Friday Bits of Tid, 2010 Auld Lang Syne Edition

Now it's time to say goodbye to 2010.

Good Riddance! Adios! Don't let the door hit you on the way out! Begone!

"Leave, and never darken my towels again!" Groucho Marx

I, for one, will be glad to get this year over with, as I'm sure you all will. Politically, it's been filled with things that I never though I'd see or hear, although there is a ray of sunshine courtesy of last Novembers' election. There is a decent chance that we can stop this lurch to the left that the current administration seems hell-bent on taking us.

R. Lee Ermey captures the sentiment well. Thanks, Ace.



On this day, General George C. Marshall was born in 1880. He authored the Marshall Plan and had a space flight center named in his honor.

From the "bothered conscience" files come these two stories:

Man returns library book 76 years later.

Thief pays for hammer stolen decades ago.

Kill a snowman, lose your job. It's only fair.

This was completely unnecessary. 1,914 guitars are smashed simultaneously.

The devil made me do it. Man blames Ozzy Osborne for traffic arrest.

Duude, you can make this red light if you floor it, man.

He was probably on his way to this pot, munchie, Doritos fest, food drive.

The Abbey Road crossing has been given "listed status", which we can only assume is the equivalent of our "historic site". Who knows, I can't decipher British.

And finally, a drive-thru sex toy shop in Alabama. Which is more notable, that there's one of these at all, or the loophole in Alabama law that permits sex toys for "legislative, judicial or law enforcement purposes"?

Happy New Year, ya'll.

You’re About to Lose Another Right – DUI Checkpoints Can Now Draw Your Blood, Even If You've Done Nothing Wrong

Just in time for the Holidays, Florida is primed to join a few other states in violating your Constitutional rights, namely the Fourth Amendment. Here’s the text:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

OK, that seems to be pretty straightforward and easy to understand. You cannot be accused of a crime unless there is reasonable suspicion that you’ve done something illegal. That evidence must be presented to a judge in order to issue an arrest warrant.

At least that’s how it used to work.

However, there’s this story (via the Drudge Report). Tampa, Florida is to begin setting up DUI roadblocks where you can’t refuse a breathalyzer test. If you do, then police can forcibly draw blood from you for an alcohol test.

Now, before you say I’m in favor of drinking and driving, let me say for the record, I’m not. Common sense should prevail, and if you’ve had a few too many, then you shouldn’t be behind the wheel.

But that’s not what this is about. This is about your rights and how your government is failing its sworn duty to protect them, and you.

Here’s the scenario: You’re driving down the road, obeying the speed limit, all your vehicles’ lights are in good working order, and you’re complying with all the laws. You’re not weaving or driving in an erratic way. In other words, you’re doing what you are expected to do, driving safely. You come upon a police checkpoint where you’re compelled to submit to a breathalyzer test with no evidence that you’ve violated the law.

You’ve just had an unconstitutional act performed on you by someone who has sworn an oath to defend your Constitutional rights.

This is legal insanity of the first order.

Now, there will be a few folks, and I’ve had more than one conversation with a few of them, who will say that driving is a privilege, not a right. However, when I cite the facts as outlined above, their argument dissolves. This is exactly the type of abuse that our Fourth Amendment was designed to prevent, namely the arbitrary and capricious use of legal force.

If you’re driving safely, even after a couple of drinks, you should not be subject to any type of police action against you, period. This logic, however, seems to have escaped the courts, even when they say that safety is their prime concern. Note the discrepancy: you’re driving safely, yet you’re confronted with a police checkpoint where you must prove your innocence despite any evidence that you’ve done anything illegal.

We’ve sat by idly and watched a legal racket be set up before our very eyes in the name of public safety. What started out with the best of intentions has become something far more onerous and deadly to our legal rights as citizens. If you’ve ever been drawn into the DUI Racket, you know what I mean. Blood Alcohol Content requirements are now set so artificially low that two drinks, hardly an impairment to anyone I know, is now sufficient cause for you to be subject to legal extortion in the form of arrest and restitution. Naturally, the lawyers’ lobby and Mothers Against Drunk Driving are all for this, since they stand to make a great deal of money in the process.

Even the founder of MADD, Candy Lightner, left the organization she founded when she saw what it had devolved into.

This madness must stop. We’re already sliding down the hill towards totalitarianism, and our own court system is complicit. Imagine yourself in this situation, being forced from your vehicle at gunpoint and having a needle forced into your arm. I’m quite certain that the first question you’ll have is, “What happened to my rights?”

And you’d be quite correct to think that you had just lost them.

Hopefully, Florida’s incoming Attorney General Pam Biondi will address this very serious problem as soon as possible. Although case law (there’s that legal beast again) will support this most illegal action, as it has in the use of checkpoints, the plain language in our Constitution forbids it.

Either we have rights or we don’t.

In this case, we clearly don’t. It's time to start correcting the fuzzy legal thinking that substitutes for the plain language of our Constitutional foundation.

Think We’re Not Under Attack? Think Again

So many outrages, so little time…

This almost slipped under my radar. Perhaps you heard of Oklahoma’s State Question Number 755. No? What it did was attempt to reinforce what should be common knowledge, namely that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and that any other law, international or Sharia, shall not be considered in court.

It’s about now that you’re supposed to roll your eyes and say, “Well, duh.”

Would you be surprised to know there’s a US District judge who begs to differ with you? I certainly was. The questions arise like birds on the wing.

The inimitable Zombie over at Pajamas Media has a great article that outlines this amazing new era in American Constitutional law. I insist that you read it all.

This dispute is so fantastically idiotic, and the judges’ ruling so incomprehensible, that I find it difficult to put into words. How have we allowed ourselves to fall this far from what our Founders clearly envisioned and codified in clear language in our Constitution? To quote Ellen Ripley, “Did IQ’s just drop sharply while I was away?”

I used to think we were safe from this sort of thing. Looks like I was wrong.

How fragile is our Republic? How can we possibly have someone in a position of power, one Vicki Miles-LaGrange, that is so unqualified as to rule against our own laws? How can she not understand simple legal principle, and if she doesn’t, how could she have risen through the ranks to achieve her current status as a US District Judge?

Even more important is, how do we get her off the bench and replace her with someone who understands the basics of Constitutional law?

This is a serious problem, my friends, and needs to be resolved. If we’re not safe in the knowledge that our Constitution is the supreme law of the land and that no other law will be considered, we are in big trouble. This will open a legal door that should remain closed, locked, and nailed shut.

The remarkable thing about this is the blatancy of the argument. In a normal world like the one we enjoyed when we were kids, this lawsuit wouldn’t have made it this far. If it had, then the lawyers who concocted such a travesty would have been given a proper dressing down on the public record, and warned that if they ever wasted the Court’s time on something so frivolous again, they’d be held in contempt and spend some time in jail. This is still what should happen.

If you ever had any doubts that our entire way of life is under attack from every conceivable direction, including using our own laws against us, this should erase them.

Our enemies, in this case, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, are dedicated to our defeat and to instilling Sharia law on us against our will. It’s their Prime Directive, if you will. Not content to let us live in peace, they are waging war against what they consider their enemies, or as they refer to us, “infidels.” I find this curious, as I don’t know of a single person who has any animosity whatsoever towards any practitioners of that faith. I have no problem with Islam, but if Islam somehow decides I’m an enemy, denying the reality that I’ve done absolutely nothing to harm it in any way, then they’ll understand that they have made their own enemy where one didn’t exist beforehand.

They will regret it. They will lose their fight. I will not submit, nor will anyone I know.

At the core of this argument is the concept that we, the people, govern ourselves. We elect representatives to draw up laws that we adhere to in accordance to the framework of our Constitution. This frivolous lawsuit attacks us at this core. In fact, it appears that Judge Miles-LaGrange is using some sort of foreign law to arrive at her decision. What she has done is so clearly unconstitutional that even I can see it. One need not be a scholar to understand a principle. This judge has proven herself unqualified to rule or even practice law in this country.

I am calling for her removal from the bench for reason of gross incompetence. This must not stand, as this decision has no basis, and the plaintiffs have no standing.

No other law is to be honored in our courts except our Constitution.

Period.

Eureka! Reverse Psychology is the Answer!

I knew I’d figure it out eventually. This headline from the Drudge Report leaped out at me this morning “Only 21% Want FCC to Regulate Internet.”

President Obama seems to have a political tic of automatically going along with anything that we, the people, object to. The examples are numerous – polls showed Americans opposed to ObamaCare, we got it anyway. The overwhelming majority of us want our border with Mexico secured, but it remains open. Janet Napolitano even cites a bunch of environmental regulations as excuses to prevent border enforcement, thereby making areas of America no-go zones. Most of us want the federal budget to be balanced. What happened? This outgoing Congress added more debt than the first 100 Congresses combined following Obama’s lead.

The same goes for the Porkulus, the magic bill that was to keep unemployment from reaching 8%, Cash for Clunkers, the takeover of GM, Chrysler, and college loans.

I’m beginning to see a pattern developing.

Doubtless, this is a result of his college days. "To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully," Obama wrote in his memoir, "Dreams From My Father." "The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist professors and structural feminists."

Anti-Americans all.

Well, that certainly explains a lot.

It’s becoming clear that reason, logic, and positive results mean nothing to our President. He’s singularly focused, laser-like you might say, on anything that will result in America’s downfall. All the traditional methods that have been used in the past to strengthen and enrich this nation are being reversed.

So, how’s about we use a little reverse psychology ourselves?

This tactic will require just a bit of deception on our part for a while. From now on, whenever anybody answers a poll question, just make sure that you answer it the way you don’t want.

High federal debt? You’re all for it. After all, deficits don’t matter. Just look at my last credit card statement.

Weak national defense? Why do we need a strong military when the whole world loves us now that Obama is President?

Jobs? Why should anyone have any money? Just look at what it does to the rich, those bastards.

You get the point.

Yup, we can make his weakness work to our national advantage if we just use a bit of calculation. How do you think we got into this mess anyway? The MFM used their cunning and deception to drive down President Bush’s approval numbers to Obama-like levels despite us having a roaring economy even after a massive terrorist attack on our soil that was designed to devastate our economy. All we heard for eight years was "Bushitleridiotliarchimp". See, it can be done. You just need to stay positive and focus on the task at hand.

All it takes is to remember how to answer those poll questions, folks. Think of it as Backwards Day except for grownups. And politics.

We can do this.

“No You Can’t” Progressives versus “Yes I Can” Conservatives

It’s that time of year when we clean up the remnants of Christmas and set about to deal with various personal issues, known popularly as New Year’s Resolutions. It’s a way of greeting a new year with a new idea, one that will benefit us in some way. We resolve to lose weight or stop smoking, or ask that hot blonde out on a date. Usually though, it’s the smaller resolutions that we wind up keeping. The goal is personal improvement.

A resolution is merely a facet of your own personal philosophy. Philosophy is one of the four “P’s” here, although another “P” remains the most popular, namely Pulchritude, as the post on Carla Bruni is still number one on the all-time hit list.

Hey, all work and no play make a dull Boy. Now, where was I?

We all have philosophies. While they might not reach the historic heights of a Plato or a Socrates, philosophies direct our lives in less lofty ways. Everyday tasks are guided by them, such as raising children, getting the best deal at the grocery store or being kind to an irritating coworker.

Philosophy is so tightly woven into our lives that we hardly think of it. We take notice most often when we observe someone else’s philosophy, especially when it runs counter to our own. When it comes to the big issues, oh, say, politics, philosophy becomes extremely important, especially when it runs counter to our personal and national spirit.

Last November’s mid-term election was a good example of competing philosophies. For two years, we’ve had one political party in control in Washington, progressive Democrats. Actually, they’ve been in control of Congress and the nation’s purse strings since January of 2007 when Democrats gained a majority and Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House of Representatives. I remember then-President Bush welcoming her with an attitude not unlike the leader of the band aboard the Titanic. He looked to be accepting of her position, but I think he knew what the country was in for.

It was all political theater. Had Bush done his duty to the country, he would have warned us of the dangers we faced by electing someone with a progressive political philosophy. He would have told us that we could look forward to skyrocketing debt, record levels of unemployment and people on food stamps as a direct result of progressive philosophy. He would have told us that progressives favor governmental intrusion into previously ignored parts of American life. He would have told us that Washington would take over large sections of the economy in their zeal for power and control, with the resulting loss of personal freedom. He would have told the country that their philosophy ran counter to the ideals ingrained in American culture such as personal responsibility, self-control, fiscal restraint and common sense. He would have told us that progressives are America’s domestic enemies.

But he didn’t.

What led to their ascendency in the elections of 2006? Before then, Republican progressives were in control of Congress, busy implementing governmental intrusion into previously ignored parts of American life, albeit more slowly. The nation, alarmed by what they saw as a government out of control, decided that Democrats could somehow do a better job. Again, hindsight proves to be very illuminating.

We screwed up, grandly and gloriously.

It’s very important for us to establish a political philosophy as a nation, and use it to guide our decisions and pick our leaders. Here are our two choices,

1. Progressives who want an ever-expanding role into our lives, ignoring the limits of our Framers, with the resulting loss of freedom and accountability.

2. Conservatives who want a decreasing role in our lives, with the resulting increase in personal responsibility, freedom and opportunity.

In other words, either we can or we can’t. One restricts, the other one doesn’t.

One of these ways is our heritage. The other is new to us, literally foreign in concept and anathema to our national spirit. We’ve always had a “can-do” attitude. That spirit has served to define us as a country because it dwelled in our hearts. However, the rise of the revolutionary 60’s birthed a completely different spirit. Contained within that youthful rebellion against authority was also a spirit that rejected everything that made us what we were. Intellectually impressionable youngsters were taught (improperly and on purpose) that somehow, because America had a few warts, the whole concept of America was somehow flawed, that we were unable to correct our societal shortcomings. In fact, our history is filled with examples of us righting our wrongs by ourselves.

Other countries have tried central planning through an all-powerful state, and it has never proven to serve the people it promised to serve, always resulting instead in needless suffering and misery. Socialism, (or Marxism, or Communism, it’s the same soul-destroying philosophy of “no” with a different name), never fails to fail. Our short two-year experiment in extreme government has also been a disaster. Results do matter.

The reason why the philosophy of “no” fails so spectacularly every time it’s tried is that the human spirit seeks to be free. Governmental restrictions on our good nature for no reason breed a well-earned contempt. A mature adult, grounded in reality, needs no such artificial restrictions. Indeed, that person won’t even need a government at all, since he or she has the self-control that renders government superfluous. That type of perfection comes from within. Any effort to impose it from the outside runs into resistance, as it should.

So, gentle reader, as you enter this upcoming New Year, resolve to be your best. The rest will fall into place in a peaceful and natural way.

Christmas Eve Eve - A Virtual Stocking Full of Videos

Ho, ho, ho, y'all. While the political insanity continues in our nations' capital unabated, it's time to take a rest, gather the family, fire up the Yule log and make merry this Christmas. Here's hoping your Christmas wishes are granted and the Spirit of the Season fills your heart with joy.

In lieu of a Friday post, I've gathered a few videos for your Holiday enjoyment. Note the absence of virtual coal since you've all been so good.

How to Wrap a Cat for Christmas.



A little traveling music for Santa



Train shakes up Christmas



Who knew that Christmas would be popular off-world?



For all you hep (and unwrapped) cats, Charlie Parker



Now this is what I'm talking about



And finally, Linus reminds us what Christmas is all about




Merry Christmas to you all.

Why Our Economy Sucks – Congress Makes Highest Number of Laws Since 1960’s

Succinct, that’s how this Bloomberg article puts it. “The 111th Congress made more law affecting more Americans since the “Great Society” legislation of the 1960s.”

Thanks a lot.

In order for this story to have its full effect (that is, to pour yourself a stiff drink even if it is 9 a.m.), you only need to understand one principle; we are free to do anything unless there’s a law specifically preventing it. This simple concept is the heart and soul of American exceptionalism. Other countries need permission from their governments to do something, placing them in a far different position than us. They are restricted from the beginning whereas we start from the premise of freedom.

It’s also curious that this little nugget of information, as important as it is, isn’t as widely known as it should be. If it was, I’m certain that there would be much more discontent with the current political atmosphere in Washington. Not that there isn’t already, as demonstrated by the loss of the House to Republican control in the last election.

Still, this is terrible news for freedom-loving Americans. It also explains why our economy has ground to a halt. It’s clear that Congress is legislating us to death.

I should probably introduce another principle for to help you understand how this is bad for the country. This is the principle of cause and effect. Allow me to explain.

Things don’t just happen spontaneously; they have an origin, a cause. After the cause has occurred, the result is the effect. Also, understand that the effect can then become another cause.

In the engineering world, when there is a failure, you want to know what caused it in order to prevent another failure. This is known as Root Cause Analysis.

In our situation, we have legislators creating law, which, by definition, restrict our actions, resulting in less freedom. Is it any wonder that we find ourselves in an economic morass, with record high levels of unemployment and poverty? The cause is too many laws, the effect is economic devastation.

Again, thanks a lot, Nancy, Harry, and Barack. Heckuva job you’ve done there.

Now that we know what caused our problems, we can start to solve them. We can roll back the new laws by any means available to us in this new Congress, be it the filibuster, defunding or repeal. However, repeal of any new law will be highly unlikely with this president. But brace yourself, Effie, there will be howls from the Democrats and those on the left (but I repeat myself) who somehow think they’re doing the will of the people by passing laws at a record pace. What they’re really doing is reducing our freedom, just as hard and as fast as they can.

Let them howl. Let them scream until their voices give out, then, when we can no longer hear their bleating, tell them that their efforts to constrict our lives has failed and they can go back to wherever it is they came from and take their power-mad ways with them.

We will be free once more.

Only in Washington – The Gaping Chasm between Politics and Reality

The video below shows something rare in Washington, especially these days. Paul Ryan is addressing the House concerning the tax bill a few weeks ago. What’s rare is what he says: the truth. Take a listen for yourself and enjoy a breath of fresh air where it’s most needed…



This ties in with my opinion on who should chair the Republican National Committee. As you may know, Michael Steele will be running for his current position again. I had high hopes for him when he first started as the GOP chair, having listened to his common sense ideas shortly after he left as Maryland’s lieutenant governor. I was under the impression that we conservatives would finally have someone in Washington to counter the progressives who had taken over the Democrat party.

Boy, was I ever wrong.

No sooner did Steele take the wheel than he descended into the political doublespeak that passes for conversation inside the Beltway. Gone was the fiery speaker who was unafraid to say what he meant, that man having been replaced with someone who could instead talk for an hour and never say anything of substance. I was later sorry for supporting him at all and I currently cannot endorse him.

This could change, of course. All he need do is drop the Newspeak and call a spade a damned shovel. I appreciate truthfulness in my politicians, which explains my depression about the current state of American politics.

I’d like to have some hope, I’d really like to. I think I see a faint glimmer of it way off in the distance. Maybe it’ll get brighter come January 5th when the new Congress is sworn in. As it stands today, this lame duck session seems bent on destroying what little is left of America in the short time remaining.

Perhaps then we can start to right our ship of state that is listing leftward so much that it’s in danger of capsizing.

It’s my fondest hope that this new Congress will abandon the progressive tendency of distorting language in order to advance their Marxist agenda. Only in Washington could the prevention of a tax increase be framed as a cut, as Representative Ryan points out. Of course, if you’ve been following politics at all, you’re well aware of how power-mad pols twist and tie our language in knots, and logic along with it, to make you think a certain way, often falsely. Our country cannot long endure lies in the place of truth.

If you’ve not followed politics and are just now taking an active interest in the goings-on in Washington, you’re in for a rude surprise.

Politicians lie. And the more leftist their agenda, the more they lie. And when they run out of lies, they start chasing their tail, speaking something that sounds like they know what they're talking about, but contains very little in the way of logic or truth.

Don't let yourself be fooled by any politician. If you hear one of them say something that doesn't sound quite right, you're onto something. Use your intuition, or take some time to inform yourself so your intuition will get stronger. I've heard of this Interwebs thing...

Anyway, that little glimmer of hope that I have is that America is waking up. Granted, it’s waking up to a house that’s on fire, but it’s waking up nonetheless. Issues, facts and reality are starting to become important, not pretty faces, well-tailored suits, and nice haircuts. Folks want to hear concrete plans for positive action, not vapid phrases and empty promises. We expect positive results. Anything less is a waste of time.

That’s where the head of the RNC comes in. This new leader will have a full-time job doing nothing but decoding the drivel that comes from the mouths of progressives and defining what they really mean. The recent verbal war over extending the Bush tax rates would be a great place to start. Progressives were calling them cuts when they really weren’t at all. Another tactic, which we’ll hear next year, is that the evil Republicans are only on the side of corporate fat cats who’ll ride the backs of the poor, oppressed worker all the way to the bank. Never mind the fact that there are a lot of Americans who want a job to provide for their families, and that stocks are a large part of many Americans’ retirement portfolios.

I won’t get into the corporate cronyism that currently infests this administration. One need only look as far as the General Electric Corporation as an example of this. Or, if you wanted another one, look at the effects of a cozy relationship with radical, leftist union leaders who persuaded Obama to take over GM and Chrysler, bypassing the normal route of bankruptcy, which would have allowed those companies to restructure their union contracts. In a clear violation of law, the stockholders were given short shrift in favor of unions whose membership has been in decline for generations as the free market for workers has been much more effective in improving wages and working conditions.

However, back to the subject of everyday reality versus whatever it is that passes for it inside Washington. This chasm is wider than the Grand Canyon and twice as deep. If we’re to have any prospect of climbing back up to its rim and enjoying the view once more, we’re going to need our bullshit meters turned on whenever a politician speaks. If the needle moves at all (I have mine turned way up, so it's generally a pink blur), then you’ll know you’re in trouble and it’s time to pick up a phone and call to inform their staff that whatever they’re planning or doing is wrong. Public pressure is starting to work.

More of it will work even better. If they don't know what the truth is, we can tell them.

We're generous that way.

The Repeal Amendment – An Idea Whose Time Has Arrived

Perhaps it’s the air in Washington. It might be something in the water. Whatever it is, there are few who are immune to it.

“It” is elitism. Calling it an “it” is apt, much like you would call a decomposed animal found in the woods an “it” because there’s not much to identify the rotting carcass save the fur, the goo and the smell. You certainly don’t want to get very close to whatever “it” is.

These past two years have shown the country the evil inherent in elitism. In fact, our current national malaise can be traced directly to this flaw in our political nature. Politicians in their hubris deemed those who elected them to be somehow, shall we say, less than intelligent.

And in a way, they’re quite right. Look around you, pick up a newspaper (what’s that?) or turn on the television and note the news. Very little of it is good. Record high levels of unemployment, more folks on food stamps than ever before, Washington bureaucrats reaching their tentacles into every orifice and pore of your life to dictate what you can feed yourself and how your healthcare is managed.

And who is in charge? Democrats.

So, what are we to do now that we’ve proven ourselves incapable of electing responsible, mature adults to represent our interests in Washington? Not much, except to construct a few institutional barriers to the abuse of power.

Not that they’ll be obeyed, although that’s what our Founders envisioned when they wrote the Constitution. Doubtless, they assumed that those who would step onto the political stage were of a like mind, that they would exhibit self-control, especially when charged with the awesome responsibility of governing a nation. A moment of clear thought makes that self-evident, needing no explanation except to the, *ahem*, lesser intellects whom we have elected to office.

We need look no further than our own Congress to see just how far we’ve fallen. How can there be much respect for a governing body that excludes itself from the very laws it creates? What does that say to the governed? Plenty, I’m afraid, and none of it very good.

So, if we can’t find the right type of people to administer our affairs, we’ll just have to make sure they know what the boundaries are. The Repeal Amendment is a step in that direction. Here it is in it’s simple entirety:

"Any provision of law or regulation of the United States may be repealed by the several states, and such repeal shall be effective when the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states approve resolutions for this purpose that particularly describes the same provision or provisions of law or regulation to be repealed."

That’s so simple even a politician can understand it.

It restores the power to the States, where it was originally intended to be, close to the people. It would essentially neuter the type of government we’re currently suffering from. For instance, I don’t think it would be very hard to repeal President Obama’s current senseless moratorium on oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, let’s take it another step and repeal the EPA’s numerous regulations that are currently preventing us from enforcing border security.

Oh, you say you didn’t know that’s part of the reason our border isn’t secure is due to environmental regulations? I’ll allow the law to explain itself to you:

The Wilderness Act states, “There shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such area.”

How’s that for an excuse not to close the border? That the Feds would vigorously enforce environmental regulations instead of securing the border is but one example of this administration's misplaced priorities. Never mind that cross-border crime is victimizing the residents of Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico who are reluctant to even leave their houses lest they be ransacked by illegals.

The Repeal Amendment would go a long way towards reining in the Federal government and preventing this sort of insanity. Sort of like how the Senate was originally intended to operate.

I must also off a word of caution, particularly when it comes to Constitutional fiddling of any sort; the opportunity for political mischief is great. I’d be most careful of convening for the purpose of adding to our Constitution and make sure that one, and only one issue is considered. I’m sorry to say that my own personal trust in government is at an all-time low, just like the rest of the country.

Still, we must do all we can to reduce the power an influence of Washington over our lives. If we do it correctly and proceed with caution, we can restore the Federal government to its rightful and legal place.

Which is out of our hospitals, out of our kitchens, and out of our wallets.

UPDATE! This is even better than I had hoped for. Naturally, after I finished writing this post, I ran across this. I also found that my fears of Constitutional mischief were unfounded since a Constitutional convention is not required. The things I learn by reading...

Friday Bits of Tid, A Christmas Carol Edition

Greetings to all you little Santa's Helpers.

On this day in 1843, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol was published. This story of redemption has been often imitated but never duplicated. My favorite version of this story is Scrooged, followed closely by the late George C. Scott's interpretation, filmed on location.

Was that a bit or a tid? Time will decide...

It was only a matter of time. Behold the American Redneck Society. Rusty pickup truck and trusty dog not included. Jeff Foxworthy was unavailable for comment.

What's in your wallet? A lawsuit.

Capitalism in action. The Wikileaks scandal is compared to a feminine hygiene device. Unfairly, I might add, to the aforementioned FHD.

Man discovers belt. No? OK, never mind, then.

Guinness keeps us entertained between pints with the world's largest enchilada. I would've expected more competition from Corona.

Instant ranch. Just add, um, water.

Is this what they mean by "animal rights," they can adopt raccoons now?

Naked Wisconsin mailman delivers a teeny, tiny package and loses his job.

If you have a daughter, you've probably thought about doing this to at least one of her boyfriends.

"I need one indigestion to go!"

And finally, are you in a joyous mood this Holiday Season? This will cure ya'...


Shamelessly stolen from Contributed by The Jawa Report.

Be good, Santa's stalking watching you.

The 111th Congress – How Can We Miss You if You Won’t Go Away?

For this current Congress, the mid-terms never occurred. It’s still business as usual, despite the fact that America voted for change just a few weeks ago.

What we wanted (and expressed through our votes) was some fiscal responsibility in Washington. After two years of spending in a misguided attempt to get our economy going based on voodoo, Keynesian style, we’ve seen no improvement in our national situation. In fact, we’re in far worse shape now than when this Congress began.

So, what part of failure does this Congress not understand?

Now, normal people would be at least a little bit embarrassed by a record that stinks. And this Congress’ record reeks. Normal people would acknowledge the will of the American people and just go home. Not these folks.

Despite new record numbers of people in poverty, on food stamps (including far too many in the military), out of work for over a year, filing bankruptcy, foreclosing on their homes, this Congress looks like the Energizer Bunny, they just keep going and going.

Moreover, just yesterday, they set another record for public disapproval. This Congress is the most unpopular in the history of polling with a rate of only 13%. Yet they’re still on the job doing things that no legitimate body should be doing. In fact, a strong argument could be made that what they’re currently doing is illegitimate and illegal.

After all, many of them no longer have a job in Washington. They’re acting like an employee who knows he’s about to be fired at the company Christmas party who brings brownies laced with a laxative.

The legacy of this Congress will certainly be nothing to remember except for the damage they’ve done to the nation. Their radical, far-left agenda has left a once-great country teetering on the edge of insolvency. Record deficits are now eroding our economy like rust on an abandoned car. If not reined in, these deficits have the potential to literally kill the American Dream for the majority of us. And we don’t want that much. We’d just like to have a good paying job so we can have a bit of security, own our own home and provide for our families. However, even these modest wants are too much for this Congress to secure for us.

It’s much more important for them to expand the reach of the EPA with onerous new regulations, take over the country’s health care system, wildly overspend money that we must borrow from China, take over our financial system and our college loans, take over not one but two auto companies and defy established stockholder law, the list goes on. All this against the will of the people.

No wonder Roger Simon over at Pajamas Media likens Harry Reid to Hugo Chavez. The similarities are creepy, in addition to being destructive to both countries.

We should find a way to halt this lame-duck session. We should issue orders to Congress to cease immediately, stand down, and go home. After all, they’re supposed to work for us.

I know I’m dreaming. This Congress didn’t listen to us for two years, why start now? How many impassioned phone calls did they ignore urging them not to pass the ObamaCare bill for example?

America has seen what an out-of-control Congress can do to damage the country. And we’re going to feel the aftereffects for years to come. But we’ve started to change course. This new Congress has a clear mandate to stop or reverse as much of this destructive leftward lurch that we’ve been on for two years. Although you’ll hear folks like Slow Joe Biden and Harry Reid whine that Republicans are obstructing this president, the correct answer would be, “Hell yeah! We’ve had enough of your job-killing, bank-robbing, thuggish ways and we voted these people in to stop you in no uncertain terms. You are a lame duck administration.”

Get used to it.

Christmas is for Everyone

Thank goodness, but the war on Christmas seems to be experiencing a lull. I haven’t heard quite as many horror stories about the dangers of crèches or how Christmas trees are corrupting our youth and absolutely must be removed from public sight this year as in years past.

Which is wonderful.

As this war has marched on during the past few years, I’ve been puzzled by something. There are many who feel themselves somehow excluded from the festivities. Or, they feel that since they aren’t card-carrying members of a church, they aren’t really Christians, and therefore aren’t part of the season. While this is a natural sentiment, I have something to say to you; don’t exclude yourself from this joyous time of year.

While I’m not one of the aforementioned card-carriers, and I don’t attend a church, I do consider myself to be a Christian. Whether or not The Big Guy agrees will be determined at a later date. Until that time, I’ll continue to conduct my affairs as though He’s watching my every move.

It couldn’t hurt.

I have a strong suspicion that I’m not alone. While we may not subscribe to organized religious doctrine, we nonetheless have a personal set of standards that we adhere to. For example, I try to treat everyone as I would like to be treated. I bet you do, too.

And the worst part is, I can’t find anything wrong with that.

It just so happens that that personal rule is one of the only two rules that Jesus directs us to follow, the second being to seek out his dad, God, and try to understand his will. I’ve had much more success with the former than the latter. So, if for now, I can’t quite understand certain aspects of God’s plan for me, I’ll just do what I can understand.

But, I digress yet again.

Now, maybe it’s just me, but I can remember when everybody I knew celebrated Christmas whether they considered themselves Christians or not. Everybody joined in. Life’s pressures were set aside in a genuine effort to be cheerful, to bring alive the spirit of the season. I wonder what happened to that spirit…

I know it’s still there, but for some reason, there are folks who don’t want to participate in Christmas at all. Why would you not want to take part in a celebration that doesn’t really require much in the way of personal commitment? You’re free to put up a tree or not, sing carols or not, give gifts or not. In the past, if you chose not to participate in Christmas, you pretty much kept it to yourself, or if asked, you’d reply that you weren’t celebrating and that was the end of the conversation. No biggie.

But in recent years, there’s been a movement by some to eliminate any signs of Christmas, regardless of where they are. It began when some malcontents decided that there was some mythical separation of church and state in our Constitution that forbade Christmas displays on public property. Had there actually been some sort of official prohibition of religion, obviously no one knew about it until the ‘60’s, if the number of nativity scenes on courthouse grounds was any indication.

In fact, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, an atheist, sued the federal government over the harmless act of the Apollo 8 astronauts’ reading a passage from Genesis while orbiting the moon in 1968, thereby seeking to deny them their freedom of speech.

I’m glad to discover that folks who aren’t passionate Christians are starting to revolt quietly against this PC madness that would silence a good word or two in this Christmas season. I’m on a personal crusade to wish everyone I meet in a store a Merry Christmas instead of saying Happy Holidays. Overwhelmingly, I also get a Merry Christmas in return, along with a knowing grin. One fellow I spoke with over the phone yesterday said I made his day by wishing him a Merry Christmas. Now that’s what I’m talking about.

Anyway, back to my original point. If you practice a different religion than Christianity, I, nor anyone I know has a problem with it. If you don’t wish to participate in Christmas, that’s OK too. Although I liken it to deliberately refusing to learn how to swim, you’ll have much more fun if you do.

And to the hard-liners out there who are somehow offended by any shows of Christmas, I ask you, how can you possibly be offended by the idea of peace on Earth and good will towards your fellow man?
Humbugs have been around since the dawn of time, and not just at Christmastime. To them, we should extend a hand in peace and goodwill, and invite them to join in our simple celebration of one very special Life.

I wish you all a very heartfelt Merry Christmas.

Olbermann Confirms It – Progressives Live in an Economic Disney World

Warning, the following post contains examples of progressive viewpoints concerning economics. It displays distortions, half-truths, misconceptions, and lies that may be dangerous to free markets if implemented. They are not trained professionals.

You don’t need to travel very far these days to know that the country is in dire straits. My little sojourn downtown was very revealing (see yesterday’s post below). I mean, I knew things were bad, just not this bad.

And the worst part is, we don’t need to suffer this way when there are proven solutions that have yet to even be attempted. Allow me to elaborate.

In the process of manufacturing, when bringing a new product to market, there is a predictable chain of events. First is the idea itself, which, when finalized, moves on to the pre-production stage where blueprints are drawn and methods are devised to make the product. When production begins, more details are needed to insure an orderly flow from raw material to finished article.

If, at any point in the process, there is an error, there’s a scramble to correct it. The successful business will keep these errors to a minimum by having the right people in place to be on guard for the inevitable mistakes. They happen and can’t be completely avoided. However, experience keeps their negative impact minimal, and the wise business will always know and allow for a certain amount of unpredictability during this process.

Occasionally, a problem will arise that catches everyone by surprise. Now, the sooner this problem is recognized, the sooner it can be corrected.

The point is that the sooner a mistake is caught and corrected, the less expensive it is.

Now, I’m speaking of the normal course of events. However, sometimes the concept itself is flawed and the product is a failure. Case in point; the Ford Edsel.

All of the steps that had worked previously to create autos were followed and were successful. Except the product itself did not sell well, and became an example of what not to do.

We’re at that point in our economy; it has been regulated and designed, blueprints drawn up, reviewed and approved, and we’re witnessing the very predictable result: failure.

Those in power in Washington for the last four years, namely the progressives in Congress led by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, have designed a product that the American public doesn’t want. Through their incessant imposition of new burdens and massive amounts of regulation, they’ve managed to design this grand failure of free market economics that we’re currently witnessing.

The failure of their efforts is on display everywhere you look. Empty storefronts, shuttered factories, and desolate cities stand as a mute testament to their efforts. What they have done needn’t have happened. American has been deceived, told one thing by campaigning politicians who did something else entirely once safely in office.

Their economic concept is flawed, yet they refuse to see their rather obvious mistakes. In one simple example, Keith Olbermann, spouts one of the lefts most recent economic misconceptions that the unemployed are the real job creators in America. Pajamas Media’s Alan Barton refutes this here. Do watch the whole thing.

Another of the progressive mantras (totally untrue in reality, again) is that conservatives don’t have a plan to get our economy back up and running again. We do have a plan, namely to reduce or eliminate governmental interference in the economy, but that would require those currently in office to give up their power to stifle the free market. This is why the Obama administration refuses to consider them. Witness the fight going on over keeping the Bush era tax rates.

For whatever reason, President Obama has done his best to avoid the proven methods for stimulating our economy. His entire premise is flawed, resulting in a cascade of incorrect outcomes, finally resulting in the worst economic downturn that any of us can remember. There are ways to get things going again, things like drilling for our own oil, but Obama has recently extended his unnecessary moratorium on drilling in our waters, thereby directly making our economy worse. If he were intent upon devastating our economy, would he be doing things any differently?

Finally, you’ll hear this latest lie: capitalism doesn’t work. Sorry, but that’s just plain bullshit. It’s taken years, but we’ve reached the point where governmental interference has distorted the markets so much that they’re almost incapable of operating. This is the ultimate irony, that politicians would declare capitalism a failure when it’s their actions that have caused the failure.

Our only hope at this time lies in the incoming Congress. If they heed the message that America sent this past November, they will start to reduce this size and scope of the federal government’s intrusion upon a formerly free market. They can begin by defunding the Environmental Protection Agency, the single heaviest weight currently holding our economy down. If they do as they promised, an agency-wide reevaluation of Washington’s regulatory impact would go a long way towards cutting government down to a manageable size and to start working for the people of the country.

It’s time for us to quit apologizing for capitalism, as David Limbaugh points out. At the same time, we have a lot of work to do to get Washington out of the way and let us get back on the road to prosperity once again.

It took time to get us here, it will take time to solve our problems. We can start by purging politicians who boasts of their progressivism. Their ilk is the source of our problems, their concepts are seriously flawed. Get them back to the fringes of society and keep them there.

Random Observations on a Monday

I had a chance to visit downtown this past Friday evening. I hadn’t been there in a while, preferring instead to conserve finances. I found that I’m not alone in that desire.

Downtown was a literal ghost town compared to three years ago.

Back then, the sidewalks were full of mostly youngsters sporting the latest in fashion, real or imagined. Music blared from every other door, most of it from live bands. Wide-eyed tourists, eager for a taste of the real nightlife asked for recommendations, where are the best bands/drinks/food. The local constabulary was in constant view lest the human cauldron overheat and begin to spill over into the night. Despite signs prohibiting cruising, it was the place to cruise, with ridiculously expensive vehicles pawing the pavement at speeds they were never designed for. All of us out for a good time, to see and be seen.

Not this weekend.

Having lived here for over twenty years, I’ve learned this city’s rhythm. Once, there was literally no difference in traffic: it was horrible all the time. You were as likely to encounter a traffic jam at 2:30 am as you were at 2:30 pm. Now, even on a Friday night, the roads are nearly empty. As soon as rush hour concludes, traffic subsides dramatically. The city becomes yours.

Which is fine, if you’re an introvert.

America’s party is over.

Was it that long ago that we’d find an excuse to go out on a Thursday evening? In these parts, you’d hear the rumblings of motorcycles as they headed to their favorite watering hole for bike night, the preamble to a weekends’ revelry, to warm up the old liver.

If there’s one thing that the Obama Depression has done, it’s stopped our partying.

I also had the opportunity to talk to a friend of mine who owns a bar last week. She was near tears wondering if the bar she recently bought could make it through these times. Although I tried to give her some encouragement, I’m not sure I succeeded. Times are tough all over.

Many of my friends have noticed the same thing. They all mention the same haunting phrase, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” Indeed, this is the longest and worse economic downturn that many who are younger than I am have ever witnessed. I remember other recessions, but because I worked in manufacturing, I always had a job. The demand for the hardware of modern life wasn’t as prone to the natural fluctuations of a capitalistic economy. People still needed cars, and TV’s, and computers, and dishwashers, and the odds of everyone running out of money at once were remote.

However, this is a different time. While I can’t speak for the rest of the country, it appears for all the world as though nearly everyone down here is out of money. One can easily picture an old western with tumbleweeds blowing down a deserted street.

This doesn’t need to happen.

There are reasons for everything. Not to get too philosophical, but there are economic laws and principles that just can’t be ignored. When we do (and by “we,” I mean our national leaders), we do it at our peril. Moreover, when we ignore those laws and principles, we create unnecessary misery and suffering. We’ve ignored them by proxy, by electing leaders who have no understanding of our economic system.

In a strange turn of the tale, we’ve been taken advantage of by our own trusting nature. We’ve trusted our leaders to have the same sort of values and principles that we hold in our hearts. We’ve assumed that those we’ve sent to Washington to act in our place wanted the same things that we wanted for our families.

We’ve been fooled.

As I’ve pointed out previously, we have in place today a ruling elite whose value system is not the same as ours. We value honesty, integrity, truthfulness, empathy, straightforwardness, and an ability to understand reality and deal with it in a mature way.

They, obviously, don’t.

I’m somewhat optimistic that things began to change for the better in last month’s midterm elections. American’s aren’t used to imposed and structured decline. How we managed to elect to the highest office a guy who thinks America’s best days are behind her and that she should retire while still in her prime is a mystery for the ages.

Why waste a perfectly good country?

We still have in place the framework for greatness. We still have the infrastructure with which to elevate ourselves and the world, to reduce poverty and disease, to find new medical treatments and cures, to add to the quality and quantity of our short time here on God’s Earth. All that is missing is leaders who want that for everyone, who will abandon their insane lust for power that infests the halls of our Capitol.

We need to recapture the essence of our country and restore the soul of America.

I have every confidence that we will.

Friday Bits of Tid, Army - Navy Game Edition

It's that time of year again. The college football conference champs have been decided and the bowl bids have gone out. Auburn looks to be on their way to a national championship, at least for a while, unless something else comes out concerning Cam Newton's situation. My Crimson Tide will be playing in the Capital One Bowl down here in O'town on New Years' Day. Dear Santa, I've been a good boy all year...

But tomorrow, the Army - Navy game wraps up the season. Kickoff is at 2:30 pm. It's hard for me to pick sides in this game, as there is no real loser, IYKWIM.

Onward, toward the tid...

On this day in 1967, Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash at the age of 26. He had his first Number 1 hit a few weeks later, the R&B classic, (Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay.

The overreach of this administration is negatively affecting everyone, including rock and roll bands. This link is notable not so much for the interview as much as it includes the phrase "conservative musician."

Just in time for the Holidays. A man puts $5500 in a Salvation Army Christmas kettle. As Instapundit would doubtless say, more of this, please.

This lady really, really likes fudge.

Crazed vending machine attempts to eat child.

Crazed washing machine attempts to eat child.

How not to transport a five-gallon bucket of white paint.

The horrible and tragic effects of Global Warming traps 7 inside a pub for a week.

In other Global Warming news, attendees at Cancun make a difference by signing a petition to ban dihydrogen monoxide.

Duude, you'd better leave a lot more cookies for Santa, he's gonna have the munchies.

And to get your Holidays off to a rousing start...




Shamelessly stolen from contributed by Ace of Spades HQ.

Let the Holidays begin! Y'all have a good weekend.

Economic Madness Writ Large - The Current Tax Debates

If it weren’t so serious, the implosion of the hard-core left (otherwise known as Obama’s base) would be rather amusing. I’m talking about the debate surrounding the President’s compromise on the extension of the Bush tax cuts. It seems that a deal has been reached that has managed to piss off just about everyone.

Everyone in Washington, that is.

The interesting part is, the issue that has their knickers in a twist is exactly what should have happened two years ago. Our corporate tax rates are the highest among developed nations, and this is greatly harming our ability to compete in the global marketplace. There is an economic axiom, known by all except those inside the Washington Beltway who craft our economic policies, that if you want less of something, tax it heavily.

Even more intriguing is the fact that simple, proven, economic principles aren’t well known, nor it appears, comprehended by our ruling elite. There can be no doubt that the past four years of a Congress led by progressives have resulted in economic catastrophe for the country. For a short list, click here.

As I’ve chronicled, there are very sound reasons for our economic plight, none of which need to happen. We could be free from this recession if only we had the proper people in place in Washington who knew what the rest of the country already knows about finances. Despite what the elites tell you, economics is a simple science: if you’ve ever balanced your checkbook, then you know more about economics than Timothy Geithner and Ben Bernanke combined.

And Nancy Pelosi, who thinks that unemployment insurance payments stimulate the economy. Sorry, Nan, you couldn’t be more wrong. UI is merely a placeholder until a real job comes along. I don’t know anyone who would rather be collecting unemployment when they could make far more money with a real job.

The disconnect with reality in Washington is breathtaking.

In addition to the needless confusion about what to do to kickstart the economy, there is another wrinkle of this debate that should concern you – class warfare.

Doesn’t it strike you as rather odd that a group of millionaires should want you to be angry with millionaires? Why? What did a millionaire ever do to harm you? Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t find a scintilla of logic in that argument. What I do find is psychosis, namely the psychosis of power, willing to divide a nation along economic lines to achieve it.

It wasn’t always like this. There once was a time when we aspired to greatness in America. Someone would create a better mousetrap and the world would beat a path to the mousetrap makers’ door, cash in hand. Every American wanted to become rich, every American had the opportunity to become rich. We still do, but there has been a movement, closely tied to the political left, that has poisoned this once-great idea. It’s become so entrenched in Washington, said so often in sound bites, that it’s starting to affect the rest of the nation. That poison is called class envy. It’s practitioners, well versed in their own foibles, project their problems onto the innocent in an effort to appear perfect in their own eyes.

This has led to the perversion that mistakenly thinks that everyone should be equal instead of having equal opportunities to excel. Note how this runs counter to their professed belief in diversity. We should all celebrate diversity, however when it comes to recognizing that people have diverse abilities, and thus will have diverse outcomes given the same circumstances, they all of a sudden demand equality.

That, gentle readers, is psychosis.

And we’re seeing psychosis writ large in this debate on maintaining the Bush tax rates. Millionaires on the left criticizing the moneyed in our society, the very thing that allows these elites to run for office. There aren’t many working folk running for office, due primarily to the constraints of money: they are too busy providing for their families.

Let’s stop for a moment and use their twisted logic:

1. They want us to hate the rich because they are somehow evil.

2. They are rich.

3. Yet, they don’t want us to hate them.

4. ?

In fact, the opposite is true – the ruling elite wish us to become disengaged from politics so we can leave everything to them. They balk at any efforts to reduce their power or restrain them in any way. Hell, they won’t even subject themselves to the laws that they create for the rest of us.

Folks, in case you haven’t noticed, we can’t keep going on like this. Not and keep our freedom and prosperity.

We must restore sanity to our government. We started to do that in the mid-term elections. We must insure that this is the last gasp of progressivism in our nation. Like an exorcism, all of the evil comes spewing out at the last, right before the evil spirit's death and things get back to normal for the victim.

We must eliminate the mental illness of political liberalism if we are to survive.

Our Economy’s Only Hope - Reviving Manufacturing in America

Today is a mournful day. Something precious died on this date. Not John Lennon, although his untimely death robbed the world of a great artist. No, something far more valuable was killed unnecessarily: the future of America’s prosperity. Today marks the day that the North American Free Trade Act was signed by President Bill Clinton.
This bill, more than any other single piece of legislation, is to blame for our current economic woes, for its signing was the beginning of our national decline. Almost all of the high unemployment and record levels of poverty that we’re currently enduring can point to this day as its genesis. Even worse is the political attitude that brought this horrible bill into being: that America can give away it’s prosperity to other nations (wealth redistribution, as it’s otherwise known) without negatively affecting her.

We now know that is impossible.

So, what can we do about this mistake? Well, first we must acknowledge that we made one. While this will prove a daunting task for the political elite, the average American already knows it. The millions of Americans currently out of work certainly know that something is wrong. An entire sector of the economy is gone, some say never to return.

A generation of Americans can recall when their fathers and mothers had “factory jobs” that put them through college. However, all they can do is remember. Now, those same parents have nothing to do because we’ve needlessly eliminated a formerly vibrant sector of the economy.

I have some very unpleasant memories of this day in 1993. Within a week, I was laid off as the owners of the manufacturing plant where I worked announced that they were relocating to Mexico. What a lovely present to receive right before the Holidays! Some 45 people lost their jobs, and for what? To enrich another country? Really?

The questions we all had back then were, “If Mexico wants industry, why don’t they do it themselves? Why have we been sold out by our own government? If they can make products so much cheaper, why aren’t they already doing so?”

Why, indeed?

Have we not shown the world how to do things for their own benefit by now? As the world’s oldest republic, have we not demonstrated through our actions and our national will that any country can succeed if their people are free? Why give our wealth away when there is no need to do so? Cannot other nations duplicate our success, therefore elevating their people and subsequently, mankind, on their own?

This sort of “soft bigotry of low expectations” is extremely condescending and has no place among adults, specifically those in charge of entire countries. To live in the mature world, we must demand that same maturity from others. Who wants to be treated like a child, especially on the world stage? No one that I would care to deal with, how about you?

It’s curious to note that those who advocate the notion of diversity somehow don’t think that it’s necessary in the job market. Oh, yeah, they want a diversity of the workforce, but how about addressing the natural diversity in people’s abilities. Why restrict our economy, when, if true diversity is the goal, we shouldn’t have it in the job market. Not everyone is cut out for college. That doesn’t mean that they are less intelligent than anyone else is. This may come as a shock to the political elites, but there are many Americans who are smart enough to go to college, but would rather work with their hands.

If you wish to become a machinist, for example, there’s a lot that you need to know in order to do your job. You need to know physics, metallurgy, geometry, and trigonometry and also have excellent communication skills in order to maintain an orderly flow of information in the workplace. These skills can also be learned in college, but in manufacturing, there is the added reward of tangibility; you can hold your work in your hand. Many times, you can understand that you’ve just helped someone else to make their life a little easier. You’ve made money and helped someone else in the process.

What’s not to like?

While those of us who were in manufacturing and now aren’t know what has been lost, others are just now waking up to the facts. Articles like this and this are sadly heartening, for, if enough people recognize that we’ve done a disservice to the nation by willfully abandoning a productive economic sector, we can reverse course and begin to make products in America once more.

This will doubtless require that we drag the ruling elite along, kicking and screaming. They must overcome their natural tendency to denigrate those of us who wish to work with our hands. Failing that, we need to replace them with others who recognize the value that our manufacturing sector once provided. They must also ignore the cries of nationalism and protectionism that will be hurled at them from others who would rather steal than work.

We must take control of our destiny again and show the world how it’s done.

Let’s get serious about diversifying our economy and set our sights on restoring our manufacturing base. It was once the foundation of our country and can be again.

Dems Flunk Econ 101

The reaction by the left to President Obama’s deal to extend the Bush tax cuts has been predictably bad. His base is sorely disappointed that he didn’t fight to increase taxes and their posts prove it. Another thing they prove is that those on the left are economic illiterates.

I am amazed by the comments in forums about Obama maintaining our current tax rates and extending UE benefits for another 13 months. Check them out here and here. The level of misunderstanding of basic economics is astounding.

In our free market economy, each new mandate is a burden on business. It imposes a cost on the business that the average employee never sees, but is paid anyway. Yet this basic economic law is lost on them. Also lost on them are the basics of wealth generation. Check out this quote from none other than Nancy Pelosi concerning the impact of unemployment benefits:

"...Unemployment insurance returns $2 to the economy for every $1 spent," said Pelosi last week. "This is money that is needed by families to buy necessities, to heat their homes... and immediately injects demand into the economy, creating jobs."

Now, I’m not sure where to start on her statement other than to say that every word of it is wrong, including the “and’s” and “the’s.”

How can she dictate national economic policy correctly if she fails to understand the basics of a free market economy? Oh, wait, our current unemployment rate of 9.8% is proof enough that she doesn’t know what she’s doing. Remarkably so, this woman is allegedly worth a great deal of money.

There are some on the right who aren’t too up on economic theory, either. Check out this comment from Foxnews.com’s Bradley Blakeman concerning the debate over Obama’s recent deal to keep our current tax rates:

“Republicans believe that the way to get people back to work is by incentivizing the private sector not penalizing them and paying citizens to be idle and unproductive.”

“Republicans believe?” We’re not talking beliefs here. We’re talking about economic laws and what happens under a repressive structure of government that is openly hostile to the creation of wealth.

Washington is the main reason our economy is in the sorry shape it's in today. Too many rules, regulations, and high tax rates have finally caught up to us, resulting in the closest thing to a depression that most of us have witnessed in our lifetime. There is a root cause for our current situation: the Community Reinvestment Act. This single piece of legislation forced banks to make loans to those who were bad credit risks and could not otherwise afford a home. Under the penalty of law, banks started losing money, which they attempted to bundle into other financial packages to offset this new federal requirement. And it worked for a while, right up until the presidential election of 2008. That’s when the excrement struck the air-moving device and our economy tumbled into the deepest recession in modern American history. We’re still in it because of the economic ignorance of those we’ve managed to elect to high office in Washington.

We can't keep putting restrictions on the "evil rich" and expect to maintain our economic power, it's that simple. Yet, we keep on voting for economically illiterate politicians who know nothing about how our free market economy works. In addition, those same politicians cater to their left-wing base, which insists upon punishing those in society that provide us with the money to maintain our way of life. The same way of life that is the envy of the world, the same way of life that has people from far away lining up to become Americans.

If you're still confused as to how this works and your eyes glaze over when the talk comes to economics, mathematics, percentages and tax rates, watch this video from Lee Doran entitled "Bar Stool Economics" (courtesy of The Right Scoop.com) and glaze no more.



If we want to keep our good paying jobs, we need to start electing pols with real-world experience. There is a reason why we're suffering needlessly under Obamanomics: he and his advisors have no experience in the business world and have never run a business. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for a while, but their continued insistence upon more and more federal intrusion into our daily lives is hurting our ability to do business and generate wealth.

Also, don't buy into the class warfare that the Dems are always spouting. It takes a certain type of psychosis for a rich person in Congress to divide Americans along economic lines. Don't you want to be rich someday too?

If you side with them and you later become rich, how do you think you'll be treated?

An Open Letter to the Incoming Congress

Dear Members of the 112th Congress,

Allow me to be among the first Americans to welcome you to your new job. Congratulations to you. You have a unique job in all the world. Your decisions will have a direct effect upon millions of your fellow citizens for years to come. The opportunity for you is literally boundless. You may be able to lift America from the depths of malaise and incompetence that we’ve suffered under for the past four years during the reign of Nancy Pelosi and her progressive minions.

While there are many important issues facing the country, perhaps none is as important as solving our economic problems. We have them primarily because we’ve allowed the federal government to become far too big and unmanageable. The imposition of an increasing number of federal regulations, rules and taxes have created an environment that is hostile towards business and damaging to the country. The results are all around us – there are record numbers of Americans on food stamps and record numbers of Americans living in poverty. This is the legacy of progressivism, a legacy that is unbecoming the free people of this great country.

Our current economic problems will not be solved quickly. However, you can take steps to minimize the negative effects of too much government by following a few simple principles. First, understand that Americans need good, high-quality jobs. Our way of life is dependent upon creating an atmosphere that fosters the creation of a rich diversity of job options. The move towards a global economy has been an abject failure that has resulted in the massive export of good American jobs overseas. It is time to recognize the value in manufacturing American products for Americans. We can and should be constructing our own cars, computers and washing machines here in America. By not doing so, we are limiting our potential for growth and prosperity unnecessarily. By rejuvenating our manufacturing base, we will once again provide good jobs for a larger number of Americans.

Second, also understand that we need abundant and inexpensive sources of energy. The current regulatory environment is artificially restricting our ability to create these sources for no reason. Our way of life depends upon the wise utilization of our God-given natural resources, but our own government, aided by radical, far-left environmental groups, is preventing us from doing so. Much needed, new sources of power using proven, safe technology are under attack from these groups who are stifling our ability to have efficient energy supplies. Despite being unelected to any office, environmental groups are dictating national energy policy with no regard to the negative effects of their rules. Laboring under the false theory of “man-made climate change,” these groups are damaging our national interests. By standing in the way of proven sources of energy, these groups also bear a great responsibility for the current state of our economy. It is the hope of a nation that you will greatly diminish the harmful influence these fringe organizations currently impose on the construction of new oil refineries and nuclear power plants and you will encourage a return to an energy policy that adequately addresses the needs of a growing nation and a vibrant economy.

Finally, let me impress upon you the importance of conducting your affairs in Washington with the highest legal and moral standards. Let your actions always be guided by the knowledge that what you do has a direct effect on every American. Place yourself in the shoes of your fellow citizens when considering any issue. Guide your actions in a way that will bring honor and respect to our government. Never let there be any question that you are doing your very best to improve the lives of everyone in America.

In conclusion, it is with the best wishes of success that I welcome you to your new station. May it be filled with good things for you, your staff, and your country. May God Bless you and the United States.

Sincerely,
BackwardsBoy

Friday Bits of Tid, SEC Championship Edition

Auburn takes on South Carolina for all the marbles in the SEC Championship game tomorrow. As much as it pains me to type it, War Eagle!

And now, after weeks of delay, the post you've all been waiting for, (drum roll, please)

ta da!

Friday Bit of Tid!

Thank you very much. Please hold your applause or we'll never get through this.

On this day in 1979, the last Pacer limped off the assembly line. Eventually, the American Motors Company would too.

This would be the perfect Christmas gift for, um, somebody. Lee Harvey Oswald's coffin. Assassin not included.

Give me back my boobehs. A German man who paid for his girlfriends' *ahem* enhancements, wants them back after she reneged on her agreement to stay with him for a year.

How Guinness keeps us entertained between pints. World Record Day.

It's beginning to eel a lot like Christmas. And no, that's not a typo.

Duude, like, do you need any drugs?

Remember when folks used to paint themselves into a corner? Consider this an upgrade.

Alotta Felina II

Today's edition is brought to you by the Miss TSA Pinup Calendar. Order yours today. Operators are standing by...

Have a good'un, y'all.

President Obama Seeks to Prolong the Great Recession

If you had any doubt that this administration is actively promoting and encouraging the downfall of the nation, yesterday’s announcement that the moratorium on oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico will be continued should erase that doubt. In a reversal of announced policy, an unnamed spokesman yesterday said the Obama administration would not consider any new drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, putting the area off-limits to oil exploration until 2022.

Thanks a lot, Mr. President.

Thank you for placing the needs of an extreme, misguided special interest group ahead of the needs of the country. I’m certain that the families of the now-unemployed oil workers whose lives are being destroyed by your stupid decision will think that you did the right thing. And the many other manufacturing workers who support the industry will thank you in a few months when they find themselves signing up for their unemployment checks, you know, the ones that will be far less than their past wages, and then only for a limited time.

You just gave many families a wonderful Christmas gift: financial ruin.

Thanks a lot, Mr. President.

Leave it up to the most unqualified president ever to purposely ruin our economy. When we need jobs, he makes sure they disappear. Where we need economic activity and increased energy supplies, he insures that we have neither. There can no longer be any question that this man’s decisions are harming the country.

That’s progress. Hope and Change we all can believe in.

Let’s pause for a moment and think of what we could and should be having for an energy policy, shall we?

First, we must, I stress must realize that there is no such thing as man-made global warming, climate change, or any other such nonsense. We cannot proceed any longer laboring under that myth – it was never true to begin with. It has only been used to stifle energy innovation and creativity in addition to providing a convenient excuse to drastically reduce our standard of living for no good reason.

Modern life consists of technology which is largely dependent upon energy. We pretty much owe our position as the world’s largest economy on our technical prowess. History proves that our technological innovation began shortly after the widespread utilization of electricity. For a small thought experiment, think of where we would be if we didn’t have cheap electricity. I’ll wait while you hop in the WABAK machine.

Good, you’re back.

So you understand that our way of life depends upon cheap, abundant energy supplies, which also provide jobs for those who produce and maintain the infrastructure. It’s all good. We get cheap energy, which frees up our time to be able to innovate and experiment, extends our life span so we can spend more time with our loved ones, and provides us with a high standard of living that the world has never seen before.

And, if you’ve been paying attention for the past few decades or so, you also know there are people who want to take this away from you.

Ask yourself why this is.

Why would anyone in their right mind want to reduce our standard of living? Who in their right mind would want us to return to the past, a past where simple daily hygiene was a luxury and medical practices consisted of bloodletting?

Yet, this is what some people consider “progress.”

I present to you one of those people.



Now that we need no longer labor under the hoax of “global warming,” there is no reason for us to restrict our energy supplies. None. Yet, our president is determined to do just that.

We could be increasing our exploration for oil. We could be building new nuclear power plants (after we reopen the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal facility). We could be increasing economic activity instead of reducing it. This would help us to recover from this Great Recession by creating jobs and wealth and by keeping energy prices low.

But we have a president who doesn’t want that for the country and is doing his best to make sure that we don’t have it. His decision to shut off vast areas of our Gulf to oil drilling is shortsighted, uneducated, ill-informed, and frankly, un-American. He intends to diminish this country greatly by employing what Al-Qaeda recently called “Operation Hemorrhage,” a series of small wounds that would amount to death by a thousand cuts. His ultimate goal is to inflict as much economic damage as possible upon innocent Americans whose only crime is wanting to provide for themselves and their families.

What have we done to ourselves?