Felons For Obama Give New Meaning To Political Corruption

  All across America a new trend is developing. It is not inspired by the pages of Vogue or GQ. It is not sparked by Madonna’s latest outfit in a new music video or trend initiated by the latest fashions on the red carpets of Hollywood or the catwalks and runways of New York or Paris.

 Look closely at the above photo.

 

No, not at the faces of the felons that are the subject of these mug shots. Look at what they’re wearing.

 

Each of them are wearing Obama related garments.

 

Be it “Change”, “Yes We Can”, “Obama 08”, “Obama for Change” or just a simple image of our new President’s face, each of these arrested individuals are sporting shirts touting their support for President Obama.

 

And before any of you try to make excuses and claim that all these people were probably all arrested for some minor charges involving a pro-Obama demonstration, guess again. They were all taken of individuals arrested at different times for different crimes not involving political protest. The crimes range from acts of violence to drug offenses and some minor disorderly conduct infractions. These particular shots come via Sgt Rodney Hicock, an Iowa State Trooper .

 

Sgt. Hicock is now himself in hot water as Iowa Public Safety Commissioner Eugene Meyer conducts an internal investigation into whether Hicock used a state-owned computer to send a personal e-mail that included these and more jail mug shots of the Obama T-Shirt wearing criminals as an attachment.

 

Never the less, like never before, criminal blotters across America are being filled with the images of lawbreakers with a political conscious. In the past it was not often that you saw many if any mug shots of criminals captured in their Ronald Reagan T-Shirts, JFK hoodies or Clinton nightshirts. But today Obama gear is taking mug shot photo shoots by storm.

You can draw your own conclusions on the statement that this new trend makes.

 

As for myself, I see a great deal of symbolism here.

 

I see criminals whose lives take more from society than give to society and in the end lose their liberty as they sit in a prison cell. I also see them proudly adorning themselves in clothes that boast their pride for an American President who is leading a government that, like them, is doing more damage to society than good and taking liberty away from us all.

 

But perhaps the ultimate irony here is the fact that these Obama supporters are probably content in jail where, just like the Obama policies that they support, they are given handouts that come at the taxpayers expense.

 

Eliminating Presidential Term Limits

In a time when the left has risen to a level of federal control that they have not seen since 1994, liberals are beginning to feel their oats. They amend bills under the cover of night and rush votes to the floor before anyone can responsibly review what’s in them. They have even resorted to turning off microphones and shutting off the lights to make discussions impossible.

Now that they have control of both houses of Congress and the White House, Democrats feel secure in their positions and confident in their opinions. They stand tall and proud in knowing that the best thing for Americans is to relinquish some of their choices and finances to the control of the liberal led , one party ruled, federal government that they control so that they can make better decisions with your life than you can. They are so confident that they even took the bull by the horn and passed the Tax-and-Trade-Cap that asserts it is their right to tax the very air that you breathe.

That was a pretty bold move to make, but it goes to show that the confidence level of the left is stronger than ever.

They are inspired by the elevation of everyone’s favorite community organizer to the office of the presidency. They feel safe to run amuck with one of the most radical, collectivist agendas the nation has ever seen since the days that Franklin Delano Roosevelt reigned supreme as President for 13 years and was elected to four consecutive terms in office.

With President Obama at the helm, the left feels confident that they have a figure that can talk his way out of anything and who is so historically appreciated that he can shield the entire party and its elected officials from any and all negative effects created by their legislative misdeeds and socialist impulses.

Democrats have become so confident and so invested in the new President that they have begun to pave the way for his reelection. But I am not talking about President Obama’s possible reelection to the presidency in 2012. I am talking about his 2016 and 2020 reelections to the presidency.

Yes my friends, you read that right.

The left is so grateful for President Obama’s elevation to the presidency that they have introduced H.J. Resolution 5, which seeks to repeal the 22nd article of amendment to the United States Constitution. The amendment would eliminate term limits on the office of President of the United States and allow the relatively young President Obama to surpass even FDR’s record breaking 13 years and 4 terms in office.

It is bad enough that government is growing with unprecedented cost and to an unprecedented size as it expands and creates “Czars” for everything from cars to finances but do we actually want a President that is treated more like a king and allowed to consolidate power for the rest of his life?

Don’t get me wrong. I do not have any fears about President Obama remaining in power for more than four years. I will stick by my assertion that President Obama is just another Jimmy Carter and that the American people will soon regret the choice that they made when they decided to make a left turn with Obama, Pelosi and Reid, but I do find it interesting to discover how truly shallow the left in America is today.

They are so infatuated with the popularity of their history making standard bearer and so desperate to cling to power that they want to pin all their hopes on him. So much so that President Obama had not even taken the oath of office, yet and on January 6th of this year the Democrats proposed to lift any limits on the time that he could serve. Even before he began to serve.

Of course this resolution has a long road to travel. Its introduction is just the first step. Since the bill’s sponsor , New York liberal Representative Jose Serrano, presented this resolution it must go to committee be investigated, debated, and revised. If that ever happens it can go before the entire house for general debate. If on the odd chance that it ever gets to that point and passes, this amendment would then have to be ratified by three fourths of the states.

I don’t know about you but I don’t think this will happen. If Americans are going to approve any measures pertaining to how many terms politicians can serve in any office, they will be in the direction of more limits on their time in office not more terms in office.

But that doesn’t prevent Democrats from at least trying. These are the same people that just successfully legislated a fee on air so maybe eliminating limits on their messiah really isn’t all that far fetched.

Liberty or Death……A Story

by Michael Duminiak

It was indeed a sad state of affairs. A plastic grocery bag overflowed in the corner of the room, leaking out a stream of unpaid bills hastily shoved into it the day before to clear off the carved oak desk that had been a family heirloom. The desk was gone, sold off the day before at Sheriff’s sale along with a household of other pieces of furniture and other valuables. The marks on the carpet where they once stood reminded one of the ruined foundations of long lost civilizations. Such a parallel was apt as civilization had indeed been lost here.

The body itself was against the far wall of the room not far from the sack of bills. It sat as if seated in relaxation, head down on chest in slumber. If not for the gaping hole exposing the gray tissue inside and the large upward splatter of blood and bits of flesh, bone and hair upon the wall, it would have looked tranquil. Nothing is quite so quiet as a room that screams of death.

The gun used still rested clutched in the bone white hand. Where it had been secreted away in order to avoid the Sheriff’s sale will remain an eternal mystery. There can be no doubt that it was saved specifically for this purpose. No doubt because its neighboring hand held a simple note of three words, “Liberty or Death!” As the former had been lost, the latter was obtained.

The scene said much to any who cared to see it. Rather than use the weapon to fight off the authorities who came to take away everything, it was saved only to end the misery. Despite all the injustice visited upon the deceased by a corrupt government that beat down the people who bore the brunt of economic collapse to force the liquidation of their assets so that those who caused the collapse and had already been given billions could collect their 40 pieces of silver, this one person remained loyally obedient.

The scene indeed said much and accused more with grim testimony. No rebellion, resistance or law breaking was committed despite being deprived of house and home. No stain save noble blood rested here. No excuse could be made by those who stripped away everything. On their heads alone rested judgment.

Here a martyr rests. Not the martyr of blazing glory in heat of battle or of stoic bearing while in the hands of the executioner, but a martyr still. Here rests a martyr to liberty and justice. A gloomy monitor and testament to how far from justice society had slipped. Here rests a martyr for a nation abandoned by its government.

All the lofty speeches and promises instantly wither to dust at the testimony of the scene. Here is the truth. Here lies the grist ground down by the political machine. Festoon it with streamers and bedeck it with flags, shower it with platitudes and lecture it with excuses – do what you will to spin it. It remains unmoved. It convicts without pardon. It exposes without exception.

Silently unmoving rests the shattered remains of a citizen deprived of every inalienable right.  Oh how that silence screams.

Is Denial And Death Worth Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell?

  On June 30th, Seaman August Provost, a 29 year old man in the U.S. Navy, was found dead in a guard shack at Southern California’s Camp Pendleton.

Although military officials believe the cause of death may be murder and are holding a person of interest in the brig at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station no charges have yet been filed. In the meantime although an autopsy has been conducted officials are awaiting the findings of toxicology reports and beyond these few basic facts, officials are remaining tight lipped.

Much of the reason for that just might have to do with the fact that August Provost was gay.

Provost was openly gay. He never denied his sexuality to his friends. He trusted them and did not care that they knew, but for the most part, to those who had no right or reason to know about Provost‘s sexual preference, he kept his life private and even avoided mention of his significant other, Kaether Cordero, his male partner back home in Houston, 

But sadly it looks like someone who did find out about August Provost’s sexual orientation killed him because of it.

In the days before August Provost was found dead at Camp Pendleton, family members report that he conveyed to them that he was being harassed. They urged him to report it to his superiors but Provost refused. This refusal was most likely based upon the anti-gay military tradition that is currently preserved behind the “Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell” policy which grudgingly acknowledges homosexuals in their ranks but only through a military code that enforces denial, and if broken, that code is grounds for dishonorable discharge.

Without all the circumstances and facts surrounding August Provost’s death publicly clear, one can not claim with certainty that his murder was rooted in homophobia. But several gay advocacy groups are all over this tragedy. They have even put pressure on several California congressional representatives to call for an official inquiry into Provost’s death based on the existing evidence which does point to a homicide that was committed because of Provost’s sexual orientation.

I bring this to your attention because I respect our military traditions. I respect our military for what they do, what they sacrifice and for their longstanding traditions of bravery and honor but it is on honor that I must begin to doubt our military’s commitment. Is it honorable to force a fellow American to fear the discovery of who they are, who they love and how they love them?

Is it honorable to force a fellow American to keep risks to their safety and life or infringements on their inalienable rights a secret because of potential penalties that the victim may face based on policies that discriminate against them because of who they are? I understand that it is necessary for our military to operate under codes that are somewhat different from the ones that are afforded to the general American society whom our armed forces defend. It is necessary for a cohesive flow of our military’s efficacy. But I dare say that in so far as the military code applies to sexual conduct, it is applicable to all individuals regardless of sex or even sexual preference.

Prohibitions on sexual activity that may seemingly pertain to heterosexual members of the military while serving on active duty do not force a female service member to deny that they are a woman. It simply precludes sexual activity while on duty. This same rule can still be upheld by and applied to homosexuals who are serving in the military. So why should a gay man or woman in the military be forced to serve in fear of being outed?

While these men and women in our armed forces are preserving the rights of all, why should they fear reporting that a fellow member of the military might be denying them their own civil rights or threatening their life?

The current policy which promotes this hiding of facts may have helped to kill Seaman August Provost.

Now I am not a gay pride parading, rainbow flag waving gay man. I am happier to wave the American flag which symbolizes a nation that allows me to be who I am and what I want to be, but circumstances and times have compelled me to confront the issue of gays in the military.

We are a nation at war and I know many gay men and women who have served, are currently serving and will be serving. One gay service member that I know has just completed three tours of duty in Iraq and is scheduled to report back to duty and serve in the same region in another 10 months.

These gay service members and future service members do not seek to turn lifesaving camouflage outfits into pink polka dot petticoats or convert tanks into gay pride floats and turn in their combat boots for stilettos. They do not wish to add ruffles and gold lamé ribbons to their parachutes before they get dropped into the mountains of Pakistan for a covert operation. They do not seek the chance to have their way with a fellow service man or woman in some sandy Afghani foxhole in between exploding mortar shells. They seek to preserve our nation and our freedoms. They seek to serve our nation not service someone. They are willing to risk their lives to serve our nation and yet because of Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell, August Provost may have lost his life while trying to serve.

For this reason, I seek to abolish this arcane policy of official denial. I do not plan on replacing it with some sort of modern day version of the segregated, all black Muskogee Pilots of our past by implementing some sort of Gay Brigade that segregates homosexuals from heterosexuals. Nor do I wish to change any existing restrictions that pertain to the sexual activity of active duty service members. But I do seek to make sure that a gay person can serve his country without fear of discrimination and with the same protections from abuse and misconduct that are afforded to heterosexuals in the military.

The Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell policy is a failure. Its name may sound rational and even safe but in actuality it is dangerous. August Provost may be proof of that.

Are We Letting Freedom Ring Or Does The Bell Toll For Freedom?

  As the American colonies revolted against the British Crown, its leaders locked themselves into a room in Philadelphia’s statehouse to discuss colonial independence.

With windows shuttered and seclusion secured so that the echoes of raucous debate would not be heard by unwanted ears, a sweltering heat began to brew due to a mix of both the excessive July temperatures and the passions for freedom that brought the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence together.

The fear of loud and contentious debate was unfounded for on this day as the issue of independence was debated it was soon discovered that it was more agreeable discussion than argued contention.

After taking note of the general agreement that existed in the room a Virginia delegate, Richard Henry Lee, rose to his feet and declared: “Why do we longer delay? Why still deliberate? Let this happy day give birth to an American Republic. Let her arise not to devastate and to conquer but to reestablish the reign of peace and law. The eyes of Europe are fixed upon us. She demands of us a living example of freedom that may exhibit a contrast in the felicity of the citizen to the ever increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. She invites us to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may find solace, and the persecuted repost. If we are not this day wanting in our duty, the names of the American Legislatures of 1776 will be placed by posterity at the side of all of those whose memory has been and ever will be dear to virtuous men and good citizens.”

And with that, prompted by taxation without representation and a yearning for self determination, the resolution to adopt the Declaration of Independence was introduced and an oppressed people gave birth to an idea bigger than self and a force unlike any other known to man . . . Freedom.

Two hundred thirty three years ago freedom was rare. It was a novel concept that many only dreamed of and few truly possessed. The few who did possess it took it away from others. The fortunate few, who had their own freedom, enriched their own lives by controlling the lives of others.

Two hundred thirty three years later some things are the same but many things are different.

Today there still exists the few who have their freedom but use it to their benefit by denying others their own. In America these few are those whom maintain their existence as members of the political class and perpetuate their economic lives and political careers by procuring deals with unions and special interests that garner them the financial resources to stay in power.

This political class undermines the very foundations of freedom that gave birth to their representative offices and places the collective individual voices of Americans into a hyperbaric chamber of unaddressed concerns and needs that are sealed off from the halls of Congress and the Oval Office.

No more are the concerns of the people given priority. No more are the every day lives of the non-political class the driving force behind the supposed representatives of freedom. In their stead are the desires of the political action committees which offer a bundle of money and legion of self interested volunteers that will aid in reelection efforts. In their place are the powerbrokers who will commit to keeping a member of the political class in power so long as that individual will use the cover of night to slip in a pork barrel measure that exempts them from a law, regulation or tax or funds them with a federal grant.

Two hundred thirty three years after tyranny was rejected and the cause of freedom gave a voice to the people, the voice of the people is drowned out by tyrannical trends. Today, the erosion of our freedom has brought us from a government created to spread independence to a government used to suppress liberty.

This turn from personal autonomy to government collectivism has been fueled by a corrosion of freedom and personal autonomy that has seeped into the everyday lives of the individual American voters whom choose to support the shifting of personal responsibilities to those who are suppose to represent them in the ruling political class .

Rather than creating a savings for ones own golden years, the ravages of time have lulled individuals into thinking that government will do that for them through the auspices of Social Security or some sort of federal assistance.

Rather than creating a better business model that makes ones business more profitable and their product more sellable, corporate interests have come to rely on government bailouts to prolong their bad example.

These are but a few examples of the eroding senses of autonomy and independence that we as a nation have adopted due to a degradation of freedoms value. As a nation our people have taken freedom so much for granted that, without realizing it, we are losing it.

This is a far cry from the men who gave rise to our independence on the Fourth of July in 1776.

In the face of brutal tyrannical forces these men risked personal wealth, land and even life in order to give birth to freedom . By declaring independence from the Crown, they were sure to face the British empires wrath. Yet despite all that they would knowingly sacrifice, they proudly presented their signatures to the King by signing the Declaration of Independence.

And they did so without trepidation but with a steely resolve and an undying respect for freedom that made them understand that, with freedom, all that they had to lose was worth losing because without freedom all that they had was not worth having.

This understanding by each of these men was so pervasive and so all encompassing that people like John Hancock signed his name to the Declaration of Independence in vividly large and bold strokes of defiance so that the King of England could see his signatures without glasses and increase the size of the bounty that he would undoubtedly place on his head for what the Crown would call an act of treason.

Upon his signing of the sacred document Benjamin Franklin remarked “Indeed we must all hang together, otherwise we shall most assuredly hang separately.”

Yet with a fully understood importance of freedom, the men in that hot, fly infested Philadelphia statehouse crafted a document that ended by saying “And for the support of this Declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor”, and then, one by one, they signed it.

They all paid a dear price for it. Many lost their livelihoods and property, others lost family members and some, after years of torture lost their own lives.

Yet today, 233 years later, the greatest sacrifice we make for freedom, is occasionally inconveniencing ourselves by making a trip to a polling place and putting our signature in a voting registration book and casting a ballot.

And who do we cast that ballot for? We cast it for elected officials who place a tax on every aspect of our lives from our birth to our death and now even on the very air that we breathe in between the two. We cast that ballot for a President who apologizes for America’s defense of freedom and pushes for some of the most collectivist policies in our nations history.

Yes my friends, we have indeed taken freedom for granted. So much so that we find it acceptable when our elected officials legislate it away and so much so that many find it offensive when we try to preserve it. Our loss of respect for freedom and independence has led to a government that is so antithetical to the principles of freedom that I dare suggest that if the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were alive today, they would be locking themselves in another room and plotting a second revolution, a revolution of restoration. A revolution to restore America to its founding principles.

Years of a government geared more towards syndicalism than individuality and personal responsibility has procured a sustained reliance on government and that reliance has helped to strip away the individual liberty that created the very spirit of 1776.

This detrimental progression is not the blame of any one party or pe rson. Its blame is placed on Republicans who dedicate themselves to those in the political class who are willing to betray America’s economic future and individual Americans economic survival by supporting such things as the Cap-and-Trade environmental hoax conjured up by socialist inspired ideologies of collectivism which account for the greatest transfers of wealth ever known.

It is to be blamed on Democrats who believe that the defense of freedom should be left up to someone else other than America, the greatest source of freedom ever known.

It is to be blamed on Americans who take more from society than give back to society and who take more time to research the life of Michael Jackson than to review the voting record of their own congressman.

We are living in a time when people such as the non-partisan tea party protestors are belittled and deemed as potential terrorists by the very government whose policies they peacefully and legally oppose. This despite the fact that they simply possess the same revolutionary spirit of opposition to tyranny that the American revolutionaries possessed in 1776.

We are living in a time when all the energy expended, time devoted, blood shed and lives lost to preserve all that our nation gave birth to and created in the name of freedom are being overshadowed by the same type of policies that we declared our independence from in 1776.

All of these factors make me contemplate what this Fourth of July, 2009, marks. Does it mark the 233rd year of our independence? Or does it mark the rise of government suppression and the end of celebrating liberty?

Palin Resigns From One Job But Is It To Get Another?

  To hear that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is resigning in two weeks is shocking news. At least to those of us not in her family.

The reasoning for this was explained by her husband Todd Palin as he stated that the Governor wants to dedicate more time to issues important to the nation and not just Alaska.

Her brother believes that Sarah Palin concluded that her and her staff are having to defend themselves against so many unfounded ethics complaints that she believes too much time and energy is having to be spent on defending herself and that she is not able to spend as much time and energy on the business of the state as it should properly receive.

I believe the answer is a mix of the two explanations.

Sarah Palin’s entrance on to the national stage made a significant splash.

Liberals automatically tried to write her off as a small town mayor. Feminists reared their hypocritical heads and tried to admonish her for being a conservative and Alaska Democrats dedicated all their time to trying to tarnish the rising star of their state’s Republican Governor.

As a result she became a target of frivolous and false charges and accusations that have cost millions in legal fees and countless hours of defense. This indeed absorbed much of her time. It was time taken away from her responsibilities. And it was all because petty partisan players wanted to insure that Sarah Palin has no political future.

Given these circumstances, I believe that the Governor sincerely decided to put an end to all that was distracting the state leaders from the important business at hand and to the opportunity that her continuing as Governor afforded liberals who tried to turn every breath she took into an ethics charge.

By resigning, not only is the excuse that partisan players have to throw accusations at her gone, but it gives Alaskans the opportunity to continue building on her substantial work with a strong successor in Lt. Governor Parnell and her the opportunity to move on.

What resigninging is for may just be for bigger and better plans. It may possibly be a plan to devote three years to earning the Republican nomination for President.

Sarah Palin may just have been planning to run for the nomination ever since the conclusion of the 2008 election but now she may also be fed up with all that was thrown at her in an attempt to deny her of that chance. She may be fed up with the politics that is being used against her and decided to double up her efforts.

If this is an opening statement in the 2012 election race for President it is quite dramatic. It is also risky. Some will accuse her of not fulfilling her responsibilities to the people of Alaska. Others will understand that Democrats have made Sarah Palin more the issue than the issues themselves and that by stepping down as Governor, all that she has so far accomplished can be built upon and all that must still be done can be done without the distraction of every liberals favorite target being in the way.

And through it all Sarah Palin just might now have the time to take ownership of the conservative mantle as she becomes free to take up the causes and issues important to her and our nation.

However this plays out, Sarah Palin is pissed and like they say, hell hath no fury like a woman’s scorn. So believe me, Sarah Palin is not going to leave the national stage quietly. In fact I think she may have just jumped on the stage and is about to open the curtains.

New Jersey Lost A Bright Star Named Dafiq Rasheed

I had planned on making an announcement today.  But a recent event compelled me to reevaluate priorities and postpone that announcement in order to pay proper tribute to a very special person.

 

Over this past weekend New Jersey and our society in general suffered a significant loss. It was not the loss of any famed leader, entertainer or artist. It was not the loss of any finances or economic opportunities. It was the loss of a young man named Dafiq Rasheed.

At the age of 19, Dafiq decided to dedicate himself to the improvement of his community, Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Atlantic City is world renowned for its opulent gambling casinos, sandy beaches and glittering nightlife. But that is the Atlantic City that tourists know and flock too.

Those who live there, those who lives outside of the city’s network of casino causeways and hotels know a different Atlantic City. They know an Atlantic City riddled with crime and infested with poverty and government corruption, low unemployment and lots of despair.

That is the Atlantic City that Dafiq Rasheed grew up in and knew.

Yet by the age of nineteen one newspaper named him one of the forty most promising people under the age of forty.

Despite the despair that surrounded him, he still kept hope alive and maintained a positive outlook that enabled him to study hard, dream big and strive to improve the condition of his fellow man.

So much so, that he dedicated himself to the trials and tribulations that come with campaigning for elected office. At just nineteen years old Dafiq decided to challenge a fellow Democrat in a primary for a seat on the Atlantic City city council .

On Primary Day, June 2^nd of this year, Dafiq Rasheed lost his primary bid but he won the respect of any and all his peers. He also demonstrated to many young persons that they too can make a difference and that they too can live a life that makes a difference to others despite their current circumstances.

But on Saturday night, June 27^th, Dafiq died. He drowned in an accident in Galloway Township, a neighboring shore community to Atlantic City.

The loss of this productive young man is indeed significant. For a person of his age to have a level of awareness and social consciousness that compels him to sacrifice his time and energy for a cause greater than self by running for elected office is indeed rare and undoubtedly inspirational and commendable. To lose such a person creates a profound void in our society that can never be filled.

Even if you did not know Dafiq Rasheed, his loss is profound. He was the type of person who gave more to society than he got from society. He was the type of person whose existence only added to our own.

My deepest and sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends whose own lives were enriched by his.

May he rest proudly and peacefully and may his example be forever emulated by his peers and always appreciated by those of us who share in his hopes to leave behind a better life than the one he had.

Below you will find a video that Dafiq prepared for his city council election

How To Make The News

 This is a “how to” for you all you activists out there.

It is for those of you who are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.  It is also for those of you who are so caring that you are helping others through efforts in your community.  It is for those of you who realize that one person can make a difference and are willing to get off your rumps to make that difference.

You may be involved in something that is currently a minor effort.  Maybe you are assisting senior citizens on your block.  Maybe you are organizing a tea party protest.  Whatever the effort, you could be doing something that involves or could involve more than ones self.

That small effort, that personal goal could become a bigger than life event that gets attention and involves many more people and ultimately creates more help for others,  prompts greater awareness of an issue or cause or expedites positive societal change.

Such efforts begin with getting your word out and there are few better ways to get the word than through the endless opportunities available through what is commonly called earned media or what most people would call “free press”.  The contemporary proliferation of informational sources and news outless is infinitessimal and it is all available to you if you know how to take advantage of it.

So how do you turn your effort and cause into something that hundreds of thousands of people hear about on the radio, watch on television or read about on the internet or in the newspaper?

It all starts with a press release.

Press releases are an important initial step in getting your message out.

Done properly a press release helps to spread your message. However, an effective press release goes beyond what you want to say. A truly effective press release approaches the story from the perspective of the reporters or media outlets that you hope cover your narrative.

A reporter or news outlet is looking for stories that are topical and or controversial They want to write about something that grabs peoples attention. A press release discussing your monthly garage sale or monthly group meeting is not a story that they will consider dedicating much ink or airtime to. For your press release to get any type of significant news coverage you need a good sense of what is commonly called “spin” and you must “spin” your story into something that has greater ramifications than what it may convey on the surface.

Contemporary technology has only helped to exaggerate the long held rule of thumb, “if it bleeds, it reads”. The juicier the stories the greater the coverage. Thankfully and hopefully the press release you wish to distribute does not consists of gruesome mayhem but short of being as dramatic as some acts of violence how can you insure that your story gets covered?

What one can do is craft their press release into something that relates your topic to other newsworthy events at the time.

For instance, if one were to be organizing an event dealing with high taxes, they would be wise to try to piggy back their event to something such as state budget negotiations. The turmoil that revolves around the creation of a state budget is often heavily followed by news outlets. As such your press release could directly connect your tax protest to the newsworthy, controversial budget negotiations. During times like that, a press release with a headline like “TAXPAYERS REVOLT AS THE DEADLINE FOR A STATE BUDGET APPROACHES” will catch the attention of print, television and radio journalists as well as bloggers. For those looking for a good story to tell, your headline provides a new and saucy angle for them to cover.

Once you have your angle and headline, your press release should be as brief as possible and precise as possible.

Reporters often tend to take a news story in their own direction. That makes it incumbent upon you to write a press release that is strong and unambiguous, leaving no room for reporters to interpret your press release in any way other than the way you want. Crucial to this control of the story is selecting a press secretary or group spokesman and there must only be only one. A single spokesman helps to insure that the focus of the story never wanders off into an unintended direction.

The opening sentences of your release should contain the gist of your story. Using the same story example I previously gave it might read “Fed up with the high cost of living and ever increasing taxes, a grassroots network of Georgia taxpayers are banding together and preparing for a massive march on Atlanta”.

This initial statement, after your headline, makes clear what your release is all about and if it sounds important and big enough to the reporter reading it, they will continue to go on and read the details contained in the rest of the release. But before you get into those details, such as time, date and place, now that you have captured the attention of the reporter or news outlet you can begin to embellish the importance of your event.

You can start citing some of the conditions which inspired your grass root movement and then go into details about the group itself. Explain that participants in your effort span a cross section of citizenry ranging from housewives to business leaders and from teenagers to senior citizens.

At this point it would be important to briefly demonstrate some of the organizational capabilities of your group. At some point you should be able to refer to something like your “online headquarters” where members meet and coordinate their efforts. For this you should have a convenient web address that a good reporter will include in their story. This will increase traffic to your site and increase membership.

It is also good to have the ability to refer to a group blog.

One of the best blogging platforms is wordpress.com. WordPress is free and offers a wide range of templates as well as numerous pages and the use of widgets that enable you to provide links to anything that you want observers to have access to.

If you have a blog that contains compelling posts about your cause and that come from the view points of different groups members, this will help add credence to the newsworthiness of your story and offer insightful background to anyone covering your press release. Just be sure to have enough data, blog posts and information on it to impress the reporter. A blank blog that has infrequent posts will only leave the impression of an empty , inactive organization and not lend any weight to the capabilities or seriousness of your effort.

With all this in mind it is important to correctly present your well worded, carefully crafted press release.

Typically the top of your release contains a group image and heading. Below that, on the left, in bold and capital letters is the phrase FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE and below that goes the title, name and telephone number of the contact person for your story.

                                                                                                     ———————

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                      July 1, 2009

       Contact: Barack H. Obama
       Press Secretary 202-666-6663

                                                                                                       ———————

Following that goes your headline centered and in capital and bold print.
                                                                                                        ———————–

      I.e.:

 “TAXPAYERS REVOLT AS THE DEADLINE FOR A STATE BUDGET APPROACHES” 

                                                                                                       ———————-

After the body of your press release is written typically its end is confirmed by the typing of three number signs, below the story and centered on the page.
                                                                                                        ———————-

                                                                                                          I.e.:    ###

                                                                                                     ————————

Once the hard part is done the frustrating part begins.

It is the part involving the development of your media list and getting your press release out and into the right hands. For a list of news outlets in their own state one can go to :

http://www.usnpl.com/

In many cases you may have to call and verify any numbers you get or for a proper fax number to a news desk or assignment editor.

For major daily newspapers one is wise to send several releases to several different entities at the same paper. You may want to send one to the assignment editor or assignment desk, and in many cases, you will want to send one directly to one or two reporters who tend to cover stories similar to the one you are issuing.

In all cases write on a cover sheet or on the top of the press release to who’s attention you want. For example, ATTN: Larry Higgins or ATTN: Assignment Editor

Be prepared to spend more time on trying to assemble an effective media list than on writing your actual release. Also anticipate having to resend your release a few times. If you are persistent, it will be worth it. But you have to be sure to cover all your bases and that includes the many small weekly newspapers that are out there.

For those local weeklys it is best to establish a more personal touch though. If you live in Franklin Lakes and are reaching out to a local newspaper in Cape May, you might be wise to alter your press release and use a Cape May resident as the focus of the story. Local papers are more likely to cover events involving their local readers. By taking this route some weekly newspaper editor is more likely to allow the paper to do a story that can contain a headline that reads “Cape May Man Cultivates Grass Root Tax Protest” than they are to run a story about somebody in Franklin Lakes.

And don’t ignore you local weekly’s. Often times major daily’s will pick up on a story that they come across in those periodicals.

If you present your story properly and professionally and articulate your case in a way that makes a reporter say “this is good stuff” in time, they will be coming to you before you get to them.

Fears Over Flatulence Force Feds to Finance Farts!

 Did you ever think you would hear a Congressman come before a national audience and talk about cow farts? Well Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin has been compelled to come out to do just that in order to oppose proposed federal regulations on the issue of farts.

Our nation’s government has literally come to that point.

With a federal mentality that seeks to tax everything from the birth of your child to the amount of money that you leave behind in death, the federal government through the auspices of the Environmental Protection Agency is now considering a tax on cow and pig farts. The liberal point behind this tariff is to control the release of methane gas which alters atmospheric temperatures by keeping the atmosphere warmer.

As the largest producer of methane, livestock are being targeted by the EPA as they explore and propose the imposition of a $175 a year tax on every head of dairy cattle, $80 a head on beef cattle and $20 per head on pigs.

Penalizing pigs and cows for tax evasion if they don’t pay their way might be a difficult task so in its infinite wisdom the government would charge these taxes to their owners. Now if Porky is your pet pig, twenty bucks may not seem like a lot, but if you are a pig farmer you have a lot more than one pig in your possession. Many pigs farms number 4500 or more pigs at a time. Now charge them $20.00 a head for participating in the industry and you have one hefty new price tag that they must pass on to consumers. Many of these farmers will not be able to compete and many will ultimately shut down forcing the price of pork up even more.

Take a state like Illinois. From Henry on the north to Pike on the south there were approximately 7,500 hog farms feeding Americans. And that is just Illinois. What about the other 49 states? This new tax will not only take back the stimulus money provided to pig farmers in President Obama’ stimulus package, it will take all the profits out of their business altogether.

But its not just pigs. The same applies to cows.

Now, I am not so callous that I suggest we not give a damn about our environment. I have no problem with throwing the right garbage in the right recycling bin but to suggest that greenhouse gas emissions must be regulated to the point of taxing farts is the ultimate in environmental extremism.

And what exactly will all the proceeds from this new tax do for curtailing greenhouse emissions? Unless it is meant to kill the cattle, milk and pork industries, I do not see what the EPA will invest this money into in order to save the environment from profuse farting. Do they intend to purchase butt plugs for pigs and cows? Congressman Sensenbrenner suggests that maybe they intend to invent a catalytic converter to strap on to Elsie the Cow?

I also can’t help but wonder how far this can go.

Alexandra Pais/New Jersey Local News Service

We all know that when the government creates a tax they never repeal it and they often increase and expand it. So how far will they go if this fart tax passes? Will it not be expanded to human beings? I know a lot of people who are filled with a lot more than hot air and a per fart price tag on them alone would reduce the deficit by millions. So how much money do you think the federal government can make by taxing all humans for their own gassy anal emissions?

So I propose that we get a jump on the federal government.

From now on, whenever you pass gas, drop a dollar into a piggy fart bank. Start saving up now for the inevitable and get used to the federal government’s newest war . . . the war on farts.

Is The Tide Already Turning?

    The latest Rasmussen poll of 1,000 likely voters gives Republicans a more favorable opinion than Democrats in 6 out of 10 crucial issues facing our nation. On one of those issues, abortion, Americans are just about as split on who they prefer to handle that issue as they are on the issue itself. 41% of the voters favor Democrat’s position on abortion while another 41% approve of the Republican’s approach to it.

On the issues of health care, education and social security Republicans poll a 37% approval rating in each of the three categories while Democrats poll a positive rating on those issues ranging from 43 to 47 %.

When it comes to national security though, Republicans receive the highest approval rating of either party on any of the ten issues presented to those polled.

51% approve of the GOP’s national security abilities while the party in power can only muster a meager 36%.

With smaller but still significant margins, Republicans also receive higher approval over Democrats on taxes, immigration, ethics and even the issue that many feel cost Republicans at the voting booths…………..Iraq.

These are all pretty good indications of an electorate that is beginning to realize that the Democrat messiah and his apostles really can’t walk on water or turn it into wine. Months into the one party rule of Democrats and the luster of their promise seems to be wearing off.

Perhaps the most telling evidence of that assessment comes from the results dealing with what is considered the most important issue of the moment, the issue du jour,………..the economy.

On the economy Democrats receive a 39% approval rating while Republicans have the confidence of 45% of the voters.

That is a margin of 6%. Pretty slim., yet pretty significant given the fact that the last campaign cycle largely blamed Republicans under President Bush for the economic stresses that we cycled into.

Such a reversal of opinion can only be due to the fact that after two years in control of Congress and a few months in control of the White House, Democrats are slowly beginning to own the economy that they are manipulating. That and the fact that there are no Republicans in charge of any federal policies help to give ownership of the situation to the Democrats in power. You can argue that Democrats inherited the problem but you would have to look hard to find anything that Democrats wanted to do differently than President Bush other than even more spending and raising taxes.

Now I will not attempt to defend Bush’s spending policies or weak Republican congressional leadership which went along to get along but one can not try to claim that Democrat hands are clean and now, 6 months into the new year, Americans are beginning to realize that when it comes to the economy Democrat hands have as much blood on them as anyone else, if not more.

The public has seen a Democrat push for spending, spending, spending and more spending. Today the federal government is paying for everything from cell phones to the poor to the takeover of the American auto industry. It may have taken a few months but people are beginning to realize that spending is not exactly the way to strengthen our economy, especially when we don’t have the money to spend.

Congressman Eric Cantor

Add to that the rising to the top of newer Republican leaders like Eric Cantor of Virginia and you have a swing in thinking that gives Republicans an edge on an issue that they were recently losing on.

As pessimistic as the American electorate may be about politicians, they are inherently an optimistic bunch that is looking for any excuse to believe that someone in Washington can act responsibly and apply logic to the bureaucracy and legislative process.

This 6% swing in opinion on who can handle the economy best is not a major development. It is after all one poll and we would need a few different polls of a few different pool of voters over a prolonged period of time to actually prove that this trend does exist. But the point is, if democrats continue passing their hail Mary spending policies and Republicans like Eric Cantor can pull the GOP back to their fiscal conservative roots, the electorate might just begin to feel that the grass is greener on the other side of the aisle come the mid term elections in 2010.