12/19/14
Highlights:
Dr. Walter E. Williams:
Since first discovering Dr. Walter E. Williams on the radio filling in for Rush Limbaugh many, many years ago, Conservative First has become huge fans of this brilliant man, economist, author, and radio host.
This week, Dr. Williams wrote another timeless article about the rule of law. His main argument that he sadly laments is that Americans don’t truly want rule of law.
Using the sport of baseball as analogy to argue how our society has changed in recent years in regard to justice, Dr. Williams points out that while no one would argue that pitchers should pitch a few feet further from home plate to the best hitters in the game, or throw easier to hit pitches to the game’s poorer hitters, then why do Americans not care about laws that Congress passes that they themselves are exempt from or that only apply to certain groups or races? We agree.
All in all, Dr. Walter E. Williams raises another brilliant point and we continue to look forward to hearing his voice or reading his words.
A wonderful human being.
Reagan’s Humor:
“…you know there is a ten year delay in the Soviet Union of a delivery of an automobile. And only one out of seven families in the Soviet Union own automobiles. There is a 10 year wait, and you go through quite a process when you are ready to buy, and then you put up the money in advance…
…This man laid down his money, and the fellow in charge said to him: ‘okay, come back in 10 years and get your car.’
And he said: ‘Morning or afternoon?’
And the fellow behind the counter said: ‘Well, ten years from now, what difference does it make?’
And he said: ‘Well, the plumber is coming in the morning.’”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLW7r4o2_Ow
Oh, the old Gipper.
After these past six years, we certainly could use some more wonderful humor from President Reagan.
On Thursday, after President Obama announced that the United States would be normalizing relations with Communist Cuba, it brought us to thinking, “what would Reagan do?”
Certainly not that!
Ronald Reagan helped end the Cold War through determination, passion, “peace through strength”, and yes, even humor by calling the Soviets the “evil empire” and constantly telling jokes that poked fun at communism in general and Russia in particular.
“Peanuts, popcorn, crackerjack” is another Reagan quip that made fun of Fidel Castro and Communist Cuba.
We aren’t suggesting that humor alone would ever bring about serious world change like regime changes in Havana, Moscow, Pyongyang, Beijing, or even stopping the savaging Islamic terrorists across the globe, but political correctness and the idea that making fun of these people will only make them madder and more aggressive is a silly notion.
We should make fun of these evil minded, human rights abusers as President Reagan did for many years.
Marco Rubio:
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has had an up and down Senate career since being sworn into office in January of 2011. Once thought of as an inspiring up and coming future candidate for president who was in the conversation as Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012, his career took a major step backwards in early 2013 due to his voluntary (or was it?) membership in the Senate “Gang of Eight” which wanted to pass immigration reform that was basically amnesty.
But being mentioned in the same sentence as Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Jeff Flake, Chuck Schumer, Michael Bennett, Dick Durbin, and Bob Menendez is not actually how you want to warm the hearts of grassroots conservatives before a possible presidential run. He received a political beatdown and rightfully so.
After spending the past 18 months slowly walking back some of his immigration stances and separating himself from the “Gang of Eight”, Mr. Rubio repositioned himself as a leader who can possibly rebuild that lost trust with some conservatives.
Nearly fully recovered from that disastrous year in 2013 and nearing a decision on whether to run in 2016, the Cuban-American senator blasted President Obama on Wednesday over the president’s decision to open normal diplomatic relations with Communist Cuba.
More of this from Senator Marco Rubio and conservatives might just give him a second look in 2016 should he decide to run for president or help get him re-elected in Florida, which 18 months ago was looking rather dicey on both fronts.
Lowlights:
Jeb Bush:
We said last week that the establishment will probably have a permanent spot on our lowlights each and every week.
So far, so true.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush posted on his Facebook account on Tuesday that he will “actively explore” the possibility of a presidential run.
Another presidential election, another Bush!
As radio host Mark Levin pointed out on his Facebook account on Tuesday, in the past 34 years, a guy named Bush has run for president in 1980, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004 and now 2016.
We could go on and on about all the things Jeb Bush has done to draw the ire of conservatives. Giving Hillary Clinton the 2103 Liberty Medal award, being on the wrong side of all the policy positions he has taken or advocated for that are 180 degrees out of phase with grassroots conservatives such as Common Core and amnesty, or just being a Bush, the list is endless.
Breitbart’s Ben Shapiro does a nice job laying out why conservatives oppose Jeb Bush.
The good thing, if there is one, with Jeb Bush running? Perhaps this puts to bed the notion of Mitt Romney running again.
There can only be room for one major establishment candidate that the party bosses are actively working with to get the nomination.
Hallelujah!
Obama and Cuba:
On Wednesday, President Obama announced that the United States will be normalizing diplomatic relations with Communist Cuba.
Hooray for communism and human rights abuse!
While any American life is important, exchanging one life for three Cuban spies and opening relations with Cuba is hardly a fair trade off. But what do you expect from the Appeaser-in-chief?
Many politicians, members of the media, and even Rand Paul are hailing this decision by the president as a victory for the Cuban people and their suffering.
But the Castro brothers are still in power. How is that a win for anyone? The Castro regime is responsible for the plight of the Cuban suffering through it’s communist, socialist, and tyrannical ways. How does opening relations and lifting the embargo improve lives?
Some say that showing the Cuban people capitalism will help change their fortunes. Perhaps.
Our solution is to change the regime, something that feckless U.S. leadership has failed to do in 50 years.
A win for the Castro brothers. The United States and human rights, unfortunately, are the big losers.
Sony Pictures:
Sony Pictures decided on Wednesday to not release the film “The Interview” after movie houses around the country announced they would not show the film in the theaters due to threats from those responsible that they would blow up any theater that did screen the film.
We aren’t saying we have all the answers to a difficult situation that Sony Pictures was dealing with in regards to whether to screen the film and risk further consequences or not and error on the side of caution, but we don’t like the fact that Sony ultimately stood down to these terrorists who might have ties to North Korea, Iran, Russia, China, or all the above. Ultimately, this decision to pull the film is a broader point of appeasing enemies and we have seen this happen all to often in the last six years. This is not some data breach of people’s information in a company database. This was, as Investor’s Business Daily’s Editorial page points out, an act of war.
How do we learn from this tragic event and prevent it from happening again and possibly on a grander scale?
Strong leadership and strong U.S. resolve. It starts at the top and it’s greatly missing.
