Monday, July 26, 2010

Stone's Sense of History is Rocky

Stone’s Sense of History is Rocky
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
July 26, 2010

Film director Oliver Stone is right. Now before all who know me wonder if I am not suffering from heat stroke, let me clarify the statement.

“We can’t judge people as only bad or good,” said Stone in his defense of both Stalin and Hitler in recent comments castigating the United States for its disproportionate focus on the Holocaust.

Stone was right in that apparently Hitler liked dogs.

Other than that, Stone couldn’t be more wrong that there are redeeming qualities in Stalin, Hitler, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. Chavez has been pointedly anti-American and anti-Semitic and Ahmadinejad has long called for the eradication of Israel from the map both figuratively and literally. Stone defended all four monsters in an interview with the Sunday Times of Britain.

Stone’s sense of history is about as fictional as the garbage he writes and passes off as fine cinema as he said “Hitler did far more damage to the Russians than the Jewish people – 25 or 30 million killed.” Stalin was responsible for more deaths of his fellow countrymen than any outside forces. And is Stone suggesting that six million murdered Jewish men, women and children is acceptable because more Russians were slaughtered? Do the math Ollie, no group was marked for evisceration or suffered per capita losses like the Jewish people. Is Stone being a provocateur or is he simply a pernicious insolent anti-Semite and Hitler apologist who clearly hasn’t read a history book? I believe the latter.

Of course Stone makes such delusional remarks to an overseas reporter which will be widely ignored by the mainstream media. Yet, paradoxically, if Stone’s next statement were actually valid, the so-called mainstream media would be all over this interview like cream cheese on a bagel. Stone was asked why there is such a fervent focus upon the Holocaust in the US, to which he said, “the Jewish domination of the media.”

Were the media dominated by Jews as Stone suggests, I should have a nationally syndicated column by now. Clearly Stone is drinking Kool Aid served up by fellow readers of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a popular screed bandied about when anti-Semites need a scapegoat for their own inadequacies.

Stone further demonstrated his faulty knowledge of history saying that Stalin “fought the German war machine more than any person.” Once again, Ollie, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and in your case, very little knowledge is very dangerous, especially since you have a public forum from which to rant and rave.

In an effort to avoid a two-front war, Hitler had learned from the failures of World War I, and forged an agreement with Stalin’s Soviets in August of 1939 – the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. This was weeks before the Nazi invasion of Poland and more than a year after Hitler had already swallowed up the Sudetenland. First came an economic agreement, followed by the Non-Aggression Pact itself. Stalin gave Hitler carte blanche to cut through Poland and Western Europe like a hot knife through butter. The 10-year deal lasted only until June 22, 1941 when Germany launched a surprise attack on the Soviet Union, thus forcing Stalin’s armies to fight the Nazis.

While the United States did not enter the war until the day after the dastardly and craven attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, and President Franklin Roosevelt was certainly no friend of the Jewish people, American fighting forces took on the Nazis and the Japanese in a fever pitch two-front war. Although the war for the Allies did not start off well, in time they vanquished all enemies and attempted to restore some semblance of order in the ruins of Europe.

Oliver Stone is certainly entitled to his opinion – this is the difference between conservatives and liberals. Liberals don’t like someone’s opinion, they seek to have it quashed, while conservatives offer a differing opinion and remind people that their words, thoughts and ideas have consequences. For Stone, those consequences should be failure at the box office. Perhaps eh should cast Mel Gibson in his next film. I have not, for years, put dime one in Stone’s pockets due to his lugubrious sentiments both anti-American and anti-Semitic. I will continue my personal boycott of Stone films. What you do, is up to your conscience to decide.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Voting No Confidence in Government

Voting No Confidence in Government
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
July 15, 2010

Here’s a shocking revelation: government, regardless of the party in power, does not create jobs. Confidence in government, however, is a driving force in job creation by the private sector.

Giving government unfettered freedom to run roughshod over our Creator-endowed rights – that hinders job creation. When government passes legislation it typically closes doors instead of opening them. By its nature, government is restrictive – it tells the people what they can’t do.

This is the beauty of the Constitution – it limits what government can do – not what the people can do. Since the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791, however, government has done as much as it can do to control, limit and even shackle the people by thwarting the noble efforts of a free people to be creative, innovative and inventive. The pinnacle of this destructive trend is the coddling and patronizing attempts to stifle the creative process by using taxpayer dollars to bail out corporations seen as too big to fail in the eyes of this administration.

Failure is the mother’s milk of invention. Bailing out a flailing company is akin to giving it false hope of future success. The public made a decision that they did not want the “widget” being manufactured and sold by John Q. Businessman. By bailing that company out, the government artificially props up that company hoping that a new day will spark a desire by the public to want that widget.

Letting the company fail forces the owner to don his thinking cap and invent the next new and improved Widget II. The new and improved product forces the competition to conjure up its next great product. That is how the economy is genuinely stimulated as opposed to the artificial stimulation being thrust upon the people by the government all the while using the taxpayer’s money to force us to by the widgets we didn’t want in the first place.

It is the creative, innovative and inventive who hire people – create jobs. When the people have confidence that government will leave them alone, and not steal from them via oppressive taxes to pay for unnecessary social programs and the needs of illegal aliens as well as those people who wantonly avoid work in exchange for government support (welfare), there is job creation. The job creators have a willingness to invest in their own creativity and inventiveness.

This confidence is further exuded when taxes are low because people have a greater amount of disposable income. However, with unemployment approaching double digits at 9.5 percent, confidence has been eroded mightily, and that stunts growth considerably, ultimately driving unemployment even higher and production down. This leads to greater layoffs of people who will have less disposable income to spend on taxable goods and services.

Meanwhile, the rising unemployment figures drives government spending higher in an effort to pay the unemployment benefits of those folks out of work. Simultaneously, with private sector spending down, so too is the intake by the government of revenue derived from taxes that come from the spending of people’s disposable income. It’s a matter of the dog chasing his tail. Additionally, this lack of confidence has spilled over onto Wall Street as the business community is equally as skittish because of the culture of anti-business and even anti-capitalism awash in the White House. This is evidenced by the redistribution of wealth philosophy that came pouring out of the mouth of Obama during the 2008 campaign.

One exception to government does not create jobs: the current lawsuit by the Obama administration against Arizona simply because the Grand Canyon State dared to pass legislation to protect itself because the federal government won’t. Thanks to such a moronic lawsuit, money is pouring into Arizona by people supportive of the passage of SB 1070. These are every day Americans – tourists taking vacations, business people scheduling conferences, on-line purchases, etc. This is their own economic stimulus – with their own money that they earned and not given them by government.

And just what legislation did Arizona pass and how does it relate to the current economic quagmire? Arizona picked up the gauntlet fumbled by the federal government by not enforcing the laws pertaining to illegal aliens. And while liberals are having conniptions over the legislation, it should really be conservatives, because the Arizona law is not nearly as strict as its federal cousin. As for the impact on the economy, illegal aliens are a drain on the system with billions of untaxed dollars being funneled back to their countries of origin.

After all, who pays when an illegal alien needs medical care and shows up at the hospital? The taxpayers. Who pays for their food stamps they should not possess in the first place? The taxpayers. Who pays as class sizes continue to expand when the children of illegal aliens are not permitted to be turned out of school? The taxpayers. Who pays to feed those same children breakfast and lunch in those same schools? The taxpayers.

Arizona is attempting to stave off becoming California or Illinois, who in turn are fast turning into Greece as they are going bankrupt. Illinois, for example, is facing a $5 billion shortfall. Vast numbers of illegal aliens milking and bilking the system coupled with the problems regarding the various pension funds has created an economic disaster that is neither untenable nor unsustainable. High praise must go to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) for combating the economic problems the Garden state is facing by not just standing up to the overreaching teachers’ unions but also by calling for the privatization of some state services. And kudos to Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (R) for producing a budget surplus.

Taxes can only be raised so much before those who endure the brunt of that burden will simply work less, earn less, and ultimately pay less in taxes. As they produce less, they will lay off more workers, who, in turn, will spend less. And on and on it goes – there’s that pesky dog chasing his tail once again. Priming the pump is not sustainable either, nor is it the purpose of government.

“Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government,” said James Madison, the credited father of the Constitution and Fourth president of the United States.

The government cannot tax its way out of this economic hole. The haves will not continue to sustain the have nots. They will take their businesses elsewhere or shutter the doors in utter frustration. Remember, the first rule regarding getting out of a hole is to put the shovel down. The Obama administration had best learn this rule and put down the shovel before we all get buried.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

President George Costanza?

President George Costanza?
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
July 8, 2010

Up is down, in is out, black is white, yes is no – or so it seemed in a Seinfeld episode where perennial loser George Costanza decided to do the opposite of conventional wisdom such as admitting to an attractive woman he was unemployed and living with his parents – and still got the girl.

In two legal matters Barack Obama has not only gone against conventional wisdom, but against popular opinion. On the one hand while Obama is not pursuing charges against the New Black Panthers for voter intimidation in Philadelphia on Election Day 2008, on the other hand, Obama is suing the state of Arizona for simply trying to protect the safety and property of its citizens and legal residents.

Justice is reported to be blind. But is it not supposed to be colorblind as well? When voter intimidation was a violation of civil rights in the South during the Civil Rights Movement, the Justice Department took action – granted, it took nominal action, and often times, far too late at that, but equal justice under the law means just that – and not equal revenge under the laws that are ignored by the same Justice Department.

For the Justice Department, under Attorney General Eric Holder, to not pursue charges of voter intimidation by nightstick wielding members of the New Black Panther party is akin to condoning their actions and tantamount to an endorsement by the Obama Administration. This is a blatant miscarriage of justice that simply must not be tolerated. And it was blatant as the actions of the Black Panthers were captured on videotape with no question as to what occurred on Election Day.

From the injustice to the insanity, the Obama train of legal befuddlement pulled out of Philadelphia and headed west to Arizona with a lawsuit in hand for Governor Jan Brewer, who has more guts and integrity in her little finger than the entire Obama administration.

Contemplate the genesis of this lawsuit: the federal government has a constitutional requirement to protect and defend the borders of the United States from foreign and domestic invasion. With Arizona the kidnap capital of the United States and second only to Mexico City in the world, it is painfully obvious the borders are not secure, no matter what Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says.

Because the federal government refused to do its job of securing the borders, Arizona passed a law, SB 1070 that is actually weaker than the federal statute regarding illegal aliens. Yet all hell has broken loose because the State of Arizona has an expectation that the federal government will actually do its job.

“Federal law would be enough – if it were enforced. We need the federal government to do their job – or if not, Arizona will,” said Brewer. SB 1070 proves the governor’s words were no idle threat.

“We have an obligation to Americans,” said Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce (R), the author of SB 1070. Pearce also noted that it is against the law for sanctuary cities to exist as well, but those continue to be condoned by authorities at the various levels of government with not only no punishment or orders to disband, but at taxpayers’ expense. After all when an illegal alien is given safe harbor, who feeds, clothes and shelters that individual? He or she becomes a de facto ward of the state. They get sick, it’s off to an emergency room, also at taxpayers’ expense. But, I digress.

What is transpiring in these United States is an administration that apparently believes in cherry-picking which laws to follow and which laws to ignore. Justice does not operate via Chinese menu – Mr. Obama. You simply cannot pick one from column “a” and one from column “b” the laws are for everyone and should be enforced.

Here’s a novel approach: prosecute the Black Panthers for breaking the law and stop suing Arizona for passing legislation because you refuse to do your job. If that is too difficult, feel free to tender your resignation and don’t let the door hit you on the tuchus on the way out.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.

[This column appeared in the Alexandria Times.]

Friday, July 2, 2010

Happy Birthday to US

Happy Birthday to US
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
July 2, 2010

“The Declaration of Independence [is the] declaratory charter of our rights, and the rights of man.” – Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826); Founding Father; credited author of said document and third president of these United States of America.

A little housekeeping note first and up front – I dislike the expression “happy fourth of July.” Happy Independence Day is the correct expression or happy birthday America is acceptable. We the people are celebrating our independence from the tyrannical shackles of King George III and that of England. Every country has a fourth of July, but not every country has true independence.

The long road toward independence did not end on July 4, 1776 – that was merely the date we the people declared enough was enough from England. Enough taxation without representation, enough quartering British soldiers at colonist’s expense, enough passing of laws unilaterally without regard to their effect on the people, enough denying the people local representation who would understand the needs and problems the colonists faced, enough deprivation of trial by jury to the people, enough denying the people the right to trade freely with other international partners, and enough of the general and overall usurpation of rights and freedoms, at a whim, given to free people.

Sadly, only 234 years since that declaration, this country finds itself once again at a crossroads fighting against a government that refuses to listen to the people. We the people have a federal government in a virtual war with one its states over the fundamental right of protecting the borders and the citizens who live within those borders. We the people have a government more strongly supporting eminent domain than ever before, thinking it knows what is best for the people. We the people have a government hell bent on stealing our freedoms one by one by denying us the right to make our own decisions regarding health care.

“I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.” – Thomas Jefferson. Imagine what he would think of the monstrosity called the federal government in 2010 instead of 1810. The bigger the government, the more far-reaching into our pockets and the firmer the grip it has on our rights and freedoms.

This is not a partisan beef, both major political parties are at fault for allowing our borders to remain porous and unchecked. Both parties have taxed and spent this country into ever deepening debt and deficits that virtually all its members are complicit in not just stealing from the American people, but from future generations. More than 80 percent of the acts committed by the Congress – those elected members of the federal government we sent to represent us – are actually unconstitutional.

While on the subject of what is or is not constitutional, message to Barack Obama: spreading the wealth around: unconstitutional. “Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” – Founding Father James Madison (1751-1836); credited author of the United States Constitution and fourth president of these United States.

Another constitutional issue was in the headlines more recently than the 2008 campaign, as this week the Second Amendment granting the people the right to keep and bear arms was restored a mere 219 years after achieving federal ratification, much to the chagrin of the gun control crowd. Remember, gun control is not about guns – it’s about control. Be ever vigilant in protecting your rights and freedoms for we know not when they will be under siege and by whom.

“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined.” – Founding Father Patrick Henry (1736-1799) in a speech before the Virginia Ratifying Convention in 1778.

We the people are under the thumb of a government growing larger and acting less responsive and certainly less responsibly to the people knowing that incumbency not only has its advantages, but the incumbents themselves behave with such arrogance as to believe they are invincible. It is up to us – the people – the rank and file of this great nation to re-declare our independence not just on July 4, but on November 2 when we go to the voting booths and take back our freedoms. Those who seek our support and votes are also answerable to us as well. They must be held accountable every day – they work for us – not the other way around.

“Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” – Thomas Jefferson; The Declaration of Independence

Heed this message citizens and voters: don’t let the other guy worry about our country – take personal responsibility – learn about the candidates, support the candidates of your choice, share your choice and opinion with your friends and neighbors and vote on election day – every year – not just in presidential elections. The ignorant can be enslaved, the learned can prevent such tyranny.

Tyranny can also be prevented by the preparation and strength of our defenses. We have our freedoms because of the determination of a military willing to sacrifice their most precious and ultimate gifts – their lives – then, as well as today. From the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan and all wars and conflicts in between, it is the military – the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and reservists that preserve our rights and freedoms and enable us to live in peace in the United States.

“To be prepared for war, is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” – Founding Father George Washington (1732-1799); Revolutionary War general and first president of these United States.

Independence forever.” – The last public words of John Adams (1735-1826); Founding Father who, for some time, stood alone in pushing for Independence from England before it became popular and second president of these United States of America. The nation mourned the loss of Adams and his friend and rival Jefferson simultaneously as the two giants died on July 4, 1826.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.