Howard Zinn and The People Speak: An Introduction

I was introduced to Howard Zinn by the Breitbart think tank. On Friday, December 4^th, I had planned to be in LA touring Hollywood and gearing up to see Mary Poppins (in really good seats, I might add) at the Ahmanson Theatre. I got an email from my friend Stage Right (now Larry O’Connor) asking me if I would rather go to the UCLA campus with the inner circle of the vast right-wing conspiracy for an ‘undercover’ mission.

Hmmm… let’s see… YES!

Anyway, through some email exchanges I was told that the mission was to watch the conclusion of a tour called “The People Speak” that was meant to promote Howard Zinn’s book, “A People’s History of the United States” and the educational project airing on The History Channel on December 13^th (also called “The People Speak”). Stage sent me an email with about 30 links detailing Zinn’s past, including interviews.

This guy, Zinn, has enough of the “I’m so delusional I need medication” rope to hang himself with… Sounds like a party!

Unfortunately, Zinn wasn’t there. Adam Baldwin, Andrew Breitbart, Stage Right (Larry O’Connor), John Notle, Jeremy Boreing and several others were there to at least entertain me… Actually, these guys were on a serious mission. Everyone had cameras, recorders, and the whole The Sting signal down perfectly. Everyone was in “costume”, including Andrew, who was himself.

We sat through the whole event (which is chronicled by Stage Right) and had a break out session after the meeting was over… Okay, by breakout session I mean the guys all got together and talked and laughed at how Andrew cornered Chris Moore (a.k.a. Koala Bear – you had to be there), the producer of the project.

It was amazing to see how everyone was on the same page at the end. We didn’t sit together… that’s just WAY too conspicuous. We all pulled our own unique “one-liners” from the event but all harmoniously agreed that there weren't any “gotcha moments”. And by all agreeing I mean all of the guys gave their verbal agreement while Jaci and I stood totally silent only wanting to enjoy the moment but would rather not be noticed (or maybe that was just me).

Andrew communicated this one idea to his troops: don’t knock the project until we see it (as was urged by Chris Moore). Everyone agreed and went their separate ways.

The next week Big Hollywood slaughtered Howard Zinn, Matt Damon, and the rest of the radical left-wing Hollywood nut jobs who participated in the project. They promoted The People Speak event on Big Hollywood everyday and even had a live blog to participate during the showing that Sunday night.

There is a LOT of information out there about Howard Zinn and The People Speak. Although Big Hollywood has done their best to assemble the most important pieces into one place, I feel that it could be condensed even more. So, I want to give it a shot. Announcing my next couple of posts coming… when I get a chance to post them!

Grace and Peace,

-Mer

Sad...but true!

Let me first give this disclaimer: I'm not a parent. I'm not married. I've babysat and practically nannied A LOT of kids. That is completely different than parenting and doesn't come with near the responsibility. So, feel free to take my views with a grain of salt. But, this is what this thing is for: sharing my thoughts. So, I'm going to!

After watching this video I had several thoughts come to mind. My first inclination, when seeing this story on the Drudge Report on December 17th, was of course, "Get this kid away from his mother!" After watching this interview, while not totally rescinding that thought... I am reconsidering.

Kids are like cats, they have amazing ways of breaking down all sorts of barriers and hiding in the most unlikeliest of places when given proper motivation. This kid, sadly, had some serious motivation (according to the mother): to see his dad who is in jail.

Why would you tell a 4 year old that his father was in jail? I realize that they are getting a divorce and so the mother is probably in some way (consciously or unconsciously) trying to turn the kid against the dad, but still... don't you think you could come up with a better story? That is a really heavy concept to burden a 4 year old child's mind.

With that in mind, I can totally believe her story about the kid wanting to get in trouble, doing the most crazy things his mind can conceive, in order to see his dad. Because, you go to jail when you do bad things, right? He knows he's not to steal, or break into someone's house, or play in the street, or certainly run away during bedtime. He's also probably been told that "boys don't wear dresses"... It all makes sense to me. And now for Pandora's box:

Oh, he was drinking a beer, too. Drunk, actually. The mom said, "I have no idea how he got it open because it was one of those tabbed beers..." Yeah, uh-huh. He knew where the beer was, probably saw dad, grandpa, and mom open those tabbed beers multiple times. He's a smart kid. He probably knew where the bottle opener was. Kids only need a little bit of example and they will be happy to imitate. This is why I almost blow a gasket any time I see adults drinking in front of their children. It sets an example. And this kid knew he wasn't supposed to drink, so when he wanted to do something bad... what's the first thing he goes for? Exactly.

I know so many responsible and loving parents who drink in front of their kids (obviously with the greatest of moderation), I can only say that it is by God's grace that their kids haven't done the same thing as the kid above (and I'm NOT talking about running away and stealing things). I knew tons of kids in HS who, in elementry, drank from their parents stashes because they wanted to do something bad, or they wanted to be "adults". It doesn't matter what you tell your kids about drinking, if you do it as an adult they will do it when they want to act like adults. Period. Drinking in front of your kids does nothing to benefit them and I will not apologize for saying so.

Obviously, there are some serious break downs in parenting here that have nothing to do with drinking. This whole event did not occur because grandpa had a beer in front of the kid during a game. Obviously. But you and the adults in your family are the examples that you set for your kids. You tell them by your actions "this is what adults do." So, when your kids want to act like adults, at any age, they will imitate that. Including drinking.

What is "Barack Obama" Really Saying to the American People?

This morning at 11:13 a.m. CST I received this cheerful text message from “Barack Obama” on my phone:

“Solving America’s problems is going to require seriousness of purpose here in Washington—not political games like this."

I was immediately intrigued. Within moments of getting my computer set up at work I had to read the White House blog that this tweet was referencing.

Just an excerpt:

“And in the past few days their (opponents of health reform) stunts and obstruction have reached a new low. On Saturday at midnight, money for the Department of Defense – including the money that funds our troops overseas – is set to run out. Thanks to Republican obstruction on health reform, the Senate delayed passing a bill to continue that funding.”

Wait. What? Because the healthcare bill was delayed, so, you know, the Senators could read the bill, the Senate couldn’t vote on troop funding? Why the heck not? Robert’s Rules of Order allows for changes of items on the agenda. If the troop funding bill is set behind the healthcare monstrosity (which I am assuming that it is) all you have to do is reverse the items on the agenda. Problem solved. Troops get funded. But wait… someone is playing political games. Who controls the Senate again?

Exactly, the “supporters of health reform” i.e. the soulless, heartless, brainless, sheep-like (and I use these terms because this action that the WH blog – the delay of the troop funding that is – describes could NOT have been done without their support) Democrats - and perhaps the one or two Independents and possible Republicans (just leaving room for error, folks) - who support this thrown together, criminal, unconstitutional and heinous sham of a healthcare reform bill, are WITHHOLDING funding from the troops in order to coerce the Republicans and Independents rush through this bill.

So, the game now is “pass healthcare reform or we won't fund the troops.” Aren’t you ready to play?

Yes, Mr. President, I believe the time for political games IS over. Stop using the troop funding, scare tactics involving children, insurance, and seniors to propagandize the American people about this health bill. Stop the buyouts of AARP, and numerous other members of the senate, not to mention the intimidation tactics towards Senator’s wives to shove this atrocity of health reform down our throat. We'll see you in 2012 and we (you know, those of us who don’t think of the troops as pawns for healthcare reform and, you know, those of us who actually have family and friends in the military and currently fighting overseas) will remember this.

Just a few minutes after I had received this tweet it was linked on the Drudge Report. It was then that I realized that something a LOT bigger was being communicated in this blog than even I realized. It was more than just the normal, useless, but sometimes entertaining garbage propaganda… The White House is trying to say something. Well, we’re listening.

What Is Your Representative Doing?

On Wednesday Representative Mike Reynolds sent out a letter to his constituents. Below is a copy of the letter in it's entirety.

Dear Constituent

Since my last letter there have been many important developments at the Capitol. With the Legislature reconvening the first week of February I felt it is important to update you on some of the most significant issues.

Hopefully, by the time you receive this letter, Obamacare has failed at the Federal level. This massive step toward socialism would be very difficult to undo by future elected officials. I pray that the Republicans in the U.S. Senate, led by Dr. Tom Coburn in conjunction with a few rational Democrats, will be able to stop this shredding of our Constitution and the principles it was founded on.

The failed policies of the Democrat congress at the Federal level are having a massive impact in every state in the Union. Trillions of dollars of new debt are leading to a collapse of the economy nationwide. No person or county can spend their way out of debt. Unfortunately, the failed policies at the national level have infected not only the Oklahoma economy, but also the mindset of many Oklahoma legislators. While individuals claim they are for limited Government, not one board agency has been defunded during the 5 years that Republicans have been in control of the House. In order to fund pet pork projects, leaders in both parties apparently make deals with the Governor so he and they can fund their pet projects. Worst of all, these same people allow tax credits worth hundreds of millions of dollars to be given secretly to wealthy individuals and corporations in the name of “economic development,” the Oklahoma version of Obama’s stimulus package.

Undoubtedly the most important issue at this time is the state budget. If your income decreased by 30% and you only dropped your expenses by 5% or 10%, you would have to go into debt or take money out of savings. The Oklahoma Constitution prevents this type of debt, so the State Treasurer is spending money from other areas like the “unclaimed property fund” and college scholarship programs.

I have learned one method that is being proposed to solve this financial dilemma is electronic surveillance and issuing of tickets. Now suppose that someone steals your car tag. Maybe they even put another tag on your car so you won’t notice. A week or so later you get a citation and are required to appear in court. You plead your case and are successful. It only costs you a day of your time and the stress of waiting until the issue is resolved. If, on the other hand, an officer stopped you for a violation, with the new statewide insurance database that the Legislature forced the Department

of Safety to adopt last year, he could verify your insurance immediately over the Internet, tell you that you need to get a replacement tag and let you go on your way. Maybe this is why the U.S. Constitution requires that we be able to face our accusers, not a camera. A very powerful company from California has hired several lobbyists and sent representatives to Oklahoma to pitch this idea. Apparently, they may receive up to 35% of the proceeds collected on this type of system. So, they have offered to install it for free. Representatives from Atlanta, San Diego and Chica

go were brought to my office during the last session by an ex-legislator to encourage me to withdraw my resistance to this idea. I value freedom too much and after a few minutes of discussion they left. I understand Barry Switzer, outspoken supporter of Brad Henry, has been aggressively promoting this program. That probably is all that needs to be said about the Governor’s position on this issue.

What we must do to solve the uninsured motorist problem is require extreme punishment for the offender. We don’t let drunk drivers leave in their cars when stopped and we shouldn’t allow uninsured motorists either. Their car should be towed away, and if involved in an accident, sold to satisfy any judgment against them. We probably should allow an officer to drive them to the nearest phone booth if they don’t have a cell phone. Another great solution might be to make Oklahoma a no-fault insurance state.

The last item I am working on at this time is the removal of judges. It has been suggested, primarily by lawyers and the “anonymous” editor of the Oklahoman, that this is a silly idea. What is silly is to not pay attention to the public outcry over judges abusing their authority. A three-time convicted felon that rapes children was recently given a sentence of 1 year in the county jail. The killer of a 19 month old child was sentenced to life in prison by a jury, but a judge changed the sentence to just 12 years.

The Legislature may not be the best place for judicial review to occur, but a bunch of attorneys meeting in secret sure isn’t getting the job done. If charges are brought concerning a judge, the public ought to have the right to be present at the deliberations and offer input if they have relevant facts to contribute.

Almost every issue is about openness in government, whether it is budget negotiations, tax credits or judicial behavior. Government is one of the institutions ordained by God in the Bible, and it is here to serve the people, not for the people to serve it.

God Bless,

Representative Mike Reynolds

So, I ask you: What is your Representative doing during the interum time? I have seen Representative Mike Reynolds up at the capitol, every day, all day. He is working and earning every penny that the State of Oklahoma and the taxpayers of Oklahoma pay him in salary. I encourage you to find out what your Representative is doing... I know what mine is and I'm pretty dang proud.

Keep up the good work, Mike.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, I am first and foremost thankful for my Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of my faith.

I am of course thankful for my family and friends.

I am thankful for our service men and women who are here and abroad. It is because of you, I have the freedom to write this post.

I also want to give a special thanks to those who are fighting for truth. For those of you who have followed my writing for a while, you know my life calling is found in Proverbs 31:8-9. So, I would like to give special thanks to those that carry out this calling. It seems that at this time in our country, the truth is becoming much more difficult to find. Because of people like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and especially Andrew Breitbart (from whom Glenn Beck and Rush get their stories), the truth about what is really going on in this country (and what has happened) is coming out.

Though this time in the life of our country and world is scary, we have nothing to fear because God is sovereign. Think of it this way, out of all the great men and women who have lived throughout history, out of all of those people God had to choose from, God chose you to live here, now. You were the one that God wanted to live in this time of our nation's history. So, grasp what is going on around you with your bare hands and fight it because guess what? You can take it.

So, I am thankful that I have the privilege that I get to live in THIS time of our history. It is a land of unknown terrors, exciting discoveries and fulfilling rewards. I find it a privilege to serve next to you.

Grace and Peace,

-Mer

In Defense of the President

Many of you have probably already seen the Politico snippit (as linked on the Drudge Report) on how President Obama did not watch the returns for the special elections last night and instead watched an HBO documentary about George W. Bush.

Ha ha, just kidding. He was actually watching an HBO documentary about himself...

While I find the latter entirely possible, the former (him not being informed of the results)... not so much.

I am the first to profess that we have a 12 year old in office that doesn't have a clue which way is up. But I find it really hard to believe that the President of the United States, who considers his word extremely influential (so influential that he did, in fact, go to the three states where the major races were and campaigned multiple times-as did VP Joe) was not following the coverage of the elections.

Okay, so he wasn't watching it on t.v. But how could he?

I got home last night about 10:00 p.m. CST. Fox News was covering these elections like it was November (well, I guess it is November, but you know what I mean). They had constant coverage, analysis of polls, all of their graphics and the overall feel of the broadcast gave it that election night sparkle (can you tell I love politics?). My family flipped to CNN, CNN Headline, CBS, ABC, NBC, and MSNBC multiple times and guess how much election coverage they had?

None.

Not so much as a lower third giving updates. They were completely ignoring that the elections even existed. Granted, this was only a few minute inquiry on each channel, but from what I saw, it was nothing. (If you saw election coverage on the other stations, please insert your experience in the comments. I would love to read your analysis.)

So, the only way President Obama could have watched continuous coverage of the elections was by watching Fox News... Since hell hasn't frozen over I'm pretty sure that didn't happen.

I mentioned to a friend last night the results of my t.v. research and he had no idea what was going on. He told me that he was following the elections online at BigGovernment.com. Couldn't the President have followed the election results online as well? (I'm kicking myself right now for not taking screen shots of all the major news sites to see if this was even possible)

I understand the irony of the President watching a documentary about himself while he endures yet another flame out (see the Olympic results) of his efforts to influence voters... But, I'm sure he was updated.

Don't make too much hype about this, guys. As hilariously ironic as the situation might be, I find it hard to believe that President Obama was in the dark about what was going on last night. We can't focus on this too much because it will only make us look naive. Although that may be the example that the President has set for us time and time again, we should rise above it.

Why Do You Need a Job, Rocco?

Being a political junkie, avid lover of all things Oklahoma and having immense appreciation for all arts, you can imagine my excitement when I heard that the new chairman of the NEA mentioned Oklahoma in his speech announcing his “Art Works” tour in Brooklyn on October 21.

As I started reading through the speech, I had mixed emotions between laughing at the ignorance and pompous attitude of Mr. Landesman and having that nerve in my neck tweak as he gushed about how Obama is next Ceasar (and this is a good thing?)… You could hear the thrill running up his leg.

Then I found it, Oklahoma. Here is what he said…

“I know firsthand that great art can come from the unlikeliest of places. A few years ago, I visited Eric, Oklahoma, where a museum was being dedicated to one of my idols, the great country music songwriter and singer, Roger Miller. He wrote the music for my first show, “Big River.” While driving the 140 miles from Oklahoma City to Eric, you pass the hometowns of Sheb Wooley, one of the creators of rock and roll, the songwriter Jimmy Webb, and Garth Brooks. What is in the water there? There are certainly no music conservatories, probably precious few music teachers, no colleges, no arts centers, nothing. Just an inexplicable concentration of genius.”

This type of “how does a back-woods red state produce a decent artist?” mentality isn’t abnormal for Landesman. In an August 8 interview with the NYT, Ladesman made multiple statements that he was against artistic endowments to rural areas or any areas without what he considers to have “artistic merit.” In that same interview, he talked about how the arts can play into economic development, yet he doesn’t want the arts to be developing the economics in “rural” areas (and I use that term loosely). Isn’t this the land of opportunity, Mr. Optimist? Does this opportunity not apply to those who reside in “rural” areas?

And speaking of Garth Brooks, what great school developed his musical abilities? His family.

That seems to be an important piece that Rocco is missing from this entire equation. Although passing artistic appreciation from generation to generation doesn’t require federal funding, only the best education in Rocco’s mind can come from music conservatories, colleges, and “good teachers” whom, according to Rocco, appear to reside in massive population centers. Or, perhaps Rocco thinks they should only reside in massive population centers.

Throughout the interview, Landesman talks about providing subsidies for housing for artists to encourage them to move to downtown areas. Why not provide incentives to keep them in their suburban or rural areas to enrich the “artistic merit” of their community? What I find particularly interesting about this is that his precious country music singers that he mentions so fondly come from rural areas. Just think how many more of your favorite artists could rise up from a little bit of “economic stimulation” from the NEA.

Let’s look at his quote about Oklahoma in a little more detail. Even though this isn’t surprising behavior from Rocco, I really feel the need to address the artistic merit of the state of Oklahoma.

Now, if anyone from Oklahoma is reading this, you will find that Rocco has 1 ½ good points. The first one is the water. If you have ever drank water from OKC and then drank the water in say…Norman… you would be asking yourself the same question that Rocco did.

The next point that he makes is that he didn’t find anything from his drive from Will Rogers to Eric, Oklahoma. To be quite honest, he didn’t pass through the major metropolis areas (though, having been through the Brooklyn area, I’m not sure how much of Brooklyn has “artistic merit”). He was driving to a place that has a population of 1,076 people and maybe has 3 stoplights. But, what he did pass by was USAO. Rocco, if you would have looked to your right, you would have seen the University of Science and ARTS of Oklahoma!

Do we have an extension of Julliard in Oklahoma? No.

Really, we only have precious few teachers like Valery Kuleshov, the most respected pianist in the Russian Federation, Dr. Edward Gates, whose performances have been reviewed multiple times by the NYT, Dr. Jonathan Shames, Dr. Z. Randall Stroope (who sells over 200,000 copies of his compositions a year around the world), and Dr. Randy Von Ellefson, but no other teachers to their caliber.

No, we don’t have any colleges that produce people to the level of Kristin Chenoweth, Kelly O’Hara, or Leona Mitchell.

Our schools don’t place in 3 of the top 5 spots (including first) at the Bands of America Super Regional marching band competition as well as winning national marching championships.

We don’t have some of the top jazz education in the country in our high schools or in our colleges.

We don’t have choirs made up of laymen that are invited to sing in the Sydney Opera House. In fact, we don’t even have camps for students that bring in artists from all over the world to educate our children from elementary through high school. I mean really, it’s not like we’ve produced a vast quantity of talented Miss America’s.

Actually, we have all of those things and I would personally like to invite you to come to Oklahoma and listen to one of our "laymen" choirs. We also have the Oklahoma Arts Council, which is locally funded and receives few federal dollars. The only federal dollars that I found that the OAC received was from the stimulus. Do you know what this means, Rocco?

We don’t need you.

But it appears that Rocco has figured this out. “There are certainly no music conservatories…music teachers…colleges…arts centers…nothing. Just an inexplicable concentration of genius.”

If that's the case, Rocco, why do you need a job?