Sandy Hook And Gun Control...

It is at once tragic and outrageous that an ill and evil person (yes, "evil" - there are plenty of mentally ill among us who do NOT kill children) was able to walk into a school and, unopposed by any meaningful force, methodically kill 20 children and various other adults. 

I was stunned, but not surprised.  And I mourn for and with the families who lost those they love.  And I, with so many others, take comfort in knowing that those little children have been received into the bosom of the Lord.

Before the facts were fully known, the anti-gun forces in media and in Washington were churning out their propaganda.  And one of the conversations that continues today is the analysis of the "need" Americans may or may not have for military-style weapons. 

Today I will avoid discussing the weapon and will focus on the right, given by Nature and Nature's God and enshrined, ensured and protected by the Constitution of the United States of America to defend one's life, the lives of one's loved ones, and one's property by keeping, bearing and using arms. 

The Second Amendment says, "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

That's the whole amendment.  I'm not going to talk about who the "militia" is and who the "regulators" are.  Just read the Third Amendment and review the Quartering Act for some clarity.

The First Amendment reads:  "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise therof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

That's the whole amendment.

Those rights are ones our founders believed derived from God and that Government had a sacred obligation to respect and protect. 

The idea that the right to keep and bear arms ensured by the Second Amendment can somehow be limited, restricted or defined on the basis of "need" is absurd. 

We seriously entertain discussion among the Wizards of Smart about whether or not any American NEEDS a 30-round magazine or NEEDS a rifle with a pistol grip or NEEDS to shoot bullets as fast as she can pull a trigger.

NO one wants to take away your grandpa's single-shot 20 gauge, or your dad's bolt-action deer rifle he bought when he got back from Viet Nam!  Heavens!  We're not talking about weapons that have "LEGITIMATE" uses. 

No.  We're talking about weapons that are bad for society.

How is that line of thought different from saying that one is free to write a newspaper editorial as long as it is uplifting, enlightening, and in no way criticizes the President of the United States?  Or how is it different from saying that one can post online any video they want to, as long as they don't show policemen arresting someone?  Or how is it different from allowing someone to subscribe to any magazine they like, as long as it doesn't depict "immoral" or "depraved" acts or images? 

Imagine the discussion in Congress about newspaper editorial columns and personal blogs.  Imagine the conversation in Congress about Maxim Magazine.  Does an American really NEED to compare George Bush to Adolph Hitler in a newspaper?  Can't she simply rely on Congress or the Supreme Court to discover his genocidal plans and impeach the man?  Does an American really NEED to post the video he shot when he was pulled over for driving 29 mph in a school zone at night?  Shouldn't he realize that the act of recording a traffic stop might interfere with the officer's ability to perform his duties?  Does any American really NEED to see pictures of half-naked women?  Really?  What's going to happen if they don't? 

Yet these expressions are fervently defended by the most ardent anti-gun activists as "rights" that are "guaranteed" under the lauded "First Amendment".

NO one wants to keep you from writing a newspaper column or keeping up a blog!  We're not talking about making everyone get "Guideposts Magazine" in their home!  We're not talking about "LEGITIMATE" speech, here.

No.  We're talking about speech that is bad for society.

You may wear your ratty little Che Guevara tee-shirt down to Starbuck's because you have the sacred right to make a statement. If you want to idolize a mass murderer, you can do that. Hell, you may even go on TV tonight and use your First Amendment right to pontificate about the virtue of taking away everyone else's Second Amendment right.

I'll do you one better.  I carry my pistols and keep my rifle and high-capacity magazines ready because I have the sacred right to do it - and God forbid they may be useful someday in stopping a bad man who is hellbent on hurting me or my family.  And as long as I use my Second Amendment right, you can rest assured that no one will take away your First Amendment right.

Let's see your tee-shirt do that.

My Generous Friend Misses The Point...

Today I was talking with a friend of mine who is both very generous and very financially successful.t

I brought up the idea that all of our taxes might go up in a week or so.  His response was that it wouldn't really impact him if he paid what he estimates at $15,000 more in federal income taxes each year.

I asked him what he would do with the money if it weren't confiscated by the government and redistributed or wasted.  He understood my question immediately and without delay replied that he would create jobs by spending his money at the boat store and other places

In that brief conversation, though,  both of us missed the real point:  My friend works very hard for the money he earns.  His family sacrifices time with him.  He invests immense amounts of intellectual capital and emotional energy in leading his company to success and prosperity despite the general economic malaise in which we find our nation.

Nature gave him the unalienable right to private property and the United States' Constitution ensures that no government will take that property from him.

That money is his private property.  The idea that anyone except him and his family has any right - any moral right - to that money is preposterous and patently false.  Of course we all - ALL - have an obligation to contribute to the support of our government as it executes its constitutional duties of protecting us from foreign powers, ensuring peace between the states and promoting (not ensuring or providing for) the general welfare of all Americans. 

Far from being an anti-tax nut, I believe firmly that every single American needs to be invested in the maintenance of this great country by paying his or her fair share.  And a fair share of one's income is an equal share.  Let's say it's 15%.  And let's say that we all pay it.  If I make $10,000 a year working at the movie theater during my Junior year of high school, then I pay $1,500 to the federal government in taxes.

And if I make a million dollars a year sacrificing my health and my family on the altar of corporate success, then I pay $150,000 in federal income tax.

Period.  Fair.  No one is disenfranchised.

We also missed another point, less esoteric than the first.  His contribution of $15,000 next year will be the equivalent of peeing on a forest fire.  The entire effect of the tax increases proposed by President Obama will result in enough revenue to run our government operations for fewer than 9 days.  Speaker Boehner has proposed a more conservative plan that will raise taxes on only 0.2% of the country and generate even less money. 

It's a measure that fails to address the real problems we have of unfunded liabilities and uncontrolled spending. 

For Paul. And Anyone Else Whose Loved One Takes Anti-Psychotic or Anti-Depressant Drugs...

My brother Paul killed himself just over 2 years ago.  The night after he killed himself he came to my wife in a dream telling her that he was sorry, that he didn't mean to do it, he'd taken some Vicodin with vodka and that he was just trying to make the voices in his head be quiet. 

A week later we learned that he had been taking prescription drugs to fight anxiety and to control pain.  He left a beautiful widow.

Watch this.  It's about 12 minutes long.  And if you have loved ones - children, spouses, parents or self - using these types of drugs, PLEASE consider some alternatives.  There is a terrible danger associated with them.  And it's far worse than being unable to concentrate or feeling blue.

I love you, Paul....

The Sum Of My Thoughts The Morning After...

"My God, what have we done?"
     - Robert Lewis
       Captain, US Army Air Corps
       Copilot on Enola Gay
       6 August 1945

Not News - Media Covers For President...

On 12 Sep 12, President Obama gave an interview to Steve Kroft of CBS' 60 Minutes.  Here's a portion of the interview CBS did not air or publicize until this weekend.

It proves that Candy Crowley, in her 2-on-1 debate with Mitt Romney, was not the only one not telling the truth about the President's claim to have known and called the Benghazi consulate raid a "terror attack" on the day after.

Is It Child Abuse...?

Is it child abuse to put patently false ideas into a young person's mind? 

What about the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny?

I have friends who don't let Santa in the house because they (the parents) think he's not real.  Their kids miss out on a lot of magic.

Maybe this kid's parents don't want him to miss out on any of the president's "magic", so they're willing to smile at the lie.

But I do think that this lie is a leetle beet more harmful than the others we tell our children.

Utility Workers Unions Responsible For Delays Restoring Power...

Labor unions in New Jersey are standing in the way of progress.  Again. 

This is outrageous.  And at the same time, it's not surprising to anyone who has worked with unions...

I do hope that this costs Big Labor some of the support and control it has enjoyed in the East and Midwest for the past century. 

In a crisis, people do not rise to their best.  Neither do they sink to their worst.  Their true character simply comes out.  And we see that with unions in New Jersey.

Here Comes The Change...

Whoever said that the Affordable Healthcare Reform Act would not lead to a single-payer health system obviously had not read the bill.

It provides for the establishment of two federally sponsored multi-state health insurance providers.  The New York Times details this in a recent article.

Insurance reform advocates have long argued that removing the interstate barriers to insurance providers would create a more efficient marketplace.  Now, the federal government is free to do just that for itself, while maintaining the barriers for its "competition" in the private sector. 

Even with the inherent inefficiency of government run entities, the advantage will likely be enough to drive private insurers out of certain markets or out of business altogether. 

An Honest Answer To Glenn Beck's Question...

Yesterday I heard Glenn Beck ask where the military whistleblowers were over this debacle in Benghazi.

He couldn't understand how soldiers could be willing to die in the desert for their country, but unwilling to stand up and face the ruination of their careers for the principles that same country was founded on.

I have an answer for him.

The officials you, Mr. Beck, are calling on to exercise manly courage are in large part political eunichs. 

In today's military one does not rise to the rank of general or admiral unless he or she is an exceptionally adept political chameleon.  Sicophants and the luke-warm are the successful career soldiers of the day.  Therefore, as it was in the days of King David, there are generals who are willing to "just follow orders" and stand by as the Urriahs of today are abandoned on the field of battle in the interest of political expediency.

There are some "top brass" who are patriotic, but there are no patriots among them.  Lacking the courage needed to truly defend the Constitution they are sworn to, they cower with puffed out chests behind the label of "apolitical."

Mr. Beck, if you want to find the patriots in today's military you MUST look outside the Pentagon and to the lower ranks.  The field grade officers, the noncommissioned officers and the lower enlisted ranks are full of patriots who would and will give their lives for the principles of liberty and in defense of the Constitution. 

But those are the men and women who have no chance at promotion into the now-politicized ranks of general officers.

And so, Glenn, you won't find a single soul who will put their career on the line for Ambassador Stevens and his small security detail who fought for seven hours on 11 September of this year, keeping faith with each other and with the country that ultimately betrayed them.

Betrayal And Death In The African Desert...

There is an old story of a king who had an indiscretion that could have caused him tremendous political damage. He had an affair with the wife of one of his top military commanders. To make matters worse, while the general was deployed his wife got pregnant by the king. Now these were the days before Planned Parenthood was funded by the US Government.  The resulting scandal would have been disastrous.


The king’s solution was simple and almost elegant. Before the woman’s pregnancy could be known publicly he called the general off the battlefield to consult with him. His hope was that the general would take advantage of the home leave to enjoy some connubial bliss; but the general disappointed the king. Because his men were afield and unable to enjoy their wives, the loyal general would not allow himself to enjoy his own. Rather, he slept at the palace.

Frustrated, and fearing his own political future the king sent the general back to war and sent secret orders to the general’s peers. The king’s instructions were clear: Engage the army in heated battle and then, at a secret signal, pull all forces back – leaving the general to fight the enemy alone. The king’s hopes of a quick end to the general’s life were soon realized. With the general out of the way, the king was free to marry the grieving widow – his paramour – and the birth of a child from that relationship would not be too closely scrutinized.

The plan worked. But history being history, the truth came out. For the king the truth came out earlier than he’d hoped, and he was disgraced.

So what does that old story have to do with today?

President Barack Hussein Obama began celebrating the end of the terrorist threat to America on the day he gave approval to kill Osama bin Laden. Since 1 May 2011 the president’s narrative has been that terrorism is dead and America’s relations with Muslim nations are on the mend. In February and March of 2012 the president took advantage of the apparently democratic shift in the Middle East and North Aftrica and touted the revolutions that took place as further evidence of his success in thwarting extremism and securing Americans. He went so far as to insert US military forces into the Libyan revolution, believing that he was making friends.

This story was the one story President Obama’s administration could point to and credibly say they’d accomplished something worthwhile in their first 4 years. It was thin, but it was all they had.

Then, in the summer of 2012, reports of increased terrorist threats to our assets in Libya began to come in. Accompanying those requests were urgent pleas for additional security support – specifically for the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Sending support would have been tantamount to admitting to the nation and the world that the sole success of his administration was really marginally successful at best. It would have been fodder that Fox News and conservative-leaning talk shows would have spun and re-spun through the election – putting President Obama’s reelection in jeopardy.

So the very conscious decision was made to ignore the requests and continue the charade of improving relations. So intent was the president on the farce that he even chose to ignore warnings from the fledgling Libyan government in late August and early September.

The mistress was pregnant.

If he could just squeak through the election in November, however, President Obama could then afford to acknowledge the rising threat. Perhaps he even thought of sending those security assets then.

But as fate would have it, the loyal general would not sleep with his wife.

The rabid purveyors of fear and death known to the world by many names, but in truth called only Islamic terrorists, would not wait until the election. They attacked Ambassador Chris Stevens and his security detail at the US consulate in Benghazi.

As US Air Force drones circled overhead beaming television images of the raging firefight to State Department and White House situation rooms, US military assets sat idle only hours away. For seven hours four Americans fought desperately for their lives, keeping faith with each other and with the country they hoped would not abandon them.

The king ordered his general to be abandoned on the field and forbade anyone to aid him in his distress.

Barack Hussein Obama’s hope was that he could avoid having to answer questions about the tragedy until the November election was past. In the short term, the president sought to mask the attack with a story of offense, outrage and protests gone wild.  Finding something patently offensive to Muslims on the internet - not a particularly difficult task - would create just the smoke screen.  And fabricating a plausible story of riotous protests would be easy enough.  Just send that line to the news people and sit back under cover of an "ongoing investigation" if pressed by Jake Tapper.

And then, secretly, he hoped that the event would have faded from the national consciousness – replaced by thoughts of who would become the next American Idol or what would be the outcome of the next NFL game.

Bread and circuses…. Bread and circuses….

While lecturing Governor Romney about these things called “aircraft carriers” – big boats you can land planes on – and the obsolescence of horses in modern warfare, the president would have done well to remember that thing called the “IN-ter-NET” that doesn’t forget anything. The president and his minions needed not only to control the three major networks and CNN while marginalizing anything coming from Fox News, but to control the voices of literally MILLIONS of individuals who have refused for more than a decade to be controlled or silenced.

And so, as with the ancient king, the truth has come out earlier than the president had hoped.

In 12 days we must use the power of the ballot box to remove this president who has consented to the death of Americans loyal to the country – and ironically loyal to him – in the interest of maintaining his own political power and station.

Tax Hikes Coming...

Regardless of what President Obama says about hypothetical Republican tax benefits for a hypothetical group of wealthy people, the President himself will enact and enforce taxes that really will adversely impact the real group of people who are neither poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, nor wealthy enough to be unconcerned with medical costs, but who are really unhealthy.  And because Obamacare affects all productive Americans, we will ALL share the burden.

Forget the traditional "poor," "working," "middle," and "wealthy" classes the leftists like to talk about.  If you are a Maker - and not a Taker - you need to be concerned.  This set of taxes is coming for your personal property.

"Obamacare's" Worst Tax Hikes will take effect in 2013.  Actually, they'll take effect on the 1st of January, 2013.  So, for all the talk about repealing the Affordable Patient Care Act - and I haven't heard much of that lately - the damage is done, at least until a new Congress can be convened.

Until the law can be repealed, employers and employees will be bound to abide by its provisions.  It will be the beginning of an economic nightmare that will only get worse if America does not wake up.

And if we fail to remove the liberal Democrat majority from the Senate, I believe nothing will be done.  Harry Reid is so ideologically enmeshed with Barack Obama that he will not allow the Senate to consider any bill that would repeal the act.

This needs to be a part of the Romney campaign.  It's one of the animating factors of Tea Party movement of 2008 and 2009.  

Just Wrong...

This Is What Happens when we let political games get carried away.  There's really no excuse for this kind of behavior.

This election season, let's all just be a little more civil.  I'm not saying that we need to pull punches or not speak "Truth To Power".  We just need to keep it classy, as they say.

The Amazing Thing Is...

The amazing thing is that things like this don't surprise me anymore; but they always amaze me...

President Obama's Reason For Not Meeting World Leaders At The UN This Week

Obama Girls' Ski Weekend Costs Taxpayers

Insightful. And What I've Said All Along...

Muslims, Mormons and Liberals
by Bret Stephens
for the Wall Street Journal

The American Class System...

I think it is important for conservative people to stop allowing the Left to define language.  

The critical definition I’d like to discuss is this artificial idea of “class” in America.  We hear the Left talk of four distinct “classes” in their regular discourse. 

First, and most pitiable is the “poor.”  We define the poor class as those living below some percentage of some income level.  We don’t examine lifestyle or make observations about any other demographic.  However, when a conservative person mentions the “poor” in any other context than compassion and sympathy liberals immediately cry “racist.”

Second is the “working class.”  I’m never sure who this group is.  It seems that reporters, politicians and activists are not part of the “working” class because they speak always of them as others.  I’m not sure if I am “working” class, although I certainly put in my 50+ hours each week.  I think that when the Left talks of a “working class” they are referring to the blue collar, manufacturing or construction, mainly white, mainly male, mainly union laborer.

Third is the “middle class.”  This is probably the most amorphous group.  A middle class person may earn $30,000 and have a family of 4; and they may be single and make $150,000 a year.  A middle class person may be of any ethnic background and live in the city, the suburbs or even the country.  And if you ask anyone in America, they are likely to tell you that they are part of the “middle class.”  This nearly universal identification with a group makes this group a convenient target for politicians on both the right and the Left.

Our fourth American class is the “rich.”  “Rich” is as ambiguous as “middle class.”  Generally speaking, though, in order to be rich one simply must make more money than others – even a small group of others – thinks that you need.  And since this is relative, people earning $18,000 per year might look at a person earning $50,000 as “rich,” while someone earning $120,000 might think that “rich” starts at $250,000.  On the Left, these people are despised for having what others do not, and are suspected of having taken it from the “working class.”  Leftists who are wealthy take extreme care not to be identified as “rich.”  On the right, the rich are quietly admired, but even conservative politicians hesitate to hold the “rich” up as an example of the “American Dream.”

I propose that we simplify things.  Let’s have two American Classes:  Makers, and Takers.  And let's be sure that we all understand that Americans can move from class to class as freely as we can move from town to town.

Makers are all of us who go to work in the “private sector” to produce or do things that others cannot or prefer not to produce or do for themselves.  If we’re making cars, playing football, growing food, painting homes or cleaning offices – it doesn’t matter.  If we’re doing someone’s taxes, starring in a movie, managing a crew of janitors, designing a skyscraper or planning production for an oil refinery – it doesn’t matter.  If we’re the president of a hospital, the CFO of a steel company, or the owner of a trucking line – it doesn’t matter.  WE ARE MAKERS.

Takers are those who live off of what we have earned.  This should NOT be confused with those who live off what we make or do.  On a daily basis we trade our labor for a wage or other compensation.  When that trade is complete, we are made whole.  Our employer doesn’t owe us more than we’ve agreed upon.  Our customers don’t owe us more than the prices we’ve asked. These are not takers.

The denomination "Taker" should not be seen as a pejorative.  Not all takers are bad.  Not all takers are unnecessary or extraneous.  Not all takers are responsible for their situations.  Some takers are driven by a sense of calling.  Some takers are driven by a sense of duty.  Some takers are driven because they have nowhere else to turn. And some takers are driven by a perverse sense of entitlement.

Policemen, firefighters, DMV clerks, Social Security administrators, public school teachers, mayors, military personnel, congressional staffers, welfare queens, wards of the state.  These are the takers.  They are government workers and bureaucrats.  They are career politicians.  They are those who live on welfare, food stamps and unemployment payments.  They are those whose lifestyles are supported in large part or entirely by taxes laid on the backs of makers. 

One of the beauties of America, the American Dream allows, encourages, and even obligates Americans to move up in life – to improve their station and situation.  That means that those of us who find we are “Takers” are free and welcome to become “Makers.”  Sometimes life deals hard blows and we find we need help.  In those cases there is no shame in taking it.  And there should never be enmity between makers and those who need to take for a time. 

But there must be a natural resistance to and control of the growth of that permanent set of Takers who euphemistically call themselves “public servants” and those who are long-term or inter-generational welfare users.  They may perform work in the interest of government and good order; they may lack skills or abilities needed to be productive.  This set of Takers must be as small as possible because, while they perform necessary functions in some cases, and are truly pitiable in others, they are a drag on the prosperity of every individual an on the welfare of the nation as a whole. 

In business, we refer to fixed costs.  Building a bureaucratic infrastructure and a network of social or entitlement programs creates "fixed costs."  The danger of fixed costs is that when money gets tight or times get tough fixed costs cannot be reduced without serious and sometimes catastrophic consequences to the enterprise.  And the other side of that coin is that unless fixed costs are reduced there will be serious and sometimes catastrophic consequences, too.

There is real and existential danger to America in losing control of its fixed costs.  And that danger grows with the growth of the Takers.  When the majority of Americans are being supported forcibly via taxation by other Americans we will have passed a tipping point.

This isn't an argument against a strong military, good social programs, or poor people.  It's not a rant against DMV workers or SSA bureaucrats.  It's not even an anti-taxation discourse.  I just would like some semantic clarity and to retake the linguistic initiative.

And so, when we speak let us speak of “makers” and “takers” in a simple and factual way, and not some ambiguous groups of “middle,” “working,” "poor" or “rich.”  

GM Not Allowed To Pay The Piper...

William Spain at MarketWatch.com is telling the story that the Obama Administration is refusing to sell its more than 25% ownership in General Motors despite the fact that private investors and the company's leadership want it to.  Among the problems with government ownership cited by GM leadership is the difficulty in attracting top talent while working under pay caps and restrictions.

Fascism or Socialism?  It's All The Same Result...

Did they really think that all that money would come with no strings attached?  Now GM is reaping what it sowed.  The only thing that might make the Obama Administration give up its control of the company would be the political expediency of pointing to the return of GM to fiscal health and private ownership just before the election.

Press Release | Embassy of the United States

Press Release | Embassy of the United States

And, just in case the site changes this, I'll copy it below.

It makes me SICK to think that this is how the Obama administration responds to the invasion of the sovereign territory of the United States of America.  It is even more sickening to know that this pathetic and misdirected missive was issued on the same day that the US Ambassador to Libya was suffocated to death by savages of the same ilk.

Are they serious?!  Somehow, something someone did 10,000 miles away is responsible for this?  The World Turned Upside Down.

Islamism and Islamists are the enemy.  This is not a religious war.  It's not a war against Islam.  If you want to be a Muslim, that's great.  Just be sure that the practice of your religion doesn't interfere with anyone else's practice of theirs.

It is a war of political ideology in which Liberty is pitted against Tyranny.  And there can be only one victor.  Peaceful coexistence is as anathema today as it was during the Cold War.

"U.S. Embassy Condemns Religious Incitement
"September 11, 2012
"The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims - as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions.  Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy.  Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy.  We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others"
(Punctuation left as in the original statement.)

President Obama, Focused Like a Laser...

National Security Not A Top Priority

In fact, since becoming president, Barack Obama has attended only 500 (fewer than half) of his President's Daily Briefings on national security and intelligence.  These meetings are typically 30 minutes or shorter.  The president has spent 250 hours, or 6.25 work weeks in PDBs.

He's gone golfing 104 times during his first term.  If each round only takes him 3 hours, that's 7.8 work weeks on the greens. Never mind the travel time to and from the courses.

He's attended 163 re-election fundraisers (as of 12 June 2012 - or 90 days ago!  In the first half of June his pace was 1.75 fundraising events per DAY!) since his inauguration.  If he spends 1 hour in prep, delivery and recovery for each fundraiser, that comes to 4.1 work weeks.

Further, as we have seen, whenever President Obama begins by saying, "Look.  This isn't about ME..." we're getting ready to see a shamelessly self-promotional monologue.  He's held 68 news conferences not about himself and conducted 441 one-on-one interviews with national and local press persons.  Also not about himself.  If we are ridiculously conservative about the preparation and execution time required for such activities and say it's 30 minutes total per event, we're looking at just over 5.5 work weeks of telling us that it's not really about HIM!

It's often been said that if you want to understand a man's priorities, look at what he does with his time.

Well, there it is...

Seen At The Convention...

Classy...

but it's what we're up against.

Honesty From Jon Stewart...

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Hope and Change 2 - The Party of Inclusion
www.thedailyshow.com
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Takeaways From Tonight's Convention Speeches...

1. Osama Bin Laden is the only one who is better off today than he was 4 years ago.  (J. Kerry)

2.  President Obama killed Muamar Khadaffi.  (J. Kerry)

3.  Mitt Romney is "extreme".  (J. Kerry)  Now, I always thought he was too moderate or even liberal for my taste.

5.  President Obama gives personally tools and training to our troops.  (J. Kerry)

6.  Not mentioning someone in a speech is the same as disrespecting them.  (J. Kerry)

7.  The president's single accomplishment has been saying "Go," to the teams that killed Bin Laden.  (Everyone, including the President Himself...)

8.  "Marine Corps" is spelled without the "s".  (DNC Propaganda Film)  I guess that is to remind President Obama not to say "Marine Corpse" again.

9.  No one welcomed Viet Nam veterans home before President Obama did. (DNC Propaganda Film)

10.  John Kerry, who served in Viet Nam, is also a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan (Standing on stage with a group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans)

11.  Delegates are hesitant to applaud for military speakers.  They seem unable to relate or connect with them.

12.  It's okay to kill someone who has committed an unspeakable wrong.  (J. Biden)

Wrapping Up The Convention...

Here's what I liked.  I liked Joe Biden's speech.

He's easy to listen to, and it's easy to tell when he's lying.  I understand he has to toe the party line and tell people that Republicans want to starve old folks and let sick people die.  He might even believe some of that.  But watching him struggle to find one single solitary example of Barack Obama exercising courage in leadership made even me uncomfortable.  Imagine working so closely with someone for nearly 4 years and the only specific example of leadership and "courage" you can come up with is the night in 2011 when, from 10,000 miles away, the president said, "Go."

I think Joe Biden might just have the toughest job in the world, carrying water for B.O. and the Democrat Party.

President Obama's speech left me somewhere between flat and furious.  Here's the man who told us in his now-familiar arrogant manner that if he hadn't corrected the problems with the economy in 3 years, he should be a one-term president.  Now he's begging to have his contract renewed.

In 2008 the "3-year fix" to the economy was a pretty good bet.  Most recessions end themselves in much less time than that.  But what the omniscient B.O. did not count on was the effect his own fiddling with the laws of the land would have on the recovery.  The only thing markets and businesses alike really fear is uncertainty.  Normal business cycles don't really bother anyone, but when you have the most powerful country in the world changing its long-standing laws and policies with caprice and by fiat EVERYONE freaks out.

And when everyone freaks out nothing gets done to move toward growth again.

The crony capitalism of the Obama administration has pushed us even deeper into the disaster.  Hundreds of millions of dollars practically given to the president's friends and supporters in the guise of "investment" in "green technology" have increased the levels of uncertainty and further destabilized the economy.

If we give this man and his administration another four years, there's no doubt they'll fix America.  And they'll fix us good!  Just you wait...

Analysis of Two Classes of Leftist...

As I consider the appeal of Leftism, or as Mark Levin calls it "Statism", I am struck that there are two types of people who are drawn to the Ideal.

The first is the one who views himself as superior to others.  He sees himself as Naturally better than those who do not or cannot see things his Way.  You see it in his demeanor when he addresses Others.  You hear it in his voice when he explains the Ideal once again for Others who are just too simple-minded to grasp the elegance of the Concepts.  

The First is the one who feels he has an Obligation (it would be a moral obligation if there were morality) to lead Others.  And that Others have a Natural duty to follow Him.  Entitlement is good when the First feels the sense; it is bad if Others more successful than the First feel it - especially if those Others More Successful feel entitled to keep their own property.  

The second type of person who is drawn to the Ideal are those who view themselves as victims.  They believe that the game is rigged against them.  They believe that others get ahead because they get lucky or they get help.  The second type also feels a compelling sense of entitlement.  They don't feel entitled to lead others, though.  They believe they are incapable.  They are distracted by the "bread and circuses" of life.  Yet, the victims believe that their victimhood entitles them to the property of others.  "Fair" is their watchword and anyone who points out that taking might be unfair is demagogued as an insensitive, uncharitable person.

These two types of people live a symbiotic existence.  The First has the sycophantic bloc of supporters he needs to control the Others.  The First gets the ego boost he needs from slavering minions quietly jostling for his approbation.  The second gets taken care of.  The second willingly surrenders his personhood in exchange for the proverbial mess of pottage.  The First and the second fulfill each other's needs.

As I pondered this strange relationship the words of the Depeche Mode song "Master and Servant" came to mind.  I think it says it all:

There's a new game
We like to play you see
A game with added reality
You treat me like a dog
Get me down on my knees

We call it master and servant
We call it master and servant

It's a lot like life
This [omitted so small kids won't get TMI]
With you on top and me underneath
Forget all about equality

Let's play master and servant
Let's play master and servant

It's a lot like life
And that's what's appealing
If you despise that throwaway feeling
From disposable fun 
Then this is the one

Domination's the name of the game
In bed or in life
They're both just the same
Except in one you're fulfilled
At the end of the day

Let's play master and servant
Let's play master and servant

Let's play master and servant
Come on, master and servant

Key Learnings From The Democrat Convention...

Thanks to the Democrats, now I know what goes on in the unfathomable depths of the female mind!

The internal dialogue evidently goes like this:  "I'm going to the store to pick up some produce and chicken for dinner.  I sure hope I don't get pregnant in the check out line.  Then I have to drop off the library books.  How am I going to not get pregnant in the parking lot?  I guess I can just use the book drop.  On my way home I have to fill up with gas.  If I get pregnant at the pump that will really be bad.  And I have to chaperone the 5th grade field trip tomorrow.  Getting pregnant on the bus would be awkward.  I lost my job today, but at least I didn't get pregnant at the same time!"

Thanks to the Democrats, now I know that the primary concern of all minorities, black, hispanic, asian or otherwise - including the LEGAL residents and CITIZENS of the United States - is how to get Hispanics into the country illegally.  And I also understand that if people favor only legal immigration they are haters.

Thanks to the Democrats, now I understand that to not be deviant is to be abnormal.

All in all, it's been a good convention so far!

Oh, yeah.  And the hoax of global warming is still the Doctrine of The State and environmentalism is still the State Religion.

Conflicts of Interest in Welfare...

In the world of "current events" it is sometimes interesting to note that relevancy varies by person and by circumstance.  In my case, today I am writing about something that is both out of time and very timely.

Between March, 2010 and August, 2012 I was unemployed.  Almost 2 1/2 years without a steady income.  By the grace of God - and I do mean that - I was able to work enough to continue to provide the things my family needed.  And when the gap was too great, my extended family stepped in to help.

In mid-2011 things got bad enough that I applied for unemployment compensation and, for 3 weeks, I was paid $240 for a total of $720.  Then again, in the summer of 2012 I was unable to find a gig for 2 months.  When I applied for unemployment compensation this time, things were different.

In my efforts to provide a long-term solution to my "employment stability issues" I started a company.  It was and is a great idea.  And when, seeking to comply with the laws of the land, I established an LLC and became an "officer" of the organization I unwittingly made myself ineligible for "benefits."

Never mind the fact that this company has never yet made a dime of revenue - let alone profit - and has only cost me and my partners money.  Because I am an "officer" of a "company" I am ineligible to receive unemployment compensation through the State of Arizona.

The lesson taught by the government in this instance?  It's better to do nothing than to try to do something. 

The lesson I learned in this instance?  If I need or want anything it is up to ME to go and get it - to "build that", in the immortal words of our Dear Leader. 

So, what to do as far as "welfare" reform goes?  I don't know.  The system seems explicitly structured to discourage initiative and to punish achievement.  But how do we change the algorithm of disbursement to accommodate efforts like mine?

Crazy, but maybe we abolish the system altogether.  Return the responsibility for charity to the only group that can be legitimately charitable - the People.  The individual, in the grand scheme of government, is supreme.  The individual is wiser than the collective.  The individual is more fit to decide than the legislature.  The individual is more authoritative in his governance than the executive.  The individual, self-interested and egoist, responsible only to his God, is alone able to legitimately govern his own affairs and to administer his own brand of charity. 

So why not try it out?  It worked for more than 150 years before Franklin Roosevelt and his cadre of intellectual social engineers began tinkering with the idea of the State as broker of goodness. 

And the delivery of welfare to those in need could not possibly be more capricious or less efficient than that executed by our governmental bureaucracy.

I Didn't Do My Fact Check, But...

Common Metrics of Prosperity January 2009 January 2011 % chg Source Avg. Retail price/gallon gas in U.S. $1.83 $3.95 115.8% 1 Crude oil, European Brent (bbl) $43.48 $99.02 127.7% 2 Crude oil, West TX Inter. (bbl) $38.74 $91.38 135.9% 2 Gold (oz. troy) $853.25 $1,504.50 90.5% 2 Corn $3.56 $6.33 78.1% 2 Soybeans $9.66 $13.75 42.3% 2 Sugar $13.37 $35.39 164.7% 2 Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall 7.6% 9.4% 23.7% 3 Unemployment rate, blacks 12.6% 15.8% 25.4% 3 Number of unemployed 11,616,000 14,485,000 24.7% 3 Number of federal Employees 2,779,000 2,840,000 2.2% 3 Real median household income $50,112 $49,777 -0.7% 4 Number of food stamp recipients 31,983,716 43,200,878 35.1% 5 Number of unemployment benefit recipients 7,526,598 9,193,838 22.2% 6 Number of long-term unemployed 2,600,000 6,400,000 146.2% 3 Poverty rate, individuals 13.2% 14.3% 8.3% 4 People in poverty in U.S. 39,800,000 43,600,000 9.5% 4 U.S. Rank v. World in Economic Freedom 5 9 -80% 10 Present Situation Index 29.9 23.5 -21.4% 11 Failed banks (in past 12 months) 140 164 17.1% 12 U.S.. Dollar v. Japanese yen exchange rate 89.76 82.03 -8.6% 2 U.S.. Money supply, M1, in billions 1,575.1 1,865.7 18.4% 13 U.S.. Money supply, M2, in billions 8,310.9 8,852.3 6.5% 13 National debt, in trillions $10.627 $14.052 32.2% 14 Just take this last item: In the last two years we have accumulated national debt more than 27 times faster than during the previous 233 years of our national history.

Metaphorically speaking, if you were driving in the right lane doing 65 mph and a car passed you going 27 times faster, it would be doing 1,755 mph!

Sources:
(1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3)Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. Of Labor; (7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10)Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC; (13)Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury