Ernest Borgnine 1917-2012

I'm always saddened to hear of the death of someone I knew personally.

Ernest Borgnine died Sunday, and my thoughts immediately went back to knowing him in the 90's and what a great guy he was. There won't be any tears from me, though. Ernest was a great guy, loved by so many, and he had a rich and wonderful life -- and he lived to be 95 years old. You can't ask for much more than that.

I met Ernest in the mid 90s while working on a show called "The Single Guy" with Jonathan Silverman. It was kind of a mediocre show, but usually had high ratings because it was scheduled right after "Seinfeld". In fact, I think "The Single Guy" holds the record for being the highest-rated show ever cancelled. It was often in the top 10, but had no audience of its own...and when the studio changed its time slot, ratings plummeted and it got dumped.

The two things I remember most from working on that show were meeting my childhood crush Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady!) and getting to hang out a little bit with Ernest Borgnine.

Ernest had an unusual quality that you don't find in many human beings. I don't think the guy was ever in a bad mood. He was an amazing optimist...even when it looked like the show was doomed, he didn't get upset at all.

I think my best memory of Ernest Borgnine is the day he brought his Oscar for the movie "Marty" to the set. He won it for Best Actor in 1955. He let people on the show handle it and admire it.

To this day, it is the only Academy Award I've ever touched.

It was nice of him to do that.

He was a great guy.

I am saddened by his passing, but he had a wonderful life.

50+ years in showbiz. You don't see that too often anymore.

The biggest threat to America

The biggest threat right now to America isn't Barack Obama.

Barack Obama is just a fool that we can get rid of in the upcoming election.

His policies are horrible and harmful, but unfortunately, many of the effects will still linger after he is gone.

The single biggest threat to America right now....beyond any army or terrorist, is the collapse of our currency caused by the awful economic policies of our government.

It is a mathematical fact that our national debt is impossible to pay off. Even if the government seized every penny of currency in the world, there still wouldn't be enough money to pay it off.

But the national debt is a bit misleading, because a huge chunk of it is money we owe to ourselves. How do you pay yourself back?

The answer?

Well, when you have been spending money you don't have, and cranking up the printing presses to produce fiat currency...money backed up by nothing but air....you jeopardize your entire economy and your countries financial future. Usually this leads to a devaluation of your currency and difficult economic times.

Back when we were on a gold or silver standard, our money had real value....now with these irresponsible economic policies, our money and our value are disappearing before our very eyes.

Obama is the biggest thief in human history. His policies have eroded so much value from our money, that the hundreds of millions of Americans -- and indeed, the billions of the people around the world who depend on US currency for their medium of exchange -- have lost trillions of dollars of wealth just based on the decline of our moneys value.

It isn't so much the cost of gasoline that is going up, as it is the value of a dollar that is going down.

Experts like Peter Schiff above point out that flooding the market with cheap money and keeping inflation artificially low are dangerous precedents to set.

Quantitative Easing is a recipe for financial collapse and our government needs to stop doing it. It is a reckless policy that cheats people out of value across the globe.

I am not like one of those Ron Paul supporters who vilify the Federal Reserve. Every country needs a currency and a medium of exchange. If it wasn't the Federal Reserve, somebody else would be running the money supply and they might be doing an equally poor job. Or maybe even worse.

While the Federal Reserve is part of the problem, more of the blame lies in our political leaders and their tendency to bribe voters with taxpayer funds.

Welfare, Medicare, make-work projects, etc...

If we don't get our politicians weaned off of the bribery teat, we won't have much of a future to look forward to.

Adam Schiff's Gay Pride

Here is another video for voters in the 28th Congressional District to take a serious look at.

In this video, Schiff is pandering to the gay voters in his newly-created 28th District.

Did Schiff hold these opinions five years ago? Ten years ago?

Maybe. Maybe not.

I find Schiff's behavior here offensive and immoral.

There is no such thing as "gay rights". Gays don't get any special privileges based on the way they define themselves through their sexuality.

There are no "group rights". Only individual rights.

They already have the same rights as heterosexuals.

A gay man can marry a woman and a gay woman can marry a man.

For over two centuries in America, no heterosexual man has had the right to marry a man, just as no heterosexual woman has had the right to marry a woman.

Gays do not get to invent religious theology and grant themselves "rights" that do not exist.

Adam Schiff lives in a fantasy world. (He thinks Obama is "wonderful")

Steady

Adam Schiff unprofessional, walks out on the job taxpayers pay him to do

Here is an interesting little story for voters in the 28th Congressional District.

Congressman Adam Schiff walked off his job on the floor of Congress during the contempt vote for Attorney General Eric Holder.

Holder had refused to provide additional information to Congress in their investigation of the "Fast and Furious" gun-running scheme that ended up getting a lot of people killed, including some American Border Patrol Agents.

Members of Congress were obviously disturbed that a government-run program to track weapons used by drug cartels had backfired and ended up getting a lot of people killed in Mexico. And now Holder didn't want to share more information.

OK. Then as a public servant, Holder deserves his contempt vote.

If he can't be clear about what he is doing to enforce U.S. laws, maybe he shouldn't have that job.

I tried to think of a meme for these Congress members who walked off the floor before the vote.

Wimps? Pansies?

I finally settled on "crybabies".

Yes, these Democratic crybabies walked off their jobs.

A real serious offense to their voters.

They cried that the vote was "unfair".

But of course, when the Democrats rammed Obamacare down the American taxpayers throat -- a trillion dollar government boondoggle -- they did it without a single Republican vote.

No Republican Congressman in the House from any district in America agreed with their behavior that day.

That type of "unfair" behavior was perfectly fine with the Democrats.

That's how they roll.

But the Republicans were real men. They didn't walk out in tears.

They took the loss and planned their next step.

Voters punished the Democrats in 2010 for their useless, tyrannical behavior.

They are going to get more of the same in 2012.

Vive Le France!

I would like to take a moment today and express my fondness and appreciation for the nation of France.

While most Americans will be having picnics, attending parades, and watching fireworks later today to celebrate American Independence, it is important for us to take a look at where we came from.

Our founding fathers originally considered themselves British citizens, until they chose the path of rebellion. After that decision, they were considered traitors to the crown and obvious targets for the hangmans noose.

While our founding fathers were philosopher kings with terrific ideas about personal freedom, they had no real way of making their ideas become reality without help. They were facing the British Empire, the most powerful force the world had ever known.

Our greatest leader, George Washington, had a terrible time fighting the British. He was understaffed and under-supported, and as a result, lost many of his early battles.

When the French stepped into the War in 1778, it turned the tide of history. Suddenly the British had to deal with naval battles on their side of the Atlantic that slowed their transportation of troops to the American theater. The Spanish and Dutch entered the War soon after and made the situation worse for the British.

Nobody really knows why the French entered the War on the side of the Americans. Some attribute it to their long-standing animosity with England. "A Thousand Years of Hate" is a common phrase used by citizens of both countries. But disliking England was not enough to provoke their entry into the War. In all probability, France was most likely just doing what was best for France. Choosing sides with the American rebels and helping England lose those valuable colonies was in France's best interest. It made the British weaker and helped diminish their status as a world power and as a competitor.

Later on, the French citizens -- encouraged by the American results -- overthrew their monarchy and executed the King of France by guillotine in 1793.

The world has never been the same.

There are very few monarchs anywhere in the world that actually have any real power anymore.

America went from the freezing, shoeless soldiers at Valley Forge in 1777 to putting a man on the moon in 1969.

They did it in less than 200 years.

America showed the world that by freeing your people from tyranny, there were no limits to what you could accomplish. Democracies have broken out all over the world. Nearly 50% of the world lives under some form of democracy now.

Many Americans tend to focus on the assistance we provided to France in World War 1 and World War 2 as an example that France owes us some type of debt or favors.

In reality, we Americans are just repaying a debt we can never fully retire.

Free people all over the world owe a debt to the French -- for assisting America in 1778 and allowing it to become what it has become today -- the vanguard for human freedom across the globe.

At some point today, I will say what I say every July 4th...

"Vive Le France!"

If Obamacare lives, American Freedom dies

I'm still upset about Chief Justice Roberts allowing Obamacare to continue.

We have a Constitution that prescribes a limited government.

If Obamacare continues to live, American Freedom will die.

It will be the end of our status as an exceptional nation, and the beginning of our slide towards irrelevance.... like the Roman, Spanish, and British Empires.

There is no health care crisis in the United States.

We have the most talented doctors and the most advanced equipment on earth.

America-hating dictators come running to us for help when they have a serious health crisis that requires the utmost competence in health care.

It is true that many Americans can't afford health care.

So what? They can't afford a shiny new Ferrari either, but that doesn't make it the governments responsibility to pay for that item, either.

Government Socialization of health care is wrong and extremely dangerous.

Just wait until you have lunatics like Maxine Waters or Valerie Jarrett making a cost-benefit analysis on crucial medical procedures. You'll be running and screaming for a free market before you know what hit you.

This is the main reason that socializing medicine in the United States is too dangerous to allow.

People like Waters and Jarrett would quickly and happily deny you a crucial organ transplant if they knew you had donated money to Mitt Romney.

A free-market hospital wouldn't be concerned with your political affinities.

They would just ask that you pay them for services rendered.

Yes, millions of Americans don't have health insurance. So what?

Millions didn't have health insurance in 1775, 1861, or 1930 either.

Yet somehow our nation still exists.

The insane power grab of the government over medical services will only produce misery, not results.

There are no successful Socialist countries.

The burden of bureaucratic incompetence helped collapse the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. Most of Europe is teetering on the verge of economic collapse due to the high cost of government meddling with social services.

One final point.

Why the hell should the government run anything?

So that we can get the speed and efficiency of the DMV? Or the economic efficiency and competitiveness of the Post Office? Or the kind-hearted empathy of the IRS?

No. Governments use force.

They don't give you value for your money.

Governments are poor economic partners.

They are a bad idea to manage your medicine.

As a customer, you should take your business elsewhere.