Category Archives: Breaking News & Commentary

The Growing Turf War Over Your Point of View

By Brian Brawdy | Published: July 28, 2010

Have you noticed just how snotty, not to mention sanctimonious, the mainstream Needia has been of late? The ivory tower of established, mainstream journalism is under attack and they do not like it one bit. So, the major broadcast Face Plates go on camera bemoaning the Internet siege of their authority and of what they believe to be hallowed ground…their exclusive (although delusional) right to own your point of view. The networks have long believed they are called upon, uniquely, to give you your opinion.

Oh, oh. Someone is shaking the cage!

The turf war is full on.

I often hear the term “Wild West” used by many in the Needia to describe and attack the Internet and its bloggers who dare to challenge them. I don’t know about you, but I dig the free-range aspects of the blogosphere. Our country was built on the rough and tumble of our past.

Lately, the Face Plates have been crying about the anonymity of some bloggers. Truth be told, I am not a fan of bloggers using fake names. I figure if you are going to have an opinion, whether caustic or optimistic, you should own up to it, make it yours. If you’re going to make a stand, square your shoulders and put your signature on it. What we pen, we should be proud of.

That said, in the battle between bloggers and broadcast, I’m backing the bloggers.

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Also posted in Media, Politics and Political Parties | Tagged Blog, Blogosphere, blogs, Entertainment/Culture, face plates, internet, Internet siege, Technology/Internet, War/Conflict, World Wide Web | Leave a comment

The Shakeout for The Brian Brawdy Show Will Be Live

By Brian Brawdy | Published: July 24, 2010

I think you call it a “Shakeout.” Where you give an idea a “dry run” before you go live with the real, full-on version. Working out the kinks, looking for any bugs, any flaws in your plan? Apparently, I’m not all that bright.

The mobile studio (my Lance Camper and Trailer) is ready for its first test. Yikes! The live-kickoff is finally here for The Brian Brawdy Show. You and I will find out together just how crazy an idea this is.

This afternoon at 5:00 PM EST I will broadcast live from The Rally at the Kentucky Exposition Center via MotoSat Satellite to Livestream.com/brianbrawdy.

Now, if everything goes correctly, you will be able to comment via Twitter and Facebook while the show is in progress. Next week, the live call- in aspect will be added as will the full audio/video/graphics package.

So, before you hop in the shower and get ready for your Saturday night, please join me for the launch with my special guest, Bob Livingston.

I would like to extend a very personal “thank you” to Mr. Keith Olbermann for his terribly instrumental roll in finally pushing me over the edge or as I like to call it, “Kudos to Keith.”

Also posted in Buried Logic, Media, Survival and Emergency Preparedness | Tagged Blog hosting services, bob livingston, Brawdy, Brian Brawdy, brian brawdy show, Broadcasting, Commentators, FaceBook, Keith Olbermann, Kentucky Exposition Center, Kinks, Online social networking, Opinion journalism, Television in the United States, World Wide Web | Leave a comment

Nullification: Our Constitution as the Safeguard of Federal Tyranny

By Brian Brawdy | Published: July 18, 2010

The framers of our Constitution drafted it with one, and only one group in mind. And though few are aware of it, it was not written for branches of government, political officials, lawyers, career politicians, special interest groups and bureaucrats. Notwithstanding the opinions of scholars, teachers and the Needia (my term for media), the United States Constitution was written for the people, regular folks, you and me.

I know, it sounds corny, but there you have it. It wasn’t written for them, it was written for us. The Constitution doesn’t entrench political power in anyone other than the people.

The founders built our Constitution to act like a raincoat; you pick the size, the color, the design, the particular fabric employed yet in the end the Constitutional raincoat was created as a piece of foul weather gear. As the government rains down on the electorate, your outerwear shields you, wicking the unconstitutional away like water off a ducks back. The Constitution was designed to protect us from the storm.

I just finished a powerful book by the New York Times Best Selling author Thomas E. Woods, Jr. It’s one of those books you read and then immediately re-read to make sure you didn’t miss anything. Nullification: How To Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century is such a book. It dramatically highlights why we all need to learn how to become political survival experts.

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Also posted in Buried Logic, Constitution, Politics and Political Parties | Tagged Constitution, Constitutional law, Government, James Madison, Law, Nullification, politics, Thomas E. Woods Jr., tyranny, United States, United States Constitution | Leave a comment

Poll: Americans Fed Up with the Federal Government

By Brian Brawdy | Published: July 16, 2010

Now that the BP oil explosion has allegedly been contained, seems the next thing the federal government and the gang in Washington may want to cap is the bubbling American angst. You needn’t dive miles beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico to detect the growing distrust many Americans feel towards Congress and the White House. The geyser of government dissatisfaction is only going to get worse.

According to a recent Gallup Poll, Americans view Immigration policy, poor healthcare, natural disaster response, Federal budget deficit, fuel costs, wars, “lack of money,” Afghanistan and even the war in Iraq as lesser problems than “dissatisfaction with government/Congress/politicians; poor leadership; corruption; abuse of power.” Only the economy and unemployment ranked higher than Uncle Sam as “important problems” confronting our country.

Hello. This would be laughable if it didn’t directly effect our lives.

This should rattle our politicians and elected officials more than the 3.6 magnitude earthquake that struck the DC area early this morning.

Reminder: Only 6 days left until the debut of The Brian Brawdy Show. Talk about feeling like an aftershock to the Capitol Hill gang.

Also posted in Constitution, Politics and Political Parties, Survival and Emergency Preparedness | Tagged Afghanistan, BP, british petroleum, Congress, Disaster/Accident, earthquake, Economics, Federal government, gallup, gallup poll, Gang, Geyser, Gulf of Mexico, gulf oil spill, Iraq, magnitude 3.6, Natural Disaster, oil explosion, Oil spill, politics, poor healthcare, Social Issues, Unemployment, United States Capitol, Washington, White House | Leave a comment

Keith Olbermann the Motivation Behind the Brian Brawdy Show

By Brian Brawdy | Published: July 15, 2010

The very first time I contemplated my own news commentary show, the thought came to me immediately following a viewing of the Keith Olbermann Show on MSNBC. Setting the remote down, I shook my head and thought aloud, “You’ve got to be kidding me.” My countdown was on. Starting July, 24th (originally the 22nd) I will be streaming via the web The Brian Brawdy Show.

My goal? To gain as many web viewers as Mr. Olbermann has Nielsen numbers. Plain and simple.

Granted, I don’t have “an Ivy League education” like my competition. I went to West Virginia University, and though I did major in Political Science, I spent more time at the Blue Tick Tavern practicing quarter bounce than attending class, so my stay was short lived. I think I have 6 whole credit hours with a minor in french fries and blu cheese. Clearly, I’m overly qualified for the job at hand and I am so excited to start piling up the numbers, but I will need your help. Your suggestions, critiques and viewership are most certainly welcome.

You might also consider the latest dust-up on The Daily Caller. Seems Tucker Carlson and the DC crew now own KeithOlbermann.com and my main media rival isn’t happy.

This is going to be a blast!

That said, challenging Mr. Olbermann is just a side note.

Centering on “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” in every day ways, the Brian Brawdy Show, full of attitude without apology focuses on breaking news, commentary, political analysis and techniques for surviving and thriving in a world where freedom and liberty are waning. With roughly 70,000 pages added to the Federal Register every year, enacted laws, rules and codes are encroaching upon our liberties at every level of government and at an alarming rate.

I’ve always focused on wilderness and emergency survival, I just never thought circumstances would necessitate becoming a political survival expert as well. The 21st Century and the current political climate changed all of that.

As the countdown continues, please feel free and encouraged to…

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Also posted in Buried Logic, Media, Politics and Political Parties, Survival and Emergency Preparedness | Tagged attitude without apology, Blue Tick Tavern, Brawdy, Brian Brawdy, Broadcasting, Commentators, DC, Ivy League, Keith Olbermann, main media rival, MSNBC, olbermann, Pursuit of Happiness, Television in the United States, The Brian Brawdy Show, Tucker Carlson, web viewers, West Virginia University | 6 Comments

A Taxing Question for 2nd Amendment Fight in Chicago

By Brian Brawdy | Published: July 12, 2010

As predicted, Mayor Daley and the City of Chicago wasted little time finding ways to circumvent the 2nd Amendment rights of its citizens. The latest legislative gymnastics includes redefining what a “home” is. I know, hard to believe.

Your home, as it pertains to the recent Supreme Court decision, does not include huge amounts of square footage according to Chicago officials. The City has decided that your front and back porches not to mention your garage, driveway and yard, are off limits to you while carrying a firearm. If you’re packing on your porch or while parking your car you can be prosecuted.

Here is my question. Since your property taxes are calculated in Cook County and the Windy City based on the total area of your home, your garage, porches, yards and driveways, can the taxpayers expect a refund?

Clearly, Chicago wants it both ways. They want to randomly and mercurially redefine your castle.

They prohibit you from carrying your legally registered firearm throughout your property because your home is contained within the main four walls yet they have no problem assessing property taxes while including the total surface area of your home.

Nice.

Would seem to me that if you pay taxes on a particular piece of property, it is that definition and measurement that should remain constant in deciding the term “home.”

Mayor Daley. How do you define a home? Is there one accounting for taxes yet another calculation for those laws that you disagree with? Better yet Mr. Mayor, how do you define the term double standard?

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Also posted in Constitution, Law and Crime, Politics and Political Parties | Tagged 2nd amendment, Chicago, Cook County, Daley, Driveway, Guns, Mayor, property taxes, Richard Daley, Structure, Supreme Court, taxes | Leave a comment

The Botanical Study of Encroaching Governments

By Brian Brawdy | Published: July 11, 2010

More and more I am abandoning the study of political science and looking to the laws of nature to understand the trespassing character of encroaching governments. Focusing on the invading qualities of legislation (directed by Republicans and Democrats alike) you quickly realize the harshly distributive fashion in which laws, codes and rules aggressively spread throughout a population. Political spawned policy is the art of propagation.

Check your front yard for progressively invading dandelions, your side lots for advancing weeds or highway shoulders for wild thickets and you know the politics of today. Laws, like weeds gobble up any free space they find. Soon, the flower of freedom is entwined in suffocating roots and eventually chocked out.

Thomas Jefferson believed ”The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.”

Let’s draw a line. NO more yielding, no more unchecked growth of weeds and dandelions at the local, state and federal levels. Essentially, we need increasing numbers of “weed-wackers” to stand up and help to beat back the advancing growth, spread and infestation of government.

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Also posted in Constitution, Law and Crime, Politics and Political Parties | Tagged Agriculture, Biology, Botany, Government, infestation, Lawn care, politics, Thomas Jefferson, Weed | Leave a comment

Ask Sakineh Why Iran Must Never Obtain a Nuclear Weapon

By Brian Brawdy | Published: July 10, 2010

Warning: This post contains nauseating content.

Imagine, for a moment, burying a person in the dirt up to their collarbones. Then, with an utterly defenseless human neck and face exposed, you pick up a baseball-sized rock or bigger and hurl it with enough force to begin inflicting the slow process of death. The skull, the jaw, the cheeks, they eyes, the nose and teeth all targets for a group of evil sadists. Unimaginable pain must certainly match the horrific inhumanity of a stoning.

Your eyes swell shut, your teeth battered and bleeding as your jaw and nose fracture, your skull cracks open yet the pain only builds. Never before has death been so recruited and welcomed.

Think about it.

What person, what government, what religion could stomach and sanction such brutal savagery? What absolute dearth of a being could do such a thing? That type of vicious, depraved cruelty takes a unique mammal to perpetrate, one certainly devoid of any human trait of compassion or empathy.

As we watch the horror of the Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani sentencing unfold, remember that any country engaging in such cruel and wicked “justice” would not think twice about inflicting sever pain, suffering and violent death on “the others” they contrive to be guilty. The next time you hear of UN actions, the United Nations Security Council and their “sanctions with teeth” against the Iran’s nuclear ambitions, please remember this.

Once you cross the hell-drawn line of satanically killing with a handful of rocks, hurling a rocket is a layup.

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Also posted in Crime and Punishment, Low Lifes Making Headlines, Politics and Political Parties, Religion | Tagged Cruelty, Empathy, Ethics, Iran, pain, Perception, Psychology, Sadomasochism, sakineh, sakineh mohammadie Ashtiani, Skull, Social psychology, Stoning, United Nations, United Nations Security Council | Leave a comment

Term Limits, Senator Byrd and Speaking ill of the Dead

By Brian Brawdy | Published: July 7, 2010

Is there a time limit that attaches to the admonition against speaking ill of the dead? I know Ben Franklin said that after 3 days house guests began to overstay their welcome, though I’m not sure if there is a postmortem time frame for criticizing a deceased politician. Fortunately, this review is technically not about the person as much as it is the practice of “life long” or career politicians.

Senator Robert C. Byrd passed away last week at the age of 92 after serving 51 years in the United States Senate, the longest ever in our history. The good news? 51 years is longer than I’ve been alive. The bad news? That’s longer than a ton of us have been alive.

Now, before the hate mail starts, I spent a huge part of my childhood in West Virginia, believe in the right of a state electorate to elect the politician of their choice and for the most part don’t favor the government exercising a heavy hand. That said, if EVER there was a case that helped to bolster the call for term limits, this would be that case.

Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.” For me, I take a slightly tangential slant. “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with fresh politicians. After two terms we’ve had enough of their manure.”

The sooner we begin to honestly comes to grips with the fact that any career in the Senate lasting more than two terms serves only the politician, not his/her people, the better off we will all be.

As some in the mainstream Needia have lamented that “we may never again” see a Senator with that type of “staying power” let’s hope they are correct. May Senator Byrd, a fellow mountaineer rest in peace and may we never again elect a “9 term Senator” to Congress.

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Also posted in Constitution, Politics and Political Parties | Tagged Benjamin Franklin, Byrd, career politicians, Congress, deceased politician, Franklin, Government, Patriots and Tyrants, Pennsylvania, politician, Robert Byrd, Robert C. Byrd, Senate, Senator, Senator Byrd, Senator Robert Byrd, Thomas Jefferson, United States, United States Senate, West Virginia | Leave a comment

Fox News and Megyn Kelly Fumble in Voter Intimidation Report

By Brian Brawdy | Published: July 6, 2010

Fox News and Megyn Kelly, not to mention Trace Gallagher, owe their viewers an apology. OK…let’s wait together. Hmm, Hmm, Hmm, Hmm, Hmm. Megyn? Hello? Apology please. Still waiting….Can someone get Roger Ailes on the phone?

While reporting on the the Philadelphia voter intimidation case, Megyn, Trace and a hand full of undisclosed producers at Fox News teased a video of the New Black Panthers Samir Shabaz just before a commercial. You know SS. The guy with the club standing outside the voting booths in Philly that sparked the current DOJ case. When the show returned and Megyn tossed it to Trace Gallagher, he claims the video “too incendiary” to air. What? “We report. You decide.” Huh? What?

FOX NEWS: We redact. You decide.

Megyn, Megyn, Megyn. Show us. Don’t shield us.

Now, true, the video is an angry, verbally-violent and racist rant by Mr. Shabaz. As a “cracker” not an easy clip to sit through. That this type of racial anger still exists is truly sad and unfortunate. The only thing more disappointing is the decision by Fox News to “protect us” from news that they perceive to be “too incendiary.”

FOX bleeped out the vulgarity during the first airing; OK. If FOX wants to air a warning, a disclaimer prior to the video, OK as well. But to tease the video and then chicken out during the commercial break is not what we need.

Today, some news is “incendiary.” Here’s the thing, though. That news is combustible makes it worthy of broadcast. News, albeit too hot to handle, should not be too hot to report. In the end it’s the only news we can use; why shield us from the news we need to see? Reporting the truth, as despicable and explosive as it can be, is the only news that stands a chance of making a difference in our world.

“Brian, Brian, Brian why let truth taint the process?”

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