Sarah Palin is running for President

I have a newsflash for the liberal media: Sarah Palin is running for President.

And yes, she's doing it her own way.

Sarah Palin doesn't need people knocking on doors in Iowa.

She has nearly 100% name recognition in this country.

She gets more coverage than the other candidates combined.

She has people driving for hours just based on the hope that they might see her.

Tim Pawlenty? Umm... not so much.

The whole point of this Patriotic Tour of hers is to show how much she loves this country.

Her SarahPac website, her Facebook page and her Twitter feeds have millions of followers.

She's creating her own media.

In fact, if you Google the name "Sarah", the first thing that shows up is Sarah Palin.

That is a powerful cultural influence the other candidates don't have.

Photos like the one above, showing Sarah admiring the Constitution -- they don't happen by accident.

She's running.

Get ready for it.

"I'm a school teacher..."

In the movie "Saving Private Ryan", Captain John Miller (played by Oscar-winner Tom Hanks) squelches a rebellion in his unit by revealing a secret about his profession.

Having served in our military myself, I know for a fact that the people who go out and fight our wars don't do it because they want to.....

They do it because they have to.

Rand Paul, Allen West reject the Patriot Act

Here is some video of Rand Paul making a very eloquent defense of his position rejecting the Patriot Act.

Rand paraphrased the famous Ben Franklin quote about people giving up liberty for security, and receiving neither.

"Do we want a government that looks at our VISA bill?", he asks.

I especially like Pauls comments about how those in government "will not always be angels..."

Congressman Allen West of Florida, a rising star in the GOP, is also highly critical of the Patriot Act.

“I spent 22 years in the United States Army on the tip of the spear protecting the citizens of this great nation in uniform. As a Member of the House of Representatives, I have taken an oath to protect the constitutional rights of the citizens of the 22nd Congressional District of Florida and all Americans.

I support the work that law enforcement around the nation does in order to protect our citizens and apprehend individuals who want to kill innocent people and try to destroy our way of life.

I have spent the past two months investigating these provisions to the PATRIOT Act, their effect on American citizens and their impact on apprehending terrorists to better keep our country safe. After much reading, many briefings, and conversations with local law enforcement and federal agents, including FBI Director Robert Mueller, I am not fully convinced that by extending these provisions for four years, we would be any safer, but instead I fear they may only give us the illusion of being safer.

I also have concerns that these provisions were pushed through during the final hours on the very last day before the provisions were set to expire, and there was no open process for myself and other members of Congress to fully review the document.

In a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller last week, I asked for clarity on several issues and asked the following questions, which I did not receive answers:

Can you provide a breakdown of how many times these provisions have been used on citizens and non-citizens?
How many people were ever convicted or investigated?
Out of those held, how many were released without being charged?
Are there any individuals that are still being held that were never charged?
What intelligence, if anything, came from these instances in which Section 206 was implemented?
There is a constant struggle between liberty and safety, and it is a principle that I am prepared to balance as a Congressman of the United States.

Benjamin Franklin, one of the founders of our nation, wrote, ‘They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.’ These are words I do not take lightly.”

Bachmann defends Patriot Act

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann yesterday came out with a speech in Congress where she defended her vote to extend the Patriot Act.

The Patriot Act is controversial because it allows the government to snoop around on Americans in an effort to root out terrorists and defend the nations security. I find it interesting that several political figures that I am very fond of have very differing opinions about this controversial subject.

Bachmann makes some very valid points in this video.

She discusses the "Lone Wolf" theory and roving wiretaps, and admits she has reservations about certain aspects of Section 215 violating the 4th Amendment. But she defends her decision quite well.

Bachmann is a smart lady, and if no other candidates enter the 2012 race, I'd be more inclined to support her Presidential run than any of the current entrants.

Tomorrow, I will give the flip side of the argument and show you why some other leaders feel the Patriot Act is wrong.

Obama hears the footsteps...

...and I couldn't be happier. Two big power players in the Republican Party look now like they are leaning more and more towards a run for the White House.

Insider sources are saying that Texas Governor Rick Perry is about to jump into the race.

If he does, I'm 100% behind him until the end of the campaign.

I think Perry may be doing it out of frustration. Obama has insulted him and ignored him.

Perry doesn't appreciate that type of behavior towards the Governor of Texas.

He will be more than happy to take Obamas job away from him.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is about to fire up the family bus and head out on the road for a national tour of patriotism.

Don't underestimate her or count her out.

The liberal media says she can't win because they fear her.

They absolutely fear a Palin Presidency-- because they would get little to no cooperation from her.

Palins bus is pretty cool looking.

I just hope there is enough room under it for Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty and Donald Trump.

If Sarah is running, there are very few others who could beat her.

"Too Big To Fail" & "The Big Short"

Last night I watched the new HBO movie "Too Big to Fail" about the financial crisis in America in 2008. The cast was led by William Hurt, playing Henry Paulson, who was trying to save the world from another Great Depression. His team managed to pull it off, but just barely. The end credits of the movie state that this could happen again.

The movie dovetailed nicely with a book I am reading called "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis, which talks about the same crisis, except from the flip side of the coin. Instead of getting destroyed and going bankrupt, there was a select group of investors who saw what was coming with the mortgage market and started betting heavily against it. These people got insanely rich as other companies were going bust. The book details how these people didn't have any supernatural skills, but were just very diligent in doing their financial research and realizing just how reckless Wall Street had become when it came to mortgage bonds.

Among my Conservative Republican social circle, it is popular to blame our economic collapse on Bill Clinton and his social engineering legislation of having the government demand that the banks loan money to uncreditworthy people. Now this legislation might have been problematic, indeed, but the true reason for the collapse was the abuse of the mortgage bond market. Banks realized that they could make money making mortgages to anyone and then re-packaging the debt into mortgage bonds. The money was so good that they couldn't write them fast enough. Eventually standards fell and those mortgages started going bad.

Unfortunately, smart traders had taken out insurance for these bad bonds and the biggest banking houses were on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars. Part of the problem was that the big houses who wrote the insurance assumed they were writing insurance on something like car loans or credit card loans. The mortgage thing was totally different. In fact, this market in mortgage bonds was so small and so complicated, many of the banks who were making that market didn't understand it themselves.

They felt it was impossible for housing prices to fall everywhere at the same time.

But that is exactly what happens in a bad recession. And when all those mortgages started going bad, the whole world started going haywire.

One of the hidden secrets of the world economy is that a lot of it is based on fantasy. There is no such thing as money. It only exists and has value because we agree to agree that it does. It is actually just a theory. An idea.

Banking worldwide is based on trust. Rules about fractional reserves allow banks to keep only a small amount of cash, yet to loan large amounts out to anyone. The danger of this is collapses and panics and runs on banks where everyone demands their money, for fear of it disappearing.

In "Too Big To Fail", several large financial institutions are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Their combined collapse would have taken down banks all over the world and made Americans the scapegoats for a worldwide depression. The United States Government felt they had to do something.

The result was our government bailing out some large institutions with a large cash infusion.

Conservatives hate this. We just hate it.

But the other option was watching the world implode.

I think the moral of the story here is that banks need to get their heads out of their asses. They need to stop making financial instruments they don't understand. Government intervention is not the answer.

Government can do almost nothing competently. Look at the Post Office or Amtrak.

You don't want these people running the financial industry, or the medical field, for that matter.

The Wall Street banks got saved once, but the government needs to give them a stern warning that this will not become a habit.

"History will salute you, America!"

This is how you do it, folks.

This is what leadership looks like.

William Kristols Top 5 for 2012

Bill Kristol, a former staff member for Vice President Dan Quayle, and a frequent Fox News contributor had a beauty of a column the other day in The Weekly Standard.

Kristol acknowledged that he had made a bet with another writer that the 2012 GOP nominee would come from a player who is not yet in the contest. I tend to agree with Kristol. The current field is too weak. Mitt Romney can never separate himself from Romneycare. He's waiting to get dumped at the altar by primary voters.

Let's take a look at who Kristol thinks are the 5 power players for 2012.

TEXAS GOVERNOR RICK PERRY

Now, to be honest, I am 100% a Perry supporter. I donated to his campaign for Governor in 2010 and met him personally at CPAC in February 2011 (photo) . I honestly think his personal style of being a tough-talking Texan who hates the out-of-control Federal government is a major contrast to that of Barack Obama. Also, his record of guiding Texas to stellar growth and jobs increases over the last ten years gives him the economic argument that he would be better for the U.S. in the White House. I am saying this now....if Rick Perry is the GOP Nominee in 2012, Perry wins easily. However, Perry isn't in the race yet, and it is only 50/50 that he will jump in. My biggest reason for believing he will get in? Two things. He hates Obama. And he's been Governor of Texas for 10 years. That is one of the best jobs in America. There is really no other place for him to go.

FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR SARAH PALIN

What else needs to be said about Sarah Palin? She has almost 100% name recognition. She tends to be polarizing. People either love her or hate her. I love her. I think she is great. I don't think she is perfect as a Presidential candidate, but she is good enough to win some primaries. My prediction right now is that she is going to run, but that she will finish in second or third place to someone else. However, she could catch fire and take off and win the nomination and the White House, but several things would have to happen for that end result to come about. It is not as impossible as the biased media would have you believe. Barack Obama has already lost 22 states in the 2012 election before the first votes have been cast. Some of the states like Florida and Indiana and North Carolina -- all of which he won by less than 2% of their vote -- are not going to go for him next time.

FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR JEB BUSH

This big name is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Bush 41 and Bush 43 won three out of the four Presidential elections they were involved in. Not bad odds if you are desperately looking for someone to beat Obama. I was at the fancy CPAC dinner with Mitch Daniels. He bored me. The people at my table were big power players...influential donors. They kept talking about Jeb Bush for 2012. How he could speak Spanish. How smart he was. I have to admit, they made some very good arguments for Bush. I told them I was a little worried that some voters might be tired of voting for a Bush, but they said that issue would disappear over the course of the election. I have to admit. They might be right. He might be a good choice for the GOP. I'm not the biggest fan of his, but I don't know much about him or his record. But there is no denying that if he jumps into the race, he immediately is near the very top.

NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE

(photo at top)

I got to see Chris Christie up close at a Meg Whitman event in 2010. He is one of the dream candidates for the GOP in 2012. I have to admit that I'm not 100% sold on Christie. I think he's a gun-grabber and also he is weak against Islam. But he is a big favorite with the GOP because of his personal leadership style. Christie has been caught on video repeatedly being confrontational with teachers and unions...basically telling them that they are not getting what they want. Republican voters love this... and it drives them into a frenzy about a potential Christie candidacy. Donors and volunteers are salivating at the chance to go to work for him. A Christie candidacy could also potentially flip the blue state of New Jersey red, which would be catastrophically damaging to Obamas chances in 2012. I don't think Christie is perfect, but I'm fine with him being the choice in 2012. I think he wins going away.

CONGRESSMAN PAUL RYAN

Even though Ryan is from my home state of Wisconsin, this is actually the one choice of Kristols that I don't want to see in the 2012 race. Ryan has become kind of a de facto leader of the GOP with his budget plan. But I don't view that as being an accident. Notice how they always call it the RYAN budget plan in the media? I think Ryan has been secretly scheming to move up in politics. I think people in the GOP are going to draft him if they don't like the other choices. Ryan is good on TV, and I could see him winning the White House. I just don't like his record of compromising and voting for TARP and other ridiculous big government ideas. I would prefer to see Ryan run for the Wisconsin Senate seat that Herb Kohl is retiring from.

One other choice that is curiously absent from Kristols list is Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

Rubio has a solid Conservative ideology, a beautiful young family, and he is great on TV.

The media acted like he was like a rock star at CPAC 2010.

I think if the GOP puts up Marco Rubio in 2012, then he wins going away.

It wouldn't even be close.

That is something to think about.

Waiting for Sarah

I was thinking this morning about the announcement that Tim Pawlenty is running for President. I was also thinking about how the liberals in the media keep saying that Pawlenty is the logical, mature choice for the GOP. That only adds to my apprehensions about a Pawlenty candidacy and my strong opinion that he should not even be considered as an option.

Let's be honest. The Republican field is very weak right now.

Romney? Yeah, right. And Romneycare.

Huck is gone. Newt imploded.

Cain is too new and an unknown.

I love Michele Bachmann, but it will be tough for her to win the nomination.

Ron Paul and Gary Johnson are Libertarians who have some cuckoo ideas that will never fly in a Republican primary. They will never win.

Some of the strongest potential candidates for 2012.... Governor Rick Perry of Texas, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and Congressman Paul Ryan.... all seem to not be running at this time.

GOP activists and donors seem to be holding their breath and keeping their powder dry.

What are they waiting for?

I think they are waiting for Sarah.

I believe that this summer Sarah Palin will jump into the 2012 Presidential race.

She has almost 100% name recognition, and that is huge in a primary where some of the candidates are not well known.

Yes, she has some high negatives in the polls, but these are things that can change due to other events.

George W. Bush soared to 90% approval ratings after 9-11, even though there was no way that 90% of the country actually loved or admired the man.

I have said before in another blog post that I actually think Sarah Palin can become the next President of the United States.

Now, of course, several things would have to break her way.

Good luck, fortune, fate... whatever you choose to call it.

If the economy were to miraculously recover and gas prices went down, Obama would destroy any challenger.

But that is probably not going to happen, considering this amateur President doesn't have any experience running anything and his choices so far have been remarkably poor.

Yes, Sarah could win. It would be tough for her to get the nomination, but she has a better chance than any woman since Hillary Clinton almost pulled it off for the Democrats in 2008.

Obama is facing an uphill slog in 2012. Poor economy. High unemployment.

You can only blame George W. Bush for so long before it gets old.

Voters in half the states will not vote for Obama in 2012 -- no matter who the candidate for the GOP is.

Obama has already lost the South and the Mountain West. He only won the states of Florida and North Carolina and Virginia by about 1 or 2%... and that was against John McCain.

If the Republicans put up somebody good and exciting in 2012, they will win.

Sarah will face a tough battle, but she has a legion of true believers supporting her.

The establishment/RINO branch of the Republican Party fears her populist support.

They support Romney right now, but they will throw him under the bus if he falters.

I predict the RINO wing will draft and support either Jeb Bush or Paul Ryan to stop Sarah.

Don't kid yourself... the left and the media are afraid of her, too.

Any story that bashes Sarah Palin usually becomes the top media story of the day.

There is a good reason for that. The left knows that Obama is in trouble.

They will try to smear anyone who gets a little momentum going for themselves.

For those of you who think Sarah can't win, I'd like you to watch this video.

People once considered Ronald Reagan to be an absolute clown because he had acted in a movie where his co-star was a chimpanzee. But nobody thinks about this movie anymore when you mention his name.

Peoples perceptions can change.

Sarah has high negatives now, but if she wins a few primaries, that will all disappear.

Daniels out, Cain is in

In a midnight email, Mitch Daniels told his closest friends he wouldn't be running for President in 2012.

Good. One more squish out of the way.

I hope my blog post circulated through Twitter to enough people to make it clear the story about his wife leaving him for four years wasn't going to play well in the media.

The situation made Daniels look like a Beta male and was a certain recipe for defeat to Obama.

Not that Daniels was getting the nomination, anyway ...but he was probably in the Top 5.

Former Godfathers Pizza CEO Herman Cain has announced that he is in the race.

Cain made a great showing at the recent South Carolina debate, with many people gravitating towards him based on his businesslike approach and logical, unconvoluted answers to questions.

Cain is charming, that is a given. But I don't think he is a realistic candidate.

He's never been elected to anything, and to start at President is asking voters for a bit too much.

I actually think Cain is running for something else. He's making a name for himself this year so that he can be elected Governor or Senator a few years in the future.

Cain is not going to get past the big bucks of the Romney team.

And if Sarah Palin jumps into the race, she is going to suck all the air out of the room.

The media will go beserk.

People like Cain, Gary Johnson, and Ron Paul might as well quit if she gets in.

If you can read this.....

... then you didn't get Raptured.

Bummer.

I know. Me neither.

Oh well, maybe someday.

Or maybe these people just had the date wrong. Who knows.

And I was so excited about not having to make any more Student Loan payments....

Reckless Obama endangers Israel

In a stunning move, President Obama recklessly threw the safety and the security of the entire Middle East into doubt today by declaring that Israel needed to return to its 1967 border arrangement.

This opinion is ludicrous. Israel has its current borders because they fought a war back in 1967. All their violent, dangerous, malevolent, Muslim neighbors conspired to attack Israel with the express intent of destroying them.

The Israelis fought back, and the Arabs proved, as they have for the last 100 years, that they are not very good fighters. Israel not only defeated them, but pushed back with force into their countries and seized territory.

Did I mention that the Israelis were outnumbered?

Luckily, a real leader, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, told Obama..."that's not going to happen."

Mitch Daniels: Beta Male

There has been a lot of jibber-jabber in the media in the last few weeks about the Republicans not having any good candidates to defeat Obama in 2012. Well, they are partially correct. The best candidates are not in the race.... not yet, anyway.

What really sickens me is hearing the liberals and the RINOS hype the nonsensical candidacy of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. They say he would bring seriousness to the campaign. He's an achiever, blah, blah, blah...

No. Mitch Daniels sucks. He's a Beta male who would lose badly to Obama.

Let me explain.....

Back in 1994, his wife divorced him and ran off to California to marry some doctor. After 3 years, she divorced him in 1997 and came back to Mitch. Like a schmuck, Mitch took her back instead of placing her on the curb.

This shows you that Mitch Daniels cannot make good decisions.

I don't like to criticize a candidates personal life.... anyone can have a relationship or marriage that fails.

What matters is the type of decisions you make after that failure.

What his wife did was an act of emotional violence. She abandoned Mitch and left him to raise their four children... all of whom were under 14 years old at the time. This a treacherous and monsterous betrayal of trust. Accepting her back into his life is a dangerously weak and liberal decision. It says that it was all ok... just a little bump in the road... yikes.

Mitch Daniels is willing to have people close to him in life who have behaved in a treacherous manner and betrayed him on the most personal level. For that specific reason, I do not want him leading this country.

The world is filled with crazy dictators who are a threat to America. Would Mitch Daniels be able to make tough decisions that might hurt somebodys feelings? I'm not so sure.

Talking heads in the media continually brag about how he balanced the budget in Indiana.

So what?

Any accountant can do that.

I want a leader who won't accept any nonsense in his life.

And that ain't Mitch Daniels.

Potential Craig Huey Election Night upset

I'm kind of excited about this development, but I don't want to jinx it.

After trailing most of the night in the Special Election to replace Jane Harman in Congress, Republican Craig Huey surged past Democrat and Secretary of State Debra Bowen at the wire to put himself in the runoff in July against Janice Hahn.

Unfortunately, this election isn't over. Huey is only ahead by 200 votes and there are provisionals and late mailers to count yet. And we all know how Democrats have a habit of stealing close elections. Like with Al Franken in Minnesota, they will just keep counting until they get a number they like.

But for now, this is good news.

I've always liked Craig Huey. On his voter guide for the Mayoral election in 2009, he said nice things about me and gave me some positive support, even though we had never met. I'll be happy to support him in this runoff against Janice Hahn.

Unfortunately, the other person I was supporting, Lydia Gutierrez, seems to have lost her race for the Community College Board of Trustees. Lydia is a good woman whose heart is in the right place. I'm sorry to see her lose...especially since this was a close election and probably the best shot she has ever had in several runs at office. Close losses are not character builders. They are painful and they suck.

Vote for Lydia Gutierrez today!!

There is a low key election being held today in Los Angeles. Few candidates and few voters. Please go to the polls and vote for Lydia Gutierrez for the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees.

Lydia is a good Conservative who has been involved in many Republican activities here in Los Angeles. She was formerly a member of the RPLAC Executive Board and she also has run for office a few times before.

Her opponent, Scott Svonkin, is a real creep and deserves to be defeated. Unfortunately, Svonkin is being propped up by corrupt union money.

I'm going to go and vote for her in just a little bit, and I hope all my friends and associates will do the same.

Bob McDonnell for President?

Among all the anxiety-ridden Republicans who are desperately looking for our best candidate to defeat Obama, I have to say that I wonder why this mans name doesn't come up more often.

Bob McDonnell is the current Governor of Virginia. He has a great resumé. He ran for State Legislature multiple times and often won with overwhelming majorities. He served in the military. After defeating Democrat Creigh Deeds for the Attorney General spot in Virginia, he faced Deeds again four years later when running for Governor. Although he only won the Attorney Generals race by a few hundred votes, he beat Deeds for Governor by about 17% of the vote. That tells you that voters were happy with what he was doing while in office.

I don't know his full voting record...and there might be things I discover about him that I don't like....but right now he seems like a very good fit for the GOP in 2012. Plus, he would take Virginia away from Obama...which helps.

I really liked this video of his Republican response to the President. I wasn't able to embed it, but it is worth viewing. I like what I see in McDonnell.

Pawlenty: Just another RINO

Lately I've been noticing the liberal media networks seem to be hyping Tim Pawlenty for President. I think they figure he is a nice, safe liberal and there would be no reason to vote for him over Obama.

It bothers me how much the left keeps complimenting him and saying he is the "real" candidate for the GOP.

Pawlenty is just another RINO. You can't trust these Republican governors from liberal states because they have compromise on their mind at all times. It was the only way for them to scramble to stay in power. Romney came up with that knuckleheaded program Romneycare.

Pawlenty has a very big record of spending on "green" projects and that type of nonsense.

He also hijacked tax dollars for ridiculous things like sporting team stadiums and light rail construction.

One fact that bothers me most was that in order to get banks to give more mortgages, he encouraged them to loan to Muslims and to be "sharia compliant".

Any candidate for the GOP nomination that went out of his way to do something extra for Muslims immediately gets crossed off my list.

Pawlenty is just another RINO -- and his campaign can be tossed in the trash along with the other non-starters.

CORRECTION: The Pawlenty staff who run his Twitter site have alerted me to the fact that Governor Pawlenty actually shut down the "Sharia Compliant" mortgage program, which was run by the Minnesota Housing Department. I apologize for the mischaracterization of his stance on the issue.

Huckabee to announce decision

As I have said before on my blog, I think Mike Huckabee is going to say no to a 2012 run for President.

This comes from "reading the tea leaves". Some of his supporters asked if they should clear their schedules. He told them they were free to do as they wish. Some of his closest advisors say he hasn't set up his campaign yet, and he has also signed up to do some things that seem inconsistent with running for the White House.

I think Huckabee is a smart man and he sees the lay of the land. It will be very difficult to beat Barack Obama if he raises a billion dollars for his re-election.

Strangely enough, I think he should run.

He is near the top of the GOP list, and they love him in Iowa.

He wins in Iowa, and things will start to roll his way.

I think you always take a shot at the White House if it seems within reach.

Reason # 156 why Los Angeles sucks....

The other day, I'm driving to start my work day and I turn left from Oxford southbound onto Wilshire Boulevard going eastbound. It's about 8:30 in the morning. Right next to this traffic island in the middle of Wilshire I notice a large orange object on the side of the road and I swerve a little to avoid it. As I'm going past I see that it is the body of an orange cat. Poor little kitty, I think. Probably got hit by a car sometime during the night.

I can tell that this unfortunate death is somewhat recent, because the body was larger than a football and the fur wasn't too messed up. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to deal with it as I needed to pick up people from a hotel in a few minutes. I figure that thousands and thousands of people use this part of Wilshire Boulevard. Somebody will call it into Animal Services, or move the body themselves.

Well, as you can tell from the title of this blog post, that didn't happen.

I go driving by the next day and guess what? Yep. All of the self-centered people in LA continued to ignore this cats body, even though it was really obvious. When I drove by the next day it had been 24 hours and probably ten thousand people had gone past that spot and not a one of them had done a damn thing.

The poor cats body had been hit many times and had been crushed to about two inches thick.

I had a few days off of work, but then ended up going past there the other day. Emergency vehicles had slowed traffic on Wilshire to a crawl. I snapped this photo of what is left of the cat. Probably run over thousands of times now on one of the busiest streets in Los Angeles. I think this cat is about the thickness of a cracker by now.

What does it say about the people of LA that they just sit there and do nothing?

There are dozens of businesses located within yards of where this cat died.

And what about the drivers? Yeah, maybe the 500th guy to run it over didn't know it was a cat anymore, but what about the 2nd, or the 3rd? Jesus, it's been two weeks now. It is still there.

These people voted for Herb Wesson.

That explains a lot....

Governor Perry gives me new hope

If you listen to the above radio show...(sorry, not really a video) you will hear a call-in session with Governor Rick Perry on talk show host Laura Ingrahams radio show.

In the interview, Ingraham and Perry are openly contemptuous of President Obama.

Both of them really can't stand him, and you can hear it in their voices.

Perry is amazed that Obama wouldn't flyover the Texas wildfire disaster scene, instead choosing to attend a fundraiser in Austin.

Neither of them could believe the Presidents hubris about going to the border and declaring it safe.

Perry found this mind-boggling. Perry explains that Obamas assertion that apprehensions are down is actually because of the bad economy.

Perry goes on to basically call Barack Obama a "stand up comedian" that should be on Saturday Night Live.

This interview gives me new hope.

I think Governor Rick Perry might enter the 2012 race for the most Texan of reasons: because Barack Obama has pissed him off.

Why Obama is wrong on Immigration

You see a lot of offensive things done by our President. You always think you've seen the worst, but then he always comes up with a way to top it.

In a sign of earth-shattering hubris, Obama went to the El Paso, Texas /Cuidad Juarez, Mexico border yesterday and basically said that the border situation was "under control". The he went on to mock Republicans who want stronger borders. He made a poorly worded joke about "moats and alligators." It was conduct completely unbecoming of an American President.

Cuidad Juarez, Mexico is the most dangerous city in the Western Hemisphere. The reason for that is our pathetic excuse of an immigration policy combined with the profits of the drug trade made by the cartels.

The situation is nearly 100% Americas fault. We don't station our military along the border. It is wide-open and porous. There are miles of desert where there is nothing to prevent people from entering. (If I was President, that priority would change. I would withdraw our troops from Japan and Germany and station them in the Southwest U.S. close to the border and have patrols covering the area.)

Obama, in El Paso yesterday, went on to sing the usual liberal sob stories about "hurting families" and "hurting kids" and "separating loved ones". He went on to give blanket excuses for the children of illegal immigrants being allowed to stay. There is one big problem with this attitude. It encourages more law breaking. This political position basically tells any potential illegal immigrant that as long as they can get here, have children, and let them go to American schools for 10 to 15 years, then everything will be alright. The Americans won't have the heart to kick these kids out of the country.

Here are a few reasons why Obama is wrong about immigration.

1) Our current policies are dangerous.

The liberal idea of not enforcing our immigration laws has become catastrophic. Obama says we can't deport 12 million people. I disagree. We have done massive deportations in the past and we can do them again. Part of the problem was not stopping it early on. One of my strongest criticisms of Ronald Reagan was that his bulk amnesty of 3 million illegals in the 1980s sent the wrong message....that America had turned away from enforcing immigration law and would probably do it again. We now see where that policy has taken us... and continuing these policies will only make things worse.

2) Illegal immigrants take jobs away from Americans.

I have personally seen many fast food restaurants where the entire staff is speaking in Spanish. McDonalds recently had a job fair week where they had over 1 million people show up looking for jobs. Don't think for a minute that some Americans wouldn't take those jobs. Even a low paying fast food job is better than nothing. And that isn't even beginning to touch what immigrants have done to the construction trade. Illegal immigrants take jobs away from Americans...and they don't pay taxes.

3) If we need immigrants, we can invite them.

Liberals are fond of sharing the tired old cliche that Americans don't want to pick crops in the fields for $3 an hour. That may be true...but just because someone is willing to violate our laws to be here doesn't mean they should get that job. If I had it my way, we would deport all 12 million illegal immigrants. If we needed someone to do the jobs they do, we could always invite people to immigrate to America. But these people would come with full fingerprints, paperwork, and background checks to keep out the criminal elements that are now free to roam our streets. There are hundreds of millions of poor people around the world that would love to immigrate to America. If we need immigrants, we can get them. The world is full of potential Americans. We don't need to take them just because they showed up uninvited.

4) We can't afford it anymore.

America, back in the days of Reagan, could easily handle the costs of absorbing 1 or 2 million illegal immigrants. Now, the situation has spiraled out of control. The total costs for illegal immigration is bankrupting this country. Period. No debate there. Illegals generally don't pay taxes and send a large sum of their money back to their home country. The costs of arresting and imprisoning illegal immigrants is catastrophic. Estimates are that about 30% of the prison population is illegally here in this country. Social services is another bankruptcy project. The cost of welfare to illegal immigrants is skyrocketing along with their numbers. Then there comes the estimated $12 billion dollars it takes to educate the children of people who are here illegally. This is why most States are on the verge of bankruptcy right now. The States have insane, illogical policies that violate our own laws and harm our own citizens.

5) We are close to "The Tipping Point".

We can barely control our immigration situation as it is now. Four more years of Obama -- and the suspected bulk amnesty plan that he and the Democrats are scheming to put together -- might spell the end for America. We already have an estimated 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants in America now. What will we do when we have 40 or 50 million?

And then there's Newt....

Word has been filtering out in the media that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is going to officially enter the race for President in the 2012 election.

Overall, I think this is a good thing.

Newt has a lot of positives going for him.

As a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt has already shown that he can be trusted with the 3rd most powerful position in our Federal Government. His "Contract with America" back in the 90's was a positive thing for this country, and helped lead us to a long, sustained period of economic growth.

He is well known, having made a huge living off the lecture circuit and selling books over the last decade.

However, for all his positives, Newt Gingrich is going to have to overcome a lot of baggage on his campaign if he hopes to win.

Social Conservatives don't care for the fact that he is an adulterer, who is currently on his third wife.

Conservatives also don't like that fact that Newt has made some bone-headed moves and taken a few stinker political positions. He made a commercial with Nancy Pelosi about climate change and has been seen on occasion at press conferences in the vicinity of Al Sharpton, notorious poverty pimp.

I find particularly distasteful his support of Dede Scozzafava in the New York Congressional race. Scozzafava became an instant traitor and enemy of the GOP when, sensing defeat to a more Conservative challenger, she quit the primary and turned around and endorsed the Democrat in that race.

My personal take on Gingrich? Hmm....

I think that, except for Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich is probably our most intelligent and capable candidate. He is smart as a whip, and has shown that he has good financial instincts for putting our country back on the right course. I think he is the toughest, meanest s.o.b. we have in the 2012 race. He would rip Obamas head off in a debate.

Newt Gingrich has shown that he has no reservations about trampling on his enemies. He would suck the marrow out of their bones if necessary... he is that tough.

Unlike most other egomaniacal political figures, Newt Gingrich doesn't care if you don't like him.

And that makes him a very powerful political figure. He will do whatever it takes to get things done.

Would he make a good President? Yes, I think so.

Would I vote for him? Eh.. he's not my first choice, but he is better than most of the 2012 crowd so far.

I know I could trust him with the keys to the White House. That's for sure.

I think he has a bit of a hill to climb to get the nomination, but you would be a fool to count him out of this 2012 race.

Chris Christie for President?

I read something the other day on the internet that not only raised my curiosity, but it also bothered me quite a bit. There was a story about how several large political figures from Iowa were traveling to New Jersey to meet with Governor Chris Christie. Their intent was to plead for Governor Christie to enter the Presidential race in 2012. This indicated to me a complete lack of faith and trust in the candidates who are currently running for the GOP Nomination in 2012.

To be honest, I'm not that huge of a Chris Christie fan. He says a lot of things that I like, but he also has some views that I hate. He is a bit of a gun-grabber, and he also supposedly appointed a Muslim to a high court judgeship in New Jersey. Both of those facts are quite disturbing to me.

However, I admit that Christie has an honesty and directness that is refreshing for a political figure. He is seen as somewhat of a rock star in the Republican Party for getting elected in a heavily Democratic state.

I don't know if he is the right choice for America, but he is certainly one of the more appealing options in a field that looks very bleak right now.

Obama and his supporters should fear the arrival of the Governor of New Jersey.

He's the type of man that can get the big time donors and other supporters excited about 2012.

Mothers Day

I have to be honest. Mothers Day has never meant much to me. My Mother died back in the 1970's when I was just a kid. She had epilepsy and suffered from occasional seizures. Her health declined and she eventually died from this problem. My memories of her grow weaker and weaker as I get older.

One thing I do know is that, as her first born child, I was the absolute joy of her life. She said my very existence was the greatest achievement of her life. I'm glad to know I gave her such happiness.

Her goal in life was to be an "Italian Momma" and have a house full of kids. She did have four children before dying at a very young age. I believe she was 32 when she died. Sadly, she had four children who were all under 9 years old at the time.

I regret that she was not around to share life experiences with.

And yes, that is me in the photo. I had blond hair when I was kid.

(I'm also a little bit Norwegian...maybe that would explain it)

Vaya con Dios, Seve....

My favorite golfer talks about the death of one of his favorite golfers, Spaniard Seve Ballasteros.

From the Jack Nicklaus Facebook page...

Today, golf lost a great champion and a great friend. We also lost a great entertainer and ambassador for our sport.

I have always had wonderful respect for Seve’s ability, how he played the game, and the flare he brought to the sport while achieving the success he did. It was his creativity, his imagination, and his desire to compete that made him so popular not only in Europe but throughout American galleries, too.

He was a great entertainer. No matter the golf that particular day, you always knew you were going to be entertained. Seve’s enthusiasm was just unmatched by anybody I think that ever played the game.

Seve was able to create shots, invent shots, and play shots from anywhere. When he won at Royal Lytham in 1979, he played the 16th hole from a parking lot. I have watched him play 1-irons out of greenside bunkers, when just fooling around. He could get up-and-down out of a “garbage can.” He could do anything with a golf club and a golf ball. Seve learned how to take the shots and mentality he developed in a caddie yard as a young boy to a sophisticated golf course. He never changed himself; he only learned how to adapt his game to the golf course.

Seve was, without argument, a terrific player—his record speaks for itself—but more important was his influence on the game, especially throughout Europe. Through the years, his involvement with the Ryder Cup, as both a player and captain, served to further elevate the stature of the matches. He was probably the most passionate Ryder Cup player that we’ve ever had. I think his teammates always rallied around him and that passion of his. He was Europe’s emotional and spiritual leader, the heart and soul of their team. The Ryder Cup was something that was very, very special to Seve. And Seve was very special to us.

We can only imagine how difficult this battle has been for him and his family the last few years, but I know Seve faced it with the same grit, fight and spirit he approached his golf career. We had the opportunity to honor Seve at the Memorial Tournament last year, but it was truly all of us who were honored. Although he was unable to travel to Ohio, he sent a video that was simply terrific. It had humor; it had emotion; it had Seve’s touch. We can not honor and celebrate Seve enough, because he has meant so much to the game of golf and to all of us who love this sport. As I said, Seve was the heart of the Ryder Cup for decades. And speaking on behalf of my wife Barbara, today Seve and his family are very much in our hearts, on our minds, and in our prayers.

Why Obama must release the Bin Laden photos

There has been a controversy brewing the last few days over the potential release of the Osama Bin Laden death photos. Unfortunately, this has come about because we have a President who is pretty fond of talking the talk, but not walking the walk.

President Obama said he would close the military prison at Guantanamo. He won't be doing that (and with good reason). He also said he would have the most transparent administration in history, but then he rammed a 2,000 page Health Care bill down the publics throat without giving anyone time to actually read it... including critics, supporters, or opponents. He has refused to release copies of his school records. He finally released a copy of his birth certificate...two years after becoming President of The United States. So....let's just say that Obama has a problem with authenticity. People don't believe what he says. He needs to release the Osama Bin Laden death photos.... mainly because people fear it is part of his usual pattern of concealment of crucial facts.

The Obama Administration has their own reasons. They fear that releasing these photos will make Osama a martyr and encourage more attacks against Americans. That argument doesn't hold water.

Muslims have committed over 17,000 terrorist attacks since 9-11. Osama Bin Laden being dead isn't going to stop them.

It reminds me of a scene in a episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where the character played by Sarah Michelle Gellar trips a vampire, causing him to tumble and look foolish. The vampire looks at her angrily and says "I'll kill you for that!". She laughs and says "For that? What where you trying to kill me for before?"

Indeed, Muslims will continue to attack and kill others because their ideology encourages them to do that. They have been doing it for 1400 years and they will not stop now. Showing the Bin Laden photo won't add or subtract to their death toll.

The Obama Administration needs to release the photos for several reasons:

1) Obama needs to stop the controversy and to silence the conspiracy talkers. There are many people who are out there saying Bin Laden isn't dead. That this is all a cover-up. And with the way Obama operates with facts, it is easy to see why people disbelieve him.

2) To show proper respect to the dead. There are families of those killed on 9-11 who are still grieving. Their loss can never be made whole again. But it would give those families great comfort to see that the man who masterminded the death of their loved ones is, indeed, gone.

3) To show proper respect to the rest of the world. America lost thousands of its citizens on 9-11, but the rest of the world ... over 90 countries...also lost citizens to this tragic event. England lost a lot of people. So did Canada. India, surprisingly, lost a lot of people that day. Osama Bin Laden was a threat not just to Americans, but to the entire world. The bus bombing in London. The train bombing in Madrid. The hotel massacre in India. It would be the height of arrogance to think that America has the right to conceal this information from other countries of the world. If the British newspapers -- The Sun or The Mirror -- had the Bin Laden death photos, they would have no qualms about blasting it out on their front pages. Any other country would have no problem sharing this crucial information with us. So why are we behaving this way towards a world that suffered greatly at the whims of this madman?

4) To send a message. I actually prefer the release of the photos for this reason. President George W. Bush told terrorists all over the world that they would not win. They need to see that America delivered on that promise.

So...why the photo of Clint Eastwood as William Munny? Well, the movie "Unforgiven" is one of my top 10 favorites of all time. Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't help but think of William Munny when I heard the news about Osama Bin Laden.

Munny is a notorious, mean-spirited killer who bursts into a bar filled with armed men who are looking for him. He kills the owner and several others as the crowd watches in horror. He tells everyone else to leave, and they do. Later on, as he's leaving, he yells to the people outside that he is coming out, and if anyone shoots at him, he will kill them. He says he'll kill their friends, their family, their wives, and children. He says he'll burn their houses down.

When Seal Team Six burst into the Bin Laden compound, they killed his son, they shot Osamas wife in the leg, and then put a bullet through Osamas head. On the way out, they set an enormous fire that could be seen for miles.

When it comes to dealing with terrorists, America has become the William Munny of the world.

And I don't have a problem with that.

My email to President Obama

The following is my email to President Obama:

Mr. President, I congratulate you on the elimination of American enemy Osama Bin Laden.

However, your refusal to release the photo is a continuation of a pattern of devious and deceptive behavior on your part. American taxpayers paid for that Navy Seal team, and they are entitled to proof of those results.

I am running for Congress in 2012, and am deeply concerned about a government that has grown arrogant towards the people. If you do not release the Bin Laden photo in the next 72 hours, I plan to file a Federal lawsuit seeking its release as a public document.

Update:

It looks like Citizens United is going to beat me to the punch....

Citizens United Bin Laden FOIA Request

Hitting the green from over 200 at San Dimas

This is a small clip of me hitting the green from a little over 200 yards away in San Dimas.

Yeah, let's see Scott Baio do that...

Andion2010.com now available!!

I took a lot of political heat last year for cybersquatting and taking the planned website of my rival in the Republican primary.

Well, good news for all you James Andion fans out there....

ANDION2010.COM is now available for purchase!!

I let it expire...

I decided to register two other interesting domain names.

JamesAndion.com and Andion2012.com

James Andion took my place onstage next to Sarah Palin at that GOP event in Orange County last year.

If you think I would forget about something like that, you would be wrong.

Of course, these domains might come up for sale again sometime in the future, but they will cost the buyer a lot more than $24.

You can count on that.

Paris Hilton Sighting

Yesterday, I was on my way home from a trip to the bank. It's only about 500 yards, so I walk.

I was at the corner of Melrose and La Brea, which is real close to where I live. As I cross the street, I see an enormous black SUV westbound on Melrose waiting to turn right onto La Brea. As I walk in front of it, I look through the windshield and I see a pretty blond woman sitting at the wheel. Even though she had a hat and sunglasses on, I was pretty sure it was Paris Hilton.

When I get to the far corner, I decide to test my theory. I'm only about five feet away from her, standing on the curb. I shout "PARIS!" really loud. She clearly hears it, because she glances over at me and seems to be trying to decide if she knows me or not. She realizes she doesn't, the light changes, and she turns right onto La Brea northbound.

That would have been the end of it, but then she turns right into an alley behind Jiffy Lube just 50 feet from me as I am walking that way. I see her go down the alley...then start turning right again.

I'm thinking...wait a minute...right, right, and right means you're going in circles. She was either dodging a papparazzi or looking for a place to park. I turn and walk down the alley in that direction, because I live in that area. When I get to Sycamore, I see her parked and music is thumping inside the vehicle. I can't really see inside very well from across the street because the windows are so darkened from tinting.

I give up on the situation and head home, which was really close by. I was kind of surprised she was hanging out in my neighborhood. I wasn't so excited about seeing her, because I've seen her around town a few times before, but she was usually driving a light blue Bentley when I saw her before. In fact, I was thinking that she might possibly have been someone else. When I get home, I Google "Paris Hilton Yukon" and sure enough, she does own one of these vehicles. In fact, she brags about being one of the very few owners of this type of SUV hybrid vehicle.

I went outside and took a photo of the vehicle to compare. The top photo is from a papparazzi. The bottom two were taken near Melrose by me. It looks like the exact same make and model, with highly specialized tires to fit oversized rims. Probably her. But she was gone...probably eating at a trendy restaurant nearby or visiting an art gallery in the area.

I have a fondness for Paris Hilton, and also for Lindsay Lohan.

I have sympathy for them, because the world is filled with haters, and I have a few of my own.

I know what it's like to have malicious media people write horribly slanderous things about you.

While I don't have paparazzi chasing me like they do, like them, I do have people making things up about me all over the internet. (Like, for example, that Mayor Sam blogger and nutjob Joe Barrett)

So Paris and Lindsey are cool with me.

I hope to meet them someday.

I'll be happy to warn them about the drawbacks of running for political office.

The Scott Baio Incident

This is a story that goes back a few years. A lot of years, to be exact.

1997.

I had taken up a healthy enthusiasm for golf and was playing frequently at the Studio City Golf Course on Whitsett Avenue out in the Valley. One of the really cool things about playing this course was that, because of its location and closeness in distance to major film studios, you sometimes got to see celebrities playing there. Sometimes you even got to play with them.

There were months where I was playing there four or five days a week, and playing four or five rounds a day.

I saw a lot of interesting people come and go.

I got to play quite often with Dweezil and Ahmet Zappa, the sons of legendary rocker Frank Zappa. They had inherited a lot of money from their fathers estate, and they could play golf all day, everyday. They were good guys and I enjoyed their company.

I once watched Damon Wayans play a round right in front of me with an instructor giving him tips all the way around the course. He really sucked at golf in 1997, and I doubt he even plays it at all now.

Another time I played a round with actor Richard Kind, who was starring on the television series "Spin City" at the time. He was another one who wasn't too good. I remember playing with him one time and on the fourth hole he shanked about four straight tee shots into the L.A. River. His buddies started laughing about it and he stormed off in a huff and didn't finish the round.

But by far the clearest memory I have of Studio City Golf Course is what I have come to describe as "The Scott Baio Incident".

One day I was playing a round with some guys I knew and we were walking off the 7th green. Suddenly a ball comes whistling past my head and thumps onto the green about three feet away from me.

I saw a guy with a green polo shirt walking off the 7th tee. I thought "that son of a bitch. He hit into me. On a par 3 course!!"

I decided I'd have a little talk with him on the next tee. I waited until they caught up and told him he had recklessly fired at a green that wasn't empty. He didn't really apologize and made some excuse about "Hey, we are just trying to hurry up and finish."

I went up and got in his face and told him if he did it again there would be trouble. When I got real close to him, I realize, hey.... this is that little prick from the TV show "Happy Days".

Chachi Arcola. Yeah.. Scott Baio.

Anyway, my group hits to the 8th green and Baio gets up on the tee box right behind us as we walk away and says "OK if I hit now?" to taunt me a little bit.

Now, I should be very clear about describing what happened next. In my younger years, I had both served in the military and I had also been a two year letterman on my wrestling team in high school. I'm not the biggest guy in the world, but I haven't lost a fight in over 30 years -- and I've been in plenty. In fact, my brother thinks I'm one of the meanest guys in the world. Anyway....

This retort by Baio doesn't sit well with me. I start taking a few aggressive steps in his direction with the express intention of punching him right square in the mouth for being a smart ass to me. Luckily, a few of the other players realized what was about to happen and they grabbed me before I could get to Baio.

No punches were thrown, but Baio was a little nervous as he saw me struggle to get to him. He didn't say another word to me after that.

It was 14 years ago....and I still don't like him.

Why do I bring this story up now? Well.... as it turns out....

The Hollywood Congress of Republicans is going to honor Baio with a little get-together tomorrow.

I doubt that I will be in attendance.

Thank You, Colonel Jessup!

Colonel Nathan Jessup: "Son, we live in a world that has walls. And those walls need to be guarded by men with guns."

News arrived hours ago that a team of Navy Seals had infiltrated a hideout in Pakistan and killed Al Qaeda terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden. Great news for America, but the celebrations are shortsighted, and far too premature. Bin Laden was just one of many terrorists. Even though he is dead, there will be others who will follow him.

When I titled this blog post "Thank You Colonel Jessup" I was trying to express my appreciation for members of our United States military who earn their pay the hard way. Most Americans sleep safely in their beds at night because we have some great men who are willing to do whatever is necessary to protect us. These men are usually anonymous. We don't know who it was that put their own ass on the line by helicoptering into that firefight.... but it was something that many Navy Seals do all the time. It's part of their routine. They do their work in quiet. They stay out of the limelight.

President Barack Obama, on the other hand, gets to go on TV all over the world and announce Osama Bin Ladens death. The President, whom I dislike, made a high-quality speech that few other politicians can pull off. He was modest and did not claim all the credit for ending the life of one of our countries biggest enemies. He even gave his usual hat tip to the Muslims by saying that "..we are not at war with Islam".

Well, not yet, anyway...

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all those anonymous soldiers and sailors and airmen for all they do to keep us safe. Thanks to all the Colonel Jessups out there in the world.

I'm also feeling very grateful to the man who put Osama Bin Laden on the run for the rest of his life.

Let's not forget the man who got this project started.

Thank you, President Bush.