GOP Primary: Perry 29%, Romney 18%, Bachmann 13% – Rasmussen Reports™

And yet, there is silence in the mainstream media. I guess they are trying to decide how to react to the new sheriff in town 🙂

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Republican Primary voters, taken Monday night, finds Perry with 29% support. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008, earns 18% of the vote, while Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman who won the high-profile Ames Straw Poll in Iowa on Saturday, picks up 13%.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who was a close second to Bachmann on Saturday, has the support of nine percent (9%) of Likely Primary Voters, followed by Georgia businessman Herman Cain at six percent (6%) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with five percent (5%). Rick Santorum, former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, and ex-Utah Governor Jon Huntsman each get one percent (1%) support, while Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter comes in statistically at zero.

via GOP Primary: Perry 29%, Romney 18%, Bachmann 13% – Rasmussen Reports™.

The Crusade Against The First Amendment

If any of these woefully inadequate candidates gets the Republican nomination and defeats Barack Obama, the only certainty for the subsequent four years will be more jihad, aided and abetted by shortsighted U.S. policies. – Spencer

Okay, lets examine that for a moment. Although President George Bush responded vigorously against radical Islam, he maintained a good relationship with the Muslim Community here in America. President Obama has continued the policies of President Bush and is alleged by many to be more pro-Islam than other Presidents. Yet there has been no great jihad slaughter here in the US, no loss of liberty except by the government itself in its “war on terror”.

The exact number of American casualties is difficult to calculate because of incomplete news reports regarding numbers and nationalities of those injured. The toll from the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center is also uncertain, but current figures place the number of dead above 3,000. The number of dead at the Pentagon and on the hijacked airliners numbered approximately 385. Since Yasser Arafat “renounced” violence in the Oslo Peace Accords on September 13, 1993, at least 53 Americans have been murdered and at least another 83 Americans have been injured by Palestinian terrorism. Excluding the September 11 attacks, approximately 700 Americans have been killed and 1,600 wounded in terrorist attacks since 1970. – Source

So around 4,000 Americans have been killed (not including war casualties) in Middle East terror-related incidents over the past 40 years. Compare that with ~325 homicide deaths in the US per DAY and any reasoned judgment would conclude that the odds of someone being killed by Islamic terrorism is very slight. When you do the math, the rate comes out to be 0.001 deaths per 100,000 per year. That compares to a rate of 6.1 deaths per 100,000 per year for homicide in the US (source CDC). The rate for car accidents, 14.6.  Darn, an American has a greater chance of dying from malnutrition (0.9) than at the hands of an Islamic terrorist!

Islam is the second largest religion in the world representing 22% of the worlds population. Christianity is the largest, representing 33%. In the US, the numbers are significantly different, with Christians accounting for 76% of the population and Muslims only 0.6%. Muslims are outnumbered 100 to 1! So why all the fear?

It most likely has to do with the fact that radical Islamic types tend to hide in the shadows and attempt to blend in. There is also an effort by many to blur the distinction between Islam and its radical cousin’s, Salafism and Wahhabism. The Al Qaeda terrorists are Muslims, but not all Muslims are Al Qaeda terrorists.

The fact is, every group and religion have had individuals who seek to exploit their subscribers beliefs in the pursuit of political power. Our founders understood that quite well and established a constitution which included a provision to protect future generations from such abuse. We call it the First Amendment. With it, there is no need for vilification of Shariah law or Islam. Our founding documents already protect us from the introduction of religious-based legal systems. One law applied equally among all citizens as adopted by representation of those same citizens.

So GOP candidates have no need to declare “opposition to Sharia”. They need to declare their loyalty to the Constitution of the United States, in particular the First Amendment.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

On this count, all of the candidates appear to be solid with perhaps one exception.

Herman Cain said he sides with those opposing the construction of a mosque in Tennessee because he fears the Muslims building the mosque have bad intentions and want to implement Sharia law.

“Our constitution guarantees separation of church and state,” said Cain, a contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. “Islam combines church and state. They are using the church part of our First Amendment to infuse their mosque in the community and people in the community don’t like it. They disagree with it. Sharia law is what they are trying to infuse.”

Herman Cain is dead wrong. The Catholic Church “combines church and state”, so should we ban Catholic Churches in America? Judaism “combines church and state”, so should we ban synagogues in America? Our constitution DOES NOT guarantee separation of church and state. It does however restrict government in “prohibiting the free exercise thereof“.

People like Herman Cain and Robert Spencer scare me more than any Al Qaeda terrorist. Why? Because my liberty as a Christian is only as secure as my neighbors liberty as a Muslim. Be careful what you wish for.

Subliminal Media Bias

This morning as I checked my news feeds, I noted the news story shown below and thought to myself, “what does this have to do with Michelle Bachmann?”.

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Well, as it turns out, absolutely nothing. As a matter of fact, the actual article does not even mention Bachmann in its headline or story.

I’m not saying Time is biased against Bachmann, but these days many people (like me) monitor news feeds on RSS. Sounds a little like “priming the pump” for bloggers and “suggesting” an angle for people like the Daily Kos to use. But surely they would not do anything like that would they?

50 States And Their Debt

I’m seeing an internet hit piece that is conveying a lot of false information (if it is on the internet it must be true, right?) about Texas debt. Texas is a big state, so it is going to have a bigger debt than say, Tennessee. What is important, is the ratio to the state’s GDP. Tennessee ranks 50th (the lowest) and Texas 48th. In other words, Tennessee and Texas are in great shape financially.

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Perry Signals Intent to Enter G.O.P. Campaign

Now I can get excited about 2012 ….

DES MOINES — Gov. Rick Perry of Texas delivered a long-distance jolt to the Republican presidential campaign on Monday by signaling that he intends to join the race and visit South Carolina and New Hampshire on Saturday, the same day his rivals are battling for survival in the Iowa Straw Poll.

via Perry Signals Intent to Enter G.O.P. Campaign – NYTimes.com.

Operation Drug Walker

If you thought the ATF letting guns cross over into Mexico in Operation Gun-Walker was something, then get ready for Operation Drug-Walker ….

U.S. federal agents allegedly allowed the Sinaloa drug cartel to traffic several tons of cocaine into the United States in exchange for information about rival cartels, according to court documents filed in a U.S. federal court.

The allegations are part of the defense of Vicente Zambada-Niebla, who was extradited to the United States to face drug-trafficking charges in Chicago. He is also a top lieutenant of drug kingpin Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman and the son of Ismael “Mayo” Zambada-Garcia, believed to be the brains behind the Sinaloa cartel.

The case could prove to be a bombshell on par with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ “Operation Fast and Furious,” except that instead of U.S. guns being allowed to walk across the border, the Sinaloa cartel was allowed to bring drugs into the United States. Zambada-Niebla claims he was permitted to smuggle drugs from 2004 until his arrest in 2009.

via Documents: Feds allegedly allowed Sinaloa cartel to move cocaine into U.S. for information – El Paso Times.

Matt Damon Does Not Understand “Job Creation”

If I may respond to Matt Damon …

Are the wealthy who make $250,000 and above job creators? Damon doesn’t think so. “I didn’t start a small business with my tax break, and I don’t know anybody else who did. Everybody’s socking their money away. Nobody started a business with their first tax cut…that just defies common sense. I was against those tax cuts, they were ridiculous. So little is asked of the upper class anyway, what percent of them or their kids are fighting in any of these wars?…If you walk down Fifth Avenue, there’s no sense of shared sacrifice.”

via Matt Damon’s not to be messed with – The Marquee Blog – CNN.com Blogs.

I presume he means that he saved his money in a savings account or perhaps stocks. What that means Matt, is that your money just became capital. That money will go either into the government debt or into private investment ventures. In any event, your money goes to work creating jobs.

Secondly, what you don’t save, you spend. That means you consumed something in the private sector. The private sector creates things and among them, jobs. The government on the other hand creates not much of anything.

So Matt, if you would prefer giving your money to the government than to the private sector where it will accomplish something, then the Treasury is accepting contributions towards our 14 plus something trillion dollar debt. You are free to do with your money as you wish, just keep yer damn hands off of mine and everyone else’s.

Just In Time For The 10th Anniversary Of 9/11

 

Yep, our WTC towers were knocked down 10 years ago by one of the Bin Laden’s. Now just in time for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 they announce they are going to build the world’s tallest building in Saudi Arabia. You know, the country that provided most of the hijackers and money for that wonderful little event.

Kingdom Holding Co., the investment firm headed by billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, said it signed a $1.2 billion deal with the Saudi Binladen Group to build Kingdom Tower on the outskirts of the Red Sea city of Jiddah.

“The decision of the partners to build the world’s tallest building further demonstrates their belief in investing in this nation,” said Talal Al Maiman, a board member of KHC and the Jeddah Economic Co., a KHC-affiliate that signed the deal with the Binladen Group.

The Saudi construction giant is owned by the family of Osama bin Laden. The family disavowed the slain al-Qaida terror group leader years ago.

via Business & Technology | Saudis plan world’s tallest tower | Seattle Times Newspaper.

Most Tenn. House members back debt deal | wbir.com

Someone explain to me how borrowing 2.4 trillion dollars is going to “reduce budget deficits by $917 billion”? Strange math ….

Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper and Republican Reps. Marsha Blackburn, Diane Black, Stephen Fincher, John Duncan and Phil Roe voted for the bill, which would cap discretionary spending and reduce budget deficits by $917 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

via Most Tenn. House members back debt deal | wbir.com.

I’m awaiting the new District maps. There have got to be some changes in the TN delegation next year.

Osama Bin Laden: mission was to shoot to kill from the start – Telegraph

As we had already deduced from the “double-tap” ….

An unnamed US special operations officer, said to be “deeply familiar with the bin Laden raid”, told the magazine that the 23 Navy Seals were clear that this was not the case.

“There was never any question of detaining or capturing him,” the officer said. “It wasn’t a split-second decision. No one wanted detainees.”

The plan, according to the article’s author, Nicholas Schmidle, was for the Seals to “overpower bin Laden’s guards, shoot and kill him at close range, and then take the corpse back to Afghanistan”.

via Osama Bin Laden: mission was to shoot to kill from the start – Telegraph.