Thanks, Jetstream - it's hard to believe that every elected and appointed official has sworn a solemn oath to "defend, support and protect" the U.S. Constitution. Perhaps there should be mandatory course-work (say, the Hillsdale College Constitution 101 course) with a high grade required, before any bureaucrat can be sworn in?

I think it's time to take the wraps off of the old HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) and turn it loose on every bureau and agency in the U.S. Government. Meanwhile, just start slashing budget amounts, some of them to $0 (zip), beginning with the EPA.

Thank you, DefCon1, that one jumped out at me, too.

RIP, Andrew. This is a great loss to every thinking American, and to every freedom-loving person on earth.

I second Whitetop's sentiments, in spades. For starters, slash the 2013 budget by the amount so generously squandered on foreign handouts that are "outside of (the EPA's) core mission;" add to that reduction by slashing the amount Ms. Jackson wants to fund a "kinesthetic learning dance theater" (along with an admonition for her to use her personal assets to assuage her charitable impulses). Then, get down to some serious budget reduction, say 40% or 50%.

As far as the very, very politicized EPA handing US taxpayer's money to China, Thailand and Indonesia, you can bet dollars to Tic Tacs that a good chunk of that "helpful cash" will find its way into the Obama 2012 election campaign war chest. Follow that money trail and, if and when you find a loose thread, appoint a Special Prosecutor to unravel it. Take the cost for whatever number of orange jumpsuits are called for out of the EPA's slush fund.

Welcome to my rant, JeffdotCooper! Republican "leaders" repeatedly jump off the same tower into a bucket of sand, while the Dems walk away snickering because they've established THEIR narrative. Insurance policies should be private contracts between the insurance carrier(s) and whoever pays the premiums. In group coverage, an employee or other group member who wants additional coverage is free to negotiate a change and/or to purchase a second policy or rider. Government tinkering and mandates just pushes insurance prices to the stratosphere.

Now, this is a great rant! I couldn't agree more.

Herman Cain had a good point, about not nominating (anyone) who wouldn't or couldn't put the US Constitution ahead of any other allegiance.

Most of that "personal baggage" was manufactured by his political detractors, both Democratic and Republican. According to his daughter, Jackie, her mother (wife #1) never had cancer, is still alive and in good health, and it was she --- not Newt --- who initiated their divorce. She and Newt, together, sat down with their daughters to explain the coming changes and to prevent as much as possible the negative impact on their daughters.

Marriage #2 to Marianne: Probably one of those "rebound" things, and apparently rocky for some time - she called him on his birthday to tell him she was divorcing him, and he arrived home to find the house cleaned out and empty. They reconciled, but this was not a picture of perfect harmony, and likely they both owned a share of the blame; that said, however, her determination to "destroy his career" a dozen years after the dust had supposedly settled should have qualified him for a sainthood nomination in having simply divorced her without sending a hit man to deliver the papers.

He made a lot of political enemies on both sides of the aisle, but many if not most of those 'enemies' are the corruptocrats who just do not like having their gravy train derailed. That fact --- and it is a fact --- should be enough in and of itself to persuade ALL of us that he is the best candidate on the horizon.

Naw, that isn't it: She heard that candy makers are running out of chocolate, and she intends to buy up every ounce in existence in January, 2013; she just wants to make sure no one else in the world gets a fair share in the meantime.