If It Talks Like a Bureaucrat and Gets Paid Like a Bureaucrat, Don’t Be Surprised There’s Oil in the Gulf

May 31st, 2010 | By Sonnie Johnson

One of the first rules you learn as a child is if  it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, It’s a DUCK.  So, are you really surprised at the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico or the incompetence behind the clean-up?

Take heed as you read this article and look at the big picture.  This maybe one incident but it is the norm in Bureaucracies.  The bigger the Government grows, the less regulation we actually get.   The Elite of Big Government will always focus on what they want or need for their backers.  The small organizations and agencies propping up big government go unsupervised and therefore are prone to corruption because they hold tremendous power over a localized area or section of the economy.  

Since Obama became President, he has pushed his Agenda full force.  Like him or not, he will have his (SEIU, ACORN, you fill in the rest) will done.  With the Elite of the Federal Government focused on Healthcare, Cap N Trade,  and destroying the United States Financial Standing, are you surprised people at the Minerals Management Services were allowing BP to fill out their own evaluations?  Does it shock  you Elizabeth Birnbaum was fired, I mean “resigned”, even though she was an Obama pick for the position?    Are you wondering why the Federal Government had a plan of action in case an oil rig like Deep Water Horizon did explode, yet they didn’t have the actual materials to carry out that plan?

I’m going to give Obama a break on this one.  He is trying to take over an entire country, how in the world do you expect him to pay attention to an area so small?  He doesn’t have to worry about the workers getting sick off the dispersant’s BP is using to fool us about how much oil is actually under the surface, he’s assured those workers free Healthcare.  Why do I say it’s free?  Because they are now unemployed and their way of life is basically destroyed.  Oh, wait.  We’ve extended unemployment benefits, we’re taking care of them.

At the local level, you have Bobby Jindal.  An honest politician who acknowledges he doesn’t have the answers but knows doing nothing is not a proper course of action.   Governer Jindal wants to build land barriers to block the oil from reaching the shores of Louisiana.  Are you shocked the Federal Government actually OWNS the shoreline and the Bureaucrats in Washington are running test on what might happen instead of actually acting.   Are  you surprised politicians at the local level, with the exception of gems like Ray Nagin, have a far greater staked interest in prevention and clean-up? 

See, I’m not surprised.  I understand they are still trying to push a GREEN bill, even while we are currently facing the greatest Eco-disaster in our country.  In fact, I expect them to try to pass Cap N Trade with some money and resources allotted for the Gulf.  Come on, how could you vote against helping the clean up in the Gulf, even if it means raising energy cost to every single person in the country?  Never let a crisis go to waste.

It doesn’t shock me people at MMS were accepting bribes, sexual favors, and lump sums of cash.  They know they are expendable.  They know how their industries work.  They are going to get all they can, while they can and do you really blame them?  They can take the money, gifts, title and experience and move some where else in the country not affected by the mess they created.  The American Dream, right?!?!?!?

I’m actually glad America is getting to see what an actual executive looks like in Bobby Jindal.  I watch Jindal when he tries to speak on the National stage, nervous and reserved,  but let him talk about the state of Louisiana and you can understand why we need to restore the Republic.  Individuals elected at the local level should have the authority to handle local issues.  Not only should they have the authority, they should have the responsibility.  The Federal Government sticking it’s nose in thinking it knows what’s best, allows situations like Katrina and this spill to occur.  States now wait and some actually expect the Federal government to come in and save them.  What happened to States that legislate, defend, and protect their own boarders because that’s the role allotted to them by the Founders.

Before Obama signed the Healthcare bill we were shouting to the roof tops, do you want your Doctor’s Appointments to be run like the DMV, Social Services offices, or the Post Office.  Now I question, do you want your Healthcare run like this Oil Spill?  What about your energy?  What would happen if the Government controlled all our electricity, a bureaucrat was watching porn, and some how the lights went out.  Forty-Five days later they still can’t solve the problem but some lowly person you’ve never heard of has been fired. 

That is Big Government.  If it walks Like a Duck and Talks like a Duck, you better go and join a Tea Party.

Generation Zero: The Pawns That Lived Through It

May 15th, 2010 | By Sonnie Johnson

When you think of the ’60’s, what’s the first thing to come to mind?  Even though this was the time of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X, when phrased properly, you get an immediate image of “Hippies” and drugs.  Woodstock.  War Protest.  An era of American History where we lost all sense of common decency and affection towards each other.  This is the time period explained in Citizens United’s Generation Zero.

The documentary is a great timeline of how we got to the financial crisis now gripping our country.  It starts with the Hippies of the ’60’s and progresses until those same people began to control Wall Street and the White House.  But you know me, I can’t replay the movie for you.  Check it out at GenerationZeroMovie.com.

Here’s what I learned.  Big Government is sooooooo dangerous because the “Kings” and “Queens” treat every other player on the board like a pawn.  I’m not a GREAT Chess player but I know the rules of the game.  The “King” and “Queen” alone can not win a Chess match, I don’t care how special or all powerful they assume they are.  That’s why they are provided Rooks, Knights, and Bishops to give them support, plus one row of pawns to deflect, protect, and advance the “Kings” and “Queens” influence over the board. 

Here’s where the problem comes in.  The “Kings” and “Queens” of Big Government have convinced the American Middle Class that we are “Rooks”, the outside stabilizing force of the American System and we need to be taken care of.  Yet in the same breath, they move our protective pawns leaving us completely exposed.   An example:  I remember my teenage years under Clinton.  All the black inequality talk at the time centered around black inability to acquire a home loan.  So the “Kings” and “Queens” told us we were “Rooks” and we deserved to have a home.  And we bought it hook line and sinker.  We didn’t pay attention when our protection was removed and we didn’t ask why all of a sudden there was so much movement other places on the board.

 If you came up during this time period, especially with the “Liberal” education provided at public schools, you didn’t see yourself as a sacrificial lamb.  The edict from Big Government told you all this was for your benefit.  So “WE”, the American People, went out and took advantage of these loans.  We didn’t care about Fixed rates vs Variables.  We didn’t bat an eye when Acorn workers told us to lie on applications.  While some of this was wreck less, uneducated, and plain irresponsible, it was also a result of us believing we were way more valuable than we actually were.

WE BELIEVED GOVERNMENT.  We believed our “Kings” and “Queens” held the Rooks at high value or if not, we believed they were smart enough not to bite the hand that feeds them.  This is why I’m not great at Chess.  You have to be sneaky and underhanded.  You have to mask your true intentions behind frivolous moves meant to distract and unbalance your opponent.  I’m more of the lay it all on the table type and so are most of the American People, especially when we realize we are not being treated like “Rooks”.   The Federal Government is playing us like pawns and they are not even hiding it any more.

The Banks got Bail-Outs.  The American People got home foreclosures, great loses in property value, bad credit, and bankruptcy.  The Auto Company got Bail-Outs.  The American People got Car Dealerships forced into giving away their location, cars, and client list to other Dealerships because Government said so.   Obama Supporters got payback in the Stimulus Package.  The American People got 10% unemployment rates.

How will history reflect US?  While we worry about what legacy Bush or Obama will have, what will the future generation say when they look at us through the annals of time?  I hope they will look back and realize what some of us currently here are afraid to acknowledge, America was not built for Big Government.  I hope they look back at us and say that was the generation that refused to be put into it’s place by Government.  That was the generation when the people gained enough to power to win the Chess match without a Queen on the board and without the King moving a single space.  That’s when we started to sacrifice for each other because we wanted too not because the Government forced it on us.

That was the Generation were once again America reclaimed, By the PEOPLE for the PEOPLE.

What Does A Community Organizer Organize? The Fruits of Obama’s Labor

May 13th, 2010 | By Sonnie Johnson

I want to share my thought process with you.  I was listening to my Ipod the other day, and Will Smith “Summertime” came on.  Especially in early spring, this song makes you feel good.  It makes you want to clean out your closet and see what you need to complete your summer look.  It makes you want to take your car to the detail shop to make weekly cleanings easier.  It makes you call up  your family and ask when’s the first cook-out.  Right in my moment of bliss a news story crosses the TV screen “Illionois state legislature calls for National Guard to curb violence”.   Way to mess up a great song with harsh reality.

The first question to come to my mind, Isn’t the President from Chicago?  Wasn’t he a community organizer?  Why are those organizations not helping to curb the violence on Chicago’s streets?  If they aren’t there to help curb murder rates caused by lack of hope and employment, then what are they organizing?  Seriously, take away the politics and just look at the people.  They can organize massive rallies and poke jokes from a Correspondence Dinner to protest the crackdown on Illegal Immigration but there is no mention of the blood being shed on American Streets.  They can push for Amnesty for law breakers but what about the innocent people caught in the middle of gang violence.  Where is their march, protest, or even recognition?

Instead we get a “Summertime” filled lost friends, imprisoned peers, and truly neglected youth.  Jesse Jackson Jr. is the incumbent of the 2nd Congressional District in Illinois, where is the Rainbow Coalition?  The NAACP?  Where are any of these groups that claim they are trying to provide Social Justice or true equality?  Doesn’t that include the right to live in City where there isn’t a murder every week day andtwo on the weekend.  If not, it  should.

Which leads back to the basic question, what does a community organizer organize?  If the President spent the majority of his young career rallying the people of Chicago to stand together, should we count 147 people dead this year as proof of Obama’s success?  While most would think that was an attempt at humor or irony, it is a completely honest question.  It only makes sense once you understand what the Acorns and SEIU’s of America are really organizing.

Let’s see what they’ve already done.  Barack Obama is for the Community Reinvestment Act.    While national averages for foreclosures dropped, the rate in Chicago actually rose.  Barack Obama is for the Unions.  The state of Illinois is near bankruptcy and a huge burden of that cost is the 5.4 billion slated for next years pensions cost to pay members of those unions.   Barack Obama is for Green Jobs.  The Unemployment rate in Chicago is 11.3% and rising.  Are any of these statistics worthy of praise, never mind the Presidency.  These results are lack luster and destructive and the people of Chicago have to deal with its effect.

They are organizing a revolution.  They are creating division, separation, anger, dashed hopes and unobtainable financial security.  If Chicago is the template for what’s to come in America, then we need not look toward Greece for inspiration to save our country.  We should look right in our own backyards. We should look at our Presidents stomping grounds. 

But let’s change our perspective along the way and this time look at the people.  It’s black kids that are dying.   The same group that comes out and roots for Barack Obama as a savior are the same ones that fear walking the street after dark.  They have Barack Obama bumper stickers on their cars as they drive along funeral processions.  They answer the Democratic call to organize when Acorn funding is at risk but angry mobs of teenagers creating damage to life and property goes unchecked.  They are organizing the first wave towards the destruction of the United States of America as a Democratic Republic.

If you are a black American, or African American if you prefer, and you truly believe America is a racist country then you should be afraid that I’m right.  If you believe with all your heart and soul that the white man doesn’t want you to have anything andwe are on our way to a Revolution, then are you really in a position to dispute what I’m saying?   Black segments of the population will be the first to go.  What we need to understand is the color of your skin means nothing, it’s more about your stature and net worth.  The POOR will be the first to go.  This will mean black, white, brown, and any other classification we use to separate ourselves from the truth of Big Government. 

An all powerful Government will protect itself first and foremost, always.  People be damned.  So just imagine a population that fears no response for their actions because the Government not only doesn’t step in, they encourage rage and anger at the very situations they created.  Take into account we as a black people are predisposed to burning down our own communities, what will happened when Government can no longer provide food stamps, unemployment checks, or social security benefits?  We will be the first group to take to the streets and we will be made into an example and I can assure you there will be no black groups standing up for the atrocities.  Just like they are vying for their place at the table now, they will show their true colors then as well.

We need to wake up and realize Obama’s efforts in Chicago were a success.  The corrupt state and local government has choked the life and spirit out of the city to the point they would actually consider allowing armed Military Forces take over their streets.  If you fear the local police, just imagine Federal Soldiers with the ability to shot to kill.  This wouldn’t scare me so much if most poor Black and Latino men and women weren’t  also brought up with a shot to kill philosophy.  Both entities believing power comes from the barrel of a gun.

Summertime is coming but we haven’t yet began to feel the heat.  When state workers get IOU’s instead of paychecks, beaurcratic jobs start to disappear, and the people realize Hope and Change really meant the distruction of their current way of life then we will see the fruits of Obama’s labor.