Tuesday, July 17, 2007

The Parable of the Wagon

Years ago there was a very large wagon full of big, important, necessary burdens. The wagon needed to be moved from one side of the mountain to the other. The survival of everyone depended on it. It had to be done for the good of all.

Some wise people said: “If we all cooperate, some of us pushing, some of us pulling, we can certainly get this wagon to where it needs to be.” A very few said: “Oh, I can’t push or pull the wagon because I’m sick, I’ve a bad back, or heart, or whatever – won’t you please just let me ride on the wagon.” Since they were relatively few in number compared to the pushers and pullers, these agreed to let the few riders get on the wagon where they could be taken care of. They were very charitable.

Everyone agreed that a job this big required leadership to make sure it was being done in the most efficient way possible. Elections were held among the pushers and pullers and bosses were chosen. The riders didn’t really think it necessary to be involved in the election of bosses since they weren’t doing any of the work. They were content just to ride.

Everything was going well until some of the more selfish workers started to complain that they felt they were doing too much of the work, and the rich bosses were just living off the efforts of the workers. The workers were being exploited! So they promised several of the lazier workers that if they voted for them to be the boss, they could stop pushing and pulling and start riding on the wagon. They soon discovered that the more people they promised a free ride, the more people would vote for them. They also convinced those already riding on the wagon that it wasn’t fair that they couldn’t vote for bosses. The lazy workers and riders now made up a majority. The productive bosses and unselfish workers were voted out of power and made to push and pull the wagon all alone. They had to contribute even more – for the children you understand.

Very soon however, there were far more people riding on the wagon than there were pushing or pulling it. Little by little, the wagon went out of control, eventually careening at a very high rate of speed down the mountain, crushing and killing those productive workers in front and stranding those who were left behind to perish in the wilderness.

The riders were OK for a while. They were very happy to have the wagon and all of the valuables to themselves. However, as the wagon went out of control, faster and faster, it soon was smashed against the boulders and destroyed, killing all. The shortsighted riders didn’t realize that there were no more productive people left to protect and take care of them. They hadn’t noticed that things were out of control. And they had forgotten how to care for themselves.

In the end, all was lost.

The moral: When you have more people riding on the wagon than pushing or pulling it, you are bound for destruction.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Old Dog, Old Tricks

Literally within minutes of the breaking news that a nut case was shooting people at Virginia Tech University, the usual suspects were cranking up their usual propaganda talking points about how more gun control would make us all safer. Pavlov would have been impressed.

This crowd doesn't seem able to grasp the concept that the shooter was violating V Tech's gun control rule when he entered the campus heavily armed. In fact he proved conclusively that he was willing to violate any gun law they might pass and was willing to die to carry out his mania to violate gun control.

When will rational people in this country wake up to the fact that disarming people by creating "gun free" zones only serves to point nut cases at locations where they are very unlikely to encounter resistance. The recent shooting at Trolley Square shopping mall in Salt Lake City is perfect example: There a nut case shooter was intent on killing as many as possible and would have most certainly succeeded in killing more that he did but for an armed citizen who chose to ignore the "Gun Free" sign posted on the entrance to the mall. The off-duty policeman did have his weapon and was able to engage the killer before he could kill again, thus ending the threat with undoubtedly fewer casualties that would have otherwise occurred.

The only way to protect yourself against these killers it to arm yourself. The police can't be everywhere, and more gun control laws will only make the next case worse than V Tech.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Well is Anybody Surprised?

Scooter Libby couldn't remember which reporter he didn't tell about Joe Wilson's wife. May go to jail for 20 years. No real crime was ever committed involving the CIA, or leaking anything. Impossible to believe. The jury went in with blinding Bush hatred which allowed them to ignore the lack of criminal intent on the part of Libby. They "got" Bush through Scooter and to heck with justice!

Sandy Berger admits stealing top secret intelligence documents and destroying them. An actual crime was committed. A small fine and he'll get his top security clearance back soon. No jail time for him. That's justice DC left-wing, democrat style. If you want a jury of your peers in DC you better be a very left-wing, liberal, Democrat.

Sometimes it's very hard to live in this country.

What should happen now? Since there is almost a zero chance that there will be any justice done by the appeals courts, (Are you kidding? This is Washington D.C.) all appeals should be dropped.
President Bush should immediately pardon Libby. The underlying principle here is clear: Even if Libby didn't accurately recall the sequence of events surrounding who he told, or who told him where Joe Wilson's wife worked, so what? The telling of that information was not a crime. So he misremembered to protect nobody who committed a crime. This is very evident. The prosecutor knew right from the beginning that no crime had been committed in the leaking of Plame's name, and that Libby, Rove, and the vice president didn't do it anyway. Why did he continue the investigation once he new no crime had been committed? Where is the venality on the part of Libby here? Nobody got hurt in this case except Libby, and he didn't deserve it. Perjury laws are in place to prevent people from obstructing the prosecution of those who have committed a crime. In this case, there was no crime committed!

The only way this political meanness and chicanery can now be brought to a close is for Bush to pardon Libby and put an end to the madness. Justice demands it. This person has done nothing to merit the prosecution he has already endured. Pardon Libby now!

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Should We All be Forced to Worship at the Church of Global Warming?

News Item: Weather Channel maven favors pulling certification from any TV meteorologist who doesn’t adhere to the "approved" global warming dogma.

No doubt about it. The “global warming” true believers have begun to take draconian steps to enforce their notion of climate orthodoxy: If you don’t adhere strictly to their rigid set of dicta sanctorum, you risk excommunication. Weather reporters of America – take note!

They long have been successful in fostering their “we will brook no disagreement” attitude in academia, and in the judicial system. They have owned both for many years and you will find precious few in those arenas who dare to be contrary to the favored “global catastrophe” doctrine. In spite of virtually no real evidence, and almost entirely as a result of extreme political coercion and peer pressure, the majority of scientists today seem ready to check their objectivity at the door, put on their green robes, stand in a nice orderly, straight line and parrot the approved canonical verses: “Global warming is bad. Global warming is caused by evil humans. Humans are bad. Global warming is caused by America. America is bad. Global warming is caused by evil, greedy big oil corporations. Corporations are bad. Global warming is caused by George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Haliburton, Scooter Libby and all other evil neocons. Neocons are bad. We must destroy them… destroy them… destroy them”.

The global warming zealots are now taking their crusade deeper and deeper into all institutions we hold dear in America. They have invaded to a degree unprecedented the halls of congress including seemingly forcing President Bush to at least pay lip service homage to them in his state of the union address. They have long since had the left-leaning foundations on their side. These are the source of most of the grants the scientists are groveling to get. Naturally, many of them are eager to bend over, grab their ankles, and just go along with all of the "Chicken Little" alarmist fiction . Follow the money. The "global warming" vickars are now moving in to strong-arm some major corporations who must have sensed that, in the face of such irrational fanaticism, resistance is futile – resistance is futile – resistance is futile – resistance is futile!

To be sure, there are a still a few intrepid skeptics in the scientific and business community who dare to raise their hands and ask inconvenient questions, such as what about the warming and cooling cycles that have taken place for millennia before human activity became a factor? What caused them? They are usually just ignored or dismissed by the global warming pontiffs as pawns of big oil: “Pity them. Their faith is not strong enough to accept the gospel we know to be correct. They have been corrupted by the evil demon Exxon! They shouldn’t worry about the facts. We have told them that man is the cause of all global warming. That is sufficient.”

The fact is, according to these brave few, nobody knows if the current small global average temperature increase, if it is happening at all, is a good thing or a bad thing for humans. It seems logical that warmer winters in Minnesota is preferable to a mile thick glacier covering most of North America. The fact is, if warming is happening, nobody knows exactly what may be the cause, or the result, or how, or if, there is anything humans can do to enhance or stop it, of if, indeed, they should do anything to stop it. The weather is cyclical. Always has been. We will get warming, then cooling, and then warming again – over and over again. We just need to deal with it like we always have. This irrational fear and trembling about the weather serves no purpose – other than to enhance the political power and standing of the elders of The Church of Global Warming.

Climate science is poorly understood and in continual dispute. What is not in dispute, however, is that this fervent, wild-eyed religious anti-civilization movement already has much of the power they seek to destroy us. The laws and sanctions they advocate will have a real impact on our nation’s economy and future viability. We could wind up on the ash heap of history as the only civilization that chose to commit massive economic suicide for no other reason than an irrational devotion to the false religion of the Great Green Church of Global Warming. And that would be a pity.