LEE RODGERS
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August 22 –

BLUE STATES TURNING PINK ...
EGYPT TURNING TOWARD IRAN ...
REPUBLICAN TIN EARS FOR MUSIC

Milking the Idiot Akin story may be about all Obama has going for him at the moment, with new polls suddenly showing both Wisconsin and Michigan tilting toward Romney.
     Michigan! -- Even after Obama buying the United Autoworkers Union with his "bailout of the auto industry" using taxpayer dollars. Maybe they've noticed the new GM jobs are in China and Italy's Fiat owning Chrysler.

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A third-party candidate would be a long-shot for the Republicans to wrest the Missouri Senate seat from Claire McCaskill, but not impossible. It worked for Joe Lieberman in Connecticut when the crazies in the Democratic party there dumped him for a leftist nutjob.

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Perfect examples of overgrown government gone mad: First, the woman threatened with legal action for giving food to hungry children in her neighborhood ... now another woman  being similarly threatened for giving water to thirsty people "without a license." Madness, madness!

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Arab Spring, continued ...
     Once again emphasizing the gullibility and utter stupidity of liberals who bought into the "Arab Spring" fantasy, it is now clear that Egypt's ties to the Muslim Madmen of Iran are getting closer.
     The Muslim Brotherhood member who is now Egypt's president is going to Tehran for a group hug later this month, as Iran's Ahmadenijad loudly proclaims that the "cancerous tumor" that is Israel will soon be eliminated.
     Only if they are suicidal will the Israelis wait for the Muslim sympathizer in the White House to take serious action against Iran.

Yet it is as predictable as sunrise that a majority of American Jews will vote for Obama in November.

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Thomas Sowell calls attention to a critical fact about Obama's attempt – successful so far – to rule by “executive order” …
    "No President of the United States is authorized to repeal parts of legislation passed by Congress.  He may veto the whole legislation, but then Congress can override his veto if they have enough votes.  Nevertheless, every President takes an oath to faithfully execute the laws that have been passed and sustained -- not just the ones he happens to agree with.
    “When a President can ignore the plain language of duly passed laws, and substitute his own executive orders, then we no longer have 'a government of laws, and not of men' but a President ruling by decree, like the dictator in some banana republic.
    “If Obama gets reelected, he knows that he need no longer worry about what the voters think about anything he does. Never having to face them again, he can take his arbitrary rule by decree as far as he wants. He may be challenged in the courts but, if he gets just one more Supreme Court appointment, he can pick someone who will rubber stamp anything he does and give him a 5 to 4 majority.”

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Another wakeup call for advocates of British-style socialized medicine, i.e., Obamacare, comes from Theodore Dalrymple in City Journal. Comparing Britain's National Health Service (NHS) with thirteen other advanced nations ...
     "... it ranked worst for five-year survival rates in cervical, breast, and colon cancer. It was also worst for 30-day mortality rates after admission to a hospital for either hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke. On only one clinical measure was it best: the avoidance of amputation of the foot in diabetic gangrene. More than one reason for this outcome is possible, but the most likely is that foot care for diabetics—a matter of no small importance — is well arranged in Britain; the amputation rate is four times higher in the United States.
     "Overall, however, Britain seems to face a self-esteem problem: too much of it. How is it that the population most confident that it will receive treatment of the highest possible standard, featuring the latest medical advances, actually has the worst survival rates in precisely those diseases that require the most up-to-date treatments?"

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Before selecting pop music for use at campaign events, in commercials, etc., the Republican party needs to consult with someone knowledgeable about music and the people who create it.
     It's happened again. This time a group called Silversun Pickups told the Romney campaign to stop using their song "Panic Switch." It's a minor embarrassment to have liberal composers get a cease-and-desist order aainst a candidate, but it's a recurring problem for tone-deaf Republican campaign operatives.
     Tom Petty told the George W. Bush campaign to stop using his song, "I Won't Back Down" (they did stop). This year, he also stopped Michelle Bachmann's use of his "American Girl." McCain, Dole and Sarah Palin had similar problems with unauthorized use of material that some campaign operatives selected.
    The worst example was a Republican campaign -- I believe it was Reagan, maybe Bush Sr. -- that briefly used the rousing "The Best of Times" by Jerry Herman ... not realizing that it came from the musical "La Cage Aux Folles" (later made into the movie "The Birdcage") and was virtually the gay national anthem.
     All such embarrassments could be avoided with a phone call or two. And a reminder that most people in "the arts" are Democrats.

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Students of history who see similarities between the dying days of the Roman Empire and the United States today will appreciate these observations from the erudite Victor Davis Hanson  ...                                                                                   
     "
The Roman satirist Juvenal lamented the ill effects of free food and free entertainment for the masses (“bread and circuses”) in part because he knew there was no remedy for the pathology in sight — and thus only a slow decline toward fiscal insolvency or riots were on the horizon. Any Roman emperor bold enough to rein in the Praetorian Guard, charge the mob for grain, and curb gladiatorial shows would earn a usurper marching on Rome from the provinces. So most did not.
    "Given human nature, societies never voluntarily reduce entitlements.  That is the subtext of much of the critique of popular democracy, beginning with Plato and Aristotle.
    "The strangest thing of all?  Americans watch both parties demagogue proposed cuts in medicare, knowing full well that the present rate of expenditure cannot go on -- and yet they are fully prepared to blame those who agree with them and reduce the rates of yearly increases."

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Sports …
In Finland, a teenager threw his old cell-phone 333 feet to win that competitive event at a summer festival. (Finland is, after all, the home of Nokia, a pioneer brand of cell-phone.)
      The winner told reporters he trained for the event “mostly by drinking.”

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Argus Hamilton –
   "Waiting for Joe Biden to say something really stupid every day has replaced baseball as America's National Pastime.

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Are we to choose presidents like “King of the Senior Prom?” Mona Charen takes on the “L”-word …
      “Have you noticed how often the president's supporters talk about the 'likeability' factor in politics these days? No longer do we hear that presidential candidates must convey 'the vision thing' or 'gravitas' or credibility as commander in chief. Not that those criteria were precisely calibrated. Four years ago, many commentators were assuring us that Joe Biden brought gravitas to the Obama ticket, which is a little like saying that helium provides ballast, but at least they thought a certain policy weight was important -- even if their perception was ludicrous.
“This year, however, we are told that voters cast their ballots based mostly upon which candidate they'd prefer to 'have a beer with.' If that truly were the most important qualification in the minds of most voters, we might as well abandon the Electoral College, chuck the Constitution with its complicated rules and just select presidents by liking them on Facebook.” – Townhall.com

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Len the haiku master takes note of Rosie O'Donnell's heart attack …
    Rosie O'Donnell
    Buys the best heart care there is.
     NOT Obamacare !

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Jay Leno –
“President Obama said to he's working on a plan to release oil before November to lower gas prices. It will be released from our strategic election reserves.”

Lee Rodgers"...and now, if you'll excuse me..."
radiorodgers1@yahoo.com