CAN'T TRUST HIM

Obama continues his onslaught on the truth. His ads attack Mitt Romney concerning when Romney left Bain Capital. Independent Democrat sources VERIFIED Romney left in 1999 to run the Salt Lake Olympics. Obama knows all this. If Obama was Pinocchio he would have a nose half way around the world.

 

Obama's lies: If your pass the stimulus bill unemployment will stay under 8%. It's been above 8% for 41 months. If you pass the Obamacare premiums will drop $2500 a year per family. They've gone up 15-20%.  I'll cut the deficit in half by the end of my 1st term or I’ll be a 1 term president (hopefully). Deficits are nearly triple Bush's highest deficit every year. I'll lift 2 million out of poverty and jolt the economy into life. More people are in poverty today than when he came into office and the economy is running at an anemic 1-2% GDP. I'd get more jolts out of a dead battery. I’ll create five million new energy jobs.  Those green energy companies are going bankrupt (very few jobs) with our tax dollars. Solyndra sound familiar? He’s shipping jobs oversea; he’s invested US taxes in foreign companies so they can expand.

 

He wants to raise taxes on businesses and investors who create jobs. That improves our job market? He wants to keep the Bush tax cuts for those earning under $250,000 but for only 1 year. Why only a year? What do you think happens a year after he's reelected? Hang onto to your wallet.

 

Obama’s a smooth talker, but when he talks you have to listen to the fine print in what he’s saying. He never tells the simple truth, he always uses subtleties and distortions to make it appear he is saying one thing and planning another. You can’t trust someone who does that.

 

Bud Spencer

Gualala, Ca

Concerned Coastal Voters

INSULTING

For a local liberal to say that Conservatives want to abolish a safety net for the truly needy, keep women at home and not in the workplace, and keep blacks and other minorities “in their place” is insulting.

What psychological needs compel many liberals to create these ridiculous armies of straw men (and women)? Projection? An unhappy childhood? Or is it simply their need to say, “We’re not evil like those folks. We are far superior.” (See most of the President’s speeches.)

It’s difficult to address such banalities in this forum, but I’ll try. Many Conservatives have an in-depth knowledge of history. On a personal note, I helped create history by working at the federal level to disestablish segregated school systems in the South (and in northern cities), to seek gender equity in schools and colleges, and to ensure that students with disabilities received accommodations to help them fulfill their potential.

The Conservatives I know don't tolerate discrimination. Period! We certainly don’t believe that blacks and women need government to “take care of them” because they are helpless and incompetent.

The tragic history of segregation in the South was written by white Democrats and for white Democrats. They held absolute power over blacks for a century after the Civil War ended. The Democrat Party with media help, massive federal aid, and gerrymandering, has largely "whited out" its negative history and succeeded in convincing most black voters that Democrats are now on their side. Good for them. (But that doesn’t mean there aren’t racist Democrats.)

As to the “woman as housewife only” issue - - the women in CCV laugh at that. Conservative men love strong women, and we have many. They may be somewhat different than “liberal” women; e.g., they don’t praise failure or tolerate whining in men - - or in Presidents.

Jim Littlejohn

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala, CA  95445

TRASH TALK

I was bemused by a statement I read recently that depicts our President as a visionary, as the shepherd who will lead us to greener pastures. (No pun intended.) This paean to the President was written, I've been told, by an intelligent person. That puzzles me because the gist of this metaphor (a clever cloaking of Democrat talking points) was that we should all just follow along with the dictates of our "philosopher king" leader, re-elect him, and everything will be just hunky dory.

The problem is that conservatives don't buy that. We do love metaphors; e.g., "America is a shining city on a hill." However, if Obama is the shepherd, then it follows that we're all "the sheep." That may be okay with many Democrats and their sheep dog media, but it doesn't set will with conservatives, and many others.

America is not a nation of sheep, never has been, never will be.

Furthermore, large numbers of voters are beginning to look carefully at what conservatives have been saying all along - - that we elected a pretty good community organizer who knew enough about the law to be dangerous to our economy, our individual liberties, and our great country.

For three and one half years he has held the most powerful job we can bestow on a citizen. Has he improved our economy, brought us closer together, or enhanced our well being as a people? No.

Instead, this President has desperately stepped up his attacks on the very core of our greatness and deliberately divides our people along class lines.  This past week he commented, in effect, that "small business owners don't create their businesses, someone else does." That's "trash talk" and its patently not true.

In November, let's hope Americans vote to replace this "shepherd" with a President.

Jim Littlejohn
Concerned Coastal Voters
Gualala, CA

LIBERAL ASSAULTS

Many Conservatives in our community have to hide their viewpoints on politics and social issues for their own safety. I've had Conservatives tell me they are afraid to reveal their viewpoints due to fear of vandalism, name calling and character assassination from Liberals in the area. Nasty notes have been put on my car windshield and others have had their cars scratched because of their bumper stickers. Liberals say they believe in diversity and tolerance, but only if they agree with what is said.

 

"Free Speech" is everyone’s right and using such tactics is unconscionable. "Free Speech" is not just voicing your beliefs, but LISTENING respectfully to those who oppose your viewpoints and defending their right to speak. Each of us has the responsibility to ensure that no one is intimidated from participating in civil discourse in our community, county, state and country.

 

There’s an organized effort to silence those who don't agree with Liberals. Liberals are using tactics used by tyrants (Intimidation, Character Assassination, Threats, and even Assaults). We have Liberal ICO writers verbally assaulting writers and intimidating them not to write, because they don't agree with them.  At Republican political rallies, Liberals bus in SEIU members and Teamsters to disrupt, shout down speakers, and intimidate attendees. That's not "Free Speech" either. 

If you don't agree with a speaker, listen quietly, leave or don't attend in the first place. On the web, Democrat groups are listing Republican candidate’s home addresses, thus putting their families in danger. When the Democrat leadership was informed about this, their comment was "Well they are public figures." Liberal groups are using Republican donor lists to repress and harass donors.

These tactics are unethical and "un-American."

Bud Spencer

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala

 

DON’T GO THERE

I don’t doubt the conviction of liberals who advocate that government control of healthcare will benefit almost everyone. It’s an appealing argument: e.g., coverage of pre-existing medical conditions; “children” can remain on their parents’ insurance until age 26, if you don’t have the money to pay, you get it all free.  Where do I sign up? And, if the goodies you receive are not sufficient to persuade you, then there’s always the argument that, “Everybody else is doing nationalized healthcare.”

What’s wrong with this picture? For one thing, the government provides absolutely nothing for free. Someone has to pay - - big time; that is, you, I, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, and at least 50% of all Americans. (When all this settles out, it’s likely that the remaining 50% will pay zilch.) 

Not a problem, you say, just cut back on defense spending and all will be fine. That may work - - until the Chinese or some radical Middle East country, emboldened by our deteriorating defenses, decides to call our bluff and destroy a few of our cities. (Remember 9/11?)

The seminal question is:  What’s likely to happen when our heretofore relatively benign government takes over at least one-sixth of our economy? Do well-meaning liberals truly believe that healthcare will be managed more efficiently or fairly? 

Certainly Lenin and his proteges (a.k.a., dictators) sincerely believed that their “humane” collective systems would bring the greatest benefits to the most people. What the people got (their elite rulers excepted) was an almost sub-human existence, constant propaganda (lies), and extreme cruelty.

And as for those “enlightened” countries with national health plans, medical mediocrity and bureaucratic quagmires are now the norm, not the exception (e.g., shortage of doctors, lengthy waits for treatment, lack of innovation, severe rationing).

Let’s not go there.

Jim Littlejohn

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala, CA

FREEDOM?

The 4^th being so close, I thought I’d write about “Freedom”. Do you have more freedom today than 3 ½ years ago when Obama became president?

 

Do you have the freedom of not having health insurance? Today you’re mandated to have health coverage or you’re taxed and that’s less freedom. Obama promised you could keep the health coverage you had prior to Obamacare, but surveys indicate most large companies are opting for the tax rather than pay the $10,000 to $20,000 per employee to offer health coverage. Welcome to government run health care.

 

You have less freedom to travel. Gas is now nearly double what it was 3 ½ years ago. Economically your freedom to travel has been restricted. Do you feel safer traveling to the border towns near Mexico with all the “Fast and Furious” guns our ATF provided the drug cartels? Do you feel safer traveling to anywhere in the world?  

 

Want that dream home?  Record low interest rates and housing costs are way down, but banks aren’t lending, because of new strict investment laws put into place by Obama. The result is less freedom to purchase a home.

 

How about jobs?  Unemployment is up and you have less freedom to support yourself and family, but you get 99 weeks of unemployment instead. That's 99 weeks of the government controlling and supporting you. There’s also the freedom to get “Food Stamps” since Obama has made that easier. Who wants to work if you can get “Free Stuff”? How about starting a business? Now you’re back to the restrictive health care law making it nearly impossible to start a new business.

 

Where’s the freedom? Do you feel that tightness around your throat? That’s the federal government and Obama strangling you and your future.  

 

Bud Spencer

Gualala,Ca

Concerned Coastal Voter

IT'S VITAL

(Published in the Independent Coastal Observer)

Conservatives are split on what to make of Chief Justice Roberts’ unexpected decision that kept Obamacare on life support. A majority of the Court struck down the Individual Mandate, which should have been the end of Obamacare. But, it wasn’t. The Chief Justice recast the Individual Mandate as a tax. Never mind that the President and almost every every other Democrat proclaimed long and loud for two years that the Individual Mandate was not a tax. In spite of the Court’s ruling, Democrats are even now running around glassy-eyed and flush with victory saying, “Tax, what tax?”

Some conservatives see a silver lining in the limitations the Court placed on expanding the Commerce Clause, a tool that liberals have used for decades to gobble up individual freedoms like a giant PacMan. But this Decision defines its limits; that is, Americans can’t be forced to buy a product that they don’t want or don’t believe they need. Still other conservatives see the newly-minted “tax” as another way to achieve the same end for our "elite" rulers- - the never-ending expansion of government powers over individual citizens.

Overanalyzing or even psychoanalyzing the majority Decision is a fool’s errand. We have what we have. The political battle lines for November are clearly drawn. The conservative priority is to elect Mitt Romney and as many conservative Senators and Congressmen as we can.

Replacing Obamacare, with its legion of 16,000 new IRS agents and unprecedented intervention in the patient-doctor relationship, is vital to our freedom. It is equally important to restore the spirit of the American people and to allow our inherent entrepreneurial genius to once again place this great country on a sound economic footing - - well out of the grasp of these irresponsible leftists and far from their reach.

Jim Littlejohn

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala, CA

PREPOSTEROUS

(Published in the Independent Coast Observer)
Is there anything this President or his supporters won’t say or do to gain traction in this election? Recently, an internet commentator named Rex Nutting conveniently cobbled together an article that he said proved spending growth under President Obama was actually less than that of his predecessors. This preposterous claim was soon throughly discredited by the facts. However, this did not stop the President or his supporters, and at least one local writer, from repeating the absurdity. 

Let’s look at some cogent numbers from Peter Ferrara’s article in Forbes (6/14/12):

1. President Obama’s spending binge begun in 2009 quickly rocketed federal spending to 25.2% of GDP and is projected to average 24.4% for the entire four years. That compares to an average of 19.6% during Bush’s two terms. The average during Clinton’s two terms was 19.8%.
2. Obama’s 2013 budget (which has not passed) shows federal spending increasing from $2.983 trillion in 2008 to an all time record $3.796 trillion in 2012, an increase of 27.3%.
3. Before Obama there had never been a deficit anywhere close to $1 trillion.  The highest previously was $458 billion in 2008. The federal deficit for the last budget adopted by a Republican controlled Congress was $161 billion for fiscal year 2007.   Obama’s 2013 budget reports his deficits as:  $1.413 trillion for 2009, $1.293 trillion for 2010, $1.3 trillion for 2011, and $1.327 trillion for 2012.

These staggering deficits add up to more than $5 trillion dollars in new debt in just 4 years! Thus, in just one term President Obama will have increased the national debt as much as all prior Presidents, from George Washington to George Bush, combined. And, ObamaCare's trillions are yet to come.

Surely, this nation can do better.

Jim Littlejohn

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala, CA

NO MORE

(Published in the Independent Coast Observer)

President Obama has failed to put forth any plausible rationale as to why he should receive a second term. His two signature "achievements" - - ObamaCare and the almost $1 trillion dollar stimulus  - - are so out of favor with the American people they can’t be discussed in polite company, much less stand as a basis for his reelection.

Oh, he has tried very hard; that is, he has tried very hard to place the blame for his failures on former President Bush and myriad other “non-Obama” reasons for this almost unprecedented period of continuing economic stagnation. 

The hard fact is that President Obama’s poorly-conceived policies of overspending and over-regulation, and the resulting uncertainty, continue to stifle the entrepreneurial initiative of the American people. No matter how clever his excuses, this anemic economy hangs about Mr. Obama's neck like a limp albatross.

It’s amusing to hear local liberals attempt to make the case for returning Obama to the Oval Office with reasons such as, “He’s killed a lot of terrorist with drone attacks," or,  "He’s (now) more experienced than Romney because he’s held the office for three plus years, yada, yada, yada.”

Seriously, if President Bush had sat in a room picking out bad guys to kill from the air, these same liberals would have screamed for his impeachment.  And as to President Obama’s newly-minted "experience," too bad voters (and most of the media) didn’t seriously consider that issue in 2008. 

Instead, we elected a woefully inexperienced individual who, with rhetorical charm, promised almost everything to everyone and then proceeded to break almost every one of those promises. He didn’t just break them, he completely forgot them.

The question voters should ask is:  “Will four more years of an Obama regime yield different results?” We believe not.

Jim Littlejohn

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala, CA

HORRIFYING

(Published in the Independent Coast Observer)


Editor:

For nearly thirty years I've spent a large portion of my professional life working in Europe with European client companies, colleagues and good friends.  For at least the last twenty of those years I've told friends around the world (some of whom, until recently, were really tired of hearing it) that Europe's socialist system was in an accelerating spiral of collapse, with eventual catastrophic results.

When an American – at least one with eyes open – spends this much time abroad it's impossible to avoid being a witness to the specter of incentive dying, as Europeans become increasingly reliant on the state for essentially everything.  One can almost watch citizens on the street grow progressively more accepting as paralyzed governments seem unable to reverse these trends.

Daily media accounts vividly describe what the economic meltdown of European socialism  – using Greece as the example du jour – looks like.

Germany may yet postpone the inevitable for Greece, but that's the pathetic best that can be hoped.  Eurozone national banks are the largest bank holders of Greek sovereign debt.  And as was learned dramatically here in America during the mortgage securities crisis, the Obama government is only too ready to vector billions of US dollars to bail out European banks.  Once German money runs out – as it will long before Spain, Portugal and France face certain Greek-style meltdowns – all of our futures can only be imagined.

A careful read of today’s European economic situation should scare the living bleep out of every thinking American.  What should be most alarming is that under the Obama government literally every root cause of the looming economic and social catastrophe in Europe has a horrifying American parallel.  No Presidential election in our country's history has been more important than 2012.  The survival of our society is literally at stake.

Gary A Curtis

Concerned Coastal Voters

The Sea Ranch

LEFTIST CLOWNS

 (Published in the Independent Coast Observer)

To some of us the Obama 2012 Campaign is one big circus. In Ring One, you have the President himself, the Great Distractor, who, unable to discuss his highly unpopular and meager accomplishments, focuses on things such as class warfare, more taxes on the rich, evil Republicans, and himself, himself, himself . . . .

In Ring Two, a motley assortment of the President’s political, celebrity, and media surrogates dressed in clown suits, run about carrying his water in large containers with holes drilled in the bottom. Supporters drinking free beer laugh hysterically, whereas the “likely voters” quietly point to the water pouring out on to the sawdust floor of the Democrat’s “big tent.” The well-heeled clowns pretend they’re watering a garden of flowers (e.g., huge federal expansion, chronic unemployment, no national budget in three years, gargantuan deficit), but the savvy voters see only a sisyphean folly and the barren landscape of failed economic policies.

In Ring Three of Cirque d’Obama, you have well-meaning local Obamacons channelling credentialed (but misguided) hucksters like Robert Reich and Paul Krugman. These “experts” eternally proclaim their reactionary creed that no government program can ever be abandoned or modified in any substantive way no matter how much it has failed, or how much it will cost to maintain.  All the clowns throw fists full of money to the crowd and shout in shrill slogans, “Obama Cares, “Republicans are Evil,” and “Kill the Rich” (except for the Democratic rich, of course).

The increasingly skeptical audience of voters are mildly entertained by these leftist clowns, but then they remember the economy is still in the tank and the President has steadfastly ignored the coming entitlement program meltdown. In the final analysis, clowns parading distractive baubles will not prevail. The majority of voters will demand results, not a circus.

Jim Littlejohn

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala, CA  95445

WHO ARE THE CONCERNED COASTAL VOTERS?

by Jim Littlejohn 


(Article published in the Independent Coast Observer, May 17, 2012)

Concerned Coastal Voters (CCV) is a group of local citizens who share a deep love for America and the principles upon which it was founded, especially the Constitution. We share deep concerns about the current direction and governance of the country.  We discover, share, and discuss data and facts about America's challenges, for example, the economy, the size of government, foreign relations, health care, over-regulation, homeland security, and many others.  Through these activities we hope to become both better informed and more moved to action to help return America to strength, prosperous growth, and Constitutional governance.

CCV was formed in 2010 and has been, until recently, a relatively small (but merry) group of conservatives whose primary means of getting their views across was the welcome but limited venue of the ICO. This is changing fast. In the past few weeks CCV has more than doubled its membership from an initial core group of 14 to more than 30, with many more potential members waiting to be added over the next few weeks.

We have a diverse membership of local people from many professions and backgrounds; e.g, business, law, medicine, art, sales, real estate, education, technology, military. Some of us are retired and others are still out there working. For example, one of our members is a world-traveling management consultant for an international firm.

As for myself, I was privileged to work for the federal agency charged with desegregating schools and colleges in southern states and for many years was in charge of developing and writing policy to guide the enforcement of the civil rights laws affecting our nation’s schools on race, national origin, disability, gender equity, and age. I worked for both Democrat and Republican administrations and served each to the best of my professional abilities. I am particularly proud now to be associated with the fine people in CCV and draw daily upon their wisdom, intelligence, and support.

Our new website (www.concernedcoastalvoters.blogspot.com) is rapidly evolving into a sophisticated source of news articles, videos, links, and other information that has caught the attention of readers as far away as Washington, D.C. CCV is not associated with any other group or political organization. We encourage a lively, but civil, debate on the issues of the day and absolutely respect the opinions of those who disagree with us.   

To us, that is the American way. Out of discussion and dissension will come resolution and, we hope and pray, a better world for our children and grandchildren.

GOOD TIMES

What a pleasant weekend last when I opened the ICO and found a thoughtful, well-written editorial about the ups and downs (or should I say the “lefts and rights”) of the ICO Fencepost column. I greatly respect Steve McLaughlin’s dogged willingness to publish all views, in spite of the occasional lost subscriber, and kudos to Lisa Walters for a balanced view of we scriveners.

Then followed a wonderful evening at the Thespian production of Copenhagen. I, along with a cadre of friends, saw the play in Ft. Bragg a few years ago, but few of us could recollect anything significant about it and, as I remember, my eyes closed often in a blissful doze.

But the price of admission was right, and having never been disappointed by a Jeri Taylor directed performance, Karel and I ventured out from our paradise in the redwoods to give it a try. What a performance was laid at our feet! The cast, Mike Turner, Katie Atherton, and David Skibbins were magnificent throughout and, under Ms. Taylor’s skillful direction, turned a potentially boring play into an enjoyable intellectual and emotional experience. David gave an over-the-top energetic performance in the second act that lifted the play to its resounding conclusion. Bravo!

Now, back to the ICO. I would be remiss if I didn’t say a special thanks to several kind folks I met at the play who volunteered that they had read Lisa’s editorial and took the time to tell me that they very much enjoyed the CCV letters. (No, they weren’t all conservatives.) One man, whose name I couldn’t pull from my increasingly unreliable memory banks, waved at me over several others to proclaim, “Thank you for your letters. You have my support.”

Thank you, sir, and you have ours, also.

Jim Littlejohn

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala, CA

STRAW MEN

(Published in the Independent Coast Observer)

It’s hard to overstate the farcical bumbling of the Obama administration/campaign over these last several days. I suspect that most Americans, even many supporters of President Obama, are increasingly aware of his failure the past 3 plus years to provide effective leadership for this great nation. 

Still, his loyal supporters have been giddy with the expectation that the “One” would rise above his trail of broken promises and self-inflicted wounds to lead the way to victory over the Republican standard bearer, Mitt Romney, thereby assuring four more years of unmitigated class warfare.

That may happen. But the first week of Obama v. Romney was nothing short of a disaster for the Obamicons. Administration scandals and presidential campaign faux pas (e.g., GSA bureaucrats romping in Las Vegas, an attack on Ann Romney and working moms, Secret Service “fun and games”) were stacked up like Walmart shoppers on Black Friday.

Then on Sunday, David Axelrod appeared on the Chris Wallace show looking so bedraggled that one could almost believe he’d spent the night partying with the President’s disgraced Secret Service detail. Mr. Wallace stumped the President’s political guru with a simple question:  “What’s the choice in this election?” Mr. Axelrod, his mind searching frantically for the appropriate talking point, blurted out this thick-tongued, rambling answer:

“The people will choose between an economy that produces a growing middle class and gives people a chance to get ahead and their kids a chance to get ahead and an economy that continues down the road we are on, and everybody else is running faster and faster just to keep pace.”

Ouch! General Axelrod set ablaze the President’s army of straw men on national television and provided the upstart Romney with a perfect campaign ad. Not an auspicious beginning for Team Obama.

Jim Littlejohn

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala, CA

OBAMA'S ECONOMY

(Published in the Independent Coast Observer)

As the November 2012 presidential elections draw closer, voters will tire of excuses and begin to focus on the chilling facts that highlight the economic wasteland wrought by this administration’s policies. (Here are seven gathered by Wynton Hall at breitbart.com)

1. Every fifth man in America is out of a job. Indeed, black male unemployment is now at the highest rate it has been since the U.S. government began collecting statistics on the subject in 1972.  Just 59 percent of black men over the age of 20 are now working. 
2. Every seventh person you pass on the sidewalk now relies on food stamps.
3. On the last day of President Bush's presidency, gas prices were $1.84 a gallon. Today under President Obama, the average price of a gallon of gas costs $3.94. (Much more in CA.)
4.  In 2006 and 2007, 90% of college graduates found a job.  Under Obama, just 56% of college graduates are able to find a job.
5. More than one in four U.S. homeowners are "under water" or owe more than their homes are worth, with many more foreclosures still to come.
6. President Obama has increased the national debt more in three years than President Bush did in eight.  Under Bush, the debt rose $4.899 trillion in eight years.  In three years, Obama has exploded the debt by $4.939 trillion.
7. A record number of Americans are no longer in the labor force.  When the number of individuals who have stopped looking for a job and/or who are working part-time but desire full-time employment is included--a figure known as the "underemployment rate"--real unemployment stands at 19.1%.

As President Obama said in a speech a week ago, "In three years we’ve begun to see what change looks like." 

Jim Littlejohn

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala, CA

FAWNING MEDIA

(Published as a letter to the Independent Coast Observer, Gualala, CA)

A common narrative among Democrats is that the Republican presidential candidates are not of very high caliber. Following this partisan logic, none of them would stand much chance against President Obama. This gives great comfort to many on the Left who view the Republican primary battle as a circular firing squad that will leave the incumbent President with a fatally-weakened opponent. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Firstly, the winning candidate will be immeasurably stronger as a result of parrying the repeated onslaughts of his opponents. Now, we should never “mis-underestimate” the creative abilities of the NFM (non-Fox media) to come up with new, clever attacks on a Republican candidate. (Remember Dan Rather’s faked documents against George Bush that “mysteriously” surfaced on the eve of the 2004 election?) Even so, the eventual Republican candidate for President should be ready, willing, and able to deal with the inevitable attacks from the Democrats and the media.

Secondly, President Obama now has a record he must defend, and it’s not a very good one. His supporters routinely trot out lists of his “accomplishments.” Ironically, most of the macro items on the lists have negative connotations to many voters  - - economic stimulus (unprecedented deficits, 5.5 trillion dollar national debt, high unemployment, no budget in 3 plus years), ObamaCare (Big Brother statism, cost overruns, $500 billion cuts in Medicare), Green Energy (Solyndra-type crony-capitalism scandals, denying Keystone pipeline, curtailing drilling, skyrocketing gas prices), entitlements (no ideas, no plans).

Thirdly, Obama’s naivete in foreign affairs (think serial apologies, “open mic” with Medvedev) will not sit well with the electorate. This un-vetted President has stumbled through his first term shielded from scrutiny by a fawning press. That changes soon, and his Republican opponent will expose the glaring weaknesses of an inept administration.

Jim Littlejohn

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala, CA

Creationists and Warmists

(Published as a letter to the editor of the Gualala Independent Coast Observer)

Alice noticed that anthropogenic global warming and creationism are both belief systems, not science. She’s right. Creationists believe God created everything in the past 6,000 years, and you can’t disprove acts of an omnipotent God. Warmists believe current warming is unprecedented, explainable only by mankind increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Fortunately for we skeptics, science is on our side. The current warming began over 300 years ago, ending the Little Ice Age. Unfortunately for mankind, the current warming has stalled out, with none the past 17 years.

Historically, warming benefitted mankind, while cooling was detrimental. Civilization flowered after the end of the Ice Age just over 10,000 years ago, particularly during the Holocene Climate Optimum of 8,000 to 3,000 years ago. Global temperature then was three to eight Fahrenheit degrees warmer than now, and lakes and rivers abounded in what, beginning about 3,000 years ago, became deserts. However, mankind by then had developed agriculture and animal husbandry and was able to adapt to worsening cooling conditions.

The evidence of previous periods of greater warming globally is incontrovertible and easily demonstrated.  There are large stumps in northern, southern, and high altitude regions far from where such trees now grow which have been carbon-dated to the Holocene Climate Optimum. Similarly, retreating glaciers are now uncovering human habitation of the same period.

This only scratches the surface of natural climate change science. In opposition the warming alarmists have Michael Mann’s thoroughly discredited “Hockey Stick” based on small samples of tree rings from less than 15% of the Earth’s surface. It can’t even identify the Little Ice Age, and barely touches the Medieval Warm Period. The Hockey Stick covers only the past 1,000 years,  and features enormous error bars. It’s a foundation of beliefs built on sand.

Mike Combs

Gualala

UTOPIAN ELITE

(Published in the Independent Coastal Observer)

Apparently some local liberals are of the misguided opinion that the electorate has not been paying close attention to the ineffective leadership of President Obama and his minions over the past three years. Why else would they spend their time and effort trotting out laundry lists of false (or stolen) accomplishments for the President while ignoring the colossal failures of his administration?

The President, they say, has led us out of the recession. Really? Early on, his “stimulus” package, combined with the economic uncertainties of ObamaCare and the heavy-handed anti-business regulations of Dodd-Frank and the EPA, helped drive unemployment toward double digits. Today government unemployment statistics remain well north of 8% . The real numbers are probably closer to 17%!  In just three years, the President and his Democrat accomplices have added a  staggering 5 trillion dollars of debt to our economy without passing a budget! 

And let’s not forget the hundreds of billions of dollars this Administration has thrown at “green energy” debacles, selected automobile companies, and other “crony capitalism” boondoggles designed to use the heavy hand of government (i.e.;, the Democrat Party and its interests) to further their “share the wealth” compulsion.

Such utopian dreams are not new, but history has shown they always end in a nightmare of limited freedom (if not outright enslavement), economic misery, and a dim, grey future. Oh, the utopian elite will do very well thank you. They will spend their time, energy, and vast resources preaching equality while continually expanding  a central government that doles out rewards to their friends (those who support more power for them) and punishment to their enemies:  those greedy folks who clamor for more freedom and long for a time when government did not control every aspect of their lives.

Think about it.

Jim Littlejohn

Concerned Coastal Voters

Gualala, CA

Just Talking the Talk

(Published as a letter to the editor of the Gualala Independent Coast Observer)

The Liberal outcry concerning Rush Limbaugh’s remark is only exceeded by their hypocrisy concerning foul-mouthed Democrat supporters such as Bill Maher. Obama has counseled civility and condemned harsh language about women, yet his allied super PAC -- Priorities USA -- has accepted a $1 million pledge from Maher. What did Maher say?

Fortunately, since this is a family newspaper, I can’t precisely report what he said. That’s why *’s are the most used tool when reporting remarks about conservative women made by Liberal “entertainers.” About Sarah Palin, Maher called her "a bully who sells patriotism like a pimp, and the leader of a strange family of inbred weirdos." That was mild compared to Maher calling her a MILF (Mother I’d Like to F***, a ‘dumb t**t,’ joking that her Down Syndrome baby was a result of her having sex with John Edwards, and calling her a c***. Maher called Palin and Congresswoman Bachmann ‘boobs’ and ‘two bimbos.’’ He recently made a joke about Rick Santorum’s wife using a vibrator. Imagine the same joke told by a conservative comedian during the 2008 primary with Michelle Obama’s name in it.

Unlike Maher, Rush was wrong and he admitted it and apologized.

When Maher was asked if he had any regrets about what he said he replied:  “I’m not trying to hurt somebody’s feelings. But if you want me to say ‘I’m sorry, what I said was wrong,’ no, sorry, I can’t go there.”

From a news report: “Former White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton, the man who runs Obama’s super PAC, did not reply when asked if he will be returning Maher’s $1 million donation.”

About Maher, and many others, all we get from Liberals is the deafening sound of silence.

Mike Combs

Gualala