I first read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged
as an impressionable 18 year old. Upon finishing the book, I immediately turned to page one and read it all again. The controversial tome is one of the top 5 most influential books of my life.
An eerie sidebar is that my youngest daughter Lauren also found the book at age 18 and after devouring it immediately reread it and came rushing to ask me if I had ever heard of the book. Needless to say an intriguing conversation developed that continues to this day. It stands at the top of her list of most influential books.
So when my friend Carl sent me this link, I was very curious. It provides food for thought during these first 100 days of Obama's presidency.
Read the article HERE. It is in the Wall Street journal and is a MUST read, especially if you know John Galt as I do.
Reflecting on the extraordinary speech last night delivered by Sarah Palin has caused me to wonder if we may indeed have a real person that has the courage to move from the wilderness to Washington truly to serve America.
I have been undecided and unexcited about either ticket until last night. Her words rang true to me.
Having spent my life on the stage, I can only imagine the pressure for Palin as she waited backstage for her moment of destiny. Given our obsession for Obama's charisma and oratory; any living, breathing human would have felt nerves and the responsibility to "deliver" to her fellow media obsessed Americans. But deliver she did.
Frankly, after working a lifetime for oratorically blessed charismatic men who have proudly told me backstage that they can spin anything - and then proceed onstage to do that very thing - I am weary and unimpressed with the shallowness and inauthenticity I feel when Barack Obama speaks.
Last night seemed real to me. Authentic and Sincere. Courageous and Intelligent. Layered and Compelling.
Sarah Palin quotes that resonated with me:
"Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve
all of America's energy problems -- as if we all didn't know that
already. But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no
excuse to do nothing at all."
"I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a
member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media
consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here's a
little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not
going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to
Washington to serve the people of this country."
"There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening
to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored
two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the
state Senate,"
"But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed, when the roar of the
crowd fades away, when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam
Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot, what exactly is our
opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's
done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to
make government bigger, take more of your money, give you more orders
from Washington and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous
world. America needs more energy, our opponent is against producing
it."
After an MSNBC segment hosted by Chuck Todd ended, guests Mike
Murphy, a former McCain senior aide, and Peggy Noonan, the Republican
presidential speech writer and Wall Street Journal columnist, continued
to chat among themselves. Unfortunately, they didn’t realize their mics
were still hot, and clearly audible to MSNBC viewers as the camera
focused on a street scene.
Here’s a transcription of the audio:
Noonan: [Inaudible as Todd speaks on the air over her]
Murphy: Um, you
know, because, I come out of the blue swing state governor world.
Engler, Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, I mean, and
these guys, this is all like how you win a Texas race, just run it up,
and it’s not gonna work.
Noonan: It’s Over.
Murphy: Still, McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech and do himself some good.
Todd: Don’t you think this Palin pick is insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson to…
Noonan: I saw Kay this morning…
Todd: She’s never looked comfortable about..
Murphy: They’re all bummed out.
Todd: I mean, is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?
Noonan: The most
qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political
bullshit about narratives and youthfulness and the picture…
Todd: Yeah, but what’s the narrative?
Murphy: I totally agree.
Noonan: Every time Republicans do that, because that’s not where they live and it’s not what they’re good at, they blow it.
Murphy: You know what’s the worst thing about it, the greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and..
"Birds Nest, in the Style of Cubism," a painting by
Zhang Hongtu, is now at the Lin & Keng Gallery in Taipei, awaiting
shipment back to New York.
The ashen-brown picture shows the gleaming new Olympic
stadium, designed by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, as
Piranesi might have imagined it and Picasso painted it -- as a decaying
ruin rendered in fragmented angled forms. On the canvas, cubist-style,
are inscriptions in English letters and Chinese characters: "Tibet,"
"human right" and the Olympic motto, "one world, one dream."
The painting was supposed to be in Beijing during the
Olympic Games, in the exhibition "Go Game, Beijing!" organized by a
Berlin marketing firm and displayed at the German Embassy. But it was
seized by Customs on arrival and denied entry as "unacceptable" for its
color, its depiction of the stadium, and its inscriptions.
I’m back on it like I just signed my record deal
Yeah the best is here, the Bentley Coup paint is dripping wet, it got sex appeal
Never should have hated, You never should’ve doubted him
With a slot in the president’s iPod Obama shouted ‘em
Said I handle my biz and I’m one of his favorite rappers
Well give Luda a special pardon if I’m ever in the slammer
Better yet put me in office, make me your vice president
Hillary hated on you, so that bitch is irrelevant
Jesse talking slick and apologizing for what?
If you said it then you meant it how you want it head or gut?
And all you other politicians trying to hate on my man,
watch us win majority vote in every state on my man
You can’t stop what’s bout to happen, we bout to make history
The first black president is destined and it’s meant to be
The threats ain’t fazing us, the nooses or the jokes
So get off your ass, black people, it’s time to get out and vote!
Paint the White House black and I’m sure that’s got ‘em terrified
McCain don’t belong in any chair unless he’s paralyzed
Yeah I said it cause Bush is mentally handicapped
Ball up all of his speeches and just throw ‘em like candy wrap
’cause what you talking I hear nothing even relevant
and you the worst of all 43 presidents
Get out and vote or the end’ll be near
The world is ready for change because Obama is here
’cause Obama is here
The world is ready for change because Obama is here, yeah
cuz Obama is here.
Have You REALLY watched this? I am aghast. I really can't believe it. This is Barack Obama's pastor for how many years? Jeremiah Wright quote: "The American Government invented the Aids virus to bring injury to people of color..." and that is only the start.
Are we Americans so politically correct that we ignore this stuff?
This is SCARY. I have heard the word "Scary" used a lot in the last few days about Obama and the presidency. I personally am scared of anyone that calls Jeremiah Wright his or her pastor.
Research the church. Check out the special "Sundays" it has hosted over the past years. Other links. HERE and HERE.
I do not yet know who I am voting for...but I absolutely DO know that I am NOT voting for Barack Obama. I know too much about religion, hate and fast talking charismatic speakers.
I do not usually go political or negative at Ethos, but this is unbelievable!
This political race for the White House seems the most intriguing of my memory. No matter your political leanings, Hugh Hewitt, continues to amaze with his political knowledge. He has called the Huckabee race in an eerily prophetic way.
An Important movie. I have been there. In a small way, it helps one understand the complexity of the global situation, and that we must open our eyes beyond our state and national borders and preconceptions. And if you are one of the 90% of Americans that have never traveled outside our country, please go see this movie and realize that it is real. A real story. With real people. And it could easily be OUR country. Superbly acted and a story well told. A must see.
