Right Wing Sites and their Issues 4-20-12

It is always fascinating to me to see the subjects featured on this site: Land stealing by the president, impeachable offenses by the Attorney-General, constitutional shredding, the president’s legitimacy, his education, and every other specious claim invented by the authors. With all the other issues available for discussion few are ever mentioned. How should we deal with fiscal or monetary policy, our immigration laws; should they be liberalized, tightened or changed regarding quotas, defense spending, new weaponry, the budget:; new revenues, cuts in spending, states’ rights, federalism and who and how power should be shared. We have critical issues regarding our health care and how the new program can address obvious problems, education, why we are ranking so poorly and the disparity of income.

These problems did not start 3.5 years ago; they were decades in the making. They are not a result of Woodrow Wilson and the Federal Reserve, nor FDR and the New Deal. The problems of race have been with us from the day the first slave boat arrived in Virginia. The problem of federal versus state power has existed since the 1830’s with the debates between; Webster, Calhoun and Clay. The problems of energy began with a decline of our production and the increase in our needs in the late 1960’s. It was Jimmy Carter who first addressed its reality. Clean water and clean air were not issues until pollution, the death of our waters and smog began to affect everyone’s health. Budget deficits existed after every war, the New Deal created great deficits for the time, but WWII’s deficits dwarfed the New Deal expenditures. Ronald Reagan’s eight years featured large spending, tripling the National Debt, an average of over 7% unemployment until the last year and unprecedented scandals and massive shakeups regarding his White House staff.

There are so many issues that could be discussed. But, what do I see each day? I see insults to the president regarding his race, religion, education, birth, and philosophy. He is called every name allowed on the website. His name is twisted, abused, parodied with unlimited scatological reference. Is this Americanism? Is this toleration? Of course not! Every contrary assertion is greeted with: commie rat, fascist, pinko, Marxist, socialist, stupid, twisted, un-American, impeachment, lynching, forcible resignation, go home, or worse. More clatter regards the following: the election will be fixed, the elections will never be held, martial law will disarm and arrest all dissidents, Acorn thugs will cart “real” Americans to FEMA concentration camps and freedom of speech has been taken away, the Constitution has been violated and the country will be destroyed by Obama’s re-election. In truth, all of the above is idiotic, phony, provocative and never going to happen.

The key element to any debate, discussion or argument is to have two sides: a protagonist and an antagonist. Each side needs some intellectual grounding. Where is on this site?

NORTH BEND, Wash. (AP) — Peter Keller spent eight years carving his hole in the side of the mountain, camouflaging the rugged underground bunker with ferns and sticks and stocking it with a generator and ammunition boxes sealed in Ziploc bags. Suspected in the deaths of his wife, daughter and pets last weekend, he headed there prepared for the long haul with high-powered rifles, scope and body armor.
Seattle-area tactical officers who slogged for hours over dangerously steep, muddy ground to find him were prepared too. They pumped in tear gas, called for him over bullhorns, and, after 22 hours, set off explosives along the top of the bunker Saturday.
Keller was inside, already dead of a self-inflicted gunshot. A handgun was next to his body.
The 41-year-old hadn’t been seen since his wife, Lynnettee, and 18-year-old daughter Kaylene were found shot dead in their home last weekend.

The raid ended a tense week for law enforcement officials who tried to track down Keller, a gun enthusiast described by his family as having a “survivalist mentality.” That Keller was likely armed and on the loose in an extremely popular hiking and mountain-biking area east of Seattle kept many people on edge.

“The gas didn’t work, we’ve got fresh people here, it was time to take the next step,” said King County Sheriff’s Sgt. Katie Larson. “There’s been a huge sigh of relief. Our people are out safe, and the trails are now safe for the community to use.”
The bunker, tucked into Rattlesnake Ridge, was “amazingly fortified” with at least 13 guns inside, propane tanks, a large gun scope, gas cans and binoculars, said sheriff’s Sgt. Cindi West. Photos released by police showed stacks of ammunition in plastic bags on shelves.
SWAT teams spent a grueling seven hours in the Cascade Mountains foothills Friday morning, virtually crawling over terrain slick with mud from recent rains, before they found the bunker. A number of officers were treated intravenously for dehydration, and one broke his ankle, said sheriff’s Sgt. Cindi West.

The officers appeared exhausted, their faces smeared with camouflage paint, as they rode down the mountain in sport-utility vehicles or armored carriers to be replaced by fresher teams.
SWAT officers who kept watch on the bunker through Friday night said they saw lights going on and off, and they believed its occupant had everything necessary to remain inside for a long time — including a generator, food, gas mask, bullet-resistant vest and guns.

Photographs found in Keller’s home after they found his wife and daughter gave authorities an idea of where it was; in one picture that they enhanced, detectives could make out buildings in nearby North Bend. Combined with reports from alert hikers who remembered seeing his faded red pickup truck at the Rattlesnake Ridge trailhead, the sheriff’s office sent experienced trackers to the area, where they found off-trail boot prints confirming their belief that he was somewhere on the ridge.
They could smell smoke from its woodstove before they found it.

Authorities pumped tear gas into the structure Friday, but it failed to flush the man out, either because it didn’t penetrate deep enough into the structure or because the person had a gas mask.
Court documents described Keller as a loner who has a survivalist mentality and has been stockpiling supplies in the woods.

An arrest warrant issued Wednesday accuses Keller of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson; the home was set on fire after Lynnettee Keller, 41 and Kaylene were shot in the head.

Their bodies were found in their bedrooms April 23. The family cat and dog were also killed.
The fire at Keller’s home was stopped before the house burned down, and authorities said they found seven gasoline cans placed in different areas of the home.Kaylene’s boyfriend told detectives that Peter Keller had shown him his gun collection and several large-caliber rifles and handguns, court documents said. The boyfriend, who was not identified, said Kaylene had told him her father took long hikes on the weekends and was stockpiling supplies at a fort in the woods. Peter Keller withdrew $6,200 from a bank last week and told one of his co-workers at a computer refurbishing store in Preston that he might not return, according to court documents.

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A lifelong New Yorker, who now lives full-time in Palm Beach County, Richard was raised in Mount Vernon, New York and he was educated in the Mount Vernon public schools He graduated from Boston University with a BA in American History. After spending a year on Wall Street as a research analyst with Bache & Co., he joined a manufacturing and importing firm, where over the next twenty-five years he rose to the position of chief operating officer. After the sale of that business, Richard entered into the financial services field with Metropolitan Life and is a Registered Representative, who has been associated with Acorn Financial Services which is affiliated with John Hancock Life Insurance Company of Boston, Ma. Today, he is a retired broker who had specialized in long-term care insurance and financial planning. One of Richard’s recent activities was to advise and encourage communities to seek ways to incorporate “sustainability and resiliency” into their future infrastructure planning. After a lifetime in politics, with many years working as a district leader, which involved party organizational work, campaign chair activity and numerous other political tasks, Richard has been involved with numerous civic and social causes. In recent years, Richard served in 2005 as the campaign coordinator of the Re-Elect Paul Feiner Campaign in Greenburgh, NY and he again chaired Supervisor Feiner’s successful landslide victory in 2007. Over the next few years, he advised a number of political candidates. He has served as an appointed Deputy Supervisor of the Town of Greenburgh, with responsibilities regarding the town’s “liaison program.” He was a member of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board of the Town of Greenburgh, NY. Richard has lectured on FDR, The New Deal and 20th century American history in the Mount Vernon schools, at the Westchester Council of Social Studies annual conference in White Plains, and at many senior citizen groups, which include appearances at the Old Guard of White Plains, the Rotary Clubs of Elmsford and White Plains, and various synagogue groups around Westchester. In the winter of 2006 Richard was the leader of the VOCAL forum, sponsored by the Westchester County Office of Aging, which addresses the concerns of Westchester County’s Intergenerational Advocacy Educational Speak-out forums for senior citizens. Richard has given lectures for the Active Retirement Project, which is co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Center on the Hudson, the Greenburgh Hebrew Center, and other groups around Westchester County. Richard also is the founder and Chairperson of the Jon Breen Memorial Fund, that judges and grants annual prizes to students at Mount Vernon High School who submit essays on public policy themes. He also sponsors the Henry M. Littlefield History Prize for the leading MVHS history student. Richard serves on the Student College Scholarship Committee of Mount Vernon High School. In past years Richard chaired and moderated the Jon Breen Fund Award’s cablecast program with the Mayor and local and school officials. Richard has been a member of Blythedale Children’s Hospital’s Planned Giving Professional Advisory Board, and was a founding member of the committee to re-new the FDR Birthday Balls of the 1930’s and 1940’s with the March of Dimes’ effort to eliminate birth defects. Their renewal dinner was held at Hyde Park on January 30, 2003. Richard is currently an active contributor to the Roosevelt Institute, which is involved in many pursuits which included the opening of the Henry A. Wallace Center at Hyde Park, and the Eleanor Roosevelt – Val-Kill Foundation. In 2007, he proposed to the City of Mount Vernon an effort to develop an arts, educational, and cultural center as part of a downtown re-development effort. Richard was a team partner with the Infrastructure & Energy Solutions Group. IEFG which has developed innovative strategies for the 21st Century. Richard hosted a weekly program on WVOX-1460 AM radio, called “The Advocates,” which was concerned with “public policy” issues. The show, which was aired from 2007 until May 15, 2013, has had amongst its guests; Representative Charles Rangel, Chairperson of the House Ways and Means Committee, Mr. Jonathan Alter of Newsweek, along with hundreds of others. All the 300 shows are archived at http://advocates-wvox.com. Richard currently gives lectures on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR and the Jewish Community, The New Deal, FDR and Douglas MacArthur, 20th Century American Foreign Policy Resulting in Conflict, and Israel’s Right to Exist. Richard lives in Boynton Beach, Fl, with his wife Linda of 44 years. They have two married children. Their daughter Dana is a Rutgers College graduate, with a MS from Boston University, and is the Assistant Director of Recruitment at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Their son Jon is an electrical engineering graduate of Princeton University and a senior software architect at NY/Mellon Bank in NYC. Richard J. Garfunkel rjg727@comcast.net Recent Appearances: KTI Synagogue, Rye Brook, NY- Long Term Care & Estate Conservation- Anshe Shalom Synagogue, New Rochelle, NY- Long Term Care- American Legion Post, Valhalla, NY- Long Term Care and Asset Protection- Doyle Senior Ctr, New Rochelle, NY-Long Term Care and Asset Protection- AME Methodist Ministers, New Rochelle, NY, LTC and Charitable Giving- Profession Women in Construction, Elmsford, NY, LTC and Business Benefits- Kol Ami Synagogue- White Plains, NY, Long Term Care and Disability - Beth El Men's Club-New Rochelle, NY-Long Term Care-Is it Necessary- Greater NY Dental Meeting Javits Ctr, NY, NY- LTC and Disability- IBEW Local #3 , White Plains, NY, Long Term Care and Asset Protection, Health Fair -Bethel Synagogue, New Rochelle, NY-LTC and Disability, Heath Fair- Riverdale Mens Club CSAIR- Riverdale, NY- LTC- Life Weight Watchers of Westchester and the Bronx-LTC and Tax Implications Sunrise Assisted Living of Fleetwood, Mount Vernon, NY-LTC Sprain Brook Manor of Scarsdale-LTC- November 15, 2001 Sunrise Assisted Living of Stamford, Connecticut, February 2002 Kol Ami Synagogue, White Plains, NY, February, 2002 The Old Guard Society of White Plains, NY, April, 2002 The Westchester Meadows, Valhalla, NY August, 2002 Kol Ami Synagogue, White Plains, NY, October, 2002 JCC of Scarsdale, Scarsdale, NY, November, 2002 The Westchester Meadows, Valhalla, NY, January, 2003 The Rotary Club of White Plains, NY January, 2003 The Westchester Meadows, Valhalla, NY April, 2003 Westchester Reform Temple, Scarsdale, NY January, 2004 Mount Vernon High School, Mount Vernon, NY March 2004 Kol Ami/JCC of White Plains, NY November, 2004 The Westchester Reform Temple, Scarsdale, January 2005 The Sunrise of Fleetwood, Mount Vernon, April, 2005 The Woodlands of Ardsley, assisted living, November, 2005 The Woodlands of Ardsley, assisted living, December, 2005 The Woodlands of Ardsley, assisted living, January, 2005 Rotary Club of Elmsford, April, 2006 Kiwanis Club of Yonkers, June, 2006 Greenburgh Jewish Center, November, 2006 Temple Kol Ami, White Plains, February, 2007 Hebrew Institute, White Plains, March, 2007 Temple Kol Ami, White Plains, NY, April, 2007 Westchester Meadows. Valhalla, November, 2007 Hebrew Institute. White Plains, November, 2007 Art Zuckerman Radio Show- January, 2008 JCC of the Hudson, Tarrytown, February, 2008 Matt O’Shaughnessy Radio Show, March, 2008 WVOX –Election Night Coverage, November, 2008 WVOX – Inaugural Coverage, January 20, 2009 The Advocates-host of the WVOX Radio Show, 2007- 2010 Rotary Club of Pleasantville, February, 2009 Hebrew Institute of White Plains, May, 2009 JCC Hudson, Tarrytown, December, 2009-10-11-12 Brandeis Club, Yonkers, March 25, 2010

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