The news of the repatriation of Mister Bergdahl for the price of however many innocents those 5 released terrorists will kill hit the airwaves and intertubes pretty hard yesterday. It caused me some reflection that bordered on, but did not cross into, despair. But first, the anger.
On the basis of what I've read, heard and generally learned I'm convinced that Mister Bergdahl is at best a deserter and possibly a traitor. The final evidence is still to come out but for the nonce I am disinclined to give him any benefit of the doubt. Go visit This Ain't Hell for more. They're doing bang up work. BTW, I refuse to give him a rank nor refer to him in any way as a member of the American Armed forces until he explains his actions 5 years ago and what he's been doing in that time. The President freed 5 pretty hard core jihadis to bring that person home and initial indications are that he did it in violation of current law that requires him to notify Congress 30 days prior to the exchange taking place. None of that is a surprise. The President is working pretty hard to destroy the military and has done a fair job to this point. But that's nothing new either, is it?
I entered the military service of my country in March 1977. That was a bare few months after Jimmy Carter took office. I remember those years very well. The Army was in the process of a little self destruction in the wake of Vietnam and our disastrous decision to end it on an ignominious note. Basically the politicians spit on the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of our men and women who gave so much when asked and then were denied the honor and fidelity their courage had earned. No wonder that the Army started to come apart at the seams. Morale was low, leadership virtually non-existent. Virtually, not completely. There was still a core of dedicated officers and NCOs who managed to hold things together and were the seed upon which Reagen grew our modern military. The very ones who have steadily kicked ass and taken names everywhere so tasked.
But under the current political leadership we're seeing more of the same. We left Iraq to it's own devices only to see it backslide into massive sectarian violence and an unsettling relationship with Iran. We're about to do in Afghanistan just about what we did in Vietnam in 1975; leave with our tails firmly tucked between our legs. There (probably) won't be any dramatic, last minute helicopter flights full of refugees for the nightly news but anyone who thinks the Taliban won't be firmly back in control about 5 minutes after we leave isn't paying attention. I know we're leaving about 10,000 in country but all that does is open the door for an actual repeat of those infamous helicopter rides, a few more flag draped coffins and more veterans for the VA to fail.
Now, lest I be called hypocritical, I want us out of Iraq and Afghanistan but only because we've already screwed both of those pooches. Staying at this point is throwing away more precious American lives to no good result. The chance for a total victory is long past. The problem is those very lost opportunities and the men and women we've sacrificed, once again, on the altar of political expediency and failed foreign policy. And this Bergdahl mess is the cherry on top. Pay any price to get this person back but screw our veterans and the people we sacrificed in Libya.
We have refused to fight to win. We have demoted and run out of the military combat commanders who at the very least had their fingers on the answers. We have pushed our combat veterans and wounded warriors aside and relegated them to second class status. The bureaucracy sustains itself at the cost of the very lives of our best and brightest. Veterans and their supporters are incensed at their treatment by the VA and this administration answers that outrage by trading enemy combatants for a questionable soldier? What message is being sent here? That's easy. It's the same one Jimmy Carter sent. A view that every fascistic leftist in this country has always held.
Contempt. For the military, for the Constitution, for America. For anyone not of their political and cultural persuasion. I remember this country under Carter. I remember what the Army was like. I can sum it up with one word.
Despair. A feeling that everything we loved and honored was dead and gone. Kinda like right now. Our Vietnam veterans were treated deplorably once they came home. Fortunately that's not the case with our current returning vets, at least so far as public support is concerned. Led by those very same Vietnam Vets we have publicly hailed our returning heroes even if this administration has used them as political pawns to be given no more than lip service. Even that is starting to come apart as the true feelings of the far left in power come to the fore. Take a gander at Mister Bergdahl's father with the sitting President in the Rose Garden. If you can stomach it. I won't link to it.
But I also remember the feeling when Reagan was elected. I remember those officers and NCOs who kept the faith and were ready, willing and able when the call came. They formed the core of what became once again the finest military in the history of the world. I remember an administration that actually did the work of the American people and took the fight to the Soviets and won. I remember the rekindling of hope and the death of despair.
I remember the "Shining City On The Hill" speech and the stir it gave my soul. I remember the return of Americanism and the idea that we are a special breed, not to be found anywhere else in the world. I remember the return of pride and discipline to my beloved Army. I remember Poland and Walesa and freedom in the Eastern Bloc. I remember when the wall came down. I remember the abject defeat of our bitter enemy the Soviet Union.
I remember a robust economy and the end of gas lines. I remember Reagan's 'joke' about the bombing starting in 5 minutes and how our enemies were never really certain whether or not he was serious (I think he was). I remember a foreign policy that contained a lot more 'Thou Shalt Not' than 'Please Forgive Us'.
I remember God's sacrifice on the cross and his promise to always be with us. To never forsake all who believed. I know how all this ends (We win).
And the despair passes like a gentle breeze.
Surrender, however inevitable defeat may seem, is never the answer. Courage and tenacity are. Reagan beat Carter in the general election and then beat him again when he took America to new heights. He erased everything Carter had ever done and stamped 'Failed' all over his presidency. We can do the same. This President will not be in office forever. His term expires in little more than 2 years and we have mid term elections in a few months. There are signs that the GOP has heard us though whether or not that lasts beyond next November remains to be seen. At least there are a few among their numbers who can be counted as solidly in the corner of American exceptionalism. I have stated loudly that I am no longer Republican but that doesn't mean I'm not working actively to return them to our core values and thereby return myself to their fold. Maybe we can win at the ballot box and maybe we can't. I don't know. I do know that we cannot win a battle we refuse to fight.
I will take the mortal example of Reagan and the immortal one of Jesus to heart. I will keep my faith, I will never surrender to hopelessness or ennui, I will support and defend and I will smack the ever loving crap out of anyone who thinks that harsh language, fascism and political power trumps freedom, individualism and morality.
Courage, faith and hope. We owe them to those who proceed us.
Six
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
03 June 2014
29 May 2014
The Left's Self Destruction Continues
I've been staying away from politics this year. What with the remodel and trying to acquire a modicum of competence at competition shooting I haven't really had the time. Plus the fact that I'm pretty sick of the whole thing. But I can't help chuckling from time to time at the obtuseness from the right.
Every time I hear someone say that the left is hypocritical about Radical Islam I laugh. It's not hypocrisy it's jealousy. Both the hard left and radical islamic fundamentalism are two sides of the same coin.
They're both Death Cults.
The hard left has no basic tenet beyond death is good. Every crisis is tied to death from guns to abortion to the destruction of the family unit. They warn that the things that everyday Americans engage in such as heterosexual relationships, self defense and eating what we want in the quantities we want lead to the death of innocents (children figure in highly here) while parading the latest homosexual hero, food fascist and gun grabber as the hero de jure. Governmental malfeasance in the VA leads to the deaths of dozens but state run health care is desirable. A healthy economy and capitalism is bad while global warming is the direst calamity ever ever and must be addressed by taking everyone not of the chosen class back to the stone age where life spans are reduced and living is a hand to mouth existence.
They are never louder than when death is involved. It's as if only the blood of innocents gets them truly excited. They revel in it and never miss a chance to roll around, coating themselves and their detestable views. Death Cult.
On Memorial Day Google chose to honor Rachel Carson instead of our honorable dead. Rachel Carson of banning DDT fame who has the blood of millions on her hands. Death Cult.
A nut job kills 6 and injures many more and all we hear is what Nerd Lust and misogyny and guns are bad and not one word on crazy or knives or how maybe if we granted ordinary folks the right to self defense this kind of stuff would stop. Death Cult.
That's because they don't want the deaths to end. Ever. When they finally get all they want the deaths will simply become more governmental directed and less societal. We're already seeing and reading all we need to know ow this all ends in their twisted minds. Prosecution, prison and the rope.
Death cult. They love death and destruction. The hard left is never happier than they are when innocents are killed. Unless it's when they're doing the killing themselves and those recipients are of the wrong persuasion. That's still a fantasy in their fervid minds for the moment but one need look no further than the nearest online leftist hangout to read the tea leaves. They want us not just quiet and defeated but dead.
How is any of this different from the Cult of Mohammad? Only in the end results and that only until their control becomes complete. The left looks on the tactics of the RIFs and dreams of the time to come. When they can throw off the thin veil of respectability that they wear like a blood soaked vestment and become what they truly are. Killers; murderers of the stripe we have seen all too frequently.
Pol Pot would recognize them. As would Khan and Hitler and Stalin. Mao would call them brothers and sisters. Bonaparte would recruit them into his army. Nero would serenade them while they all watched Christians being torn apart in the arena.
It is now not enough to say to each his own. You do your thing and I'll do mine. Tolerance has become a call to purge those deemed as enemies of the state. 'I disagree with what you say but I'll fight to the death for your right to say it' has turned into 'I disagree with what you say and I'll fight to your death to shut you up.'
I wrote a short post awhile ago warning about pushing me into a corner. It has seemingly gotten worse but therein lies the seeds of the left's destruction. Take a few minutes and read some of the stuff Borepatch has written on this subject. Many of you have also done so but BP is my go to guy for this kind of stuff as he seems to have his finger firmly on the left's pulse. The left is in the process of consuming itself in an orgy of blood lust, excuses and denunciations. Nerd Lust was the cause of the Santa Barbara murders for crying out loud? NSA spying is just fine. The deaths of veterans is acceptable so long as the bureaucrats in charge of the system aren't held to account. A 7th round NFL draft pick is a hero because he kissed his boyfriend on TV but mentioning that the whole thing might be a little over the top results in censorship and banishment to a Right Think Camp. The science is settled and if you disagree then it's off to court and prison with you. And on and on and on. Frankly of there's one racial, cultural or political group not on their list of approved core groups they haven't attacked and othered I don't know what it might be.
Fight terrorism? The hard left wants terrorism (in the form of radical Islam) to win. They're doing all they can in the middle east and Iran to ensure that very end. Libya is about to explode, Syria already has and the killing there is far from done. Boko Haram was protected from inclusion on the list of terror groups until they did something no one could ignore and even then the left's response has been a tepid Twitter hashtag campaign. Israel has been abandoned. Egypt is close to civil war (again) and if anyone thinks the Saudi's don't have Pakistani nukes in country and ready to go you're kidding yourself.
Stern warnings and proposed sanctions abound but damn little in the way of actual solutions in our foreign policy. That's because all this is exactly what the hard left wants. What they've been working toward for a century. Death is what fuels them and makes their eventual complete takeover inevitable in their eyes. They don't want solutions they want crises.
Combine all this with the left's cozening of Radical Islamic Fundamentalism and we're left with only one conclusion. The Death Cult that is the hard left believes it has already won and is no longer afraid of backlash of any kind. To that end they feel empowered to insult, accuse and attack any group that displeases them in any way.
The left and terroristic radical islamic fundamentalism are brothers. Both want the same basic things; the destruction of Judaism and Christianity and the enthronement of a dictatorship. Whether that be Theocratic, Stalinist or Monarchical makes no never mind to those of us in it's way. The end result is the same. Enslavement for the vast majority of human beings on this planet. Oh those two forces would ultimately come to blows to determine the final winner but both sides believe in the inevitability of their victory. Entitlement writ global and in the blood of humans sacrificed on the black altars of their evil Gods.
But they're not winning, they're losing and badly. We're seeing more and more push back from not just the right but from those once considered 'centrists' and even liberals. At least those who are the true scions of the once freedom minded liberal movement. As such groups are marginalized, criticized and even attacked they look once again at the hard left in this country with newly opened eyes. Eyes shorn of the blinders of party affiliation. Tribal isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes it's only an attack on a person's cherished loved ones, be they beliefs or actual people, that paves the way for enlightenment.
Sun Tzu is sometimes too often quoted but it's hard to deny truth when it's right there before your eyes.
"The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.
Never interfere when an enemy is immersed in self destruction but be ever vigilant for the opportunity to hasten his fall. It may well come down to 'kill them all' but I doubt it. I think the hard left, like radical islam, will destroy itself. The only problem with that is how many they'll take with them when, in their death throes, they finally resort to the suicide bomb. And you know it will come down to that in the end.
They are, after all, Death Cults.
Six
Every time I hear someone say that the left is hypocritical about Radical Islam I laugh. It's not hypocrisy it's jealousy. Both the hard left and radical islamic fundamentalism are two sides of the same coin.
They're both Death Cults.
The hard left has no basic tenet beyond death is good. Every crisis is tied to death from guns to abortion to the destruction of the family unit. They warn that the things that everyday Americans engage in such as heterosexual relationships, self defense and eating what we want in the quantities we want lead to the death of innocents (children figure in highly here) while parading the latest homosexual hero, food fascist and gun grabber as the hero de jure. Governmental malfeasance in the VA leads to the deaths of dozens but state run health care is desirable. A healthy economy and capitalism is bad while global warming is the direst calamity ever ever and must be addressed by taking everyone not of the chosen class back to the stone age where life spans are reduced and living is a hand to mouth existence.
They are never louder than when death is involved. It's as if only the blood of innocents gets them truly excited. They revel in it and never miss a chance to roll around, coating themselves and their detestable views. Death Cult.
On Memorial Day Google chose to honor Rachel Carson instead of our honorable dead. Rachel Carson of banning DDT fame who has the blood of millions on her hands. Death Cult.
A nut job kills 6 and injures many more and all we hear is what Nerd Lust and misogyny and guns are bad and not one word on crazy or knives or how maybe if we granted ordinary folks the right to self defense this kind of stuff would stop. Death Cult.
That's because they don't want the deaths to end. Ever. When they finally get all they want the deaths will simply become more governmental directed and less societal. We're already seeing and reading all we need to know ow this all ends in their twisted minds. Prosecution, prison and the rope.
Death cult. They love death and destruction. The hard left is never happier than they are when innocents are killed. Unless it's when they're doing the killing themselves and those recipients are of the wrong persuasion. That's still a fantasy in their fervid minds for the moment but one need look no further than the nearest online leftist hangout to read the tea leaves. They want us not just quiet and defeated but dead.
How is any of this different from the Cult of Mohammad? Only in the end results and that only until their control becomes complete. The left looks on the tactics of the RIFs and dreams of the time to come. When they can throw off the thin veil of respectability that they wear like a blood soaked vestment and become what they truly are. Killers; murderers of the stripe we have seen all too frequently.
Pol Pot would recognize them. As would Khan and Hitler and Stalin. Mao would call them brothers and sisters. Bonaparte would recruit them into his army. Nero would serenade them while they all watched Christians being torn apart in the arena.
It is now not enough to say to each his own. You do your thing and I'll do mine. Tolerance has become a call to purge those deemed as enemies of the state. 'I disagree with what you say but I'll fight to the death for your right to say it' has turned into 'I disagree with what you say and I'll fight to your death to shut you up.'
I wrote a short post awhile ago warning about pushing me into a corner. It has seemingly gotten worse but therein lies the seeds of the left's destruction. Take a few minutes and read some of the stuff Borepatch has written on this subject. Many of you have also done so but BP is my go to guy for this kind of stuff as he seems to have his finger firmly on the left's pulse. The left is in the process of consuming itself in an orgy of blood lust, excuses and denunciations. Nerd Lust was the cause of the Santa Barbara murders for crying out loud? NSA spying is just fine. The deaths of veterans is acceptable so long as the bureaucrats in charge of the system aren't held to account. A 7th round NFL draft pick is a hero because he kissed his boyfriend on TV but mentioning that the whole thing might be a little over the top results in censorship and banishment to a Right Think Camp. The science is settled and if you disagree then it's off to court and prison with you. And on and on and on. Frankly of there's one racial, cultural or political group not on their list of approved core groups they haven't attacked and othered I don't know what it might be.
Fight terrorism? The hard left wants terrorism (in the form of radical Islam) to win. They're doing all they can in the middle east and Iran to ensure that very end. Libya is about to explode, Syria already has and the killing there is far from done. Boko Haram was protected from inclusion on the list of terror groups until they did something no one could ignore and even then the left's response has been a tepid Twitter hashtag campaign. Israel has been abandoned. Egypt is close to civil war (again) and if anyone thinks the Saudi's don't have Pakistani nukes in country and ready to go you're kidding yourself.
Stern warnings and proposed sanctions abound but damn little in the way of actual solutions in our foreign policy. That's because all this is exactly what the hard left wants. What they've been working toward for a century. Death is what fuels them and makes their eventual complete takeover inevitable in their eyes. They don't want solutions they want crises.
Combine all this with the left's cozening of Radical Islamic Fundamentalism and we're left with only one conclusion. The Death Cult that is the hard left believes it has already won and is no longer afraid of backlash of any kind. To that end they feel empowered to insult, accuse and attack any group that displeases them in any way.
The left and terroristic radical islamic fundamentalism are brothers. Both want the same basic things; the destruction of Judaism and Christianity and the enthronement of a dictatorship. Whether that be Theocratic, Stalinist or Monarchical makes no never mind to those of us in it's way. The end result is the same. Enslavement for the vast majority of human beings on this planet. Oh those two forces would ultimately come to blows to determine the final winner but both sides believe in the inevitability of their victory. Entitlement writ global and in the blood of humans sacrificed on the black altars of their evil Gods.
But they're not winning, they're losing and badly. We're seeing more and more push back from not just the right but from those once considered 'centrists' and even liberals. At least those who are the true scions of the once freedom minded liberal movement. As such groups are marginalized, criticized and even attacked they look once again at the hard left in this country with newly opened eyes. Eyes shorn of the blinders of party affiliation. Tribal isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes it's only an attack on a person's cherished loved ones, be they beliefs or actual people, that paves the way for enlightenment.
Sun Tzu is sometimes too often quoted but it's hard to deny truth when it's right there before your eyes.
"The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.
Never interfere when an enemy is immersed in self destruction but be ever vigilant for the opportunity to hasten his fall. It may well come down to 'kill them all' but I doubt it. I think the hard left, like radical islam, will destroy itself. The only problem with that is how many they'll take with them when, in their death throes, they finally resort to the suicide bomb. And you know it will come down to that in the end.
They are, after all, Death Cults.
Six
21 November 2013
JFK
I am about to commit an outrage. Ready?
I don't like JFK. I certainly do not think he was one of our greatest presidents. In fact, he was one of our worst. I get the frownies when I hear or read otherwise reasonable persons say that JFK would be considered a good Conservative in these times. He wouldn't and isn't. That's butt smoke from the squishies and liars. JFK was the SWPL Obama.
My reasons? Rather than blather on in my simplistic fashion I'll let DiploMad take over. Read it here. He says it all and really encompasses my feelings about JFK and the Kennedy's in general. I mean, they corrupted The Terminator for crying out loud.
Yes, the assassination of any sitting President is a badness thing. No, there wasn't a conspiracy by the CIA/Cubans/Mafia/Johnson/Whoever. JFK was killed by a crazy, traitorous, wanna be Communist Hero, loser (BIRM). Please stop feeding that particular trope as well as the one that imagines JFK as a would be conservative hero in Democrat clothing. He was a bottom feeder who was no more competent for the office of president than the current occupant. He was as liberal as they come, just more constrained by what was still then a majority conservative country who very nearly got us all killed in a rain of mushroom clouds. He was a drug addict, incompetent and a sexual deviant.
JFK an American Icon? Spare me.
Six
I don't like JFK. I certainly do not think he was one of our greatest presidents. In fact, he was one of our worst. I get the frownies when I hear or read otherwise reasonable persons say that JFK would be considered a good Conservative in these times. He wouldn't and isn't. That's butt smoke from the squishies and liars. JFK was the SWPL Obama.
My reasons? Rather than blather on in my simplistic fashion I'll let DiploMad take over. Read it here. He says it all and really encompasses my feelings about JFK and the Kennedy's in general. I mean, they corrupted The Terminator for crying out loud.
Yes, the assassination of any sitting President is a badness thing. No, there wasn't a conspiracy by the CIA/Cubans/Mafia/Johnson/Whoever. JFK was killed by a crazy, traitorous, wanna be Communist Hero, loser (BIRM). Please stop feeding that particular trope as well as the one that imagines JFK as a would be conservative hero in Democrat clothing. He was a bottom feeder who was no more competent for the office of president than the current occupant. He was as liberal as they come, just more constrained by what was still then a majority conservative country who very nearly got us all killed in a rain of mushroom clouds. He was a drug addict, incompetent and a sexual deviant.
JFK an American Icon? Spare me.
Six
13 November 2013
Borepatch Is Bringing The Smart. Again.
Obama's Tipping Point. RTWT.
Here's my problem. Just what or who do we replace them with? If he's right, and I really think he is, then it's absolutely time right fricking now to decide if we're going to let The Stupid Party arrogant us into another sell out and a furtherance of The State or take control back into our own hands.
TAKE BACK THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
You Big R suckholes need to go. Go quietly, go peacefully but go.
Six
Here's my problem. Just what or who do we replace them with? If he's right, and I really think he is, then it's absolutely time right fricking now to decide if we're going to let The Stupid Party arrogant us into another sell out and a furtherance of The State or take control back into our own hands.
TAKE BACK THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
You Big R suckholes need to go. Go quietly, go peacefully but go.
Six
06 November 2013
An Open Letter To The Republican Party
Hi.
I'm a voter. I used to be registered as a Republican though after a string of fairly recent past events I switched to Independent. Not really an issue for you as I mostly had a strong tendency to continue voting for your candidates. A lot of the time I held my nose when doing so but I did it even though I kept swearing that I wouldn't keep voting for the lesser evil. Like Romney. You remember him don't you? Because I assure you I do.
With loss after loss, bad candidate after bad candidate, betrayal after betrayal and disappointment after disappointment here's where we are now. After yesterday's Virginia race I'm afraid that a parting of the ways between you and I has finally come.
Read carefully. I will never again vote for any candidate with an R beside their name if they even have a whiff of the Republican establishment. Period. And I'm not a lying progressive who promises a period knowing all along that they don't really mean it. Period means period. And lest you think I'm a lone voice crying in the wilderness take a very long look around. You will see that I have a lot of company and such good company it is. I will however take every chance I get to vote for a conservative who primaries one of your chosen few. Stuff that in your pipe and take a nice long puff.
Understand, it isn't me it's you. You're not interested in rolling back the damage the Democrats and leftists have done to the country I adore. You're not interested in promoting small government conservatism. You're not interested in conservative candidates outside your comfy circle of acceptability. You're not interested in anything except power and the perquisites it brings to you and your cabal of establishment elites. Your failure to give the Republican candidate for Governor in Virginia your absolute support shows that clearly. Look up the phrase "All In' sometime. He should have won easily and convincingly. Such a victory would have gone so very far toward defeating Obamacare and giving conservatives (your base by the way in case you forgot and I know you have) hope and a morale boost. It would have proved the power of true conservatism and our message. It would have crushed the left. Crushed them.
But no. You squandered our chance by flatly refusing your unwavering support to a candidate who wasn't one of yours. You cast us aside like so much detritus. You have declared a war on the Tea Party, naming us subversives and Whacko birds or some such insult. You want a war? Fine. You got one. You really want an object lesson on just who exactly holds the whip hand?
No more money. No more votes. No more signs or door knocking. No more posts in defense. No more local, state or national Party volunteer hours. No more support of any kind. Nothing, nil, nada, bupkis. You want to run Christie in 2016? Knock yourself out. I'll stay home or pick a third party candidate. Any third party candidate.
With any such declaration should come an offer of compromise and as an honorable man I am duty bound to make one. Here it is. Want me back in the fold? Want me and those like minded to renew our support?
Name Sarah Palin as the RNC Chair. Scoff and laugh if you will but I'm being deadly serious here. I can't think of anyone else at this point that I would trust with the job of cleaning our house of the progressive lites that have come to dominate the Republican establishment. There is no one else out there with the temerity and integrity to put the Republican Party's feet back on the path of small government conservatism. Keep Rove and Priebus and Christie et al. I'll take Palin and Cruz and Lee thank you very much. That is the price of my forbearance and my return to the party. And you can add another big old Period on the end there Skippy. Think I'm kidding or blowing off steam? Think I don't really mean it and come election time I'll do what I've always done and give you my support and vote?
Try me. I dare you.
There is simply no place for me and the current crop of establishment Republicans in the same party. It's them or me and that really means us because, as I said earlier, I am hardly alone here.
And that was your choice not mine.
Six
I'm a voter. I used to be registered as a Republican though after a string of fairly recent past events I switched to Independent. Not really an issue for you as I mostly had a strong tendency to continue voting for your candidates. A lot of the time I held my nose when doing so but I did it even though I kept swearing that I wouldn't keep voting for the lesser evil. Like Romney. You remember him don't you? Because I assure you I do.
With loss after loss, bad candidate after bad candidate, betrayal after betrayal and disappointment after disappointment here's where we are now. After yesterday's Virginia race I'm afraid that a parting of the ways between you and I has finally come.
Read carefully. I will never again vote for any candidate with an R beside their name if they even have a whiff of the Republican establishment. Period. And I'm not a lying progressive who promises a period knowing all along that they don't really mean it. Period means period. And lest you think I'm a lone voice crying in the wilderness take a very long look around. You will see that I have a lot of company and such good company it is. I will however take every chance I get to vote for a conservative who primaries one of your chosen few. Stuff that in your pipe and take a nice long puff.
Understand, it isn't me it's you. You're not interested in rolling back the damage the Democrats and leftists have done to the country I adore. You're not interested in promoting small government conservatism. You're not interested in conservative candidates outside your comfy circle of acceptability. You're not interested in anything except power and the perquisites it brings to you and your cabal of establishment elites. Your failure to give the Republican candidate for Governor in Virginia your absolute support shows that clearly. Look up the phrase "All In' sometime. He should have won easily and convincingly. Such a victory would have gone so very far toward defeating Obamacare and giving conservatives (your base by the way in case you forgot and I know you have) hope and a morale boost. It would have proved the power of true conservatism and our message. It would have crushed the left. Crushed them.
But no. You squandered our chance by flatly refusing your unwavering support to a candidate who wasn't one of yours. You cast us aside like so much detritus. You have declared a war on the Tea Party, naming us subversives and Whacko birds or some such insult. You want a war? Fine. You got one. You really want an object lesson on just who exactly holds the whip hand?
No more money. No more votes. No more signs or door knocking. No more posts in defense. No more local, state or national Party volunteer hours. No more support of any kind. Nothing, nil, nada, bupkis. You want to run Christie in 2016? Knock yourself out. I'll stay home or pick a third party candidate. Any third party candidate.
With any such declaration should come an offer of compromise and as an honorable man I am duty bound to make one. Here it is. Want me back in the fold? Want me and those like minded to renew our support?
Name Sarah Palin as the RNC Chair. Scoff and laugh if you will but I'm being deadly serious here. I can't think of anyone else at this point that I would trust with the job of cleaning our house of the progressive lites that have come to dominate the Republican establishment. There is no one else out there with the temerity and integrity to put the Republican Party's feet back on the path of small government conservatism. Keep Rove and Priebus and Christie et al. I'll take Palin and Cruz and Lee thank you very much. That is the price of my forbearance and my return to the party. And you can add another big old Period on the end there Skippy. Think I'm kidding or blowing off steam? Think I don't really mean it and come election time I'll do what I've always done and give you my support and vote?
Try me. I dare you.
There is simply no place for me and the current crop of establishment Republicans in the same party. It's them or me and that really means us because, as I said earlier, I am hardly alone here.
And that was your choice not mine.
Six
05 August 2013
Why I Just Cancelled My Membership In PORAC
Rant Warning. About a 7 on the scale. Disgust but limited bad words.
PORAC is the Peace Officer's Research Association of California. It's basically a lobbying and legal defense organization that has branched out to include such things as retired issues, medic care coverage, etc. In those capacities it's fine. I haven't had to utilize any of their services but I know others who have and they have done good work championing cops and the work we do. But.
I have noticed over the last few years an increasing emphasis on their lobbying effort and political activism, including but not limited to endorsing candidates and allowing promoting 'causes'. It's a couple of those included in their latest magazine offering that has caused me to speak my mind and cancel my membership.
Here's a link to their site and the E version of the magazine I get delivered once a month. This is from the August issue.Please RTWT.
Let's start with an article by Paul Villa, the Chief Lobbyist/Government Relations for the Reno Police Protective Association for PORAN (which is an associate member with PORAC) entitled Strange Bedfellows. It's on page 16 of the magazine. Flip through and give it a quick read. I'm not allowed to reproduce any articles in part or whole so I will have to paraphrase but I encourage you to give that a good read. I think I'm Ok with giving you the title to the article strictly for the purposes of clarity.
In that article he goes to some length to acknowledge that the majority of cops are in fact conservative, of one stripe or another. He went so far as to mention a PoliceOne.com survey that found that found a majority of street officers were opposed to gun control. Here's a link to that survey. He also acknowledges that puts us at odds with mainstream democratic/liberal policies. Ok, fine so far and accurate. He then makes the point that they (he says us but I don't count myself as among his supporters) will take the opposite tack and appeal to Democrats when wages and benefits are under scrutiny. He refers to Republicans in a derogatory manner in regards to fiscal policy. Note the language in that paragraph where the PoliceOne poll is mentioned and the differing way he refers to Dems and Reps. He whines about being questioned as to why they never endorse any Republicans. And here's the payoff.
Mister Villa then goes on, in the very next paragraph, to aver that those of us in the police business hold our pay and benefits above everything else, including the Second Amendment. And that is why they routinely endorse big D candidates in spite of acknowledging that those very same politicians often make the job of policing harder. He goes on to make the argument that he's really bi-partisan and just wants to find a reasonable solution to modern policing but in my mind he has already admitted that he's sold his soul for twenty pieces of silver. In the next to last paragraph he drives that point home when he again alleges that fiscal issues take precedence over other matters when it comes to political endorsements. Essentially he's saying that fiscal conservatives need not apply.
Mister Villa is of course wrong and if he's not then may The Good Lord preserve us all. My priority, both on the job and in my evaluation of political candidates, was police work first with financial considerations taking a distant second place. Most of the cops I know felt the same. We fought for our contracts hard but win or lose, the job was the most important thing in our professional lives. It's precisely the kind of thinking espoused by Mister Villa that got us into this mess in the first place. Me first and to hell with everyone else is anathema to all law enforcement professionals hold dear and to see such printed in the pages of a magazine dedicated to those same men and women makes my blood boil. If it's only about the paycheck it's time to find another line of work and if you believe it's your primary responsibility as a lobbyist for cops to deliver money and only money then you are doing your employers and the general public a huge disservice. Mister Villa, go sell life insurance you venomous, mealy mouthed, boot licker. Make endorsements based on the public and law enforcement good and let the chips fall where they may. Your cops will both understand and support such efforts. Making the job easier and the public safer is job number one and don't you ever forget it. And you cops in Reno (and all of Nevada for that matter) better take a long, hard look at your Chief Lobbyist and start asking some hard questions lest you end up like your California brethren, living in a liberal wasteland. You're uncomfortably close right now if that little tidbit has escaped you.
But wait, we're not done yet. Let's skip ahead to page twenty shall we? There we find the article that caused me to throw my hard copy of the magazine across the room lest I be contaminated by it's mere touch. It's entitled Back to Basics: Another View by Dan Milchovich DPA, a retired Captain from Inglewood PD.
Again, I highly recommend you RTWT as it's a pretty nasty piece of work. It's clear from inference that Captain Milchovich is a card carrying low information voter of the first stripe. I'm going to take just aminute here to refute some of his garbage.
1. You're arguing the wrong point which was that Congress and it's staffers were going to come under the auspices of ACA (aka Obamacare). That was the law but Obama has now 'fixed' that. Once again the political elite have found a way to insulate themselves from laws they expect the rest of us to follow. Funny how often that happens.
2. Wrong. See above. And if you're wondering how the ACA is going to affect insurance premiums wonder no more.
3. It's not moot at all. If they have no skin in the game they have no incentive to find reasonable solutions. Here, read this and answer these questions. Where are all those SS contributions going and where will the money to pay off just the current obligations come from?
4. And? The problem here is that we have incentivized political life by making it all about the pay and benefits as opposed to it being, you know, about the public service. You and Mister Villa from PORAN appear to be cut from the same liberal political cloth. Considering a run for public office perhaps? Let's tie Congressional pay to the Average Yearly Income for Americans, kick politicians out of their retirement system and require them to live under all the rules they require us to abide by. Then we can both sit back and watch the exodus of those who are more concerned with accumulating wealth than doing the People's work and maybe we can get this ship righted again.
5. Again. And? Do you support an opt out provision for Social Security? If so then what's your point? If not then why not? How much exactly are you personally willing to sacrifice to ensure SS doesn't go bust?
6. Are you kidding me? Here, take a look at this and tell me how great that program is and how we should be funding it with taxpayer money.
7. Oh really? The real questions are how much is too much and who gets to decide that? I don't think I'm too comfortable leaving those decisions in the hands of people like you, Captain.
8. And here we go. Gun Control. This is an either/or proposition and damn you for posting your lunatic ravings under your former title, Captain. Either you support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights or you don't. If it's the former then sit down and shut up. You're just wrong. If it's the latter then you failed as a police officer and served under dishonorable terms. I think I know which side of the line you fall on in this debate and it disgusts me. And you end with this quote from Jefferson;
"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens."
Do you understand how hypocritical you sound? You are arguing for the very thing Jefferson was warning against in a post espousing disarming Americans in violation of the second Amendment to the Bill of Rights. You're either disingenuous, stupid or a liar. Perhaps a nice combination of all of the above?
Bah. You make me ashamed to have ever worn the same uniform Captain. May my forefathers forgive me and my my children forget you were ever called an American.
So. I have sent off the following letter to PORAC in an e-mail;
Cancel
my membership in RPORAC effectively this date; 8/5/2013. I will no
longer support your organization in any way, shape or form. In fact I
will speak out against your narrow minded and anti Tax Payer public
policies at every turn. You will not turn my honorable service into
something unethical and wrong. I will no longer be among PORACs
supporters. Rather I will be a watchdog against your excesses and
attempts to thwart public will through your political activism and pressure
Six
(I signed with my real name)
I'll let you all know how they responded though I anticipate it will be unsatisfying.
PORAC is the Peace Officer's Research Association of California. It's basically a lobbying and legal defense organization that has branched out to include such things as retired issues, medic care coverage, etc. In those capacities it's fine. I haven't had to utilize any of their services but I know others who have and they have done good work championing cops and the work we do. But.
I have noticed over the last few years an increasing emphasis on their lobbying effort and political activism, including but not limited to endorsing candidates and allowing promoting 'causes'. It's a couple of those included in their latest magazine offering that has caused me to speak my mind and cancel my membership.
Here's a link to their site and the E version of the magazine I get delivered once a month. This is from the August issue.Please RTWT.
Let's start with an article by Paul Villa, the Chief Lobbyist/Government Relations for the Reno Police Protective Association for PORAN (which is an associate member with PORAC) entitled Strange Bedfellows. It's on page 16 of the magazine. Flip through and give it a quick read. I'm not allowed to reproduce any articles in part or whole so I will have to paraphrase but I encourage you to give that a good read. I think I'm Ok with giving you the title to the article strictly for the purposes of clarity.
In that article he goes to some length to acknowledge that the majority of cops are in fact conservative, of one stripe or another. He went so far as to mention a PoliceOne.com survey that found that found a majority of street officers were opposed to gun control. Here's a link to that survey. He also acknowledges that puts us at odds with mainstream democratic/liberal policies. Ok, fine so far and accurate. He then makes the point that they (he says us but I don't count myself as among his supporters) will take the opposite tack and appeal to Democrats when wages and benefits are under scrutiny. He refers to Republicans in a derogatory manner in regards to fiscal policy. Note the language in that paragraph where the PoliceOne poll is mentioned and the differing way he refers to Dems and Reps. He whines about being questioned as to why they never endorse any Republicans. And here's the payoff.
Mister Villa then goes on, in the very next paragraph, to aver that those of us in the police business hold our pay and benefits above everything else, including the Second Amendment. And that is why they routinely endorse big D candidates in spite of acknowledging that those very same politicians often make the job of policing harder. He goes on to make the argument that he's really bi-partisan and just wants to find a reasonable solution to modern policing but in my mind he has already admitted that he's sold his soul for twenty pieces of silver. In the next to last paragraph he drives that point home when he again alleges that fiscal issues take precedence over other matters when it comes to political endorsements. Essentially he's saying that fiscal conservatives need not apply.
Mister Villa is of course wrong and if he's not then may The Good Lord preserve us all. My priority, both on the job and in my evaluation of political candidates, was police work first with financial considerations taking a distant second place. Most of the cops I know felt the same. We fought for our contracts hard but win or lose, the job was the most important thing in our professional lives. It's precisely the kind of thinking espoused by Mister Villa that got us into this mess in the first place. Me first and to hell with everyone else is anathema to all law enforcement professionals hold dear and to see such printed in the pages of a magazine dedicated to those same men and women makes my blood boil. If it's only about the paycheck it's time to find another line of work and if you believe it's your primary responsibility as a lobbyist for cops to deliver money and only money then you are doing your employers and the general public a huge disservice. Mister Villa, go sell life insurance you venomous, mealy mouthed, boot licker. Make endorsements based on the public and law enforcement good and let the chips fall where they may. Your cops will both understand and support such efforts. Making the job easier and the public safer is job number one and don't you ever forget it. And you cops in Reno (and all of Nevada for that matter) better take a long, hard look at your Chief Lobbyist and start asking some hard questions lest you end up like your California brethren, living in a liberal wasteland. You're uncomfortably close right now if that little tidbit has escaped you.
But wait, we're not done yet. Let's skip ahead to page twenty shall we? There we find the article that caused me to throw my hard copy of the magazine across the room lest I be contaminated by it's mere touch. It's entitled Back to Basics: Another View by Dan Milchovich DPA, a retired Captain from Inglewood PD.
Again, I highly recommend you RTWT as it's a pretty nasty piece of work. It's clear from inference that Captain Milchovich is a card carrying low information voter of the first stripe. I'm going to take just aminute here to refute some of his garbage.
1. You're arguing the wrong point which was that Congress and it's staffers were going to come under the auspices of ACA (aka Obamacare). That was the law but Obama has now 'fixed' that. Once again the political elite have found a way to insulate themselves from laws they expect the rest of us to follow. Funny how often that happens.
2. Wrong. See above. And if you're wondering how the ACA is going to affect insurance premiums wonder no more.
3. It's not moot at all. If they have no skin in the game they have no incentive to find reasonable solutions. Here, read this and answer these questions. Where are all those SS contributions going and where will the money to pay off just the current obligations come from?
4. And? The problem here is that we have incentivized political life by making it all about the pay and benefits as opposed to it being, you know, about the public service. You and Mister Villa from PORAN appear to be cut from the same liberal political cloth. Considering a run for public office perhaps? Let's tie Congressional pay to the Average Yearly Income for Americans, kick politicians out of their retirement system and require them to live under all the rules they require us to abide by. Then we can both sit back and watch the exodus of those who are more concerned with accumulating wealth than doing the People's work and maybe we can get this ship righted again.
5. Again. And? Do you support an opt out provision for Social Security? If so then what's your point? If not then why not? How much exactly are you personally willing to sacrifice to ensure SS doesn't go bust?
6. Are you kidding me? Here, take a look at this and tell me how great that program is and how we should be funding it with taxpayer money.
7. Oh really? The real questions are how much is too much and who gets to decide that? I don't think I'm too comfortable leaving those decisions in the hands of people like you, Captain.
8. And here we go. Gun Control. This is an either/or proposition and damn you for posting your lunatic ravings under your former title, Captain. Either you support the Constitution and the Bill of Rights or you don't. If it's the former then sit down and shut up. You're just wrong. If it's the latter then you failed as a police officer and served under dishonorable terms. I think I know which side of the line you fall on in this debate and it disgusts me. And you end with this quote from Jefferson;
"An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens."
Do you understand how hypocritical you sound? You are arguing for the very thing Jefferson was warning against in a post espousing disarming Americans in violation of the second Amendment to the Bill of Rights. You're either disingenuous, stupid or a liar. Perhaps a nice combination of all of the above?
Bah. You make me ashamed to have ever worn the same uniform Captain. May my forefathers forgive me and my my children forget you were ever called an American.
So. I have sent off the following letter to PORAC in an e-mail;
A**** G*******
Membership
Retired
I
just received my August issue of the PORAC magazine and I find that in
the interest of maintaining my integrity and ethics I must resign from
PORAC effective immediately.
I
read with horror the articles from Paul Villa, entitled Strange
Bedfellows and Dan Milchovich, entitled Back to Basics: Another View. In
one the writer maintains that pay and benefits trumps all other
considerations and in the other we are treated to a liberal screed full
of nonsense and false information. Both are final straws for me.
I
have witnessed the turn of PORAC, indeed much of law enforcement
lobbying, from what's good for the general public to what's good for law
enforcement bottom lines in general and Democratic politicians in
particular. In both cases the missing element is the California
Taxpayer. I cannot believe that the hardworking man and woman in
California (and Nevada apparently) gets such short shrift from an
organization ostensibly about protecting working cops so we can deliver a
better service to those we are sworn to serve and protect. I am
appalled.
Six
(I signed with my real name)
I'll let you all know how they responded though I anticipate it will be unsatisfying.
18 June 2013
Brilliant Common Sense
Elbert Guillory on why he became a Republican. I think it's still the Stupid Party but if they can continue to attract men and women such as Senator Guillory maybe there's hope yet.
Six
Six
21 February 2013
On Lincoln And War
This is an OPSEC violation I know but it's something I feel compelled to write. You may agree or you may think I've gone over the edge. Either way, after this I think I'll be limiting my political posts. Courage is one thing, advertising is something else.
I'll start by reminding or informing any reader that I am a Patriot of the first stripe. A veteran and a retired police officer, I have devoted more than 33 years of my life to this country. I love America and I want nothing more than to see her continue to be the light of freedom for the world.
I sat down and watched a special on the Lincoln assassination the other day. It was a movie made from the Bill O'Reilly book, Killing Lincoln. It gave me pause.
There's been a lot of Abe Lincoln out there the last couple of years, even a vampire killing Lincoln movie. Books, TV and film. Lincoln has been everywhere. Now I'm not one to buy into conspiracy theories. Most of them are complete BS. But there is a difference between a conspiracy and a plan. I think the left has a plan and the pessimist (or perhaps realist) in me sees the end point of that plan as a new civil war. I think they not only want one but are actively working for one.
The left has it's Lincoln in the White House in Obama. They have their emancipation movement in Gun Control. They have their spark in Sandy Hook. That's why we see so much Lincoln out there right now. That's why the media won't let Sandy Hook rest. It's why Obama has a complete pass to do anything he wants. It's why gun owners are evil, and not just of a different opinion.
I was struck by a passage in a book I read a long time ago, Red Storm Rising. In that book the Soviets created a crisis by killing...children. It's an excuse to start a war with the West and gain control over oil reserves. Really, it's about war for control period. The Reds used the killing of children, an act they committed themselves, as a maskirovka or military deception to cover their broader and more sinister aims. One of the main characters, LCDR Toland, a Soviet analyst, remarks that he's never seen the Russian population whipped into such a state of anger before and realizes in that moment that war is inevitable. The West sees what's coming and prepares. They negotiate, gather intelligence and gather their forces. Yet War comes all the same.
Now I'm not saying Sandy Hook was a deliberate deception perpetrated on purpose to mask political maneuvering but it was and is being used as an excuse to push us into a corner from which there can be only one response. The difference between the two concepts is meaningless. The end result is exactly the same. A deliberate bomb in the Kremlin or a random shooter at an elementary school. Either can be used to whip up popular sentiment into a murderous fury. I believe that is what has been done and indeed is being done even now. We're being set up. Put into an impossible situation where we end up having only one response.
The media and White House are pushing and pushing. Where just a few short months ago we all thought gun control dead and buried we now see federal initiatives and state laws limiting or outright prohibiting the exercise of the Second Amendment. The rhetoric and name calling is reaching levels none of us has ever seen before or even imagined possible in a free Republic. Banning and even confiscation is being openly discussed. The demonizing of gun owners is outstripping that of Rape and crimes against children. Plans and subterfuges. It's insane. Yet it's happening right now.
On our side we're seeing preparations. Guns and ammunition are being purchased in numbers beyond anything imaginable. Intel is being gathered and lines in the sand drawn. Politicians have been warned and warned again. Food is being stocked. Lives simplified. Nothing less than preparations for war whatever the individual motivations.
The left has it's Lincoln, it's propaganda ministry and it's Army. They have a placated and dumbed down populace, addicted to bread and circuses. The federal leviathan has grown and grown and is even now stockpiling arms and ammunition for it's enforcement arm. They have purged the military of those commanders suspected of being unreliable. They have shooters they are confident of and in their minds nothing now stands in the way of their ultimate victory except the lives of those now viewed through the same lens as slave owners a century and a half ago. They have their righteous cause and their enemy is clearly defined. Us.
And the pushing goes on and on. I'm now in the position of finding myself in agreement with those paranoid and fringe elements who have been warning about the coming war for years now. I am convinced. It's coming and I can't see a way to avoid it short of surrender by the Big Red Machine currently in charge of the country and it's mainstream media outlets. Or ours. Any bets on the likelihood of either happening?
Lincoln is the key to the Left's current thoughts and plans. They love him and the fundamental transformation he wrought on the Union. If he is their model, and everything I'm seeing right now convinces me he is, then war is absolutely inevitable. The left wants to kill us. Not defeat or cow or intimidate but kill. Their own words betray them and give us all the evidence we need.
I hope I'm wrong. I pray I'm wrong. I want to be wrong. But I fear I am not. I see the dust on the horizon and hear the distant drums sounding the march. I see the hate being cast against me and hear the roar of the masses calling for my blood. I see the in gathering of the forces of chaos and tyranny and I hear their calls for death and enslavement. And I understand. It's crazy.
I am a free man. I will remain a free man until the day I die. I will not submit nor will I surrender my liberties in the face of violence. I have spoken out. I have made my intentions clear. That is all I can do. I just want to be left alone. I hope the left understands that what they are doing is nothing less than declaring war on half of the country. They are fanning the cold war into a conflagration that, if not stopped right now, may well consume us all.
The spirit of Patrick Henry is still alive and well in America and I thank God that it is so. Give me liberty or give me death. It really has come to that.
Six
I'll start by reminding or informing any reader that I am a Patriot of the first stripe. A veteran and a retired police officer, I have devoted more than 33 years of my life to this country. I love America and I want nothing more than to see her continue to be the light of freedom for the world.
I sat down and watched a special on the Lincoln assassination the other day. It was a movie made from the Bill O'Reilly book, Killing Lincoln. It gave me pause.
There's been a lot of Abe Lincoln out there the last couple of years, even a vampire killing Lincoln movie. Books, TV and film. Lincoln has been everywhere. Now I'm not one to buy into conspiracy theories. Most of them are complete BS. But there is a difference between a conspiracy and a plan. I think the left has a plan and the pessimist (or perhaps realist) in me sees the end point of that plan as a new civil war. I think they not only want one but are actively working for one.
The left has it's Lincoln in the White House in Obama. They have their emancipation movement in Gun Control. They have their spark in Sandy Hook. That's why we see so much Lincoln out there right now. That's why the media won't let Sandy Hook rest. It's why Obama has a complete pass to do anything he wants. It's why gun owners are evil, and not just of a different opinion.
I was struck by a passage in a book I read a long time ago, Red Storm Rising. In that book the Soviets created a crisis by killing...children. It's an excuse to start a war with the West and gain control over oil reserves. Really, it's about war for control period. The Reds used the killing of children, an act they committed themselves, as a maskirovka or military deception to cover their broader and more sinister aims. One of the main characters, LCDR Toland, a Soviet analyst, remarks that he's never seen the Russian population whipped into such a state of anger before and realizes in that moment that war is inevitable. The West sees what's coming and prepares. They negotiate, gather intelligence and gather their forces. Yet War comes all the same.
Now I'm not saying Sandy Hook was a deliberate deception perpetrated on purpose to mask political maneuvering but it was and is being used as an excuse to push us into a corner from which there can be only one response. The difference between the two concepts is meaningless. The end result is exactly the same. A deliberate bomb in the Kremlin or a random shooter at an elementary school. Either can be used to whip up popular sentiment into a murderous fury. I believe that is what has been done and indeed is being done even now. We're being set up. Put into an impossible situation where we end up having only one response.
The media and White House are pushing and pushing. Where just a few short months ago we all thought gun control dead and buried we now see federal initiatives and state laws limiting or outright prohibiting the exercise of the Second Amendment. The rhetoric and name calling is reaching levels none of us has ever seen before or even imagined possible in a free Republic. Banning and even confiscation is being openly discussed. The demonizing of gun owners is outstripping that of Rape and crimes against children. Plans and subterfuges. It's insane. Yet it's happening right now.
On our side we're seeing preparations. Guns and ammunition are being purchased in numbers beyond anything imaginable. Intel is being gathered and lines in the sand drawn. Politicians have been warned and warned again. Food is being stocked. Lives simplified. Nothing less than preparations for war whatever the individual motivations.
The left has it's Lincoln, it's propaganda ministry and it's Army. They have a placated and dumbed down populace, addicted to bread and circuses. The federal leviathan has grown and grown and is even now stockpiling arms and ammunition for it's enforcement arm. They have purged the military of those commanders suspected of being unreliable. They have shooters they are confident of and in their minds nothing now stands in the way of their ultimate victory except the lives of those now viewed through the same lens as slave owners a century and a half ago. They have their righteous cause and their enemy is clearly defined. Us.
And the pushing goes on and on. I'm now in the position of finding myself in agreement with those paranoid and fringe elements who have been warning about the coming war for years now. I am convinced. It's coming and I can't see a way to avoid it short of surrender by the Big Red Machine currently in charge of the country and it's mainstream media outlets. Or ours. Any bets on the likelihood of either happening?
Lincoln is the key to the Left's current thoughts and plans. They love him and the fundamental transformation he wrought on the Union. If he is their model, and everything I'm seeing right now convinces me he is, then war is absolutely inevitable. The left wants to kill us. Not defeat or cow or intimidate but kill. Their own words betray them and give us all the evidence we need.
I hope I'm wrong. I pray I'm wrong. I want to be wrong. But I fear I am not. I see the dust on the horizon and hear the distant drums sounding the march. I see the hate being cast against me and hear the roar of the masses calling for my blood. I see the in gathering of the forces of chaos and tyranny and I hear their calls for death and enslavement. And I understand. It's crazy.
I am a free man. I will remain a free man until the day I die. I will not submit nor will I surrender my liberties in the face of violence. I have spoken out. I have made my intentions clear. That is all I can do. I just want to be left alone. I hope the left understands that what they are doing is nothing less than declaring war on half of the country. They are fanning the cold war into a conflagration that, if not stopped right now, may well consume us all.
The spirit of Patrick Henry is still alive and well in America and I thank God that it is so. Give me liberty or give me death. It really has come to that.
Six
28 January 2013
We Are The Police And The Police Is Us
With Angus healing and time on my hands whilst I tend to him I need to get back into the fight. I've been mulling this one over for a few days now.
The current gun control, armed teachers and guards in schools, etc. argument misses an important point. Who are the police and what is their primary function?
It is commonly accepted within police circles that Sir Robert Peel is the father of modern policing. He incorporated the principals by which all western police organizations adhere (or at least pay lip service to). Here are the Nine Principals Of Policing as laid out by Peel (emphasis mine):
The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.
I always get such a warm feeling when I read those words. It's a very large concept for such an innocuous sentence. What Peel was saying is that every citizen is responsible for the enforcement of our laws. Ok. Let's go back to those principals and see what they say about duties and mission.
If we are the police and the police is us then it stands to reason that we are not only responsible for doing our duty to the whole, that is the nation state, by defending it and those weaker citizens who can't defend themselves but also to defend ourselves. It's not just a right, it's the duty of every citizen.
Let's go a step further. In addition to "We are the police and the police is us" I'd add "We are the military and the military is us". We have a Citizen Military including Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard). Throw in that Citizen Militia the Second Amendment talks about and we see that the tools of democracy are supposed to be right where the founders wanted them and the Constitution envisioned them. In the capable grip of the citizenry. We're talking about Weapons here, not the right to protest or speak or even to vote for the representative of our choice. The means of defense of country and self reside where they always have. In the hands of The People. By statutory and customary authority.
Back to the mission of the police and even the military. What are they supposed to do really? They are supposed to prevent crime and disorder in the case of the police and to defend the nation and our vital interests abroad in the case of the military. Note there's no mention of defense of the individual. It's accepted that defense of the whole does in fact render defense to the individual from widespread harm whether from internal or external forces but that's macro. What of the micro? On the individual scale both the founders and those who have shaped our society envisioned that the individual citizen was responsible for their own safety and that of their immediate family and community. Read through Posse Comitatus (Common Law). Here's the money quote;
Posse comitatus is the common law or statute law authority of a County Sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied man to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the Hue and Cry". Originally found in English common law, it is generally obsolete; however, it survives in the United States, where it is the law enforcement equivalent of summoning the militia for military purposes.
Nothing extraordinary in any of that of you're an American. The concept of a Posse and assisting a police officer is ingrained in our collective psyches. I've used it myself in my police career without hesitation. Again "We are the Police and the police is us". Talk to Sheriff David Clarke if you think that idea is dead. That's a man I both understand and would work for in a hot second.
The courts, including the Supreme Court, have recognized that the police have no duty to protect the individual. Go back to the police mission as outlined by Peel. The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder. The conclusion is both inescapable and obvious. We are individually responsible for our own safety.
What then of guns, the tools of personal protection. If we are indeed the police and the military it stands to reason that the tools available to them are the very tools that must be available to us. We cannot separate the citizen from the cop or soldier because we are them and they are us.
Yet we hear a constant drumbeat of "Only the police and military should have X guns and Y accessories". Ok fine. I'll stipulate that for the sake of argument. All that does is strengthen the Second Amendment argument against Infringement because, as I believe I've written once or twice here, We Are Them. We are the Police and We are the military. We. Us. American Citizens. The sure and certain road to tyranny and a true police state is abrogating this concept and that is precisely what the left is currently trying to do. Make the police and military separate entities from the general citizenry. Us versus Them. Here's proof. In virtually every piece of gun control legislation put forth post 1968 there's a provision exempting active and/or retired law enforcement. It's just another trick to try and divide one group of citizens from another.
If the modern tools of the police and military are withheld from the People and given only to the select then we have created a system of three classes; Armed, Unarmed and the Elite upon whom no law is enforceable. That's a path to servitude for the majority. Even omitting hot button words like slavery, tyranny, socialism and the like we're still left with one inescapable conclusion. If the People are no longer the police and the military and they are no longer us then loss of essential liberties to those who can wield such force will follow like night after day. Pretending otherwise is either lying or Three Monkeying.
Finally I'd like to remind the "We must do something now" crowd of the last of Sir Robert Peels Principals. The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it. If that is the standard we hold our police to, and I fervently hope it still is, then I submit that end result we are looking for is the absence (or at least diminution) of crime and acts of violence against the whole of society and not to simply do something, even if it's wrong, in the vain hope we'll hit the right target. Yes, the individual is largely left to his or her own devices but as long as they have the lawful right to defend themselves and the needed tools then we as a free and democratic society have done all that we can. All that we should. Good policing is quiet policing.
It's been proven time and again that gun bans neither reduce nor eliminate criminality but placing the means and trust for defense in the hands of the citizenry does. The current gun ban call put forth by Dianne Feinstein is a case in point. The rules of logic and intent still apply. If the fix doesn't actually work and demonstrably won't be widely obeyed there must be another reason it's being put forth. Incompetence or malicious intent. It's either disingenuous or it's nefarious. Criminals by definition do not obey the law. Legislation like this serves only to further sever the already tenuous link between the free citizenry and those who see the Constitution as a nuisance. Between those actively advocating for a police state and those opposed. Between Liberty and Tyranny. It really is just that simple. If the politicians on the left and their enablers really wanted a solution to crime and violence they'd loudly remind us of our duties as citizens and then step back and let us get on with it. Really, we've already gone past the point where the politicians are us and we are them else we wouldn't even be having this conversation.
We are the police and the police is us. Such a simple and beautiful concept. That's what this whole argument really boils down to in my view. Either we are the arbiters of our own fates or we are not. Are we individually sovereign or are we not? That's the only real question that needs to be asked and answered. The rest is a smokescreen, a way to get the camel's nose under the tent and that is the imminent danger. Because sure as hell, once he gets that first taste there's nothing on earth that will get him back out again short of force. I'm still hoping we can avoid that. I really, really am.
I love Peel's Nine Principals. I used to read them constantly at work to remind me of what my job was all about. The connection between me and those I served. Between the cop on the beat and the Minute Man at home. The concept and willingness isn't dead it's just been forgotten by those who damn well should know better. Don't ever forget my friends, we are all Citizen with all those rights and duties incumbent on us. Don't give an inch. Find your inner cop, your inner soldier, your warrior spirit, and defend!
Six
The current gun control, armed teachers and guards in schools, etc. argument misses an important point. Who are the police and what is their primary function?
It is commonly accepted within police circles that Sir Robert Peel is the father of modern policing. He incorporated the principals by which all western police organizations adhere (or at least pay lip service to). Here are the Nine Principals Of Policing as laid out by Peel (emphasis mine):
- The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.
- The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public
approval of police actions.
- Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary
observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the
public.
- The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes
proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force.
- Police seek and preserve public favour not by catering to public opinion
but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.
- Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance
of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice
and warning is found to be insufficient.
- Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that
gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and
the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who
are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every
citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence
- Police should always direct their action strictly towards their functions
and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary.
- The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.
The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.
I always get such a warm feeling when I read those words. It's a very large concept for such an innocuous sentence. What Peel was saying is that every citizen is responsible for the enforcement of our laws. Ok. Let's go back to those principals and see what they say about duties and mission.
If we are the police and the police is us then it stands to reason that we are not only responsible for doing our duty to the whole, that is the nation state, by defending it and those weaker citizens who can't defend themselves but also to defend ourselves. It's not just a right, it's the duty of every citizen.
Let's go a step further. In addition to "We are the police and the police is us" I'd add "We are the military and the military is us". We have a Citizen Military including Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard). Throw in that Citizen Militia the Second Amendment talks about and we see that the tools of democracy are supposed to be right where the founders wanted them and the Constitution envisioned them. In the capable grip of the citizenry. We're talking about Weapons here, not the right to protest or speak or even to vote for the representative of our choice. The means of defense of country and self reside where they always have. In the hands of The People. By statutory and customary authority.
Back to the mission of the police and even the military. What are they supposed to do really? They are supposed to prevent crime and disorder in the case of the police and to defend the nation and our vital interests abroad in the case of the military. Note there's no mention of defense of the individual. It's accepted that defense of the whole does in fact render defense to the individual from widespread harm whether from internal or external forces but that's macro. What of the micro? On the individual scale both the founders and those who have shaped our society envisioned that the individual citizen was responsible for their own safety and that of their immediate family and community. Read through Posse Comitatus (Common Law). Here's the money quote;
Posse comitatus is the common law or statute law authority of a County Sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied man to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the Hue and Cry". Originally found in English common law, it is generally obsolete; however, it survives in the United States, where it is the law enforcement equivalent of summoning the militia for military purposes.
Nothing extraordinary in any of that of you're an American. The concept of a Posse and assisting a police officer is ingrained in our collective psyches. I've used it myself in my police career without hesitation. Again "We are the Police and the police is us". Talk to Sheriff David Clarke if you think that idea is dead. That's a man I both understand and would work for in a hot second.
The courts, including the Supreme Court, have recognized that the police have no duty to protect the individual. Go back to the police mission as outlined by Peel. The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder. The conclusion is both inescapable and obvious. We are individually responsible for our own safety.
What then of guns, the tools of personal protection. If we are indeed the police and the military it stands to reason that the tools available to them are the very tools that must be available to us. We cannot separate the citizen from the cop or soldier because we are them and they are us.
Yet we hear a constant drumbeat of "Only the police and military should have X guns and Y accessories". Ok fine. I'll stipulate that for the sake of argument. All that does is strengthen the Second Amendment argument against Infringement because, as I believe I've written once or twice here, We Are Them. We are the Police and We are the military. We. Us. American Citizens. The sure and certain road to tyranny and a true police state is abrogating this concept and that is precisely what the left is currently trying to do. Make the police and military separate entities from the general citizenry. Us versus Them. Here's proof. In virtually every piece of gun control legislation put forth post 1968 there's a provision exempting active and/or retired law enforcement. It's just another trick to try and divide one group of citizens from another.
If the modern tools of the police and military are withheld from the People and given only to the select then we have created a system of three classes; Armed, Unarmed and the Elite upon whom no law is enforceable. That's a path to servitude for the majority. Even omitting hot button words like slavery, tyranny, socialism and the like we're still left with one inescapable conclusion. If the People are no longer the police and the military and they are no longer us then loss of essential liberties to those who can wield such force will follow like night after day. Pretending otherwise is either lying or Three Monkeying.
Finally I'd like to remind the "We must do something now" crowd of the last of Sir Robert Peels Principals. The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it. If that is the standard we hold our police to, and I fervently hope it still is, then I submit that end result we are looking for is the absence (or at least diminution) of crime and acts of violence against the whole of society and not to simply do something, even if it's wrong, in the vain hope we'll hit the right target. Yes, the individual is largely left to his or her own devices but as long as they have the lawful right to defend themselves and the needed tools then we as a free and democratic society have done all that we can. All that we should. Good policing is quiet policing.
It's been proven time and again that gun bans neither reduce nor eliminate criminality but placing the means and trust for defense in the hands of the citizenry does. The current gun ban call put forth by Dianne Feinstein is a case in point. The rules of logic and intent still apply. If the fix doesn't actually work and demonstrably won't be widely obeyed there must be another reason it's being put forth. Incompetence or malicious intent. It's either disingenuous or it's nefarious. Criminals by definition do not obey the law. Legislation like this serves only to further sever the already tenuous link between the free citizenry and those who see the Constitution as a nuisance. Between those actively advocating for a police state and those opposed. Between Liberty and Tyranny. It really is just that simple. If the politicians on the left and their enablers really wanted a solution to crime and violence they'd loudly remind us of our duties as citizens and then step back and let us get on with it. Really, we've already gone past the point where the politicians are us and we are them else we wouldn't even be having this conversation.
We are the police and the police is us. Such a simple and beautiful concept. That's what this whole argument really boils down to in my view. Either we are the arbiters of our own fates or we are not. Are we individually sovereign or are we not? That's the only real question that needs to be asked and answered. The rest is a smokescreen, a way to get the camel's nose under the tent and that is the imminent danger. Because sure as hell, once he gets that first taste there's nothing on earth that will get him back out again short of force. I'm still hoping we can avoid that. I really, really am.
I love Peel's Nine Principals. I used to read them constantly at work to remind me of what my job was all about. The connection between me and those I served. Between the cop on the beat and the Minute Man at home. The concept and willingness isn't dead it's just been forgotten by those who damn well should know better. Don't ever forget my friends, we are all Citizen with all those rights and duties incumbent on us. Don't give an inch. Find your inner cop, your inner soldier, your warrior spirit, and defend!
Six
16 January 2013
Live Blogging the Presidential Speech On Gun Control
Live blogging the speech this morning. I'm watching the presser right now. First up the Sheriff of Vice.
Dancing in the blood of innocents. So what else is new? Hammering on emotions. "Moral obligation to do something". This looks bad. "Cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good." Oh no. Colin Goddard is being trotted out. What simpering tools are they.
The President. This should be good. I feel just a little sick.
The Tyrant has kids there for the classic propaganda picture. Invoking 'For the children." "Their voices should compel us to change".
"We can't put this off any longer." Talking about the Taft shooting. 900 killed with a gun in the last month. Wonder where those stats came from and how close they are to reality. "If there is even one thing we can do...One life that can be saved...I am going to do my part". Going to sign executive orders. Mental Health/CDC. Violent video games. 23 executive orders. Calling on Congress to pass proposals.
Universal background checks. Including private sales. Calls it common sense. (That's not on the '23' list, just what he wants Congress to do)
Calling for Congressional bans on EBRs and more than 10 round magazines. "Pump out as many bullets as quickly as possible". Invoking Reagan again. Man, does the left love to do that. Ban EBR manufacture. Wants confirmation of Todd Jones as BATFE director. The "Hunters and Sportsman" dodge again.
He's actually being kinda vague about what he's specifically going to do here. Talking a lot about Congress. Kicking the ball to them so when very little of what he wants gets passed they get the blame I suppose. He's doing a lot of bloviating. It's a rah rah speech designed to reach the emotional and his base. He's setting up Congress and the NRA to take the heat. "The most important changes we can make depend on Congressional action".
Basically daring Congress to not do what he wants.
"With rights come responsibilities". Badly wants the Congress to do his dirty work. Hypocritically talking about religious freedom while imposing religious limitations through health care. What a tool.
More emotional appeals. "We must act now. Let's do the right thing".
Very empty speech. Little real action. Signing the executive orders with the kids as a background then hugs them. Stalin would be so proud of the President for that.
It was a campaign speech. Seems like he's going to do basically nothing but issue meaningless presidential orders and calls for others to do what he knows they won't do. I don't have the whole list of the "Executive Actions" but it seems to include greater enforcement of existing laws and calls for studies on causes of violence and pushes for Congress to "Do Something". Bret Baier seems surprised there wasn't more.
That speech was a big, fat nothing. It was an emotional appeal for Americans to pressure Congress into violating the Second Amendment. I'm guessing the Dems in the House and Senate told him a few realities about what happened after 1994 and that they're unwilling to take that ride under the bus. He's going to throw them there after he doesn't get what he wants anyway so I'm not really sure what anyone with a D after their names expects from him.
Fox went immediately to Debt Ceiling talk within minutes of the end of the speech so....I guess that's that. The left has got to be either disappointed or livid over what he didn't do. He didn't ban imports as far as I can tell. Someone correct me if I missed that. No new gun control laws by fiat.
I found a list of the 23 "Presidential Actions" here. Check out number 18.
18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
Heh heh. I guess reality jumped up and bit someone on the ass. Better late than never I suppose.
So that's it. No 'Earth shattering Kaboom'. I'm going to go surfing just to see the wailing and gnashing of leftist teeth over this because as far as I can tell That Guy has opted to punt and play defense. Nothing we feared was included and he even gave lip service to the Constitution. That's only CYA to be sure but at least he gave a nod to the Bill of Rights. I'm more than a bit relieved though Borepatch so totally called this. I bow to the master.
Of course there's still the squishies in Congress but right now I'm feeling a lot more secure. Congress we can handle.
I'm sure others both smarter and more informed than I will have lots more on this but I wanted to watch the thing in real time and put out what initial information I could ( Update: Bob Owens weighs in). Bottom line? That Guy just squatted down and made grunting noises but instead of squeezing out a steaming pile he just produced an odorous cloud. The problem for the anti gun left is that the president gave elected democrats (and republicans for that matter) an opening to cave on this issue and they're going to be under a lot of pressure from their constituents to do precisely that.
Be grateful for small favors I suppose.
Six
Dancing in the blood of innocents. So what else is new? Hammering on emotions. "Moral obligation to do something". This looks bad. "Cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good." Oh no. Colin Goddard is being trotted out. What simpering tools are they.
The President. This should be good. I feel just a little sick.
The Tyrant has kids there for the classic propaganda picture. Invoking 'For the children." "Their voices should compel us to change".
"We can't put this off any longer." Talking about the Taft shooting. 900 killed with a gun in the last month. Wonder where those stats came from and how close they are to reality. "If there is even one thing we can do...One life that can be saved...I am going to do my part". Going to sign executive orders. Mental Health/CDC. Violent video games. 23 executive orders. Calling on Congress to pass proposals.
Universal background checks. Including private sales. Calls it common sense. (That's not on the '23' list, just what he wants Congress to do)
Calling for Congressional bans on EBRs and more than 10 round magazines. "Pump out as many bullets as quickly as possible". Invoking Reagan again. Man, does the left love to do that. Ban EBR manufacture. Wants confirmation of Todd Jones as BATFE director. The "Hunters and Sportsman" dodge again.
He's actually being kinda vague about what he's specifically going to do here. Talking a lot about Congress. Kicking the ball to them so when very little of what he wants gets passed they get the blame I suppose. He's doing a lot of bloviating. It's a rah rah speech designed to reach the emotional and his base. He's setting up Congress and the NRA to take the heat. "The most important changes we can make depend on Congressional action".
Basically daring Congress to not do what he wants.
"With rights come responsibilities". Badly wants the Congress to do his dirty work. Hypocritically talking about religious freedom while imposing religious limitations through health care. What a tool.
More emotional appeals. "We must act now. Let's do the right thing".
Very empty speech. Little real action. Signing the executive orders with the kids as a background then hugs them. Stalin would be so proud of the President for that.
It was a campaign speech. Seems like he's going to do basically nothing but issue meaningless presidential orders and calls for others to do what he knows they won't do. I don't have the whole list of the "Executive Actions" but it seems to include greater enforcement of existing laws and calls for studies on causes of violence and pushes for Congress to "Do Something". Bret Baier seems surprised there wasn't more.
That speech was a big, fat nothing. It was an emotional appeal for Americans to pressure Congress into violating the Second Amendment. I'm guessing the Dems in the House and Senate told him a few realities about what happened after 1994 and that they're unwilling to take that ride under the bus. He's going to throw them there after he doesn't get what he wants anyway so I'm not really sure what anyone with a D after their names expects from him.
Fox went immediately to Debt Ceiling talk within minutes of the end of the speech so....I guess that's that. The left has got to be either disappointed or livid over what he didn't do. He didn't ban imports as far as I can tell. Someone correct me if I missed that. No new gun control laws by fiat.
I found a list of the 23 "Presidential Actions" here. Check out number 18.
18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
Heh heh. I guess reality jumped up and bit someone on the ass. Better late than never I suppose.
So that's it. No 'Earth shattering Kaboom'. I'm going to go surfing just to see the wailing and gnashing of leftist teeth over this because as far as I can tell That Guy has opted to punt and play defense. Nothing we feared was included and he even gave lip service to the Constitution. That's only CYA to be sure but at least he gave a nod to the Bill of Rights. I'm more than a bit relieved though Borepatch so totally called this. I bow to the master.
Of course there's still the squishies in Congress but right now I'm feeling a lot more secure. Congress we can handle.
I'm sure others both smarter and more informed than I will have lots more on this but I wanted to watch the thing in real time and put out what initial information I could ( Update: Bob Owens weighs in). Bottom line? That Guy just squatted down and made grunting noises but instead of squeezing out a steaming pile he just produced an odorous cloud. The problem for the anti gun left is that the president gave elected democrats (and republicans for that matter) an opening to cave on this issue and they're going to be under a lot of pressure from their constituents to do precisely that.
Be grateful for small favors I suppose.
Six
26 November 2012
I Think I'm A Hippie
As one born in the (late) 50s I am a child of the 60s. I remember the hippies. At one point I even considered myself among their ranks. I wore tie dye and elephant bells and my hair all the way down. I hated Nixon because all my friends did. I repeated 'Tricky Nicky' and 'Phase 4, Phase Out Nixon' and all the rest. I have since reconsidered my opinions about President Nixon but that is for another day.
Since the election the question for conservatives keeps being asked. What now? My answer? Bring back the hippie movement.
Consider where we as conservatives are right now. In the 60s the counter culture movement was pretty unpopular. Republicans and conservatism, while feeling heat, were still ascendant. Nixon won in 68, defeating the Democrat Humphrey who was nominated because Johnson surely saw the writing on the wall and declined to be crushed in a bid for re-election. In later decades Nixon's disgrace still only resulted in one term for Carter. Then Reagan twice and Bush senior. In the 60s and 70's and well into the 80s Republicans and conservatives were 'The Man'. Hippies protested and sat in and generally fought against the Establishment. They preached Free Love and Turn On, Tune In and Drop Out. They burned their draft cards and bras and sometimes whole city blocks. The rioted and planted bombs and killed people.
Well, now they got what they always wanted. Now they're 'The Man' with all that entails. Now we're in the same position they were in the 60s. On the outside looking in. At least to an extent. Lest anyone forget, the election was very close and the GOP still maintains control of the House and with it the nation's checkbook. Now is the time to do to them what they once did to us.
The Tea Party movement was a nice start but we need to take things to the next level. The Tea Party has allowed itself to be controlled and manipulated by the GOP old guard. Their fire and passion squelched by a slate of RINO candidates and the age old choice of either staying home or holding our noses and voting for the least objectionable ticket. It's time for the Tea Party to morph into Tea Party Hippies.
The hippie movement was true grassroots. Oh, we can discuss and argue on who the movements organizers, financiers and provocateurs were but the sandals on the ground were disaffected people who were agitating for political and social change. Obama himself used that very idea to propel him into office the first time. Hope and Change, a true hippie sentiment. It was enough to overcome a disastrous economy, failed foreign policy and a weak GOP candidate for a second term. The 1960s hippies are alive and well and they and their ideological offspring are voting in large numbers.
But politics are cyclical as Roosevelt through Bush II has showed us. At one time the accepted understanding of the American political electorate was a preference for a Democrat House and a Republican President. That has now changed and the potential for the election of a King every 4 years is very real. Whether that president has a D or an R beside their name it's a frightening thought. Hippies may be the answer.
Oh, I don't mean dirty, stinking flag burning hippies singing bad folk songs and smoking dope in the back of a crapped out van. That's the liberal hippie but there's no reason why they get to define what a hippie is and isn't. It's part and parcel of refusing to let the liberals and the media (but I repeat myself) define things. The Tea Party are just as much hippies, in the truest sense of the word, as any bead wearing, patchouli smelling counter culture protestor in 1968. They just dress better, pick up after themselves and have to go to work on Monday morning. Those with limited political power protesting for greater freedom and more limited government influence in and power over their lives. That's all a hippie really is.
What they did was make themselves heard in every home in the country. Media conservatives (and there still were a few even then) talked about them in much the same way the modern liberal media talks about the Tea Party. Un American, violent and out of touch with the mainstream. But the hippie movement nonetheless touched something in the American psyche. They may have been dupes in the larger communist/statist move to change America fundamentally (sound familiar?) but they were also viewed as underdogs and as everyone knows Americans love an underdog. And they spoke some truths that we as conservatives would do well to understand. Less government intrusion and greater freedom. Yes, even now those who participated in the Love Ins may not realize that was what they were chafing for but it was. Conservative values.
So let's all become the hippies of the new millennium. 21st century counter culture protestors. The business suit and work clothes will become our tie dyed uniforms. The Town Hall our protest venue. Patriotic music our protest anthem. The media will cover our protests reflexively in the hope that we'll seem desperate and objectionable to society. But they will cover us and our message will resonate, especially as the economy tanks and the American Dream dims.
In 50 years the hippie movement went from Woodstock to the Whitehouse and political control of the country's future. Or maybe I should say potential control because nothing is forever. And the 'Liberal Man' had better remember that because now we're the hippies and we're just as angry and just as motivated as those who braved the water cannons and dogs way back then. And our contempt for 'The Man' is every bit as bitter and encompassing as any counter culture warrior of the 60s. We also understand what the stakes are and what the cost of failure is.
Using the opponents tactics against them is deliciously ironic and fills me with a soft, warm glow. I even saw a really cool VW van on E-Bay just the other day....
We're all hippies now.
Six
Since the election the question for conservatives keeps being asked. What now? My answer? Bring back the hippie movement.
Consider where we as conservatives are right now. In the 60s the counter culture movement was pretty unpopular. Republicans and conservatism, while feeling heat, were still ascendant. Nixon won in 68, defeating the Democrat Humphrey who was nominated because Johnson surely saw the writing on the wall and declined to be crushed in a bid for re-election. In later decades Nixon's disgrace still only resulted in one term for Carter. Then Reagan twice and Bush senior. In the 60s and 70's and well into the 80s Republicans and conservatives were 'The Man'. Hippies protested and sat in and generally fought against the Establishment. They preached Free Love and Turn On, Tune In and Drop Out. They burned their draft cards and bras and sometimes whole city blocks. The rioted and planted bombs and killed people.
Well, now they got what they always wanted. Now they're 'The Man' with all that entails. Now we're in the same position they were in the 60s. On the outside looking in. At least to an extent. Lest anyone forget, the election was very close and the GOP still maintains control of the House and with it the nation's checkbook. Now is the time to do to them what they once did to us.
The Tea Party movement was a nice start but we need to take things to the next level. The Tea Party has allowed itself to be controlled and manipulated by the GOP old guard. Their fire and passion squelched by a slate of RINO candidates and the age old choice of either staying home or holding our noses and voting for the least objectionable ticket. It's time for the Tea Party to morph into Tea Party Hippies.
The hippie movement was true grassroots. Oh, we can discuss and argue on who the movements organizers, financiers and provocateurs were but the sandals on the ground were disaffected people who were agitating for political and social change. Obama himself used that very idea to propel him into office the first time. Hope and Change, a true hippie sentiment. It was enough to overcome a disastrous economy, failed foreign policy and a weak GOP candidate for a second term. The 1960s hippies are alive and well and they and their ideological offspring are voting in large numbers.
But politics are cyclical as Roosevelt through Bush II has showed us. At one time the accepted understanding of the American political electorate was a preference for a Democrat House and a Republican President. That has now changed and the potential for the election of a King every 4 years is very real. Whether that president has a D or an R beside their name it's a frightening thought. Hippies may be the answer.
Oh, I don't mean dirty, stinking flag burning hippies singing bad folk songs and smoking dope in the back of a crapped out van. That's the liberal hippie but there's no reason why they get to define what a hippie is and isn't. It's part and parcel of refusing to let the liberals and the media (but I repeat myself) define things. The Tea Party are just as much hippies, in the truest sense of the word, as any bead wearing, patchouli smelling counter culture protestor in 1968. They just dress better, pick up after themselves and have to go to work on Monday morning. Those with limited political power protesting for greater freedom and more limited government influence in and power over their lives. That's all a hippie really is.
What they did was make themselves heard in every home in the country. Media conservatives (and there still were a few even then) talked about them in much the same way the modern liberal media talks about the Tea Party. Un American, violent and out of touch with the mainstream. But the hippie movement nonetheless touched something in the American psyche. They may have been dupes in the larger communist/statist move to change America fundamentally (sound familiar?) but they were also viewed as underdogs and as everyone knows Americans love an underdog. And they spoke some truths that we as conservatives would do well to understand. Less government intrusion and greater freedom. Yes, even now those who participated in the Love Ins may not realize that was what they were chafing for but it was. Conservative values.
So let's all become the hippies of the new millennium. 21st century counter culture protestors. The business suit and work clothes will become our tie dyed uniforms. The Town Hall our protest venue. Patriotic music our protest anthem. The media will cover our protests reflexively in the hope that we'll seem desperate and objectionable to society. But they will cover us and our message will resonate, especially as the economy tanks and the American Dream dims.
In 50 years the hippie movement went from Woodstock to the Whitehouse and political control of the country's future. Or maybe I should say potential control because nothing is forever. And the 'Liberal Man' had better remember that because now we're the hippies and we're just as angry and just as motivated as those who braved the water cannons and dogs way back then. And our contempt for 'The Man' is every bit as bitter and encompassing as any counter culture warrior of the 60s. We also understand what the stakes are and what the cost of failure is.
Using the opponents tactics against them is deliciously ironic and fills me with a soft, warm glow. I even saw a really cool VW van on E-Bay just the other day....
We're all hippies now.
Six
13 November 2012
Three Authors And A Doctor Speaking Out.
In light of the election it's now clear that obamacare is the law of the land and will be so until single payer finally gets enacted. Clearly that is the anticipated end game. To that end we must be as informed as possible and start taking steps to both understand the coming health care nightmare and deal with the consequences. A good place for that information, and a reminder for anyone who has not yet read it, is DrRich's book, Open Wide And Say Moo at his Covert Rationing blog. You can either get it as an e-book or read it right on his site. Two things. First. I have no motivations beyond education for promoting this book. DrRich, while a heck of a guy, isn't paying me a thing. Second. DrRich is most emphatically not a quack or a crank. He's just one very smart doctor who has a clear view of what's coming and has some workable solutions and suggestions. We've become friends (at least of the e-mail variety) and my take is he's scary smart.
I talked earlier about the need for conservatives to speak out and be brave. Especially for those who have an audience but also have something to lose. DrRich is one of them and I've added another to the blogroll. SF/Fantasy author Sarah Hoyt. She's a Portuguese immigrant and a solid conservative and American. She's also decided she wants to be a voice in the wilderness and is getting the usual "I hate you now that I know what you believe and I'll/we'll never buy your books again" messages. She's now on my reading list and I recommend her to all of you who enjoy her offerings. if not check out her blog and read her musings on where we are, where we're going and what we do now. As someone who lived through the nightmare of 1978 Portugal, she's amply qualified to comment. Also a heck of an author.
Add in Larry Correia (who also knows and supports Sarah) and we've got three shining examples from the publishing, professional and medical worlds who are unafraid to speak truth to the growing power in the east.
Allies are where we find them but once declared they must be supported lest the forces of division and chaos destroy them and still their voices.
Six
I talked earlier about the need for conservatives to speak out and be brave. Especially for those who have an audience but also have something to lose. DrRich is one of them and I've added another to the blogroll. SF/Fantasy author Sarah Hoyt. She's a Portuguese immigrant and a solid conservative and American. She's also decided she wants to be a voice in the wilderness and is getting the usual "I hate you now that I know what you believe and I'll/we'll never buy your books again" messages. She's now on my reading list and I recommend her to all of you who enjoy her offerings. if not check out her blog and read her musings on where we are, where we're going and what we do now. As someone who lived through the nightmare of 1978 Portugal, she's amply qualified to comment. Also a heck of an author.
Add in Larry Correia (who also knows and supports Sarah) and we've got three shining examples from the publishing, professional and medical worlds who are unafraid to speak truth to the growing power in the east.
Allies are where we find them but once declared they must be supported lest the forces of division and chaos destroy them and still their voices.
Six
20 October 2012
28 September 2012
21 September 2012
Borepatch Is On Fire
Borepatch (one of those very smart folks I mentioned in my last post) has been on fire with his political writing. It's said that one's measure of a persons intelligence is inversely related to how closely they agree with you. In that light I am bathing in the radiance of a man who could out think me while he was comatose.
Read this and consider what you're hearing from the dinosaur media. I've always been leery of public polling, especially when done by those who have a particular axe to grind. Remember, no one, no matter how pure of heart is completely unbiased. That goes up by two orders of magnitude when talking about the media and polling results. Watch for a sudden and 'unexpected' change in the poll numbers a week or two out from the election. At least from those pollsters who make their living by being right.
I'm feeling better and better Dug. This year I'm gonna win.
Six
Read this and consider what you're hearing from the dinosaur media. I've always been leery of public polling, especially when done by those who have a particular axe to grind. Remember, no one, no matter how pure of heart is completely unbiased. That goes up by two orders of magnitude when talking about the media and polling results. Watch for a sudden and 'unexpected' change in the poll numbers a week or two out from the election. At least from those pollsters who make their living by being right.
I'm feeling better and better Dug. This year I'm gonna win.
Six
22 August 2012
It's Election Prediction Time (Updated)
Four years ago my buddy Dug and I made a bet on the presidential election. I picked McCain and he picked Obama. Yeah, that didn't turn out so well for yours truly. The payoff was that I had to wear an Obama t-shirt and publicly post some pictures to ensure my shame was forever. If you're interested you can find them and the back story here, here and here. The score is Dug 1, Me 0.
Well, it's that time again. I sent Dug an e-mail and he agreed to another challenge. Same rules.
Before I get into my pick and reasoning a few words about Dug. We've never met personally but I consider him a buddy. Without categorizing him I think I can say, with little fear of contradiction, that he's center left in his political outlook. He's also a father, husband, friend, hard worker and church goer. In other words he's a fine man. If a little addle pated politically (Love ya Dug!). He's also one of those on the left side of the spectrum you can have an honest conversation with. He never takes things personally, refrains from name calling and ad hominem attacks and is as honest in his outlook as the day is long. He's logical, consistent and really, really smart. I'd like him to do a guest post but he may only respond in comments.
And for those on the right who are either meh on Romney or who hate him totally and completely, this isn't a treatise on his positives or negatives. It's my prediction on who's going to win the election and why.
Ok. On to the meat of the issue and the smack talk. I'm picking Romney to win in November. Here's why.
You don't have to look any further than the economy. Remember the misery index? It's the unemployment rate added to the inflation rate. Take a look at that chart. While the index under Obama is no where near Carter's in 1980 there are a couple of comparison points I'd like to highlight. Bush Senior had a 10.52 and was hammered by Clinton who, wait for it, ran on It's The Economy Stupid. In the final year of Bush Junior's administration it was at 9.65 and the Republicans were hammered by Obama on, admittedly among other things, the economy. Obama's current misery index is 12.1, the highest it's been since Reagen in 83 who was still trying to pull us out of the malaise of Jimmy Carter's 20.76. Obama himself said that if he didn't turn things around he'd be looking at being a one termer. The current debt is just a tick under 16 Trillion and counting. The current unemployment rate is 8.3 and I don't for a second believe that's the real number. That's just what the current administration is willing to admit to.
Obama ran on Hope and Change. He promised the most transparent administration in the history of America. How's that worked out? Where did all that stimulus money go? Fast and Furious anyone (if you scroll through Attkisson's site you can find all her reports on the subject)? Solyndra, Tesla, the list goes on and on and on. Prevarication, deflection and equivalism. Honesty seems to be missing from this administration and the people have taken notice.
Obama and his supporters are running as negative and dishonest a campaign as I have ever seen. Remember Joe Soptic? Get ready for more of that from a campaign that's becoming increasingly desperate. Gone are the lofty speeches and calls for unity. Now it's "you didn't build that." Obama seems to be running on race and economic status. You can't criticize him without someone calling you a racist or a rich, greedy hater. Jobs? He hasn't met with his job creation council since he created the thing. They're going to try and beat Romney over the head with medicare? Good luck with that.
Let's talk about polls. Right now Gallup and Rasmussen have Romney up by 2 and AP has Obama up by 1. Any way you cut it that's a dead heat at best and for the incumbent President a disaster of the first order. And let me throw in a tickler, the University of Colorado, Boulder analysis. The authors have called every presidential election since 1980 and they're calling 2012 for Romney by a landslide. By both the electoral and popular vote. May be specious but with their track record it's worth considering. Heck, Romney's ahead of Obama in Michigan!
Romney has negatives, no argument from me. Romney Care scares me but the day the Supreme Court returned it's 5-4 verdict on Obama Care's constitutionality he vowed to repeal it. He's a strong, upstanding man who has shown more and more fire as the election cycle has progressed. He picked a good man for Vice and is confronting Obama on substantive issues. He has the answers American voters seem to be looking for. He also has a hell of a war chest that he can't even tap until after the nomination process is done. The blitz to the election should be a doozy. I may have to cancel my cable until it's done and I'm a political wonk. He's moral, as honest as a politician seems to be capable of in these days and straight forward. He's likeable and photogenic. I know, I know things that shouldn't count. But they do and I'm talking about why he's going to be elected not the ethics of our election process.
I'm of the opinion that the numbers of undecided voters is much smaller than many are saying. Or hoping. If that's the case I see a low Democratic turnout. Democrat enthusiasm seems to be low and turn outs for candidate appearances favors Romney. Indicators are that Obama has
America has been paying attention. The Tea Party is busy nominating and electing true conservatives with plans to take the Republican party back. The elections of 2010 were only a harbinger. Here's the bottom line for me and I'm just going to say it as a layman. Barack Obama has done virtually nothing positive in three and a half years and he's going to get his metaphorical ass handed to him in November.
Romney will win and become the 45th President of the United States.
Dug? You're up my friend. I've got a nice t-shirt all picked out for you.
Six
Update:
Dug responds in comments but I thought it best to go ahead and put it here in the original post. With his permission I put in a link to his blog so you can see he's not a slavering monster but if you do go over there to comment please be kind.
eric, you are a credit to your "warrior" class. a real saladin. also, you are kind beyond measure, and i'm proud to "know" you .
i am not the polling data ninja you are, nor a student of the misery index, except when it falls in my lap. i've got my own misery index to worry about. and my predictions are more like when someone picks their fantasy football wins based on uniform color.
on the other hand.
on the other hand, as much as you laud our good friend and well-haired governor romney, who made a much better governor than he would (not will) make a president, he is no stranger to lies, damned lies, and statistics himself. let's not put him on too high a white horse.
i don't think i need to cite lots of articles and such (mostly because i'm a lazy liberal, not one of those fervent, researching liberals), but i suspect you know as well as i do that continuing to regurgitate sound bites like "you didn't build that" is disingenuous at best, and outright deception at worst. the quote obviously refers to infrastructure that supports and enables business, and not the businesses themselves. the quote works. the quote is true. just as an example.
i'm not defending the joe soptic ad. i'm just saying, let's not decide our election based on who we think is running the most honest, fair, above board, no bullshit campaign. no such thing. unless you really do believe obama is a muslim (not that there's any religious test in this country or anything). then maybe we should just shake hands and go our separate ways.
i'll leave you with two things.
1. the stimulus didn't just work pretty well, but it actually saved the country. and it wasn't big enough, because congress wouldn't vote for anything over 800.
2. obama/biden in a squeaker in november. i will wear my hair like romney (i'll need a wig for that), his t-shirt, and sarah palin underpants if i'm wrong.
Well, it's that time again. I sent Dug an e-mail and he agreed to another challenge. Same rules.
Before I get into my pick and reasoning a few words about Dug. We've never met personally but I consider him a buddy. Without categorizing him I think I can say, with little fear of contradiction, that he's center left in his political outlook. He's also a father, husband, friend, hard worker and church goer. In other words he's a fine man. If a little addle pated politically (Love ya Dug!). He's also one of those on the left side of the spectrum you can have an honest conversation with. He never takes things personally, refrains from name calling and ad hominem attacks and is as honest in his outlook as the day is long. He's logical, consistent and really, really smart. I'd like him to do a guest post but he may only respond in comments.
And for those on the right who are either meh on Romney or who hate him totally and completely, this isn't a treatise on his positives or negatives. It's my prediction on who's going to win the election and why.
Ok. On to the meat of the issue and the smack talk. I'm picking Romney to win in November. Here's why.
You don't have to look any further than the economy. Remember the misery index? It's the unemployment rate added to the inflation rate. Take a look at that chart. While the index under Obama is no where near Carter's in 1980 there are a couple of comparison points I'd like to highlight. Bush Senior had a 10.52 and was hammered by Clinton who, wait for it, ran on It's The Economy Stupid. In the final year of Bush Junior's administration it was at 9.65 and the Republicans were hammered by Obama on, admittedly among other things, the economy. Obama's current misery index is 12.1, the highest it's been since Reagen in 83 who was still trying to pull us out of the malaise of Jimmy Carter's 20.76. Obama himself said that if he didn't turn things around he'd be looking at being a one termer. The current debt is just a tick under 16 Trillion and counting. The current unemployment rate is 8.3 and I don't for a second believe that's the real number. That's just what the current administration is willing to admit to.
Obama ran on Hope and Change. He promised the most transparent administration in the history of America. How's that worked out? Where did all that stimulus money go? Fast and Furious anyone (if you scroll through Attkisson's site you can find all her reports on the subject)? Solyndra, Tesla, the list goes on and on and on. Prevarication, deflection and equivalism. Honesty seems to be missing from this administration and the people have taken notice.
Obama and his supporters are running as negative and dishonest a campaign as I have ever seen. Remember Joe Soptic? Get ready for more of that from a campaign that's becoming increasingly desperate. Gone are the lofty speeches and calls for unity. Now it's "you didn't build that." Obama seems to be running on race and economic status. You can't criticize him without someone calling you a racist or a rich, greedy hater. Jobs? He hasn't met with his job creation council since he created the thing. They're going to try and beat Romney over the head with medicare? Good luck with that.
Let's talk about polls. Right now Gallup and Rasmussen have Romney up by 2 and AP has Obama up by 1. Any way you cut it that's a dead heat at best and for the incumbent President a disaster of the first order. And let me throw in a tickler, the University of Colorado, Boulder analysis. The authors have called every presidential election since 1980 and they're calling 2012 for Romney by a landslide. By both the electoral and popular vote. May be specious but with their track record it's worth considering. Heck, Romney's ahead of Obama in Michigan!
Romney has negatives, no argument from me. Romney Care scares me but the day the Supreme Court returned it's 5-4 verdict on Obama Care's constitutionality he vowed to repeal it. He's a strong, upstanding man who has shown more and more fire as the election cycle has progressed. He picked a good man for Vice and is confronting Obama on substantive issues. He has the answers American voters seem to be looking for. He also has a hell of a war chest that he can't even tap until after the nomination process is done. The blitz to the election should be a doozy. I may have to cancel my cable until it's done and I'm a political wonk. He's moral, as honest as a politician seems to be capable of in these days and straight forward. He's likeable and photogenic. I know, I know things that shouldn't count. But they do and I'm talking about why he's going to be elected not the ethics of our election process.
I'm of the opinion that the numbers of undecided voters is much smaller than many are saying. Or hoping. If that's the case I see a low Democratic turnout. Democrat enthusiasm seems to be low and turn outs for candidate appearances favors Romney. Indicators are that Obama has
America has been paying attention. The Tea Party is busy nominating and electing true conservatives with plans to take the Republican party back. The elections of 2010 were only a harbinger. Here's the bottom line for me and I'm just going to say it as a layman. Barack Obama has done virtually nothing positive in three and a half years and he's going to get his metaphorical ass handed to him in November.
Romney will win and become the 45th President of the United States.
Dug? You're up my friend. I've got a nice t-shirt all picked out for you.
Six
Update:
Dug responds in comments but I thought it best to go ahead and put it here in the original post. With his permission I put in a link to his blog so you can see he's not a slavering monster but if you do go over there to comment please be kind.
eric, you are a credit to your "warrior" class. a real saladin. also, you are kind beyond measure, and i'm proud to "know" you .
i am not the polling data ninja you are, nor a student of the misery index, except when it falls in my lap. i've got my own misery index to worry about. and my predictions are more like when someone picks their fantasy football wins based on uniform color.
on the other hand.
on the other hand, as much as you laud our good friend and well-haired governor romney, who made a much better governor than he would (not will) make a president, he is no stranger to lies, damned lies, and statistics himself. let's not put him on too high a white horse.
i don't think i need to cite lots of articles and such (mostly because i'm a lazy liberal, not one of those fervent, researching liberals), but i suspect you know as well as i do that continuing to regurgitate sound bites like "you didn't build that" is disingenuous at best, and outright deception at worst. the quote obviously refers to infrastructure that supports and enables business, and not the businesses themselves. the quote works. the quote is true. just as an example.
i'm not defending the joe soptic ad. i'm just saying, let's not decide our election based on who we think is running the most honest, fair, above board, no bullshit campaign. no such thing. unless you really do believe obama is a muslim (not that there's any religious test in this country or anything). then maybe we should just shake hands and go our separate ways.
i'll leave you with two things.
1. the stimulus didn't just work pretty well, but it actually saved the country. and it wasn't big enough, because congress wouldn't vote for anything over 800.
2. obama/biden in a squeaker in november. i will wear my hair like romney (i'll need a wig for that), his t-shirt, and sarah palin underpants if i'm wrong.
28 June 2012
Why I Will Vote For Mitt Romney
The ruling is in. SCOTUS has upheld obamacare with some provisions but keeping in the individual mandate as a tax. I just watched Romney stating, in no uncertain terms, that he will repeal it on his first day in office. Ok then, game on.
We got here by decades of incrementalization. A long, slow eroding of our sovereignty and basic freedom. Bit by bit. Piece by piece. Such led directly what we saw today. Well, it works both ways. I am now a single issue voter and that issue is obamacare.
I was actually skulling over a post yesterday in which I would argue that the cold civil war would never become hot. There was simply no way that we could ever come to the point that another 'shot heard 'round the world' could happen again. But today I recognize that there is indeed such a way and this ruling is half of that formula. The other half comes this November when we go to the polls to decide whether obama gets a second term or not.
There are those out there, some who I admire and greatly respect, who would say "Good. Bring it on and get it over with." I am not in that camp. In fact I reject that line of reasoning absolutely. Now is the time to begin incrementalization on our side. Now is the time to begin the long, slow restoration of a representative republic as our founding fathers envisioned it. Now is the time for all good men and women to rise up and say No More. This far and no farther. Now is the time to elect a Republican president who will once and for all banish this abortion to the trash heap where it belongs. Now is the time, God help me, to elect Mitt Romney President.
I know, I know. I've heard and read all the arguments. Mitt is an elite, more concerned with power than individual American freedoms. Mitt will simply preside over a slower eradication of freedom than obama and the dems. Nothing will change except the whip holders political affiliation.
But the fly in that ointment is us. It's been said many times that all politics are local politics. Look no further than the formation of the Tea Party to see the truth in that. The Tea Party that was formed in the wake of the passage of the Affordable Care Act in the first place. We responded in the 2010 election and we must be heard again this year. In that is our salvation and the answer to any ideas that Mitt may have about accommodation with the left. Congressional and Senate elections. If we get those right, if we make sure we send only those who believe in America to DC, then we can exercise local control over national politics. It's up to us, where we must now recognize it should have been all along. We cannot rely on 9 men and women in black robes to rescue us and safeguard our basic freedoms. We can, indeed we must, take the reins of power back into our own hands to ensure the future of our children and grandchildren. And the first step is the 2012 elections.
So. I will support, contribute time and money to and vote for Mitt Romney for President in 2012. The alternative is too horrible to contemplate. Like some of you I have seen violent death, not wholesale but on a smaller scale. It's enough to understand. Death is ugly. It can be mind searing. Open war should be avoided if there exists a reasonable alternative. I've heard and seen written, many times, that we cannot vote our way out of this crisis. I disagree. What's been done to us we can reverse and do unto others. What we have lacked is an ignition source, a clear understanding of the stakes by the general populace and the will to exert our sovereignty. The moment has come and our path is now clear. Obama must go and he needs to take all his friends with him.
Romney isn't perfect, I acknowledge that, but we have a chance to exert our will upon him and his policies. We have zero chance to do the same with obama. Why would we put him back into a position to do more damage to our country? And doing nothing is in fact supporting 4 more years of obama and pushing us ever closer to the day when the cold War becomes very hot. Some who are arguing against Romney and for a return of obama do it because they say they want to fight the War themselves to spare their children and grandchildren. Honorable but much mistaken. War knows no boundaries. Respects no gender or age. Kills wantonly and without rhyme or reason.
No. The War may come of it's own accord but I will not take any action to hasten it's arrival, including inaction. Ridicule me if you will but I have made my decision and I have no qualms or regrets about it. Honor and my own concern about my grandchildren's future compel me to make my stand here.
Mitt Romney 2102.
Six
We got here by decades of incrementalization. A long, slow eroding of our sovereignty and basic freedom. Bit by bit. Piece by piece. Such led directly what we saw today. Well, it works both ways. I am now a single issue voter and that issue is obamacare.
I was actually skulling over a post yesterday in which I would argue that the cold civil war would never become hot. There was simply no way that we could ever come to the point that another 'shot heard 'round the world' could happen again. But today I recognize that there is indeed such a way and this ruling is half of that formula. The other half comes this November when we go to the polls to decide whether obama gets a second term or not.
There are those out there, some who I admire and greatly respect, who would say "Good. Bring it on and get it over with." I am not in that camp. In fact I reject that line of reasoning absolutely. Now is the time to begin incrementalization on our side. Now is the time to begin the long, slow restoration of a representative republic as our founding fathers envisioned it. Now is the time for all good men and women to rise up and say No More. This far and no farther. Now is the time to elect a Republican president who will once and for all banish this abortion to the trash heap where it belongs. Now is the time, God help me, to elect Mitt Romney President.
I know, I know. I've heard and read all the arguments. Mitt is an elite, more concerned with power than individual American freedoms. Mitt will simply preside over a slower eradication of freedom than obama and the dems. Nothing will change except the whip holders political affiliation.
But the fly in that ointment is us. It's been said many times that all politics are local politics. Look no further than the formation of the Tea Party to see the truth in that. The Tea Party that was formed in the wake of the passage of the Affordable Care Act in the first place. We responded in the 2010 election and we must be heard again this year. In that is our salvation and the answer to any ideas that Mitt may have about accommodation with the left. Congressional and Senate elections. If we get those right, if we make sure we send only those who believe in America to DC, then we can exercise local control over national politics. It's up to us, where we must now recognize it should have been all along. We cannot rely on 9 men and women in black robes to rescue us and safeguard our basic freedoms. We can, indeed we must, take the reins of power back into our own hands to ensure the future of our children and grandchildren. And the first step is the 2012 elections.
So. I will support, contribute time and money to and vote for Mitt Romney for President in 2012. The alternative is too horrible to contemplate. Like some of you I have seen violent death, not wholesale but on a smaller scale. It's enough to understand. Death is ugly. It can be mind searing. Open war should be avoided if there exists a reasonable alternative. I've heard and seen written, many times, that we cannot vote our way out of this crisis. I disagree. What's been done to us we can reverse and do unto others. What we have lacked is an ignition source, a clear understanding of the stakes by the general populace and the will to exert our sovereignty. The moment has come and our path is now clear. Obama must go and he needs to take all his friends with him.
Romney isn't perfect, I acknowledge that, but we have a chance to exert our will upon him and his policies. We have zero chance to do the same with obama. Why would we put him back into a position to do more damage to our country? And doing nothing is in fact supporting 4 more years of obama and pushing us ever closer to the day when the cold War becomes very hot. Some who are arguing against Romney and for a return of obama do it because they say they want to fight the War themselves to spare their children and grandchildren. Honorable but much mistaken. War knows no boundaries. Respects no gender or age. Kills wantonly and without rhyme or reason.
No. The War may come of it's own accord but I will not take any action to hasten it's arrival, including inaction. Ridicule me if you will but I have made my decision and I have no qualms or regrets about it. Honor and my own concern about my grandchildren's future compel me to make my stand here.
Mitt Romney 2102.
Six
21 February 2012
This Blog Kills Fascists (Too)
Borepatch has hit another one out of the park with his post This Blog Kills Fascists. RTWT. He invites us all to join him and I'm in though there's little I can add to his words. Please excuse the language, I'm on a rant. Again.
What really jerks my chain is the overt, insidious and obvious lying that goes on in the modern American political process. Most of us aren't stupid (well, some of us I guess). We can see and we know that actions speak louder than words. Fascist is as Fascist does not as he or she speaks. Pelosi can lie about Catholic support for what the church sees as a mortal sin all she wants, doesn't mean it's true. Mittens and Newt and Santorum et al can talk about freedom and rolling back the liberal mandates and how they're the only true conservative until the cows come home. Don't mean a thing because they're lying. All of them. There isn't a single candidate for this country's highest political office, on either side of the aisle, who isn't a wanna be Supreme Dictator For Life except one and his foreign policy is so loony Daffy Duck thinks he's nuts.
Obama is worse. If he says he won't cum in all our mouths you better get a Kleenex handy because the ejaculatory explosion is imminent. Hey pal, here's a clue. I know you're lying because I can see your lips moving.
I've been trying to keep politics on my back burner simply because it's causing me to despair and I hate that. It's whiny and weak and ultimately impotent. But here's what I want to know. Where the hell are the conservative firebrands? Where are the candidates who are the best representatives of real conservatism? Romney, Santorum and Gingrich? Really? Why not just trot out Kerry, Hillary and Franks and be done with it? At least they'll promise me a kiss while they slip it in.
Hell, where are the true liberal firebrands? Where is the vaunted ACLU and why am I constantly hearing the sound of crickets chirping every time that person in the Whitehouse nullifies another provision of the Constitution? Where are the calls for 'The Man' to get out of our lives and leave us all alone? Whatever happened to 'Do Your Own Thing'? How come all the hippies have traded in their beads and flowers for crisp black uniforms and shiny hob nailed boots?
Gah! The hypocrisy and pandering leave me dry mouthed and angry. Screw this and screw them. I'm not voting for any of the republican big three, no matter what nor will I cast a vote for that person in the Whitehouse. I refuse to endorse soft and slow fascism over quick and brutal. Let them beat each other over the head and to hell with the hindmost. I'm to the point where I'm prepared to, well, as H.L. Menken so famously said, "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats". Yeah, that's exactly where I am and the republican party had better be listening because I am most definitely not alone.
Like the Soviets of the old U.S.S.R., the Fascists on both sides of the political aisle understand nothing except raw power. Naked political force. Until we stop accepting things as they are and start requiring things as we want them to be we are doomed as a free Republic. For me it stops here. I will not actively participate in the destruction of everything I hold dear and which I have supported and defended with my blood, sweat, treasure and tears. I will not hold my nose and pull the lever for the lesser evil. There are no words, coercion or promises that will change my mind. I will not help the next, latest, newest, least objectionable or most popular lying sack of shit Fascist further erode my grandchildren's freedom.
No Romney. No Gingrich. No Santorum. No Obama. No.
Third Party? Bring it on baby. I'm ready.
Six
What really jerks my chain is the overt, insidious and obvious lying that goes on in the modern American political process. Most of us aren't stupid (well, some of us I guess). We can see and we know that actions speak louder than words. Fascist is as Fascist does not as he or she speaks. Pelosi can lie about Catholic support for what the church sees as a mortal sin all she wants, doesn't mean it's true. Mittens and Newt and Santorum et al can talk about freedom and rolling back the liberal mandates and how they're the only true conservative until the cows come home. Don't mean a thing because they're lying. All of them. There isn't a single candidate for this country's highest political office, on either side of the aisle, who isn't a wanna be Supreme Dictator For Life except one and his foreign policy is so loony Daffy Duck thinks he's nuts.
Obama is worse. If he says he won't cum in all our mouths you better get a Kleenex handy because the ejaculatory explosion is imminent. Hey pal, here's a clue. I know you're lying because I can see your lips moving.
I've been trying to keep politics on my back burner simply because it's causing me to despair and I hate that. It's whiny and weak and ultimately impotent. But here's what I want to know. Where the hell are the conservative firebrands? Where are the candidates who are the best representatives of real conservatism? Romney, Santorum and Gingrich? Really? Why not just trot out Kerry, Hillary and Franks and be done with it? At least they'll promise me a kiss while they slip it in.
Hell, where are the true liberal firebrands? Where is the vaunted ACLU and why am I constantly hearing the sound of crickets chirping every time that person in the Whitehouse nullifies another provision of the Constitution? Where are the calls for 'The Man' to get out of our lives and leave us all alone? Whatever happened to 'Do Your Own Thing'? How come all the hippies have traded in their beads and flowers for crisp black uniforms and shiny hob nailed boots?
Gah! The hypocrisy and pandering leave me dry mouthed and angry. Screw this and screw them. I'm not voting for any of the republican big three, no matter what nor will I cast a vote for that person in the Whitehouse. I refuse to endorse soft and slow fascism over quick and brutal. Let them beat each other over the head and to hell with the hindmost. I'm to the point where I'm prepared to, well, as H.L. Menken so famously said, "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats". Yeah, that's exactly where I am and the republican party had better be listening because I am most definitely not alone.
Like the Soviets of the old U.S.S.R., the Fascists on both sides of the political aisle understand nothing except raw power. Naked political force. Until we stop accepting things as they are and start requiring things as we want them to be we are doomed as a free Republic. For me it stops here. I will not actively participate in the destruction of everything I hold dear and which I have supported and defended with my blood, sweat, treasure and tears. I will not hold my nose and pull the lever for the lesser evil. There are no words, coercion or promises that will change my mind. I will not help the next, latest, newest, least objectionable or most popular lying sack of shit Fascist further erode my grandchildren's freedom.
No Romney. No Gingrich. No Santorum. No Obama. No.
Third Party? Bring it on baby. I'm ready.
Six
31 December 2011
Happy Election Year
Happy New Year to you all. It's been a great year and a lot of that is thanks to you. I've made some friends and had a lot of fun. Thank you sincerely.
May the new year bring you health and happiness and may the Stupid Party find a way out of the darkness and into the light of true freedom. I really want obama to be a one termer who fades into history.
Six
May the new year bring you health and happiness and may the Stupid Party find a way out of the darkness and into the light of true freedom. I really want obama to be a one termer who fades into history.
Six
25 November 2011
I'm not lazy Mr. President - I Am Boxer
-I've had a job and earned an income for 44 years, since my first paper route when I was 8 years old.
-I've paid thousands (tens of thousands? hundreds of thousands?) of dollars in taxes, much of which has gone to feed the voracious appetite of the entitlement programs of this country.
-I pay my debts, including my mortgages and college expenses for myself ad my wife to earn our degrees and professional diplomas so we could increase our earning power and spend more money on taxes.
-I've given freely to charity.
-My chosen professions have damaged my body and left me with injuries that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
-I have shunned the spotlight and declined notoriety for it's own sake.
-I have helped those who needed me and protected those who could not protect themselves.
-I voluntarily wore the uniform of my country and swore myself to her defense.
-I have laid my life on the line in defense of the freedoms enumerated in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
-I have given first aid to the injured and had some of them die in my arms.
-I have never asked for a thing beyond a fair chance to make my own way in the world.
-I am obliged to no one and don't ask anyone else to be obliged to me.
-I am a gun owner who has never used a firearm to take anothers life though I am prepared to defend anyone from the horrors inflicted on the innocent by the evil.
-I have never sought to be thought a victim for my own ill choices.
-I have done harm and sought forgiveness. I have had harm done to me and forgiven.
-I have done all this and more without complaint and I am not alone. Most of my fellow countrymen have done and endured far more than I.
-All my life has been spent in the pursuit of excellence and Independence. My share of the American Dream. That vision may not be shared by all but that is the very essence of what it means to be American. Our dreams may vary but the idea that we are masters of our own fate, beholden to none, independent entities free to pursue our idea of Happiness without coercion of others is ultimately what separates us from the rest of the world.
-The president says I am lazy, that I need to do more. The occupy protesters say I owe them what I have earned, that I need to give them more.
-The words of the President and the violent crowds screaming for my blood and that of those just like me makes me grieve for a nation filled with the indolent, the narcissistic, the immature and the ignorant. I, and those millions of Americans just like me, have labored for decades to do a little more with a little less. We have searched for ways to work just a little harder, a little longer. Striven to make and keep America great only to see it being sold to the glue factory for the price of a barrel of whiskey.
-I say the President is right, I haven't done enough. Here's my answer to OWS and you Mr. President.
-I am Boxer, magnificent yet flawed with too much trust and too little suspicion. The one who's motto was "I will work Harder". I am neither Napoleon not Squealer. Honest, hard working Americans work, they do not connive and seek power over others. So I will work harder. To make sure the OWS legacy is remembered as ignorant, psychopathic violence masquerading as social justice. To make sure you Mr. President are remembered as the one term, abject failure that you are and nothing more. To ensure my grandchildren grow up in a free and prosperous America.
-Yes, I am Boxer but one who has learned his lessons at great pain. I will work harder but somehow I don't think you and ows crowd will be happy about it Mister President.
-Vote them out. Vote them all out.
Six
-I've paid thousands (tens of thousands? hundreds of thousands?) of dollars in taxes, much of which has gone to feed the voracious appetite of the entitlement programs of this country.
-I pay my debts, including my mortgages and college expenses for myself ad my wife to earn our degrees and professional diplomas so we could increase our earning power and spend more money on taxes.
-I've given freely to charity.
-My chosen professions have damaged my body and left me with injuries that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
-I have shunned the spotlight and declined notoriety for it's own sake.
-I have helped those who needed me and protected those who could not protect themselves.
-I voluntarily wore the uniform of my country and swore myself to her defense.
-I have laid my life on the line in defense of the freedoms enumerated in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
-I have given first aid to the injured and had some of them die in my arms.
-I have never asked for a thing beyond a fair chance to make my own way in the world.
-I am obliged to no one and don't ask anyone else to be obliged to me.
-I am a gun owner who has never used a firearm to take anothers life though I am prepared to defend anyone from the horrors inflicted on the innocent by the evil.
-I have never sought to be thought a victim for my own ill choices.
-I have done harm and sought forgiveness. I have had harm done to me and forgiven.
-I have done all this and more without complaint and I am not alone. Most of my fellow countrymen have done and endured far more than I.
-All my life has been spent in the pursuit of excellence and Independence. My share of the American Dream. That vision may not be shared by all but that is the very essence of what it means to be American. Our dreams may vary but the idea that we are masters of our own fate, beholden to none, independent entities free to pursue our idea of Happiness without coercion of others is ultimately what separates us from the rest of the world.
-The president says I am lazy, that I need to do more. The occupy protesters say I owe them what I have earned, that I need to give them more.
-The words of the President and the violent crowds screaming for my blood and that of those just like me makes me grieve for a nation filled with the indolent, the narcissistic, the immature and the ignorant. I, and those millions of Americans just like me, have labored for decades to do a little more with a little less. We have searched for ways to work just a little harder, a little longer. Striven to make and keep America great only to see it being sold to the glue factory for the price of a barrel of whiskey.
-I say the President is right, I haven't done enough. Here's my answer to OWS and you Mr. President.
-I am Boxer, magnificent yet flawed with too much trust and too little suspicion. The one who's motto was "I will work Harder". I am neither Napoleon not Squealer. Honest, hard working Americans work, they do not connive and seek power over others. So I will work harder. To make sure the OWS legacy is remembered as ignorant, psychopathic violence masquerading as social justice. To make sure you Mr. President are remembered as the one term, abject failure that you are and nothing more. To ensure my grandchildren grow up in a free and prosperous America.
-Yes, I am Boxer but one who has learned his lessons at great pain. I will work harder but somehow I don't think you and ows crowd will be happy about it Mister President.
-Vote them out. Vote them all out.
Six
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