Return here by clicking on “Duane’s Blog” from other portions of the site.

Check out the new features like Representative Watch.

Obama promised to improve America’s relations with the world.  He vowed to bring us back into the good graces of all those other countries who have been so highly offended by our behavior.

So he begins  his journey of diplomacy to the world.  The art of diplomacy is a magnificent thing to watch at work.  World leaders in person exchange the niceties expected of genteel people even if they go back home next week and eviscerate each other when speaking to their local press.  Of all the accepted customs, the gifts they give each other are among the most interesting.  Last month, with all the dignity you would expect of our British brethren, Gordon Brown bestowed upon President Barack H. Obama a gift of extraordinary thoughtfulness.  A penholder and some papers – but first, a little background.

In the mid-1850’s, relations between the United States and Britain had deteriorated.  However, a singular incident restored the bond between us that has lasted all these years.  A British ship named the H.M.S. Resolute became trapped, then abandoned in the Arctic while on a rescue mission searching for John Franklin and his men (who were searching for the Northwest Passage).  Some time after, the ship broke free of the ice and was miraculously recovered by American whalers.  Ultimately, America restored the ship and returned it as a goodwill gesture to Queen Victoria in 1856.  It was received with much fanfare and repaired relations between the two countries.  A couple of decades later, the ship was dismantled and Queen Victoria, warmly remembering the gesture, ordered a desk to be made from some of the oak timbers.  She gave the desk to President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880 and it has been used by many Presidents over the years – including the last three.

The H.M.S. Gannet was commissioned in 1878 and has been rumored to be a sister ship of the Resolute.  The Gannet was most notably used in anti-slavery activities during the late 19th century.  Given the extraordinary relationship between our countries that started with the return of a ship, it is of no small gesture that the “penholder” given by Prime Minister Brown was made of wood from the H.M.S. Gannet.  The “papers” he gave Obama were the original commissioning papers of the H.M.S. Resolute.  These gifts were beyond thoughtful, and as MasterCard would say, “Priceless!”.

What did Obama give in return?  A set of DVDs – that aren’t compatible with European players.  What?  I’ve ran into the local Wal-Mart to grab a $5 DVD before as a gift for someone I didn’t really like – but for the leader of an allied nation?

Obama’s other gifts?  A plastic button for the Russians that said “Overload” (instead of the intended “reset”), and an IPOD for the Queen of England.  And that’s not an April Fool’s joke.  What an embarrassment to all Americans!

“What Washington needs is adult supervision.” – Barack Hussein Obama

In my humble opinion, his administration could use some!

RE: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9759GG00&show_article=1

Issues of War and Peace.  Global economic meltdown.  The march toward Socialism.  Obama is adding more to our debt than all of our previous Presidents combined.  All sensible politicians of any partisan stripe should be doing all in their power to stop the President for the good of all people.

Of all the things they have on their plates, you’d think our government leaders could better use their taxpayer-funded time than to waste it on sports picks.  However, it seems that Obama has to pick his bracket and Senators (including Republicans) just must bring bills to the floor to right the wrongs of the BCS “National Championship” system.

Where is the outrage?  As long as “the people” – you remember them from the “Of…, by…, and for… line? – sit on the sidelines (since we’re talking sports), we are going to sink as a country.  God help us…

We need to organize some good old-fashioned recall campaigns to get all of these jokers out of there!

Perhaps not the “Blue” status that you’re thinking.  Consider the following statements from some of our Founding Fathers:

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” – John Adams

” Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society.” – George Washington

“I am persuaded that no civil government of a republican form can exist and be durable in which the principles of that religion have not a controlling influence.” – Noah Webster

Legislation has been introduced in the NC General Assembly that would eliminate the last remaining shell of what used to be “Blue Laws” that prohibited sales on Sunday (http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1456865.html).

“What’s the big deal?“, you might ask.  The Blue Laws were intended to keep Sunday sacred – as a day of worship and rest.  Our founding fathers knew the key of religious morality as an underpinning of our moral and law-abiding society.  We have, in recent years, forsaken morality for “acceptance” under the false illusion that doing so would make us a better people.

Whether you’re atheist, agnostic, or have religious views other than Christianity, you will have to acknowledge the fact that a moral people make better citizens.  The proof is in the statistics.  As we have become an increasingly non-religious country, our criminal and deviant proclivities have risen sharply.

The last remnants of a moral fiber in America exist in obscure laws and antiquated practices.  Although He was hurting no one there, we threw God out of schools, and we’ve been trying to throw Him completely out of the public square ever since.  And why would we dispose of the prohibition of liquor sales on Sunday?  Money.  In the immortal words of a great man:

“If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” – Ronald Reagan, Prayer Breakfast, 1984

RE: N&O Article

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1455549.html

The Wake County Board of Commissioners defeated 4-2 a measure that would reduce their pay by 10%.  While mostly symbolic, the cut would have given taxpayers the feeling that the Commissioners had at least some grasp of reality.  The Tax & Spend Commission has so far given no such indication.

It is easy to understand that the one unemployed member of the board would resist a paycut.  The three other liberals, Webb, Ward, and Norwalk are all retired and presumably wouldn’t depend on their comission salary for a living.  It seems Stan Norwalk’s answer to everything is to throw more money at it (he probably thinks the “stimulus” is a grand idea!).

Here’s an idea: Make some real cuts in spending that will lower our property taxes and then the citizens of Wake County will think you’re earning your salary!

Kudos to Joe Bryan and Tony Gurley for volunteering to return 10% of their salaries.  It may be symbolic, but we feel a little more connected to you since you made the offer!

One thing we have learned from history – we don’t learn from history!  Take good ‘ol Joe Lieberman for example.  Years ago, Republicans hailed Joe as a pretty common sense guy and then he signed on as VP for Al Gore.  It turned out he really was a liberal.