4 For 4

MSRP is my shorthand for Music, Sports, Religion, and Politics, 4 topics that are of great interest to me, and 4 topics I enjoy sharing with others through my writing. The problem with such seemingly disparate categories is that I can usually only address one area per blog post, and on some level, that cheats you, the Loyal Reader.  On a particularly inspirational day, I can combine two areas into one post. There are many days when religion and politics mix, sports and music, politics and music. Rarely can a blog post allude to 3 of the 4 elements.  It therefore seemed impossible that I could find one discussion topic that combines all 4 elements of my MSRP blog, but today, the stars have aligned. 
 
The singing of God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch at Major League Baseball games combines music, sports, religion and politics.  I can exhale.

God Bless America became a staple at ballpark during the 7^th inning stretch after 9/11, but the song’s connection to sports predates those uber-patriotic days.  As any Philadelphia Flyers fan could tell you, Kate Smith’s rendition of the anthem before Flyers’ games in the 1970s meant a guaranteed win for the Broad Street Bullies.  God was blessing America, and by extension, Dave Schultz, Bobbie Clarke and Bernie Parent as they beat up their opponents in the Spectrum night after night.  God loves a good hockey fight, and can you blame him?

As a song, its link to the topic of music is clear.  It is our most singable anthem (it competes with The Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful), and whenever someone mangles The Star Spangled Banner in public, the conversation invariably moves towards full-throated calls for a switch to God Bless America as the national anthem.  It is quintessentially American – simple, loud, and proud, just like us.  Remember, we’re a nation that thinks 9-9-9 is the perfect governing philosophy.  The easier the better, and God Bless America is easy to sing.  Even Roseanne Barr couldn’t ruin it. 

God Bless America has one other quintessentially American quality: it puts religion front and center.  Yahweh Bless America and Allah Bless America just don’t make the cut in these parts, for obvious reasons.  L. Ron Hubbard Bless America lacks a lyrical quality.    And now the song that combines music, sports and religion has to become political.  For that trick, God Bless the Values Voters Summit, held about 10 days ago, and in particular, Bryan Fischer. 
 
Bryan Fischer of the conservative American Family Association knows why there hasn't been a "Muslim attack" since Sept. 11, and he shared his knowledge with us, not on stone tablets, but during a speech:

"By God's blessing, we have not been hit by a Muslim attack since 9/11," Fischer said. "I suggest that in part, we have Major League Baseball to thank. You remember that the week after 9/11 Major League Baseball converted the seventh inning stretch from the singing of 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame' to the singing of 'God Bless America.'"

"Now 'God Bless America' is not just a song, it is a prayer. When we sing that we are inviting God to bless America, to stand beside her and to guide her through the night with a light from above," Fischer said.

"So for one brief, shining moment every night, Major League Baseball has converted our stadiums into cathedrals in which tens of thousands of ordinary Americans lift their hearts and voices as one and ask God to watch over and protect the United States," Fischer said.

"Ladies and gentleman, I think that those prayers have been heard and they have been answered," Fischer said.

Music – song God Bless America

Sports – Baseball’s 7^th inning stretch

Religion - God

Politics - Value Voters Summit

You can tell I’m pretty proud of myself working all 4 into this post.  Anyway, here is my take:

May I suggest that anyone who believes that they understand how and why God answers some prayers and not others is a charlatan? Pretending to understand His purpose through an analysis of worldly events is a fool’s game. Where does it end? Is the opposite true? If one of your parents dies of cancer, even though you prayed with sincerity and humility that he/she survives, what does that say about you and your virtue in the eyes of God? What does that say about God?

Did God want the Flyers to win more than the Montreal Canadians?

Fischer’s point is direct: If we pray to God more, or if more of us pray to God, our nation will not be attacked.  Osama bin Laden asked his followers to pray that America was attacked.  Were his prayers answered?  Maybe we didn’t pray with the right words.  Maybe our actions angered God to the point where our words of prayer could not save us.  There are more Muslims in the world than Christians.  Maybe the Christians just need to get louder, and hope that the Muslims don’t start singing a pro-Allah song during halftime of a futbol match.

Maybe we have no idea.  Maybe Fischer is preying upon the religious right for political gain. 

The Lord works in mysterious ways. Let’s leave it at that.

Amen.

Run, Forrest, Run

I read this week in The Week that Pinellas County, Florida has decided to stop adding fluoride to drinking water.  This decision has been made despite protests by dentists who point out that fluoridation has dramatically lowered national tooth decay rates.  Tea Party activists said fluoridation was part of a plot by “the world government to keep people stupid.”

If these activists had been raised on Pinellas County tap water, then I would tend to agree with them. 

 

Lord knows taking the opinion of dentists, who attend and graduate from college, med school and dental school, who spend their lives inside people’s mouths, over the opinions of people with tea bags hanging from the brims of their hats at public events, would be silly.  The science of dentistry is unsettled, and therefore we should reject any of its teachings.  Next, we’ll be told that 20% of dentists do not recommend sugarless Trident for their patients that chew gum.  Is there anything worth believing anymore? 

 

Medical science is being replaced by Internet rumors as the sole source of facts and knowledge, and our political class has gone all in.  Do I exaggerate?

 

Michelle Bachmann, darling of the Tea Party, claimed after one of the GOP/Tea Party debates that the HPV vaccination causes mental retardation in girls, because someone told her so after the debate.  She repeated the claim in 3 interviews, so this wasn’t an unfortunate slip of the tongue after a long day on the trail.  Bachmann’s anti-vaccine nonsense was confronted, not just by the Left looking for a cheap punch line, but by some liberal icons, such as Rush Limbaugh, the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, Bachmann’s former campaign manager, and the American Association of Pediatrics.

Bachmann heard the HPV claim somewhere, and it was therefore factual.  I am certain the woman who educated the candidate was sincere in her belief.  Apparently, sincerity is not enough, since this claim has been totally debunked, and would be a source of major embarrassment to Michelle Bachmann, if she and her followers stopped for one second to consider how dumb this is.

Nikki Haley, Republican governor of South Carolina, recently backed off the claim that 50% of applicants at a local nuclear facility had failed a drug test after admitting that she was told this by a random worker at the nuclear plant. 

 

"I've never felt like I had to back up what people tell me (emphasis added). You assume that you're given good information," Haley told Jim Davenport of the Associated Press.  "And now I'm learning through you guys that I have to be careful before I say something."  Her intellectual curiosity needs some refinement.

The erroneous “factoid”, which she used as a basis to develop a state policy to drug test the unemployed before granting benefits, was never checked for accuracy.  Gov. Haley, to her credit, apologized for accepting this worker’s statement as factually true, although to her shame, this did not cause her to change her policy position.  The silly made up stuff that supports her position does not require vetting, because it sounds true.  Therefore, it is true.  To a hammer, everything is a nail. (FACT: Less than 1% of the applicants failed the pre-employment drug screen over a period of years.)

Herman Cain, the latest Tea Party darling, boasts that he will not sign any law that is more than 3 pages long.  For a country that revels in excess shopping, eating and watching TV, we shouldn’t be surprised that reading isn’t on our list of things we need more of.  Reading too much is bad for America, and wordy legislation is like a mandate to read.  His 9-9-9 Plan, like an effective pizza promotion, has the virtue of being easy to remember; unlike an effective pizza promotion, however, it will not drive sales of his brand to the masses. 

 

He celebrates his lack of interest in learning about the world as a qualification for the office of President.  Cain went so far as to promote his ignorance of foreign affairs by saying, “And when they (the media) ask me who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan I'm going to say, you know, I don't know. Do you know?”    I am certain that world leaders will be anxious to listen to his global economic recommendations over a thin crust meat lovers’ pie at his first state dinner.  Someone should mention to Cain that we live in a global economy with global players.  Maybe that factoid was slated for page 4 of his debate briefing book.

Rick Perry, the fast rising and even faster fading candidate from Texas, gets some of his biggest cheers when he revels in his own academic ineptitude. 

 

During a speech last week at Liberty University, Perry made the joke about what a lousy student he was.   Perry deadpanned that at his small high school, “I graduated in the top 10 of my graduating class — of 13.” The crowd laughed and applauded.  Poor grades in school are badge of honor among the GOP faithful.  Healthy skepticism of intellectuals I understand; full embrace of ignorance I do not.

Jennifer Rubin, a conservative writer at the Washington Post, said Perry’s speech “was, at least in part, a celebration of ignorance.” She added, “Yes, he was trying to be self-deprecating, but it’s disturbing to see that he thinks being a rotten student and a know-nothing gives one street cred in the GOP.” (from The Washington Monthly)

In just the last month, they cheered executions, booed gay soldiers, applauded the death of the uninsured, and every GOP candidate is bending over backwards to curry their favor.  The Tea Party was once branded as an independent movement with positions that sometimes conflicted with GOP orthodoxy.  Not anymore.  The national debates are advertised as the Republican/Tea Party Debates.  The groups are one in the same without pretense, and that’s too bad.  Where are the thinkers in the GOP?  Why isn’t it cool to be smart?

Forrest Gump once said, “Stupid is as stupid does.”  And now Joe the Plumber, the unlicensed ex-plumber and former surrogate for John McCain, is running for Congress.  Can you guess his party affiliation?  Run, Joe, Run.  We look forward to your unique contributions to the national discourse, and the premiere of your new reality TV show when the race is over.

We get the government we deserve, and if the Tea Partiers of Pinellas County have their way, the teeth we deserve, too.  Chew on that, while you still can. 

Googling Yesterday

My son has found a new toy.  He recently downloaded Google Earth, the program that provides images of Earth down to street level views with amazing speed, clarity and precision.  I had seen the program before, but this was a revelation for young Thomas.  He couldn’t wait to show me how it worked.  Not wanting to be the Bad Father, and crush his enthusiasm with a standard issue, “Maybe later”, I indulged him. 

    

I stood over his shoulder while he navigated.  He zoomed into New York City to show me the streets we had walked together.  He zoomed into Nationals Park where we’ve seen dozens of games together.  He was most impressed by the program’s ability to provide a street level view in three dimensions, just as if we were walking down the virtual street.  With Google Earth, he could relive the experience of visiting new places with me again and again.  A safer version of Total Recall, you might say. 

 

As I said, I wanted to indulge the boy, and this looked like an opportunity for us to bond awhile longer in front of a screen other than the TV.  I decided to combine technology and narcissism to demonstrate to my son what Google Earth could really do.  I typed in the address of my boyhood house, and there it was. 

 

Home, home again.

I like to be here when I can.

There were the streets of my neighborhood.  I could see my grammar school where Sister Helen Catherine taught me math and Sister Agnes taught me to keep a clean desk (lest she dump the entire contents into the aisle).  I could see the backyards where I used to run and hide during epic games of war, armed only with my trusty pointed stick.  I was glad to see that there were still no fences between the houses to slow children down or herd them in.  From 5 miles above, everything appeared to me just as it did in 1971.  Nothing had changed.

  

My house was standing right where I had left it, but it was hard to fully relive the experience while staring at the digital roof from above.  I tried to rotate the image as Thomas had done with Nationals Park.  I wanted the 3-D version with a view of the front porch so we could take a virtual stroll up the stairs and through the front door. 

 

I discovered the limitation of Google Earth.  The front of my boyhood home could not be seen.  Everything appeared flat, without depth or detail, and it of course would remain so.  I was disappointed and deflated.  Looking at a current view of where I grew up was not the same as having been there, no matter how hard I wish it were so.  What had started as a fun Internet stroll down Memory Lane had reached a dead end.  I was no longer daydreaming on Memory Lane.  I was in my current house, 40 years in the future, and my back was starting to ache from bending over the keyboard, bossing around some innocent little kid with my freckles and (Lord, help him) my sense of humor.

That’s OK.  As I told my stories of boyhood, I realized that what Thomas was probably hearing was flat, one-dimensional tales.  He did not have the ability to rotate my recollections and make them three dimensional.  He hadn’t lived my life, and my words and body language, my tone of voice, my facial expressions could only give my youth so much depth or detail before the limits of my storytelling were apparent.  Just as Google cannot sufficiently replicate the street where I grew up, I cannot replicate the texture of my past to my son.  He’ll have to piece that view together with the insufficient pixels I allow him to see from time to time. 

 

The Google view was from 30,000 feet; my view was from 40 years ago, and both were somewhat blurry.  Google’s technology may improve with time, and things will come into greater focus.  I won’t be so lucky.

  

I guess those life experiences will have to remain mine and mine alone.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  I’ll just blog about it, and that will have to do, until the movie comes out (starring Jim Carrey).

Change I Can’t Believe In

Another baseball post-season is in full force, and I am staying up much too late for games that, deep down, I couldn’t care less about.  They do not seem worthy of recording to watch at a more convenient time, but they are interesting enough to keep me out of bed when on live TV.  I cannot get past the feeling that if I don’t stay up, I might miss something, a Steve Bartman foul pop, a Don Denkinger blown call, or a Mariano Rivera once-in-a-generation melt down.  I don’t have a dog in the fight this year, as they say, but I’m hooked on the generic sport of baseball, and the playoffs are addictive.

I have been a fan of the game since before free agency, before the designated hitter, and before ESPN.  Heck, before cable TV.  Back then, Nolan Ryan was a hard throwing relief pitcher for the NY Mets who lacked consistent control, and was traded for Amos Otis.  Today, he owns the Texas Rangers and the record for most career no-hitters.  Go figure.  Players have changed, rules have changed, and divisional alignment has changed, while the basic core of the game has remained stable.  For the most part, I have no problem with that.

NOTE:  This is not going to be an old guy rant about the abomination that is the designated hitter rule.  That will be saved for another day, and it IS an abomination.

This is more of a musing on a variety of baseball irritations that have seeped into the game over the years, and this is my forum to wonder aloud, WTF?

Player Necklaces:  I’m sorry, but those roped necklaces that so many players wear today are embarrassing.  In 10 years, those same players will look at photos of themselves wearing those things with the same disdain that we ‘80s children look at our old photos featuring mullets, leg warmers, and Members Only jackets.  If the necklaces were made of candy, or steroids, I could understand.

The Underhand Put-Out:  When did pitchers decide that it is too risky to throw a ball to first base overhand?  These professional ballplayers have been throwing a ball since birth, sometimes longer, yet the 10 foot toss to 1^st base on a dribbler seems to lock up their ability to function.  The shovel pass in football makes strategic sense.  The soft toss to the first baseman is plain childish.  Throw the darn thing – we’re paying you millions!  I blame Chuck Knoblach.   

The Walk Off Celebration:  I have no problem watching a team celebrate a walk off hit.  The walk off is one of the most exciting moments in all of sports.  I don’t remember when part of that happy celebration became an excuse to punch the hero in the gut until he runs away from his teammates.  A slap on the ass was good enough for a century, so let’s stop punishing the hero and pretending it’s fun for the victim.

The Pitch Count:  There was a time when a major league pitcher was not a delicate flower that was not allowed to throw more than 100 pitches every 5 days.  Cy Young won 511 games in his career.  I’ll bet he was over his pitch count a few times.  I can appreciate team trying to protect their investment, which in many cases represents millions of dollars, but perhaps – just maybe – these guys can handle more work.  Makes me long for the old days of unregulated HGH and steroids when injury recover was only an injection away...

Body Armor:  Ankle guards, elbow guards, helmet ear flaps – these guys are beginning to resemble Robo-Cop at the plate.  Get up there without all the specialty equipment and take your medicine.  Otherwise, there are semi-pro softball teams forming in your area soon.  “Thank you, for your cooperation.”

The Bullpen Cart:  God, I miss those golf carts with the team caps as roofs.  Those were cool.  Like the Zamboni, I always wanted to drive one of those during a game.  The bullpen cart has nothing to do with the actual game itself, but I did love them.  I am sure the relievers would enjoy the lift, especially those who are ‘waistline challenged’.

Starters Going 9 Innings (or relievers going more than 1):  See “Pitch Count”.

Little Chin Beards:  Grow one, don’t grow one, but make up your minds!  Half the league looks like their face could be found on an etching from an Egyptian Pharaoh pyramid stone.  I hate to defer to the Yankee policy, but clean shaven is starting to sound better to me.  It’s bad enough you spit into your gloves after every pitch.  The least you can do is shave those little Brillo pads off your faces.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the radio broadcasts of baseball.  The poetry of a good announcer creating the diamond scene in my mind continues to entertain, despite competing against high-def, 3-D, Pitch Trak, and the myriad of statistical pop-ups on the TV screen.  A good announcer can make all that noise superfluous to the action and the strategy and the drama of a hard fought game.  Love to listen to a game on the radio, and I hope that never changes. 

Hopefully Bud Selig won’t mess that up.

Nightmares and Dreamscapes

True story, bro:

I had a dream last night.  Dreams are forgotten as quickly as they come, so I'd better get this one down on paper.

I was at work with a bunch of people I had never met.  They told me that a mobile inline hockey facility was just erected downtown and open for lunchtime pick up hockey.  Creative idea!  I was excited to join these co-workers for the ride to the rink, through a downtown I had never seen, in a car that was unfamiliar, with strangers who shared my passion for the game.  I watched the scenery go by from the back seat.  So far, normal stuff, could happen to anyone.

We arrive at the rink, and walk through a locker room filled with loaner equipment for all the players.  Kinda gross, I think, but fortunately, I at least have my own skates and stick.  The dream is unclear as to why I have these items with me during my lunch break from work.  No matter.

We walk around the rink and there are players milling about, ready to get started, taking measure of one another.  They all look like they are better than me, bigger, stronger, and with Canadian accents, but I am confident I will surprise them with my speed and deft stickhandling.  I have no fear, only anxious anticipation.

I see a guy who looks familiar, and I walk right up to him.  "Hey, you look familiar.  We used to play hockey together back in high school.  You're Eric, right?"

Now, I don't recall ever playing high school hockey with a kid named Eric, but again, this is a dream.  Reality be damned.

Eric looks at me with his youthful smile and says. "No, that wasn't me.  You must have played hockey with my dad."  He gestures to an older gentleman next to him, his spitting image but with gray hair, wrinkles, and a more frail build.

Yes, he's right.  It was his father that I must have recognized.  I immediately forced myself to wake up before I shook the man's hand.

So, I wonder what this dream means?

Occupational Therapy

Internal Memorandum

To:  Mitt Romney, Candidate

From: Reince Priebus, Chairman, Republican/Tea Party National Committee

RE:  Occupy Wall Street Counter-Offensive

We, the Establishment Folks at GOP/TP Headquarters, are seeing a unique opportunity for you to emerge from the shadow of the other candidates seeking the nomination for President, and it is time to seize the opportunity.  We are becoming concerned that after 5 years of running for President, you still poll slightly behind “None of the Above” and slightly ahead of the cast of Fox and Friends.  As you know, we recognize that the GOP/TP has no chance of recapturing the White House without some like yourself that can consolidate the “Well, At Least He’s Not Insane” segment of the electorate in our favor.  While each of the candidates in this campaign offer more conservative views, more interesting and controversial statements, more likability, more grass roots support, more Fox News political contributor income, and more passion for Jesus, in our eyes you have the one thing they haven’t got – electability.

We strongly recommend (translation: we will fund your campaign if you do our bidding) that you spearhead the initiative will call “Occupy Main Street”.  With your help, we will mobilize the disenfranchised millionaires and billionaires of this exceptional nation to pay other people to march on small towns across the country, carrying our message.  We at the GOP/TP National Committee believe it is high time we remind Americans that Main Street would still be a dirt path through a fallow field if it were not for the investments and kindness of the uber-wealthy.  Job Creators built Main Street USA, and this campaign will remind the voters that only Job Creators can revive it.  A key part of the strategy involves scaring those sympathetic to the Wall Street protestors that all of the Job Creators in America may run away to the Cayman Islands or the French Riviera because of uncertainty.  If that happened, Main Street would disappear, and with it, hundreds of annual parades.  That is certain.

We have been watching the Occupy Wall Street protest as it has unfolded in New York, and we now see that it is spreading to other cities across the U.S.  Our attempts to compare the mob participants to Arab Spring radical Muslims who hate America, or Woodstock groupies who hate America, or to the Black Panther Party that hates America have yet to take root.  The time has come to stop being pushing around by the Job Takers.  We need to reassert ourselves and our interests, and you are the ideal messenger for change. 

 

You have been on every side of every major issue that faces our nation, and that gives you a shred of credibility with everyone on both sides, at least a little.  You’ve been a Job Creator.  You’ve been a Job Destroyer.  You’ve been in favoring of closing tax loopholes, and for protecting the existing ones.  You’ve been in favor of the auto industry bail out and you’ve been against it.  You are a staunch anti-government advocate who has done nothing but run for a government office for the past 5+ years.  You finally look comfortable when your sleeves are rolled up.  Clearly, this is your time, and by extension, our time.

The vision you describe in your speeches should be one of fairness to all.  Your statements should reinforce the economic message that “You use your money the way you want, and we’ll use our money the way we want.”  Surely this kind of inclusive language will bring together like minded citizens who believe as we do that there is enough room for everyone on this crazy planet to enjoy all the freedom they can afford.

“Occupy Main Street” will become the centerpiece of your campaign.  Do not worry about resources.  The top 1% of earners in this country have all the time and money you could imagine to devote to the cause.  Their numbers may be small, but since the members of this group control all major media outlets in the world, we can promise positive news “stories” and flattering photo-ops.  In other words, we will guarantee images of diversity, inclusion, humility, and other such distractions to boost your campaign and propel you to the White House.

Mitt, we recommend that you begin implementation of our Occupy Main Street strategy immediately.  We cannot let the Job Takers win.  

Launch Occupy Main Street now.  It's a slam dunk.    

Ain't That Just Rich

Conservative blogger Matthew Vadum wrote a controversial piece recently titled “Registering the Poor to Vote is Un-American”.  His essay made the standard loop of punditry roundtables and op-ed rants pro and con.  Excerpts of his argument are below:

Why are left-wing activist groups so keen on registering the poor to vote?

Because they know the poor can be counted on to vote themselves more benefits by electing redistributionist politicians.  Welfare recipients are particularly open to demagoguery and bribery.

 
Registering them to vote is like handing out burglary tools to criminals.  It is profoundly antisocial and un-American to empower the nonproductive segments of the population to destroy the country -- which is precisely why Barack Obama zealously supports registering welfare recipients to vote.

First of all, I would argue that the “left-wing activist groups” are keen on registering the people to vote who are mostly likely not reached by traditional methods of voter outreach.  I would argue that all citizens of the United States should be registered to vote, and should exercise that right, and that anyone who helps in that process in doing noble work.

Secondly, “criminalizing” the poor is a solid example of class warfare, if you ask me, or if you ask anyone who is honest about the real purpose of Vadum’s words.

Thirdly, elections in this country are filled with examples of groups of people voting against their own interests.  Otherwise, how does Vadum explain a wealthy person ever voting for a “redistributionist” Democrat or a poor person for a “heartless” Republican?

Fourthly, the racist undertone of his thesis is undeniable, and it is offensive.  I say that while recognizing that sensitivity to perceived racial slights is too high these days, and many see racism when it is convenient for their positions, not when it genuinely exists.  Vadum lays out his racial bigotry in plain view. 

Finally, I would ask contrarian question of Mr. Vadum: Why are right wing activist groups so keen on not registering citizens of the United States?

There was a time in our history when only white, male landowners could vote, but those days are rightly on the dust heap of history.  I think an equally persuasive essay could be reworded thus:

Why are right-wing activist groups so keen on registering the rich to vote?

Because they know the rich can be counted on to vote themselves more benefits by electing redistributionist politicians.  The rich are particularly open to demagoguery and bribery.

 
Registering them to vote is like handing out burglary tools to criminals.  It is profoundly antisocial and un-American to empower the top 1% of the population to destroy the country -- which is precisely why {insert your favorite GOP candidate for the nomination here} zealously supports registering corporate welfare recipients to vote.

The sentiment reads pretty true, doesn’t it?  Since the top 1% of earners take home more than 18% of national income today and in 1973, it was 7.7%, this actually IS the truth.  We are being robbed, but not by the petty thieves.  We’re being robbed by professionals in suits.

Vadum’s essay was written with a backdrop of various voter ID laws making their way through state legislatures.  For the record, I am sympathetic to the voter ID laws springing up around the country.  I cannot argue that requiring a photo ID at the polls is wrong, but that is assuming equal access to those IDs is available without cost.  Any charge represents a poll tax, sorry.  In South Carolina, the voter ID is being offered for free…but to get the free ID, you must show either a drivers license or passport, both of which cost money.  Nice dodge.

I am sympathetic to efforts to prevent voter fraud, and support those efforts; however, the escalation of voter fraud of this type to national emergency status is overblown fear-mongering to push an anti-Democratic agenda.  Between 2001 and 2007, the government pursued 86 cases of voter fraud.  86 cases in 6 years.  It became an “emergency” when Obama won the Presidency, pure and simple.  It is more dangerous and more likely that an election could be stolen through access to the ballot boxes themselves than through a few people voting twice.  The efforts to push voter IDs laws now is transparently partisan.

His essay goes on to mention all the popular hot button words in Sillyville – Trotsky, Communism, Saul Alinsky, “Marxist”, Stalin, and ACORN.  Since the days of Joe McCarthy and his trumped up Red Scare hearings, the only new player in this fantasy world of fear is ACORN.

Vadum writes:

America needs to know that ACORN is restructuring in time to help re-elect President Obama in 2012. Obama used to work for ACORN and represented the group in court as its lawyer. These radical leftists who use the brutal, in-your-face, pressure tactics of Saul Alinsky want to destroy America as we know it and will use any means to do it.

Never mind that ACORN was acquitted in court once the entire video of the staged meeting with far right role players was shown.  The fact is they help poor people vote, and according to Vadum, poor people are lazy criminals that support the current President and his party, and THAT is the real problem Vadum and his ilk are trying to solve.

Vadum may preach Power to the People, but only the ones Vadum approves of, of course.