Who's to blame for a killer?

We may never know what drove Elliot Rodger to go on a killing spree in Santa Barbara, Ca. What we do know is that he was a seriously disturbed individual with a death wish and demented sense of revenge. He apparently blamed women who wouldn’t sleep with him for being a virgin — like there’s anything wrong with that at the tender age of 22 — as well as the guys who beat him to the punch.

Elliot Rodger killed seven people, including himself, and injured a dozen or so others. His list of weapons included a knife, a hammer, two machetes, a BMW, and three pistols. You can rest assured the mainstream media will fixate on the guns. They always do.

Hindsight is 20/20. His parents found out about his YouTube rant, in which he promised to kill as many people as possible, alerted authorities, and set out to Santa Barbara to stop him. 

They were too late.

Apparently he killed his three roommates with the hammer, the knife, and the machetes. He then went to a sorority house where he killed two sorority sisters on the sidewalk. He left the sorority house and drove around town randomly selecting his victims, killing one more innocent pedestrian before turning the gun on himself.

Reading his manifesto, it’s unbelievable that he truly felt as he did. What’s even more unbelievable is that no one knew he was nuts. Instead of trotting out the tired, old argument for banning guns, we need to start concentrating on the real problem. Quite frankly, there are too many crazy people roaming loose on the streets.

Now, crazy is a relative term. I’m sure we all have certain oddities that others might find strange. I’m not talking about locking up every eccentric in the country. What I’m talking about are danger signs. There’s no way Elliot Rodger wasn’t exhibiting them. He was obviously in therapy. Did his therapist know he was fantasizing about going on a killing rampage? Let’s hope not. But did he or she see signs that he might be violent?

Again, that’s quite subjective, but those of us who live in the real world know when someone is dangerous. A friend of mine who works with the animal rescue folks told me recently of a guy who cut the front legs off a cat. That guy should not only be punished for what he did, he should be watched like a hawk for the rest of his life. That’s the kind of person who ends up a serial killer or a multiple victim killer like Elliot Rodger.

One critic, Ann Hornaday from the Washington Post, was quick to blame Hollywood for white men promoting “escapist fantasies” that “revolve around vigilantism and sexual wish-fulfillment.” She went on to say Rodger’s misogynistic delusions were channeled through “male studio executives.” She singled out the movie “Neighbors,” and the movie’s star, Seth Rogen, and director, Judd Apatow. Apatow specializes in coming-of-age movies in which the inexperienced, immature guy gets the girl. Apparently, Ann Hornaday finds that distasteful.

We can blame Hollywood. We can blame video games. We can blame the “gun culture.” None of that gets us anywhere. There have been slasher movies as long as I can remember. Sure, some video games are violent. And, yes, we are a society that cherishes our Second Amendment right. All of those elements have been around for a long time. By blaming them, we ignore the obvious.

Too many people are too screwed up in the head, and too few of us take the time to notice.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Obama's war on guns

There’s something going on that should send a chill down the spine of every American. The Obama administration is using the FDIC, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, to go after gun shops. Eric Holder over at the Justice Department is in on this and they’ve launched something called Operation Choke Point. They’re getting the FDIC to designate gun sellers as ‘high risk’ thus getting banks, under threat from the federal government, to sever their ties with them. This is not only online gun retailers but bricks-and-mortar stores, as well.

They tried to cover this with a list of other businesses they’re targeting like porn shops and

stores that sell drug paraphernalia. We can argue over the merits — or lack thereof — of either of those two enterprises, but they’re legal. How on God’s green earth do we allow our government to shutter legitimate businesses in this country?

Part of the problem is precedent. Obama has been waging an open war against the coal industry and few outside of that business are willing to stand up and be counted. Now they’re coming after guns, and you can bet this won’t be the last business they attack.

If you’re thinking to yourself that you already have guns so it won’t affect you, think again. Where are you going to get ammo once all the guns shops are closed?

Whether you’re a big Second Amendment proponent or not, this should trouble you to no end. Through executive orders this administration is having its way with the American people. Their rationale is that Congress won’t act so they have to. That’s the whole point of having a congress. They pass laws and the president either signs them or vetoes them. This administration believes if congress doesn’t pass laws then they simply pass their own through executive orders.

It’s not hard to understand why the economy is struggling to recover when this administration has declared war on so many parts of it. Imagine if they continue to get away with it. Anything and anybody they don’t like will be in peril. If they’re successful in killing the coal industry, what’s to stop them from going after the oil industry? They already have been to some degree.

If they’re allowed to shut down the gun industry then one of our basic constitutional rights is gone. Now, I’m not saying that Obama is trying to grab all the guns so he can put us all in FEMA camps. What I am saying is even if he thinks he’s doing this with good intentions, it only takes one person with bad intentions to take this country in a dark direction once they know the people can’t defend themselves.

Like so many rights that die, it’s the people who stand on the sidelines who allow it to happen. Don’t be one of those people. It’s time to start pushing back and pushing back hard. It’s time to light up your congressman’s phone. It’s time to get involved with any group that’s joining the struggle to defend our liberties. It’s time to let Mr. Obama and Mr. Holder and anyone else who declares war on business know that we’re watching. Not only are we watching, but we’re active.

Irish statesman Edmund Burke once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” That goes for you good ladies, too. We can either watch this administration tear business apart limb from limb or we can do something.

When good men and women actually do something, evil is vanquished. You can quote me.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

When a kiss is not just a kiss

Let’s get some things straight, if you’ll pardon the pun, on this Michael Sam gay kiss thing. If you’re not up to speed on this one, Michael Sam is the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL. He went in the seventh round and was seventh from the end to be drafted. After the St. Louis Rams picked him, his boyfriend gave him a smooch on the mouth.

Miami Dolphins safety Don Jones tweeted “OMG” and “horrible” after the kiss. He was fined an undisclosed sum and suspended from team activities until he can undergo re-education by team officials.

Super Bowl champ Derrick Ward tweeted, “I’m sorry but that Michael Sam is no bueno for

doing that on national TV. Man U got little kids lookin’ at the draft. I can’t believe ESPN even allowed that to happen.” Ward got death threats against him and his children.

I have absolutely no problem with Michael Sam playing in the NFL. That’s not even the issue. The issue is the outcry — along with punishment and/or threats — against those who dare say they find two guys kissing repulsive. For those who say that homosexuality is natural for gays I would remind them that a negative reaction to a gay kiss is just as natural for heterosexual men. But the PC crowd is now bound and determined to beat that out of us.

I made the comment on my radio show that if you’re a man and you didn’t have a distasteful reaction to the kiss then you’re either gay or bisexual. Some guys came unglued on me to which I asked, “You have a problem with someone who’s gay?”

It’s an interesting turn of the tables when those who profess to be so open-minded about such things are suddenly offended when their own sexuality is questioned. If, in your mind, there’s nothing wrong with being gay then there’s nothing to be upset about.

The problem is the double standard. When Tim Tebow was drafted in 2010 a Boston sports talker said Tebow’s draft party looked like a Nazi rally, clearly a reference to his religiously conservative principles. The host apologized on the air and that was the end of it. No suspension. No fine. No re-education camp.

NBC Sports reported in 2010 at the NFL Scouting Combine, “Tim Tebow’s habit of openly expressing his religious beliefs could potentially rub folks the wrong way.” Can you imagine the backlash had they reported that Michael Sam’s habit of openly expressing his homosexuality could rub folks the wrong way? Let’s face it. A public gay kiss rubs a lot more people the wrong way than someone expressing their religion. One is discouraged, even ridiculed, while the other is celebrated.

Former New England Patriot Teddy Bruschi opened up a post-draft recap on ESPN by saying the biggest story of the draft was the Michael Sam story. Former Eagles QB Ron Jaworski disagreed, saying the anticipation of Johnny “Football” Manziel’s draft was, by far, the biggest story, and he was right.

Had Michael Sam not been gay no one would’ve noticed. There were those who said he was passed over because of his homosexuality. Then why did three-time national champion quarterback AJ McCarron from Alabama go in the fifth round of the draft at overall pick number 164?

The big deal is not that Michael Sam’s gay. It’s not even the kiss. It’s the reaction to the reaction to the kiss. Stop trying to convince people that their natural reaction to something is somehow wrong or evil. It’s not.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Obama going for broke on climate change, uh, climate disruption

Well, let’s see, in the last 40 years we’ve moved from global cooling to global warming to climate change and now climate disruption. That’s the latest ration of rubbish being issued by the White House. Their economic policies are a joke. Obamacare is an unqualified disaster. They’re trying to latch on to something that will connect with voters here before the mid-term elections so they’ve issued yet another Chicken Little report to try and scare people into their arms.

Apparently it’s not working. Most national polls show global warming, uh, climate disruption is a concern for only about 30 percent of Americans. Why so low? Because none of what

these people have predicted has come true. 

I hate to be the one to say I told you so but I told you 2014 was going to be the year they went for broke on this issue. Since they’ve been so wrong for so long they have to up the hysteria to drown out their failure. They figure if they can just work you into a frenzy you won’t actually sit down and look at what’s happening around you.

Well, we did in our movie, An Inconsistent Truth. We learned that the polar bears aren’t dying off, the hurricanes aren’t getting worse, the sea levels aren’t rising, carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. When the earth moved from cooling to warming they changed their tactic from global cooling to global warming. When the earth stopped warming they called it climate change. Now they’re trying to convince you that every time you hear about a tornado or a flood or a drought it’s something entirely new.

There’s really nothing new going on. As we point out in the movie, wild weather isn’t getting any wilder. It’s just that these folks are focusing on it more. Have you ever bought a new car? Right after you start driving that car you start noticing cars just like it all over the place. Before you didn’t notice at all. Do you think there were suddenly more of those cars on the road? Of course, not. You just notice them more.

This is the concept behind drilling “extreme weather” into your head. If you hear that global warming is causing more tornados then every time you hear about a tornado you’ll think it was caused by global warming and, by extension, by humans. Every time you hear about a drought you’re supposed to think global warming. Or, global climate disruption. 

Which brings me to a very interesting point. I heard a report that Miami is experiencing sea level rise. Miami is on the Atlantic Ocean. Now, common sense would tell you that if Miami is really seeing sea level rise then every town on the eastern seaboard would be seeing sea level rise. They’re not. What’s more likely happening is either the coastline is eroding around Miami or the actual land is sinking a bit. This has been shown to be the case in several parts of the world.

By the way, some places on the Atlantic Ocean have seen sea levels recede. If global warming is really global then it would be happening globally. It’s not. But that doesn’t stop people like John Podesta and his boss, Barack Obama, from trying to scare you. And scare you into what? Into joining them in destroying the oil and coal industries that have advanced a civilization farther than most anything else in history.

Maybe if the president is so set on weaning us from fossil fuels he’ll try a stay-cation this summer instead of Hawaii.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

The real Christian approach to taxes

I was reading a piece in the Wall Street Journal about religious groups in Illinois protesting the state’s income tax. No, it’s not what you think. Yes, they think the state income tax is unjust, but only because it doesn’t tax rich folks enough. Right now, the Illinois state income tax is a flat tax. These protestors want a progressive tax. In other words, the more you make, the bigger chunk they take, like the federal income tax.

“This is a moral imperative,” the Journal quoted Rev. C.J. Hawking as saying. “There are over 400 passages in the Bible that talk about God’s special concern for the poor.” Yeah, Reverend, and you are supposed to be the one taking care of them, not the government.

But this is the state of our nation these days. Too many religious institutions are shirking their responsibilities and insisting — and, in this case, protesting — that the government should do their job for them. It’s quite interesting that many of these same liberals are the ones who claim a separation of church and state, yet they believe the state is somehow obligated to answer the call of the Bible.

While Rev. Hawking and other so-called religious leaders protest the rich not being gouged, churches in Illinois are not only exempt from paying property taxes, they buy items without paying a sales tax. Nothing against churches, I’m a member of one, but they’re the last entities that need to pointing fingers at tax scofflaws. 

If Hawking and others are going to get biblical on us, the Bible says we should tithe. Maybe Hawking needs to look that word up. It means to give a tenth. There’s nothing in the Bible about a graduated income tax. In fact, there’s nothing in the Bible that says the state should be paying for the poor. Not that I’m against that, mind you, but there are too many people passing themselves off as poor when they’re not.

One of the primary responsibilities of a Christian church is to look after the less fortunate. That’s why you see so many charities that have been started around this country by churches. Prior generations understood that churches were called by God to help those less fortunate. This new generation of liberal theologists believe the government should do the work. They protest for higher taxes on the rich, when the rich are already paying the bulk of the taxes. They protest for a “living wage” instead of stepping in themselves to help folks who aren’t making it month to month.

To be quite honest, it makes me absolutely furious to hear so-called religious people scold anyone about not doing their fair share, especially the rich. To quote a CNBC headline, “The rich do not pay the most taxes, they pay ALL the taxes.” This was a story about a Congressional Budget Office report that revealed the top 40 percent of wage-earners in America pay 106 percent of the taxes. The bottom 40 percent pay negative 9 percent.

How can this be? The bottom half of wage-earners pay no income tax and the the bottom 40 percent get money through the Earned Income Tax Credit that they never paid in. In other words, they not only pay no income tax, they make money on Tax Day. 

Now, back to these “religious groups.” How Biblical is it to steal from those who produce and give it to those who don’t? Theft shrouded by a reverend’s robe is no less theft. In fact, stealing in the name of the Lord is the worst.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

More doom and gloom from the Chicken Little crowd

It would be comical if it weren’t so serious. EPA administrator Gina McCarthy went on “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central to tell Jon Stewart’s viewers that global warming is the biggest public health and economic challenge we face. Forget that we haven’t warmed, globally, for at least 15 years, these folks find it necessary to ratchet up the hysteria. It’s akin to people who talk to foreigners who don’t speak English. They think if they just talk louder the person will understand them.

What’s so unfunny about McCarthy’s Comedy Central performance is we have scientists right now proposing that we spray sulphur and aluminum particles into the atmosphere to

block the sun. I am not kidding! Have these people lost their minds? Apparently, but these are the types of scientists who get funded not just by our government but by governments worldwide.

In fact, there’s strong evidence to suggest they have already been spraying these toxic chemicals into the atmosphere. All in the name of stopping some phantom theory of manmade global warming.

The other day the UN’s IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, issued yet another dire prediction that we only had 15 years to do something about climate change or it would be too late. Don’t they know that we know they’ve been doing the same thing since 1982? 

Here’s a brief history of the hysteria from the website ClimateDepot.com.

The Executive Director of the UN Environment Program warned in 1982 the “world faces an ecological disaster as final as nuclear war within a couple of decades unless governments act now.” In 1989, the UN said we’d reach a tipping point in ten years. In fact, Al Gore said there would be no Arctic sea ice in the summer of 2013. The truth was, we had 50 percent more sea ice in the Arctic in the summer of 2013 than we did the year prior.

But, as this whole climate scam started to fall apart, they just upped the hysteria. In 2009, the UK’s Gordon Brown said we only had “50 days to save the world.” That same year, Prince Charles was a little more optimistic. He said we had 96 months. It was also in 2009 that Canadian Green Party looney Elizabeth May said “we have hours” to prevent climate disaster.

It seems 2009 was a big year for panic. The godfather of global warming, NASA’s James Hansen, said we just had Obama’s first term to save the planet. Then greenie James Lovelock slowed things down a bit in 2010. He said, “we may have 1,000 years to sort it out.”

The latest came from the UN on April 16, 2014. “The world now has a rough deadline for action on climate change,” the IPCC said. “Nations need to take aggressive action in the next 15 years to cut carbon emissions, in order to forestall the worst effects of global warming.”

Look folks, I was born at night but not last night. This is basic huckster behavior. You have to get that roof replaced and right now, before it all falls in on you! You have to replace that engine in your car because it’s just not safe to drive! And what’s always at the heart of these scams? That’s right, money. The UN wants producer nations like the United States to pay for our sin of “carbon pollution,” which is another way of saying, “pay for your sin of success.”

None of what Al Gore predicted in his movie came true, so now they’re doing a sequel. Maybe they should name it Gullible’s Travels.  

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

I'm mad as hell and, well, you know the rest

I get hacked off every year about this time. No, it’s not the blood moon or frustration that the new season of 24 can’t come soon enough. It’s not that NCAA basketball is over or even Mother Nature slapping us with another ‘sprinter’ before real spring arrives. What’s got me all hot under the collar? I just did my taxes.

I know, I should probably let someone do this for me, put myself at arm’s length. Maybe if I don’t see all that money going out the door I won’t notice it. But I feel it necessary to see

where all my money’s going. That’s why I agonize over the tax forms every year.

This year was particularly brutal. I wouldn’t mind so much if I were able to choose where the money goes. For the second year in a row, we have more people getting food stamps than we have women working full-time. Think about that. Most of the food stamps go to women with children. Now we have about as many on government assistance as working. Talk about your war on women.

We have a national debt over $17 trillion. That number doesn’t even mean anything to most people anymore. It’s so out of control that we will never be debt-free in this country ever again. Well, then, why worry about it? Because we have to pay interest on the debt.

Right now we pay just under nine cents of every tax dollar to service the national debt. That’s more than we pay on government, education, agriculture and science combined. The experts tell us if we continue down the same road we’ll be paying about 30 cents of every dollar on interest by 2040. By 2050 it would be half of all money coming in. Think about that. No matter what your pet project is, there would be half the money to argue over because of the ballooning debt.

Here’s something else to think about. The Heritage Foundation estimates that, given the current road we’re on, by 2030 entitlements plus the interest on the debt will consume all tax revenue. We’re talking Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare plus interest on the debt and there’s no more money. That means no money for defense. No money for infrastructure. No money for science or natural disasters. No money for anything.

Don’t get me wrong about this tax business. I don’t mind paying taxes. Really, I don’t. What I mind is when my money is being wasted. What I mind is seeing all these people abusing food stamps and other government charities. What I mind is watching billions, if not trillions over the long run, thrown down a rat hole chasing a phantom like man-made global warming.

What I mind is seeing half of the people around me pay no taxes whatsoever and another 40 percent get money from the government they’ve never paid in through the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The liberals love to say the tax system isn’t fair and they’re right, only they think the rich should be paying more. I don’t know where I fit in as far as the rich go but I can tell you this. I’m one of the top 50 percent who’s actually paying taxes and I’m sick and tired of pulling this wagon while half the folks are riding.

If you’re making over $100,000 you’re in a group that’s paying 72 percent of all federal income taxes. That’s outrageous! Too few are working so that too many don’t have to.

And you wonder why I’m mad?

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.