Skip

 “A record as dismal as Obama’s does not happen by accident.”

That is as good a definition for Determined Weakness as any, especially the “does not happen by accident.”  A snippet from the post after the jump:

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“…There is no mention of GraniteGrok, or Mike Rogers, as the source.  (I’ll let Skip or Mike tackle those who use their links without proper attribution.)…”

Well, it is getting closer to Primary Election day and stuff is heating up.  You’ll be seeing the ‘Grok doing more and more election stuff up to the Sept 9, then a lull, and then the last sprint to the General Election in November.  We’ll keep you posted and updated….updated!  Yes, an update is needed!  Last night, I emailed and left a vmail for Gary Lambert (running for the NH GOP nomination for US Congress in NH CD2).  Well, he called around 3pm this afternoon, asking what I was asking for.  Simple: 1)  An apology   2) A notice on his website.

He seemed happy to do the first – a true apology – and he said as much.  A standup guy for doing so. – and I thanked him (meant it, too). The second, well, he stumbled a bit – I think he thought that I figured he’d go right to the website and do it right then.  I laughed: “yes Gary, you’re a lawyer and not a programmer – I know you have to get someone else to do it”.  He sounded relieved but he promised he talk to his folks.

And he kept his promise – all good on him.  The next call inbound from “his folks”, Josh Davidson his campaign manager, not so much:

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More and more I keep having discussions that I NEVER would have believed that I’d be having a lot with folks that I otherwise find to be very sober and sober-minded.  Topics that I would never thought to hear, which in the past would be considered tin-hat conspiracy theories, are coming up more and more.  So why should I be surprised at this post headline that seems to fit right into what seems to be a never ending series of “dense pack” crisis, one leading to the next one in rapid succession:

Obama presides over unraveling of his predecessors’ foreign policy accomplishments

I am a news and politics junkie – I may not be a an expert on any one topic but I think I know more than just a little about quite a bit.  I can’t, for the life of me, think of a single instance, a single area, in which the US is still seen to be trustworthy, a stalwart ally, taking the good side, and doing a good job.  It seems that Obama has the Midas touch – everything in the foreign policy arena is (or has already) turned into a rusty muffler.  NOwhere has there been success unless it is viewed from the lens of Determined Weakness – everything in the Obama Administration’s term has turned Orwellian in that the good is now an ill, virtue is now a vice, encouragement is now a beat down, rugged individualism is now to be seen as anti-social, success is to be diminished, being on the dole lifts one up as High Victimhood, and voluntary association (& the ability to NOT be associated) has been replaced by forced collectivism. 

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“…There is no mention of GraniteGrok, or Mike Rogers, as the source.  (I’ll let Skip or Mike tackle those who use their links without proper attribution.)…”

As one of the great philosophers of our recent past once said “Here I am, Moe“!  Given Steve’s post, from whence that quote emanated, where he was questioning why the Gary Lambert for Congress campaign would use material associated with the ‘Grok without attribution, I decided to ask so I emailed them a bit ago.  Not hearing back, I decided that perhaps a nudge might be in order:

From: “skipdcm” <Skip@GraniteGrok.com>
To: josh@lambertforcongress.com; gary@lambertforcongress.com
Sent: 8/12/2014 6:23:28 PM
Subject: Use of GraniteGrok materials without attribution

Gentlemen,
Why Doesn’t Lambert for Congress Mailer Cite GraniteGrok.com?
This is what Steve wrote this post earlier today; please read it for the details.

I have always maintained that any candidate is welcome to use any video or audio that we create in listening to them speak, or talking / interviewing them provided that the give attribution credit to GraniteGrok.

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I wrote about the Gilford School Board’s brazen decision to limit the First Amendment Right of Gilford parents to question their elected officials on the School Board (here) by codifying that parents had no right to seek redress of grievances of the Board if  their first step, meeting with the school’s Principal, failed. I also told them, face to face, that they were holding themselves unaccountable by NOT answering questions posed to them during public input – they would only sit there, stonefaced.

I thought it was an isolated event with one school board, but then I saw this on the Cornish School Board (reformatted, emphasis mine):

Cornish — Despite opposition from several Cornish residents, the School Board on Monday passed a resolution revising the board’s policy on public participation, removing language from the old policy that encouraged public input at board meetings.  More than 30 people attended the meeting, and according to Glenn Thornton, vice chairman of the board, the portion of the meeting devoted to the public participation policy went well.  “The chair provided everyone an opportunity to voice their thoughts and opinions freely, and it was very cordial,” Thornton said.

Well, of course it went well – all they had to do is sit there and do nothing.  After all, their business is over and no interaction is unneeded.  Er, there’s someone that disagrees with this?

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In a lot of ways, the MSM has brought this upon themselves – plummeting ad revenue and dropping subscriber numbers.  Part of it has been the Internet but to a large degree, and there are no small number of folks that would agree with me, it has been the ever leftward inching that the media outlets have been taking.  In many cases, they’ve also been making sport of conservatives and those on the Right (and Libertarians) who have resisted the communitarianism of today’s “conventional wisdom” of Progressivism.  After all, ask most journalists what they think of the three TEA Party Principles (and not the TEA Party itself) – you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference from most, and in a lot of ways the same talking points, from Democrat operatives / activists.  When you insult, repeatedly, half your current potential audience, bad things happen.  Like at the Telegraph:

Longtime Concord reporter Kevin Landrigan laid off by Nashua Telegraph
Newspaper decides to shut its State House Bureau

The Telegraph of Nashua has closed its State House bureau, laying off Kevin Landrigan, a journalistic institution in Concord for a generation. Telegraph editor Phil Kincade in a memo sent to yesterday to the staff said that the decision to close the bureau, “part of the recent newsroom staff adjustments … was an extremely difficult to make, not just because of the hole it creates in our news coverage, but it also means saying goodbye to one of the Telegraph’s most loyal, hard working and respected employees.”

Been there, laid off there during the 80s as the minicomputer industry got “creative destructed” by first the workstation industry which, in turn, got obsoleted by the PC industry.  It’s no fun and it does hurt.  But no room somewhere else from what Kincade is calling their #1 employee? 

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David French over at The Corner has 6 simple reasons why Obama should be trying to defeat ISIS NOW instead of waiting for their Jihad to hit us in a little while:

Let’s make this simple, shall we?

1. Al-Qaeda carried out the deadliest attack on American soil in American historyand the most devastating foreign attack against an American city since the British occupied and burned Washington during the War of 1812.
2. ISIS is more brutal than al-Qaeda.
3. ISIS has more financial resources than al-Qaeda.
4. ISIS controls more territory — and possesses more firepower – than al-Qaeda.
5. ISIS has seized uranium in sufficient quantities to make a radiological weapon, a dirty bomb.
6. The leader of ISIS declared to his former American captors, “See you in New York,” and ISIS militants have pledged to raise the black flag of jihad over the White House.

In other words, ISIS is more capable in every way than the terrorists that hit America so hard on 9/11.

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Part 1.  Judgment time.  The question is, was this good judgment on the part by one of the most powerful elected officials in NH – haranguing other people in a bar simply because he didn’t have the judgment to shut himself off?  In fact, you can hear someone in the video saying exactly that – in wondering if he was a State Rep (not knowing he was a NH State Senator): “They should have shut him off three hours ago!”

“I wish you’d shown me the way to go home
I’m drunk and I oughta to go to bed
I started having drinks about three hours ago
And they went right to my head…”

 Now, please note that I am not passing judgment – at least not at this time.  I don’t drink (other than a single sip of champagne at a wedding or New Years’ party merely to be polite) and there is no alcohol in my house (‘cept maybe a couple of small dusty bottles of cooking sherry in a back kitchen cabinet).  Why?  I am the son of an Irish drunk; I learned

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That’s part of a quote from someone that I no would call a true Democrat (as opposed to the hard-core Progressives that have careened the Democrat Party far to the Left) – former US Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick.  Unlike many Democrat leaders of today, she ALWAYS had the best interests of America on the forefront and NEVER did an “apology tour” inside the UN.  Here is the full quote:

 “Everyone says we can’t be the world’s policeman, sure. But what if there’s a world criminal? Will anyone check that criminal? Should he just run rampant? How do you keep him from coming to your door?”

During the last Prez election cycle, not knowing this quote, I had a discussion with a hard core Ron Paul supporter on foreign policy.  My argument was “would you rather have China, Russia, or some other possibly bad actor take our place?  Ask youself: if Ron Paul’s foreign policy depends on free trade among all nations, would someone else police and protect the sea trade routes for all comers like the US has?”.  The person acceded I had made a point that no one else had made to her.

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Nature abhors a vacuum; when a gap in “life” occurs (be it natural when lava from a volcano overflows a lush jungle environment in Hawaii and wipes out ALL life, or man-made like Chernobyl), there will be some forms of life that will recapture that space.  Sure, it may take some time, but it happens (given other supporting factors like sun and water).  Life is.

Americans are war weary, and being a (now) a military family (both sons being combat vets), it is clear the dangers and fears faced not only by those who are at the tip of the spear but also those keeping the home hearth going.  But the question that Jeane Kirkpatrick asked remains: “Will anyone check that criminal? Should he just run rampant?“.  I’m not saying that WE must be that limiting factor but I am saying that it will be important as to who that will that be?  I see no other Western democracies stepping up to confront what I see is a long term existential threat (which Australia’s former army head said recently Australia needs to be ready for a 100 year war with radical Islam).  And one will be needed, as this from The Corner reminds us:

Bernard Lewis, as you know, is one of the great scholars of our time. The dean of Middle East history. He is two years shy of his hundredth birthday. In addition to being a sage, he is a wit. On Friday, he uttered four words that pretty much sum up where we are — how civilization stands against barbarism:

“We cease, they fire.”

A truism – when we walk away, bad 

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“When you’re part of a society, you can’t separate yourself from the obligations that citizens have”

Independent; rugged individualism; self-responsibility.  The old maxim (quick, good, or cheap) is to pick two and call me back.  Ginsburg can’t as it is obvious, just as the Left believes, those attributes are just archaic.  Sure, they worked when our country was formed and the Constitution was written, but that’s just so old and well, people can’t make it on their own anymore without the help of others.  But the Left goes further than that – to a forced communitariansm in which the Government dragoons you into “helping” or being “charitable” towards others. Doubt me?  This is what she said concerning the Hobby Lobby decision:

“The decision that an employer could refuse to cover contraceptives meant that women would have to take care of that for themselves or the men who cared,” Ginsburg replied. “Contraceptive protection is something that every woman must have access to to control her own destiny,” she added.

What a concept, that “that women would have to take care of…themselves“! For thousands of years, that is the way it was.  But you see,

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Cleveland judge accused of beating wife had 2,500 rounds of ammunition, semi-automatic rifles, sword and smoke grenades in home

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Police confiscated smoke grenades, semi-automatic rifles, a sword, a bulletproof vest and more than 2,500 rounds of ammunition from the home of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Lance Mason’s home, according to a police report.

I.E., lazy.  This Is Supposed To Be A Big Deal – and the headline writer is sure to let us know that.  Not that the judge punched his wife with a closed fist, but that he had what GOD KNOWS is a veritable arms warehouse!   Seriously, must have been an eye opener for the reporter – only drug dealers and other nefarious folks are supposed to have that much!  Thankfully, I can say that while I do know some reporters (that I would also call journalists) that shoot, I’m quite sure that most MSM reporters haven’t a clue.  To a lot of my friends, that might be 4 or 5 trips to the range – on slow days.   I also do know folks that have FAR more than that – especially those that practice a lot for competitions (in fact, WAY, WAY more that other shooters would go “really”???).  But here, this is supposed to be A Big Deal.  No – most of the folks I know that shoot on a regular basis will just shake their heads at this “breathless headline”.  But admittedly, the rest of this is not a good thing (to be complete):

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To be honest, not a lot to watch as two of our segments had call in guests and it was just Steve and I in studio this week.  But, here they are!

• Segment 1 – News of the Day and Week  with Groksters Mike (on phone), Steve, and Skip
• Segment 2 – NH State Rep Emily Sandblade (physicist by training, so a Smart Person by any means) comes on to talk about Common Core and how Manchester’s School Board is trying to pull the old switcheroo by saying they are not using Common Core by putting some sugar on top and rearranging the deck chairs on this Titanic.
• Segment 3 – Grokster Susan comes on to talk about the State’s bureaucrats taking matters into their own hands without authorizing legislation and deciding to play Three Card Monte with the Pistol / Revolver License form that now asks a question that NO Citizen can reasonable and logically answer.
• Segment 4 – Steve and Skip talk about our candidates for our Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moment of the week.

Segment 1                                                            Segment 2

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