Speak for Yourself, Chuck Norris

Straight from Chuck Norris's own blog post, "I may run for president of Texas":

On Glenn Beck's radio show last week, I quipped in response to our wayward federal government, "I may run for president of Texas."

That need may be a reality sooner than we think. If not me, someone someday may again be running for president of the Lone Star state, if the state of the union continues to turn into the enemy of the state.

From the East Coast to the "Left Coast," America seems to be moving further and further from its founders' vision and government.

Norris then goes on to list all of the bad things he sees Obama doing:

• Aid to Gaza
• Increasing the deficit
• "Stampeding" the Constitution
• Secularizing the country

This, of course is accompanied by references to our "Founding Fathers." For each offense, Norris juxtaposes Obama's actions with the intents of leaders of old. Of course, if we want to go down the "what did the founders intend" road, we could also point out that they intended for blacks to be slaves, for women to be invisible in the eyes of the law, for poor people to have no political agency, and for the country to be ruled by a small, educated, landed, and elite minority of white men. But then we would be letting facts get in the way.

How much more will Americans take? When will enough be enough? And, when that time comes, will our leaders finally listen or will history need to record a second American Revolution?

Yes, when will we listen to our leaders and get overthrow the government when we don't like the people who are leading it? Oh wait, I think I know the answer. 2010 and 2012 - our next congressional and presidential elections! After all, isn't one of the good things about this country supposed to be that we can vote out leaders we don't approve of? In fact, didn't we just do that a few months ago? Yeah, we thought the Republicans had screwed up our country so much that we voted in this new guy. What was his name again? Oh yeah, Barack Obama, they guy Norris is complaining about.

So, Norris is saying that we should abondon our practice of a peiceful transer of power, overthow the will of the people expressed in a mostly free and fair election, and break away to form a new country. Didn't we do this already, in 1860?

When I appeared on Glenn Beck's radio show, he told me that someone had asked him, "Do you really believe that there is going to be trouble in the future?" And he answered, "If this country starts to spiral out of control... Americans won't stand for it. There will be parts of the country that will rise up." Then Glenn asked me and his listening audience, "And where's that going to come from?" He answered his own question, "Texas, it's going to come from Texas. Do you agree with that Chuck?" I replied, "Oh yeah!" Definitely.

So, he thinks Texas will be the first state to seceed.

He then invites readers to join him, Beck, and other conservates for a telecast about the current "crisis." He ends with this:

Again, Sam Houston put it well when he gave the marching orders, "We view ourselves on the eve of battle. We are nerved for the contest, and must conquer or perish. It is vain to look for present aid: None is at hand. We must now act or abandon all hope! Rally to the standard, and be no longer the scoff of mercenary tongues! Be men, be free men, that your children may bless their father's name."

We should all be paying attention, so that these not jobs can't scheme in secret.

Speak for Yourself, Peggy Noonan

Peggy Noonan on Morning Joe earlier this month:

Thanks for letting us know that you think having a diverse staff means sacrificing quality. It's good to know where you stand on the issue.

Speak For Yourself III: More McCain/Palin Rally Insanity

This time, McCain-Palin supporters at a rally in Ohio express their views.

Again, one must ask, what is it about these rallies that attracts this element? Why would people who think like this also support John McCain? What does that say about McCain and Palin? What does it say that these people support McCain's policies?

Speak for Yourself II: Obama the Father and Baby Killer?

Because, as Rachel Maddow points out in this clip, being a father of two and wanting to see infants run over by a train aren't exactly congruent characteristics, this right-wing mailing is just insane.

Is this racism? Maybe. But it's probably more just bitter partisan hatred mixed in with a healthy dose of hopeless stupidity.

Speak For Yourself I: Racism in Pottsville, PA

I'm starting a new series, entitled "Speak For Yourself," in which I will offer minimal commentary and allow the words of others to speak for themselves. This first installment is a video featuring a slew of persons outside a McCain rally in Pottsville, PA, making racist comments about Senator Obama and even blacks in general.

Now, some of the comments are obviously racist, like "I'll never vote for a black man." But go back and ask yourself this: how does race factor in the views of those who want to "bomb Obama," or think that his "associations and judgment" are "un-American," or who insist that he was "born in Kenya" and demand to see his birth certificate (in case your wondering, factcheck.com actually did see and examine his birth certificate, and have proven, as most sane individuals already knew, that Obama was born in Hawaii, and we should all know by now that Hawaii is part of the United States).

Final question: Why are McCain/Palin rallies attracting so much of this element?