Day581 Sunday 04/01/12

ran 3.1 miles

Today ends week eighty-three of running against Obama.  I ran 25.0 miles this week, averaging 3.57 miles per day.

This video won’t make you any smarter or more informed, but it is one of the most ridiculous journalist face-offs I’ve ever seen.  Regarding the Trayvon Martin case and all of the hoodie-hype surrounding it, these two guys look like they should be on the set of SNL.  Piers Morgan rightfully blasts this guy, Toure, and I think it is a perfect example of the liberal/conservative double standard that holds way too much authority in this country. 

The video gets really good at the beginning of the eleventh minute, but if you watch the whole thing listen to the message from each side and imagine if each man’s words were coming out of the other man’s mouth (role-reversal).  Piers Morgan would no longer have a job at his network and Toure would have used an excessive amount of common sense that would have left his listeners nothing more than confused.

Example:  At one point, Toure expressed to English-American Pierce, who has been in America for six years, that he had not been in America long enough to understand America and the American soul.  Now, for argument’s sake, if Toure happened to be an African, who had been in America for six years, and Pierce had told him that he was incapable of understanding America or being able to fully embrace everything this country stands for, I think it is safe to say he would have been fired.

290.9 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day216.

Day580 Saturday 03/31/12

ran 3.3 miles

Listening to our leader, Barack Obama, speak makes me feel like I am a hopeless, deprived, victimized adult with the attention span and brain power of an eight-year-old.  I know that I am none of these things, but the manner in which he addresses us makes you wonder if he doesn’t think it.

“We can either settle for an economy where a few people do well and everyone else struggles to get by…”

Nice use of hyperbole, Mr. President.  And your broad definition of the “middleclass” lacks all meaning when you lump together everyone excluding the elite and those on poverty.  I am a member of the middle class.  Most of the people I know are members of the middle class and we have no interest in what you’re selling.

“Everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same rules…”

Are we in the same universe, Mr. President?  There is a certain amount of human unaccountability and fallibility that is etched into our existence as a species and when you speak of farfetched utopias like a world where everyone plays fair and everyone is a winner, I have to think you are completely out of touch with reality.  I would rather an approach where individuals passionately try to succeed on their own, fail multiple times, succeed multiple times, and then fail again---all without the intervention of the federal government.  That is what life is about, learning from mistakes and using what was learned to succeed---not a mantra of organized fairness that actually requires hundreds of billions in tax dollars to pay for mediocrity when unleashed potential at the cost of smaller government is the better, American alternative.

294.0 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day215.

Day579 Friday 03/30/12

ran 1.5 miles

Here is a breakdown of what might have been Barack Obama's worst week in the White House yet:  Not knowing the facts and recklessly jumping into the Trayvon Martin case (directly opening a floodgate of full-blown racial tension, even making the ridiculous comment that he and Trayvon looked alike and could have been father and son), caught on a live mic assuring the president of one of our greatest rivals that he would have more flexibility (more ability to sell America out minus the threat of another election) once he was reelected, the Supreme Court made a complete mockery of his arguable crowning achievement (Obama's lawyers were stuttering "ums" and "ifs" all three days, even when given simple questions by justices Obama selected), and Barack Obama's greatest underachievement of the week was to finally unify every single Democrat and Republican in the House of Representatives by having his 2013 budget rejected by a vote of 414-0.  Has that ever even happened before?

(source)

Here are some stats and polls from Rasmussen Reports:

• Barack Obama’s presidential index rating shows that 28% of American voters strongly approve of his performance while 41% strongly disapprove, giving Obama a presidential index rating of -13.

• Overall, 48% of voters at least somewhat approve of Obama’s performance while 52% at least somewhat disapprove.

• Obama 46%, Romney 45%

• Obama 47%, Santorum 42%

• 54% expect U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Health Care Law

• 58% oppose reducing size of U.S. nuclear arsenal

• 29% say U.S. heading in right direction

297.3 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day214.

Day578 Thursday 03/29/12

ran 3.6 miles 

Barack Obama has a brilliant plan to lower gas prices by increasing taxes, or ending current tax breaks, on big oil companies.  This brilliant plan does nothing more than slow oil production and whatever money is taken from the oil companies is paid back to them through higher prices at the gas pumps.  

This is nothing new and it is as bad an idea now as it was every other time it's been discussed in the past.  Barack Obama and numerous members of his administration have openly stated they desire high gas prices, and what he is doing now is nothing more than posturing to appease frustrated Americans while, at the same time, getting exactly what he wants.

Whatever sum of tax dollars our government commandeers from big oil companies will most likely be wasted on something like Solyndra---and we will be paying more at the pump.

"Democrats have proposed 'raising taxes on American energy manufacturers — something common sense and basic economics tell us will lead to even higher prices at the pump,' said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky. 'Frankly, I can't think of a better way to illustrate how completely out of touch they are on this issue.'"

from CNN article by Alan Silverleib

This effort to curb big oil tax breaks has virtually no chance of going through Congress and everyone, including our president, involved knows it.  It is a farce that Democrats can use to say Republicans don't care about high gas prices and they refuse to do anything about them.  Republicans will be able to argue that Democrats and Barack Obama are so out of touch with reality that this is the best idea they can come up with.

Both sides win while we continue to pay $5 billion per day to keep our government afloat.  (Not kidding about that $5 billion per day to keep the federal government up and running---check it out here)

298.8 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day213.

Day577 Wednesday 03/28/12

ran 5.0 miles

Today ends the third and final day of lambasting and ridiculing ObamaCare within the walls of our Supreme Court.  After what we have heard over the last three days, if ObamaCare is ruled constitutional in June then our justices will have put on an Oscar-winning performance as we look back to these past three days.

JUSTICE SCALIA:  Mr. Kneedler, what happened to the Eighth Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment)? You really want us to go through these 2,700 pages? 

(Laughter.)

JUSTICE SCALIA:  And do you really expect the Court to do that? Or do you expect us to — to give this function to our law clerks?  Is this not totally unrealistic? That we are going to go through this enormous bill item by item and decide each one?

MR. NEEDLER:  Well…

(Source)

Four of the five conservative justices have expressed little more than complete disapproval of Barack Obama’s sweeping health care legislation.  The only reason all five have not expressed these same sentiments is because Clarence Thomas has not spoken a single word during a Supreme Court hearing in six years.  But it is safe to say he feels the same as the others.  Even liberal justice Sotomayor was skeptical in her statements and line of questioning.

This individual mandate, which the Obama administration is all of a sudden referring to as the “personal responsibility clause”, has to be struck down if our Constitution has anything to do with it.  Should it be upheld the federal government would possess the precedent to ultimately force Americans to purchase or do whatever they desire in the future.  It is government at its largest and most threatening and American people at their least free and prosperous.

302.4 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day212.

Day576 Tuesday 03/27/12

ran 4.4 miles

Today’s discussion of the ObamaCare mandate will go down in American history as one of the most important and pivotal dialogues of our nation’s twenty-first century.  There are four liberal justices and five conservative justices, however, two of the conservative justices, Roberts and Kennedy, are viewed by Obamacare supporters as swing votes.  Justice Anthony Kennedy was deemed to be the most likely to uphold the mandate with the four liberal justices, but he seemed to be the most doubtful of all the justices to rule it constitutional.

If today was any sign of what direction the Supreme Court is leaning then things are looking really bad for Barack Obama.

"Could you define the market? Everybody has to buy food sooner or later, so you define the market as food, therefore, everybody is in the market; therefore, you can make people buy broccoli."

Justice Antonin Scalia

"So can the government require you to buy a cell phone because that would facilitate responding when you need emergency services?"

Chief Justice John Roberts

"All right, suppose that you and I walked around downtown Washington at lunch hour and we found a couple of healthy young people and we stopped them and we said, 'You know what you're doing? You are financing your burial services right now because eventually you're going to die, and somebody is going to have to pay for it, and if you don't have burial insurance and you haven't saved money for it, you're going to shift the cost to somebody else'. Isn't that a very artificial way of talking about what somebody is doing?"

Justice Samuel Alito

"The reason this is concerning, is because it requires the individual to do an affirmative act. In the law of torts our tradition, our law, has been that you don't have the duty to rescue someone if that person is in danger.”

Justice Anthony Kennedy

"Can you create commerce in order to regulate it?" and "So the Federal government says everybody has to join an exercise club?"

Justice Anthony Kennedy

One last thing, here is, possibly, the biggest flip-flop in Obama history, which is of the same substance our justices are arguing against the mandate with.  Speaking against Hillary Clinton’s plan for health care during the 2008 Primaries, Barack Obama argued against an individual mandate stating, "A mandate means that in some fashion, everybody will be forced to buy health insurance. ... But I believe the problem is not that folks are trying to avoid getting health care. The problem is they can't afford it. And that's why my plan emphasizes lowering costs."

At that time Barack Obama felt that solving the issue of the uninsured with an individual mandate was as logical as ending homelessness by ordering people to purchase a home.  And he was right.  It is likely his own argument from 2008 will be instrumental in the demise of his own landmark legislation.

In July of 2009, "During the campaign I was opposed to this idea because my general attitude was the reason people don't have health insurance is not because they don't want it, it's because they can't afford it. And if you make it affordable, then they'll come. I am now in favor of some sort of individual mandate as long as there's a hardship exemption."

If Barack Obama loses this mandate then ObamaCare falls apart.  If ObamaCare falls apart it would be devastating to his already mere 50/50 shot at re-election.  Essentially, these justices, these nine individuals are going to set this presidential election on a course that will be difficult to reroute.  

Source

307.4 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day211.

Day575 Monday 03/26/12

ran 4.1 miles

The Supreme Court is in the middle of one of the biggest arguments in modern American history. ObamaCare is to be deemed constitutional or unconstitutional and, either way, the decision will play a major role in the rest of our lives and those lives of generations to come.

If the law passes with no changes made to it then it will be one of the last breaths of our Constitution.  Unlike most Supreme Court cases, in which Justices have preceding cases to help guide their decisions, this case is one of a scope and magnitude that America has never been forced to examine.

This case is going to be the precedent for all future cases involving the federal government attempting to rewrite the United States Constitution and to further impede on our freedoms.  This is the question:

"If the federal government can mandate health coverage on every single American then what is going to happen in the future if they try to force you to buy a certain type of car, or to eat certain types of food, or to work certain kinds of jobs, or to watch certain types of television programs, or to only view certain types of news?"

This ObamaCare verdict is going to be the precedent for all of these important future issues that may surface from the bottom of bad ideas, where they should remain buried and unobtainable.  And if it is ruled constitutional then the government will have succeeded in disregarding our original Constitution and replacing it with a new one that will be made up as we go along.

Fortunately, there are bits and pieces of this law that can be found unconstitutional, while other parts may be found constitutional.  The reason this is fortunate is because ObamaCare immediately loses its source of strength by taking out mere bits and pieces of it.  Look at it as the gears, cogs, and springs in the middle of an extremely elaborate watch.  The watch serves its purpose as long as every single piece is doing its job.  But if you take one little spring or gear out the entire watch ceases to work.  

One of the gears of ObamaCare is the mandate and if that piece gets removed then this watch can be thrown away.  If it stays then our government, as a matter of precedent based on the Supreme Court's decision, will have the ability to mandate anything they want in the future.

311.8 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day210. 

Day574 Sunday 03/25/12

ran 3.2 miles

Today ends week eighty-two of running against Obama.  I ran 21.5 miles this week, averaging 3.07 miles per day. 

315.9 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day209.

Day573 Saturday 03/24/12

ran 3.4 miles

Ads like this one, put out by Rick Santorum's camp, who coincidentally won my state's primary (Louisiana) today, reinforce how ugly, brutal, and desperate the political arena is.  I obviously want Barack Obama out of the White House, but not like this.  This video is a representation of everything impure in the political process.  There is little that is pure in American politics but this is not the way.  It is a shame that a presidential candidate should feel the need to employ such scare tactics when there are so many simple reasons (that don't require exaggeration) Barack Obama has made for himself to convey the message that he does not deserve a second term.

The video uses imagery set in 2014 with grim props and a dark setting foreshadowing a frightening near future.  The truth is, all unavoidable natural disasters and unforeseeable international events aside, our current president is far too crafty and intelligent to let the bottom fall out during his second term.  

America's erosion has been a long and slow process but this is a resilient nation.  Just pointing out that Rick Santorum's ad is farfetched and based on scare tactics.  That being said, there is much reason to be afraid, but Barack Obama's record, alone, is plenty of material to wage against him without having to resort to weak, threatening tactics like this.

It's just disappointing.  I honestly thought a real hero was going to emerge in 2012 and, in my opinion, one has not.  I'll take any of them over Barack Obama but none of our Republican candidates are fulfilling the expectations I had...

...which made me realize a larger picture.  We invest way too much interest and admiration, too much of ourselves in this one individual we call President of the United States of America, when he is actually just one more man or woman among hundreds of millions who simply needs to leave us alone as much as possible.  Barack Obama is not small government.  He is the exact opposite and whoever finally runs against him will be the anti-Obama.  That, if nothing else, is a good start to creating a better future for America.  

But, the reason Barack Obama has angered so many, the reason he woke up people like me who were in a political coma for so long, is because of his radical actions to make the federal government much larger than it deserves to be or was ever intended to be by the founders of our great nation.  The simple idea of a president trying to expand the government's size and authority at the rate Barack Obama is sends a direct message that he and his administration have little faith in your and other American's ability to live their own lives and for us to make our own decisions.  In simple terms, his effort to increase the size of government is a direct message that he thinks Americans are too stupid to think for themselves.  And he has the audacity to think that he knows what is good for me better than I do.  

Put that in an ad Santorum.  It isn't even necessary to scare Americans with cinematic special effects.  We are already scared of what a second term under Barack Obama will do to the future of America.  We are looking for a new leader who will stop spending money that does not exist (creating a debt for our unborn children that they had nothing to do with), shrink the federal government, and unleash the private sector.  The more the government leaves Americans alone, the more liberty and prosperity flourishes.  Barack Obama is moving in the exact opposite direction.

319.1 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day208.

 

Day572 Friday 03/23/12

ran 0.1 miles

Here is the fiftieth state in my effort to collect important facts and the history of each state’s presidential voting history.  When November 6 arrives and we all cast our votes, just click on “states of the union” in the category section to the right and (in alphabetical order) you can check out a brief history of each state, how many electoral votes they have, and other important information.

Stats and facts about the state of Wyoming:

• Wyoming was the forty-fourth state to join the union on July 10, 1890, six years before Utah and one week after Idaho.

• Population, as of 2010, is 563,626.

• Senators are John Barrasso (R) and Michael Enzi (R).

• Representative is Cynthia Lummis (R).

• Wisconsin has three electoral votes.  Historically, the state has voted Democratic only once since 1952 (Lyndon Johnson in 1964).  In 2008, McCain defeated Obama by 32%, his widest margin of victory.  One last interesting fact, Wyoming has the smallest population in the Union and is, therefore, the most over-represented state in the electoral college.

322.5 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day207.

Day571 Thursday 03/22/12

ran 3.3 miles

Barack Obama has an insatiable ability to blame where fault is not owed and to take credit where none is earned.  

There is some credit to give him, though.  It's like purchasing a new car.  Regardless of whether an individual is in the market for a low-cost or expensive vehicle to purchase, there are certain expectations that simply have to be met for that automobile to leave the lot.  The vehicle must test-drive well, the salesman certainly needs to speak highly of it, and the owner of the dealership needs to sell the credibility of the cars on its lot at any cost---just as a President of the United States of America must initially meet certain expectations, must be sold through media, and eventually serve the purpose of a greater interest.

But what happens when that car suddenly starts driving itself in a direction you did not sign your name for and never would have.  Then you call the salesman to express your dissatisfaction with your purchase and he attempts to convince you that you are wrong and your car is right.

This lack of rationality is exactly what is going on in the current administration right now.  I like to think I'm still sort of young and I have never followed politics to the length I have been for the past 571 days, but I have to say this political arena is an absolute circus of lies and extremely expensive propaganda and misdirection.  I'm not sure what the solutions to our problems are (it will be a long journey) but it begins with simply getting Barack Obama out of office.  

No big celebration of the second anniversary of Barack Obama's sweeping health care legislation (best not to mention that for re-election purposes).  No touting of the trillions of dollars we took on in monopoly money over the last three years.  No mention of the fact that if Barack Obama spends this much in his first term keeping our nation merely afloat then the second term will be unequivocally and exponentially worse (ultimately leading to a collapse, which someone with a Harvard degree should certainly realize).  

Our president simply doesn't add up to me.  His actions leave me feeling as confused as a student in a classroom would feel if that student's teacher was at the chalkboard attempting to convince an entire class that two plus two equaled five.  The raw logic working against our president, and the left at large, is as elementary and as powerful as holding two apples in each hand and simply accepting that there are four apples.  

If you want an apple, you earn it.  If you do a good job, you get another one.  If you commit to your goals and succeed, you get three.  And that fourth apple is the satisfaction of working hard for what you earn and taking pride in what you deserve with as little help from the government as possible.  

There is no fifth apple. 

I seem to be in rant mode tonight, jumping from one thing to another.  The video I intended to show and briefly post about this evening is of our president speaking in Cushing, Oklahoma about high gas prices, everything he claims to have done to curb them, general blaming of others, and how useless it is for America to drill more. 

The initiative behind the accomplishments our president is taking credit for in the video above are products of similar projects he personally lobbied Congress to vote against.

“President Obama claiming credit for speeding up (a section of) the Keystone pipeline is like Al Gore saying he invented the Internet.  It is claiming credit where credit isn’t due.”

Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK)

"Sullivan explains the president only has the authority to block lines that run internationally. Therefore, because it doesn’t cross international borders, the so-called Cushing pipeline doesn’t require the president’s approval. In fact, as Sullivan notes, President Obama personally lobbied Congress to vote against the pipeline."  (TheBlaze)

In the video our president also mentioned that there weren't enough pipes to channel the needs of our oil supply.  Why doesn't he take one of the solar plants like Solyndra that have gone bankrupt and invest $500 million into manufacturing some more pipe instead of continuing to hastily waste money on energy we obviously don't have enough technology to fully utilize yet or possess a market to return a profit on?

The simple fact that he said no to the Keystone pipeline contradicts all of the numbers he was boasting about and all of the credit he was taking in the video above.  Approving Keystone would have turned a lot of heads in his direction giving him a nod, but it would have disappointed his base.  It would have been a huge, long-term project, emphasizing infrastructure and dependence on ourselves.  The only nonplussing factor about Keystone is an overbearing EPA, which Barack Obama has to appease at all costs.

322.6 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day206.

Day570 Wednesday 03/21/12

ran 3.5 miles

When Andrew Breitbart died on the same day he promised to expose Barack Obama for what he really was and when he enthusiastically promised video footage that would change the landscape of the 2012 election it was disappointing to watch the footage Hannity initially released of Barack Obama's Harvard days and his close relationship with Derrick Bell.  The footage was important and it made a loud statement but half of this country does not seem to care, or fully understand, the evidence behind what appears to be an orchestration behind Barack Obama's presidency.

After all of the hype and after watching a young Obama merely embracing Derrick Bell and his ideas it was evident that we were either never going to see the videos Breitbart was referring to or they were going to be released one by one, slowly and methodically, leading up to November 6, 2012.

Is it possible that the accusations the mainstream media laughs off and ridicules regarding Barack Obama could be true?  This is a big moment in American history and more and more evidence is being released weekly.  It appears the Breitbart videos and the message he was so enthusiastic to exploit is making itself more visible as each day passes.  It may only be wishful thinking but I think what should have been done before Barack Obama was elected President of the United States of America, which our mainstream media failed miserably to do, is about to happen.  We are only now beginning to find out who and what this man really is.

 

This is worth checking out!  They're all good but the third video on the page is a must see.

325.9 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day205.

Day569 Tuesday 03/20/12

ran 3.5 miles

Here is an alternative to Barack Obama's 17-minute self-aggrandizing propaganda video "The Road We've Traveled".  This one is a lot shorter yet pulls from a far larger pool of presidential shortcomings than the small puddle of accomplishments Obama's video stretched into 17 minutes.  More details on this video at TheBlaze.

Also, Glenn Beck discovered an interesting parallel between Barack Obama's film "The Road We've Traveled" and a book, written by Stuart Chase, "The Road We Are Traveling 1914-1942".  

"Written by FDR-admirer Stuart Chase, the book focuses on America once it has dispensed with free enterprise entirely. Chase wrote that while he could call this new society 'communist, state capitalist, or fascist,' he preferred the more ambiguous 'Political System X.'”

Tiffany Gabbay from TheBlaze

329.4 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day204.

 

Day568 Monday 03/19/12

ran 4.5 miles

From Bristol Palin's blog (Bristol'sBlog) here is an open letter to the President of the United States of America addressing the troubling double standard, which exists as a propaganda-trafficking bridge of similar interests uniting two distant shores between America's media outlets and the White House, in contrast to the actually reality the rest of us see.

"Dear President Obama,

You don’t know my telephone number, but I hope your staff is busy trying to find it. Ever since you called Sandra Fluke after Rush Limbaugh called her a slut, I figured I might be next.  You explained to reporters you called her because you were thinking of your two daughters, Malia and Sasha.  After all, you didn’t want them to think it was okay for men to treat them that way:

'One of the things I want them to do as they get older is engage in issues they care about, even ones I may not agree with them on,' you said.  'I want them to be able to speak their mind in a civil and thoughtful way. And I don’t want them attacked or called horrible names because they’re being good citizens.'

And I totally agree your kids should be able to speak their minds and engage the culture.  I look forward to seeing what good things Malia and Sasha end up doing with their lives.

But here’s why I’m a little surprised my phone hasn’t rung.  Your $1,000,000 donor Bill Maher has said reprehensible things about my family.  He’s made fun of my brother because of his Down’s Syndrome. He’s said I was “f—-d so hard a baby fell out.”  (In a classy move, he did this while his producers put up the cover of my book, which tells about the forgiveness and redemption I’ve found in God after my past – very public — mistakes.)

If Maher talked about Malia and Sasha that way, you’d return his dirty money and the Secret Service would probably have to restrain you.  After all, I’ve always felt you understood my plight more than most because your mom was a teenager.  That’s why you stood up for me when you were campaigning against Sen. McCain and my mom — you said vicious attacks on me should be off limits.

Yet I wonder if the Presidency has changed you.  Now that you’re in office, it seems you’re only willing to defend certain women.  You’re only willing to take a moral stand when you know your liberal supporters will stand behind you.

But…

What if you did something radical and wildly unpopular with your base and took a stand against the denigration of all women… even if they’re just single moms? Even if they’re Republicans?

I’m not expecting your SuperPAC to return the money.  You’re going to need every dime to hang on to your presidency.  I’m not even really expecting a call.  But would it be too much to expect a little consistency?  After all, you’re President of all Americans, not just the liberals."

332.9 miles to go.

Here is what happened one year ago on Day203.