Free Speech… Only for Progressives These Days?

'Duck Dynasty' Star Phil Robertson Has Been Suspended Over His Remarks in a GQ Interview About His View On Homosexuality

The right, guaranteed by the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution is for everyone to express beliefs and ideas without unwarranted government restriction.

By Marion Algier - AskMarion

It is easy to stand-up and support freedom of speech when you agree with what is being said.  It is tough, but necessary when you disagree!!  But, every regulation on the freedom of speech makes each of us just a little less free!!

One of America’s most outspoken fighters for freedom, Sarah Palin, who has personally (as well as her children) been directly attacked by members of the progressive left with false and vile comments, contrived lawsuits, and downright lies, believes the backlash over "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson's anti-gay comments is a threat to freedom of speech… and she is right!  You can’t have it both ways.

"Free speech is an endangered species; those 'intolerants' hatin' & taking on Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing personal opinion take us all on," Palin tweeted. She took to Facebook to voice her opinion Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013.

On her Facebook page, Palin posted a picture of herself with members of the Duck Dynasty family.

Sean Hannity and others have also spoken up in defense of freedom of speech in the Duck Dynasty suspension.  Sean Hannity said it was a "slippery slope" to begin firing or suspending people over things they said or believe, adding he never advocated for the firings of liberals -- including Alec Baldwin and Martin Bashir -- who got in trouble for controversial comments.

"You should be able to say what you want short of inciting violence," Crowley said. "A&E, though, has certain standards in practices. As an employee of A&E, A&E then has a right to say 'what he said doesn't suit us.'" said Monica Crowley

“Although he didn’t use the kindest words, Phil Robertson is a Christian man and his opinion is an ongoing debate between fundamental Christians and the Gay and Lesbian Community…” …Megyn Kelly

Even liberal commentator Tamara Holdern said that nobody should be fired for speaking their mind.  Robertson didn’t state his case in the best way and certainly wasn’t politically correct, but that is exactly what people like about him and the show.

It is either freedom of speech for everyone or no one. But through political correctness and application of a double standard, using Alinsky tactics, people on the left like Martin Bashir (who was not suspended or fired) can say just about anything and jour’no’lists can conspire to destroy someone on the right. And the mainstream media can irresponsibly report about candidates, politicians or events (Benghazi) without facts or vetting that make or break people or the outcome of situations and damage our country without reprisals.  Just ask Barbara Walters…

But if someone on the right like Megyn Kelly or Phil Robertson give their opinion or speak their mind, they are ridiculed, bashed by the left, called haters and then are often fired or cancelled. Attacks on conservative political opponents, the religious right or conservative media personalities like Palin, Cruz, Paul, Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh and pretty much the entire Fox network is part of the Progressive playbook employed by the Obama administration and their media minions since day one.

67-year-old duck hunter made headlines when GQ published an interview in which he discussed morality and sin, and juxtaposed homosexuality with bestiality.

“It seems like, to me, a vagina -- as a man -- would be more desirable than a man’s anus," he told the magazine. "That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”

After the quotes were published, GLAAD spoke out against Robertson's comments, calling them vile and misinformed. A&E ultimately suspended him from "Duck Dynasty" with an indefinite hiatus, saying his views do not align with those of the network.

But many are coming out in defense of Robertson, like Palin, who believes Robertson is being persecuted for merely practicing his First Amendment right.

Another controversial fight for freedom of speech was when Larry Flynt, one of the world's most well-known publishers of pornography, published an unflattering parody of Jerry Falwell in Hustler, Falwell waged a suit that eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled in Flynt's favor, citing the First Amendment's protection of freedom of speech, which was depicted in the film, The People vs. Larry Flynt [Blu-ray]. Funny how the left is happy when the law works for them and wants to ignore when they disagree.

Freedom requires tolerance of everyone’s opinion… not just for the speech and opinions of those you like or agree with!

*Many feel that Robertson will likely appear in season four of Duck Dynasty, which premieres on Jan. 15, as production is largely wrapped.  Robertson’s suspension has sparked a ‘Stand With Phil’ campaign: See the Support Flooding the Internet for Suspended ‘Duck Dynasty’ Star.  #IStandWithPhil and #IStandWithPhilRobertson are all over Twitter and the Internet today.  This is one of those situations and comments that might have better been ignored by the left for it could just spark the debate that has been left in the closet up until now, creating a far greater backlash for them than for Robertson in the long run.

Graphic: Gulag Bound

Technorati Tags: Duck Dynasty,Homosexuality,Opinions,Bible,Free Speech,Bill of Rights,Progressivism,Political Correctness,A&E,Speech-Police,Double Standards,GQ,Supreme Court,Larry Flynt,Bashir,GLAAD,Faith Community,Sin,Alinsky,Barbara Walters,Progressives,Conservatives

Watcher’s Council Nominations – Progressive Fruit Edition

JoshuaPundit on Feb 06 2013 |  Nominations.

Welcome to the Watcher’s Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the ‘sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday.

Council News:

Congrats to the following Council members for making the list of the 200 top conservative sites: Rhymes With Right, The Noisy Room, Gay Patriot, The Right Planet, The Mellow Jihadi, Bookworm Room, JoshuaPundit and Great Satan’s Girlfriend… Council Akbar!!

By the way, let me remind you that there’s now a seat available on the Watcher’s Council up for grabs.

We’re currently looking at candidates, so if you’re interested, think you qualify or want to find out more about what’s involved in being part of the longest established blogging group of its kind, simply leave a comment with site URL and your e-mail address (which won’t be published) on any article over at Joshuapundit.

These don’t come up all that often and when they do they usually fill up quickly, so don’t snooze.

This week, Ask Marion, Lefty Begone and The Pirate’s Cove took advantage of my generous offer of linkage and earned honorable mention status with some killer articles.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

Simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address (which won’t be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category, and return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week.

It’s a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members. while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let’s see what we have this week….

Council Submissions

• The Noisy Room – “Terror TV” Comes to America
• The Colossus of Rhodey – Gays are different, but not in the way you think
• The Political Commentator – Hurricane Sandy: View from the other side of the storm!
• Joshuapundit - Adolf Hitler-Progressive Pioneer
• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Hagelicious!
• Rhymes With Right – Why Does She Neet An “Assault Rifle”?
• The Razor – Why Americans Need Assault Rifles
• Simply Jews – Alexander Prokhanov and Saint Koba (Joseph Dzhugashvili)
• Bookworm Room – To convince voters, conservatives need to learn that it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it
• The Glittering Eye -The Remotest Place in the Lower 48
• Gay Patriot – Why don’t advocates of global warming make weather forecasts?
• VA Right! - Naming Names: Virginia Republicans Supporting Agenda 21 Power Grab in the Commonwealth
• The Mellow Jihadi – Joining the World’s Finest Navy©
• The Right Planet – Facing the Worst-Case Scenario

Honorable Mentions

• Ask Marion – Palin Plans to ‘Shake Up the GOP Machine’ and Perhaps the Next Two Elections
• Lefty Begone – Diplomacy Failure: North Korea Announces Plans to Strike U.S. with Nukes
• The Pirate’s Cove – Democrats In Brokeifornia Offer Legislation Requiring Insurance For Gun Owners To Protect The Taxpayer

Non-Council Submissions

• Sultan Knish – The Three Types of People You’ll Meet in Liberal Hell submitted by The Noisy Room
• City Journal – Abolish Social Studies submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
• Lachlan Markay/Washington Free Beacon - My Mother’s Loving Silence submitted by The Political Commentator
• Victor Davis Hanson – California at Twilight submitted by Joshuapundit
• Kings of War – Muslim Patrol as a provocation strategy submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Buckey Firearms Association – Convicted rapist organizes gun control demonstration at Dayton gun show; Media fails to note his sex offender status submitted by Rhymes with Right
• Quartz – How Indian immigrants could save the Republican Party submitted by The Razor
• Andrew Ian Dodge – As a Former Tea Party Patriot, Here’s What I Think Is Wrong With the GOP submitted by Simply Jews
• Powerline - David Horowitz: How Republicans Can Win submitted by Bookworm Room
• Via Meadia – Slate’s Matt Yglesias Sings the Blue Model Blues submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Just One Minute - Making Stuff Up At The Times (Gun Control Safety, Ongoing…) submitted by Gay Patriot
• Heritage.Org – Unions Insult Taxpayers with Obamacare Subsidy Request submitted by VA Right!
• The Troglopundit –The most violent city in the most violent nation on Earth submitted by The Mellow Jihadi
• Ted Nugent – Ted Nugent: ‘There Is No GUN VIOLENCE! There Is Criminal Violence and They Use an Assortment of Tools’ submitted by The Right Planet
• Andrew McCarthy – Senate Republicans Arm the Brotherhood submitted by The Watcher
• Seraphic Secret – Jews, Non-Jews and Hagel submitted by The Watcher

Enjoy! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that!

Technorati Tags: news,news nuggets,alternative media,collection of articles,Watcher's Council,educate yourself and others,bloggers,blogosphere,politics,Progressivism,Progresseives

Game ON! Two Front War

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
- Benjamin Franklin

Andrew Breitbart was right: it is a war. And we fight that war on two fronts: against the Progressives on one side and radical Islam on the other. Both are equally dangerous and hateful in their condemnation of American exceptionalism. They are close kin to one another in the sense that the Progressive Movement seeks to install the state as the replacement for religion and the distributor of our worldly needs; while Islam is a theocracy and the single arbiter of justice and purpose. Neither of these social structures gives a damn about the individual or his freedom–both must be imposed. They are unnatural; it is our nature to resist the shackles of servitude. Freedom is, apparently, not for everyone.

America is a constitutional republic. For this reason, we are inherently vulnerable to apathy. To prevent the government from growing itself, citizens must stay involved. Sadly, that has not been the case in recent decades. We need to forget about Dancing With the Stars and take a sobering look at the number of spears pointed at our country and the American culture.

What Do We Need To Do?

Stand on the courage of our convictions confidently. We have every reason to feel encouraged, not discouraged. The sycophantic news media is never going to like or approve of anything we do. So we may as well do what needs to be done and let them whine and caterwaul to their heart’s content. We need to watch Democrats closely in the coming election and make sure that the dead are not voting and that the New Black Panthers are not intimidating people outside their polling precincts. They will stop at nothing in order to preserve their grip on the throat of liberty. This is for all the marbles.

The media has gone out of their way to say that the Tea Party was no longer relevant and that the Obama crowd is the true mainstream of American thought–like hell! The landslide defeat of incumbent Richard Lugar and the refutation of the union assault on Governor Walker of Wisconsin has them stunned. We were supposed to lie down and let them have their way and instead they got their a**** handed back to them.

In addition to fighting a “two front war,” we fight a war within a war. Equally dangerous to the conservative cause are the milquetoast moderate establishment Republicans.

Moderates suck–in either party–because they compromise (a bad word in the Tea Party mindset). The middle of the road is not some lofty perch from which one can see all, it is a spineless position and only good for being being run over. Do not compromise. Do not accept a liberal premise. It is time that they are made to reach out to us.

Action:

Once we regain control we can begin to work on the restoration process; however, it is going to take several elections to undo the meddling of a Marxist megalomaniac.

Boycott the propagandist news media. The MSM is complicit in the fraud that is Barack Obama. There is nothing that they present that isn’t bent to promote their agenda. They deserve to be ignored for their journalistic negligence and obfuscation of the truth.

Indict Eric Holder! There is no telling how deep this insidious scandal may reach, but there can be no doubt that Holder believes that he is above the law. When we finally regain control of the Executive office, we will need to install a pitbull as AG and literally tear into all of the abuses of power that have become the norm for the Obama Administration.

Investigate Solyndra/Lightsquared, etc. Obama’s green energy policies are nothing more than a money laundering operation to funnel tax payer’s money to his union pals and campaign backers.

Withdraw from the United Nations. The UN has become a joke and there is nothing there that we need to answer for. They are only interested in extorting us and blaming us for all the things gone wrong in the world. They are trying (still) to shove global warming down our throats, despite the fact that it has been exposed as hoax.

Eliminate bureaucracies and repeal regulation. It is time to eliminate the alphabet soup agencies that are regulating our economy to death. The Constitution does not obligate us to preserve ANY of the nonsensical things that these bureaucracies do.

Repeal ObamaCare! No one even wanted socialized medicine before Obama jammed it through the Congress against the will of the people. Not a single Republican voted for it.

Tax reform is long overdue. It is the primary tool by which the progressive institute their social architecture. Flat tax, national sales tax –it doesn’t matter–but change the status quo and eliminate the IRS.

Social Security reform. Entitlement spending is just out of control and must be contained. We cannot continue down the current path. Medicare and Medicaid and all public assistance needs a massive overhaul.

Eliminate the Department of Education–which has polluted the minds of our young people and indoctrinated them into this entitlement mindset that is dragging our society down into the quagmires of hell.

Purge courts of activist “judge-islators.” With every legislative defeat we hand them, we get a lawsuit to thwart the people’s will. Legislation from the bench is the Progressive movement’s alternative strategy. If they cannot defeat us in the arena of ideas, then they simply run to the nearest sympathetic liberal judge and have them issue a ruling that counteracts the offending action.

Keep the House

In light of the November 2010 midterm elections, and the primaries for the coming 2012 election, keeping the House should be a fairly easy task. Congressman Allen West (R-FL) is definitely the bright spot on our horizon. We need to install a true conservative as Speaker and continue our efforts to constrain the cancer of socialism. The House of Representatives is currently the only stronghold of common sense that there is in the 22 square miles that is Washington, D.C. We must retain this, if possible, and increase our numbered advantage there.

Regain Control of the Senate

Investigate and indict Harry Reid–who has not passed a budget in 1,112 days, despite the legal requirement to do so. This man should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Harry has a morgue drawer in his desk where all of the good ideas put forth by the Republicans in the House now reside. (And they accuse us of being obstructionist.) The Senate is a collection of monumental egos–100 presidents in waiting–and their direct election (17th amendment) is something we should seriously consider repealing. Streamline the government and restore it to its original format and structure to preserve the sovereignty of our republic. It is time, as some liberal columnist once quipped, to force the Senate to pull over–“park the clown car and get out to stretch their legs.”

Judge Napolitano: Repeal the “Progressive” 17th Amendment

Our #1 Job

Our first concern is to be sure that we get control of the White House by electing the Republican candidate, which will most assuredly be Mitt Romney.

Then we can hold Romney’s moderate feet to the fire and keep the establishment Republicans under the spot light of truth. He will need to be dragged to the right and told when to compromise. But we can help him. Romney leaves much to be desired in the hearts of true conservatives. But he is not a Marxist; and he is not beneath the thumb of George Soros.

“Applause waits on success.” - Benjamin Franklin

The only weakness that our constitutional republic has is apathy. Citizens need to pay attention and participate, or their freedoms will be stolen right out from underneath them, as has been repeatedly demonstrated by history

Read the entire post here. This post is pretty lengthy but worth the time to read. To win this election and take back our country, we must have a plan and this one looks pretty good to me. What say you?

Whether you are a Newt or Santorum or RPaul fan… or were still hoping that Palin would run, the reality is that Mitt has the GOP nomination. Now until Tampa it is just window dressing. Mitt has the numbers. As Conservatives, Independents, mainstream Republicans, Libertarians, Tea Party activists, disenfranchised Democrats, people of faith, Constitutionalists, Patriots of all stripes, we MUST combine our efforts and elect Romney and REMOVE OBAMA and the Socialist trend forever from the United States.

Time to stop focusing all our energy on what is wrong with Obama but instead on what is right with our guy (Romney) and on what needs to be done to win not only the election but the war!

Source:  Combination Game On – Adapted by LauraJAlcorn, National Director – Conservative 2 Conservative – h/t to Claudia Johnson

Technorati Tags: Election 2012,2012 Election,saving America,Saving the Republic,Mitt Romney 2012,solutions,patriots unite,GOP candidates,Progressives,Islam,one term Obama,Conservatives,Independents,Republicans,Tea Party Activists,Libertarians,disenfranchised Democrats,people of faith,Constitutionalists,Patriots of all stripes,beating Obama

Earth Day… How Did You Celebrate?

Most people didn’t celebrate Earth Day or even remember that it was Earth Day… at least not without being reminded.

And for some An Earth Day Tradition Is… George Carlin on Saving the Planet

George Carlin on the intellectual bankruptcy of “saving the planet”

Video: George Carlin on Saving the Planet – a few questionable words but worth the listen!

The Left:

Video: A Terrorist, OBAMA'S FRIEND Bernadine Dohrn Advocates Communism to Sheeple and Former Soviet

Video: A Terrorist, OBAMA'S FRIEND, Bill Ayers Advocates Communism to Sheeple and Former Soviet Citizen

At the Green Festival in Chicago, they took the full mask off of the true drivers of the Green Activist Movement. The keynote speakers were none other than Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers. They sat up on the dais, and true to form said not one word showing remorse for detonating bombs killing dozens in the Pentagon nor in the NYC Police Precinct House, but instead got right into their message of ending capitalism, our republic, our very freedoms to choose our own destinies. this is the true face of the Environmental Movement today. Any source of energy that works, is considered evil, and must be curbed. That way, our Marxist over lords will be able to completely control our every action, and even some day our thoughts. Of course no one will fall for that willingly, so we need to create an environmental scare to make every one fall for it deceptively. Enter the morons who are worried about Global Warming. Hook, line, and sinker us all down the drain in the name of the single dumbest activist movement in our nation's history. It is not only because the evidence does not in the slightest support their position at all, that man kind is responsible for global warming. It is also moronic in that history has shown every other warm period throughout all of time has been a period of economic boom on a world wide scale, a time of plenty and happiness.

As you watch these two videos, bear in mind that these fine individuals are close friends and advisers to our current President. When Bernadine Dohrn is vamped for the audience, she actually bristles and then flirts with the crowd when her list of accomplishment includes spending a decade on the FBI's 10 most wanted list. The main stream media spent the entirety of 2008 avoiding completely any type of vetting of Barack Obama. I say we show people what he is really up to, and Dohrn and Ayers are as good a place to start as any. when asked about his association with these two in 2008, he said that Bill was just some guy from the neighborhood that I say hi to occasionally. In fact the Ayers Dohrn household was the site of Barack Obama's very first political fundraiser, a fact not once mentioned on any of the news networks not beginning with the letter F.

The Right:

The environmental agenda has been infected by extremism—it's become an economic suicide pact. And we're here to challenge it. On Earth Day, visit www.freemarketamerica.org.

Video: “If I Wanted America to Fail”

And Some Reality:

40th (Now 42nd) Anniversary of 1st Earth Day – A Grim Reminder of Immigration and Devastation of a Vision

2012 is the 42nd Anniversary of the 1st Earth Day but re-posting this article from 2010 has become my Earth Day Anniversary Tradition. So when some indoctrinated college student or old hippie corners you with their Earth Day spiel, presentation or product over the weekend and into next week, get their email and send them the link to this post. Ask Marion~

This is a great article to use when contacting your Senator and Congressman: 40th Anniversary of 1st Earth Day a Grim Reminder of Immigration’s Devastation of a Vision – We can solve two problems at once. If we stop illegal immigration and cut immigration in general… We will have no need for Cap and Trade and will solve our illegal alien (Hispanic and Muslim) problems, both groups that do not assimilate and reproduce in large numbers. Just by doing this one thing we will improve the quality of life of all Americans and legal aliens.

By Roy Beck, Sunday, April 18, 2010, 7:41 PM EDT – Originally Cross-Posted: 40th Anniversary of 1st Earth Day a Grim Reminder of Immigration’s Devastation of a Vision by Ask Marion originally posted on  4.23.2010 – Updated 2.22.2012

THURSDAY IS THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST EARTH DAY — AND A GRIM REMINDER OF HOW IMMIGRATION HAS UNDERCUT VIRTUALLY ALL ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS.

Pres. Clinton’s Task Force understood it. The Father of Earth Day understood it. You and I understand it. Why does Congress not understand that U.S. environmental sustainability is not possible unless we greatly reduce immigration numbers?

What does sustainability mean? That the way we live today will not prevent our grandchildren from enjoying the same things we enjoy. The Golden Rule is at the heart of it.

Sustainability was the big idea 40 years ago when much of the nation’s attention was drawn to the events and news of the first Earth Day. I was a cub newspaper reporter covering the events. And I remember well that an important theme in 1970 was that sustainability required the U.S. to begin to stabilize its population after having added the SECOND 100 million in just 55 years.

Well, now we’ve added the THIRD 100 million in less than the 40 years since that first Earth Day and we’re on pace to add the FOURTH 100 million even faster!

Because of this massive population explosion, progress on environmental quality in recent years has stalled. The Chesapeake Bay, for example, is just about as near death today as it was in 1970.

And around 1 MILLION acres of natural habitat and farmland are cleared, scraped and developed each year just to accommodate this rapid population growth.

Nearly all of the population growth is caused by the increases in immigration that Congress ordered or allowed since 1970. For every restriction and cost that the government has put on us since then to improve environmental quality, it has negated part or all of the benefits by forcing high population growth through radically increased immigration numbers.

That is why the Father of Earth Day, Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D-Wis.), made U.S. population stabilization such an important part of the teaching back in 1970 and why he spent much of the last 20 years warning of the environmental dangers of continuing our high-immigration policies.

Even Pres. Clinton’s Population and Consumption Task Force concluded in 1996 that the immigration increases since the first Earth Day had to be rolled back.

The Task Force was a bit nervous about taking on the immigration issues (just like most environmentalists are):

As a matter of public debate, immigration is a sensitive and explosive issue, and both legal and illegal immigration must be addressed with great sensitivity and care in order to advance the debate. We acknowledge these impediments to easy and informal dialogue, and we urge that participants take appropriate care so that a reasoned discussion of immigration and the American future can begin.

But then Pres. Clinton’s Task Force stated forcefully:

We believe that reducing current immigration levels is a necessary part of working toward sustainability in the United States.

Pres. Clinton had established the Task Force in 1993 to find ways “to bring people together to meet the needs of the present without jeopardizing the future.”

Have you noticed that I have been quoting only Democrats?

If you are represented by Democrats in Congress, this is an especially good time to call on them to be true to their Party’s long-standing “stated” commitment to environmental sustainability.

Of course, most of them don’t want to deal with the inconvenient truth that the Democratic Party’s insistence on high immigration to drive massive U.S. population growth is at odds with decades of acknowledgments that these policies simply cannot continue if we hope to leave any kind of natural environmental legacy to our grandchildren.

President Carter in 1977 commissioned a Global 2000 Report <– (the original seems to have been scrubbed) which eventually concluded that the “United States should: Develop a U.S. national population policy that includes attention to issues such as population stabilization … just, consistent and workable immigration laws.”

Without all the increases in immigration, our communities would have around 250 million inhabitants right now, with little likelihood of ever going over 265 million.

Instead, because of a quadrupling in legal immigration numbers, we have more than 310 million inhabitants and are on a trajectory to cross 600 million well before the end of this century!

Obviously, the first Earth Day vision was for an America greatly different than the one we occupy today. And congressional immigration policies are the main reason that bright vision is now so murky.

This 40th anniversary is not a time of celebration but of deep sadness for the promise that was lost.

As Sen. Nelson said on the 32nd anniversary just a few years before his death:

We are preparing to celebrate the 32nd Earth Day just after the Census Bureau has announced that far from winding down in the 1990s, U.S. population growth boomed at its highest level in the nation’s history! Not even the peak of the Baby Boom in the 1950s added as many people!

“This new population boom represents a PROFOUND FAILURE in our nation’s pursuit of environmental quality. Since 1970, another 80 million people have been added to the country.

“Every environmental goal has been delayed because of this failure.

And Sen. Nelson never flinched from naming who had caused the failure: Congress, because of its immigration policies.

I know from past experiences that many NumbersUSA members, especially in the West, do not think so kindly toward Sen. Nelson because he was the father of the Wilderness Act which they believe unfairly took huge swaths of land out of private control and use.

Our membership is divided about a lot of environmental matters. NumbersUSA does not take a position on any environmental issue other than immigration’s role. Whatever your stance on various governmental efforts to combat environmental problems, we all can be united in the understanding that immigration is creating the double whammy of creating great pressures for more and more regulation to control environmental consequences while negating any positive effects.

Let’s require our Members of Congress to promise not to force the FOURTH 100 million on us and our children and grandchildren.

ROY BECK is Founder & CEO of NumbersUSA

NumbersUSA’s blogs are copyrighted and may be republished or reposted only if they are copied in their entirety, including this paragraph, and provide proper credit to NumbersUSA. NumbersUSA bears no responsibility for where our blogs may be republished or reposted.

Views and opinions expressed in blogs on this website are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect official policies of NumbersUSA.

Source: Washington Examiner (link no longer active) – www.washingtonexaminer.com

Most of us do believe that it is the right thing to do to be better stewards of our Earth and to be kinder to the animals we share it with. We need to do a better job of protecting our supplies of clean water, stop massive deforestation which includes the saving species of plants that may hold huge medicinal secrets, and to move toward cleaner and a bigger tool box of energy sources. But especially after Climategate most of us do believe that turning these matter over to the government or worse yet global control is not the way to do and will devastate us financially as well as ultimately turning over huge control over our country to the UN.

A lot of what George says makes sense!!

Today’s Earth Day announcement is that Al Gore’s movie, an Inconvenient Truth, based on very questionable science is going to be shown to our children in all public schools without the opposite point of view being offered.

These kids, your kids, are being programmed daily that they are smarter than you are and that it is their job to teach their parents. Can’t get to the adults… get to the kids. Do you remember the last time these methods were used??

Please stand up, as individuals, and in your parent groups… form some if you haven’t already and stop this concept as well as the pushing of the theory of Global Warming !

40 years of predicting the planet’s imminent demise

Earth Day Predictions, from the first one in 1970….

“Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind.” -George Wald, Harvard Biologist

“Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction.” -New York Times editorial, the day after the first Earth Day

“Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years.” -Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“By…[1975] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s.” -Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“It is already too late to avoid mass starvation.” Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day

“Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions….By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.” -Peter Gunter, professor, North Texas State University

“Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support…the following predictions: In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution…by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half….” -Life Magazine, January 1970

“At the present rate of nitrogen buildup, it’s only a matter of time before light will be filtered out of the atmosphere and none of our land will be usable.” -Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

“Air pollution…is certainly going to take hundreds of thousands of lives in the next few years alone.” -Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

“We are prospecting for the very last of our resources and using up the nonrenewable things many times faster than we are finding new ones.” -Martin Litton, Sierra Club director

“By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate…that there won’t be any more crude oil. You’ll drive up to the pump and say, `Fill ‘er up, buddy,’ and he’ll say, `I am very sorry, there isn’t any.’” -Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

“Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, believes that in 25 years, somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct.” -Sen. Gaylord Nelson

“The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.” -Kenneth Watt, Ecologist

It was also announced that Congress is in the process of taking over control of all water in the US. – from Rivers, Lakes, Ponds down to Puddles… our drinking water and irrigation supplies. The existing law gives then control of all navigable water ways… they are now seeking to take out the word ‘navigable’. Ask the citizens of the San Joaquin Valley in CA, who used to be the bread basket of America, how that can work out. They now live in a Federally created Dust Bowl. This is a bad thing America!!

Related:

First they Shut off Water to CA Farmers, Now the Feds Attempting to Annex ALL Water in the U.S.

Please educate yourself… Pick up a copy of: Power Grab

First Ever Blueprints For World Government Revealed

Andrew Puhanic, Contributor

Activist Post

The Campaign for World Government (A Globalist backed institution) created a manifesto in 1942 for how a World Government is to be formed.

Written by Rosika Schwimmer (born on September 11, 1877, a self-labeled socialist) and Lola Maverick Lloyd (self-proclaimed pioneer of the movement for world government), with the aid of the Globalists, tried to establish World Government in response to the failures of the League of Nations.

In 1937, both Rosika Schwimmer and Lola Maverick Lloyd formed the Campaign for World Government in order to achieve a society that is fee of borders, centralized and controlled by the most powerful and elite "experts".

There is no doubt that the Globalists are actively seeking to introduce World Government and we now have evidence of what could be described as the first written record of how the Globalists are planning to introduce World Government.

Blueprints for World Government

Immediate Action

The main lines of this blueprint for governmental or unofficial action to organize the world were drawn in 1924. We revised our work and published the present pamphlet in 1937. This is the fourth edition. Believing government initiation of world union to be at present not only hopeless but even undesirable, we wish to emphasize the part of our plan designed for unofficial action. Immediate action along unofficial lines is imperative.

We have seen our globe in no time turned into one armed camp. We can transform it as quickly into a fit home for the human family. Self-made governments in exile have for military purposes been grouped with the greater powers into the “United Nations”. As the first step in peaceful achievement of world union, we urge the immediate creation of the self-made Provisional World Government to take all the unofficial action recommended in our original plan. Its world-wide announcement must include an appeal to all people to lay down their arms and prepare to participate in creating the new world order.

The only chance of creating the long-overdue federalized world government, all inclusive, non-military and democratic in its structure, is to stop this war before either belligerent is exhausted. Men and women of supreme integrity and imaginative daring must rise and lead mankind into their new safe road. Good plans have long been ready.

Internationally controlled demarcation lines must be established between the hostile forces, immobilizing them. They can cooperate in local reconstruction work until world organization has reached the stage where its own federal commissions can supervise their systematic demobilization and immediate absorption into planned creative work on a global scale.

The Provisional World Government in continuous session with full publicity shall draw up the World Constitution. Simultaneously it shall be prepared to assume the impartial administration of scientifically planned emergency relief of starving populations. It shall also receive complaints, accusations and claims against individuals, groups and nations for proper preparations and submission to courts to be established under the World Constitution.

If we fail, the war leaders will carry on to the exhaustion of one or both sides. After exhaustion will follow chaos, revolution, dictatorship and recurring global war until the human family destroys itself.

The prerequisite of Provisional World Government is headquarters and a fund of millions to begin unofficially on world organization, the only hopeful basis for immediate cessation of hostilities and a warless future.

There must exist men and women able to provide the means who sincerely and passionately desire world peace.

The life of mankind is at stake.

Lola Maverick Lloyd and Rosika Schwimmer November 11, 1942

The Plan

The following outline for international action is addressed to all those who agree that we must stop theorizing about peace and put the best existing theories into practice. It offers an answer to the question, “How can we start practical action to establish world peace now?” It presents the preliminary steps necessary for a representative World Convention to draft the best possible constitution for an all-inclusive, non-military, democratic Federation of Nations.

Plan for Governmental Action

The President of the United States or in other countries the comparable governmental authority shall invite a small group of experts in voting methods to formulate the best practical method for the democratic election in all countries alike of delegates to a World Constitutional Convention. The Committee of Experts shall meet not later than four weeks after appointment and at the earliest possible moment make their recommendations simultaneously to the governments and the public, using the most effective channels of communication to reach all the people.

Congress or the parliaments at the same time that they adopt the report of the Committee of Experts shall legislate to start the recommended machinery for the organization of the World Constitutional Convention. Not later than three months after the law is passed delegates to the Constitutional Convention shall be nationally elected.

No member or departmental head of the military or naval forces or of the national governments of any nation shall be eligible in any capacity whatsoever for participation in the preparation or the proceedings of the World Constitutional Convention.

As soon as at least six nations have elected and officially appointed their delegates to the World Constitutional Convention, the delegates shall assemble and open their sessions without delay; the delegates from the other countries to join them as soon as elected.
The convention shall meet in the country which first invites it.

If Governments Do Not Act

If neither the President of the United States nor any other government acts, organizations or individuals shall raise the necessary funds and invite a small group of experts in voting methods to formulate the best practical method for the democratic election in all countries alike of delegates to a World Constitutional Convention. The unofficial Committee of Experts shall be regulated as to time of meeting and other duties by the rules given above for the official Committee of Experts except that they shall prepare two plans for the World Constitutional Convention, one for governmental action, if at that stage governments are ready to act, and the other to be used if government are not ready to act.

In case world organization must continue unofficially, international-minded individuals shall be chosen as delegates by the method recommended by the unofficial Committee of Experts. The delegates shall meet and function as an unofficial World Constitutional Convention. They shall draft a complete Constitution regulating the federal life of the human family in a superstructure where the states are free to develop independently, their national sovereignty being unlimited except where their interdependence requires federal regulation.

The duty of the Convention is to draw up a detailed plan for the political, economic, and social cooperation of all the nations. It shall also propose a place for the permanent location of the world parliament and an equitable division of its expenses. Within one year it shall simultaneously publish its plan and present it to all the governments of the world.

The World Constitution shall first be urged on all governments for adoption. After one year, if no government has agreed to initiate the recommended steps, unofficial steps must be taken by the people to inaugurate the all-inclusive, non-military, democratic Federation of Nations.

Tentative Plan for the Federation of Nations

In order to clarify and offer our demands in such a shape that they can serve as a basis of discussion for the World Constitutional Convention, we submit the following outline of the Federation of Nations:

The individual development of member states is left to their own decision except where it may conflict with world welfare. The world government must control the international relations between states. This situation will be similar to that between the states and the federal government in the United States of America, or that between the cantons and the federal government of Switzerland.

All the sixty-four states of the world are to be admitted immediately and unconditionally. There shall be but one class of membership.

The Federation of Nations must be a democratic league controlled by direct representation of the peoples and not by governments and bureaucracies.

To achieve the direct representation of the peoples to the Federation of Nations all states shall adopt for the election of their delegates the voting system recommended by the Committee of Experts on voting methods.

The organs of the Federation of Nations shall be a World Parliament, an Executive Board, and a Permanent Secretary.

Each state shall elect ten delegates and ten alternates to the World Parliament for a term of ten years. They shall be subject to recall by their own electorate.

The votes of the delegates in the World Parliament shall be counted individually and not by nations. Delegates from any state may differ among themselves on any issue and will find similar differences in other delegations. Every important group in a nation can be represented among its ten delegates, and will find like-minded groups from other nations in the World Parliament, where divisions will consequently occur along lines of opinion, not lines of geography. No unanimous vote on any question shall be required from a national delegation.

The delegates shall organize the World Parliament and elect a president, a vice-president, an executive board and all the necessary commissions, employing the voting system recommended by the Committee of Experts. Temporary or permanent vacancies shall be filled by the originally elected alternates.

The World Parliament shall be in session the first three months of every year. Sessions may be prolonged or reassembled by vote of the delegates to the World Parliament.
All sessions of the World Parliament must be public, and an official summary of its proceedings must be furnished daily to the press.

The Executive Board and the Permanent Secretary shall carry on the business of the World Parliament and shall reside permanently at its sear. For administrative purposes regional headquarters shall be established on all continents. Regional secretaries shall be chosen by the World Parliament. These continental offices will have direct communication – telegraph, telephone and wireless – and a central broadcasting station will be operated.
The commissions will be entitled to employ experts and any other help necessary to the extent of the appropriations voted them by the World Parliament.

While every delegate shall have the right to use his own language in Parliament, for the auxiliary world language we recommend English, as it is already used as auxiliary language by a larger number of people than any other language.
While every nation, race or religion is free to use its traditional reckoning of time, we recommend that the World Parliament count its official time from that year in which world unity shall be attained. The consummation of world unification, the most important date in history, will be the point from which an adult world will reckon time.

Federal Commissions to Be Organized

I. Economic

A) Commission to plan industrial, agricultural, technical, engineering, scientific and other work extensive enough to absorb the millions liberated by the abandonment of the war system and also to take care of all the unemployed of the world. The abolition of armies, navies, air fleets, armaments and munition factories in all the states of the world will release for this vast reemployment scheme the scrapped war material and enormous sums heretofore provided in open and concealed war budgets.

B) Commission to plan the regulation of the world’s production of raw materials and the control of its distribution according to the needs of all nations, thus removing the excuse for forcible conquest of territory and for continued existence of empires, colonies, mandates.

C) Commission to plan the abolition of all tariffs and customs and the establishment of free trade between all nations and to act as Arbitration Board in trade disputes between member states.

D) Commission on transportation and communication for international control of traffic between states by railways and waterways, by automobile transportation and aviation, and of the postal, telegraph, telephone and radio services.

E) Commission to plan the regulation of world finance and to evolve a uniform monetary system.

II. Legal

F) Commission to prepare the code of international laws and to plan executive machinery for their administration and courts for their adjudication.

G) Commission on international relations for reorganizing the existing machinery (Diplomacy) of political contact and intercourse between nations.

H) Commission to plan and set up national arbitration bodies for the settlement of internal disputes which may cause civil war, and to set up a federal body to which national arbitration cases may be appealed.

I) Commission to plan and carry out the elimination of capital punishment in all states, and to set up institutions in which criminals formerly subject to capital punishment shall be incarcerated for scientific study and treatment.

III. Population Questions

J) Commission for solving population problems by planned relief of overpopulated regions and thus removing an excuse of aggressive militarists for wars of conquest.

1. By transfer of population to undeveloped territories and under-populated regions, migration never to be compulsory but induced by making the under-populated regions and undeveloped territories offer better opportunities.
2. By legalization of birth-control.

K) Commission on world citizenship to regulate the rights and duties of citizens of the Federation of Nations. In addition to equal world citizenship each human being shall have the rights and duties of a citizen of the nation where he resides.

IV. Miscellaneous

L) Commission on education to plan educational opportunities for all children. Textbooks and other materials for education shall be based on unbiased facts, and history shall be taught from the world point of view, emphasizing the moral, economic, scientific and artistic contributions to mankind’s progress and happiness by all nations, races, classes, creeds and both sexes.
M) Health commission for scientific and practical research into all hygienic problems and for planning adequate health service.

N) Commission to prepare international legislation to safeguard historically truthful presentation of news by the press, screen and radio and to protect the honor of nations and individuals through national and international Press-Juries, Courts of Honor and similar forums.

Other commissions shall be organized by the World Parliament as needed.
We cannot overemphasize the importance of choosing at every stage of procedure the right personnel. We must not repeat the mistake of the Hague Conferences and the Disarmament Conference of 1932 where high international aims were frustrated by delegates who lacked the world viewpoint. Only international-minded men and women can be trusted to reorganize human society on a safe basis.

To view the original document, click here

Note: If document link does not work, please send us an e-mail at activistpost (at) gmail.com and we will send you the PDF directly.

Andrew Puhanic is the founder of The Globalist Report, a website designed to provide you with the information you need to make informed decisions and understand world events and how they affect you. The Globalists, and those who support world government, can only be halted when their plans for world domination are made public. You can contact Andrew directly at Andrew @ The Globalist Report

The Origins of Communism in California

By AJ

Examining the long march to Communism in California shows that it took Progressives over a hundred years to achieve their totalitarian California dream.

In 1879, the NY Times reported on the new California Constitution which was instigated by... wait for it... the Labor Party. Wouldn't you know, community organizers peddling their Communism way back then. In the article, "Communism in California", notice that their oppressive, totalitarian dream was instituted through taxation and taking control of land and railways. Does this sound similar to what they're doing at an accelerated pace today? It certainly parallels what Nancy Pelosi brought to the House floor in 1992, which she called "Agenda 21" and said it is the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development program.

Most notable in the 1879 NY Times article is the authors apparent realization of the danger of enacting a mild form of Socialism that would lead to a Communist California, while at the same time finding comfort in the fact that it's happening in a "distant part of the country". The author may have presumed it would prove disastrous before infecting other States and spreading throughout the US like a violent and deadly virus. Little did the author know that it would be emanating from our very own White House, with an iron fist, within 130 years.

COMMUNISM IN CALIFORNIA (Published May 9, 1879) – Full article HERE 

Excerpts:

"... it is clear that the efforts of the conservative people of California have not been able to stem the tide which has lately set toward Communism in the Golden State. It must be said that the experiment of a mild form of Socialism is now about to be tried in one of the States of the Republic. Perhaps it is just as well that it should be tried in a distant part of the country, and in a State which always makes much of its own griefs, as well as of its own advantages. There never was a serious desire for a remodeling of the Constitution of California until the so-called Labor Party became an important factor in the politics of the State..."

"The adoption of the new Constitution, absurd as it may be in some of its provisions, is the manifestation of a rebellion against what is called "the tyranny of capital." It is a violent remedy for actual ills. It is a practical overturning of the principles that have governed American commercial life ever since the foundation of the Republic. Many requirements of the new Constitution are impossible of execution. Others will be evaded by corrupt officers. But enough will remain to bring disaster and financial distress upon the people."

Many lament what California has become and, despite the beauty of this State, people and businesses are leaving as fast as they can. On the other hand, Communists like Van Jones and the Union leaders who control this State enjoy calling California their "home" while they live in the lap of luxury courtesy of people like George Soros and Barack Obama (through our tax dollars, of course).

A May Day rally in Los Angeles, co-sponsored by the SEIU and various communist groups, as well as other unions, reflected yet another step in the normalization of self-identified communist and socialist ideologies in the Obama era. Not only did the SEIU help to organize the rally in conjunction with communists, they marched side-by-side with communists, while union members carried communist flags, communists carried union signs, and altogether there was no real way to tell the two apart.

The communists freely and proudly declare their affiliation. And the SEIU has no problem marching arm-in-arm with them.

"Smash Capitalism" is a slogan the SEIU apparently endorses - or at least doesn't mind marching behind. In case you think the SEIU is some peripheral out-of-the-mainstream organization:

The SEIU devoted $28 million to Obama's campaign, making the SEIU "the organization that spent the most to help Barack Obama get elected president."

Furthermore, who is Obama's favorite White House guest and one of his closest confidants? The individual who has visited the Obama White House the most: SEIU President Andy Stern, who has visited 53 times. Obama is closely linked with the SEIU. The SEIU is closely linked with communists. You do the math.

Did I say communists? Sorry, I meant Communists (with a capital "C"). Note how the Communists that day (like the women on the right in this photo) carried solid red flags symbolizing their ideology. Keep that in mind as you view the next photo.

One of the SEIU leaders picked up a Communist flag and led a contingent of rank-and-file SEIU members. Everyone was OK with that.

The way you can identify the SEIU members in all these pictures: They're the ones in purple T-shirts carrying blue-and-yellow signs.

So, as you can see, the communists and the union members intermingled as the march progressed.

In case you were wondering what the SEIU was saying during all of this, There is a video of the SEIU chanting "Legalization or REVOLUTION!" Clear enough?

And it wasn't just the SEIU at the march - other "normal" unions like the AFL-CIO were on hand as well.There were plenty of teachers' unions attending too, and they brought along many of their public school students for some good old-fashioned communist indoctrination.

Most in the US who walk around with Che buttons or Che shirts do so simply because they foolishly think he's "cool." These hardcore communists carry his image not because he's "cool," but because he was one of the most radical revolutionaries who ever lived. Right up there with Lenin, apparently.

No comment necessary!

In order to have a more "civil dialogue" with their political opponents, the marchers made a puppet of a demonic Statue of Liberty aligned with the "Tea Bag Party."

OK, I guess Hitler comparisons are off the table for now - too many people have called it taboo. So what's second best? The Devil!

Tell me the honest truth: If the Tea Party had marched in a rally behind a banner held up by fascists or neo-Nazis, don't you think it would have been national news? But the nation's biggest Obama-supporting political organization marched behind banners like these, and not a peep about it in the media. Hmmmm..

Until recently, the average American has regarded fascists and communists as equally noxious and equally malignant. As well they should have. But the drive these days by the left side of the spectrum is to make communism and socialism somewhat less remarkable and more palatable. For two years they angrily denied the Tea Party accusation that Obama's policies and supporters had a socialist bent.

But in recent months, as the accusation had started to gain traction, the new leftist tactic has become: "What's so bad about socialism after all? You're demonizing a very popular and respectable ideology!"

Here is Communist California today... (h/t MamaKat)

Video: Communists and SEIU Members march together at May Day Demonstration, L.A., CA

Video:  Young Communists at May Day protest, Los Angeles, Ca 5/1/2011

Related:

How California’s Colleges Indoctrinate Students

Obama’s Radical Friends…

In Case You Missed It:  What the Mailman Knows about Ayers and Obama

Video:  The Real Story of the Weathermen

America. This portion concerns the ties between the Weathermen and the DGI (Cuban Intelligence) - By the way take special note of what is said at 1:14, 1:23, and 9:06."

4/27 thru 4/29 Communist Expo in SF - Bill Ayers is a speaker and 5/3 Van Jones will speak at Berkeley Middle School

One of my patriot friends sent this to me.  We need to either get people to both protest the event and also get people to attend. I am going to attend. There is a Communist Expo in SF on 4/27 through 4/29. And then Van Jones will be speaking at a middle school in Berkeley on 5/3.

I say we get people to attend the expo. Split up in groups and do recon. I’m going to register. Anyone want to go let me know. Three days of this crap is going to kill me!

Here’s what Linda sent me:

I received a mailer call a couple of days ago called "11th Annual New Living Expo"....very new age looking.  Normally I would have thrown this away but for some reason I looked at every page in this brochure.  To my surprise, Bill Ayers will be conducting a workshop on Sunday 4/29!  His blurb was sandwiched between "Solutions and Strategies for the End of Time" and "The Secret of Sion" Assembling the Kit".  Bill will be leading a workshop on "Occupy This, Occupy That, Occupy Everything!"

The website is www.NewLivingExpo.com and the event will be at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco on 4/27 to 4/29/12.

The workshop description says "Crisis is becoming the new normal in all areas: with approaching catastrophe, and upheaval and resistance punctuating the air and echoing to the far horizons.   These times cry out for an opening of our wildest and most radical imaginations.  Let's talk together about entering and re-framing the debates, unleashing and re-imaging the possible, reconnecting and organizing for a world in balance, powered by love, and gesturing toward joy and justice".

Also, Van Jones will be speaking at a different venue...5/3 at King Middle School, Berkeley re: "Rebuilding the Dream".

I notified Brian Sussman but have not yet contacted the Minutemen.

Van Jones: Death to the 'great white suburbs'

Van Jones Rallies with Hawaii's Community Organizers for 'Economic Fairness, Justice' - and a State Bank

Hawaii Reporter - Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

BY MALIA ZIMMERMAN - Van Jones, President Barack Obama’s former green jobs adviser who heads the “Rebuild the Dream” organization, keynoted a rally and a “mass action event” at the Hawaii State Capitol Tuesday night to promote “economic fairness” and “economic justice.” (see the video here)

Environmental activists groups, a union, and the University of Hawaii organized the five-hour event to promote legislation that would establish a State Partnership Bank, or a “clean” and “green” bank, to fund green energy projects, as well as “highlight other legislation that would make the local economy more just and sustainable.”

If Hawaii lawmakers establish a state bank, it will be only the second one in the country, and in some proposals being floated at the capitol, the governor chairs the bank, union leaders serve as directors, and Democrat lawmakers appoint the remaining board. Republicans, who make up just 9 of 76 seats in the legislature, oppose the establishment of a state bank because they say the institution will be financed by taxpayers, will be led by political insiders and will loan money to people for projects that no private bank would authorize, but they are outgunned.

Jones, author of the New York Times bestseller The Green Collar Economy, said Hawaii is one of 10 stops on his tour of the “front lines of the fight for the future of this country.”

Van Jones in Hawaii (photo by Mel Ah Ching Productions)

“Each of our 10 targeted urban, suburban, and rural stops across America will support a strategic state initiative, such as making corporations pay their fair share, and create a replicable model for grassroots action," Van Jones proclaimed, stating the movement is a “cultural, political, spiritual and educational vehicle bringing together tens of thousands of everyday people in the movement for economic justice and a new economy.”

In his keynote, Jones did not directly address the bank legislation or other legislation pending in Hawaii. Instead he spoke of the dream being “under threat.”

“Not the American dream they talk about on TV,” Jones said. “There are two American dreams. One of them I call the ‘American fantasy.’ You know that one? Everyone is going to be rich. Everybody. And we're all going to be able to ride out to the great white suburbs, get a McMansion, get flat-screened TV to cover up the holes in our lives. That is the American fantasy, which is turning out to be the American nightmare. It is dying out on its own accord - it deserves no defense and it will get no defense. I am glad that is going away. That was not serving anybody.”

Jones called out the people he called “dream killers in America” and “dream killers right here in Hawaii.”

About 400 people attended the March 20 capitol rally to hear Van Jones speak (Photo by Mel Ah Ching Productions)

“There are people who have taken the American dream and turned it upside down, inside out. The dream is supposed to be that you can work hard, play by the rules and get somewhere. But you and I both know right here in Hawaii, and across America, the people who are working the hardest and following the rules are the ones who are being left behind, the ones who are suffering the most, the ones who are hurting the most. And yet some people who are not working that hard at all, their investments work for them. And sometimes they break a lot of rules, especially on Wall Street. But they are the ones doing well. That is taking the American dream upside down, inside out. That's killing the dream.”

Jones, who served as an adviser to the White House Council on Environmental Quality for 6 months before resigning in September 2009 amid controversy over statements he made and alliances he had, briefly addressed his time in Washington DC.

“I was there for 6 months. Best 6 months of my life, followed by the worst two weeks. ... What I saw there is why I am here today. I saw some of the most beautiful people, some of the most well intentioned people, some of the smartest people ever to serve in our government, be stopped in their tracks, stopped in their tracks, by people who mean us no good. People who claim to be patriots but seem to hate everybody in America.”

During an address that was videotaped earlier in 2009, he called Republicans "assholes", but it was a petition he signed in 2004 endorsing the "9/11 truther" movement that caught many by surprise. Those supporting the truther movement believe President Bush and his administration were involved in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on America.

Council Member Tulsi Gabbard spoke at the March 20 rally and thanked her 'pops' - Sen. Mike Gabbard - for passing the state bank legislation out of his energy committee that day. She is a Democratic candidate for Congress. (photo by Mel Ah Ching Productions)

Despite a rocky political past, which ended with the President accepting Jones’ resignation, he is still considered a rising star in the green-energy movement. Jones shared some of his feelings on his political opponents:

“That always struck me as strange. When I said I love America, I mean I actually love the people in America - the people who live in America. Some of them are brown, some of them are female, some of them are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, some of them have bizarre piercings and tattoos, but I love them. How can you say you love America but then despise most of the people who live here. I don't understand that politics. I don't understand how you can say you love America and love the Statute of Liberty, but then not read the poem at the bottom that says "Give me your tired, Give me your poor, Give me your huddled masses who yearn to breathe free." The way I was raised. You can't be an anti immigrant bigot and a patriot at the same time. They don't go together. They don't go together. Not in my America. They don't go together.”

Hoping to capitalize on the energy and excitement many Hawaii Democrats experienced in 2008 when Obama won the presidency, Jones said: “What happened to all that hope? What happened to all that beauty? What happened to all that spirit? Did the people leave the planet? Was there a rocket ship I missed? Did people join that other party with the warm beverage - what is it - the coffee party? No we're still here. We're still here. And we still have each other. We still have each other. No one can take that from us.”

Jones said he looked forward to being in Hawaii because “it is a community working hard to shape an economy that honors people’s environmental, social, and cultural concerns.”

“We also hope the Revivals to build a base of informed and engaged citizens ready to carry their ideas into the 2012 election cycle," he said.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie attends Van Jones speech at the Hawaii Capitol (Photo by Mel Ah Ching Productions)

Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE) Hawaii, a group of community organizers affiliated with various local religious groups, co-chaired the event. Other sponsors included Kanu Hawaii, Sierra Club, UNITE HERE Local 5, University of Hawaii, Blue Planet, and Surfrider Foundation. Council member Tulsi Gabbard, who is a candidate for Congress in the upcoming Democratic primary, spoke at the rally.

Also in attendance at the rally that attracted around 400 people were several Democratic lawmakers, including Tulsi’s father, Senator Mike Gabbard, who earlier that day passed the bank legislation out of his energy committee, as well as Senator Will Espero and Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

Earlier in the day, Jones testified at a hearing in support of House Bill 1033, which "establishes the Clean Economy Bank of the State of Hawaii to, among other things: (1) Enable the State, along with other participating states, territories, and municipalities, to leverage aligned resources and collective influence to build a national clean economy that creates jobs, reduces carbon emissions, and ensures the nation's energy security; (2) Support clean economic development within the State and other participating entities; and (3) Lessen the burden on the State and other participating entities to finance qualified renewable energy and other related purposes." The bill, which would tap into $10 million in federal stimulus funds, has already passed the House, and on Tuesday passed the Senate Energy and Environment Committee.

 Did Obama Assassinate Clinton Delegates?