Rocco DiPippo has a fantastic, must-read piece in American Spectator today entitled “The Audacity of the Democrats.” It’s the most thorough analysis of how we got to where we are today in American, and a breakdown of those responsible for the decline of the greatest nation on the planet.

From the piece:

Buoyed by the 2006 election success of their Vietnam-era strategy, Democrat leaders and other leftists began openly calling Iraq an ‘unjust’ war, an “unwinnable” war and relying on the short memories of most Americans to hide the fact that many prominent Democrats had actually voted to authorize it. Jesse Macbeth, Jimmy Massey, Scott Beauchamp and other antiwar frauds who admitted faking tales of atrocities committed by US soldiers were praised by the press and the Democrats as heroic dissenters against the evil Bush war machine, their false tales of butchery and bloodlust spread far and wide. Widespread, positive coverage was given to antiwar, anti-American, pro-terrorist activists like Cindy Sheehan, who was sanctimoniously christened America’s “Peace Mom” by leading Democrats and the leftwing media, while true American heroes, patriots like Paul R. Smith and Jason L. Dunham, both Medal of Honor winners, both killed in the act of protecting America from her enemies, received virtual media silence for their heroism and sacrifice and little public acknowledgment from Democrat politicians.

The press and the Democrats did however publicly acknowledge American soldiers when they were killed, when they spun tales of atrocities, when they groused or when they returned home and fell through the cracks. They wanted Americans to be ashamed of their soldiers, to be ashamed of the Commander-in-Chief, to be ashamed of America itself. They needed America on its knees — disillusioned, angry at its leaders and their policies — hopeless, sick of hearing about the war and demoralized because then, out of desperation, they would naturally look to Democratic politicians for relief.

The technique of creating discontent and “talking all things Bush down” paid big dividends for the Democrats in 2006. Devoid of credible ideas and solutions, they had nevertheless worked a strategy leading to the re-acquisition of at least some of the political power they had lost during their wilderness years after the Reagan Revolution. The 2006 election confirmed the effectiveness of their “destroy Bush” election strategy. And so the Democratic Party’s attacks on Bush and the Republicans increased to a ferocious level, even as Iraq turned a corner towards security and political stability.

When to the Party’s dismay the Bush troop surge took hold and the situation in Iraq began improving, the Democrats’ defeatist rhetoric reached a desperate, farcical crescendo: “The war is lost,” (even though objective measurements indicated that it was being won) crowed many Democrats, including prominent ones like Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, John Murtha, Edward Kennedy, John Kerry and Barack Obama. Prominent Democrat John Murtha publicly tried and convicted US Marines involved in the Haditha incident before those Marines even went to trial. “Bush lied us into war” became the catch-phrase of almost the entire Democratic Party leadership, even though before the war had commenced many of those same Democrats had access to the same information that the Bush Administration used to justify it.

Power at any cost indeed, even at the defeat and humiliation of one’s own country.

Then DiPippo enumerates the Leftists’ strategy point-by-point:

America now has serious doubts about itself. Its citizens have been pummeled with those terrible messages for so long now, that many of them believe them to be true. They are vulnerable to the Democratic Party’s sudden mantra of Hope and Change and Progress. In a nutshell, here are the mechanics of the crude, hate-based initiative the Democratic Party and its media wing have forced on America since 2001:

1. Invent, inflate, and over-report bad war news. Tie all bad news to Bush and/or Republicans. At the same time, ignore or downplay good news as it relates to Bush, the Republicans or the war(s).

2. Create the illusion of widespread, honest dissent to Bush policies by giving plenty of airtime to leftwing groups and individuals historically antagonistic toward the projection of US, and only US, power. Fail to report the true agendas of those groups — when covering antiwar, anti-Bush protests and events, make sure to meticulously portray antiwar marches as spontaneous gatherings of mainstream, mom and pop Americans.

3. Downplay, ignore and disparage American success wherever you find it.

4. Exalt in, sympathize with and mythologize America’s enemies, vilify and deconstruct its protectors.

5. Downplay America’s generosity and righteousness. Recast a mission that includes saving a nation from a murdering brute and his rapist, sociopath sons as a brutal occupation in the pursuit of American Empire.

6. Fill the Nation’s airwaves, from sea to shining sea, with questionable and sometimes outright false tales of Bush-related misery, butchery, fraud and waste.

7. Foment as much national anxiety and hatred of the Republican leader as money and can buy. George Soros and other moneyed leftists will fund you. Give airtime and print coverage to leftist radicals and Democrats who call Bush a war criminal. Present those radicals and their crazy plans to try President Bush and Vice President Cheney for “war crimes” as worthy of consideration.

8. Provide coverage to leftwing intellectuals and scientists making anti-Bush statements. Present them as legitimate, non-partisan experts in their fields. Publicize their specious, politicized findings, present those findings as non-partisan, accurate and objective.

9. Present major news coverage of every antiwar protest you can find, whether it draws 100 people or 10,000 people, ignore all pro-US, pro-Iraq War, pro-troop rallies completely or portray their attendees as violence-prone, fringe-lunatic jingoists.

10. Blame a hurricane’s aftermath on Bush. Give news coverage to racists and Democrat crackpots who say Bush and Cheney actually caused the hurricane and blew up levees to kill African Americans. Keep that Bush-hate buzz alive at all costs.

11. Give airtime and print coverage to groups and individuals accusing George W. Bush of having engineered and directed the 911 attacks. Remember, it is not the credibility of accusations that count in shaping public opinion now, but the seriousness and sheer volume of accusations that do.

12. To sow further strife, anxiety and confusion, continue stoking the fires of racial tension and class warfare.

13. Once the onslaught of lies, moral relativisms and crazy notions have created a self-sustaining, luciferous, widespread unhappiness and confusion, dangle a fat bait of silence and tranquility — of Hope, Change and Progress — crowning your deceptive achievement by hooking the same fish you made hungry.

Yes, it’s a long read, but if you only read one thing this year, it should be this.

Last week Neal Boortz had author Jerry Zeifman on his radio show to interview him about an article recently published by author Dan Calabrese, based on Zeifman’s book “Without Honor: Crimes of Camelot and Impeachment of President Nixon.” Dan Calabrese collaborated with Zeifman on this article about Hillary’s firing by Zeifman (life-long Democrat) during the Watergate hearings. From the article:

Jerry Zeifman, a lifelong Democrat, supervised the work of 27-year-old Hillary Rodham on the committee. Hillary got a job working on the investigation at the behest of her former law professor, Burke Marshall, who was also Sen. Ted Kennedy’s chief counsel in the Chappaquiddick affair. When the investigation was over, Zeifman fired Hillary from the committee staff and refused to give her a letter of recommendation – one of only three people who earned that dubious distinction in Zeifman’s 17-year career.

Why?

“Because she was a liar,” Zeifman said in an interview last week.

“She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.”

How could a 27-year-old House staff member do all that? She couldn’t do it by herself, but Zeifman said she was one of several individuals – including Marshall, special counsel John Doar and senior associate special counsel (and future Clinton White House Counsel) Bernard Nussbaum – who engaged in a seemingly implausible scheme to deny Richard Nixon the right to counsel during the investigation.

Why would they want to do that? Because, according to Zeifman, they feared putting Watergate break-in mastermind E. Howard Hunt on the stand to be cross-examined by counsel to the president. Hunt, Zeifman said, had the goods on nefarious activities in the Kennedy Administration that would have made Watergate look like a day at the beach – including Kennedy’s purported complicity in the attempted assassination of Fidel Castro.

It was an amazing interview, and I cannot believe (well, yes I can) that more media outlets have not picked up on this story. Unbelievable doesn’t begin to describe it. Yet believable it is.

Another small tome of Mr. Zeifman is “Hillary’s Pursuit of Power,” and it’s well worth the read. Please get your copies quick - they’re going fast, and not too many are available anymore.

You can watch/listen to the interview in three segments here, here and here.

Tonight on Glenn Beck, his guest was movie director Terry Sanders, talking about his new upcoming movie “Fighting For Life.” The movie is about the military medical school at USU, and follows military doctors and nurses as they treat our wounded veterans.

You can watch the emotional Glenn Beck segment here.

FINALLY, at tonight’s Republican debate in Boca Raton, FL, someone (McCain) challenged Gov. Mike Huckabee on the FairTax. And even better than than, Tim Russert followed up with the 30% consumption tax fallacy that is always the primary anti-FairTax argument.

The FairTax is also being touted by noted professors of economics everywhere. Folks, if you have any doubts about the FairTax, please order the upcoming book, “The Fair Tax: The Truth - Answering the Critics” by GA Congressman John Linder and Neal Boortz. Or, if you don’t have the time nor desire to do that, just read the FAQs here.

Watch Huckabee explain his support of the FairTax here.

I’ve blogged about Canadian Ezra Levant before, as have many others, about his fight with the Alberta Human Rights Commission. You see, when Ezra worked for the Canadian publication, the Western Standard, Ezra decided it was his human right to publish the Danish Mohammed cartoons. Well, that wasn’t received well by one Syed Soharwardy, and so he filed a complaint with the AHRC.

Ezra had to go before the AHRC and plead his case, in which he practically BEGGED them to find against his favor so that this case could be heard by a legitimate court, and now his story is being told around the world. Tonight he was on Glenn Beck to talk about his story, It’s a must-watch for every freedom-loving infidel in the world. First, check out Ezra’s YouTube page here for all segments of his appearance before the AHRC. It’s a 90-minute total view, but very much worth it.

You can view his Glenn Beck appearance here.

Tonight on 20/20, John Stossel, author of “Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity,” had a story on the fallacy of the efficacy of strict gun control. Of personal pride, the city of Kennesaw, GA was highlighted. You see, Kennesaw was one of the first cities in the country that enacted an ordinance that mandated each household to obtain and keep a firearm within each home in the city limits of Kennesaw.

Oddly enough (and much to the chagrin of 2nd Amendment opponents), the crime rate in Kennesaw dropped precipitously and immediately upon the adoption of that city ordinance. Now granted, people weren’t jailed or fined for NOT having weapons in their homes, but the true outcome was clear: a burglar or a menacing criminal looking for an easy target in Kennesaw was not so sure they would have an easy time committing whatever crime it was that was in their minds, but they were far less likely to commit that crime in Kennesaw. Stossel also showed a snippet of convict interviews of who they were and were not most likely to rob. In other words, Kennesaw residents would not probably be a target.

Besides the positive example of Kennesaw’s pro-gun laws, Stossel outlines the ridiculous outcome of DC’s extremely restrictive gun laws. Check the graph and stats (see above). Where would you rather live? Kennesaw GA, or Washington DC? Your very life may just depend on it.

Sean got an impromptu mini townhall meeting with the troops in Mosul while he was in Iraq with Rumsfeld. These men had me SO inspired. Now why in the world won’t other media personalities go interview these guys and air it on their shows? Oh, that’s right… Matt Lauer tried that once and it bit him in the ass. Oops!

Some of these guys’ comments were outstanding! When reminded that SOME *ahem* people keep saying we can’t win this war, two troops had their own opinions: 1) ‘that tells me they don’t have faith in us,’ and 2) ‘either you do or you don’t support us.’ Sounds like disbelief on both their parts to me. They also had these various paraphrased comments:

‘Please, make sure that the American people back home know that we have not been duped…We have some of the most intellectually bright and highly educated people here.’

‘We knew what we were getting into when we voluntarily signed up!’

‘This is not a job in any way shape or form; this is a lifestyle, and we choose this type lifestyle.’

‘We can’t worry about what they say back home; we have a job to do.’

‘We. Love. Our. Country.’ (this one stood out to me the most)

Oh, and they have no dillusion; they know this war will not be over for a long time. They say that the true outcome of the war will not be known until years after they’ve gone and left the Iraqis to their own devices. They rightly note that people want them to win the war fast and quick, “right then, right now,” and they don’t have the patience to wait for a real victory. They’re right. And smarter than most politicians.

Watch these true hereos here.

Amy Proctor gets it, too.

Check out Ann Coulter’s latest amazing Townhall column.

Glenn Beck had a fantastic special tonight on Headline News, “Exposed: The Extreme Agenda.” Reminded me of the recent “Obsession” program from Fox, but it really surprised me. Yes, it made me angry, but I was also glad to see Glenn interview several moderate muslims who are actually decrying the rape of the Islamic “religion” (I’m still not convinced of its legitimacy).

Bear with me…. the video below is the first time I’ve ever tried to edit the commercials out of a wholly recorded program. It may be rough, but please forgive if it’s not perfect. Focus only on the content - that’s truly the significant part. And again, enjoy Walid Shoebat, who is a self-professed former PLO terrorist, now reformed. “Obsession,” “Relentless,” “Saddam - Weapon of Mass Destruction,” “Mass Graves,” etc., are all documentaries that should be seen by all.

It’s long, but it’s worth the entire view. You can watch the Healine News special here.

Also seen at HotAir.