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	<title>Smart Girl Nation &#187; Fidel Castro</title>
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		<title>It’s No Competition: We Need Private Health Care</title>
		<link>http://smartgirlnation.com/2010/03/it%e2%80%99s-no-competition-we-need-private-health-care-competition/</link>
		<comments>http://smartgirlnation.com/2010/03/it%e2%80%99s-no-competition-we-need-private-health-care-competition/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Mar 2010 12:15:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Anthony Bialy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Could we take care of ourselves?  It might sound like a revolutionary question in a world where a smiley Barack Obama gets to add his signature to his signature run-your-life initiative.
But the Age of Entitlements is already fading in esteem, as Americans grow increasingly wary of going bankrupt funding free stuff.  Countless repulsed individuals have [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Could we take care of ourselves?  It might sound like a revolutionary question in a world where a smiley Barack Obama gets to add his signature to his signature run-your-life initiative.</p>
<p>But the Age of Entitlements is already fading in esteem, as Americans grow increasingly wary of going bankrupt funding free stuff.  Countless repulsed individuals have a renewed appreciation for the freedom to, say, <a href="http://twitter.com/jimgeraghty/status/11031120302">enjoy dinner without being forced to consider how many calories the entrée contains.</a></p>
<p>More urgently, we’d like to pick doctors that haven’t first been approved by Queen Nancy of the Castro District.  The health sham that’s as unpleasant as it is detested embodies the view of citizens as rubes who shouldn’t be allowed to brush their teeth without a federal monitor.</p>
<p>A sad majority of federal politicians don’t trust us.  But that shouldn’t stop us.  Thankfully, a high percentage of wisely cautious people nationally reject national health.  In doing so, they implicitly comprehend that the health industry responds just like any other commercial segment: we can serve as our own regulators.  It would feel suddenly empowering if the majority of people didn’t recognize such a reality all along.</p>
<p>Stupakare, as the catastrophic bill can be referred to <a href="http://spectator.org/blog/2010/03/29/americans-united-for-life-vs-b">in honor of the dastard who enabled passage,</a> is designed to achieve the modest goals of eliminating life’s worries and ending the need for personal responsibility.</p>
<p>In sadly classic mammoth-government style, the atrocious legislation supposedly keeps down costs while improving care and covering everyone for everything.  It’s the most dreadful fairy tale ever written, although the endless pages of legalistically soporific language still makes the bill suitable for bedtime reading.</p>
<p>By contrast, the nation is looking for a less utopian but more not-awful-here-in-reality plan where we can make our own money and in turn buy our own things, including voluntary indemnities against calamity.  While we’re at it, we can help our own, which is a foreign concept to temporary Washingtonians who don’t think any of us can even help ourselves.</p>
<p>Why doesn’t the ruling party ever believe that we’ll donate to charities in order to help the truly needy instead of expecting the government to do it?  Do they not trust us?  Oh, right: that’s a yes.  They’ll presumably accept that we can be counted upon to donate treasure and time to worthwhile causes at about the same time they conjure the name of a federal program that has saved money at any point ever.</p>
<p>The sanctimoniousness about the necessity of a federal imposition into health care is accompanied by obliviousness about the true nature of assistance.  Many conservatives would be more than happy to teach proponents of <a href="http://twitter.com/TeriChristoph/status/11056972420">a law endorsed by murderous thug tyrant Fidel Castro</a> and zombie Che Guevara how to write a check and charitably send it to a hospital.  It’s a similar process to how churchgoers drop off canned goods at the parish’s food pantry instead of relying upon the state to provide for needy.  Congregation members may have to conduct seminars.</p>
<p>The mechanism for helping is nearly as important as the notion of helping.  There’s nothing emptier than forced compassion: using Washington as a charity is only suitable if humans are as universally destitute as they are greedy.  Give people the opportunity to excel, and, amazingly, they may just freely help those in need after achieving prosperity.  Privately-generated kindness will help those with pre-existing conditions more than any plan Harry Reid likes ever would.</p>
<p>And private helping works best.  As with competition in any other industry, charities are most efficient when they have to work at attracting dollars and prove that they’re actually beneficial.  Naturally, Obamacare backers don’t understand.</p>
<p>Of the countless problems with the intermediary in question, the federal government has a tendency to spend <a href="http://twitter.com/JCred/status/10856357513">about one jillion more times than it promised it would.</a>  They prefer nicking your American Express, as cash and debit cards only sustain reckless purchasing for so long.  The key is to move quickly before the inevitable issue of a nationwide hold.</p>
<p>Somehow, the left is shocked that the deficit will be increasing beyond its present astronomical rate thanks to the importation of Havana Health.  <a href="http://twitter.com/amandacarpenter/status/10820027109">A lot.</a>  Don’t blame the calculator, either: the Congressional Budget Office <a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2010/03/24/an_off-budget_office">can only issue projections</a> based upon <a href="http://blog.heritage.org/2010/03/23/morning-bell-congress-vs-the-american-people/">the oft-dubious assumptions they’re handed.</a>  As our nation’s youths phrase it using their parlance, the CBO would tell us to kindly hate the game, not the playa.</p>
<p>Still, abusing the precision of mathematics via crooked submissions to the budget office is nothing compared to the hollow concerns expressed during the bill’s advocacy phase.  For one, anti-insurer warriors just love moaning about inhuman conglomerates dropping people who contract serious ailments.</p>
<p>That said, we could end the crisis with signed contracts identifying the services that the company is willing to offer if we give them our currency.  All we need to do is make demands.</p>
<p>And we have a secret regulatory power in the form of being able to shop elsewhere.  If one company won’t offer a resolute guarantee that they’ll provide services in exchange for our patronage, we can find one that will.  If you don’t like the taste of what Pretzel Time sells, walk to the other end of the mall and purchase one of Auntie Anne’s offerings. </p>
<p>Companies fear losing our business when potential clients are permitted access to unlimited preferences.  It’s some sort of market imbued with freedom.  There’s no ludicrously counterproductive DMVesque exchange necessary.  Screwing over customers is bad for business.</p>
<p>But Pelosi’s evil dojo doesn’t trust either side of the free market transaction.  Their audacity is unending, as seen in their doglike focus on <a href="http://www.cnsnews.com/news/print/63036">taxing “unearned income.”</a>  Their ravenous craving for seizing any gains they can corresponds to their belief that wealthy people don’t deserve wealth.</p>
<p>Classifying such proceeds as “unearned” is also a blatant untruth.  If you put money in an account, stock, bond, or whatever and make interest or dividends, then you’ve earned it.  You don’t need to punch a time clock to profit.</p>
<p>Only the present House majority could think that you deserve a financial penalty for the misdemeanor of acquiring earnings from letting banks or corporations use your initial investment.  They’d tax you extra for the purchase of the shovel and strongbox you use to bury your nest egg in the swamp if they could.</p>
<p>But Obama and crew just love to concern themselves with other people’s pocketbooks.  Compelling that focus <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/16500-more-IRS-agents-needed-to-enforce-Obamacare-88458137.html">by force of jackbooted nerds</a> is just another alarming aspect of their sickly law.  Worst is that it’s one of the myriad rotten aspects we’ve learned about after passage.  In medical terms, the surgeon made a sizable incision to look inside for what needs fixing when a cursory external examination would have established that invasive care was wholly unnecessary.</p>
<p>We didn’t need this procedure, and it’s now a matter of avoiding being permanently strapped to the operating table without access to anesthetic.  The only question is whether we can stay outraged over the reduction of consumer options through the next two major elections.</p>
<p>But we’ve already sustained contempt for Obama’s woeful philosophy for a year and a quarter, and that was before his beloved gibberish became law.  The legislation will surely fuel the flames through November, especially considering there are thousands of pages that deserve immolation.</p>
<p>Of course, we’ll be accused of fear-mongering for pointing out that the bill will deleteriously affect both the finances and fitness of the elderly, young, poor, rich, middle class, and every other human being who has or may potentially have a health problem.  But rattling off the legislation’s actual troubles beats shamefully and shamelessly <a href="http://michellemalkin.com/2010/03/12/harry-reid-hides-behind-11-year-old-kiddie-shield-marcelas-owens/">parading victimized children</a> or <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/15/clinic-cancer-patient-wrote-obama-lose-home-aid/">telling urban legends</a> to close the sale.</p>
<p>Happily, the melodramatic pandering failed even as the legislation squeaked through, as <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/poll-healthcare-repeal-majority/2010/03/29/id/354146">the bill is remarkably unpopular</a> in every location excepting the Capitol.  The only people who want to further enable Congress are congressmen, something which more of the public realizes daily as they add themselves to a clear majority.</p>
<p>Voters are capable of making sure they’re not ripped off, deciding what coverage they need, and taking care of each other.  In short, they’re smarter than Democrats think they are.</p>
<p>As an example, we know that health care will no longer be merely one-sixth of the economy as costs skyrocket exponentially while the rest of the economy correspondingly shrinks: that fraction will grow to terrifying proportions.  Best of all, people figured that out with no help from Washington.</p>
<p>For dunces at the mercy of insurance firms, the rabble sure uncovered who the true foe of health progress is rather adeptly.  As a hint, the archenemies of enterprise will have trouble finding work after they lose their current positions in November, namely because companies will stop growing in order to avoid <a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2010/03/24/video-will-obamacare-drive-businesses-out-of-providing-health-insurance/">Stupakare’s numerous penalties.</a>  At least the market plunderers will directly reap the consequences.  Being a class-warfare pirate never pays.</p>
<p><em>Anthony Bialy is a freelance writer and “Red Eye” Conservative in </em><em>Western New York</em><em>.  He blogs at <a href="http://thebuffalobean.com/">http://thebuffalobean.com</a> and tweets at <a href="http://twitter.com/AnthonyBialy">http://twitter.com/AnthonyBialy</a>.</em></p>
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		<title>Dependence Day</title>
		<link>http://smartgirlnation.com/2009/07/dependence-day/</link>
		<comments>http://smartgirlnation.com/2009/07/dependence-day/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:15:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dawn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured Writers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Constitution of Honduras]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fidel Castro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ileana Ros-Lehtinen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kelli Krauss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manuel Zelaya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supreme Court of the United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S. Constitution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://smartgirlnation.com/?p=4125</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

By Kelli Krauss
Upon celebrating the 4th of July, the birth of our nation under the Declaration of Independence in 1776, I couldn&#8217;t help but wonder what direction our nation is free-falling to. Our Founding Fathers risked everything to fight for a country that they believed in. A free country. A country where &#8220;all men are [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TfXFe4IYeys/SlNELs1COOI/AAAAAAAAADA/NrNx9w0dOKw/s1600-h/declaration_of_independence_by_john_trumbull.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355699349676505314" class="alignleft" style="border: 0pt none; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px; height: 128px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TfXFe4IYeys/SlNELs1COOI/AAAAAAAAADA/NrNx9w0dOKw/s200/declaration_of_independence_by_john_trumbull.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="200" height="128" /></a></p>
<div>
<div><a href="http://smartgirlpolitics.ning.com/profiles/blogs/dependence-day">By Kelli Krauss</a></div>
<div>Upon celebrating the 4th of July, the birth of our nation under the Declaration of Independence in 1776, I couldn&#8217;t help but wonder what direction our nation is free-falling to. Our Founding Fathers risked everything to fight for a country that they believed in. A free country. A country where &#8220;all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.&#8221; When America finally won her Independence from Britain, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written with the purpose of limiting government. We fought for Independence and they knew that we needed to preserve it. We needed to create a country where the strong arm of the government could not interfere with our right to live free. Are we still that country? The country that stands for freedom and an individual&#8217;s right to earn a good life? I am not so sure anymore. There are more and more people out there that think they deserve a good life and that the government should provide it. The current Democratic controlled Congress and <a class="zem_slink" title="Barack Obama" rel="homepage" href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/">President Barack Obama</a> are only too happy to comply with this.</p>
<p>Since his inauguration on January 20th, President Obama and Congress have been spending tax payer money uncontrollably, have taken over a portion of the auto industry, are setting the stage to control and regulate more of the banking industry and Wall Street, and now they want to take over the health care system and pass a Cap and Trade bill that will raise prices for all Americans on everything from heating your home to things you purchase at the store. If the Cap and Trade bill passes in it&#8217;s current form, a government agency will be created that will inspect your house before you can sell it and tell you what improvements need to be made to meet government &#8220;green&#8221; regulations. Just as medical decisions should be made by a doctor and the patient, shouldn&#8217;t improvements on a home be made between the buyer and the seller based upon an independent home inspection? Not according to the current administration and those running Congress. They know what is best for every American.</p>
<p>Our President couldn&#8217;t even get off the fence to come out with a strong stand on Iran, the election and the protests for freedom. First he said,&#8221;We&#8217;re still waiting to see how it plays itself out&#8230;.&#8221; and that &#8220;The difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi in terms of their actual policies may not be as great as has been advertised. Either way we are going to be dealing with an Iranian regime that has historically been hostile to the United States.&#8221; I am sure to the people protesting, there was a difference. To many who were protesting, it was not so much that Mousavi himself didn&#8217;t win, it was the idea that Ahmadinejad could take an election illegally. Obama claims he didn&#8217;t want to &#8220;meddle&#8221; in Iran&#8217;s problems, but by making these comments and belittling what the people there were protesting, he did. If there was no difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi and both regimes would be hostile to the U.S. anyway, then why be so timid and not condemn the actions of the government?</p>
<p>It was only after coverage of the protests increased and the tragic shooting of a 26 year old woman by the Iranian Basij Militia while exiting a car, that President Obama decided to speak with stronger criticism on the actions of the <a class="zem_slink" title="Politics of Iran" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Iran">Iranian government</a>, &#8220;When a young woman gets shot on the street when she gets out of her car that&#8217;s a problem.&#8221; Mr. President, it is more than a problem, it is murder.</p>
<p>Now to the complete other end of the spectrum, when the Congress and <a class="zem_slink" title="Supreme Court of the United States" rel="homepage" href="http://www.supremecourtus.gov/">Supreme Court</a> of Honduras had their military remove the leftist leaning President Zelaya, Obama came out quick. He claimed immediately that it was &#8220;not legal&#8221; and that Zelaya should be reinstated as President. In fact Zelaya was corrupt, had mismanaged finances of the government and was trying to circumvent the Constitution of Honduras by extending his term of office. The Congress agreed with the Honduran Supreme Court&#8217;s ruling that Zelaya was in violation of the their Constitution and the military complied by removing Zelaya. As Hans Bader stated in his article, <a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-7812-DC-SCOTUS-Examiner%7Ey2009m7d5-Will-Obama-blackmail-Honduras-into-installing-a-bullying-wouldbe-dictator">Will Obama blackmail Honduras into installing a bullying would-be dictator?, </a>&#8220;The Honduran military&#8217;s role in enforcing the court <a class="zem_slink" title="Court order" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_order">order</a> does not make it a &#8220;coup&#8221; any more than federal troops&#8217; role in enforcing the court-ordered integration of the Little Rock public schools in 1957 constituted a military occupation or takeover.&#8221;</p>
<p>What is scary is that Obama stated that the &#8220;U.S. will stand on the side of democracy&#8221; so to him, Zelaya represented democracy! In taking this stance, President Obama has now found himself agreeing with Hugo Chavez, <a class="zem_slink" title="Fidel Castro" rel="imdb" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004242/">Fidel Castro</a> and every other leftist dictator and leader in Latin America. I applaud Republican Rep. <a class="zem_slink" title="Ileana Ros-Lehtinen" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ileana_Ros-Lehtinen">Ileana Ros-Lehtinen</a> for taking issue with the Obama administration on it&#8217;s reaction to Honduras.</p>
<p>In a letter to Obama, Ros-Lehtinen stated &#8220;the U.S. stance from the onset appears to have been focused on supporting one individual, President <a class="zem_slink" title="Manuel Zelaya" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Zelaya">Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales</a>, irrespective of the Honduran constitution, rule of law, and democratic institutions. &#8230; [T]here has been no apparent attempt by the U.S to discern the truth about the status of democratic and constitutional order in this Central American country, before making summary conclusions and issuing condemnations based on incomplete information.&#8221; She ended the letter by saying she hoped the Obama administration &#8220;will not have the U.S. response hinge on unconfirmed reports and accusations by sources with a vested interest in ensuring a particular outcome that may, or may not be in the interest of the United States.&#8221;</p>
<p>The Senate will soon start confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who President Obama has nominated for the Supreme Court of the United States. She has stated, &#8220;I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn&#8217;t lived that life.&#8221; I argue that she does not see all people equally. She first sees ethnicity, then gender, and then the law, which she wants to create. In 2001, she said this, &#8220;Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see. My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas with which I am unfamiliar. I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.&#8221; Anyone who is a judge and makes it clear that they will be bringing their bias to the bench based on their heritage, gender and experiences, should not be anywhere near the Supreme Court.</p>
<p>Our country is changing. It is changing because we are being led by a man who lacks the knowledge of what freedom and democracy is, to be President of the United States of America. If the United States doesn&#8217;t stand up to the government of Iran and doesn&#8217;t give the people of Iran the message that we stand solidly with them in their struggle for freedom; if our leader doesn&#8217;t see that in Honduras, the wheels of democracy were actually working in the ousting of Zelaya; if our President and Congress force government controlled health care and continue to take over industry after industry; if our government sees fit to impose taxes and create another federal bureaucracy to make the country &#8220;green&#8221;, and if a judge gets confirmed to the Supreme Court who clearly doesn&#8217;t see all people equally and sees her role as one to create law and not interpret it justly, where is our freedom headed?</p>
<p>The American people need to understand that if actions are not taken to stop the current trend of government interference in our lives and it&#8217;s inability to stand up for the struggles of freedom in the world, we may be longing for the days of celebrating our hard fought-for Independence because we will be mourning our complacent birth of Dependence. Dependence on a government that thrives on power. The power to tell you what is right for you. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, &#8221; That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.&#8221;</p>
<p><a class="zem_olink" href="http://r.zemanta.com/?u=http%3A//www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/04/cuba-suspension-lifted-organisation-american-states&amp;a=5404618&amp;rid=194ed395-b012-4584-813d-81fb89914b95&amp;e=7dee71945156b025acf22619730e7424"></a></div>
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		<title>The U.S. Foreign Policy Circus</title>
		<link>http://smartgirlnation.com/2009/06/the-us-foreign-policy-circus/</link>
		<comments>http://smartgirlnation.com/2009/06/the-us-foreign-policy-circus/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:39:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dawn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured Writers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Profiles in Conservatism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bush Administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fidel Castro]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[George W. Bush]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hillary Rodham Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kelli Krauss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sergey Lavrov]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[US]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://smartgirlnation.com/?p=3850</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[

By Kelli Krauss
The current foreign policy stance held by the Obama administration, being heralded on the left as the way back into the good graces of other countries (including ones that want to destroy us), has been like watching a circus. President Obama is the ringleader with his blame America speeches and our State Department, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TfXFe4IYeys/SkI7ujlLv_I/AAAAAAAAACw/_J9I7rA36Ks/s1600-h/ObamaAppeaser.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350904978280792050" class="alignleft" style="border: 0pt none; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px; height: 152px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TfXFe4IYeys/SkI7ujlLv_I/AAAAAAAAACw/_J9I7rA36Ks/s200/ObamaAppeaser.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="200" height="152" /></a></p>
<div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_TfXFe4IYeys/SkG6BYF19zI/AAAAAAAAACo/X_Cq8KfoKsc/s1600-h/clown_car-413x600.jpg"></a></p>
<div><a href="http://smartgirlpolitics.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-us-foreign-policy-circus">By Kelli Krauss</a></div>
<p>The current foreign policy stance held by the Obama administration, being heralded on the left as the way back into the good graces of other countries (including ones that want to destroy us), has been like watching a circus. <a class="zem_slink" title="Barack Obama" rel="homepage" href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/">President Obama</a> is the ringleader with his blame America speeches and our State Department, headed by <a class="zem_slink" title="Hillary Rodham Clinton" rel="homepage" href="http://www.state.gov/secretary/index.htm">Hillary Clinton</a> is like the car full of clowns. With every foreign affairs mishap, it&#8217;s like another clown exiting the car. The question is how many clowns are in there?</p>
<p>First, Hillary Clinton went to Russia and met with <a class="zem_slink" title="Sergey Lavrov" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Lavrov">Sergey Lavrov</a>, the Russian Foreign Minister. She gave him a plastic &#8220;red button&#8221; with Russian print on it that was supposed to say &#8220;reset&#8221; to represent the &#8220;reset&#8221; of relations between our two countries. Unfortunately, the Russian was wrong and the button actually said &#8220;overcharge.&#8221; Apparently, they gave him the button that was meant for the American people.</p>
<p>Then Secretary Clinton went to <a class="zem_slink" title="Mexico" rel="geolocation" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=19.05,-99.3666666667&amp;spn=10.0,10.0&amp;q=19.05,-99.3666666667%20%28Mexico%29&amp;t=h">Mexico</a> where she continued to blame the U.S., citing the statistic that &#8220;90 percent of the weapons used to commit crimes in Mexico come from the <a class="zem_slink" title="United States" rel="geolocation" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667&amp;spn=10.0,10.0&amp;q=38.8833333333,-77.0166666667%20%28United%20States%29&amp;t=h">United States</a>.&#8221; In fact, only 17 percent of guns found at Mexican crime scenes have been traced to the U.S. An ATF spokeswoman stated the statistic as being, &#8220;over 90 percent of the <em>traced</em> firearms originate from the U.S.&#8221;</p>
<p>While in Mexico, Secretary Clinton stopped at the Basilica of <a class="zem_slink" title="Our Lady of Guadalupe" rel="geolocation" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=19.4844444444,-99.1172222222&amp;spn=0.01,0.01&amp;q=19.4844444444,-99.1172222222%20%28Our%20Lady%20of%20Guadalupe%29&amp;t=h">Our Lady of Guadalupe</a> to leave a bouquet of white flowers, “on behalf of the American people.&#8221; She then asked, &#8220;Who painted it?&#8221; to which the Monsignor responded “God!” She apparently did not do her homework. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the cloak of St. Juan Diego in 1531. Upon leaving the basilica, Mrs. Clinton told some of the Mexicans gathered outside to greet her, “You have a marvelous virgin!” Don&#8217;t forget, this is &#8220;on behalf of the American people.&#8221;</p>
<p>Secretary Clinton then went to China to beg and plead with them to keep buying U.S. debt. This was extremely important because the <a class="zem_slink" title="George W. Bush" rel="imdb" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0124133/">President</a> and Congress are finding all kinds of ways to spend money that our country doesn&#8217;t have and someone has to pay for it. Why not the Chinese and then eventually the next generation of Americans?</p>
<p>The U.S. then sent four detainees from <a class="zem_slink" title="Guantánamo Bay" rel="geolocation" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=19.9,-75.15&amp;spn=1.0,1.0&amp;q=19.9,-75.15%20%28Guant%C3%A1namo%20Bay%29&amp;t=h">Guantanamo Bay</a> to the lovely island of Bermuda. Bermuda has control over it&#8217;s own affairs which include immigration, but not foreign policy, defense or security, because they are still a British territory. Decisions on these matters would be made in London. Except if you are President Obama, the ringleader, then you let your operatives and State Department blindside one of our most reliable and important allies.</div>
<p>Meanwhile, North Korea continues to launch missile tests and threaten the U.S. with attacks if anything is done to prevent them or their pursuit of nuclear weapons. Our response, they are a &#8220;grave threat&#8221; and we are &#8220;looking into it.&#8221; Now, because the Bush Administration took North Korea off the terror list, we are trying to decide if we should put them back on. It is like the green, red and yellow cards my kindergartner gets at school. If they are having a good day, they keep the green card next to their name. When they start misbehaving, they get the yellow card for a warning, and when the teacher has had it, the red card goes up along with a note home. Right now, North Korea has a yellow card and we are trying to decide if we want to switch them to red and send a note to the mother of all foreign affairs, the dysfunctional United Nations.</p>
<p>We also had members of the <a class="zem_slink" title="Congressional Black Caucus" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Black_Caucus">Congressional Black Caucus</a> visit Cuba. &#8220;Former President <a class="zem_slink" title="Fidel Castro" rel="imdb" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004242/">Fidel Castro</a> is very engaging, very energetic,&#8221; said CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee, a California Democrat. &#8220;Our conclusion is, given the new direction in our foreign policy, that it&#8217;s time to look at a new direction in our policy toward Cuba.&#8221; Lee and others gave much praise to Castro, saying that he was warm and receptive to them. Lee described her time with Castro as, “quite a moment to behold.&#8221; Representative Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat said, “It was almost like listening to an old friend&#8221;, and &#8220;In my household I told Castro he is known as the ultimate survivor.&#8221; I guess that would be true if your old friend is a communist tyrant who is a human rights abuser, suppresses free speech, fair elections and imprisons political dissenters.</p>
<p>Now we have our State Department telling its embassies and consulates around the world that “they may invite representatives from the government of Iran” to their Independence Day celebrations which are gatherings that usually have hot dogs, red-white-and-blue decorations, fireworks and is a general celebration of America, it&#8217;s roots and values. Nothing like a friendly barbecue to show that the communication lines are open with a government that wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth and whose leader despises America.</p>
<p>This was announced right before Secretary Clinton went to El Salvador where she is trying to improve relations in Latin America because they are concerned about the influence that Iran has been gaining there. Of course while there, as is the pattern with the Democrats (they did it for eight years, so I guess habits are hard to break) Clinton blamed the Bush administration and their policy in Latin America for the Iranian influence.</p>
<p>Even with the ongoing violence taking place in Iran today, with protesters marching in the streets, risking their lives in opposition to the current government and their election controversy, State Department spokesman, Ian Kelly said, &#8220;There&#8217;s no thought to rescinding the invitations to Iranian diplomats. We have made a strategic decision to engage on a number of fronts with Iran. And &#8212; and we tried many years of isolation, and we&#8217;re pursuing a different path now.&#8221;</p>
<p>So to recap our foreign policy: we gave a plastic &#8220;red button&#8221; to Russia that didn&#8217;t translate correctly; we went to Mexico and falsely accused the U.S. of supplying bad guys with guns; told the people in Mexico City that they have a &#8220;marvelous Virgin&#8221;; begged China to buy up more of our debt because we can&#8217;t stop spending like drunken sailors; we sent Gitmo detainees off to live in a paradise governed by our ally without notifying them; we have scolded North Korea; engaged Fidel Castro, the communist dictator, and praised him; and now we are going to invite representatives from Iran to come and celebrate America&#8217;s birthday with hot dogs, which depending on what kind you buy, they can&#8217;t even eat because Muslims don&#8217;t eat pork. With three and a half years left to this administration and it&#8217;s foreign policy, I think the clown car is going to be really big.</p>
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