Leadership
Why the New York Times Fears Marco Rubio
Over the past week, the New York Times, supposedly America’s leading newspaper (“All the News That’s Fit to Print”), published two hit pieces on US Senator Marco Rubio who is a Republican candidate for president.
No, they didn’t call them hit pieces. But that’s what they were.
The first story was about Senator Rubio’s (and his wife’s) traffic tickets over the past twenty years. The second detailed his personal finances, including mortgages, student loans, and even the purchase of a boat.
Both stories were political hit jobs–very misleading, and extremely biased.
Why is the mighty New York Times so afraid of Marco Rubio?
The name of the first NYT story was called “Rubios on the Road Have Drawn Unwanted Attention.” It pointed out that over the past eighteen years, Sen Rubio has received four moving violation tickets.
That’s about one every four to five years.
Senator Rubio lives in Miami which is a big city with a lot of traffic. So it’s worth a major story in the New York Times to point out four traffic tickets in almost twenty years?
Is that all they’ve got?
Oh, but what allowed them to publish the story is that his wife, Jeanette, a former Miami Dolphins cheerleader, received thirteen tickets during that same time–so the total for both of them was seventeen. One of Mrs. Rubio’s sins, pointed out by the Time’s Morality Department, was a ticket for going 23 in a 15 mile an hour zone.
E-gads! Stone her to death! (Oops, we’re not in Saudi Arabia.)
I think I commit that type of sin a number of times a week. Guess the cops here just aren’t as good as Miami Vice.
What do a few speeding tickets have to do with becoming president of the United States? So his wife’s not the best driver in the world. Big deal. I know a bunch of people who can relate. The Times’ bosses must have forgotten that when a man becomes president, he and his wife no longer have to drive themselves around–so it’s irrelevant for their White House years.
Actually, it’s rather refreshing that the Rubios are real people who actually drive cars and deal with the same frustrations we do. If I remember right, the lady in the other party who’s running for president hasn’t driven a car for over twenty years, so maybe they should have written a story on her being out of touch.
If you’d like to take a brief course in hit pieces 101, you can read about the Rubios traffic ticket sins here.
Then came the other slam on Marco Rubio from the Times entitled “Marco Rubio’s Career Be-Deviled by Financial Struggles.” The headline choosers at the New York Trash must have really had fun with this one. I can hear the conversation.
First, let’s throw in the word “Be-deviled” because it has the word “devil” in it which makes Marco appear to be in line with El Diablo. Then we’ll finish with the word “Struggle” to make it appear that he’s in trouble.
Bingo.
Then you read the actual article and it simply reveals a normal American story. Rubio’s parents escaped from Cuba and settled in the Miami, Florida area. They were blue collar folks–his dad working as a bartender and his mother doing maid, office, and assembly line jobs to make ends meet.
Marco Rubio began his life like many of us–from the lower side of the tracks. To go to college, he took out student loans and worked hard to pay them back over a number of years. He got married, started a family, bought some homes, and worked his way up the ladder.
The Times makes this all look like bad financial management. They say he takes out loans he shouldn’t have (too much money)–that he sold a house at the wrong time and took a loss on it (as if he’s at fault for the American economy and rise and fall of real estate prices).
They fail to mention that these heavy personal debt years were his family and career start-up years where he was:
- Elected to the Miami City Commission in 1998.
- Elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1999.
- Became Majority Leader in the House in 2003 and Speaker in 2006.
- Elected to the US Senate in 2009.
Start-up years are difficult years, often involving the use of debt for long-term gain. Rubios’ financial tests seem to mirror once again the average American experience. He knows what we all face because he has looked it in the eye himself.
Yet, he never missed a mortgage payment and eventually paid off his student loans and began making enough money to elevate and bless his family.
Heck, I didn’t get out of the family debt scenario until I was sixty.
In the article, the NY Times points out two glaring sins that are apparently greater than the others. The first is Marco Rubio recently bought a speed boat for $80,000–apparently for fishing and family outings in the beautiful Florida sunshine.
The Times writers called it a “luxury speedboat.” Kind of gives you the impression of a Ferrari with fins or maybe even an opulent yacht. Then you look at the picture and you say to yourself, “Hey, it’s a speedboat. What’s the big deal?”
That’s what average people say. But not the New York Times.
I know many working people who own speed-boats. Marco Rubio worked hard to purchase his, parks it in Florida and pays taxes on it. Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry has a real luxury yacht that’s never been flagged by the New York Times. By the way–he didn’t work for it but married a wealthy heiress who paid for it and who parks it in Rhode Island to avoid tax liabilities.
Oops–we can’t point that out. Kerry’s a progressive chap and that means his wealth is always good.
The other thing that grated me about the second story was a reference to Rubio buying a house in West Miami for $550,000. The NYT reporters said it was the “most expensive” home in the neighborhood–as if the Rubios are upper class snobs who crave status.
Then you see the picture of the house. It looks like an average home in a suburban neighborhood with Rubio’s Ford F150 truck parked in the driveway.
In Seattle, the median priced house costs the same as the Rubios.
So what’s the story here? Isn’t there another presidential candidate who owns a mansion in Chappaqua, New York, another home in D.C., and makes hundreds of millions of dollars through a family foundation?
Who’s really normal and in touch with the average American?
Here’s the second NYT hit piece for you to read for yourself: “Marco Rubio’s Career Be-deviled By Financial Struggles” here.
So why is the nation’s most prestigious newspaper out to get Republican Senator Marco Rubio with crappy caricatures and hit pieces? Why does the mighty New York Times fear presidential candidate Marco Rubio?
The answer is very simple.
A generation ago a good-looking man rose up out of his own humble beginnings and made a name for himself both in business and in government. He was handsome, charismatic, a good speaker, and seemed to be able to relate to the common person in America.
Over time, that individual was elected president of the United States, and turned the American nation back to trust in God, restraints on government, lower taxes, a robust military, and belief in the uniqueness (exceptionalisnm) of the American Dream and experience.
This man set back the liberal/progressive agenda some twenty or thirty years as a time of renewal visited the United States of America and sound conservative policies elevated many. This drove the New York Times and their acolytes crazy.
That man, of course, was Ronald Reagan.
That period was similar to today. The US was going through a time of sexual revolution, riots against war and policing, economic problems, and the failed presidency of Jimmy Carter.
The New York Times, and those who share their worldview are scared to death of Marco Rubio because he (and a number of others) could once again reverse America’s death spiral:
- He is young (44). Hilary Clinton is 67. He is the future–she is the past.
- He is of Hispanic origin. She can only claim white-privilege.
- He is from humble means–a self made man. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.
- He is handsome and charismatic. She is a grandmother who sounds like your mother-in-law.
- He is extremely articulate and sharp as a tack. Hillary is slow on her feet and is always parsing words.
- He is known for honesty and integrity. She lives under a constant cloud of scandals.
- He has policy principles that will limit government and empower people. She is a Big Government devotee.
There are other good candidates on the Republican side who are young, experienced, articulate, and share good principles that could encourage another renewal of the American Republic.
But few are as attractive as Marco Rubio.
That’s why the New York Times fears him.
King Barack Flips American Voters the Bird
I have never seen anything like this in the sixty-one years of my life:
A United States president, acting like a monarch or dictator, thumbs his nose at the American people he is supposed to lead and protect, granting de facto amnesty to millions of illegal aliens by executive fiat.
President Obama’s November 20 executive action is bad for the country, is a blatant abuse of Constitutional power and directly contradicts the expressed will of the American people.
I will focus on the latter point. He acts like a king with utter disdain for the people.
It’s time to stop tip-toeing around the presidential problem we face. We are being gamed by a narcissistic president who cares more for his agenda than those that he serves..
And here’s what we need to do about it.
Last night President Barack Obama did something that no American president has ever done. He symbolically displayed his middle finger to the American people he is supposed to listen to and represent–as well as the Congress who makes our laws–and acted like a king who creates law, interprets and enforces them.
We haven’t seen those brazen actions on our shores for nearly 240 years when King George III did the same with the American colonists–making laws without their consent–which precipitated the Revolutionary War and the birth of the USA.
When a humble George Washington became our first president, he rigorously resisted the easy temptation to be called “Your Majesty” and rule like a king. No–he said calling him “Mr. President” was enough, and that republican institutions were to make laws only through the peoples’ elected representatives.
George Washington was a humble leader with great character.
Barack Obama seems to be completely lacking in this most important quality of leadership.
In the past few decades we’ve seen other presidents–both Democrat and Republican–chastised by the voters in mid-tem elections–come out humbled and working for the good of the nation.
In 1986, Democrats took over both the House and the Senate during the Reagan years. A humbled Ronald Reagan accepted the verdict of the voters and began working with House Speaker Tip O’Neill for the good of the nation. Economic prosperity followed.
Twelve years later, Bill Clinton’s government was shellacked in the mid-term elections. He, too, humbled himself, listened to the people and committed to working with Capitol Hill on major achievements which included welfare reform and a balanced budget.
When good leaders are rebuked, they learn (even when they may have mixed motives for changing). When bad leaders are chastised, they react in pride and disdain.
Last evening, Barack Obama gave a smooth yet deceptive speech. He decided to go around Congress and allow certain unlawful residents with established roots to “come out of the shadows” because mass deportation of illegal immigrants “would be both impossible and contrary to our character.”
“I hear those concerns,” he added in a speech that quoted both Moses and George W. Bush, but “immigrants are a net plus for our economy and our society.”
It all sounded good and almost reasonable at certain points. But the entire presentation was lawless in nature and deceptive to the core.
Before we analyze his action, let’s look at what Barack Obama, acting like a king, did on November 20 to lead our immigration system into certain chaos.
Specifically, the president’s executive action will:
- Create a new deferred deportation program for parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent resident children if they have been in the country for more than five years.
- Grant work permits for three years if they pass background checks and pay back taxes and fees. In nearly all states, the people who are granted legal status will be entitled to driver’s licenses.
- Expand protection from deportation to more “Dreamers,” or people who came to the U.S. illegally as children, and grant more work permits to high-skilled workers.
- Establish a new priority system for deporting illegal immigrants, requiring the Department of Homeland Security to focus on people serving jail time for criminal offenses.
- Add more immigration judges to the border region so illegal immigrants who are deemed low-priority can be released more quickly, and recent border crossers and those with serious criminal records can be deported.
While the president portrayed his edict as necessary to address long-standing immigration problems, giddy Democrats who held immigration parties across the nation also believe President Obama’s action will buy them millions of Hispanic votes and provide progressive candidates with an electoral edge for years to come.
And he enacted the ruling like a tin-pot dictator–against the wishes of the American people. Columnist John Hayward comments:
“It’s still striking that not a single poll can be produced showing majority support for what Obama did last night, including some resistance from people who are generally in favor of all that “pathway to citizenship” stuff but oppose the way Obama is forcing it down their throats. The most recent election could not have made it more clear that the American electorate doesn’t want this. But Obama seized new powers to override the American people, acting as the representative of foreign citizens.”
That’s an incredibly deaf abuse of power and wrong priorities.
The 2014 mid-term elections, which just rolled through the nation as a thunder storm, were a clear repudiation of two Obama policies: Obamacare (ACA) and amnesty for illegals. You can’t interpret the results any other way unless you live in a fantasy world.
Election 2014 was a refutation of Barack Obama’s policies and priorities. As he likes to say:
“Period.”
Let’s analyze the timing of the president’s announcement.
Barack Obama would like us to think that his executive order is based on what he knows is best for the American people and nation.
But that doesn’t square with reality. President Obama and his party controlled both the Congress and the presidency for the first two years of his term. If they really believed Americans wanted to legalize illegal entrants into the country en masse, then it would have been easy to pass comprehensive immigration reform without a fight. Write the bill. Pass it in both chambers and sign it into law.
Why didn’t they do it? Because they knew that the American people didn’t want illegal aliens being treated better than legal-in-the-process immigrants that America has always loved and championed.
We are a nation of immigrants—legal ones!—who believe in the rule of law and fairness.
The Democrats knew this and punted. Barack Obama also knew he couldn’t be re-elected in 2012 if he went against the wishes of the American people on such a major issue.
After he was re-elected, he pushed through the Senate another bill (with the help of a few Republicans) that the House refused to take up. Why did they table it? Because the People’s House knew that the folks didn’t support it.
Why did Barack Obama not push that bill prior to the 2014 elections? Because he knew if he did, then there might not be one Democrat left in either chamber of Congress. The shellacking would have been even worse than it was.
So after hearing the people speak in the 2014 election, he should have humbled himself like Reagan and Clinton and many other presidents, listened to the voice of the people, and gone to Congress after the lame-duck session to put together a good bill that will benefit the America people as well as take into account those who came to our nation unlawfully.
He refused to listen, and with no other elections to bind him, decided to act like a spoiled child or a self-absorbed dictator and rule by presidential fiat.
And why did he do that? Is it because he really wants to do “what’s best for America?”
I don’t think so. It’s a political move—plain and simple. Barack Obama believes that granting de facto amnesty to millions of Hispanics will help the Democrats win elections for years to come.
He did it for votes–nothing else.
So what should we do about this partisan and reckless act by a man who would be emperor?
1. Like the Committees of Correspondence of Revolutionary times, we need to make our voices heard that we want a secure border, a stream-lined legal process for legal immigration, and some penalties and process for those who broke our laws. That applies to adults only (kids are not responsible for their parents’ sins). Both the Heritage Foundation and Bill O’Reilly offer sensible plans for dealing with immigration.
2. We need to pray for the new Congress to wisely resist this president’s authoritarian tendencies in all area of his administration. May God give them specific wisdom to resist bad policies and enact righteous solutions that the nation truly wants and needs.
3. We must have a long memory—two years to be exact—and elect a humble and competent president in 2016 who will help reverse the bad decisions of the past few years and lead America once again into a time of moral, economic, and social renewal.
No more snubs by would-be monarchs should be tolerated in our nation.
To quote the early colonists, “We have no king but Jesus!”
What the Republicans Should Do
The Republican Party clobbered the Democrats in the recent election because concerned voters came out in droves because they do not like the direction we’re heading as a nation.
Republicans now hold 31 state governorships, will end up with an eight or nine vote margin in the US Senate (the most recent pick-up being Dan Sullivan in Alaska), and have more seats in the “People’s House” than anytime since 1929.
That means that the current American electoral map looks pretty red.
Disgruntled Dems and their media allies now talk about “getting along” in Washington and the so-called problem of “gridlock.”
Neither are problems. They are blessings.
Here’s what the Republicans should do.
My Republican wish-list will be put into a David Letterman “Top Ten” format. And since the elections have been so consuming and intense lately, let’s start with another Letterman ten-fer which will get us to laugh a bit before going back to election analysis.
Laughter is good for the soul, both of people and nations (Proverbs 17:22)
A Few Laughs with David Letterman
If you are not a Seattle Seahawk fan, you probably missed a nearly-frightening circumstance that occurred at last Sunday’s game between the ‘Hawks and the New York Giants.
During the pre-game festivities, Taima, the Seahawk mascot–a large, menacing bird–was released as usual in the stadium to take its traditional swoop across the field and land on the arm of its trainer.
Instead of coming down to earth predictably, Taima went up into the crowd and landed on a man’s head, scuffling around on his hoodie. The amazing fan showed great self-control at being dive-bombed by the vicious hawk.
I think I would have been petrified.
Here is David Letterman’s Top Ten on what the man under “hawk-attack” must have been thinking:
Number Ten – “I shouldn’t have used salmon-scented shampoo this morning!”
Number Nine – “Can I keep him?”
Number Eight – “How about a selfie?”
Number Seven – “Can you drop me off in parking lot B?”
Number Six – “Beats the time I was groped by the Philly fanatic.”
Number Five – “He probably smells my hawk.”
Number Four – “Thanks a lot, Obama!”
Number Three – “My toupee!”
Number Two – “First $12 beers and now this!”
Number One – “Yum, wings!”
If you want to see the hawk landing, and Letterman’s humorous reply, you can view them here.
Oh–one more item on the hawk mal-function. Taima, the Seahawk mascot, to make sure he didn’t get in trouble with the NFL (they have enough problems right now), offered up this “statement” after the incident:
“I apologize to my family, fellow birds everywhere, the Seahawks organization and fans. I am embarrassed by the pre-game incident and poor judgment I showed. Please understand my actions were not consistent with the type of bird I want to become. Go Me’s!”
That’s pretty funny too.
It brings to mind what the Democrats should have said after the people sent them packing November 4th (it seems all we’ve heard are excuses and sour grapes):
Here’s what the Democratic press release should have stated:
“We apologize to you the America voter, and fellow Americans everywhere. We are embarrassed at how we have led this nation in the past six years and the poor judgment we’ve shown on the economy and foreign policy. Please forgive us for ramming bills through Congress and using Executive orders on things not consistent with democratic principles and ideals. We commit to serving the wishes of the people according to the guidelines in the Constitution. Go USA!”
Actually, I think if they’d have shown some humility, their numbers would be already rising. There’s something beautiful about honesty, humbleness and repentance.
But back to some real election analysis.
What the Republicans Should Do
First, let’s dismiss the drivel about “getting along” in Congress and the problem of “gridlock.” These concepts mean nothing in the present battle for America. The national press would have you believe that the Republicans should now somehow “get along” with the Democrats. Translation: Don’t push your Republican/backed-by-the people ideas. Just submit to the Democratic agenda.
That’s nonsense. The Republicans won this election. It’s only right for the Dems to do the submitting to the will of the America people–not the other way around.
As for the concept of gridlock, it’s actually a good thing for the next two years. The press would have you believe that’s bad for America because the mainstream media want secularism and democratic socialism to continue their march. They believe that anything that stops this imperative is “obstructionist,” “partisan,” and yielding to “gridlock.”
Poppycock
When there’s a huge fire consuming the road ten miles ahead, it’s gridlock that saves you from zipping in the flames.
It’s a blessing–a good thing. Necessary to save the Republic.
So what should the Republican Party, in responding to the will of the people, do for the next twenty-four months and beyond?
Here’s my Top-Ten List:
Number Ten – Stop the progressive agenda. Be firm and don’t compromise with bad policies. You won. Act like it. And, in order to reverse the damage that has been down to our nation over the past six years and beyond, the Rs must patiently work toward winning the next presidential election. If they don’t do that, America’s fall may not be reversed. Two-thirds of government is not enough. We need a Reagan-like statesman or woman in 2016 to truly turn our national tide (and slide). Don’t settle for anything less.
Number Nine – Approve the Keystone Pipeline. The US is experiencing an energy renaissance where we could lead the world over the next few decades. The progressive focus on global warming and renewable fuels is a misguided tangent. Let’s become the new Saudi Arabia in the coming decades both in oil and natural gas while protecting our environment. This will bring a surge of good, high-paying jobs.
Number Eight – Pass the Republican alternative to Obamacare sign it into law once the Supreme Court strikes down the illegal exchange subsidies (which may happen next summer). The Republican bill honors pre-existing conditions, forces no one to have insurance, is doctor-patient centered, and is not a one-size-fits all monstrosity. When the Supreme Court rules next summer, millions of people will lose their insurance and need coverage. Force president Obama to sign the Republican alternative knowing that a veto would bring down the wrath of the American electorate and leave millions without coverage.
Number Seven – Focus your rhetoric and priorities on the rebirth of faith, family, and freedom across the length and breadth of the fruited plane. This is what Americans want. It is their birthright. They want to us to remain “America,”–not become a dying, secular socialist democracy. Cast vision for these principles and the people will follow you.
Number Six – Strengthen and rebuild the military by using the power of the purse. We live in a dangerous world where America’s military might is necessary to defeat evil powers. Congress should re-fund America’s heroes to allow them to protect our shores and lift up the lamp of liberty in other nations.
Number Five – Protect our most fundamental right to religious liberty and conscience in all aspects of American society. Pass any necessary laws allowing people to express that faith in and through their businesses, schools, and neighborhoods in the United States without penalty or persecution.
Number Four – Prepare a Balanced Budget Amendment, and promise to pass it when we elect a Republican president in 2016. The 18 trillion dollar national debt has not gone away and may be up to twenty trillion when Barack Obama leaves office. Only a balanced budget amendment can bring our nation back into economic sanity and health.
Number Three – Change the tax code either through a Flat Tax or Fair Tax and lower the corporate income tax rates to the lowest in the world. This will bring trillions of dollars back home for investment, create fairness in the tax system, and stimulate the growth of millions of jobs over the next decade.
Number Two – Seal the southern border with fences, boots and technology. Then streamline and increase legal immigration to two or three million a year while sending any current illegal immigrants to the back of the immigration line.
Number One – Champion the sacredness of marriage between one man and one woman and commit to rebuilding the American family (especially in cities and minority areas). Marriage and family are the cornerstones of any great society.
These are the ten things that Republicans should do to bring God’s blessing back to the United States of America.
Those are my ideas. I’d love to hear yours.