Friday, March 30, 2007

Funny... a Candidate who Knows what he is talking about...

For the last 8 years, people have been railing on President George W. Bush about how "stupid" he is and how he doesn't come across as if he knows what he is talking about. Now, I have defended President Bush in other places. He is honestly one of the more impressive men I have ever met. But, that is not my point today.

If we have spend the last 8 years whining about a President who doesn't seem to know what he is talking about... shouldn't we be looking for a President who DOES know what he is talking about?

Mitt Romney, this week, spoke at the Club for Growth--a Political Action Committee that promotes growth-friendly policies. Romney not only came to speak, but he brought a full PowerPoint presentation--including Graphs, numbers and outlines of his ideas.

The Romney Campaign posted three videos from this speech. If you want to see a Presidential Candidate who knows how to communicate and who really knows what he is talking about, watch these three videos:

Reigning in Federal Spending:

Tax Philosophy:

On Fighting for Lower Taxes (and winning):

I love the story he tells in that last video. It is fun to watch elected officials get reminded who is really in charge.

Yes, I may seem like a Romney fanatic... but the more I watch him and compare him to the other candidates, the more I want this man to be the next President of the United States.

Let's compare his discussion of economic growth with this:

Wait... listen to that again: Ms. Clinton is advocating the SEIZURE of private corporate profits to pursue a government mandate. Wow... viva socialismo.

Will someone tell her what creates jobs? PLEASE?!? Yes, Ms. Clinton, PROFITS create JOBS. Profits yield investment and profits increase the velocity of money. If you seize profits, you are socializing industries. And, hundreds of years of history show that is a stupid idea.

In the words of Ronald Reagan: "It isn't that Liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ladies and Gentlemen, I want a President who knows what he (or she) is talking about. Because, that is a President who will lead us to the future.

That is all.


Wednesday, March 28, 2007

"Calm Down"?!?!?!?!?

Ok, so I just saw a video on the news of Nancy Pelosi telling Bush to "Calm down... there's a new congress in town!" She was chastising Bush for threatening to veto her silly amendments to the Iraq Emergency Spending bill. But, Bush has every right to be a little irate. There are two issues with this bill:

1) The democrats tacked about 80 billion dollars in pork spending--for stuff like fishery hatching and compensation for failed crops--on to a bill that was designed to help our troops. What happened to cleaning up spending???

2) Both the House and Senate drafts of this bill include a DATE when the US will withdraw from Iraq. Wait a minute... that isn't the congress' JOB! They do not run the Pentagon, they just FUND the pentagon. And, if they are going to fund the war, they need to let the generals RUN the war.

This brings a bigger problem that the current Democratic leadership does not seem to get:
We NEED to win this war!

Ok... let me change the emphasis for effect:

We need to WIN this war!

Honestly, it doesn't matter how we declare ourselves the winners, but we must win. Because, the long-term costs of ever saying we have "lost" the Iraq war are greater than we want to bear.

Let's take a quick history lesson. Democrats like history, don't they? Well, actually... not really. They seem to live in a perpetual now, without any historical reference or foresight.

In 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to stomp out a civil uprising. It seems that some young, well-funded Muslim activists were starting to overthrow the existing communist government, and the USSR didn't like that.

Well, after a long, protracted, awful, guerilla warfare battle with the "Mujahadeen" in Afghanistan (which the CIA was supporting... very quietly), the Soviet Union said to themselves:

"Da! This silly opium-filled country just ain't worth it no more." And, in a flurry of indifference, the Soviets withdrew and left Afghanistan to their own devices. For the Soviets... they didn't win, they didn't lose... they just didn't care.

Well, in the vacuum created by Soviet Indifference, the young Mujahadeen declared themselves the victors! "Yay, we won! Yippie, hooray! Obviously that means that our religion and god is more powerful than you heathen Soviets! I wonder what else we can do with this new-found religious power?"

Among those fighters (providing them with both fanatical ideas and lots of money) was a young bearded man named Usama Bin Laden. Because these young violent islamists could declare a "victory" they decided that their cause was divine and, therefore, invincible.

Thus begins a chain of events that led us to the 11th day of September, 2001. Yep... the first seed of 9/11 was planted the day the Commies pulled out of Afghanistan.

Fast-forward to today. We face a similar situation where we ask: "Is Iraq worth it??" I mean, Pelosi and Murtha would love for us to pull out right now and just leave Iraqis to their own devices. It doesn't matter if we win or lose to them... we just need to be out of the fight.

I declare to you, with history on my side, that it DOES matter whether we win or lose in Iraq.

We must win.

I don't really care what day we leave Iraq. I will leave that choice up to the Generals and people who actually KNOW something about warfare (I am not one of them). But, when we leave, we must depart with our heads held high. We should parade through the streets of Baghdad triumphantly waving the Iraqi and American flags together:

(like this picture... which I took in Utah a few years ago. The two in the car are Iraqi Government Officials waving gratefully to Americans in a Parade).

We must leave Iraq as victors!

If we do not, with one voice, declare that we have done a great thing in Iraq, then someone else will decide who was victorious. And, we do not want to breed another Usama Bin Laden through our pettyness and power-mongering.

The partisanship of this bill, forwarded by Madame Pelosi, just screams "we don't want to win." You are giving people a date when we will leave, without consulting with generals and people who actually KNOW what they are talking about (rather than the weirdos over at

I cannot say this enough: We must leave Iraq as victors.

If we do not, the same thing will happen in Iraq as happened in Afghanistan: the small lunatic fringe of Islam and the violent insurgents they support will declare that they won. And, another young Usama Bin Laden will grow to be the next great leader of a terrorist organization. It won't be because America lost... but because America didn't stand up and say: "We won, and if you EVER come back to usurp democracy, we're going to come kick your #$?@&$ again!"

We have done a great thing for the Iraqi people, and it sounds like the surge plan is working as planned. And, hopefully in a few months, we will stand up and say "Mission Accomplished: We gave Iraq a new chance to thrive."

So, I really wish politicians would buck up and agree on one thing:

We MUST win in Iraq. I don't care how we define victory, but we must stand up with a unified voice and claim that victory as ours.

Otherwise, I fear for the future.

That is why I'm annoyed with this bill. It is short sighted, and it doesn't tell people that we plan on WINNING.

So, Madame Speaker, CALM DOWN and start working toward victory.

That is all.


Monday, March 19, 2007

Crazy Horatio Podcast

I am starting to formulate the ideas for a podcast. I think it may be easier to present some of my rants with my own voice. But, I haven't quite decided if I am up to it.

SO, I'm wondering... would there be any intereste in HEARING the infamous (self-declared) Horatio present his rants in his actual voice? Of course, I would probably write them all out at the same time, just to be anal. But, what do you think?

Post in the comments for me... if Horatio had a podcast, do you think you would listen?

That is all.


(I await your comments)

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Good Ole' Normal Romney: The Qualified Candidate

Mitt Romney really impresses me in candid moments like these. At the Conservative Political Action Conference, he stopped at blogger's row and answered questions like this:

He is so down to earth and comfortable, yet is careful to present a message.

Of course, on that note, I should now tell you to contribute something to his campaign. Political fundraising is a very democratic process, and it is an opportunity for us to vote long before the election day.

Seriously... go make a contribution, large or small. It does make a difference!

1) Go to and click "Contribute Now"
2) Fill in the information requested (you must put an employer/occupation if you give more than $200)
3) Under Fundraiser ID put the number 285000 (so I can keep track of how much we've raised).
4) Submit your contribution, and get a nice warm fuzzy feeling inside.

I have never been this involved in a political campaign before, and I never realized how important fundraising is. And, contrary to popular believe, political fundraising is a very populist and democratic process. No matter how many millionaire friends a candidate has, they still have to raise money $2,300 at a time.

In that case, even the smallest donation makes a difference.

I'm sorry for my political kick for the day. But, seriously... contribute to Romney... he's worth it.

That is all.


Saturday, March 03, 2007

A Waste of Gold and Plastic

Honestly, I have never been a big fan of Awards shows. I mean, really... all we do is watch the ugly "beautiful" people of the world strut down the Red Carpet and get lauded for their ill-defined "wonderfulness". I mean... whatever.

I can remember when I USED to consider these awards shows useful. But, that was also when I thought the movies they were honoring were actually worth seeing. The most recent version was 2004 when Best Picture was between Million Dollar Baby, Ray, Finding Neverland, The Aviator and some other movie about wine and sex.

Honestly, I thought those were the four best movies of the year. So, while I would have voted for Finding Neverland, I was perfectly happy when Million Dollar Baby took the prize.

2003 wasn't half-bad either. You had Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Master and Commander, Seabiscuit and two other immoral movies. And, that year, Lord of the Rings clearly deserved the nod.

And, the last time U2 put out an album... that was the last time I cared about the Grammys. Before that... things are kinda hazy...

So, what happend. This year, the entertainment industry finally reached the event horizon of self-gratification.

Let's start with the Oscars. Actually, I don't know why I even care, but I'm going to rant about it anyway.

An Inconvenient Truth. Suddenly Hollywood has accepted Al Gore's silly excuse for a documentary as actual "science." Never mind the fact that the scientific community (unless subject to political influences) is less-than-equally divided AGAINST Global Warming. Never mind that this was the coldest winter on record for most of the United States. Never mind that the polar ice caps are GROWING. The only thing inconvenient about Al's lauded documentary is its loose relationship with truth and science.

Global Warming is a FAD, ladies and gentlemen. It is Hollywood's newest attempt to do something "moral" and save the planet. As Ann Coulter said yesterday, if Global Warming is a moral not a scientific issue, what about abortion? But, I'll rant on that subject later (I apologize for invoking Ann Coulter... but it was a funny line).

But, really, I was resigned to accept Al Gore receiving an Oscar. Of COURSE Hollywood was going to give him the gold statue. And, they had to put icing on the cake by giving Melissa Etheridge the "Best Original Song" Oscar. Of course, she had to make comments about how great it was to be gay. She kissed her partner passionately in front of the camera, then made a stupid comment about how the naked gold statue would be the only naked man in her bedroom. Madame, I didn't want to know that.

Please, don't get me wrong. I am all in favor of reducing pollutants in the air and finding alternative fuels. But, I will not have such agendas thrust on me like the end of the world is coming. Tell me to reduce Carbon in the air simply to improve the quality of living in urban areas. I'm all for it! Let's find more efficient and clean ways of producing energy. But, I refuse to spend billions of taxpayer dollars to reduce "greenhouse gasses" just because Hollywood says it's good. After all, to make any real difference in greenhouse gasses, we'd have to get cows to stop digesting food and releasing their gaseous byproduct into the air. STOP THE METHANE!!!

But, the award that REALLY made me mad was "Best Animated Feature". The nominees were Cars, Monster House, and a propaganda movie about environmental activism vaguely disguised as a children's film. WIthout a doubt, Cars should have won. Once again, Pixar (now fully owned by Disney) revolutionized animated films and computer animation. The entire piece was a work of art. And, even if the Academy passed it over on the basis of mediocre story line, Monster House was innovative in its own right.

But, the winner was.... Happy Feet. EXCUSE ME?????? That was the last straw. My tolerance for the Oscars and Hollywood idiot-politics just broke completely. Yes, this film was made by an Australian company, but it was nothing but an environmental message. The Penguins spent the entire movie wondering why there was trash in the water or commenting on the other great farce in environmental activism: the ozone hole.


Then there was the Grammy Awards. If you are looking for an awards show that makes the Oscars look semi-legitimate and socially redeemable, it is the Grammy Awards. Of course, in relative terms, that isn't saying much.

Remember the Dixie Chicks? Yeah, they were cool back in the day. But, after the Primal Chick made a comment disparaging President Bush, they got one of the greatest lessons any musician should ever learn: YOUR FANS MAKE YOU POPULAR. THEY CAN MAKE YOU UN-POPULAR TOO. Only former Governor of California Gray Davis has ever gotten a lesson in democracy like this. People boycotted the Dixie Chicks for their anti-American and anti-Bush remarks. In a simple show of popular rage (thought: doesn't the liberal side usually thrive on popular rage?) the fans of the Dixie Chicks rebelled. They called on radio stations to ban their music, and held demonstrations inviting people to destroy their Dixie Chicks albums in protest.

Dear Chicks, you forgot who makes you popular. You forgot your fan base. You forgot that you do have a responsibility to the people who buy your CDs. Why? Because when you bite the hand that feeds you, you get slapped.

Fast Forward to 2007. The Dixie Chicks made a pity-documentary called "Shut up and Sing" in late 2006. It was Rated R and came out with a stunning wide release of 84 theaters nationwide. The sad part, it put a million dollars into the Dixie Chicks' pocket. It was their pity party story of how the Bush Administration was responsible for their fall from Country Music grace. It was all George W's fault that their music wasn't good enough to drown out their politics. HUH?

Yet, somehow, they got out an album. And, somehow that album won FIVE GRAMMY AWARDS. And, that is no the worst part! Somehow, the Dixie Chicks are convinced that Five Grammy Awards vindicates them against Bush and their fans.

She had the audacity to say: "To quote the Simpsons: 'heh-heh'"

To quote the Simpsons again:
Homer: Oh, why won't anyone give me an award?
Lisa: You won a Grammy.
Homer: I mean an award that's worth winning.

In fact, I'd have to guess that the Grammys have been mocked on the Simpsons more than even other award shows. And THAT is saying something.

Maybe I'm getting bitter in my old age (I mean... I just turned 26 after all) but I'm really annoyed at people who are worth NOTHING sitting around and patting themselves on the back. We watch with apt attention as people who never grow up--yet have more money than any of us--make complete fools of themselves. And we BUY this crap! We pay for Britney Spears to go crazy and shave her head (and you know she's really gone nuts when Kevin Federline has a valid case for sole custody of their offspring). We PAY for these people to pat themselves on the back.

For me, the nominees for Best Picture of the Year should have followed box office lines:
1) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
2) Cars
3) Night at the Museum
4) X-Men: The Last Stand
5) The Da Vinci Code

Those were the movies we paid to see. Shouldn't they get recognized by the Academy? After all, they are what REALLY pay the bills. There were great movies this past year, even among the non-blockbuster category. Unfortunately, none of them won awards.

America is about so much more than what Hollywood and the entertainment industry claim. Now, we just need to figure out how to promote the REAL America. Sadly, politics is offering little hope of that either.

That is all.