it as "silver certifi-
cates". Eased credit rules and availability abound, as do a slew of social
programs ostensibly designed to buffer us from the vicissitudes of life.
And with the currency printing presses now going full throttle, for among
other things, the purpose of creating money to pay our nation's creditors,
since we have borrowed so much money since the 1950s to raise money for our
"domestic" needs (a/k/a social spending), inflation is set to return with a
vengeance. Your faithful Peasant can assure you that you won't find many,
if any, Obama fans among the coin crowd!

However, of all the people I met at the coin show, one gentleman stands out
for several reasons: this fellow is a retired soldier and Vietnam War veteran
with a coin & currnecy business which has him doing business here and in
Southeast Asia --- Vietnam(!) in particular. Furthermore, he is a native
Virginian, and from the part of the Old Dominion State where my ancestors
settled in the 17th century. As it turns out, this man's ancestors settled
in that part of the state at the same time! He told me that he is familiar
with my family name and believes we may be related. If we are kin, I couldn't
ask for finer family relation; patriotic, entrepreneurial, and a Southern
gentleman! Can you, my wonderful readers, tell that your loyal Peasant is
proud of his Southern roots?

Indeed, the people who study our country's proud history and collect its
coins and currency, as well as other artifacts, are people who have a deep
appreciation for the USA and their roots to it. They truly embody the Tea
Party spirit!


MEM

The Tea Party Movement Has Competition (Or Does It?)

There is now a political movement in the United States designed to counter the Tea Party Movement. This new movement is supposed to be a gathering of engaged, poli-
tically aware citizens who don't share the goals of the Tea Party Movement and
perceive its activists to be too angry and strident. This fledgeling movement began
quite recently in a coffee house, hence its name, the Coffee Party Movement.

The brainchild of Annabel Park, a 42-year-old documentary filmmaker, this nascent
movement got started in a hippiefied washington D.C. cafe', Busboys and Poets, a
favorite hangout of young left-wing types and hipsters. Park has a strong interest
in politics and wanted to create and lead a political movement which, she hopes,
would someday come together with the Tea Party Movement to set aside their differ-
ences and create a better government and a better country --- "There's room for
debate between the two platforms", Park states.

Let's examine this "Coffee Party Movement" more closely. Now, Annabel Park set
this up with herself as its head. The Tea Party Movement was set up by many people,
all sharing a common concern, that the government has been growing out of control
with its scope and spending while ignoring the cry of the people to STOP. These
same people also share a common goal, which is to halt the runaway growth of the
government and make it responsive to the citizenry once again. No one has tried
to establish himself as the head of the movement; this is a spontaneous movement
by and for Americans fed up with an increasingly liberty-threatening government
who want to do something about it. We in the Tea Party movement aren't looking for
personal credit or accolades, we just want our country and our government back.
This is why the movement does not have, and never will have, a single person as
its leader.

Park wanted to create a movement which would embody centrist political principles,
but her choice for a site from which to launch her moderate-flavored creation
suggested something far different in tone. As a consequence, Park drew a strongly
left-of-center gathering, with attendees having other ideas rather than coming together with we Tea Party folk to hash out our differences and unite in common
cause. One woman who attended, a 26-year-old community organizer (gee, who else
in politics do we know was once a community organizer? Oh yes...), who stated
that the Coffee party would fail "unless we get someone a little more powerful
to head it," and "not someone that says we can all work together." And people
of her political persuasion accuse we Tea Partiers of being "confrontational"!

Park was quite taken aback from this, and from similar remarks from some other
attendees at her little political soiree'. "If they want to fire me, this may not
be the group for them," she said after the event. "We don't want confrontation."
But Park is getting exactly that, and from the very people that showed up at her
movement's launch. Still, park is going on with her political work; she is plan-
ning a national Coffee Party convention for August, and will hold it in a midwes-
tern city to be determined (where she is certain to have a more amiable, and less
"confrontational" gathering, she hopes). Park must have been influenced by the
Tea Party convention held earlier this year in Tennessee. There have been no
power struggles in the Tea Party Movement, by the way.

Also, Park has publicized her movement's birth on Facebook and claims to currently
have 200,000 members; from what I've been hearing about the Coffee Party it has
support that can be described as being "a mile wide and an inch deep" --- it has
supporters in many parts of the country but the numbers are few and are stretched
thin over a wide territory. But your loyal Peasant welcomes Annabel Park and her
Coffee Party Movement to the political arena, which is open to and welcoming of
all people of all political persuasions and party affiliations. Come one, come all!
But if you Coffee Partiers are serious about having a truly open, honest, and
meaningful dialogue with we Tea Partiers, you've got to rein in your more confron-
tational members who say we're too confrontational, and then behave in that very
manner. We would gladly have a dialogue with you Coffee Party people about the
direction of our country and its government if you cease from calling us "nazis",
"rednecks", "racists", "hicks", "brainless", and far worse. Also, please cease
from trying to shout us down when we present our ideas and opinions, and resist
the urge to physically assault us then strut around bragging that you're the model
of tolernace and diversity of opinion, and champions of freedom of speech. If you
can get your members to conform and comport to these standards of conduct, then
we can have that dialogue. Until that happens, there would be no chance of dialogue,
for there will be no point.


MEM