Kyzylkum

They Must Be Insane

2009-10-12T22:16:00.003-06:00

One definition of insanity is repeating a behavior or practice that has always been unsuccessful in the past with the delusional idea that it will somehow succeed in the future, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. Such insanity is frequently manifested in government policies that somehow get imposed on us over and over even though they always fail to accomplish what they are intended to accomplish, and frequently result in adverse effect not foreseen at the time they were imposed. A good example of this is price controls. Yes, we all know that these have failed in the past when they were tried by dictators, despots, left-wingers and other assorted politicians down through the ages. If you put an artificial ceiling price on any commodity, the ceiling will immediately become the floor, and pressure will inexorably mount to raise it. And until it is raised, not only will there be a shortage of whatever commodity is thus regulated, there will be corruption, black markets, etc. created. It happened with gasoline in the 70s, with price controlled rental units in large cities for decades, and with countless other items over the centuries. It is really a singularly bad idea. Yet “progressive” politicians resort to it over and over again to placate the ignorant bleating of their benighted constituents who clamor for “fair prices.” Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations, clearly spelled out the inevitable failure of price controls and the virtue of free markets way back in 1776,(oh the irony), but he is mostly ignored and dismissed by today’s left-wing professors of economics, who, none-the-less, have failed to come up with a better system. Russia’s colossal failure in their seventy year experiment in “government control” over prices and production should serve as a warning beacon to all but the most thick-headed.

So, in spite of the abundant evidence that it won’t work, surprise, surprise, here comes the Obama administration with price controls. Yes price controls in the form of interest rates banks are allowed to charge on loans. As of October 1, 2009, banks are restricted in the rate they can charge on mortgage loan products. Of course the new rules are supposed to "protect consumers from problem mortgages,” (which, by the way, were caused in large part by the government requirements imposed on banks by Jimmy Carter’s Community Reinvestment Act.), but in reality they will decrease the amount of loans available to borrowers. The new policy limits the rate banks can charge. Therefore, banks will simply stop making loans to all but the most qualified of borrowers, since the government controlled rates will not allow them to recoup their costs on the riskier mortgages. Additionally most banks have already raised their rates to the highest rate the government will allow since that is the “government approved rate” so they no longer have to compete with one another. No more competition, decrease in products offered, higher prices. Inevitably the pressure will mount for the government to increase the “ceiling” rates. Higher rates for everybody will result due to the lack of competition. Without a doubt banks will make fewer loans to fewer borrowers and the very people who jammed these rate controls through will be crying “discrimination” when the banks elect not to make risky loans. Without being able to price these loans to be viable, they will simply stop making them. This has already happened. We’re not talking the “loan shark” rates that some financial institutions were charging. We’re not talking 36% mortgages here. The banks were making these riskier loans at 2% or 3% over the rate available to the best borrowers. But no more. These loans will no longer be available due to the price controls imposed. Classic consequences: Less supply, less of the market served, more demand equals inflation, corruption and higher prices for everybody. It is insanity.

The Law of Unintended Consequences

2009-07-24T22:56:00.009-06:00

As Rush Limbaugh says frequently, "Words mean something." In Barack Obama's lame excuses for besmirching the entire police profession by saying they acted "stupidly", he only exacerbated the situation by claiming his words were mis-calibrated. The words were uttered in plain English. There was no nuance, no obscurity, no doubt about their meaning whatsoever. Obama has now dug a deeper hole by trying to bury the first one he dug. If we had an honest press they would be calling him on it. Don't hold your breath.

The facts are apparently clear in this case: The police officer responded to a call about a possible burglary, investigated and encountered an obviously out-of-control left-winger with a giant chip on his shoulder. The officer apparently did nothing wrong. The professor clearly refused to cooperate with the police officer in any way. The 911 tapes would probably make that abundantly clear if they were allowed to be released. If we had an honest civil administration in the Cambridge police department, they would have already released the tapes. Don't hold your breath.

The tapes will probably not be released precisely because they would exonerate the police officer. They will refuse to release the tapes because it would displease the left-wing power brokers who do not want the professor's outrageous behavior further illuminated. They probably don't dare release the tapes. Don't hold your breath.

One of the most pernicious ways left-wingers wreak damage on our society can be summed up neatly in the Law of Unintended Consequences. In actuality, and in fact, very frequently the opposite result than the left-wingers had intended in their policies and regulations, occurs. For example, John Locke warned over 300 years ago that artificially restricting interest rates lenders could charge resulted in more problems than benefits for most people because the lenders simply stopped lending money at the restricted rates. Therefore, average people could no longer get credit. Instead of helping benighted people to save money on interest, the nanny class prevented them from prospering at all. Many other such examples abound.

Affirmative Action is yet another example of supposed good intentions gone wrong. Professor Gates is a product of the affirmative action generation of the sixties and seventies. No one can ever know what his real merit was when he was accepted to Yale since at the time he was accepted many, many unqualified minorities were being accepted based not on merit, but on the quaint notion that society could correct long-standing injustice against them by just jamming them into Ivy League colleges. Some of them undoubtedly were well-qualified and would have been accepted and would have graduated on their own. However, since they were all lumped together with the unqualified, the smell left behind by affirmative action lingers on and on, permeating each minority college student who attended colleges such as Yale since the sixties. Nobody can know, or ever will know, if any particular student got in, and graduated from the Ivy League educational institutions on their own merit or if the whole thing was as a result of the misguided efforts of do-gooders to right all of the supposed wrongs of prior racial discrimination by reserving slots for less-qualified persons of color, then passing them along because, after all, they couldn't be allowed to fail. The result of this meddling is that many of these "scholars" have a permanent, giant chip on their shoulders, of the variety Professor Gates apparently amply demonstrated. They know the aura of invalidity will follow them the rest of their academic lives no matter what they do. It has to be a heavy burden to bear.

Maybe Professor Gates is the world's greatest scholar on "Black Studies." The news media is convinced he is. The sad reality is that because of the law of unintended consequences as applied to affirmative action, the world can really never know. An honest assessment by commentators would admit this. Don't hold your breath.

Hooray! I no Longer Have to Pay my Mortgage!

2009-02-19T20:47:00.001-07:00

President Obama says so. In an incredible leap of socialism, president Obama will take $75 billion from other people to pay my mortgage for me. I’m only sorry that I didn’t buy a much more expensive house to not pay my mortgage on. I’m sure I would have been much more comfortable in a larger, nicer house than the one I’m currently stuck with. After all, why should those who moved into houses they couldn’t afford, based on fraudulent, phony income, with no down payment, and with mortgage payments based on negative amortization or interest only payments, lose their houses? (THEIR houses? They have nothing invested in these houses. The houses actually belong to the bank and the bank’s shareholders, but that logic totally escapes the Obama thought process!)

But not to fear, Obama will save us all. Many of the very people who are currently not paying their mortgages are in the homes they couldn’t afford because Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and now Obama REQUIRED banks to make loans to people who couldn’t afford those houses under the Community Reinvestment Act.

Free welfare for all…. We have to subsidize people who are not paying their mortgage, for the good of all you understand. Hey, this could really catch on! Why pay for anything? Obama will pay for your food, your car, your clothing, your house and everything! Why pay anything? Why work? Incredible!

No Veto-Proof Congress

2008-12-04T19:11:00.006-07:00

The Georgia senate election results have become final and happily, the left-wing Daily Kos crowd will not be having a Merry Christmas this year because they were deprived of one of their most longed-for wishes: a 60 seat Democrat senate. Of course the really despicable Democrat comedian from Minnesota is still trying to "steal" that state but it won't matter in the final analysis. They won't have the super majority they craved. (It always boggles the mind to see how the left-wing gang doesn't ever wonder how it is that every recount in a close election goes their way eventually. How does that happen? Logic would dictate that a truly honest, random recount would spread the "found" votes more or less equally among both candidates, but not if one of the candidates is a Democrat. This has been shown over and over, in state after state. If the race is close, the Democrats will steal it. It's almost a matter of pride with them.)

After securing the presidential election win, Barack, much to his credit, has disappointed his wild-eyed cohorts by naming several actual moderates to his cabinet. He has given us "Clinton Three" for the most part with a couple of "holdovers" to a least give the illusion of leading from the center. The Kos Kids are livid. No doubt the current economic conditions have tempered his real long-range intentions and even a committed socialist realizes that a crippling tax increase immediately after his election wouldn't sit well with the otherwise deluded American people. The tax increases will have to wait for a little while at least, but they, no doubt will be coming.

Conservatives are starting to come out of the hills to try and reorganize a comeback. It will be a long, hard slog but must be done. No doubt, when Obama's tax increases and wrong-headed policies start to show their negative effects, the American people will be ready again for a swing back to sanity. This time we must assure that "genuine" conservatives of the Reagan ilk are elected and not the country-club Republicans who fumbled away the last opportunity they were given. The nation's survival may well depend on it.

Truth and Consequences

2008-10-31T20:42:00.008-06:00

For the past year many Americans have been ignoring many simple truths. Barack Obama is not what he appears to be and many self-deluded Americans, plagued with "white guilt" don't seem willing or able to admit to themselves that truth. Obama is an inexperienced political novice, without any qualifications, accomplishments, or relevant experience to be president of the United States. Obama has many troubling prior associations with radicals, terrorist supporters, communists and other assorted socialists that would prevent him from getting any kind of employment that required a security clearance or background check. And perhaps the most difficult of all truths for many people to admit to themselves: Obama is where he is for one reason, and one reason only -- because he is black. The truth hurts, but if anybody is willing to be honest at all with themselves, they have to admit that if Obama had the same background and experience he would not be the nominee of his party if he were white. I'm sorry if the truth is hard to hear.

Barack Obama is entirely a creation of a coalition of white, moneyed liberals, left-leaning mainstream media outlets who are in love with the concept of the "first black president" and who are deluded by power hungry Democrat politicians who share a pathological hatred for George W. Bush, and radical left-wing activists who really do want to destroy the America most of us know and cherish. Without the concerted efforts of this group, we would have never heard of Barack Obama since he himself has done nothing to merit any notoriety. This truth is undeniable.

If Obama wins the election on November 4Th, America may well survive, but will undoubtedly suffer severe damage from the appointment of assorted left-wing judges and the left-wing legislation he will support. The effect of this will be to further destroy the proven capitalist system that has provided us with unprecedented prosperity for over 200 years and replace it with socialist, grey bureaucracy dominated by the lunacy that people will work hard to provide tax revenue for leftists to redistribute to their favored clients. Nevertheless, America will probably survive, albeit at a great cost in lost prosperity and wasted time. However, if Obama wins and gets a veto-proof congress, America may well not survive the onslaught of left-wing political idiocy which would no doubt destroy most of the basic institutions we all hold sacred. "Spreading the wealth" will destroy us just as certain as that concept has destroyed every other socialist/communist experiment nations have previously tried.

The polls are tightening up. There is still hope that enough Americans will wake up in time to save us, if not from an Obama presidency, then at least from the dreaded veto-proof congress. Here's hoping we will not perish in that conflagration. We must remain steadfast in our resolve to not allow that to happen and to work tirelessly to overturn the Obama phenomenon as soon as possible after it bears the bitter fruit it inevitably will produce.

Leave the Taxpayers Out of It!

2008-09-25T21:57:00.001-06:00

So some large Wall Street investment banks find themselves in serious trouble these days. Through a combination government mandated poor business decisions caused, in no small measure, by the Community Reinvestment Act, unrealistic economic assumptions, greed and foolishness, they wound up with a ruinous portfolio of non-performing real estate loans. The consequences? They should all now go out of business!! That’s the way it works in the real world. You make too many poor choices, the consequences are — you lose your business. It has always been that way. That’s the way it should work now and forever. That’s capitalism.

However, in an incredible collapse of good common sense, otherwise conservative-leaning politicians are leaping blindly into a new socialism to rescue these banks with taxpayer money! Uncle Sam will give the very banks that made the mess enough money to paper over their problems. Of course anytime you create the nation’s biggest federal bureaucracy in one fell swoop, and put billions of dollars into it, you have set the stage for years of taxpayer hardship to pay the freight. Our children’s children will be paying for this boondoggle for many years to come. You also create the inevitable feeding grounds for every special interest, government money grabbing, lobbyist known to mankind all lining up to get their “share” of the pie. This money will be spent on every liberal special interest program imaginable, earmarked to bring pork to every greedy congress person who can extend their hand, and will expand from a mere $700 billion, to who knows how much in the blink of an eye. It’s a bad idea! It should go away! It really could be the downfall of this nation!

But what can we do to help out the economy you ask? These large bank failures really have put the nation’s economy at risk. The threat of recession or worse is real. The economy really is in danger due to the lack of capital in the banks to fund loans to businesses and home purchases! This is true — and something really does need to be done. But what?

First, congress should immediately repeal the capital gains tax effective 1/1/08. This would cause multiple millions of dollars to pour into the economy immediately. The incentive to invest would increase greatly. Next, the president should announce that the non-performing assets held by these failing banks are for sale at thier current market value. He should stress that the patriotic thing for persons with means to do is to purchase these assets, which are backed with real estate after all, in the rational expectation that they will inevitably increase in value over the years, making them a good investment in the long run – and the fact that the investors will not have to pay capital gains tax on the gains from these investments will only make them all the more attractive. This is the private enterprise solution to this problem. There is money out there looking for investment opportunities. These assets are not worthless and will attract potential investors if packaged and marketed correctly. The above steps along with some additional penalties and sanctions against the senior management of the profligate banks involved, plus some modest banking regulation reforms would solve this problem quickly. This approach will leave the bloated government bureaucracy out of it in large part. This plan will help, rather than hurt, the future of our nation. We should insist that our elected representatives take the proven capitalist pathway and leave the failed socialist theories alone. If not, we’ll all regret it — sooner, rather than later.

CAVEAT ELECTOR

2008-09-14T20:44:00.008-06:00

One of the most aggravating aspects of this, or any political campaign season, is the nearly constant lying perpetrated by politicians and their minions. While it happens on both sides, any objective analysis would reveal that recently the lying is much more likely a tactic of the Democratic Party. This is exactly what is currently going on in the Obama camp. It is an old story. Democrats seem to think they can just get away with it. A few examples: Kerry told the whoppers about "Chirstmas in Cambodia" and numerous other "Vietnam war hero" fibs. Clinton shook his finger at us and point blank lied about Monica Lewinski. Hillary repeatedly said she had no idea where the Rose Law firm billing records were. There are many, many more examples.

While is has been a long held political fact of life that you can't go after any democrat politician for lying --it's what they do-- Obama is taking it to a new low. One blatant example is his nearly constant claim that the economy is "... the worst since the Great Depression". In fact it isn't but that doesn't stop the Obama machine from spouting that whopper almost daily. In fact the economy is not even in a recession. A recession requires three consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. That hasn't happened. Not even close. The housing market, while under some stress, has very recently been worse, most recently in 1999 during the Clinton administration. The unemployment rate has ticked up a few points by it too has been much worse recently. The fact the the major news media is in the tank for him explains part of the reason Obama feels perfectly free to spout lie after lie after lie. Nobody will ever call him on it, and since he refuses to debate John McCain, he will likely never have to defend his lies.

Why can we sue and jail businesses who deceive us, and yet we have almost no recourse against democrat politicians who continually do the same or worse? The businessmen have the power the deprive us of a few dollars, but the lying democrat politicians have the power to literally control and ruin our lives through onerous taxes and regulations. Our only recourse is to vote against these liars and hope against hope that enough other Americans are astute enough to see through them. We don't have to just take it. Just like you wouldn't buy a car from a salesman who you knew to be an outright liar, why would you consider electing a presidential candidate who routinely lies. Why indeed?

It Was Just About Sex!

2008-09-08T17:54:00.002-06:00

Kwame Kilpatrick, the Democrat mayor of Detroit must be spending a lot of time these days talking to himself. He was convicted violating terms of his parole in a case about lying under oath. He is accused of lying about sex. He has to be asking himself: "Why do I have to go to jail for doing the same thing that Bill Clinton did?"

Bill Clinton is jetting around the world raking in millions in speaker fees. Kwame sits in jail. Ain't no justice is this world!

Maxi-Me

2008-08-23T22:39:00.012-06:00

Barack Obama's Top Ten Reasons for Selecting Biden:

1. If the tele-prompter breaks, he can plaigerize some really good lines for me to use.

2. If we have any more trouble with Georgia, I can send him to Atlanta. (He's got the foreign policy thing down pat!)

3. He has great mental ~~akumen~~ ~~acqumin~~ .... He's really smart!

4. No problem with four hundred dollar haircuts! (Maybe wind, but not haircuts)

5. He has 35 years senate experience, I have three. That makes the average between us 19 years each!

6. He, like me, never really worked in the private sector. (We'll hire advisors to run the economy. Not to worry!)

7. He supported the Iraq war. I opposed it. (Good balance there!)

8. He has the ~~experience~~ ~~gravitas~~ .... um, nuance I lack to be really attractive to potential voters.

9. He has great teeth, just like me.

10. He can help me win in Delaware! (I have the other 56 states in the bag already!)

(Hat tip to my brother-in-law Doug!)

Islamic Extremist Rope-a-Dope?

2008-07-10T20:24:00.007-06:00

Some few mainstream media sources have grudgingly reported the major decline in US military deaths in Iraq. While that seems to be good news for conservatives, there is still much room for caution and concern. The terrorists watch CNN and they are not stupid. It seems more than likely that they are laying low during the current US presidential campaign because they know that any major offensive in Iraq, or anywhere else for that matter, would greatly help John McCain's chances to become president. The extremists don't want John McCain to be the president. He is much less likely than Obama to cut and run in Iraq. They know that if they wait until Obama wins, they can then step up the violence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama, under extreme pressure from American leftists, would almost certainly withdraw from both countries and thus the terrorists will win the war. It is really their only chance. They know it and they are willing to stop the attacks for now, and wait for Obama to win.

That's one of the major reasons all conservatives need to support McCain in spite of his liberal tendencies. While he might not be our first choice, he is the only person at the moment who can prevent a potentially disastrous Islamic terrorist victory in the Middle East. Freedom loving conservatives must hold our noses and support him. He's our only hope.

Plame Case -- History Revised

2008-06-21T10:37:00.019-06:00

Two recent headlines regarding the self-serving testimony by Scott McClellan before John Conyer's congressional committee makes it very clear how low, shallow and mean-spirited the anti-Bush crowd can be. McClellan recently wrote a sensationalist book speculating about all sorts of things he really didn't know anything about and wasn't directly involved in. He wrote the book for one reason only: to make a pile of cash. He knew that writing scurrilous screeds against Bush is always very lucrative, even if nothing in them is true. Bush haters seem to have plenty of money. The headlines, both about the same event, illustrate succinctly how an author can twist and spin facts to match his own point of view.

The first: "McClellan: White House Hiding CIA Leak Info" plainly states as a fact that the "White House" (which most any average person would take to mean President Bush and Vice President Cheney) was "Hiding" the fact that they leaked Plame's name to Robert Novak in a vicious effort to punish Joe Wilson for his opposition to the war against Islamic Terrorism. The second: "Bush didn't know about CIA leak, McClellan says" makes no such assertion. It in fact says quite the opposite.

Both articles go on to say pretty much the same things however in their body. McClellan, who really was in no position to know what Rove or Cheney told Libby since he wasn't there and didn't ever ask, or bring his misgivings up with any senior White House official, nevertheless makes inflammatory assertions that Libby, Rove and Cheney leaked Plame's name to the press for nefarious reasons. Anybody, who doesn't have an axe to grind, has to now admit that Richard Armitage from the State Department was the leaker and the only leaker and that he did it deliberately for political, anti-Bush reasons. Libby was shamefully persecuted for purely political reasons even after that fact became known to the Special Prosecutor . The prosecutor was trying to poke a finger in Bush's eye and he didn't care how he did it. No leaks about Plame were ever given by Cheney, Libby, Rove or Bush! It didn't happen, but the leftists really wanted it to have happened so they just keep asserting that it did happen in a truly "Goebbelian" fashion.

Scooter was convicted of not remembering when he told, or what he told the late Tim Russert about the matter. He was never accused by the prosecutor of actually leaking anything because he didn't leak anything, nor did Cheney, nor did Rove. If they had, they would have been charged in a heartbeat. This whole political witch hunt is a giant embarrassment for all patriotic, clear-thinking Americans. Bush hating congressmen, news reporters and headline writers can make gratuitous assertions all they want that is was really Cheney, Rove or Bush who leaked Plame's name, but it still won't be true. However, the fact that it's not true doesn't seem to matter. They are all about revising history so the perception that it is true is at the forefront. And the saddest thing is that they seem to be able to get away with it.

Let me try my hand at yellow journalism headline writing: Russert Asserts Libby Was Involved in Plame Affair -- Now Dead!

It's Not the End of the World

2008-06-01T21:43:00.006-06:00

To listen to the MSM yammer on and on about the state of the economy, one would think we are immeshed in the biggest economic depression in history. What we really have now is an economic downturn. Last quarter's .6% growth came as a great disappointment to those who are counting on a real recession to get Obama in office in November. They, of course, are embarked on all this recession talk to bolster the chances of their chosen candidate Barack Obama who has made talk of a recession a part of his campaign. Of course if these doom sayers can convince enough squishy voters that we are truly in recession, they might just vote for Obama and his tax raising economics. That would really send our economy into a tailspin and result in the very recession they are trying to scare us about. Most certainly they would then blame it all on Bush and Cheney. It's a convenient paradigm: if anything bad happens, blame it on Bush. So far it has worked for them.

Of course, the classic deffinition of recession is two consecutive quarters of decline in the Gross Domestic Product. This hasn't happened since 1990/1991. That was the Bill Clinton recession. Now the left-wingers are trying to claim that a recession doesn't have to have two quarters of negative growth. It seems that a recession is whenever they say there is one and we'd just better trust them. Essentially, a recession is whenever there is a Republican in the White House.

While nobody likes higher gas prices and other economics woes, we need to reign in our fears somewhat. One aspect of the current slow- down in the economy that impacts every consumer is the price of gasoline. There are reports of people canceling their vacations due the high prices. However just a little math can help people keep things in proper perspective. The average price of gasoline in May of 2007 was $3.20. In May of 2008 it rose to $3.90. The $.70 rise seems like a lot, but if you are an average driver getting 25 miles per gallon and driving 15,000 miles per year, your actual out of pocket cost has gone up by about $35 per month, or roughly $1.15 per day. Would an extra dollar and fifteen cents a day dissuade any self-respecting vacationer? Doubtful if they understand the reality, but the insistent, unremitting, negative drum beat from the mainstream media who are trying to elect their guy by scaring everybody, don't care about facts. And that's a shame. because it not only hurts the families who don't get to make memories while vacationing. It also hurts all the businesses who rely on those travelers. Think about that the next time Obama tells you how bad things are.

I Just Want to Maintain A High Degree of Honor -- And Lose!

2008-05-11T21:22:00.007-06:00

At some point in this year's presidential campaign, the somewhat timid John McCain is going to be faced with a serious dilemma: He won't be able to disagree with Barack Obama (Or Hilary Clinton should the unexpected happen) at all, ever. As soon as he says anything the least bit confrontational, the mainstream media will immediately pounce on him for being racist. (Or sexist if it's Hilary.) So far, they have been biting their tongue in this regard during the primaries because they can hardly oppose either Obama or Hilary on any such frivolous grounds, but they won't hesitate to attack John McCain. Even though he thinks of himself as a media darling, he won't get any favors once the electoral battle ensues in earnest.

Barack's lack of experience, totally socialist policies, or left wing foreign policy won't likely ever even be brought up. McCain won't dare for fear of being branded racist. He will inevitably try to be the nice guy and that's frightening. The last "nice guy" to run for president on the Republican ticket was Bob Dole -- and he lost big time to a feckless, inexperienced Bill Clinton.

Unless McCain is able to get past this natural reticence to disagree with his opponents, he is doomed to follow Bob Dole and that will presage a bleak eight year for the GOP. John McCain has always gone out of his way to reach "across this aisle" to the Democrats. He has thrown his Republican colleagues under the bus to side with Democrat senators, sided with Tim Russert and George Stephanopolis, allied himself with Ted Kennedy. If he thinks he will get any mileage from any of these, he is most sadly mistaken.

Here's hoping his advisors will make him see that he needs to start disagreeing loudly and often with Obama and Hilary, and he needs to couch each and every point in the fact that their race or sex has nothing at all to do with his disagreement. He needs to disarm the race baiters of this world up front, take away their case that he is somehow racist for daring to disagree with his opponent's left-wing agenda. The future of our country depends on it.

The Parable of the Wagon

2007-07-17T11:09:00.000-06:00

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.

Old Dog, Old Tricks

2007-04-23T14:23:00.000-06:00

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.

Well is Anybody Surprised?

2007-03-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

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!

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

2007-01-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

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.

Freedom of Speech for All?

2006-10-07T10:07:00.000-06:00

Left-wing Fascist thugs attacked Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minutemen, as he attempted to deliver a speech in New York City on Thursday. (Watch the video) He was the invited guest of Columbia University Republicans. The criminals rushed the stage and knocked over tables and chairs, punching and kicking Gilchrist and unfurling banners in English and Arabic. The victim of this violent attack was finally rescued by security and escorted out of auditorium. Neither the police nor security guards made any effort whatsoever to arrest the attackers who assaulted Mr. Gilchrist. This is the latest example in a long list of compelling evidence that the left-wing along with radical Muslims do not believe in free speech unless you agree with them. They feel perfectly free to deny by violence the rights of anyone with an opposing point of view.

This alarming trend is being allowed to happen all over: In Germany, a Mozart opera was canceled for fear of Muslim riots because the opera contains some material which might be offensive to Muslims. An art exhibit in London was scotched for the same reason. Salman Rushdie is forced to hide in fear of his life because he wrote a book critical of Muslim fanatics. Political cartoons were said to be the cause of weeks of riots because they depicted the Muslim founder’s image. The Pope was forced to apologize because he quoted a 14th century author’s opinion that radical Muslims attempted to spread their “faith” at the point of the sword. Everything the Pope said was true.

How long will we continue to endure anti-free speech violence on the part the left-wing Fascists and their counterpart in the radical Muslim community? Do we want to live in a world where only one point of view is allowed?

We must be prepared to enforce freedom of speech. Those who rush the stage during a speech should be arrested and sent to prison. They have no right to assault a person merely because they disagree with what is being said. Muslim radicals who riot because of books or cartoons should be ordered to disperse, and if they fail to do so, they should be shot.

Until we get the resolve to take action to guarantee our freedoms, we most certainly will lose them.

Moderate Islam Defined

2006-09-14T16:46:00.000-06:00

In our search for moderate Islam, we are frequently disappointed. Every time there is a terrorist attack, we wait and hope in vain for influential, moderate, rational Muslims to stand up, speak up, denounce and cast out those who pervert the “peaceful religion of Islam.” But it never happens. Oh to be sure, we hear some token efforts, limited and frankly, quite ineffectual. Most of these go something like this: “We condemn the deaths of innocent civilians…, BUT!…” Unfortunately the “but” is the important thing. It always contains a condemnation of Israel and its efforts to defend itself against terrorism, or of the US efforts in Iraq, etc. This poisoned “but” kills any effect of the challenge to radical Islam by the so-called moderates. It cancels out any good results their disapprobation may have had. And that seems to be the desired effect, sad to say. Even the most moderate Muslim seems to be unwilling, or unable to frankly condemn and reject the terrorists without qualification. And that is a shame because unless, and until “moderates” learn to expel these killers from their midst, the war against terrorism will never end. Maybe they are just deathly afraid for their own lives if they were to really speak out. The Islamofacists would come to their home in the middle of the night and kill them and their whole family for slandering "Islam."

In her excellent piece on Moderate Muslims, Yashiko Sagamori points out that trying to find a “Moderate Muslim” is harder than finding a cure for cancer: "The moderate Muslim, along with the Big Foot, the unicorn, the Loch Ness monster, remains more elusive than a cure for cancer: there is at least a theoretical possibility that a cure for cancer can be found one day, unless of course Islam takes over and drags us all down into its own endless Dark Ages."

Why should this be important to us? The most frightening aspect of our current unconventional war against Islamofacists, is the seemingly impossible task of defining and finding our enemy. America has always been good at defeating any “organized army” we have ever come up against. We can lick ‘em every time in a flat out traditional fight. Our army is better trained and equipped. The enemy doesn't stand a chance in a regular battle. Where we get into trouble is when our foes don’t have the normal goals and asperations of a traditional enemy. Even the most hardened Nazi wanted to preserve his own life and that of his family and comrades. Once defeated in battle, they were willing to negociate. The Islamic Terrorists are different. They are motivated by an irrational belief in paradise and are willing and anxious to go there. And they don’t care a fig if it costs the life of their family either. They care nothing for life and do not fear death. After defeat, they will fight on, --albeit from behind the skirts of their women and children. Glenn Beck made that clear on his radio program today when he interviewed the producer of the movie Obsession, Radical Islam’s War Against the West. According to Glenn, this movie should be required viewing by all Americans who wish to preserve our way of life.

If we fail to take this threat seriously, we will all have to learn to live under Radical Islam. There is no choice… no room to negociate… no getting out of it... The fact is, any Radical Muslim who refuses to dennounce terrorism and mayhem will have to be killed. It is that stark. It is that simple. It is that important.

Edited, but Still a Powerful Clinton Indictment

2006-09-11T11:25:00.000-06:00

The Path to 9/11 should be viewed by all Americans. There has been a lot of nonsense by assorted leftists about “historical liberties” taken and some minor edits were done, but the central message of the mini-series remained very clear: The Clinton Administration had ample opportunity to eliminate Osama Bin Laden but failed do so! Clinton was so dissolute in his political philosophy and personal life that he was literally rendered impotent. His administration lacked the will, purpose and ability to protect us from Islamic terrorism. This failure had tremendous consequences. Clinton could not, or would not act and the nation paid the ultimate price for his weakness on 9/11/2001. ABC deserves enormous gratitude and kudos for having what Clinton so obviously lacks: the courage to tell the truth!

Perhaps the most telling line of the mini-series, so far, was delivered by the Northern Alliance leader who was working with a CIA field agent to eliminate Bin Laden: “Are there no men in Washington? Or are they all cowards?” That leader had it right. The fact that the Clinton administration were all cowards became crystal clear when they began to squirm and squeal at the mere notion that the light of day was going to be shed on their dereliction of duty. It is evident to everyone that they failed us terribly, and no amount of cover up can hide that fact. They know it, we know it and everybody with any sense knows it. As Shakespeare made clear, sometimes those who “protest too much” are merely attempting to hide the evident truth.

Perhaps just a bad as their failure to act to get Bin Laden, is the ominous actions of Bill Clinton, his lawyers, and assorted members of his former administration to scotch the whole project. They didn’t want it edited, they wanted it canceled. No amount of editing could erase the basic truth underlying this slice of history: Clinton failed. That sitting Democratic office holders would sink so low as to threaten the broadcast license of a major network because they didn’t want the truth to be told about their failures, speaks volumes as to the character of that party. In a fair and just world, they would be punished for their attempts to censor at the polls. They would lose the upcoming elections. Here’s hoping that’s just what happens. In the meanwhile, we should thank ABC profusely for their courage in the face of incredible pressure.

What About Scooter.....?

2006-08-30T15:00:00.000-06:00

Now that we have confirmation that it was Richard Armitage, and NOBODY inside the Bush White House, who gave Robert Novak the name of Joseph Wilson's wife, I wonder how Lewis Libby can get his good name, career and reputation back? Since he is guilty of nothing other than possibly not remembering details of conversations he had several years ago with reporters, it is now hard to see why the charges against him haven't yet been dismissed. These conversations, as it turns out were not about any kind of criminal activity whatsoever! That's very important in this case, because all the principals involved, the state department, the reporters and almost certainly the prosecutors knew that Libby had not committed any crime involving disclosure of classified information, which was the purported justification for starting the investigation in the first place. Why then did they allow the investigation to go on -- and on -- and on -- and on!? Why did they spend millions of taxpayers dollars and years, and years to investigate a non-crime?

It would be like a prosecutor suspecting you of embezzling bank funds. Early on they find out you didn't do it. The bank was mistaken, no crime took place. But instead of dropping the investigation, they discover during the course of their three years of interviews, that your neighbors say you planted yellow roses in your back yard, and you told them they were white roses. Bango! They have you for lying to a federal investigator! It is too silly to even contemplate, but it's exactly what happened to Libby.

The truth is that Armitage, like most of the career bureaucrats in the State Department, HATES George Bush. It goes without saying that democrats and their allies in the major media hate him. They are willing to go to any length to damage his presidency, including fostering a ridiculous, wasteful, years-long investigation about a non-crime.

Lewis Libby should have all charges against him immediately dismissed. He didn't do anything wrong and doesn't deserve having his life ruined any more that it already has been. This is nothing but politics of the meanest, lowest sort, and shouldn't be tolerated. Even the leftists should be ashamed of themselves and should be first in line, right behind Fitzgerald, to apologize to Libby.

Sometimes There Will Be Civilian Casualties

2006-07-31T12:13:00.000-06:00

In the current war with Islamic Terrorists, civilian casualties will be a fact of life. The sooner we accept this inevitable truth, the better able to defeat global Islamic Terrorism we will be. And we won’t be able to defeat them at all if we remain squeamish at the thought of civilian casualties. There is no two ways about it. It is the way things are in today’s world.

The reason there will be civilian casualties is because the Islamic Radicals think nothing of losing a life, or for that matter taking a life – either their own, or yours, or the guy down the block. All life is expendable in their world-view if the loss of that life, in any small way, enhances the cause of radical Islam. In their estimation, there is no such thing as an innocent civilian. That’s why they are all too happy send homicide bombers into crowded market places to blow up shoppers. The mere fact of killing them, in their view, furthers the cause of Allah. That’s why they set up their bases in the midst of populated areas. That’s why they don’t wear uniforms, or any identifying regalia, and instead, hide like the cowards they are behind the skirts of women and children in civilian homes, churches and UN outposts.

Consider this hypothetical scenario: Mexican Santeria believers, or ultra nationalists, or whatever radical cause, declare war on all non-believers in the USA. They start lobbing missiles from Tijuana at San Diego and kill and injure scores of Americans. They set up their missile launchers next to homes, hotels, churches in the hope that America will not retaliate for fear of killing “innocent civilians.” They cross our borders and kidnap and kill policemen and servicemen. How long would we wait before taking action? How many American deaths would it take before we said, we’re taking them out no matter what the cost in civilian life?

People need to grow up! This is a global war for the very survival of Western civilization. We are today deciding if liberty, our way of life, will survive on the earth. Rest assured that if the Islamic Terrorists prevail, liberty will be eradicated. Either we will submit to Islamic radical Law, or we will perish. The choice is clear, stark and unmistakable. It really is either them – or us!

Israel is now clearly in the position of being attacked by Global Radical Islam. Much of the world outside of the USA and Britain is supporting the terrorists against Israel!?! Does Israel have the right to defend themselves? -- to survive? -- to exist? Yet we see crocodile tears over sporadic civilian casualties caused accidentally by the IDF, while at the same time we never hear anything negative about the Islamic terrorists who really are targeting civilians with their rockets!? It boggles the mind. We must stop this childish gnashing of teeth over the loss of life that is the inevitable unintended consequence of Israel’s efforts to defeat this great evil of Islamic Terror. The fault for these "civilian" deaths lies squarely at the door of Radical Islam. Israel, in fact, has made heroic efforts to avoid civilian casualties. They only target known military installations or gun emplacements. They have dropped leaflets in all of southern Lebanon warning anybody, including innocent civilians, to get out of harms way. Those who have chosen to stay are either terrorist supporters, or captives of the Islamic Terrorists. Either way, their occasional death, while regrettable, is entirely justifiable and clearly the fault of the terrorists.

We don’t have any choice at this point. Either we stand behind Israel in their struggle for survival, or we fight these same Islamic radicals at some later date, after they have gained considerable additional strength, at some future place, on their terms not ours. Wake up America! Support Israel now or risk the loss of considerable life later! The life at risk in the very near future could well be yours!

The Intractable Illegal Alien Problem

2006-05-19T09:21:00.000-06:00

The fact is, there are about twelve million illegal aliens in this country now. The fact is, they're not going anywhere, --they're not going home. What to do about them is the question. And the solution is not easy.

Some have proposed just rounding them all up and sending them back. Simple. Or is it? The logistical nightmares alone would boggle the mind. How would you house them pending deportation hearings? How would you prove they are here illegally? How would you keep them from just jumping the border again?

The time has come for us to admit that the vast majority of those who are here, are going to stay. Unless we can prove that they have committed a felony crime, or that they are engaging in terrorist activities, a way must be found for them to be absorbed. There really is no way around it. Those who are already here, and well established to any degree, will have to stay.

What we do about this problem in the future is far more important. We thought we solved the problem when president Reagan was in office, but we really didn't. It's now time for us to do it again. It is the most important national issue the country faces at the moment. A solution must be found.

In my view, the solution is comprised of two distinct parts: First, we must recognize that the we live in an age where we no longer can tolerate open borders. That's what we now have. Both the Canadian and the Mexican borders are wide open for anybody, including terrorists, who want to cross. That must be changed. Second, we must grow up enough to institute an effective national ID. In this world, where millions out there wish us ill, we can no longer be naive enough to hold on to the idea that some vague "right to personal liberty" trumps the need for authorities to be able to ascertain who we are should the need arise. And that goes for anybody who wants to enter this country. If they can't produce the proper ID, they can't come in. If they are subsequently found in this country, and they don't have the proper ID, they go to jail. If you hire somebody who doesn't have the proper ID, you go to jail.

Of course the implementation of these measures is complicated, --but not impossible. The problems are mostly in the mind of the elected official we currently have in Washington. Once they realize that we will replace them unless they solve this ongoing problem, it will be solved. Our nation's survival could well depend on it.

Islamic Terrorist Uses Rented SUV to Attack America

2006-03-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

That’s the headline that should be appearing in all newspapers across the country. Instead this terrorist act is being downplayed as merely the odd act of a deranged person. This Muslim activist planned the event for a long time, and even went to a car rental agency to get a larger vehicle so he could kill as many Americans as possible. He proudly admits he did it to avenge all of the so-called "crimes" we supposedly have been committing against peaceful Islam world-wide. This admission would seem to scream to any rational, sane person that this man is a terrorist. Yet the media are covering it only as a traffic accident. Why? It appears some of us are so afraid of being politically incorrect we have ceased to be rational. ACLU lawyers sure don’t seem to fit in the mold of "sane or rational." Nor does the antique media.

The longer we are willing to keep our heads in the sand, the more likely it is that this type of terrorist attack will continue to happen. The fact is we are dealing with an enemy who has no desire or proclivity to understand us, or negociate with us. They want to KILL us! They will kill us every time they are given the chance. Why do we keep giving them the chance? Why do we continue to welcome Muslim activists on our college campuses? All Muslims who are not willing to absolutely and unequivocally denounce the murder and mayhem committed by their fellow Muslims in Iraq, Pakistan or wherever, should immediately be deported. Including students and professors. Why do we allow activist radical Muslim students and professors here anyway? You have to ask yourself: "How many American students and professors were allowed to remain studying in Germany and Japan during World War Two? Answer? None! What’s the difference now? Our national security and even our very survival depends on taking this threat seriously. It’s maddening to see how lightly it is being taken by some people. "Moderate Muslims," if in fact they exist, must denounce Muslim violence such as that perpetrated by this activist and must be willing to back up their words with actions. American Muslims should be volunteering to join the American army and go to Iraq to root out the Islamic terrorists who are still killing Americans and peaceful Iraqis. If they are truly patriotic Americans, they should be helping this country establish democracy in Iraq. That they are not doing so, makes one wonder how sincere their condemnations of Muslim terrorist acts really are.

We will loose this war unless we are willing to get serious about it. Civilization itself is at stake.

Diminishing Democrats

2006-01-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

The spectacle of the recent Judge Alito hearings has cemented more than anything else the notion that the party of FDR has painted itself into a corner from which it will be very hard for them to escape. As one after another of the committee members parroted the moveon.org line that somehow this well-spoken, avuncular, middle-of-the-road scholarly judge was way out of the mainstream of the American public, it became crystal clear how far out of the mainstream the Democrats really have strayed. The fact is, the American people simply are not buying it. The more Kennedy and his ilk try to paint Judge Alito with the “extremist” brush, the sillier they look. Contrast this braying with the reasoned, logical points president Bush made in his speech in Kansas yesterday. It can’t be happy to be a Democrat these days.

Republicans need to keep hammering home the point that Democrats simply can’t be trusted with the security of the nation. Schumer, Biden, Kennedy, Hilary, et. al. are simply not up to it. Thank goodness!