"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." - President Ronald Reagan
Who do we turn to for baseball consolation? How about the Brooklyn Dodgers, the team that is known today as the LA Dodgers.
In 1952 and 1953, Brooklyn lost to the Yankees in the World Series. They came back and beat NY in 1955.
Like the Rangers, the Dodgers had a core group of players who played together for years. They were Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Joe Campanella, Gil Hodges, Carl Furillo, etc.
The Dodgers had 1955, or the year that they finally won. The Rangers will have their '55, too!
Check out our chat with Bill Katz, a huge Dodgers' fan:
As we do every Sunday night, we spoke with Bill Katz of Urgent Agenda about politics.
We started with the tragic news out of Afghanistan and the death of 13 US nationals in another suicide attack. As we posted before, the war is losing support.
At the same time, Pres BO does not take the time to explain the mission, its purpose and connection to our national security.
The marches started well. However, they've degenerated into the kind of left wing madness and immaturity that we've seen before. These marches need a message, a spokesman who does not look like he just smoked pot and people who go home after the day's events.
In other words, these marches are looking a lot like Woodstock and that did not work out really well for the left in the 1960's!
We also looked at 2012 and how it could change the courts. The NY Times had an editorial about this topic. I disagree with The NY Times' view of the courts but they are right about how the election will change the courts. Last, but not least, we discussed the 73rd anniversary of Orson Wells's "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast. It caused a lot of panic because many thought that it was real rather than just a radio show. Click here for the interview with Bill Katz:
Tags:Sunday night political conversations To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
It's Thursday morning and the Rangers got rained out in St Louis. I spent last night thinking about politics and some of the issues on the front page.
First, have you noticed how more and more cities are getting fed up with the "marches":
1) Atlanta, the party is over; 2) New York City, who is going to pay for the damages or pick up the garbage;
3) Oakland, a bit violent; and
4) ACORN is alive and well at the marches.
My guess is that people got the message and want the marchers to go back to work, or school or their parents' allowances. I think that we can safely say that the public has had enough of the "hippies"!
Second, what was really behind The Washington Post's 'hit piece" on Senator Rubio.
Could it be that the media does not know what to do, or react to, a conservative Hispanic? Do they think that all of us are liberals and madly in love in Pres BO?
At the same time, did the media pursue candidate BO's past with such detail and energy? They didn't and that's why so many of us found the attack on Sen Rubio to be rather bad.
Last, but not least, what's behind the chill between Gov Romney and The Tea Party? Is it issues? Is it that many Tea party partisans view Romney as an establishment candidate?
Tags:Mitt Romney, Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street crowd, the attacks on Senator Rubio To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
We learned last Friday that US troops will leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
To be fair, this is the agreement that Pres Bush negotiated with Iraq in 2008.
Nevertheless, the Status of Forces Agreement always contemplated that we would leave troops to protect Iraq and to send a message to Iran.
We are now reading that Pres BO was not engaged in the negotiations:
"Throughout the summer and autumn, as talks on a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq foundered, President Barack Obama and his point man on Iraq, Vice President Joe Biden, remained largely aloof from the process, logs released by the U.S. Embassy here suggest. The omission would be an unusual one, given the high priority U.S. officials had given to achieving an agreement for some sort of residual U.S. presence in Iraq after the Dec. 31 pullout deadline, and the White House labeled the suggestion inaccurate. A spokesman said the logs released by the embassy were incomplete."(McClatchy)
Let's hope that the logs are indeed incomplete. Otherwise, this is a major foreign policy oversight, or failure, for the Obama administration.
We've also heard reports that military officers are not happy with this outcome.
We need further clarification because success in Iraq is in our national interest. Frankly, it does not matter whether you did or did not support the war. That's all history. What matters today is success in Iraq and that will be hard without US troops keeping everyone in their place.
Check out my audio commentary on Wednesday's show:
Tags:Iraq, Iran and what happens after we leave To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
Over the last few years, we've seen cities arbitrarily not enforce immigration laws. The latest one is NY City: Which Way, New York?
What sense does it make for city A to enforce immigration laws and city B not enforce them? How chaotic would it be if we had no enforcement of speeding limits from one city to another?
This is about common sense and the rule of law. Our system was not designed to have different enforcement of federal laws from one place to another.
As we discussed today, we need absolute enforcement of existing employment laws, such as E-Verify.
We will win this battle with illegal immigration when the jobs dry up, or when the magnet of jobs or social services ends.
Tags:Immigration laws and cities To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
Like so many of you, I've heard "Na Na Na Kiss him goodbye" a million times.
You hear that song on the radio or at the stadium when the visiting team makes a pitching change. I've read that using this song at sporting events started with the White Sox organist in the late 1970s!
You hear it at local and national games. It's part of the modern sports soundtrack!
"Na Na Na' was written by Paul Leka and released by a group called Steam in 1969.
I read today that Paul Leka died from cancer. I didn't know that he had written so many songs or been involved with so many artists, such as "Green tambourine" by The Lemon Pipers, REO Speedwagon and Harry Chapin.
Did you know that? I didn't but I certainly recognize those songs!
P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.
"During his rise to political prominence, Sen. Marco Rubio frequently repeated a compelling version of his family’s history that had special resonance in South Florida.
He was the “son of exiles,” he told audiences, Cuban Americans forced off their beloved island after “a thug,” Fidel Castro, took power. But a review of documents — including naturalization papers and other official records — reveals that the Florida Republican’s account embellishes the facts. The documents show that Rubio’s parents came to the United States and were admitted for permanent residence more than two-and-a-half years before Castro’s forces overthrew the Cuban government and took power on New Year’s Day 1959."
So what point is Roig-Francia trying to make? Is he saying that Cubans who left in 1956 looking for freedom were different than my parents who departed in 1964?
"But the Post story misses the point completely. The real essence of my family’s story is not about the date my parents first entered the United States. Or whether they traveled back and forth between the two nations. Or even the date they left Fidel Castro’s Cuba forever and permanently settled here."
This is the definition of a "hit piece".
First of all, we don't divide Cubans in the US as pre-59 or post-59. In our hearts, every Cuban who came here looking for freedom is part of the movement.
Second, did Manuel Roig-Francia write an article about candidate BO's story about his mother's death?
Third, and most important, this is only the beginning of the left's war against Rubio. In other words, Rubio has to be destroyed because he has the potential of crushing Pres BO's Hispanic vote numbers in 2012.
The bad news is that it won't be the last! The good news is that we came to Sen Rubio's defense and put Manuel Roig-Francia in the defensive.
P.S. Check out our interview with Alberto de la Cruz of The Babalu Blog:
Tags:Senator Marco Rubio and The Washington Post "hit piece" To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
It was very nice to watch Pres Bush throw the "first pitch" before game 4.
Let me give my scouting report:
He has good form. He threw a nice inside pitch that Nolan Ryan missed.
To be fair, Nolan Ryan was not a catcher. Also, you can't move that quickly behind the plate when you are wearing a jacket.
Overall, it was a good show. It was the prelude to a great pitching performance by Derek Holland and some nasty closing fastballs by Neftali Feliz.
Tags:President Bush at the 2011 World Series To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
Pres BO went on TV to announce that the Iraq War was over.
He said that the troops would be out by the end of 2011.
He also said that he was fulfilling a campaign promise!
Sen McCain responded:
"“Today marks a harmful and sad setback for the United States in the world,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in a statement Friday.
“I respectfully disagree with the president: this decision will be viewed as a strategic victory for our enemies in the Middle East, especially the Iranian regime, which has worked relentlessly to ensure a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.”
The ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee added, “I fear that all of the gains made possible by these brave Americans in Iraq, at such grave cost, are now at risk.”" (Politico)
McCain is right again.
First of all, this is not what candidate BO promised! This is the agreement that Pres Bush negotiated with Iraq in 2008.
Secondly, even The NY Times confirmed that the US was desperately looking to keep troops in Iraq:
"President Obama’s announcement on Friday that all American troops would leave Iraq by the end of the year was an occasion for celebration for many, but some top American military officials were dismayed by the announcement, seeing it as the president’s putting the best face on a breakdown in tortured negotiations with the Iraqis." (NY Times)
In other words, this is not the statement that Pres BO wanted to make. He would preferred to tell us that an agreement was reached to leave troops in Iraq.
Third, what message are we sending Iran and Israel? The message is simple. We are weak and will not stand up for our interests!
"If there is one constant of American military history it is that the longer our troops stay in a country the better the prospects of a successful outcome.
Think of Germany, Italy, Japan or South Korea. Conversely when U.S. troops rush for the exits hard-won wartime gains can quickly evaporate.
Think of the post-Civil War South, post-World War I Germany, post-1933 (and post-1995) Haiti, post-1972 Vietnam, or, more recently, post-1983 Lebanon and post-1993 Somalia."
Of course, we all want our guys to come home.
However, Iraq has not been much of a war for 3 years. We have not been in combat. Our troops have been performing back up duties and serving as a reminder to Iran that we will protect our allies.
I don't get it. It looks to me like Pres BO is trying to make up with the left that was furious with his continuation of the Bush-McCain policy in Iraq.
Bill Katz wrote about Iraq on Saturday. We spoke about this with Bill on Sunday:
Tags:Iran, Libya and the Iraq withdrawal by end of 2011 To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
Frankly, I don't blame umps for making bad calls. They are human and some of these calls are so quick that it's easy to blow them.
Why not help umpires? Why not add "a press box umpire" who can look at the video and reverse an obviously bad call?
Why put an experienced umpire in the position of having the world see that he made a bad call? Every person watching that game on TV knew that he blew the call!
It would have taken 30 seconds last night to reverse that call with a video review.
Again, the ump did not blow the game but he made the 4th inning very difficult for the Rangers.
Tags:Baseball and bad calls from umpires To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
Remember Mark Texeira? He came up as a Ranger and became one of the finest players in the AL.
In the summer of 2007, Texeira turned down a multi-year contract and forced Texas to trade him.
Texas agreed and Texeira was moved on the trade deadline to the Braves, a team in the middle of the NL East race.
We got a bunch of young players. We got Feliz, the All Star closer. We got Harrison, Game 3 starter tonight and one of the lefthanders in the rotation. We got Saltalamacchia, a catcher who was eventually traded to Boston.
And we got Elvis Andrus. We were told that Andrus was a great athlete and the key player in the trade. They were right!
By 2009, Elvis was playing shortstop in Texas.
Last night, the whole world got to see what we watch here every night.
Elvis Andrus is one amazing young athlete. He can run and steal bases. He has great baseball instincts.
And he can turn a double play!
Whatever happened to Mark Texeira? He signed a big deal with the Yankees and has become one of the premiere players in baseball. He is also watching Texas in the World Series for the second year in a row.
Most of us are familiar with Ciudad Juarez and the exploding violence in the north of Mexico.
However, we may soon be hearing about Veracruz, a coastal state on the Gulf of Mexico that has seen a lot of cartel violence.
Pres Calderon recently spoke about it. He also admitted that Veracruz is deteriorating. We also saw a great editorial from The Dallas Morning News:
"When the president of Mexico issues such a stark warning, he’s talking about a problem whose scope goes far beyond drug trafficking.
Veracruz is the heartland of Mexico’s oil industry and home to the country’s second-largest gulf oil export facility, a major supplier to Houston’s refineries.
Mexico’s state-owned oil industry has enriched the country’s corrupt political elite for decades.
When a lucrative enterprise already vulnerable to abuse joins with new-style drug cartel thuggery, a perfect storm is on the horizon.
As this newspaper has noted before, the cartels are diversifying into fields unrelated to drugs.
In Veracruz, the cartels have an opportunity to move into contraband oil and open vast new markets. According to reports around Veracruz in the past year, this scenario already is unfolding."
Is Veracruz a 'failed state" within Mexico? I don't know but let's hope that the Obama administration is keeping an eye on the deteriorating situation south of the border.
Click here for our conversation with John Ackerman and Fausta Wertz:
Tags:Fast and Furious and guns to MexicoTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
Back in March, I wrote that we should have taken out Qaddafi when he was cornered by rebel forces. I posted that we should send special forces, get Qaddafi and bring him to GITMO for trial.
I supported using US air power, or exactly what Sen McCain said.
We didn't use US air power. Pres BO did not even go to Congress or speak to the nation about the mission or its objectives. He did it all under a UN resolution and that doesn't cut it with me. Yes, I'm glad that Qaddafi is dead and gone. However, we should go to Congress when we commit our military for an extended period or in a country as complicated as Libya.
Tags:Qaddafi is dead and that's good news To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
How is "hope and change", "si se puede" and all of that "coqueteo" working for 'Hispanos"?
Pres BO's economic policies have made our economic crisis a lot worse and translated into more minority unemployment.
In other words, the Obama recession has been a disaster for blacks and Hispanics, or exactly the voters who created the perfect "electoral storm' that elected "hope and change".
We warned "Hispanics" that candidate BO was just telling them what they wanted to hear.....!
Let's hope that Hispanics are more realistic the next time around.
In 2008, Hispanics fell in love with a man with "zero" track record on immigration or border issues.
At the same time, Hispanics rejected Sen McCain, a man who actually risked political capital to pass an immigration reform in 2007.
Remember what your mother told you? Be careful with the guy who is telling you what you want to hear.....he is probably lying to you!
BO lied to Hispanics in 2008 and there are lots of disenchanted Hispanics trying to recover from the deception.
Here is my solution: "Hispanos" need to be more skeptical the net time that "a sweet talking guy" comes around telling people what they wanted to hear!
According to The Miami Herald, Pres BO is losing Hispanic support. He is under 50% and the economy has a lot to do with it!
Tags:Immigration, deportations and Pres ObamaTo share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
We would recommend the Dems read a couple of articles about the Wall Street Marches.
First, Dem pollster Douglas Schoen has a warning for the Obama crowd:
"Yet the Occupy Wall Street movement reflects values that are dangerously out of touch with the broad mass of the American people—and particularly with swing voters who are largely independent and have been trending away from the president since the debate over health-care reform"
Schoen is exactly right. Just look at the placards and interviews.
New York Magazine has a story on the marchers. It proves that these people don't have a clue or understand the issues that they are complaining about. They asked 50 questions and got ignorant answers!
Compare the Wall Street protesters with the people at the Tea Party rallies. The people who marched in '09 and '10 had knowledge of the issues. They took the time to learn and study the issues.
It won't be long before Dems, specially the many seeking reelection in '12, will be running away from this group.
In the late 1960's, the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations turned very radical and hurt the Dems. The Chicago demonstrations hurt VP Humphrey in '68 because millions voted for Nixon and Wallace.
It was a disaster for the Dems! It will be the same the next time we have an election. PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
Tags:President Obama, the marches, remember 1968 & 1972, and class warfare To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!
