Post Scripts

By Steve Thompson, Chairman of the Butte County Republican Party

Keith Miller writes in the History News Network about the incredible importance oil played in our winning of WWII:
Let me begin with a short story. The great tank commander–George S. Patton–found out the hard way how important oil was (in the form of gasoline) to the war effort. His tanks were moving so fast as they approached the Seigfried Line of Germany, they all ran out of gasoline. To get more fuel to the fiery general, as quickly as possible, it had to be airlifted from Normandy. You can read the rest of Miller’s article here .

From Henry Ford’s first Model T, through World Wars One and Two, through boom and bust and boom again, nothing has quite elevated the standard of living and empowered our nation as the refining of crude oil. It has brought incredible advances in the way we live and travel. From harvesters that mass produce the food that feeds the world, to fire engines and ambulances. No matter how you travel, oil played a part in how you got to where you were going. It is the lifeblood of our nation, and of most other nations where more people die from being overweight than being eaten by the wildlife.

Still, it’s safe to say I’d be crossing a lot of modern popular opinion if I said we should honor those who have made our better lives possible, rather than vilify them. Today’s oil industry has become the notorious bad guys, on a par with Big Tobacco, Big Pharma, and maybe Darth Vader (although my son and his friends think Vader is pretty cool). To hear the oil haters, Big Oil creates all of our nation’s misery and suffering while raking in massive profits (profit is evil you know) and laughing at us over their big cigars. Their evil creation (oil) destroys our environment and is absolutely unnecessary unless Al Gore needs it to fly his jet around and harass private masseuses. Popular opinion is that oil is bad for us, and Big Oil is evil. But let’s analyze those notions shall we?

Continue reading “Republican Corner: Rise of the Oil Haters” »

Posted by Jack

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- A U.S. House panel on Thursday voted to remove a cap on damages that BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) and other oil companies must pay for spills like the one in the Gulf of Mexico, as part of the first broad legislative effort to respond to the ongoing disaster.

Continue reading “Government Set To Lift Limit on BP’s Liability” »

Arlington School committee members seemed wary of returning to the days when “voluntary” expressions of belief or allegiance could still result in some kid who didn’t agree with the majority being pummeled at recess.

Committee member Leba Heigham was one of those who voted no. “Patriotism is a very personal thing for all of us, but I do not think it is in the school committee’s best interest to mandate that any of our employees recite the pledge,” she told local paper the Arlington Patch.

Continue reading “Update: School Bans Pledge of Allegiance Request” »

by Jack Lee

Reflecting utter contempt and a total lack of understanding, Congressman Pete Stark of California berates a mild mannered citizen who identified himself as a Minuteman. Stark is rude, demeaning and disingenuous. He asks this self-identified Minuteman who he’s “going to kill today.” Never mind the fact, that the Minutemen have never killed or hurt anyone – they are merely everyday citizens that have volunteered some of their time to observe and report illegal activities on the border with Mexico. When they observe illegal entry they use their cell phone to call the Border Patrol and report it. I think what they are doing is very patrikotic. But, for this they have been harassed and threatened by Hispanic groups intent on chasing them off. They’ve also been demeaned and mischaracterized by some of our government officials, including Pres. Bush who once called them vigilantees and most recently.Pete Stark who could not have been more openly contemptious.

No matter which side you may be on regarding this border issue, Congressman Stark’s conduct should seriously distress you! Here’s a man who has grown too smug and condescending during his time in office that he’s no longer a public servant – he’s an “entitled” ruler over his peasants. This guy has got to go.

Here is some of the conversation from the video with the Minuteman, but before you start watching just keep in mind this man was actually re-elected with 75% of the vote and he’s been in Congress since 1972″

Stark resumed his hostile act, asking the Minuteman what he would do to secure the border.

“I don’t have to make fun of you sir, you do a fine job all by yourself,” Stark said.

After watching this video and reviewing the transcripts I am prepared to help ANY competeing candidate win his office. I don’t really care what party they belong too, I just want Stark out. I want to send a message that poweful men like himself are still accountable to voters.

Posted by Jack

People we just can’t make this stuff up, read on this is for real: Officials at a high school in Arlington, Massachusetts have voted to uphold their ban on students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Until recently, the school wouldn’t even allow the American flag to appear in its classrooms.

The background: When Sean Harrington arrived at Arlington High School three years ago, he noticed something peculiar — there were no American flags in the classroom and no one recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Harrington enlisted the aid of his fellow students and during his freshman year they were successful in getting flags in the classrooms. The pledge, however, will not be recited.

The school committee in Arlington, MA, defeated the 17-year-old’s request that would have allowed students to voluntarily recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Some education leaders worried that it would be hard to find teachers willing to recite the pledge, according to a report in the Arlington Patch.

Harrington had presented school officials with a petitioned signed by 700 people along with letters of support from lawmakers like Sen. John Kerry and Sen. Joe Lieberman. The request failed to gain support on a 3-3 tie.

Posted by Tina

— Forty-three percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage and a porch or patio. ** — Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning. ** — Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded; two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.

To find out more about America’s “poor” read “Where Best to be Poor,” by Walter E. Williams – TownHall.com

Posted by Tina

The economic forcast is that we’re tanking…again and on every front we hear that Americans must settle for less, or second best, or not at all. It’s almost like somone’s been passing around a book…

I’ve wanted to post something on the economy for the past two weeks but couldn’t quite bring myself to do it. The news is soooooo depressing! I have also been astounded at the lack of competence and ability on issue after issue in the current administration and congress. But, you might have noticed we at PS haven’t refrained from posting about that! So last night when I read an article that contained elements of both I thought you should have a chance to read it too, just in case you’re one of those brave old souls. Remember how the Democrats claimed Republicans were the party of “no”? Well, now’s your chance to read about the Democrat Party of “no can do”. Find an ugly chart tracking economic confidence and the entire IBD story, “A Drop in Confidence? No Wonder!” here.

“I can’t suck the oil up with a straw,” ** “You’re never going to totally seal that border,” ** “I think the world understands now that growth in the future around the world cannot depend as much on the United States as it did in the past,” ** “There’s no possibility to restore 8 million jobs lost in the Great Recession” ** “It isn’t possible to debate and pass a realistic, long-term budget until we’ve considered the bipartisan commission’s deficit-reduction plan,”

There really is no excuse for what is happening in America. Anybody want to bet there will be more lame excuses, unadressed problems, unemployed citizens, business closures, underfunded mandates, unsucked up oil, and “no can do” in our near future?

by Jack Lee

Almost every empire that has ever existed has done itself in with a protracted and extremely expensive war.

Afghanistan: It’s been nine years of war and a trillion dollars spent and we’re still no further ahead than we were in the beginning. The reasons for this are many. For example, it’s one of the most corrupt places on earth. The chairman of a key House subcommittee said Monday that she would strip $3.9 billion in aid for Afghanistan from next year’s spending bill over concerns about rampant graft in the country and alleged efforts by President Hamid Karzai’s government to derail corruption probes. The CIA says billions have already left the country for parts unknown – presumably this was our aid money. So, how do we deal with a government that is corrupt, where every dollar of aid is subject to theft? Maybe we just don’t…because we can’t fix it and there is no will for the citizens to fix it.

Afghanis are stuck in tribalism and this means there’s hundreds of petty dictators to deal with and they have little use for the central government. They lack almost everything in terms of natural resources. Except for the recent discovery of a gem stone deposit in the mountains this country is a pile of rocks. They have a backward, ignorant and illiterate population that is among the poorest in the world and they are mostly Islamic fundamentalists. Maybe in a 100 years and trillions of dollars later we can put a shine on this place…maybe, but is taht what you want us to do? We have a lot of pressing needs here at home and I think we would be so much better off fixing this country than gambling on fixing Afghanistan.

Already we half dozen coalition nations ready to pull out. Some of strongest allies want out by 2012. Canada, Poland, Australia, Germany and others are ready to leave, because time is up. They recognize they do not have a 100 years to complete this mission.

Allegedly, we’re there to keep Al Qeada from returning and plotting another 9/11. We’re trying to teach the locals how to fight so they can have free elections and we can exit, but they already know how to fight! They’ve been in a state of war since 1992 – what they don’t know is, how to read! How do you run a roadside checkpoint when the guards can’t even read a driver’s license?

To complicate matters further, we now have these crazy rules of engagement thanks to White House political meddling. You have probably heard about the new rules, you can’t fire at the enemy unless fired upon. And if a civilian is even remotely in the area you can’t return fire at all. This is ripping the heart out of troop moral. The new rules of engagement have put our troops at high risk and we’ve been taking a record number of casualties, ah but Obama has authorized a medal for courageous restraint, so I guess that makes it all okay.

Continue reading “AFGHANISTAN – MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?” »

by Jack Lee

If a war is worth fighting then it is worth fighting to win. That means an absolute, undeniable victory. We back our military and give them whatever it takes to make short work of the enemy, period.

Beating their army (any army) and then fighting a protracted insurgency is not my idea of winning. We need to really beat their army and wreak havoc until all resistance is crushed, now that’s victory. Leaving them to rebuild with their own resources will make them think twice about inviting such heavy destruction on their country ever again.

The only exception (there’s always exceptions) to this general policy is, if it is far more practical and expedient to simply launch a retaliation strike like we did in Libya, then we should reserve that right. However, if it takes a sustained campaign of bombing and a substantial troop commitment, then we must declare war. We owe that to our soldiers.