Poem for That September Day
They reached for heaven, those towers, tall,
And graced her ever-blue skies that morn.
And though under man?s ire they were brought to fall,
crumbling to ash; natures truest form.
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They reached for heaven, those birds of man,
For no other purpose than what we prescribe.
Down below, shadows grace the land,
As they slip across our own sky.
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As Elijah?s chariot, they took to heaven,
Four, themselves full, against their will.
And shepherded many more, that nine eleven,
Whether by building, or man?s metallic quill.
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No words born by man?s tongue dare,
Do what is justly owed to that day.
Though many wish to try, and fare,
Well, in telling of their own soul?s decay.
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For many nothing more need be said,
Than the feeling shown, by our cheek?s tear.
For those of us, who claim no dead,
Embrace the less fortunate, and admonish their fear.
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-rj
Never Forget
Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those that were lost during the tragic events of 9/11 and those over seas fighting against those that oppose our values and freedoms.
Never Forget!
So Now We’re Biting?
In the “Too crazy not to be true” department a man’s finger was bitten off last night at a moveon.org health care vigil.? The “We Can’t Afford To Wait Vigil” attracted several counter-protesters.
But let me just stop right there for a minute.? “We can’t afford to wait”?? What does this mean?? Seriously, I want to know what this means.? I’ve been hearing it from Socialists Progressives lately, and it just doesn’t make any sense.? I mean I guess it sounds OK from a marketing perspective.? Like if we don’t hurry up and do something the costs will be greater?? But that “logic” doesn’t make any sense when our actually national deficit without the cover of Social Security to make up for losses is nearing $24 trillion.
So being that we don’t have any money for public option health care, allow me to try and reword the slogan for Progressives to use in future scenarios:
We’re Broke!
This probably still won’t sink in though sense Progressives have no concept of credits and debits, accountability, and just print money when they run out.
But I digress…
In the end, the moveon.org demonstrator apparently lost the argument and as is the usual case when this happen, they moved on to personal insult injury and in Mike Tyson fashion chewed off the finger of the counter-protester.
Stay classy!
-nick
Join Star Parker For Dinner
thelobbysit.net will be hosting a dinner table at the Georgia Right To Life REACH Benefit Dinner featuring key note speaker Star Parker.
Head over to http://thelobbyist.net/about/special-events for the juicy details.
Hope to meet you there!
-nick
thelobbyist Expands, Check Out Our New Sites
Thanks for stopping by and checking out our ever expanding web presence!? I would like to take a minute to do a couple of things.
First off, I want to thank our faithful readers.? Our monthly readers have steadily climbed into the tens of thousands.? And maybe one day (fingers crossed) we’ll get paid to do this.? But for now, it is our hobby and our passion to bring you quality op-eds on the current happenings in politics.? If it wasn’t for our readers we wouldn’t be here.? So take a moment to pat yourself on the back for your continued support.? We love having you here, and we hope you share the word and enjoy our expansion.
Secondly, I’d like to walk you through our expansion.
thelobbyistgroup.net
We have formed thelobbyistgroup.? thelobbyistgroup is a cornucopia of websites that simply fall under the same umbrella.? This includes our original home thelobbyist.net, and today introduces our new sites campaignlobbyist.net, techlobbyist.net, gamelobbyist.net and ilobbyist.net.? Each brings its own specific focus on politics and policy in the same high quality format you have come to expect from the writers here at our original site thelobbyist.net.
So let me take a minute to tell you about what you can anticipate from each of our sites from this point forward.
thelobbyist.net
For the most part you won’t see any major additions at thelobbyist.net.? We will continue to strive to provide the same thought provoking articles that you have read over the last 10 months.? What you might notice from this point forward is what is missing.? But these topics will be expanding on our new sister sites.? Instead thelobbyist.net will have a strong focus on only politics and policy.
campaignlobbyist.net
In a few short months campaign season will be on us again.? I suspect that you are as excited as us to see the wheels start to turn again.? campaignlobbyist.net will be home to coverage of various local, state, and federal elections.? It will focus on key campaigns in areas that are vital to a revitalization of the conservative movement.? Things may be slow for the next few months, but you can expect a boom shortly after, and extensive coverage of those campaigns you find important.? Campaign and election coverage will not be covered on thelobbyist.net from this point forward, and will instead have a dedicated home in campaignlobbyist.net.
techlobbyist.net
More and more technology has crept into our lives, and as it creeps so does the hand of government looking for areas in which to regulate.? Tech policy will no longer be covered on thelobbyist.net and will instead have a home of its own to be covered more fully and more regularly on techlobbyist.net.? You can expect topics on freedom of speech, regulation, Net Neutrality, security, privacy, advertising, and so forth.? I hope those of you that are as passionate about the integration of politics and technology as I am will make techlobbyist.net one of the first sites you visit for commentary on the most important tech policy news of our day.
gamelobbyist.net
As in many other mediums throughout history, music, books, and art, video game entertainment has become the new bastion of forced regulation and trials toward freedom of speech.? Not only is this important in general, it is important to the youth and a growing population of adults ranging from 18-40.? We aim to support that voice on gamelobbyist.? Not only that, but we see this group as one that has been overlooked and abandoned by the conservative movement in recent years.? gamelobbyist.net is our chance to not only discuss the topics that are important to an ignored audience, but to also take the opportunity to draw them into our other sites to promote and discuss other vital issues that they may not yet be aware.
ilobbyist.net
ilobbyist.net is thelobbyistgroup’s most daring project to date.? It is no secret that thelobbyistgroup is home to conservatives and libertarians of varying ideologies, and we are also aware that many of our readers have differing points of view.? ilobbyist.net is a chance for those that agree and those that don’t to have their own forum to blog on the political topics they care about.? ilobbyist will not be inhabited with any of the writers from thelobbyistgroup sites.? It is a public site.? Anyone can sign up and immediately start writing their opinions, concerns, agreements and disagreements with the state of affairs in politics and policy to the thousands of readers of thelobbyist.? This gives anyone the opportunity to reach an audience that is already listening and reading.? No need to start your own website or blog.? You already have readers right here.? You can post one article or one hundred.? As the saying goes, the world is your oyster at ilobbyist.net.? You can get more details by following this link: ilobbyist.
RSS Feeds
A RSS link has been added to the navigation bar.? RSS feed has always been available on thelobbyist.net, but now we are giving you more options.? Going to our RSS feeds page will give you the opportunity to sign up for rss feeds from any of our thelobbyistgroup sites.? Additionally, you will now have the option to sign up for our MEGA FEED.? The MEGA FEED will provide you updates from each and every thelobbyistgroup website in one single tidy rss feed.? If you would like to receive updates of new stories from all our sites, this is the way to go.? If not, just add the individual sites you enjoy to your rss feed reader.
Twitter
If you don’t have a twitter account, click the link and join up.? If you do, we want to enroll your help in spreading the word about our columns.? thelobbyistgroup websites will now have a retweet feature built into the bottom of our posts similar to our Digg button.? Help spread the word by simply clicking “retweet”.? Clicking the bottom will send you to your twitter page with a message filled out retweeting the link to that post.? Thanks for your help here!
In closing, it is my hope that you regularly check out thelobbyist.net and our new sites for up to date political commentary on the things most important to you.? If you have any feed back on our expansion, please let us know.? As always, I along with our other writers carry an open door policy.? You can reach me at: nick@thelobbyist.net.
Thanks again for your support!
Best,
nick
The Shadow Knows: Robert Novak (1931-2009)
Conservative circles are dismayed by the news of Robert Novak?s succumbing to a brain tumor first diagnosed last year which forced him out of the full glare of the public spotlight.? Novak seemed, to this young conservative, like the kind of man one could ask a question of and truly expect an honest answer.? I remember reading his memoires, The Prince of Darkness, in which he recounts his five decades as the man lurking in the shadows of DC?s cavernous hallways.? He was a bad ass.? HuffingtonPost has a video clip of Novak after a brief skirmish with James Carville in which he storms off the set.? When someone is interested in politics during the years of their youth, they pursue politics with a significant amount of thumos that explains the swagger of so many Legislative Aids on the hill (deserving or not; and a majority tend to occupy the latter).? Prince of Darkness was an expose of a flawed individual who knew the secrets, knew the people, and attended those notorious ?cocktail parties? without remorse; a sort of Maltese Falcon-esque Humphrey Bogart.? I wonder if I would be labeled a ?cocktail elitist? for having drinks in DC with friends of mine in attempts to rub elbows with influential people like David Frum, Christopher Hitchens, Ann Coulter, or whoever else First Fridays invites out.? I?ve realized, any place (like my favorite stomping ground, Union Pub) that shows Chicago Bears and Nebraska Cornhusker football games cannot be ?elitist.??
There are myriad obituaries and tributes dotting the internet; and what is interesting is seeing how the two sides of the Conservative Movement are treating his death.? John Podhoretz?s piece seems rather curt to the average reader, while more ?Paleoconservative? periodicals are treating the event with a little more somber reflection on the man?s contributions to political life.? I did not agree with a great many of Novak?s positions, especially regarding the two recent wars in the Middle East, of which he stood against from the standpoint of a prudent conservative.? This leads to what I believe to be one of the most interesting takes on Robert Novak?s death: Stacy McCain?s article.?
David Frum?s attack on anti-War conservatives established an irreconcilable schism in the Conservative movement.? Novak was lumped in with the anti-war ?paleocon? faction, with good reason mind you; but ?unpatriotic? was a terrible charge to levy against him and many of the others.? I don?t believe that Novak took too seriously David Frum?s charge.? I don?t know for sure, but I imagine if he had been asked what he thinks of anyone who considers him ?unpatriotic,? I imagine he might respond much as he did when asked about the Valerie Plame affair:? ?The hell with you!??
-rj
The Moore You Know About Obama…
In politics, knowing what your opposition thinks and says about you and your team is critical. But listening to what they?re saying about their own side can sometimes be even more telling.
In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Michael Moore insists that Barack Obama?s ambitions are much farther left than he lets on. Thus, the President has been deliberately lying to us about everything from health care reform to the war on terror. But contrary to the Bush years, when perceived presidential deceit evoked liberal rage and a film to go with it, Moore adoringly approves of what he now sees as a necessary ?rope-a-dope strategy? to advance his side?s cause.
The interview, part of a larger round table discussion also including Paul Krugman and David Gergen, asks the ?three leading political observers? to analyze and discuss the first six months of the Obama presidency. The most startling perspective Moore provides is in regard to the current health care debate:
I take all of the things that make me nervous about the decisions that Obama has made, and I look and them through that lens ? that it?s some kind of master plan. It?s like his continued support of a government-run option for health care. If a true public option is enacted ? and Obama knows this ? it will eventually bring about a single-payer system, because the profit-making insurance companies won?t be able to compete with a government plan and make the profits they want to make. At some point most of them will probably have to bow out of the business.
Moore?s frankness even earns praise from the far more temperate David Gergen:
I?m glad to have someone of Michael Moore?s honesty say that the public option on health care is, in fact, designed to be a pathway to a single-payer system. Because the Democrats have essentially said, ?That?s not true.?
Moore?s view of Obama on Iraq is similar. While the Fahrenheit 9/11 director demands ?more than a truth commission ? a serious criminal investigation? into the Bush administration?s supposed ?lying to convince Congress to back an invasion of another country that did nothing to us,? he also tells the magazine:
Look, this guy [Barack Obama] is a very good basketball player ? he fakes right and goes left. He says he?s going to keep 50,000 troops in Iraq. But I would be shocked if, three years from now, there are 50,000 troops in Iraq. He says these things to keep the wolves away from the door, and it works. The other side seems to buy it. That?s why I admire his craftiness here.
?Same with Afghanistan,? he claims. While adding, ?I don?t think there was a reason for the war? because ?the Taliban are not an invading force ? they are citizens of Afghanistan? and therefore ?it is up to the citizens of Afghanistan whether they want to be oppressed,? he makes clear:
When [Obama] said he was going to send in 20,000 new troops, I thought, ?He?s again trying to create this illusion so that the opposition will be kept at bay.?
(Think about it: When the far left thought ?Bush lied??about WMDs, remember??they cried for impeachment. But for Obama, it?s just matter of admirably creating crafty illusions in order to trick his pesky opposition into silence and submission. Consider it liberalism by any means necessary.)
The way Moore sees it, even when it comes to serious national security issues like prosecuting terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, ?I think he gets the opposition to shut up by telling them what they want to hear.? Indefinite detention? ??Indefinitely? for Obama,? he says, ?might mean ?two more months.??
Overall score from Moore?
I would give him an A if my theory about the rope-a-dope strategy he has employed turns out to be right. If I?m wrong about that, then I?ll have to mark it down to a C-minus. Right now, I?m going to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Eventually, Gergen confronts the filmmaker about the openness of his ?fakes right, moves left? rhetoric and asks, ?Isn?t that the same critique the Republicans have been making about the president for some time?? Moore bluntly responds:
Yeah, and nobody will listen to them! I feel sorry for them. They think they know what he?s doing and they try to point it out, but Obama just acts all innocent and says, ?No, I?m not doing that.? I probably shouldn?t be saying this, but I?m counting on the fact that Republicans won?t be reading this in Rolling Stone.
Team America?s ?giant socialist weasel? counted wrong.
Back in 2004, the idea that ?Bush lied? begat plenty of fits, a film, and much more from the far left. But that, of course, was when a Republican was president. Five years later, half-truths and deceit from a liberal Democratic president are not only commendable, it seems, but absolutely vital. Apparently Barack Obama?s real plans are just that unpalatable for the public to swallow.
___________________
Tom Qualtere?currently serves as research assistant to the president of The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. This column among many others can also be found at NewMajority.com.
Suggested Reading?
Hi all! We recently added a suggested reading list to the site which you can find on the sides of certain pages. Our suggested reading is coming from the posters here at thelobbyist.
But we’d like to hear from our audience as well. If there are any politically minded books you’ve checked out recently, be sure to post them in the comments section. If it’s up our alley, we’ll add your suggestions to our list.
Thanks!
-nick
How NOT to Conduct One?s Self with the Police
Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. needs to look into the possibility of teaching a new course at Harvard.? Ideally, a Criminal Justice course which would bear the title on the 2009-2010 Catalogue: How NOT To Act With Authorities.? I would be curious to see how the good professor would act if one of his own students demonstrated the same antics he was guilty of demonstrating with several officers from the Cambridge Police Department.? How would he respond to a student yelling, ?do you know who I am?!? because his father owns a Fortune 500 company (it is Harvard).? Or imagine an exacerbated Professor Gates asking a student to come outside of the lecture hall and ?talk there? only to be assaulted with, ?ya, I?ll speak with your mama.?? Classy? no pun intended.
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The incident occurred at Dr. Gates? home on July 13, 2009 when his neighbor, Lucia Whalen, saw two men breaking into Dr. Gates? home.? Reportedly, the Professor had locked himself out of the door, or the door was jammed, and he was attempting to strong arm the barrier keeping him from his humble abode.? The meticulous details are at TheSmokingGun for your consumption, and I recommend reading the report and getting to know the situation in its entirety.? For the Cliff Notes version, the officers responded to the call as they were supposed to; Sgt. Crowley looked through the glass window and saw a man standing in the foyer; stood in plain view and asked if Dr. Gates would come outside for a moment, to which Dr. Gates hissed ?no I will not.?? Finally Dr. Gates approached the door, asked what he had done wrong, to which Sgt. Crowley notified the Professor that a break-in at the residence had been reported and Sgt. Crowley identified himself with the police department.? Dr. Gates started yelling, ?why?? Because I?m a black man in America!?? and the rest is history, as they say.?
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There is much more to the story, as you will read when you click the SmokingGun link (as I know you will because you seek to know the truth).? Either way, the report shows a disgruntled college professor who, instead of handling the situation tactfully without race-baiting, chose to make a scene and queue the theatrics.?
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Here?s the deal.? All Dr. Gates had to do was approach the officer at the door, say, ?yes officer I do live here, here?s my license.?? Hand him the license and offer to let him in.? The sergeant replies ?no thank you anyways, I appreciate it,? and hands him the license back after making sure that the address on the license matched where he was standing, turn and say, ?sorry for the confusion sir, we just had a call from one of your neighbors and had to check it out.?? Dr. Gates could have replied, ?oh well, I feel better knowing that my neighbors are looking out for my house!?? The men chuckle, Sgt. Crowley leaves and meets with his back-up officer (22 Unit back in the day, for MoCo) and shoots a little gossip for a bit while Sgt. Crowley updates his log, and this ENTIRE national hysteria is avoided.?
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That is not what happened, and it has gotten to the point where the President was asked his feelings on the situation.? His erudite remarks just astound me.? At first the President admits to not knowing all of the particulars, but that does not stop him from saying the police officers acted ?stupidly? and laying out has hand of cards for several minutes about ?profiling? and anything else.? Bill Cosby said in an earlier interview that he was ?shocked? that the President would make such remarks without knowing all of the facts of the case.?
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I believe that Sgt. Crowley?s stoic semi-interview speaks volumes about his temperament and helps us gauge which story hold the greater weight.? What makes the story even better: Sgt. Crowley was one of the Academy instructors on racial-profiling, described as:
The course, called Racial Profiling, teaches about different cultures that officers could encounter in their community “and how you don’t want to single people out because of their ethnic background or the culture they come from.”
Let?s be clear for those populating the Facebook?s and the DailyKos? and other dribble: Dr. Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct and the Nutty Professor being in or out of his house has nothing to do with it.? There is a way to conduct yourself, and a way not to.? Considering our youths? problems with authority, I assume Dr. Gate?s new class would fill up fairly quickly.?
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-rj
thelobbyist Expands to Ning.com
Hi all, just wanted to let you know we’ve expanded the site over to Ning.com and you can find us at thelobbyist.ning.com. The old discussion board is gone, and Ning will be our headquarters for forums, chat, networking, and feedback from this point forward. With the tools Ning provides, it was really just a better fit. So out with the old and in with the Ning.
If you are already a Ning member, you can head straight to thelobbyist.ning.com to become a member of our Ning site. If you aren’t a member of Ning, then you can first head to http://www.ning.com/main/signup to create your account before heading to our page.
Hope you like thelobbyist@ning and we hope you will let us know if there is anything else you would like to see over that way.? As always, we love getting any feedback on ways in which we can improve our readers experience.
-nick
