Intelligent and Informed People Read SnyderTalk!
________________________________________
#####
February 22, 2013
The Oprahfication of America
A couple of weeks ago, my wife went to Massachusetts to take care of her sister’s children so that she and her husband could take a trip to the Caribbean. My wife ended up spending two weeks in the Bay State because of the mega storm that hit while she was there and several smaller storms that followed it.
Last Friday, I called to talk with my wife. She was out, so I spent some time talking with my brother-in-law. He’s a developer who lives outside Boston, and I’ve talked with him for several years about the importance of buying guns and ammunition. During our conversation, I explained that he shouldn’t keep putting it off.
To his credit, my bother-in-law has started taking a gun class and eventually he plans to get a permit, but so far he hasn’t bought a gun—pistol, rifle, or shotgun. I’ve been telling him that he needs all three and more than one of each, plus lots of ammunition. A few years ago, he could have obtained any of them easily with high capacity magazines for the rifles and pistols, but things have changed. It’s getting harder and harder to find the guns that he needs, and high capacity magazines are coming under threat in one state after another.
During our discussion on Friday, I told my brother-in-law that the day is coming when he will need those guns. Notice that I said “is coming,” not “may come,” and “will need,” not “may need,” because I think it’s a virtual certainty, but I’m willing to concede that there is a chance that I am wrong.
For instance, Republicans and Democrats in Washington may have a Kumbaya moment and agree that they should just get along; our nation’s creditors may keep buying our debt at historically low rates even as the dollar becomes increasingly insecure; we may find a way to cut Social Security, Medicare, and defense spending without creating a backlash; the freeloaders among us may have a change of heart and decide as a group that it’s time to get off the dole; criminals may decide that crime doesn’t pay and go straight; and pigs may learn to fly. Truth is, I think the likelihood of avoiding the inevitable is about the same as the probability of pigs learning to fly.
On Saturday, I called my wife again, and she said that my brother-in-law told her that he felt depressed after our conversation. I feel depressed, too, but how I feel doesn’t matter. What I told him is either true or it’s not true; it’s accurate or it’s inaccurate; and how I feel about it is totally irrelevant.
I used to tell my strategy students that they should base their analyses on factual information. I would say, “I’m interested in finding out what you think, believe, and know. Please don’t tell me how you feel.” Unfortunately, in 21st century America how people feel dictates the way they live their lives. I call this phenomenon the Oprahfication of America.
Oprah Winfrey became a billionaire by capitalizing on the burning desire of Americans, particularly American women, to have others care about how they feel. Oprah is a master at feeling other people’s pain. Long before Bill Clinton and Barack Obama learned to cry on cue to show their heartfelt feelings, Oprah was doing it on stage in front of cameras for big bucks.
I believe that Oprah could win the presidency if she decided to run, and I’m not kidding. Forget the fact that she has no political experience. Oprah can feel people’s pain and that’s enough to win the presidency these days. If you have any doubts, try explaining Barack Obama’s victory in 2012. In 2008, people voted to elect a black president, but in 2012 after four dismal years in office, no other explanation makes any sense.
Obama may have learned to feel other people’s pain from Oprah, but where he learned it is immaterial. The fact is that he has learned the art of manipulation, and at its core it’s about convincing people that you can feel their pain. Unfortunately, feeling people’s pain won’t bring Republicans and Democrats together; it won’t solve our deficit and debt problems; it won’t secure our nation’s borders; it won’t inspire people to get up off their lazy derrieres and get to work; and it won’t make us any safer at home or abroad.
Take the Sandy Hook massacre, for instance. All of us felt terrible about it, and Barack Obama and Dianne Feinstein were the first two out of the gates to launch campaigns attacking law-abiding citizens in the wake of that horrific incident by playing on our feelings. Nothing they have proposed will affect the criminals among us because criminals don’t care about the law in the slightest. The only people who will be penalized by their proposed legislation are law-abiding citizens like you and me.
Just once I would like to hear the president explain how he plans to take guns away from criminals. The reason he doesn’t talk about it is because it’s impossible. The only thing he can do and the only thing he has done is attack the other victims of the Sandy Hook massacre: law-abiding gun owners who need those weapons for self-defense especially now thanks to pandering politicians like Obama and Feinstein.
Obama and Feinstein are playing on the feelings of Americans at a time when the facts suggest that we need more gun owners in America who have lots of ammunition and high capacity magazines. That’s why I think buying guns and ammunition right now makes a lot of sense. If the day comes when you are attacked in your home by a band of marauding criminals, you will rue the day that you decided not to buy a gun. That mistake may cost you your life.
Buying guns and ammunition is like buying insurance. You are protecting you and your family against the worst case scenario, and those high capacity magazines that Obama and Feinstein love to hate may help to save your life. This may seem peculiar to antigun fanatics, but criminals don’t take a break while you reload. Those magazines enable you to show overwhelming force, and although they may not be the smartest people on the planet, criminals understand bullets whizzing by their heads.
I don’t know how you feel, but I would rather win than lose in that situation. Excuse me. I didn’t mean to say “feel.” I know that our families will be better off if we have the means to defend them properly with 21st century weaponry because that’s what criminals have.
Thankfully, our constitution gives me the right to keep and bear arms. It doesn’t say muskets. I am incensed that politicians would play games with my family’s security to score political points at this critical juncture.
This SnyderTalk editorial first appeared in American Thinker.
#####
________________________________________
________________________________________
Email Distribution List:
I have created an email distribution list that I use to notify people when I post a new SnyderTalk. If you would like to be on that list, send your email address to nhsny@yahoo.com, and put “add me to your distribution list” in the subject line. If you know others who are interested in SnyderTalk content, tell them to send me their email address, and I’ll put them on the list.
________________________________________
Ezekiel 47: 21-23
“So you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. You shall divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and among the aliens who stay in your midst, who bring forth sons in your midst. And they shall be to you as the native-born among the sons of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And in the tribe with which the alien stays, there you shall give him his inheritance,” declares Adonai Yahweh.
________________________________________
His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback.
- God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
- “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
- “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
- Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)
________________________________________
#####
The Name Yahweh Sets the Messiah Apart
Click here to download the entire audio presentation for free and with no strings attached.
#####
________________________________________
Hosea 4: 6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
________________________________________
________________________________________
#####
Cyprus bomb-plot suspect admits Hezbollah ties
Turkey Marmara Trial a “Cynical Political Process”
Bayit Yehudi: Likud Beytenu is not talking to us
Bennett: Joining coalition possible despite Livni
Analysis: Netanyahu-Livni pairing plays well abroad
Sharon opposed findings of Sabra, Shatilla probe
Explosion rocks Damascus killing some 30 civilians
Dozens hurt in protest march to Ofer prison
Turkey resumes Gaza flotilla trial for ex-IDF heads
British MP refuses to debate with Israelis
London rabbi arrested for alleged sexual assault
Nigeria nabs terrorists planning attacks on Israelis
Fatah irate at reported indirect Israel-Hamas talks
#####
________________________________________
#####
Arab Group: Kotel is a Muslim Site
Hizbullah Scanning EU for Jewish Targets
MK Levin Warns of ‘Nightmare’ Coalition with Labor
Peres: ‘Lebanon Must Decide Whether It Wants Peace or Fire’
Hamas: Netanyahu, Livni Are Both War Criminals
Schumer: Chuck Hagel ‘Almost Had Tears’ During Meeting
Official: ‘South Tel Aviv a Paradise for Illegals’
Arab Rioters Injure Two Journalists
Iran Installing High-Tech Machines at Natanz
#####
________________________________________
#####
Iran’s terror plots against Israelis exposed in Nigeria, Cyprus
As coalition talks head into overtime, a game of nerves
Byzantine wine press found under the streets of Jaffa
New evidence of ancient culture discovered in Israel?
Galloway walks out on debate with an Israeli at Oxford
Court orders state to start testing core subjects in haredi schools
The best defense is a strong offense
Rubio, on Middle East trip, says Jerusalem is Israel’s capital
A third Israeli arrested in Romanian egg trafficking affair
Washington: Senior Palestinian officials to meet with Kerry
Israeli traveler stumbles across forgotten Holocaust victims
France records rise in anti-Semitic attacks in 2012
#####
________________________________________
#####
Syrian Leaders Should Face Justice at ICC, UN Says
Russia: ICC War Crimes Requests for Syria “Untimely”
Syrian Rebels Threaten to Hit Hizbullah Targets in Lebanon
Fatah enters the Syrian war theater
Egypt: We Flooded Tunnels to Cut Gaza Arms Flow
Sharansky Re-elected as Jewish Agency Chairman
Gaza Court Cuts Sentence in Italian Murder Case
Iran Grooming an Iraqi Hizbullah
North Korea Upgrades Egyptian Missiles
Hizbullah Transporting Weaponry from Syria
Report: U.S. Budget Cuts to Hit Israel Military Aid
French Jewish Leader: “The Number of Anti-Semitic Acts Has Exploded”
Chinese Cartoon Tries to Answer Question: What Makes Jews Smart? (VIDEO)
Saudi Professor Reveals Positive Views on Israel
Swedes Propose Open Borders & Polygamy
Rice: Investigation into Lies About Benghazi Worse Than Murder of Four Americans
Andrew Cuomo: Abortion Practices Override Moral and Religious Objections
NC Board of Elections Involved in Illegal Voting Practices
Comcast Snubs Gun Industry, Refuses to Air Gun-Related Commercials (VIDEO)
Abortion-Rights PAC Staffers Behind Push for Gun-Control ‘Million Kid March’ on DC
Obama Determined to Pass Government-Funded Preschool Plan
EPA covert email system scandal deepens
Kerry: ‘Be Ready to Join Us’ in Fight against Climate Change
Obama Exploits Shooting by Gunman Who Passed Background Check to Call for Background Checks
#####
________________________________________
#####
Benjamin Manaster: Israel and the Sad History of Jewish Property Rights—The anti-Semitic legacy behind the rejection of the Jewish homeland.
Mati Tuchfeld: Coalition or collision?— Bennett and Netanyahu are on course for a head-on collision. If they want to prevent an accident, one of them will have to swerve at the last minute.
Clifford D. May: Middle East Tour d’Horizon— Advice for Obama and Kerry as they plan their next trips abroad.
Michael Rubin: Iran Exposes Its Achilles’ Heel—It is naïve and dangerously sectarian to assume—as American analysts who view Iraq through the military’s lens so often do—that Iraqi Shi‘ites are Fifth columnists, somehow more loyal to Iran than to Iraq. The simple fact of the matter is that the Shi‘ites are as much if not more victims of the Iranian regime as others. Because the interpretation of Shi‘ism that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini imposed on Iran is outside the mainstream, the Islamic Republic is especially sensitive to theological dissent coming from Shi‘ites themselves.
Khaled Abu Toameh: What Is Really Blocking the Peace Process?—Today, it is clearer than ever that neither Hamas nor Fatah is interested in achieving unity – each for its own reasons. For Hamas, ending the dispute means the Islamist movement would have to cede exclusive control over Gaza – an area that has been turned into a semi-independent Islamic emirate over the past five years. For Fatah, unity with Hamas means paving the way for the Islamist movement to extend its control to the West Bank – something Abbas and his supporters are afraid of and cannot afford.
Manfred Gerstenfeld: Muslim Anti-Semitism in Western Europe—In 2011 Mark Elchardus, a Belgian sociologist, published a report on Dutch-language elementary schools in Brussels. He found that about 50% of Muslim students in second and third grade could be considered anti-Semites, versus 10% of others. In the same year Gunther Jikeli published his findings from 117 interviews with Muslim male youngsters (average age 19) in Berlin, Paris and London. The majority voiced some, or strong anti-Semitic feelings, expressing them openly and often aggressively. These and other projects and studies reveal that anti-Semitism among substantial parts of European Muslim communities is much higher than in other populations.
Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi: The Palestinian Authority’s Responsibility for the Outbreak of the Second Intifada: Its Own Damning Testimony— On February 11, 2013, on Israel’s Channel 10 television program “The Source,” it was claimed that there was not even an “iota of evidence” that the Palestinian Authority leadership, and Yasser Arafat in particular, planned and initiated the Second Intifada, which began in September 2000 and resulted in the deaths of more than 1,000 Israelis by 2005.
Udi Dekel: The United States and Israel: A Shared Strategy for the Challenges of the Middle East— President Obama’s upcoming visit to Israel, along with the formation of a new Israeli government, is an opportunity for the United States and Israel to formulate a joint strategy toward the challenges of the Middle East. The two countries view the main issues in the region – the Iranian nuclear crisis, the war inSyria, the Palestinian issue, developments in Egypt, and the Israel-Turkey crisis – with concern. Israel’s Prime Minister must take advantage of President Obama’s visit to formulate a joint strategy for coping with the regional challenges based on the two nations’ common interests, and on issues where there is a gap, define the shared objectives so as to map the best course of action and way to deal with the problems.
Alan Dershowitz: Will The Catholic Church Return to its Anti-Semitic History?— The Catholic Church has a long and disturbing history of tolerating priests, bishops and even cardinals who preach classic anti-Semitism. Cardinal Joseph Glemp, the Polish Primate, told his followers that Jews were responsible for alcoholism, communism and virtually every other “ism” that plagued Poland. Yet he remained an honored member of the College of Cardinals until his death several months ago.
Arnold Ahlert: China Weaponizes Cyberspace—A dire threat of the 21st century — and the unwillingness of the Obama administration to confront it.
Raymond Ibrahim: The Humiliation of Egypt’s Grand Mufti—In Morsi’s new Egypt, even the jihad-preaching mufti is not Islamic enough.
Victor Davis Hanson: Gilded Class Warriors— In his first term President Obama was criticized for trash-talking the one-percenters while enjoying the aristocracy of Martha’s Vineyard and the nation’s most exclusive golf courses. Obama never quite squared his accusations that “millionaires and billionaires” had not paid their fair share with his own obvious enjoyment of the perks of “corporate jet owners,” “fat cat bankers” and Las Vegas junketeers.
Mike Adams: Brown Shirts at ECU— East Carolina University (ECU) has launched a new campaign that attempts to pressure employees to affirm homosexuality despite their religious and moral objections to the lifestyle. Couched in the language of safety and inclusion, the program promises to brand as intolerant those who refuse to accept the university’s official position on matters of private sexual morality. This is especially problematic, given that ECU is a public university.
Cal Thomas: Extortionist In Chief—At the end of 1995 and stretching into January 1996, the federal government “shut down” because of an impasse between President Bill Clinton and House Republicans led by then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The issue was increased taxes vs. less spending. Sound familiar? The government re-opened when a bipartisan agreement was reached to balance the budget by 2003. It wasn’t for reasons that included, but were not limited to, two wars. Now the national debt is racing toward an unsustainable $17 trillion.
Larry Kudlow: The Pro-Growth Sequester—The Obama administration is whipping up hysteria over the sequester budget cuts and their impact on the economy, the military, first providers, and so forth and so on. Armageddon. But if you climb into the CBO numbers for 2013, you see a much lighter and easier picture than all the worst-case scenarios being conjured up by the administration.
JINSA Report #1140: Sequestration’s Devastating Effects Will Be Felt at Home and Abroad—Unless Congress and President Obama agree to change the current law, $42 billion in mandatory cuts to the U.S. defense budget will go into effect immediately. On March 27, an additional $6 billion in defense cuts from the Administration’s budget request will also go into effect. These reductions, which will be applied retroactively to this year’s defense budget, do not apply to military personnel and overseas operations; therefore, they are to be taken out of only a portion of the defense budget including readiness funding and equipment acquisition. This will have devastating effects on current military operations. These cuts come in addition to the unprecedented $487 billion in defense cuts to be carried out over the next ten years as required by the Budget Control Act of 2011.
Christopher Prandoni: Don’t Raise Taxes to Avoid the Sequester—President Obama has a new plan to avoid sequestration: kill private sector jobs. In 2011 Republicans required spending cuts to raise the debt ceiling. President Obama suggested that, in addition to freezing spending levels, broad-based spending cuts be implemented on March 1, 2013 via sequester.
Jerry Newcombe: Is Scripture-Quoting a Sign that You’re Nuts?— My wife said, “It’s such a good story. Why should the horrible husband quote the Bible and base his irrational behavior on what he believes it to say. I’m so upset.”
Bridget Johnson: Time Running Out on Sequestration, Yet Admin Stands by WARN Act Defiance—Less than two weeks before devastating defense cuts are set to go into effect without a congressional rescue, the administration is standing behind its pre-election guidance to defense contractors to not issue WARN Act notices of potential layoffs. If layoffs happen without notice by law, taxpayers could swallow $1 billion in promised litigation help.
Daren Jonescu: The Endgame for the Destruction of the United States—We’re fast approaching the point in America where all that is preserved of the history of modern liberty is the veneer of democracy masking the tyrannical structure beneath, as an emasculated humanity “freely chooses” its own slave masters.
Thomas Sowell: Guns and Pensions—How short-sighted spending decisions handicap our future.
Joseph Klein: John Kerry’s Peculiar Priorities—Debut speech as Secretary of State pushes foreign “investment” and global warming action in a world saturated with Islamic jihad and totalitarian danger.
Russ Vaughn: Dems Clueless about Combat—A new award system makes it really easy to see who at the top of the chain of command has never been in uniform.
Deane Waldman: Is the U.S. Clinically Insane?—Taking away your freedom to choose in your best interest?
Cindy Simpson: The Truth Be Dimmed—Prominent conservative columnist resigns from liberal paper because of spiked column.
#####
________________________________________
Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now. There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
________________________________________
Other Books by Neil Snyder
- Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming. Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days. Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall. Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace. With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
