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.