Da Hawg Frog Blog

Everyone is familiar with the cult classic Easy Riders. Shot on a shoestring budget, the movie became an icon of a generation. It introduced a young Jack Nicholson to many. It was his first nomination as Best Supporting Actor. Of course most of the movie was nonsense, but it was fun. I was serving in the Army when this film came out and it, like “Mash” was banned from the on base theaters. It wasn’t until years later I saw it for the first time. The video featured here has some of the great riding shots across the West and is accompanied by The Doors singing Roadhouse Blues.

Some things are just timeless. Enjoy.

For years bikers have suffered from the “bad boy” image perpetuated by Hollywood movies and the actions of a few in the real biker community. Super Granny takes the situation into her own hands in this video. Hooray for Super Granny! Thanks for eliminating those dirtbags that give us all a bad and underserved reputation.

This video may bring a laugh, but believe it or not we are rapidly approaching the time when this may be the trend. Already we see many technical jobs being outsourced to cheap labor markets in India, Pakistan and Mexico. Technical jobs that many Americans have trained for in the hopes of building a better life.

There are so many jobs out there being filled by the ranks of illegal aliens in this country that could and would be filled by American citizens if it weren’t for the greed of wealthy employers. They say that the low wages they pay these illegals are benefiting everyone because it brings down the cost of the services rendered. Nonsense. When people can’t find work they can’t afford these services. The only people benefiting are the contractors underbidding honest companies because they are hiring undocumented laborers.

It is time we took personal responsibility. If the government won’t enforce the laws then we should observe them ourselves. If we need the services of a company then we should be aware of the labor pool they are drawing from. If your roofer or plumber is hiring illegal aliens to do the job, then look elsewhere for someone to do it with legal, American workers. It may cost a few dollars more, but the money spent will be benefiting Americans.

I was just over visiting the General. He’s posted a video that really struck a chord, no pun intended, and I wanted to share it here.
I’ve always believed that we must honor the warriors and hate the war. It is not the soldiers and sailors who start these conflicts. It is not the politicians who fight them. But it is the families of the patriots, who answer the call to defend them, who pay the price.
I remember the music during the 1960s and 1970s. Much of it was protesting another unpopular war. It looks like protest is still live today and the music it spawns is still thought provoking.

Everyone has been following the nonsense coming from Hilliary campaign lately. She was caught in a massive lie and simply dismissed it as having “misspoken”. But it was not a single case of “misspoken” but series of them across the campaign trail. Every since Iowa Hilliary has been commenting on her trip to Tuzla, Bosnia in 1996. She made dramatic testimony of disembarking from her aircraft under sniper fire. Such bravery surely qualifies her to be this nation’s commander in chief.

Well the truth is out! This video, just released from the national archives proves Hilliary was telling the truth. You judge for yourself.

Consummate publicity whore and serial killer Dr Jack Kevorkian is running for congress. He wants to represent the murder capitol of Detroit, Michigan as an Independent.

Kevorkian, an Independent, has only been out of prison for a few months and is running for the congressional seat presently held by Republican incumbent Joe Knollenberg.

The 79-year-old pathologist announced his bid to run as an independent less than a year after being released from prison where he served eight years for second-degree murder.

“I have no ties, no fetters. I am free,” Kevorkian told reporters, adding that he planned to run against the “tyranny” of the U.S. Supreme Court which he said has robbed Americans of their rights.

In the 1990s Kevorkian became one of the most prominent and polarizing figures in the debate over euthanasia by assisting in some 130 suicides and for his outspoken advocacy of the “right to die.”

Kevorkian, who was paroled in 2007, said he will run as an independent for a congressional seat representing the Detroit suburbs, near the area where he presided at dozens of suicides in cheap hotel rooms and the back of his rusty van.

He was convicted after a CBS news program aired a video showing Kevorkian administering lethal drugs to a 52-year-old man suffering from debilitating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. (Source: Reuters)

Dr Kevorkian loves to be in the limelight. His antics during many trials demonstrated his megalomania. He came to court in costumes and stocks. But then what the hell, at least we know what we’d be getting with Kevorkian. A killer.

Hell, Jack, why settle for congress? Why not run with Ralph Nader for Vice President? We can guarantee that ticket would be dead on arrival.

A great disservice was done to the American people this election season. The presidential debates were a joke. Again the media darlings are the ones being showcased, while the candidates who speak out and tell the truth are the ones being ostracized. A perfect example was the handling of the GOP debates. Anderson Cooper of CNN was rude and curt with Ron Paul every time the opportunity for Dr. Paul to speak came up.

How is a candidate to get his message to the people today if the media refused to give them equal time? It is manipulation of information at the highest levels and we’ve seen it first hand this election cycle. I normally lean a to the left on social issues and the right on fiscal. But this so called conservative GOP administration we have in office right now is the most fiscally irresponsible crew we’ve ever had in office. In the name of conservatism they have built the largest government bureaucracies in American history. Instead of shrinking government and its influence in our lives we have been strangled by it. Starting with “free speech zones” and ending with the “Patriot Act” Americans are now the most censored people on the planet. All in the name of National Security. Bullshit.

This administration talks conservatism, but they practice a borrow and spend policy that is going to doom our children and grandchildren to enormous financial burdens for decades. It is time we listen to people like Dr. Paul. Abolish the IRS, make government pay its own way. Hell don’t these Washington politicians make enough off the special interests and lobbyist as it is, why do we need to subsidise them with tax dollars. Tax dollars they send to countries who hate us. Tax dollars they spend to kill and maim our children and those of other countries. Tax dollars better spent improving our way of life instead of lining the pockets of big business CEOs and enemy states.

It is a shame more people weren’t given the opportunity to hear Dr. Ron Paul’s message. If you haven’t figured it out, Da Frog is a Libertarian and Ron Paul is talking the Libertarian philosophy. The GOP isn’t conservative enough. Dr. Paul says it like it is, fiscal conservativism and personal liberty is what we need.

They’ve done it again. The administration rushes to help big business while the citizens foot the bill for bad policy and foolishness. Bear and Stearns is one of the largest and oldest financial institutions in the United States. They have been doing business for 85 years. They are supposed to be some of the greatest business minds the country has to offer. They spearheaded the subprime mortgage movement. Now the rent is due and they have run aground. For years their share holders grew rich on the pyramid scheme that fueled the greatest mortgage foreclosure rate since the great depression.

So what is the Bush administrations response? Pump billions of taxpayer dollars into a private business whose failure is based on the very programs they’ve been touting, free market. Well when you and I suffer from bad investments we don’t get bailed out, we face the consequences. But these titans of free trade fall on their face and we end up footing the bill for their ineptitude.

It was the likes of Bears Stearn that brought about the disaster in the mortgage industry. They pushed the subprime loans until the faulty reasoning caught up with them and destroyed our credibility globally. If this government had any sense at all they would be bailing out the people who are loosing their homes to this inherently flawed system put in place by the likes of Bear and Stearns. Those billions we are paying this private corporation should be sent to the citizens facing foreclosure. If they could pay their bills then these financial institutions that conned them into buying beyond their means would be getting their mortgage payments.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying the predicament we find ourselves is all the fault of big banking institutions. It is also the result of a lot of greedy people who saw the subprime market as just so much free money. They were encouraged by this borrow and spend administration to seek more than they could afford. Now the entire global market is staggering from the fiasco.

Global economy is another crock of shit. It is NAFTA, CAFTA and SHAFTA that have destroyed our economy. Big business has outsourced all the jobs traditionally held by the middle class to third world countries and in the process turned us into a banana republic. All the economic pundits today are blathering about the global this and global that and how it is inevitable we are moving to a global economy. Bullshit. What we need to do is go back to protecting our jobs and industries by imposing stiff trade tariffs and forcing those businesses who want to do business here either employ Americans on American soil or pay the consequences. The major corporations that operate in the United States should be paying their way instead of outsourcing everything to cheaper labor markets. Look at Walmart and all the stuff they import from Communist China. The goods they are importing should be taxed to death. This would bring many of the jobs back to our shores. And perhaps as a side effect we wouldn’t be getting poisoned by the Chinese every time we turn around. Lead in baby and pet toys, lethal ingredients in foods and more would no longer be a concern. The only people gaining by globalization are the big companies who are filling their coffers at the expense of the American worker.

It is time we did something about protecting our own. Discourage companies from going overseas for products we have made here for decades. Tax the hell out of those that do. Cut off corporate bailouts and tax breaks. If everyone, human and corporate, were paying their fair share we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in today.

Today, on the 40th Anniversary of the My Lai massacre, young veterans of today’s generation are testifying about the horrors they witnessed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The group is called the Winter Soldiers and they have been active in bringing to the American consciousness the toll war takes on those who participate in it. Their’s is a painful message and one not that all Americans wish to hear.

Another group of veterans called A Gathering Of Eagles, takes the opposite stance. They claim to be supporting the troops at all costs. This, too, is a good thing. But, it too has a toll. As they “support the troops” they discount and ignore what many of these soldiers, sailors and Marines are saying. It is a sad day when brothers in arms find themselves so polarized into two camps. Neither willing to hear out the other.

My Lai was without a doubt the darkest hour of American involvement in Vietnam. When Charlie Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade, 23rd Infantry Division (the Americal Division), entered the village of My Lai 40 years ago today they were worn down and angry. Their unit had sustained many casualties through prolonged fighting with the Viet Cong and were ready to take care of business. Unfortunately, the stars were aligned, and the ensuing melee that resulted would forever tarnish the reputation of an entire generation of soldiers.

A young Army Major, Colin Powell, was dispatched to gather information on the rumors of an alleged massacre in the hamlet of My Lai. It would be a harbinger of things to come in the career of Powell. In his futile attempt to cover up the truth we see a glimpse in to this politicized officer. He would again 35 years later try to disseminate disinformation for his political masters by claiming to the United Nations that concrete proof of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was a given fact. In 1968 he didn’t handle his assignment to discover what really happened in the small Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai honestly either.

It was during this time that Powell, as deputy assistant chief of staff for operations G-3 at Americal Division headquarters in Chu Lai, was asked to handle a potentially embarrassing letter a young soldier had written to Gen. Creighton Abrams, commander of all U.S. forces in Vietnam.

The soldier had written about rumors of a massacre that Americal Division soldiers had committed in the hamlet of My Lai 4 in South Vietnam. Although he did not mention My Lai in the letter, the soldier complained that Americal soldiers were indiscriminately killing Vietnamese civilians. Such acts, the young soldier warned, “are carried on at entire unit levels and thereby acquire the aspect of sanctioned policy.”

Powell sent a memo to his superior, the adjutant general, positioning that the young soldier had not given enough specifics upon which to base an inquiry. Powell said the soldier’s charges were false except for “isolated instances.” He wrote that “relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese are excellent.” (Source: Unbound)

It is a shame that this social catharsis called the Winter Soldier still has to go on today. We simply refuse to learn from the lessons of the past. It is disheartening to see those very soldiers who once stood side by side, facing a common enemy, now square off against each other. Both groups, A Gathering of Eagles and the Winter Soldiers, have a lot to say and some good ideas about how to fix things. Unfortunately this will never be. The chasm between them cannot be bridged. Why is it that so often the bitterest fights are between brothers?

Who’s going to clean up the mess we are in now?

The present political campaign for the highest office in the land is the most disgusting in my memory. We’ve arrived at a point in history where the will of the people is being totally ignored. Our choices of candidates is being determined by the media and special interests.

The debates leading up to where we are right now have been a farce. If the moderator, and his corporate network, were against a particular candidate, then we wouldn’t hear from them. A perfect example was CNN’s Anderson Cooper and the way he rudely ignored and stifled Ron Paul’s participation in the debate he moderated. The result was we only heard from the individuals Cooper and CNN supported. Of all the Republican candidates Ron Paul was the only one who made sense. He spoke with an honesty and intelligence not seen from the others present. He raised the questions the rest of the field didn’t want to hear or were ill equipped to answer. Cooper didn’t want to hear any of it.

The Democratic debates were just as poorly handled. The media chose Hilliary Clinton and Barack Obama as their superstars and focused all the attention on them. John Edwards, the only real Democrat with a chance of defeating McCain was marginalized and ignored. Now we are stuck with Hilliary, read Bush Lite, and Barrack Obama. The depths to which Hillary has gone in her bid to be nominated has shown a dark side to the Clintons many were not aware of before. I think Tom Degan in his article “oh, and speaking of “Contemptible”, aptly states:

When it became obvious to the Clinton campaign that the dream of a lifetime for so many of us of sending an African American to the White House was on the cusp of possibility, they derailed that dream with tactics so vile and vicious it must have brought tears of joy to the eyes of Karl Rove. When she told the press that McCain is better qualified to be president of the United States, damaging the Obama campaign possibly beyond repair, she stupidly destroyed her own candidacy as well. The Democratic party, the party of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Tee hee hee! Sorry about that!) cannot win without a huge turn out of African Americans. If Hillary Clinton is given the nomination in August, they’ll remember what the Clintonistas did to Barack Obama, and a whole hell of a lot of them will be staying home on November 4th – or voting for Ralph Nader. Come to think about it, I just might do the same – what the hell. A choice between Hillary Clinton and John McCain is really no choice at all. (Source: Tom Degan’s “The Rant”)

I have to agree, a choice between Clinton and McCain is no choice. How did we get to this point? First and foremost is the Democratic National Committee and Howard Dean. The DNC apparently believes they speak with more authority than state laws in choosing when individual states can run their primaries. Michigan and Florida held their election before the time frame appointed by the DNC and Howard Dean decided to make an example out of them. Because the Florida Legislature determined the state would vote before the DNC edict they have been stripped of their delegates. Now, after all the mud and bullshit, the Democratic party can’t come up with a viable candidate because they can’t seal the deal with enough delegates. What is their answer? Who knows they are still working on it.

I have to agree with some in the Florida Legislature on this one. If a candidate’s party doe not seat our delegates then they should not appear on our ballot. That said I also believe that to make this process fair then a truly open primary should be mandated. You should be able to vote for who you think the right person is the first time and not be restricted by party affiliation. But then that is too much like real democracy.

In Florida you can only vote in the primary for the party you are a member of. In this lopsided and rigged system that means you are a member of one of two parties or you have no voice whatsoever. Those of us who are Green, Independent or Libertarian are left with absolutely no say in who the candidates will be unless we enter a horse in the race. Ron Paul should have run as a Libertarian. I think the turnout would have been impressive. When Paul was lumped in with the other Republicans and ignored by the media a great disservice was done to the American people. If he had been allowed to speak many would have embraced his ideas. Instead, the remaining candidates adopted those ideas Paul espoused that were popular and claimed them as their own.

So here we are, the Democrats are again the laughing stock of the country. While they bicker and stab each other in the back McCain is quietly focusing on what he is going to say and do over the next few months. Clinton and Obama are destroying each other’s ability to launch a viable campaign against McCain. So come November what choice will there be? None. All three of these people sound the same. Endless war, deepening recession and an agenda fueled by special interest. I agree with Tom Degan and I’ll probably stay home November 4th. Besides, what does our vote matter? The media has chosen the field and they will determine who wins. Meanwhile we all lose.