Tag: quantum mechanics

The Cowboy Way: Living by a code of honor with guns as a centerpiece

Those who don’t know much about guns or their place in American culture are easy to seduce toward the diatribes of those who fundamentally want to change our nation into something else—a much less morally reticent and overwhelmingly evil utopia for the socialist of heart. They think of the NRA as a mean spirited organization resistant to change. Well, resistant to change is true—because what gun-grabbers want to change America into is something that gun owners typically don’t like. I am obviously a member of the NRA, but also of satellite groups within it—affiliates such as Second Call Defense. I’ll remind you again dear reader, if you go to the Second Call Defense website and type in Overmanwarrior, they’ll give you your first month free—and you should do that—for your own good. I am also a very proud new member of the Cowboy Fast Draw Association—which reflects my new hobby/career as a gunfighter. I’m so serious about it that I’m thinking of listing it as my new official profession. As we speak I am turning the basement of my home into an indoor shooting range specific to that hobby—and I’m very excited about it. The reason why is that I love the type of people who are in these groups—especially the CFDA.   They live by a very specific code of ethics called the Cowboy Way. Below are a few examples of that way of life for which gun owners in the CFDA adhere.

Gene Autry’s Code of Honor

  1. A cowboy never takes unfair advantage – even of an enemy.
  2. A cowboy never betrays a trust. He never goes back on his word.
  3. A cowboy always tells the truth.
  4. A cowboy is kind and gentle to small children, old folks, and animals.
  5. A cowboy is free from racial and religious intolerances.
  6. A cowboy is always helpful when someone is in trouble.
  7. A cowboy is always a good worker.
  8. A cowboy respects womanhood, his parents and his nation’s laws.
  9. A cowboy is clean about his person in thought, word, and deed.
  10. A cowboy is a Patriot.

Hopalong Cassidy’s Creed

  1. The highest badge of honor a person can wear is honesty. Be truthful at all times.
  2. Your parents are the best friends you have. Listen to them and obey their instructions.
  3. If you want to be respected, you must respect others. Show good manners in every way.
  4. Only through hard work and study can you succeed. Don’t be lazy.
  5. Your good deeds always come to light. So don’t boast or be a show-off.
  6. If you waste time or money today, you will regret it tomorrow. Practice thrift in all ways.
  7. Many animals are good and loyal companions. Be friendly and kind to them.
  8. A strong, healthy body is a precious gift. Be neat and clean.
  9. Our country’s laws are made for your protection. Observe them carefully.
  10. Children in many foreign lands are less fortunate than you. Be glad and proud you are an American.

http://www.jcs-group.com/johnwayne/literary/codes.htm

When people or groups of people criticize the “Wild West” and “cowboys” in general they are essentially attacking the values expressed above. In today’s world those values might appear to be out-of-step, and archaic—but I think they are a whole lot better than what anybody in the world of today is adhering to. The mythology of the American gunfighter as expressed by the values of old cowboys like Gene Autry and Hopalong Cassidy is worthy of more serious consideration. When I talk inflamingly about being an American gunfighter it isn’t so much to have the ability to shoot human beings—it is to behave in a way to protect the Cowboy Way reflected above. Being a gunfighter isn’t about fighting with guns—it is about fighting for them and propping them up as a symbol of those Gene Autry values. I dare anybody from any gun-grabbing group to criticize those Cowboy Way values—because those who do have designated themselves villains against the American philosophy that built our nation.

Guns in American culture is not about killing, or even hints at violence—although those are certainly associations most common to weapons of all kinds. Guns are about preserving the Cowboy Way, which is why NRA members and other shooters tend to embody respectful values toward one another that reflect those elements because the traditions that guns protect are rooted in the Cowboy Way. That Cowboy Way was established during a period of western expansion that took place after the Civil War and was built up through a mythology of the American gunfighter. The strength of that mythology lasted well into the next century all the way up essentially until the 1960s when communist insurgents implanted themselves in the hippie movement and advocated against those Cowboy Way values.

Being a gunfighter is an essential part of American culture and with every gun grabbing politician and modern entertainer who stands against that Cowboy Way mentality we all have a right to be extremely angry at them for what they are trying to do. One of the ways I am combating that imposition and channeling that anger in a constructive way is in taking up membership with the Cowboy Fast Draw Association so that I can preserve the way of the cowboy from an older generation that needs some support. They are directly an affiliate of the NRA—so they are gold in my book. Additionally, I have lent myself to the Second Call Defense for the same precise reason. An armed America is a good America because the roots of gun ownership resides with the philosophy of the Cowboy Way—which is a whole lot older in this country than the recent progressive slant toward European sentiment.

When I say I intend to be a gunfighter as a profession, it doesn’t mean that I plan to assassinate bad guys with a gun—although if I do find myself in a self-defense shooting, I have my Second Call Defense card and I’ll let them handle the police when and if it happens. So far Second Call Defense has an excellent track record. Most self-defense shootings by members aren’t even going to trial because of it, because police know that with Second Call Defense they can’t use a shooting to politicize an issue or justify their false interpretation of the law under the scrutiny of a pro Second Amendment lawyer. So they just leave the case alone to avoid the embarrassment of prosecution in court. A lot of times the shooter in those self-defense cases has a lot more rights than they think they do, and gun-grabbers hope that the general public never learns that reality—so they can continue to weaken the Second Amendment due to ignorance. I see Second Call Defense as a perfect way to strengthen the Second Amendment, so I am a supporter. I carry my membership card proudly.

Yet for me that’s not enough. I want to be even more proactive in defending the Second Amendment especially due to the latest round of incursions from the political left. We have talked about this gun-grabbing time for a long period leading up to this latest phase, so now is the time to buckle down the defense of the Second Amendment into something more voracious. That’s why I’m proud to be a member of the Cowboy Fast Draw Association. They stand for the roots of firearms ownership, the Cowboy Way—the mythology built around gunfighters and the capitalist oasis that they paved to become the greatest country on earth. There is no way to remain a great country without private gun ownership because it all starts there—not with the intent to kill or maim with them—but in honoring guns as the instrument of focus for establishing a Cowboy Way of thinking evolved through the heart, bravery, and tenacity of the American gunfighter.

The Cowboy Way is a mode of thinking that not only needs to be resurrected in American culture; it needs daily maintenance to solidify into something for which society can build their foundations upon. It completely changes the way people interact with one another—it’s a code of conduct that works hand in hand with capitalism to bring prosperity to all who dare wake up in the morning to enjoy it. It’s unlike anything created anywhere on the face of planet earth during any period of history ever known. So there is no comparison to other nations and what they are doing to ban or reject guns from their societies. America is unique, and part of that story comes from the Cowboy Way. It’s not something we need to change or further contemplate—it is something we need to be proud of and to strictly adhere to from here on out—and that begins with maintaining a love with guns that has been abused due to political influence that is completely unwarranted, and destructive.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

The Bengals Did Well: Carlos Dunlap saves Cincinnati

As a Tampa Bay Buccaneer fan I don’t put much investment emotionally into my hometown team of the Cincinnati Bengals. I’m not a fan of Mike Brown and think the stadium deal he made with the city was a bad one compounded by a mediocre product he has put on the field over the last several decades. Even though lately his teams have been in the playoffs year after year, they always end up a disappointment. But the Bucs haven’t been very good this year, as they weren’t last year. They seem to have fixed many of their offensive problems, but the defense just isn’t working—and for me and Tampa Bay, I get excited about defense. So it’s been a pretty mundane year so far. Because of all those elements, I don’t get to the local Bengal games very often. I have always loved the NFL experience, but don’t often get down to a game. However, it was a good week for me last week and I had a packed weekend full of activities and an opportunity to go to the Bengal game against the Seahawks presented itself so I went with my family.

image imageThe game itself was fabulous, an overtime thriller that nobody will forget anytime soon. It was a magnificent October afternoon and we spent some extra time before and after the game enjoying the new Banks developments and all the tailgating activities. It was sunny, warm—the leaves were changing color—it was a wonderful day for football and two very good teams were playing in the usual ramped up rock n roll environment typical of professional football. The Ohio State marching band was at the game performing—which was impressive—the game itself and all the festivities around it were just perfect including the overtime win that rocked the stadium with much deserved enthusiasm. I was very glad I went to that particular game at that particular time.

But those kinds of things to me are never just about the game—I enjoy the larger picture. I like Paul Brown Stadium because it’s the hometown arena even though I think it’s not nearly as spectacular as Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The Club area at PBS is everything you’d want it to be—luxurious, well-managed, and optimistic. It was quite enjoyable to watch all the NFL games occurring from the lounge within the high intensity environment of the Bengal game. The Bengals have done a much better job of capitalizing off their mascot theme of a Bengal tiger the last several years. The video promotions shown around the stadium were much better than they have been in the past even though the stupid song they play with each touchdown sounds like a broken 45 vinyl record from a crusty old man’s treasure chest. It sounds outdated and lost—but the whole experience was otherwise very exciting and stimulating. The people were from all walks of life and in many cases had spent thousands of dollars to be there which put my nose on the economics of what was happening.

I love the NFL experience for the things connected to the events. The economic stimulus connected to the National Football League is staggering—everywhere there are advertisements for various products, promotion work for various cancer fighting awareness, and lots and lots of beer being sold. People generally stayed relaxed and enjoyed themselves for a much-needed four hours of bliss on a Sunday in October. The rock music, the video images, the connectivity to the entire stadium network around the country simultaneously is quite something to behold.

There are several interesting things going on at football games. Fans are quick to assimilate to the phrase “we” when talking about their favorite team. It’s a form of collectivism that is dangerous to our society as perfect strangers were brought together by rooting for their favorite team to score points. When the Bengals went to overtime with a last-minute field goal the stadium was nearly in an orgy of enthusiasm for each other. There were hugs and high-fives everywhere as people who normally wouldn’t speak to each other held one another in warm embrace. That was very interesting.   Clearly politicians utilize the same type of unifying force to solidify support for their various impositions. Yet in spite of that alarming trend the essence of capitalism was unmistakable. There was no way that the collective unification of the masses would adhere to any kind of communist banter if it meant robbing them of their Sunday afternoon football.

I enjoyed immensely the pre-game ceremonies of tail gating, the obvious recklessness of the activity being conducted on a mass scale. It wasn’t my first time of course, but with a football team that had a chance to be 5-0 after coming off a playoff year previously, there was a lot of hope in the air. Because the weather was warm there were the typical fair weather types mixed with the hard-core maniacs who come all dressed up to the stadium for war. Some people had fixed up school buses dedicated to the Bengals they tail gated out of, some had million dollar RVs all decorated up in the team colors. There was an obvious sizable investment that people had dedicated themselves to for the exclusive enjoyment of those three hours of battle. So it was even more intense that all the pent-up emotion before the game was released after the game with an overtime win against a good team. The economic engine driving the experience mandated a bold support of capitalism to generate that type of energy. There was no danger of Bolsheviks generating a communist revolution among NFL tailgaters. There was a lot of conflicting human behaviors on full display, but generally it was all very optimistic and healthy—and uniquely American.

If I had to pick a hero of that particular game it wasn’t the enthusiastic crowd, Andy Dalton, A.J. Green or the coaching staff—it was Carlos Dunlap. I watched him carefully between downs even when the fourth quarter started; the Seahawks had the ball and were up 17 points surely headed to a victory. Dunlap, number 96, was in position dancing around as enthusiastic as if the game were just starting. I put the victory on his shoulders because it was obvious that the Bengals as a team fed off his energy. His body language carried the crowd and the team in a time when it would have been acceptable to start looking toward the next game regarding the present one as hopeless. I thought he was the unsung hero of the day. It’s that kind of football that makes a distinct difference between the one that is played around the rest of the world with soccer and rugby. In American football, sure it’s a team sport, but the individual often has a more important role than the collective efforts of the team. Not everyone understands that, but it’s obvious if you know what you are looking for. Carlos Dunlap had it. It didn’t show up on the games I’ve watched on television, but it was sure present in the stadium while the TV audience was in commercial breaks. Dunlap was all energy all the time and that had to be the momentum killer for Seattle. I know the story of the game was that Dalton went after Sherman and all that—but it was Dunlap who led the way for the Bengals to win that game. In the fourth quarter that defense turned down the screws and that is what put the offense back on the field three times in the fourth to secure a tie, then an eventual win. That was the key to the game led by Carlos Dunlap.

Overall, the Bengals did a good job as an entire organization. I have been critical of them, but I admired the effort from the people behind the scenes who made all the graphics on the score board, to the sound guys, to the people who scheduled all the special guests—to the employees in the Club section who were professional and enthusiastic about providing a great experience for the people in those areas. Even the police outside trying to manage the traffic were in on the fun. It was a wonderful experience for me. I liked it so much that I almost bought a Carlos Dunlap jersey—almost. If there had been one in the pro shop outside my seat entry at the Club section, I would have bought it. The product of the Bengals had improved enough for me to consider it.

I waited for the crowd to clear after the game and sat in the lounge watching recaps of the other NFL games. My Tampa Bay Bucs had won 38 to 31 but that didn’t impress me because they gave up way too many points for my liking. Still, it was a pretty good day to cap off a nice week. The NFL offers a great product that is important to American philosophy—a mixture of not such good things with a whole lot of things that are. But one thing that it isn’t is calm, passive, or in any form conciliatory against fever pitched competition. And that’s what I loved most; the intensity, the furious melodrama of strategic objectives set against a ticking clock, and the high-pitched temperament of a packed crowd excited about a 5-0 start to the season after an overtime win on a beautiful afternoon. It was something I will always treasure as a sports fan.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

What Carlos Todd and Donald Trump Had in Common: Eminent domain and the opening of Liberty Center

The Donald Trump speech from Norcross, Georgia at the North Atlanta Trade Center on Saturday October 10, 2015 was particularly telling of American politics. It was a great speech and it should be watched—seen below. Just a day later after the Sunday morning talk shows Trump continued to beat on the same kind of drum. Trump’s accusations were confirmed when Obama appeared on 60 Minutes later that same day after the football games and was grilled by Steve Kroft over the destabilization of the Middle East, also shown below. In that 60 Minutes segment was discussion over the upheavals in the Republican Party after a week of nobody wanting to be Speaker of the House—because of the Freedom Caucus. There is a lot going on, and it’s very clear that only someone like Donald Trump is equipped to handle the very volatile situation. Obama clearly is not privy to the current trends—he’s in extreme denial—as is most of the Beltway.

On issues regarding the Second Amendment, trade, immigration and economic growth, Trump is a far right conservative—so much so that Republicans should be drooling within the party at his intentions. He has the ability to market the Party in a new way they haven’t enjoyed since Ronald Reagan and they’d do well to embrace him. On the other hand, he is rather liberal regarding taxes, healthcare, and eminent domain. I could argue all day long with Trump on those issues—but they are his thoughts and he couldn’t do any worse than what we’ve had so far. I am willing to take what’s right with Trump metaphorically, and literally and offset the negatives because he is the kind of person who can get things done—and things need to get done. The Party bosses may not like Trump, but they’d be stupid to pass up on the chance of a lifetime. Trump would build a wall on the southern border, he’d expand the military, and he’d restructure the tax system all while stimulating the economy which are all things he’s capable as president to have a direct influence on, and at 70 years old, Trump has enough gas in the tank for one last spectacular decade of his life and America should give him a shot to go out with a bang. Obama has already embarrassed America—stepped all over the Constitution, and caused irreparable damage on Capital Hill. Only extreme success can fix the situation now.

As the Liberty Center shopping complex begins to open in my hometown it is ironic that one of the biggest Republican Party bosses in Butler County’s history was laid to rest. Essentially the Liberty Center shopping complex was made possible because of eminent domain. I was always against the Butler County Regional Highway construction which ran right through all the areas I used to play as a kid. Carlos Todd was a developer who built the Republican Party base in Butler County to essentially use crony capitalism to complete his building projects. Our political system is so dysfunctional that the only way to get projects done on a massive scale is to purchase politicians with money and loyalty—and Carlos Todd was one of the masters. He died at 77 eventually to his battle with cancer leaving quite a power vacuum in his wake.

I was in firm opposition to Todd and his Butler County associates Michael Fox and Bob Shelly as the Butler County Regional Highway used largely eminent domain to destroy my childhood home, a cemetery that had Revolutionary War soldiers in it, and several Indian Mounds that populated the area destroying a lot of potential archaeology. I thought of Todd as evil incarnate on the face of the earth because the Republican Party led by him was buying up property to develop for their projects stepping all over the rights of private citizens in the process. It was incredibly wrong and I was made even more furious when they took my father to a baseball game where the developers had a nice private box and convinced him to sell to Todd all in the name of progress. Their basic sales pitch was, sell and profit, or fight and be destroyed. They had the power of government to destroy, so he should take the money. I had been willing to fight them to the ends of the earth with any means necessary, but it was my father’s property—and his right to do with it whatever he wanted. So the developers got their way.

Well, Michael Fox eventually went to jail, Bob Shelley got into sexual harassment troubles and was pushed out of his trustee seat, and Todd drifted off into the shadows as his grandson took over the family business. There has been a lot of change and upheaval since then as the Regional Highway was built and slowly development began to appear around it. Bridgewater Falls is just such a development, which I have slowly come to enjoy over the years. Liberty Center is the latest, and most spectacular, but was it worth all the pain it caused people to run all over their property rights to build it?

When I started No Lakota Levy all the characters from those eminent domain fights joined together with me to fight the Lakota levy because the local public school was blocking out some of those developers from further work and the district had reached a saturation point. Developers had built all the buildings they could hope to ever construct leaving the taxes enormously high on all future development tipping the balance away from everything that had been built by them. I had always been against the explosive growth because of the sustainability of it, so now I was on the same side as people like Carlos Todd and the developers he largely controlled. It was strange to get to know all of them from a perspective on the other side of the fence. Most of the emails I sent or received had Carlos Todd copied on them so he was well aware of what we were doing and it threw me back to when I was in opposition with him and I was able to map out how he controlled things from a distance. My hatred subsided toward him because I saw what he was doing—he used government—which had stuck itself in every crevice it could over a long period of time—to hedge the bets for his projects in his favor. I couldn’t argue his method or reasoning. The developers were productive people making things that didn’t exist previously—and that was a good thing. Some of them I liked quite a lot, some I didn’t. I worked with them and just did my thing eventually doing as I always do—just sort of taking over. When the heat got too hot for them they checked out and we parted ways. Every time we’d meet toward the end they’d try to poke me into running for office, so I deliberately sabotaged the relationship with them to get out of that circle not because I disliked them, but because I needed to maintain my own course.

I’m sure Todd would have liked to see the Liberty Center open, but he didn’t quite make it. I am proud that its there, and of all the hard work many people endeavored to construct it. I think it’s a miracle of economic activity and the best minds of architecture. But was it worth it? Was it worth the building of the Butler County Regional Highway? The destroyed lives, the destroyed history and the integrity of Butler County politics? The answer is yes—even though it cost me personally. True, the world would have been better if everything had been left alone, but there’s a lot to be said about creating something from nothing and I appreciate that more than stagnation for the benefit of sentimentality.

The reason I told that story is that establishment Republicans, many of which were put in place because of people like Carlos Todd have mostly committed vast amounts of evil using eminent domain to destroy the lives of many. Donald Trump is not alone in that effort and he shares a lot in common with Carlos Todd, a developer who used politics to get what he needed to accomplish done. Getting to know Todd and his troops well from the other side of the fence I was able to see what was really in their heart. Sure, some people were bad, and they went to jail, lost their seats or ended up wiped from the face of the earth one way or another. But the good ones endured because through competition there really is no other way to sustain your essence, but through authenticity, and Carlos Todd was authentic—just as Donald Trump is. No question when you do things that relate to other people, they will have an opinion one way or the other. The judgment of a person’s character is determined by how they act under pressure. What people do under pressure validates their worth—and Todd showed that he had a lot. I might not always like what he planned to do, but his effort had purity to it. But within that purity there were many people who were trampled on and were smacked around quite a lot.

The real answer is to get politics out of development and remove many of the regulations that cause all this evil. Until that happens people like Carlos Todd and Donald Trump will work the system to their advantage. That is why I feel that Trump—after a lifetime of making deals and running over people can actually straighten out the mess of politics and its terrible relationship to business. Ideological people who have not built things themselves but were relegated to just giving their opinions about things do not have the benefit of my life where I’ve been very active on both sides and know clearly where the line is drawn. I can only treasure that opportunity because it gave me the philosophic foundations to understand all these complexities without losing sight of the real objective—economic growth, the sanctity of private property, and the evil of a system that the most clever among us learn to use to get things done—in spite of the desire of that system to destroy all thought and action. Donald Trump is an insider, and I would love to see what someone like him—who likely hates the system as much as I do, would commit himself to if given a chance to right the ship in ways that Carlos Todd never came close to achieving. But for Republicans to turn on Trump as a radical maniac who would wreck the party—they are in denial at what put them in office in the first place. They’d be wise to get behind Trump for the strength he provides and for giving them an opportunity to have their office seats. Because without people like Carlos Todd, Donald Trump and eminent domain—most of them would still be small time hacks looking for an opportunity that would never come otherwise.

The only way to change the system is from the inside by someone who knows it better than anybody. That’s why I’m voting for Trump. His use of eminent domain and the guilt I’m sure he feels about it I think would make a person determined to correct that situation for the benefit of economic wonder which everyone would eventually enjoy. Trump is in a position to morally build a philosophy of growth by utilizing the lessons learned from crony capitalism into a more laissez-faire system perhaps for the first time since the first few decades of America’s creation. And that would be wonderful.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

My New Ruger Vaquero: A best friend that brings out the best in humanity

There is nothing about my new Ruger Vaquero .45 that speaks of violence to me. Looking at it all I think about is cowboy trick shooting and stunts that can be performed with it. It is to me equivalent to a nicely made basketball intended to be thrown into a net by a good athlete, or a wonderful pair of golf clubs meant to drive a ball across a vast green into a hole 400 yards away in increments.   Shooting with the Vaquero shown in the picture is essentially a sport where science and skill combine into hitting a target under timed circumstances. There is nothing violent about the act whatsoever. Guns might have been invented out of war like necessity and the sport of shooting to practice for that eventuality—but the sport of shooting is just another human endeavor intended to test skill against adversity with the drama of competition to drive image

What struck me on this particular gun—as they all do these days is the nice messaging that often comes with them. Ruger in this case was grateful for my purchase and the supplied literature made it clear. It showed to me a serious interest by the Ruger Company to build a solid base of customer support for a product unquestionably made in America by good, hard working people. The gun feels like a well-crafted work of art, its machining is immaculate, the tolerances on its critical junctures well inspected, and it feels incredibly competent. This is not a company that should be targeted by liberal hate groups. Ruger is not a company making death—it makes life, and tradition. There is nothing about my Ruger Vaquero that speaks of violence if a person really understands what shooting is all about in the world of sport. It’s a fine tool to me for exhibiting traditional American art forms, and it’s a miracle of modern science—more sophisticated than driving a golf ball into a hole, or throwing a football 50 yards down field into the arms of a waiting receiver. To me the Vaquero by Ruger is the ultimate individual sport where great power is incorporated into the mechanisms of great engineering and it deserves to be respected as such.

But it’s not lost to me how grateful the Ruger Company is with each purchase made of their firearms. It is because of their attitude toward their customers that I get a special feeling whenever I see the emblem blazed across a t-shirt of hat, or on a banner at a competition. I know they care about their customers in spite of a world led by liberals that wants to eradicate them from the face of the planet because those political minds want to make the company into a representation of hate and violence. Football is a violent sport, golf clubs are sometimes used as weapons of hate when they are slammed over the head of a victim, but political advocates don’t seek to ban golf courses or the sport of golf. The gun has a special hatred aimed at it because liberals have no idea or desire to understand that guns like the Vaquero are designed for much more than hunting or self defense—they are built for the sport of the Cowboy Fast Draw.

In such groups as those in the preservation of the Wild West arts are some of the best people I have ever met. The world would be a whole lot better off if more people interacted with these great Americans. And on the hips of most of them are often Vaqueros by Ruger. They wear them openly in public often and nobody ever gets shot, and there are seldom ever hard words spoken to others. There is almost always respect for their fellow shooters. Within that alliance of sportsman they revere each other with camaraderie that is exceptionally healthy and overwhelmingly positive.

When I picked up my Vaquero at Right 2 Arms it was the owner’s parents who were working the store and were armed behind the counter. There was no reason to feel apprehension at that visible support of what looked like a Glock holstered on the father. We proceeded to have a very nice conversation about Gatlinburg, Tennessee while the background check came through for me. They were good people and I looked over my Vaquero as they spoke about their upcoming vacation plans. It was good, healthy conversation among highly armed people who invoked no danger whatsoever. Instead, the presence of guns elevated our interaction to something of respectful banter united under support for the 2nd Amendment.

Just two days prior I had a wonderful lunch with some VIP’s within the shooting world. We talked about gun ranges, plans for helping the youth through learning marksmanship, and the bad rap that guns were getting in the wake of the Oregon shooting.   I enjoyed the company more than I would if the conversation were a usual business lunch where all the things that people really like are talked around because of political correctness. With these guys, we could all just be ourselves which was refreshing. It was much better to talk about things that really interested us instead of sports scores and the season trajectory of our favorite football teams. There always is a solid foundation of realness that comes from those types of lunches as opposed to others that feel like a clip on tie at a wedding. It confirmed much of what I have been feeling lately about firearms and their role behind the American experience. We need to be more proud of that heritage, not less so.

I mentioned to the guys at the power lunch that we needed to market firearms differently as a public perception—that as shooters we needed to stop riding the ropes of the obvious political fights we are without question in. We need to get into the center of the ring and control the fight from that position instead of just taking the shots to the face and hoping to outlast our opponents—the gun grabbers, the liberal radicals teaching in our public schools, and the political class that wants to turn America back into an aristocracy similar to Europe—instead of one founded on independence from gun possession.

The reason my Vaquero as opposed to other guns I have bought is so special is that its purpose is exclusively for use as a cowboy shooter for the sport of Western Arts. It is the type of single action that won the West in America and that means a lot to me symbolically, and the sports that have risen up in the wake of that historical memory is not much different from the battlefield strategies of football. The games might have been invented by inclinations of war, but they evolve into camaraderie and tradition that brings out the best that a society has to offer. The gun in America exhibits the best of this example.

The summation of my contacts the week that I picked up my Vaquero at Right 2 Arms is guns make people better—not worse as progressive politics suggests. The political left had misdiagnosed the root cause of human evil and sold it back to society in a package of deceit. When that deceit is removed and Americans are allowed to wear their firearms on their hips, and discuss them as extensions of themselves, a higher quality in people emerges built out of respect. The knowledge that domination of the another person is not possible—so a respectful exchange emerges between human beings when both have guns. The trouble emerges when that relationship is lopsided, where a maniac is armed and a peaceful person is not—that’s where abuse happens. But Ruger is not about feeding that fear—they are about making America a better place and that sentiment begins with the simple thank you note that they package with their guns. I felt honored to open up my new Vaquero. It’s an honor to have such a fine gun from such a quality company. As is typical of most gun manufacturers, they are examples of what’s best about American manufacturing and that is certainly the case with Ruger. They are one of the very best, and every time I look at my Ruger Vaquero, I will think of what’s best about America and the culture that should otherwise thrive in a society open to gun use for the skills that emerge from them in sports.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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Boehner Crying over the Pope: Why there is supposed to be a separation between church and state

As many conservatives like Glenn Beck strive to bring God back into the political realm grounding the roots of patriotism, the Pope Francis visit to the United States should serve as a warning shot as to why in America we should keep a clear distinction between the separation of church and state. Obama and others like him who would love to empower the United Nations into being a ruling centralized authority throughout the world, is using the Pope to advance their progressive agenda—particularly the religion of global warming and immigration. I’m not Catholic; I don’t recognize the pope in any position of authority. If he were standing on the other side of a fence, I wouldn’t even take the time to gaze over at him. To me, he’s just another old man. I’m sure he’s a nice guy. I like that the church tries to help people with kindness—that’s a sweet thing to do as a human being. But I don’t need the pope addressing my congressional body of government from the vantage point of a religious figure from Italy who was born in Argentina and thinks socialism is more favorable than capitalism. Standing in front of my country’s government and lecturing us about the depravity of capitalism is like stepping into a hamburger restaurant and demanding that it become a Chinese buffet and should serve more items for vegans. It’s just disrespectful.

Even more disturbing is that John Boehner, my congressman in my district who happens to be Speaker of the House cried about meeting the pope. That is not very wise for a leader of Congress. Such behavior establishes that the Roman Catholic Church holds sway over the leadership of our republic, and that’s no crying matter. It’s embarrassing. No man should be crying over meeting another man—especially one like Francis. The celebrity of the pope is a completely made up thing, no different from Lady Gaga. There is nothing Holy about the guy other than an institutional organization decided to make him the leader of their church. The reaction that many have had toward the pope’s visit to the United States—summarized best by John Boehner is that philosophically, entirely too many people are wrong in their foundation beliefs and rely on the church to provide their spiritual essence—which is dangerous. It’s dangerous for individuals, it is dreadfully treacherous for an entire nation.

My article yesterday about the mysterious Serpent Mound was actually written to set up this point, CLICK HERE TO REVIEW. Religion is a poor philosophic foundation for anything intended to get to the facts. A proper philosophy is one established on proven observation, not one based on faith. If the pope can sell the idea of sacrifice in the here and now for the benefit of an afterlife, he can also convince people that global warming is real, and that poor productive lifestyles are not the cause of poverty. Otherwise rational men and women who conduct their lives in the world of the real put all that on hold on Sunday when they attend a Catholic service and give idolatry to this dude from Argentina that the Vatican in Italy calls a pope. A proper understanding of history reveals that religion is much older than the Roman Catholic Church and that because of the modern doctrines established only in the last 1800 years, a proper understanding of our real history is not possible. There is nothing to cheer about for a pope. If people will believe what he says there is no reason to not believe in some of the ancient alien contemplations about the start of the civilization—that earth was seeded by extraterrestrials, the planet was terraformed by an artificial moon, and interdimensial rulers from the far reaches of the universe are the true kings of our lives as ultraterrestrials. After all, if you’re going to believe in a burning bush, resurrection after death on the third day, and making the blind see—why not.

That is why it’s so upsetting to see grown men cry and pander to some guy walking around in an archaic costume from the Middle-Ages called a pope. I’ll be the first to say that I’d rather deal with people who have religious values than no values at all, but those most committed to faith have an extremely difficult time deciphering things through logic.  Once Pandor’s Box is opened and some blind faith is accepted to the human mind, there is no turning it off. If a person is willing to look at the pope and accept that he’s the embodiment of god on earth, then that person is no different from the countless societies from the past that have failed, from the ancient Egyptians to the Aztecs. The ability to worship a deity does not make a society great. The values often associated with religion sometimes do, such as the Judeo-Christian background that established America. But the Founding Fathers were wise enough to understand that there should be a separation of church and state so that an emphasis on logic could be established. Blind faith is no way to run a government, or make any decisions, so it is reprehensible that the symbol of blind faith would even fathom to lecture Congress about what types of things America should or should not value. Some of the Founding Fathers did attempt to put God in the government, such as the symbols that appear on American money—“In God We Trust.” It doesn’t say what god, it just references a deity. With hindsight being 20/20 it would have been best to never have muddied the water of confusing religion with the state and to stick with the original thought of separation. Because you can’t go down that road of belief and faith and still expect to make decisions based on rational evidence. The two things just aren’t compatible, as much as we’d like them to be.

That’s why if feels wrong to see John Boehner crying over the pope. He’s supposed to be the third most powerful person in the world—and he’s crying over the uttering of an old man because the figure represents the embodiment of godliness upon the earth. For a grown man in a leadership position to believe such a thing is a tragic display of faith instead of leadership. The human race has done a poor job of establishing a criterion for leadership largely because the values of its historic religions have idolized pacifists and sacrificial souls toward the fate of the universe, instead of relying on the miracle of thought.

For those who think human beings are insignificant in the universe consider that animals don’t think—not in the way that we associate thought to. Their activity is to maintain their life, they eat, drink, and reproduce maintaining a cycle of life that is specific to their species. Human children begin thinking very young when they begin playing with toys. With cats, dogs and other animals, they play with toys also, but the activity is largely connected to learning hunting techniques that will be valuable to them with muscle memory latter in their adult lives. Human children however play and daydream and play out fantasy events in their heads with an alternate reality that is very specific to human thought. Single cell organisms that might be found on some distant planet or at the bottom of the ocean don’t do that. They just live—they don’t do much thinking. Humans are remarkable because of their ability to think. Congress, the building that the pope spoke in, the President of the United States, and all the aspects of American culture that the pope saw on his trip are aspects of human thought—whereas in Cuba where the pope had visited the day before, the cost of not thinking was grotesquely obvious. God doesn’t help the people in Cuba with some miracle. America does with capitalism and the thoughts generated by the measurement of money have made society much better. The pope falsely associates the worship of money and a growing gulf between the rich and the poor based on Biblical text nurtured along by a crumbling Roman empire—so his premise and the assumption arrived at are wrong. Money is a measurement of productivity—of action. It’s not something given to people—it’s something that is created by value. When the political left tries to establish a life without values—and they fail, then seek to rob those values from a church that does have them—using the pope to justify every transsexual-homosexual act, abortion, and every chemical addiction known to man—they are trying to disguise their bankrupt philosophy. That’s why Obama made such a big deal about the pope’s visit as opposed to the Israeli prime minister who visited recently—that he gave the cold shoulder to completely during Netanyahu’s stay.

But to see John Boehner crying–it’s just sick. Even if the moment was an emotional one, he should be stoic enough as a world leader to hold it together. The pope has no authority in America and we certainly don’t want to go back to the inquisition of the Dark Ages. We don’t need the Crusades either. We don’t need global conquest under the flag of an old church that promotes Argentinean socialists into the white robes of piety. The pope should be asking America questions about how to live, not lecturing it. Because when it comes to moral positioning, America and its capitalism does more for more people than the church in the Vatican could ever hope to achieve. It all comes from human thought that is specific to the human race. The logic of nature and all the global warming that the pope advocated for before Congress is simply a demolition derby of primal chaos where millions of species of animals, plants and airborne bacteria are in a fight to survive from day-to-day. Of all them are human beings—the only species who can think. And when it comes to worshiping a pope, it’s a thoughtless enterprise more adapt to a primal animal, not a human being. The Speaker of the House should understand that America is a place for thought, and not a platform for lecture by a man and his church that just doesn’t understand its place in the universe—but by the definitions of a fallen empire and a Europe that still hopes to use the church to rule the world.

Before the pope could leave the United States after his trip Boehner so emotional over his visit quit Congress singing a famous melody from the Disney classic Song of the South.  The heat of the day proved to be too much for him, so he got out of the kitchen.   Many of us knew all along that he didn’t have what it took, that the position of Speaker required more than just pageantry.  And from his perspective realizing that when the pope left the podium as tears streamed down his face it was time to throw in the towel.  Because the fight coming to Congress is just getting started, and he obviously didn’t  have the heart for it.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

The Unconquered Donald Trump: CNN’s debate of the century–and beyond

I have watched a lot of very smart people over the last several years throw up their hands in frustration because the political class will not listen, or let them in, to help solve the problems of our states and our country. The desire is there from those smart people to give it everything they have to fix very complicated problems, but they are purposely kept on the fringes to allow the entitlements that come with public service to continue like whores in a Port Royal brothel. Those same people are angry and frustrated that Donald Trump is poised to bring CNN more than 30 million viewers hoping to watch the billionaire presidential candidate bring a smack down to his rival Republican contenders on the debate stage on Wednesday September 16th.

Their frustration is very similar to those who refuse to believe that big time wrestling is fake—because they want to buy the story line that political theater can somehow be solved with logic. But it can’t. The system is too far gone for anything like that, and as well intended as Rand Paul and Ted Cruz may be, the political establishment is against them to the death. So for a president in 2016 to be successful they have to be good at two things, they have to understand “big time” wrestling, and they have to know how money works. It is well-known that Donald Trump understands money. He is a mostly self-made man built the old-fashioned way. But he’s also an entertainer who knows the value of a brand—and his brand is so strong that it has even survived the testosterone filled banter of wrestling fanaticism. Out of all his accomplishments, the sentiment that Trump is an inductee of the WWE in the celebrity wing of the Hall of Fame likely makes him most equipped to be President of the United States in the years following the embarrassments of Obama, Clinton and Bush than anything else.

Trump has always been a fan of the WWE and is good friends with Vince McMahon in real life. Trump hosted both WrestleMania IV and V from Trump Plaza. This marked the first and only time a WrestleMania has been held at the same venue in consecutive years.

Younger fans will probably remember him best being involved in WrestleMania 23. It was billed as the “Battle of the Billionaires”, with Trump’s representative Bobby Lashley beating McMahon’s representative Umaga. Trump got to shave McMahon’s hair off at the event.

There was even a storyline when Trump bought Monday Night Raw off of McMahon in 2009. He staged a historic commercial-free version of the show, which was one of the highest rated Raw shows in many years at the time.

http://www.rantsports.com/pro-wrestling/2013/02/26/donald-trump-enters-the-wwe-hall-of-fame/

Most notably with that “Battle of the Billionaires” was when Trump body slammed McMahon and punched him in the face several times. It was obvious choreography, but think about a 60-year-old Trump actually body slamming McMahon, even playing around. What is important about that event is that the Trump brand was so well-known and respected, that millions of fans supported Trump as the winner of that engagement where McMahon had his head shaved on stage. It was all entertainment theater agreed upon ahead of time, but the fact that McMahon agreed to allow a relatively old man billionaire to beat him in front of millions of people shows to what extent Trump protects his brand.

Trump with all the gusto of the entertainment value he learned through his support of the WWE is promising to release prisoners from Iran, make Mexico build a wall to seal off the American border, and has shown open support of Israel against Iran. He’s promised to cut taxes, save Social Security, and to make America great again—and rich. And a lot of what he has said is done in the same fashion as a WWE wrestler. Now when I showed some of the clips included here to my wife she was immediately turned off by Trump’s participation in the activity. But I found it fascinating. Not only did he fill the seats of his Trump Plaze, protect his investment in WWE, help his friend Vince promote great ratings for his Wrestle Mania events—Trump also increased his own personal brand which is known throughout the world as a quality—larger than life—persona. Trump worked a relatively simple deal at multiple levels to have world-wide impact, and he even participated as a wrestler. He didn’t just sit up in a glass box and watch; he was ring side with McMahon playing along. It was quite a business transaction—fascinating to watch.

The pressure on Trump for the CNN debate must be overwhelming. Everyone on that stage will be gunning for him. Everyone in the audience is carefully waiting for him to body slam someone. And the moderators want to be the ones to go down in history as the one who stumped Trump’s 2016 campaign. And he knows that’s what’s going to happen in front of nearly as many people who watch the Superbowl ever year. Talk about pressure—it doesn’t get any heavier. But Trump has set this whole thing up for several decades, and I wouldn’t doubt it if it didn’t play out in his mind when he and Vince McMahon were setting up “The Battle of the Billionaires.” The Beltway types will look at these clips of Donald Trump at Wrestle Mania and consider it low brow Entertainment Theater appealing to the trailer trash of America—as they sip their white wine during the appetizer portion of a tax payer funded dinner. But Trump knows that cultures around the world don’t care about debates or fancy talk. They will know when he comes to the table to negotiate that the 6’ 3” man from America in the blue suit and red tie that body slams celebrities in front of millions of people Trump is not going to play nicely. When people like Hulk Hogan and many other WWE greats will likely be part of Trump’s body guard entourage from the White House, Trump will have built up a mysticism that no body else could have dreamed to match.

Who would little 5’ 7” Vladimir Putin respect more, the chain-smoking John Boehner with the fake tan and fake courage—who gets pushed around by the skinny communist bastard Obama, or the larger than life Donald Trump who is seen on video, recently, body slamming Vince McMahon? What about negotiations with Iran? Iran doesn’t understand American culture, they don’t watch the debates. But they will watch the tape of Trump at Wrestle Mania—it will likely scare them because they respect that type of bravado. How about Mexico, a country filled with drug lords and corrupt politicians. Do they respect false words from the Beltway or someone who openly scolds El Chapo and fights giant men in front of thousands of people?

I think what Trump has done is brilliant and it all culminates at this CNN debate. It will be the fight of the century, and this one isn’t as planned out as the one between Trump and McMahon—this is a real fight. But the theatrics are what Trump knows and understands and he’s already working at many different levels well ahead of everyone else. To me its clear Trump has been building up his brand to perform this task for a long time. The brilliance of that strategy is to use an unlikely source, such as the WWE to catapult that brand to a voter base that has not been participating in elections—and to also use that footage to gain footage for future capital. There are all kinds of capital. Most of the time we think of capital as money, but there are other kinds. And Trump is planning to use that capital to break through some things that have been in a stalemate for a long time. And it is fascinating to watch. That is for sure.

All this gives me hope for those smart minds who have been trying to fix things. In the wake of this political destruction, which is going on presently, there will be room from those bright minds to flourish in the wake. When Trump avoids specifics it’s because he won’t be the one to solve all the problems of the nation. His role is to clear out the opposition. But the fixes have to come from the best and brightest that America has to offer. And we need a president who understands how to unleash that talent. Ironically, the best way to learn how to do that is by watching Wrestle Mania. There is more truth in a typical WWE fight than all the political speeches on CSPAN collected over a decade. And that’s the sad truth.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

The Need for American Exceptionalism: How the political left has killed thousands and made life miserable for millions

Now you know dear reader why American Exceptionalism is so important. For all you peace lovers, only now do you understand that the wars in the Middle East that took place in recent years were not about oil. They were about stabilized government and the opportunity to live life for the indigenous people of those lands. The so-called American Imperialism that the political left is always talking about is very good for the world. American capitalism is also very good for the world. Wherever America has a military base or business influence, the cultures in those regions prosper. Where America does not have influence, there is war, death, and corruption. What should that tell the United Nations? And what would the United Nations be without the United States?   Nothing. So where does that leave us?

Worldwide presently there are 59.5 million people on the move as refugees within their home countries, victims of tyrannical regimes, poverty-stricken economies, abusive thugs, and environmental disaster. There have never been more people looking to leave where they were hoping to get refuge somewhere else. That is the cause of the problem on the American border with Mexico. Mexico is an impoverished nation collapsing economically under its 100 year commitment toward socialist oriented policies and now they are impoverished. The only real money they have is from American businesses fleeing the high taxation and union demands within the United States, and tourism. The political left is at fault for all those issues, the high taxes, the open border push, the drives toward socialism—yet they take no responsibility for any of it leaving the world a mismanaged mess that is killing many hundreds of thousands of people and leaving millions without hope and opportunity.

The latest crises in Syria has 4.1 million refugees registered fleeing the war-torn area of the Middle East destroyed by ISIS for destinations in Europe hoping for sanctuary somewhere that radicals won’t cut off their heads, rape their women, and corrupt their children. They leave for countries that will allow them to live on welfare—which is why so many are primarily fleeing to Germany. Greece doesn’t have any money to deal with even more people seeking social benefits from a socialist economic system. Obama blew the deal in Syria with Bashar al-Assad when he failed to enforce his “line in the sand” then refused to help that same dictator when indirectly America gave arms to his enemies which rose up to become ISIS—an even greater threat. The cause of that increase of aggression was the power vacuum left behind when America left Iraq, as telegraphed by Barack Obama—who ran for president on the platform of leaving the unpopular war.

As politicians like Rand Paul and his father Ron were technically and Constitutionally correct that America needs to take care of our own borders and not be the police of the entire world, the world actually needs the cowboy heroism of America to save them from mismanagement, religious zealots, and the ugly claws of communism that still seek to spread across the world with a vengeful effort at mass collectivism. So long as the world is rife with communism, socialism and religious fanatics, America is the only country responsible enough to provide peace and shelter to a world literally on fire. The global migrations happening right now are because America has pulled up its global influence and went home to drown in its 19 trillion-dollar deficit.

To any sane mind all these problems, again caused by the political left and their armies of progressives in virtually every field of endeavor. You could further trace much of this trouble back to billionaires like George Soros. His money goes into programs like open border societies, marijuana legalization, and extreme political left progressive candidates. What do all those things have in common? Well, drugs soften the minds of indigenous people while open borders destroy nationalism, creating new voting blocks with socialist foundations to elect progressives to manage the countries while people like hedge fund investors make money on the chaos. There’s no conspiracy there, it’s happening right in front of our faces and nobody is really denying it. Meanwhile, Republicans are more concerned with “playing nice” as millions of young people are killed in China and elsewhere under socialist, communist, and religious administrations. Planned Parenthood is a perfect example of this crises—abortion isn’t just about political and theological debate anymore. Practitioners under tax payer funding are deliberately killing children to sell their body parts. That is a crisis of epic proportions—and again the avocation of the evil is a strategy of the political left. So isn’t it explicitly clear what’s happening and why people are being made to suffer?

One of the terms used to disgrace American occupation of foreign lands is to refer to the act as “cowboy diplomacy” and the concept of the Wild, Wild, West where the naive concept of good guys shooting bad guys is considered reprehensible. America feeling guilt about that accusation stopped making westerns, stopped shipping its values abroad, and avoided the finger-pointing of American Imperialism that has so long loomed like a cloud over the freest capitalist nation on earth. Well, now we see the results of that avoidance. The world was so much better when it made westerns, and kids played cowboys and Indians as opposed to Miley Cyrus grinding on some teddy bears and passing around joints at a press conference. Miley was shaped by progressive politics whereas conservativism was shaped by American westerns and their values.   Turn a cowboy loose in the Middle East and there will be lot fewer refugees fleeing to Germany. I promise. Punish the bad guys so good people can live free. To a liberal that’s an overly simplified statement, because to their minds, evil has a seat at the table of debate. Liberals created all the problems, and the world is suffering under their mismanagement.

The question we have to solve now is what to do about all this. Just blindly taking in refugees and putting them on government assistance won’t solve the problem. They need real help in places like Syria, and Mexico. Those regions do need a return to cowboy diplomacy and a sense of honor typically associated with American westerns. They need capitalism and the opportunities that come with that economic system. The Greek isles depend nearly exclusively on tourism to sustain livelihoods for their inhabitants. They don’t make cars, or even brew beer there, not in any quantities to provide economical means toward social sustainability. They need tourists to visit to provide income to the families who live there. But tourists won’t come if dead bodies continue to wash up on the beach from failed attempts to cross the Mediterranean from Africa and the Middle East by families fleeing the terrorism of ISIS and the caliphate of Islamic extremism. Nobody wants to go on vacation only to see dead bodies on the beach. Yet the United Nations is in complete paralysis as to what to do about it all. They are totally clueless trying to deal with the problem, not the cause of the problem.

The cause of most of the world’s problems is a lack of capitalism and the American bravado to promote it. The reluctance to spread “cowboy diplomacy” throughout the world has been catastrophic. The world needs our help, and we have instead run like chickens—which progressives have told two generations now is a noble cause. Progressives would rather support abortion deaths; rainbow-colored transvestites, and legalized marijuana, than to allow America to feel good about its traditions and responsibility. Saving the world is the responsibility of those most able to do it. If a victim is in distress and a strong personality is nearby to do something about it, the responsibility for action is on those capable of solving the problem. America is the only nation capable of such a thing. And because we are not performing that job now, the world is suffering. The blame for that suffering is not only on the liberals who have caused the mess, but in those of us who have failed to act correctly in the face of danger and opposition. The world needs a little “cowboy justice” and it’s about time we stop apologizing and start giving it to them. Once the world learns to be more like Americans, then maybe the United States can be the way Rand Paul wishes. But not until then.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

An Answer to Rand Paul: Why Trump is good for the GOP

Watching Donald Trump on the Jimmy Fallon Show Friday September 11th, 2015 just ahead of the second Republican debate of the campaign season on CNN, it was clear that the New York billionaire was in his element and most poised to become the next president. He had such a good show with Fallon that it may be remembered in history as Teddy Roosevelt’s “I carry a big stick” speech. Trump is independently successful, in the old-fashioned way, and after more than a decade on television with his own reality show teaching others how to be successful, he has become a very polished performer in front of the camera. He has a stage presence better than Ronald Reagan and far surer of himself. And I think that’s a great thing, considering we’ve just come off nearly 16 years of a divided country almost as fractured as America was during the Civil War. We have the Clintons to thank for bringing us that fracturing during 90s, but that’s a story that’s been told before. Now we have to clean up the mess and figure out who is most poised to perform the job of president now.

 

The real test for Trump will be this upcoming CNN debate. I’m sure he knows that the Republican establishment will throw everything but the kitchen sink at him over the next few weeks, but essentially he can lock down the nomination for president with this next debate. If he dominates, most of his rivals will be forced to step out, as Rick Perry just has. Likely that is what is at the heart of Rand Paul’s frustrated comments just before Trump went on the Fallon show and gave a brilliant performance. If Trump dominates the CNN debate, the money will dry up for most of the Republican candidates and the road to the White House will have ended for them. Here is what Paul said:

“What does it say about GOP when a 3 & half term Gov w/ a successful record of creating jobs bows out as a reality star leads in the polls?” Paul tweeted.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/11/rand-paul-has-a-question-for-republican-voters-following-rick-perrys-suspension-of-campaign/

Well, let me answer that question for Paul and the rest of the GOP field—as well as all the other people like Glenn Beck who think Trump is a simpleton, a buffoon, a reckless madman, and a wildly progressive candidate who will bring destruction to the country if elected president. Trump is a polished television performer. He understands how television works and how much information common people can retain in a speech. While he may not be a Constitutional attorney, or a talk show host who has built their life as an expert on American history, he is aware that all that knowledge is useless if you can’t sell the Constitution to the house and senate on Capital Hill. So even if Rand Paul were elected, or Ted Cruz—who know the Constitution likely better than the Supreme Court, the normal zombies out there who live in pop culture land don’t care even a little bit, so there will be no adherence on Capital Hill to the Constitution, so why dwell on it. Trump has a different strategy, which I agree with.

Since I’ve been writing these daily articles starting in 2010 I have watched Glenn Beck fill the Mall in Washington with hope filled speeches, I have watched Governor Kasich run as a Tea Party darling, promising big changes and Constitutional adherence, and I watched my hometown congressman John Boehner take over as Speaker of the House and watched Mitch McConnell across the river become Senate Majority Leader. I watched Boehner force members to read the Constitution after his swearing-in and talk like he was going to reform Washington. Guess what happened in all those cases? Big waves came and swept away Beck throwing him into near irrelevance in Dallas, Texas away from the media culture of New York, where the fight for our nation’s survival really is happening. Beck picked a fight with George Soros and the billionaire unleashed his wrath on the pest forcing him to leave town and find solace in Jesus. Boehner, McConnell and Kasich all had their asses handed to them with just a little bit of progressive resistance. Obama clearly outplayed Boehner. Kasich lost to the unions. And McConnell was never anything but a muddy middle ground player in Washington. He’s far from conservative as the party platform professes small, limited, government with responsible spending. They are effectively wimps and they are the most powerful in Washington.

Along comes Trump, independently successful, charismatic, and he has a wrathful temper. He’s used to winning everything he does and he actually loves to fight. While people like Beck used to be alcoholics and drug addicts open to vices that corrupt man’s mind, Trump has always been against weak personality flaws. He has been shaped by the typical New York progressive view of the world in the past, but he currently has the ability to go on the Jimmy Fallon Show and declare without hesitation that America needs to decrease its spending, close its borders, and become a rich nation again without apologizing to the world—and people clap. Movie stars line up to have selfies taken with him, and he is generally admired by even people on the left. When he states that he supports taxing the rich, it is a calculated effort—a way to take the wind out of the sails of open socialists like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. What can they say to “trump” Trump when the Republican candidate is advocating the same things they are in their platform? (It’s called political strategy) On the Fallon Show Trump advocated during a comedy segment that corporate taxation needed to be lowered—and again people cheered him on. That is important—I believe taxes in general will be lowered by Trump, especially for corporations. Hedge fund investors are easy targets who are like Vegas gamblers. The wealth they create is all in paper—so taxing them is an easy target. Corporations on the other hand actually make things—and their taxes need to be lowered—considerably. In the climate we live in now, Trump knows he won’t get both and still get political support from the population in general. Not when socialism is what the political left is selling.

I know that people are worried that Trump is poised to become an American version of Russia’s Putin—but I think he’s smarter than that. I think a lot of the egomaniac persona is an act designed to throw people off while conducting The Art of the Deal in real life. For people who don’t understand those kinds of skills I can see why they are timid. People think when they meet me that I’m a hard right-winged guy who is intolerant of the world and that I live in a fringy cave of conservatism. They are surprised when I can sit down with people who think very differently from me and conduct myself in a reasonable way. I’ve been in sales of some kind or another all my life, and the first thing you do when feeling out an opponent’s position is to find out where they are. So you club them over the head with aggression to find out what they are willing to defend most, then you work toward an agreement with that knowledge. It’s a strategy, and Trump is certainly good at it. What he shows is not always where he’s willing to sign a deal. That’s likely what scares Beck and Paul, because they are Constitutional purists. However to me, I think the Constitution was framed by the Federalists way too much—I live near Hamilton, Ohio which is named after Alexander Hamilton—who was an idiot in my opinion. I did not like Hamilton’s fiscal fights with Thomas Jefferson—and I didn’t respect the way George Washington let Hamilton have his way with the country’s financial approach of too much centralized government intrusion. I think with all the rhetoric that I’ve heard from Trump that he’s a closet Anti-Federalist. I think he’d be more of a president like Jefferson than Washington. I think he may be as bombastic as Teddy Roosevelt was, but away from progressivism instead of toward it. I actually think Trump as a president would be a combination of George Patton, Thomas Jefferson, and the Democrat Andrew Jackson. Personally I like Jackson, he balanced the books in America for the only time in its history, and I think Trump is the only person right now in the world who could tackle the 19 trillion-dollar deficiency facing us right now.   I see no downside to a Trump president, only strategic opportunities that benefit our country.

Trump is far more than a television reality star. It must be remembered that his television stardom only came after he had a successful career as one of the best in his field of endeavor. And he’s offering something to politics that we haven’t seen before. People like Trump don’t run for president. They purchase them, and then stay in the shadows. There isn’t another person on the Republican stage for president right now who can resist that purchasing power—including Ted Cruz. But Cruz knows what he’s doing. Trump is breaking through a lot of ice and Cruz is succeeding in his wake. And that is how someone like Cruz can get a foothold in Washington that he otherwise wouldn’t get. It takes someone like Trump to bust up the old way so that something new can come about. And in 2016 we are in a bust up year. We have to destroy the garbage that politicians like Barack Obama and George W. Bush have given us. And we need to do it fast, and spectacularly. Out of all the possible candidates in the world on any continent at this moment in time, only Trump has an opportunity to perform the task. And instinctively, people know it.

The American Constitution is excessively important, but to my eyes, it was corrupted from the gate. The Anti-Federalists folded too soon and gave way to Alexander Hamilton entirely too much. So I’m all for making the Constitution more conservative with Supreme Court appointments who survived The Apprentice instead of some liberal trash from a left-leaning university. I want to see Secretaries of State who know Project Management, and negotiators who know how to cut off the head of their opposition and stick it on a pike for all to see. And I want a President who will do all this with a smile on his face and who has the ability to walk onto Saturday Night Live and joke about it selling back to America all the things that are good for it—starting with their national pride. So to answer Senator Paul, the reason the GOP finds itself losing to a reality television star is because they have lied, cheated, and allowed themevles to be beaten by complete idiots for over two decades now. And people like me are sick of it. Trump offers something different and I’m willing to try it—because doing the same thing over and over again is the definition of insanity. Voting for anybody but Trump would be considered insane because nobody else, Paul included has the ability to market their good ideas to the public—and therefore would drown in the corruption that pours off K-Street like water over Niagara Falls.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

Why America Should Abolish Labor Day: The Marxist roots of a national holiday

It was a disgusting Labor Day Holiday in 2015. I have never liked Labor Day because the premise of it speaks of unionized activity. And of course the premise of organized labor is a bad one, collective bargaining, collective adversarial relationships with management, and the greatest insult of all, the expectation that a job is an entitlement that should not be connected to performance. Entertainment unions aren’t as bad as manufacturing and government sector unions because there is still a bit of free market capitalism present in those fields. If a star football player or movie star doesn’t put butts in seats, their value goes way down. But in almost every case, labor unions do not connect productive work to their efforts at solidarity and their efforts are criminal viewed through the proper lens of capitalism.

Even more sickening are the number of times during Labor Day that employees were termed as “workers” in the mode used commonly in Karl Mark’s Communist Manifesto.   Such as the term at the end of the book, “workers of the world, unite.” Democrats and labor union leaders use the term “worker” in precisely the same fashion and every time I hear it I am reminded of just how much communism has penetrated the capitalist culture of America much to all of our detriment. When President Obama or VP Joe Biden say “worker” they are using communist terms to describe people. Their vantage point is clearly framed by Karl Marx—and that is the general spirit of Labor Day—to me it’s a communist recognition holiday—so I don’t like it.

Of course from a communist perspective the White House thought it appropriate to issue a new executive order on Labor Day—this one was one of the most disgusting that I can remember in recent history. Here’s how The Blaze reported the story:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Showing solidarity with workers on Labor Day, President Barack Obama will sign an executive order Monday requiring paid sick leave for employees of federal contractors, including 300,000 who currently receive none.

The White House wouldn’t specify the cost to federal contractors to implement the executive order, which Obama was to address at a major union rally and breakfast in Boston. The Labor Department said any costs would be offset by savings that contractors would see as a result of lower attrition rates and increased worker loyalty, but produced nothing to back that up.

Under the executive order, employees working on federal contracts gain the right to a minimum of one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours they work. Stretched out over 12 months, that’s up to seven days per year. The order will allow employees to use the leave to care for sick relatives as well, and will affect contracts starting in 2017 — just as Obama leaves office.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/09/07/heres-how-obama-will-mark-labor-day/

Here’s the problem with this ridiculous executive order and the Labor Day that it was signed on—it celebrates “not working,” non productivity. It is a celebration of staying home and doing leisurely activities as opposed to actually working. The premise is a bad one rooted in laziness. When Marx says “workers of the world unit” in the Communist Manifesto and Barack Obama tells those workers to stay home more often, they are both building a sense of entitlement toward the endeavor of work that is unhealthy, and detrimental for a capitalist nation. Marx says to unite so that through collectivism they gain leveraging power to deprive an employer of their labor so that they can make ridiculous mandates as to the allocation of their effort toward productive enterprise.

Just before Labor Day a middle-aged male uttered happiness at their ability to have a four-day weekend. They had Friday off, but would also have Monday off due to the national holiday. They were quite happy to be free of work for four consecutive days. The statement to me was troubling because it indicated that the work the young man was doing was so far from what he’d rather be doing that he considered the opportunity for freedom from that expectation enough to proclaim joy. Now I’m sure a lot of people feel that way toward their jobs, but that doesn’t make it right. If you feel that way about something you work at, I feel sorry for you. Working is a joy. When I do it, it is part of my life in every way. I work while I’m at Disney World. I work at 4 am—I work all the time, even during holidays, weekends, all hours of the day because I see work as a creative endeavor and it feels good to make things. I enjoy making things. It is a joy to bring things to life that did not exist before. The thoughts of that middle-aged man were not something I could understand, or sympathize with. What would that person be doing besides working, playing video games, watching a movie, or just talking with friends? Those might be fun exercises, but they are often spectator sports. In the case of video games and other entertainment, the programmers did the work; the players just enjoy the productivity that brought the product to life. Enjoying entertainment is not in and of itself productive—its leisure. Productivity is when you bring something to life and the effort creates economic energy. Being productive is quite rewarding. You feel good after a hard day of work.

Yet the president is instigating a quandary that does not make sense. On one hand he is saying that workers are valuable, then on the other that they aren’t needed, because if they can afford to take off one hour of paid leave for every thirty hours they work, clearly they aren’t being paid for productive enterprise—but are relegated to the type of work typically associated with the government office worker—a butt in a seat that does very little but browse the internet all day while being paid extraordinary amounts of money for nothing. Obama clearly doesn’t understand the value of hard work and is clearly aligned with the referred middle-aged guy who was happy to have four days off for Labor Day. They don’t want to work; they simply want a job that pays them so they can do what they want in their leisure time. Obama has shown that his value in a job is not in productive output, but in time off work. That is an important distinction. It is a false assumption based on Karl Marx, not any capitalist philosopher. The failure is in the basic premise established on a college campus with Marxist pot smokers ignorant to the benefits of real productivity.

I would be alright with getting rid of the Labor Day Holiday completely. America doesn’t need to spend less time at work; it needs to work more, and harder. That may not be a popular sentiment, but you don’t get to be a great nation sitting around playing games all day. You have to do things that are productive, even if it’s fixing something around the house, or getting groceries. Productive output is the measure we have in life to gauge success. For those who couldn’t wait to have four days off, what did any of them achieve in those four days besides some extra sleep and more time to perform leisurely tasks? How productive was that long weekend, really? Not much, because the American government promotes that lazy, lackluster communist mentality that is so common around Washington D.C. They promote the entire nation to think the way they do—and to them Labor Day means spending time on their boats, eating out, or having more time to socialize with others—all acts that require the productivity of someone. To them they care not a bit—so long as it’s not them.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.

The Leadership of Jameis Winston: A commodity more important than gold

Leadership is likely the most valuable commodity that an individual can offer any organization. When leadership is natural, it elevates everyone to perform at a higher level and can sustain enthusiasm under difficult circumstances. When my favorite football team drafted Jameis Winston, I was a little disappointed because I was rooting for Marcus Mariota. I thought the Mariota athleticism would be a better fit in Tampa Bay than a pocket passer like Winston. Considering that the Tampa Bay coaches had watched a lot more film on Winston than I had I trusted their judgment to take the Florida State Heisman Trophy winner. After watching Winston in practice and in three of four pre-season games, I am happy with the decision and would like to welcome Winston to the Buccaneer family. CLICK HERE TO REVIEW WHY I LIKE THE BUCS. It is obvious that Tampa Bay wasn’t just looking for an arm at quarterback, they were looking for a leader and between Winston and Mariota, it was certainly Jameis who was the better natural leader. That will be important years from now when both kids are older and less physically agile. Leadership always trumps skill, and after watching this segment of Jon Gruden’s QB Camp it is obvious that Winston is oozing with leadership.

Football for a lot of people is a way of life. There are times during the business week where talk about football becomes quite animated. For me it’s just a game, not much different from a game of X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games. In my world they are all just as important. Football is just one of my entertainment options. The purpose of the game is to get a football to move across the field of play to score points. It’s a game invented by capitalism for the purpose of referencing American lifestyles in a game format. But what is more interesting to me is the displays of leadership that come out in exceptional athletes under pressure. That pressure would not exist but for the rules of the game, a last-minute touchdown throw as time runs out to win the game. Throwing a 22 yard bomb on a 4th and 14 in the fourth quarter. Or a sack on a 3rd and 2 to stop a drive and protect a lead. Leadership under pressure is what I enjoy most about football.

As many know I have been a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team for quite a long time. I enjoy watching them even during bad seasons because the organization is always trying to win. The Glazer organization is constantly changing things to find the right ingredients to make a winning team. Last year they only won two games, but I paid attention to every one of them, and enjoyed them for the entertainment they provided to me. I knew the Buccaneers blew the last game of the season last year with the Saints on purpose to get Winston in the draft, so I trusted they knew what they were doing. Their season was already over, but they had a chance to pick their quarterback, and they picked Jameis Winston because of his excellent leadership ability.

I became sold on Winston watching him in the pre-season fight through some tough times. He won me over when he stated to Jon Gruden that he always felt like he could win a game even if the score was 50-0 against him. I understand that thought process as I also am the same way. To my way of thinking there is never a “surrender,” there is never a problem that can’t be overcome, and in the game of football, that is a more valuable attribute than having the ability to scramble out of the pocket to buy four more seconds of play. In the long run, Winston’s leadership will be much more valuable to fans of the Buccaneers organization and that was obvious after the pre-season concluded.

When it is natural for a young person to understand that he needs to look other people in the eye and elevate their personal performance on an individual level, it is a trait that cannot be taught. Charisma under pressure is a value that is more valuable than all the gold in the world, because such leadership ability is rarer. The tenacity to never get down when ominous forces are present is far more important than any physical ability. And that is what Tampa Bay has decided to invest in. Not just a football player, but a charismatic leader who can elevate those around him even when the bright lights are off in the stadium. A real leader is one even when they are alone and think nobody is looking.

I’ve been known to have large doses of that leadership ability. It’s not like it’s a secret. It has come natural all my life. My natural optimism for life is something that most people don’t understand. They believe that its contorted enthusiasm rooted in false bravado. They think that because they don’t possess it themselves. What I have and obviously Jameis Winston has, is the ability to never see defeat even when the world is collapsing around observation. And people respond to that type of tenacity because behind such people, even though their methods may appear reckless, is safety and opportunity.   Tampa Bay will go to another Superbowl behind Jameis Winston not because of his arm or physical abilities—but because of his leadership.

So I’d like Jameis to know that at least I’m happy he’s a Tampa Bay Buc. I will be a fan of his even if he doesn’t win a single game this year. He will eventually. I am a fan of the Bucs because of their character, not necessarily the points on the board, because to me football is just a game. But the type of men that the game makes is more important than what happens between four quarters of play on a Sunday afternoon. For me watching Jameis under pressure and exhibiting great leadership will be more fun than what ends up in the win/loss column. Which is the reason I’m happy that the Buccaneers picked him as their top draft selection—they didn’t just get a great player—they acquired a leader, and that will help the entire city of Tampa be just a bit better as a result.

Rich Hoffman

 CLIFFHANGER RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Listen to The Blaze Radio Network by CLICKING HERE.