Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Your grief counselor
There is at least one point that where I disagree with Jim Angle : we had an opportunity to avoid this mess by never getting into it. There is no authority in the Constitution for Congress to authorize a Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae type entity. None at all. There is no authority in the Constitution for Congress to pass a Community Reinvestment Act. There is no authority in the Constitution for the President to sign such acts. We got into this mess by government doing what is was never allowed to do. This is like letting your three year old drive the SUV and shaking your head when he wrecks the Explorer. And then buying him a new one-with pedal extensions and GPS navigation!
Time and time again the government screws up big time then comes to the rescue with another band aid for cancer.
And why would we trust these people to come up with a solution?
That makes as much sense as having Ted Bundy be the grief counselor for his victim's family.
I now hear that the Dems in Congress want to punish the execs of Wall Street. Only after Chris Dodd and Barney Frank are frog walked off the floor of Congress. And after the execs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac share a cell with Bernie Ebbers.
Friday, September 19, 2008
A larger carbon footprint from burning the midnight oil...I'm sure
Those intrepid ABC reporters are at it again, wasting no time in discovering a document, more than likely the Golden Key, that will send Sarah Palin crashing to earth!
Nixon had his Oval Office tapes, Bill Clinton a stained blue dress. And now Sarah Palin has this document from ABC that is a torpedo at her waterline.
And I am of course convinced beyond any doubt that ABC is searching and demanding with equal vigor access to the documents that Obama wants to keep hidden regarding his complicity with Bill Ayers' with the Annenberg Challenge ( Ayers is a convicted American terrorist who Obama just describes as "a guy who lived in my neighborhood") .
Well, let's see what Stanley Kurtz has discovered, or not as the case may be, shall we?
Maybe Mr. Kurtz could enlist the help of those even minded, non-biased ABC truth seekers?
BTW, here is the text of an email I sent off to Mr. Kurtz:
Dear Mr. Kurtz:
I noticed over at Hot Air that ABC has discovered a document that they represent as putting the lie to Sarah Palin’s version of “Troopergate” (article here).
Perhaps the courageous truth seekers of the fourth estate currently residing at ABC might be willing to help you pry loose the documents you’ve been seeking from the University of Illinois at Chicago regarding Barack Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers and their work on the Annenberg Challenge?
Should that be the case, I’ll be diligent in watching for low flying sows and boars.
Best regards,
Nixon had his Oval Office tapes, Bill Clinton a stained blue dress. And now Sarah Palin has this document from ABC that is a torpedo at her waterline.
And I am of course convinced beyond any doubt that ABC is searching and demanding with equal vigor access to the documents that Obama wants to keep hidden regarding his complicity with Bill Ayers' with the Annenberg Challenge ( Ayers is a convicted American terrorist who Obama just describes as "a guy who lived in my neighborhood") .
Well, let's see what Stanley Kurtz has discovered, or not as the case may be, shall we?
Maybe Mr. Kurtz could enlist the help of those even minded, non-biased ABC truth seekers?
BTW, here is the text of an email I sent off to Mr. Kurtz:
Dear Mr. Kurtz:
I noticed over at Hot Air that ABC has discovered a document that they represent as putting the lie to Sarah Palin’s version of “Troopergate” (article here).
Perhaps the courageous truth seekers of the fourth estate currently residing at ABC might be willing to help you pry loose the documents you’ve been seeking from the University of Illinois at Chicago regarding Barack Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers and their work on the Annenberg Challenge?
Should that be the case, I’ll be diligent in watching for low flying sows and boars.
Best regards,
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Timing is everything...and the 35W Bridge
I got up this morning at 3:15 a.m. to get ready to pickup my Mom for our great adventure to cross the 35W Bridge.
My concern was that we would get there too early when I heard that MNDOT and the Highway Patrol were going to slow down the crossing. After I picked up Mom, I had planned to get to the Bridge by going over to Hiawatha Avenue and coming in from the south. We heard on the radio that the Highway Patrol was not letting anyone line up for the Bridge crossing. So, I took a detour south on Hiawatha to make sure we didn't get to the Bridge too early. It worked out well.
As we approached the Bridge, it appeared that befitting a new bridge, there was a traffic jam. Well, as we got a bit closer, we saw about 100 yards ahead of us a whole slew of flashing lights and I realized that we were behind the rolling barricade composed of MNDOT trucks and Highway Patrol cruisers that were opening the Bridge. This meant that Mom and I were one of the first 100 cars across the Bridge!
And as took low quality videos with my cell phone:
Here is the approach (the flashing lights you see to the mid center right is the rolling blockade):
Here we are on the Bridge:
And here we are at the end of the Bridge from the south(you'll notice that the rolling blockade has exited to the right at the University/4th Street S.E. exit):
And here we are on the immediate return trip from north to south (and zip-zap and we're over the bridge!) As we exited at East Hennepin for the return trip, I asked Mom if she'd be interested in a real first: the first accident on the new 35W Bridge. She decided that that would not be a resume enhancing event for her.:
I have no idea what the background noise is as on my original you hear my Mom and me in the background.
Well, anyhow, it was a momentous morning.
My concern was that we would get there too early when I heard that MNDOT and the Highway Patrol were going to slow down the crossing. After I picked up Mom, I had planned to get to the Bridge by going over to Hiawatha Avenue and coming in from the south. We heard on the radio that the Highway Patrol was not letting anyone line up for the Bridge crossing. So, I took a detour south on Hiawatha to make sure we didn't get to the Bridge too early. It worked out well.
As we approached the Bridge, it appeared that befitting a new bridge, there was a traffic jam. Well, as we got a bit closer, we saw about 100 yards ahead of us a whole slew of flashing lights and I realized that we were behind the rolling barricade composed of MNDOT trucks and Highway Patrol cruisers that were opening the Bridge. This meant that Mom and I were one of the first 100 cars across the Bridge!
And as took low quality videos with my cell phone:
Here is the approach (the flashing lights you see to the mid center right is the rolling blockade):
Here we are on the Bridge:
And here we are at the end of the Bridge from the south(you'll notice that the rolling blockade has exited to the right at the University/4th Street S.E. exit):
And here we are on the immediate return trip from north to south (and zip-zap and we're over the bridge!) As we exited at East Hennepin for the return trip, I asked Mom if she'd be interested in a real first: the first accident on the new 35W Bridge. She decided that that would not be a resume enhancing event for her.:
I have no idea what the background noise is as on my original you hear my Mom and me in the background.
Well, anyhow, it was a momentous morning.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
B,B,B,B...and Thoreau Part III
Power Line and Ed Morrissey over at Hot Air have the best short explanations of the one of the trunks (not roots) of the current financial disaster brought to you the people under the marble dome in Foggy Bottom.
BTW, the real roots of the crisis: no constitutional authority for Congress in all this. Congress functioning as a democracy rather than a constitutional republic.
BTW, the real roots of the crisis: no constitutional authority for Congress in all this. Congress functioning as a democracy rather than a constitutional republic.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
B,B,B,B...and Thoreau Part II
It as if they haven't learned a thing:
"Fed rescues AIG with $85 billion loan for 80% stake" (There is no place, repeat no place in the Constitution that allows this or even hints at the government owning an insurance company)
"Pelosi orders wide Wall Street probe" (Notice, not a probe of the crisis, but only of Wall Street).
If I may translate: "Trust us not to investigate ourselves, ignore history and economists and blame Bush, Wall Street, Big Banks, greed, Republicans all in one move."
"Fed rescues AIG with $85 billion loan for 80% stake" (There is no place, repeat no place in the Constitution that allows this or even hints at the government owning an insurance company)
"Pelosi orders wide Wall Street probe" (Notice, not a probe of the crisis, but only of Wall Street).
If I may translate: "Trust us not to investigate ourselves, ignore history and economists and blame Bush, Wall Street, Big Banks, greed, Republicans all in one move."
Bridges, Banks, Bernake, Band aids...and Thoreau
"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root" Thoreau
Last week, as we heard the news that the new 35W bridge would probably be completed this week, my Mom and I planned on driving across it the first day it was open for public traffic. We were returning from the funeral of a classmate of my Dad's who had also become a friend of Mom's and we took the scenic route across the 10th Avenue bridge that parallels the 35W bridge. I commented that they should open the 35W bridge at 2:00 a.m. so as to avoid traffic jams. when I saw the 5:00 a.m. opening, it occurred to me that at 2:00 a.m. the drunks would still be out being bottle brave and stupid. At 5:00 a.m., they'd be either sober or sleeping. So, I'm planning an early morning pickup of Mom and a cell phone camcorder recording of "Amendment X's Most Excellent Adventure on the New St. Anthony Bridge... With His Mom in Tow". What does this have to do with my blog title? I'll get to that now.
When the bridge went down, and I've blogged on this, that many people said that it would take five years to replace. well, I've got enough construction background to be dangerous and have faith in real American know how and ingenuity , so I corrected the five year people. I said that if the government got out of the way, the bridge could easily be built in under two years. So, the powers that be "fast tracked" the new bridge (read: got the hell out of the way by cutting and burning a whole slew of red tape and regulations. In other words, they struck at the roots of inefficiency and delay) and "Shazamm and Kazowee!!!". The Bridge is done in under a year from start up. I truly love being wrong to the good side.
The "banks": Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, WAMU, Bear/Stearns, etc. So, what happened here? In a word: government. In a phrase: insuring the moral hazard. The thought on Wall Street "They bailed out Bear/Stearns. They'll bail out us." Like the floods in North Dakota in the 1990's, people kept building their houses on the flood plain of the Red River of the North because, well after all, the government would step in and help them build anew. Insuring/ensuring the moral hazard. The big wakeup call on Wall Street: Secretary Paulson said to the meeting of bankers on Saturday:"No government money guys. Find a way out of this yourselves." And scramble they did. The little known secret is that this was a hand grenade with the pin pulled and the spoon released. It was going to explode. It happened to explode now. It was all set up during the Clinton years with the silly notion of "affordable housing" which means "welfare/subsidized housing" and "the right to own a house". People who couldn't buy the house they were in were given loans. Freddie Mac and Fannie May were the major underwriters of loans and/for mortgages that people couldn't pay back. Then Bear/Stearns, Lehman Brothers, et al started to issue "mortgage backed securities". Then Alan Greenspan started to flood the market with low interest rates to banks and the banks went out and loaned money like there was no tomorrow. The bubble was created. And no bubble lasts. When the bubble burst, it was a ripple effect. And we see the disaster now: the government created the bubble, then protected the bubble and now blames everyone else when the bubble bursts. And Bernake has started down the same path as Greenspan. Who pays for it all? You do. I do. My widowed eighty old mother does. The single Mom does. The newlyweds do. The retirees who depend on their retirement funds.
The good news: Secretary Paulson stood by that line in the sand and said "No bailout boys." The bad news: McCain and Obama have no clue as to the real problem. They will pile on new regulations that will finally fix what all the old regulations didn't. They will "make Wall Street pay". They will cut at the branches of the problem but not strike at the roots. They will put a new band aid on the old band aid but not treat the underlying wound. How do I know? John McCain just said that people need to held responsible (I agree); that Wall Street has been reckless and will be held responsible. Nothing said about Congress being held responsible. Nothing about holding the Federal Reserve responsible. Nothing said about the executives at Freddie Mac and Fannie May and their huge contributions to left wing Democrats. But Wall Street responds to the market disruptions and distortions from Washington and then Wall Street is "held responsible".
My point on all this plus the 35W bridge? Things work well/best when the the government is out of the way.
But "holding Wall Street responsible", "holding Big Oil responsible" make for a better sound bite then "The Congress and the Federal Reserve are out of control and need to be regulated". Well, Congress is regulated-by Article 1 section 8 of the Constitution and the 10th Amendment in the Bill of Rights. Sorry- Congress is supposedly and is supposed to be regulated by...oh,forget it. People like me are ignored.
A few links for further reading:
Cato Institute
John Lott
Investors Business Daily
Masters of the Universe
Hot Air
Be sure to listen to Glenn Beck on CNN in the evening this week as he exposes the financial disaster that is engulfing America and what really needs to be done. And next week he'll be talking about energy.
As I look at this mess and what McCain and BHO and Congress will and will not do and as I look over the horizon at the looming three hundred foot tsunami headed for us called Social Security and Medicare, I'm reminded a quote from Will Smith in "I, Robot"-"Yah know, somehow saying "I told you so" just doesn't seem to cut it!"
And I fear that that is what I and others will be saying in a few years.
Last week, as we heard the news that the new 35W bridge would probably be completed this week, my Mom and I planned on driving across it the first day it was open for public traffic. We were returning from the funeral of a classmate of my Dad's who had also become a friend of Mom's and we took the scenic route across the 10th Avenue bridge that parallels the 35W bridge. I commented that they should open the 35W bridge at 2:00 a.m. so as to avoid traffic jams. when I saw the 5:00 a.m. opening, it occurred to me that at 2:00 a.m. the drunks would still be out being bottle brave and stupid. At 5:00 a.m., they'd be either sober or sleeping. So, I'm planning an early morning pickup of Mom and a cell phone camcorder recording of "Amendment X's Most Excellent Adventure on the New St. Anthony Bridge... With His Mom in Tow". What does this have to do with my blog title? I'll get to that now.
When the bridge went down, and I've blogged on this, that many people said that it would take five years to replace. well, I've got enough construction background to be dangerous and have faith in real American know how and ingenuity , so I corrected the five year people. I said that if the government got out of the way, the bridge could easily be built in under two years. So, the powers that be "fast tracked" the new bridge (read: got the hell out of the way by cutting and burning a whole slew of red tape and regulations. In other words, they struck at the roots of inefficiency and delay) and "Shazamm and Kazowee!!!". The Bridge is done in under a year from start up. I truly love being wrong to the good side.
The "banks": Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, WAMU, Bear/Stearns, etc. So, what happened here? In a word: government. In a phrase: insuring the moral hazard. The thought on Wall Street "They bailed out Bear/Stearns. They'll bail out us." Like the floods in North Dakota in the 1990's, people kept building their houses on the flood plain of the Red River of the North because, well after all, the government would step in and help them build anew. Insuring/ensuring the moral hazard. The big wakeup call on Wall Street: Secretary Paulson said to the meeting of bankers on Saturday:"No government money guys. Find a way out of this yourselves." And scramble they did. The little known secret is that this was a hand grenade with the pin pulled and the spoon released. It was going to explode. It happened to explode now. It was all set up during the Clinton years with the silly notion of "affordable housing" which means "welfare/subsidized housing" and "the right to own a house". People who couldn't buy the house they were in were given loans. Freddie Mac and Fannie May were the major underwriters of loans and/for mortgages that people couldn't pay back. Then Bear/Stearns, Lehman Brothers, et al started to issue "mortgage backed securities". Then Alan Greenspan started to flood the market with low interest rates to banks and the banks went out and loaned money like there was no tomorrow. The bubble was created. And no bubble lasts. When the bubble burst, it was a ripple effect. And we see the disaster now: the government created the bubble, then protected the bubble and now blames everyone else when the bubble bursts. And Bernake has started down the same path as Greenspan. Who pays for it all? You do. I do. My widowed eighty old mother does. The single Mom does. The newlyweds do. The retirees who depend on their retirement funds.
The good news: Secretary Paulson stood by that line in the sand and said "No bailout boys." The bad news: McCain and Obama have no clue as to the real problem. They will pile on new regulations that will finally fix what all the old regulations didn't. They will "make Wall Street pay". They will cut at the branches of the problem but not strike at the roots. They will put a new band aid on the old band aid but not treat the underlying wound. How do I know? John McCain just said that people need to held responsible (I agree); that Wall Street has been reckless and will be held responsible. Nothing said about Congress being held responsible. Nothing about holding the Federal Reserve responsible. Nothing said about the executives at Freddie Mac and Fannie May and their huge contributions to left wing Democrats. But Wall Street responds to the market disruptions and distortions from Washington and then Wall Street is "held responsible".
My point on all this plus the 35W bridge? Things work well/best when the the government is out of the way.
But "holding Wall Street responsible", "holding Big Oil responsible" make for a better sound bite then "The Congress and the Federal Reserve are out of control and need to be regulated". Well, Congress is regulated-by Article 1 section 8 of the Constitution and the 10th Amendment in the Bill of Rights. Sorry- Congress is supposedly and is supposed to be regulated by...oh,forget it. People like me are ignored.
A few links for further reading:
Cato Institute
John Lott
Investors Business Daily
Masters of the Universe
Hot Air
Be sure to listen to Glenn Beck on CNN in the evening this week as he exposes the financial disaster that is engulfing America and what really needs to be done. And next week he'll be talking about energy.
As I look at this mess and what McCain and BHO and Congress will and will not do and as I look over the horizon at the looming three hundred foot tsunami headed for us called Social Security and Medicare, I'm reminded a quote from Will Smith in "I, Robot"-"Yah know, somehow saying "I told you so" just doesn't seem to cut it!"
And I fear that that is what I and others will be saying in a few years.
Monday, September 15, 2008
See I told you so.
Amendment X often criticizes my eating habit -
Such as my latest discovery "Chick Fried Bacon"
(Winner Best Food Texas State Fair)
But science proves that maybe us Meatatarians are onto something:
Eating veggies shrinks the brain
MELBOURNE: Scientists have discovered that going veggie could be bad for your brain-with those on a meat-free diet six times more likely to suffer brain shrinkage.
As a proud member of PETROV (People for the Ethical Treatment of Rutabaga and Other Vegetables) I feel vindicated.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
As if we need another reason
I was in Kansas City, MO at a rugby tournament when there was a double dose of news: The Saturday Night Massacre and the first Arab Oil Embargo. At that time we imported just over 20% of our daily oil consumption. We now import nearly 60%. And that all arrives via sea lanes.
Investors Business Daily has an article which shows how Congress has made us incredibly vulnerable.
Our good close personal buddy, pro-liberty Hugo Chavez, has invited the Russian Navy to engage in joint naval exercises in the Caribbean. Now, considering that as we import so much of our oil from overseas, this joint exercise points again to why we need to drill now!
That we depend for so much of our oil on the kindness of others that are not favorably disposed to kindly view us and now we face a military threat that could disrupt oil deliveries should move (repeat SHOULD move) the left wing controlled Congress to protect the vital interests of the United States.
My suggestion: write to Amy Klobuchar and cite the IBD article. Write to Norm Coleman and tell him to resign from the Gang of 16. And again cite the IBD article.
If you live in any Congressional district where you have a Democrat representing you, write to them.
Go here to locate the Senators' and Congressmens' addresses.
I just sent the following letter to Senator Klobuchar:
Investors Business Daily has an article which shows how Congress has made us incredibly vulnerable.
Our good close personal buddy, pro-liberty Hugo Chavez, has invited the Russian Navy to engage in joint naval exercises in the Caribbean. Now, considering that as we import so much of our oil from overseas, this joint exercise points again to why we need to drill now!
That we depend for so much of our oil on the kindness of others that are not favorably disposed to kindly view us and now we face a military threat that could disrupt oil deliveries should move (repeat SHOULD move) the left wing controlled Congress to protect the vital interests of the United States.
My suggestion: write to Amy Klobuchar and cite the IBD article. Write to Norm Coleman and tell him to resign from the Gang of 16. And again cite the IBD article.
If you live in any Congressional district where you have a Democrat representing you, write to them.
Go here to locate the Senators' and Congressmens' addresses.
I just sent the following letter to Senator Klobuchar:
Senator:
I have just read an alarming article in Investors Business Daily ( http://ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=305766737761086 ).
Hugo Chavez has invited the Russian Navy to engage in joint naval exercises in the
As the
This again points to the need to have access to our own domestic oil supplies.
I therefore urge you to eliminate any and all impediments to drilling for oil in any and all areas of the
Respectfully,
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Ella's Adventures Updated
Finally got the new pictures from the 2008 convention up on Ella's site.
Just click on Ella's Adventures in either menu bar or go to:
http://www.savagerepublican.com/ella
Just click on Ella's Adventures in either menu bar or go to:
http://www.savagerepublican.com/ella
Friday, September 05, 2008
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Off to St. Paul
I received a call on Monday from the MN GOP, telling me that there was a ticket for me to the RNC on Wednesday. Later that day , I talked to Savage Republican and he told me that Ron Carey, Exec. Chair of the MN GOP had arranged for the ticket and the call.
I've been invited to a bloggers lunch today by Ed Morrissey. So, though I promised I wouldn't get close to St. Paul even if a 9mm were pointed at my brain stem. Well, though the MSM would erroneously call this a flip flop, well, I'm using the occasion to introduce myself to people to promote another cause:
On June 6th, 1944, then Lt. Dick Winters (Band of Brothers), in his and the 101st Airborne first day in combat, took a squad of men to attack and silence four 105mm howitzers that were zeroed in on Utah beach and threatened the landings (intelligence first thought the howitzers were 88mm). Lt. Winters took his squad and formulated an attack against a German heavy platoon/light company that were in charge of the artillery battery.
This action is still studied at West Point as a perfect fire and maneuver action.
Lt. Winters was cited and recommended for the Medal of Honor. Lost in the decades of history is the reason that citation was downgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross. Stephen Ambrose wrote that there was a directive that there would only be one Medal of Honor per division in the Normandy campaign. I've never heard of any evidence to either support or refute that statement. Lt. Robert Cole was the only man from the 101st to receive the MOH.
What I've wanted to do, and Savage Republican is giving great help, is to have that original Medal of Honor citation re-instated. There have been a couple of attempts to have this done. Unfortunately, there were too local and not also not widely publicized.
I also need to be VERY clear: this is NOT an upgrade. This a re-instatement of the original citation! An upgrade would be if the original citation were for a DSC and people are trying to get that citation changed to the MOH. That is not the case here.
We have bought the domain name www.honoreasy.com . We are in the process of getting the website up. It is an informational website only. We urge people to contact their Congressman/Congresswoman to urge them to pass a resolution affirming and re-instating the original citation for MOH for Dick Winters. We urge people to call and write the White House and President Bush to right this wrong.
We will have all the information you'll need to do this.
If you have a blog, include the link www.honoreasy.com .
Savage Republican and I will be updating you here and on the website.
BTW, here are two scenes from YouTube and the Band of Brothers DVD showing the action that Lt. Winters was cited for.
I've been invited to a bloggers lunch today by Ed Morrissey. So, though I promised I wouldn't get close to St. Paul even if a 9mm were pointed at my brain stem. Well, though the MSM would erroneously call this a flip flop, well, I'm using the occasion to introduce myself to people to promote another cause:
On June 6th, 1944, then Lt. Dick Winters (Band of Brothers), in his and the 101st Airborne first day in combat, took a squad of men to attack and silence four 105mm howitzers that were zeroed in on Utah beach and threatened the landings (intelligence first thought the howitzers were 88mm). Lt. Winters took his squad and formulated an attack against a German heavy platoon/light company that were in charge of the artillery battery.
This action is still studied at West Point as a perfect fire and maneuver action.
Lt. Winters was cited and recommended for the Medal of Honor. Lost in the decades of history is the reason that citation was downgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross. Stephen Ambrose wrote that there was a directive that there would only be one Medal of Honor per division in the Normandy campaign. I've never heard of any evidence to either support or refute that statement. Lt. Robert Cole was the only man from the 101st to receive the MOH.
What I've wanted to do, and Savage Republican is giving great help, is to have that original Medal of Honor citation re-instated. There have been a couple of attempts to have this done. Unfortunately, there were too local and not also not widely publicized.
I also need to be VERY clear: this is NOT an upgrade. This a re-instatement of the original citation! An upgrade would be if the original citation were for a DSC and people are trying to get that citation changed to the MOH. That is not the case here.
We have bought the domain name www.honoreasy.com . We are in the process of getting the website up. It is an informational website only. We urge people to contact their Congressman/Congresswoman to urge them to pass a resolution affirming and re-instating the original citation for MOH for Dick Winters. We urge people to call and write the White House and President Bush to right this wrong.
We will have all the information you'll need to do this.
If you have a blog, include the link www.honoreasy.com .
Savage Republican and I will be updating you here and on the website.
BTW, here are two scenes from YouTube and the Band of Brothers DVD showing the action that Lt. Winters was cited for.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
RNC Convention
Like in 2004, Ella the Elephant is attending the convention.
For her daily updates please visit her daily blog at the savage pacer
http://www.savagepacer.com/community/blog/ella
One more drop redux
Yah gotta love video camcorders everywhere. This nasty bit of left wing true thought was captured on a flight from Denver to Charlotte (link here-read the comments! The below YouTube is a cleaned version from the Red State link so as to be better able to hear these two heartless creatures)
The speaker is none other than former Chair of the DNC Don Fowler. His companion is Congressman Jon Spratt (D-SC).
Like Michael Moore last week, they are giddy that Hurricane Gustav is going to hit the Gulf Coast during the Repubs Convention. No thought of concern for the misery, suffering, injury and death that a now Category 4 hurricane will cause. Just laughter. What an absolutely despicable lot! Absolutely despicable!
When will the decent people of America finally wake up and dump the Dems and the left?
There is NO compassion there. No belief in liberty, goodness, decency, America. None.
And those of you who vote Democrats into power ignore this bit of wisdom:
"Absolute power corrupts even when exercised for humane purposes. The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the people still demands from others the submissiveness of sheep." -- The Longshoreman Philosopher
Again, be sure to read the comments in the link from above.
The speaker is none other than former Chair of the DNC Don Fowler. His companion is Congressman Jon Spratt (D-SC).
Like Michael Moore last week, they are giddy that Hurricane Gustav is going to hit the Gulf Coast during the Repubs Convention. No thought of concern for the misery, suffering, injury and death that a now Category 4 hurricane will cause. Just laughter. What an absolutely despicable lot! Absolutely despicable!
When will the decent people of America finally wake up and dump the Dems and the left?
There is NO compassion there. No belief in liberty, goodness, decency, America. None.
And those of you who vote Democrats into power ignore this bit of wisdom:
"Absolute power corrupts even when exercised for humane purposes. The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the people still demands from others the submissiveness of sheep." -- The Longshoreman Philosopher
Again, be sure to read the comments in the link from above.
Grab the queen bee
From True North, I came across this link. What I found interesting was the third and second to the last paragraph as a counterpoint to the report of a search warrant served in St. Paul.
Chief states that talking to some MPD officers, he learned that as two uniform officers on bikes approach about a hundred "youths" the "youths" scattered. I wonder why?
The officers went on to say: " The police said there has been a large dispersal of many hives already, but they will surely re-connect by Monday or Tuesday. They said they have found stockpiles of re-bar rods, 2 x 4s with nails in the ends, buckets of feces, bike locks, hacksaws and other destructive toys of anarchist youth." Rebar, 2x4's with nails? Of real concern for me are the bike locks. They would be used to put across door handles to prevent exiting. And what would prevent one or more of these pukes from throwing a firebomb inside, then locking the door with a bike lock?
I am as concerned about about 4th Amendment rights as anyone. I've repeatedly spoken out against the USA PATRIOT ACT. I despise McCain/Feingold. However, this sign:
does not give these pukes super 4th Amendment protection when it involves them seeking to harm those of us who seek to peaceably assemble for a legal and legitimate purpose.
Reap what you sow.
Bye-bye anarkids!
Chief states that talking to some MPD officers, he learned that as two uniform officers on bikes approach about a hundred "youths" the "youths" scattered. I wonder why?
The officers went on to say: " The police said there has been a large dispersal of many hives already, but they will surely re-connect by Monday or Tuesday. They said they have found stockpiles of re-bar rods, 2 x 4s with nails in the ends, buckets of feces, bike locks, hacksaws and other destructive toys of anarchist youth." Rebar, 2x4's with nails? Of real concern for me are the bike locks. They would be used to put across door handles to prevent exiting. And what would prevent one or more of these pukes from throwing a firebomb inside, then locking the door with a bike lock?
I am as concerned about about 4th Amendment rights as anyone. I've repeatedly spoken out against the USA PATRIOT ACT. I despise McCain/Feingold. However, this sign:
does not give these pukes super 4th Amendment protection when it involves them seeking to harm those of us who seek to peaceably assemble for a legal and legitimate purpose.
Reap what you sow.
Bye-bye anarkids!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
One more drop
Like we need more evidence that the left is evil, supports evil or spreads evil, we have, for your due consideration, the male harpy of the left, the honors graduate of the Joseph Goebbels/Leni Riefenstahl School of Propaganda, his satanically benighted holiness, Michael Moore.
St. Michael commented on Keith Olberman "
St. Michael commented on Keith Olberman "
I was just thinking, this Gustav is proof that there is a God in heaven,” Moore said, laughing. “To have it planned at the same time – that it would actually be on its way to New Orleans for day one of the Republican Convention, up in the Twin Cities – at the top of the Mississippi River." A hurricane. A Category 3 hurricane that has already killed 80 people in the Caribbean. A hurricane that has wreaked havoc, destruction, fear, misery, pain and suffering.That threatens more of the same and is projected to hit the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast where fears from Katrina still linger. And his quackiness proclaims that, in his malicious, malevolent purview, that he's pleased as he believes that a killer storm is rich in irony as it relates to the Republicans. And he says so shamelessly, but attempts to lessen his gross callousness by saying that he hoped nobody got hurt, completely ignoring the 80 already dead and the misery and injury already caused.
This is the sought out one who was given a seat of honor next to Little Jimmy Carter at the 2004 Democratic Convention.
Further proof the left is not caring, not sensitive, not compassionate.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
History redux
I assume that most of you know me as a historian. Mainly war and especially WWII. I happened across an article today from the WSJ written by two mediocre Senators who garner great headlines amongst the press and Republicans: namely Lieberman and Graham.
They've just returned from a trip to Georgia and scribed an article issuing a warning about Russia and Russian intentions. I agree with the premise that "Russia's invasion of Georgia represents the most serious challenge to this political order since Slobodan Milosevic unleashed the demons of ethnic nationalism in the Balkans. What is happening in Georgia today, therefore, is not simply a territorial dispute. It is a struggle about whether a new dividing line is drawn across Europe: between nations that are free to determine their own destinies, and nations that are consigned to the Kremlin's autocratic orbit." However, what caught my eye and is now sticking in my craw was this sentence two paragraphs down:"The first priority of America and Europe must be to prevent the Kremlin from achieving its strategic objectives in Georgia. " I stopped at the end of that sentence. What's the population of Europe again? What is the EU's GDP? How strong are it's armed forces? Didn't America rescue Europe twice in the twentieth century? Didn't we preserve it for fifty plus years during the Cold War? And yet the armed forces of Britain, Germany and France couldn't handle the Balkans without the U.S. Air Force? And now, once again, there is the suggestion that Europe can not/will not act in its own long range interests?
In the early 80's, Ronald Reagan strongly urged the Germans NOT to have or accept the Russians building a natural gas pipeline into Germany. His concern was that the Germans would become dangerously dependent on Russian largess and mercy should the Russians ever need to have Europe back down. Germany now receives a worrying percentage of its energy from Russia. This Russian hammer over Germany and the EU is reminiscent of the first OPEC oil embargo in 1973: the Japanese received a majority of their oil from OPEC. OPEC told Japan to either denounce Israel of face a total OPEC embargo. Japan denounced Israel.
And so the only nearby armed forces that can respond to Russian aggression against say Poland or the Ukraine are based in countries that need Russian natural gas to function.
Not a lot of forward thinking in Europe. Matched neatly by the lack of any forward thinking in Washington as evidenced by $4.00/gal gasoline.
Victor Davis Hanson always has particularly sharp insight. Go here and pick out some of his articles on Russia and Georgia.
They've just returned from a trip to Georgia and scribed an article issuing a warning about Russia and Russian intentions. I agree with the premise that "Russia's invasion of Georgia represents the most serious challenge to this political order since Slobodan Milosevic unleashed the demons of ethnic nationalism in the Balkans. What is happening in Georgia today, therefore, is not simply a territorial dispute. It is a struggle about whether a new dividing line is drawn across Europe: between nations that are free to determine their own destinies, and nations that are consigned to the Kremlin's autocratic orbit." However, what caught my eye and is now sticking in my craw was this sentence two paragraphs down:"The first priority of America and Europe must be to prevent the Kremlin from achieving its strategic objectives in Georgia. " I stopped at the end of that sentence. What's the population of Europe again? What is the EU's GDP? How strong are it's armed forces? Didn't America rescue Europe twice in the twentieth century? Didn't we preserve it for fifty plus years during the Cold War? And yet the armed forces of Britain, Germany and France couldn't handle the Balkans without the U.S. Air Force? And now, once again, there is the suggestion that Europe can not/will not act in its own long range interests?
In the early 80's, Ronald Reagan strongly urged the Germans NOT to have or accept the Russians building a natural gas pipeline into Germany. His concern was that the Germans would become dangerously dependent on Russian largess and mercy should the Russians ever need to have Europe back down. Germany now receives a worrying percentage of its energy from Russia. This Russian hammer over Germany and the EU is reminiscent of the first OPEC oil embargo in 1973: the Japanese received a majority of their oil from OPEC. OPEC told Japan to either denounce Israel of face a total OPEC embargo. Japan denounced Israel.
And so the only nearby armed forces that can respond to Russian aggression against say Poland or the Ukraine are based in countries that need Russian natural gas to function.
Not a lot of forward thinking in Europe. Matched neatly by the lack of any forward thinking in Washington as evidenced by $4.00/gal gasoline.
Victor Davis Hanson always has particularly sharp insight. Go here and pick out some of his articles on Russia and Georgia.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Heller and the 2nd Amendment- the war continues
Dick A. Heller has finally registered his revolver. Heller is the security guard who was refused a permit to have a firearm in Washington D.C. and subsequently sued. The result was the landmark case "Heller v D.C." which resulted in the Supreme Court ruling, for the first time, that the 2nd Amendment guaranteed that right to keep and bear arms is an individual right.
However, as I blogged, that ruling is not and will not be the end of the war against the 2nd Amendment and the Constitution, especially the 10th Amendment.
As the heller article reports:"Heller recently sued the city again, saying the registration rules adopted by the D.C. government after the ban was overturned are too cumbersome and violate the spirit and letter of the court's decision...."I am not surprised at all. As a matter of fact, the NRA has instituted a number of suits based on Heller. And I applaud them for it.
As I warned, the SCOTUS proclamation on Heller means that the fight will continue in the Congress, legislatures and courts. Heller was only a single victory in a single battle, albeit an important one.
The war on and for liberty: It will never end.
But there seems new energy to press the war forward.
However, as I blogged, that ruling is not and will not be the end of the war against the 2nd Amendment and the Constitution, especially the 10th Amendment.
As the heller article reports:"Heller recently sued the city again, saying the registration rules adopted by the D.C. government after the ban was overturned are too cumbersome and violate the spirit and letter of the court's decision...."I am not surprised at all. As a matter of fact, the NRA has instituted a number of suits based on Heller. And I applaud them for it.
As I warned, the SCOTUS proclamation on Heller means that the fight will continue in the Congress, legislatures and courts. Heller was only a single victory in a single battle, albeit an important one.
The war on and for liberty: It will never end.
But there seems new energy to press the war forward.
Monday, August 18, 2008
McCain giveth and McCain taketh away
I'll let you go elsewhere to read how well Senator McCain did against the Pelosi anointed one at Saddleback Church on Saturday. I'd give McCain a solid A. I'd give BHO a solid F...minus. Especially now that he has become such an accomplished liar when it comes to killing babies.
And when Senator McCain gives a straight out, solid, eyes on performance, he then comes out with this:
What the H*** are his campaign advisors thinking? "Washington is broken". Yup. And you helped break it! "The Original Maverick", "He fought Big Tobacco" and drug companies? He'll fight Big Oil and Wall Street?
Hey-Congratulations guys! I'll bet you get a great big thank you card from Barack Obama's campaign treasurer for saving the BHO campaign a bunch of money by running their campaign ad for them.
Give McCain a huge F double minus for this one.
And when Senator McCain gives a straight out, solid, eyes on performance, he then comes out with this:
What the H*** are his campaign advisors thinking? "Washington is broken". Yup. And you helped break it! "The Original Maverick", "He fought Big Tobacco" and drug companies? He'll fight Big Oil and Wall Street?
Hey-Congratulations guys! I'll bet you get a great big thank you card from Barack Obama's campaign treasurer for saving the BHO campaign a bunch of money by running their campaign ad for them.
Give McCain a huge F double minus for this one.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
One layer of separation
By now, I'm sure you've read of the murder of Todd Bachman and the vicious assault on his wife Barbara in Beijing where they were attending the Olympics. Todd Bachman was the CEO of Bachmans here in Minneapolis.
You've read my many blogs about the 8th Air Force Historical Society. I was introduced to the Society by the fact that my great uncle John and Larry Bachman were board members at the Masonic Home. Larry flew B-24's in WWII. Larry came back from the war and became an executive of Bachman's.
Todd Bachman is Larry's second cousin (Larry's brother and his only sibling Roy, was killed in WWII in the Pacific). When I heard the news early this morning and heard the last name "Bachman" I only thought fleetingly about a relation to Larry or maybe Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann. It wasn't until this afternoon I heard a reference to Bachman's. Larry is my very good friend. I called him immediately after I heard the reference to Bachman's on the radio. We talked a while about the call he got early this morning from his son Dale.
Larry told me that Todd lived next door to Larry and his wife Louise, who recently passed away, and that Louise was nearly a second mother to Todd as his mother worked at the store.
Please remember Todd's family and all the Bachmans in your prayers. And pray for Todd's widow Barbara as she is fighting life threatening wounds.
For more information, Bachman's has established a website.
You've read my many blogs about the 8th Air Force Historical Society. I was introduced to the Society by the fact that my great uncle John and Larry Bachman were board members at the Masonic Home. Larry flew B-24's in WWII. Larry came back from the war and became an executive of Bachman's.
Todd Bachman is Larry's second cousin (Larry's brother and his only sibling Roy, was killed in WWII in the Pacific). When I heard the news early this morning and heard the last name "Bachman" I only thought fleetingly about a relation to Larry or maybe Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann. It wasn't until this afternoon I heard a reference to Bachman's. Larry is my very good friend. I called him immediately after I heard the reference to Bachman's on the radio. We talked a while about the call he got early this morning from his son Dale.
Larry told me that Todd lived next door to Larry and his wife Louise, who recently passed away, and that Louise was nearly a second mother to Todd as his mother worked at the store.
Please remember Todd's family and all the Bachmans in your prayers. And pray for Todd's widow Barbara as she is fighting life threatening wounds.
For more information, Bachman's has established a website.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
The hardest working Congress
In case you are wondering why Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats need to adjourn instead of actually voting on an energy package - Uncle Jay will explain why they need rest.
Rush's 20th and a divided nation
All this week Rush has been celebrating his 20th Anniversary. He done some flashbacks, played recordings of people who've called in to congratulate him all week congratulating him on his spectacular radio career.
My first blush with Rush (oh my, the poet comes forth) was in 1993. It was June, just after my Dad had passed away. A number of my friends were asking me if I heard , on the radio, this guy with a strange name. I said no, I hadn't. But one afternoon I tuned in to AM1500 and heard this guy named "Rush" something. Hey. This guy is saying what I'd been thinking and had been taught by my Mom and Dad. Well, I had never had a reason to listen to AM1500, but now was there each day. After Rush came Joe Soucheray who had a brand of what used to be common sense living we called conservatism (Joe called it "Garage Logic" figuring most problems could be logically discussed and figured out in the garage). About a year later a new guy appeared at 5:00pm. His name was (and is) Jason Lewis. Another guy named Dave Thompson filled in over the hours. This was now my entre into talk radio.
Now, here in Minneapolis we have five talk radio stations (six if you count failed 950 Fresh Air). I've left AM1500 behind. Joe Soucheray just got too sophomoric. His "bits" became poor locker humor episodes. He also lost me when he fell over for Carl Pohlad's stadium robbery deal (Joe is also a sports guy over at the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He also does NOT live in Hennepin County and so doesn't pay a damn dime for the stadium he wanted). Added to that was when AM1500 lost Jason Lewis and proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly with schedule and on air personality changes. So, now I listen to AM1280 , KTLK and Glenn Beck on the internet.
In 1999 I got my first computer. And shortly thereafter I discovered Al Gore's greatest invention (no, not man made global warming, though he has and does vigorously imagine it). No. I mean the internet. And I discovered a whole new world where the MSM didn't reign and didn't control. I found out that Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and their ilk had been either lying or deceiving me and the rest of America. I found that Big Education had created a generation of ignorant bobble head children imbued with hating America. I found that there was truth out there. And I was angry! I could do more research in an hour on the computer that I could in a month in a library. I could email hundreds of people. With a blog I could write my thoughts (BTW, SavageRepublican.com gets well over 1,000 hits a day). The monopoly and the back of the lefts grip on "truth" was broken. I've also bookmarked Victor Davis Hanson, Michael Yon, the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute and Hot Air (following my friend Ed Morrissey) just to name a very few.
So, when you hear about a divided America, it's because people like you, people like my brother, my sister,my friends and fellow lovers and defenders of liberty like me have discovered where we can find the truth after having been lied to and deceived for decades.
And we're fighting back.
And it started with Rush.
Congratulations Rush.
And thanks.
My first blush with Rush (oh my, the poet comes forth) was in 1993. It was June, just after my Dad had passed away. A number of my friends were asking me if I heard , on the radio, this guy with a strange name. I said no, I hadn't. But one afternoon I tuned in to AM1500 and heard this guy named "Rush" something. Hey. This guy is saying what I'd been thinking and had been taught by my Mom and Dad. Well, I had never had a reason to listen to AM1500, but now was there each day. After Rush came Joe Soucheray who had a brand of what used to be common sense living we called conservatism (Joe called it "Garage Logic" figuring most problems could be logically discussed and figured out in the garage). About a year later a new guy appeared at 5:00pm. His name was (and is) Jason Lewis. Another guy named Dave Thompson filled in over the hours. This was now my entre into talk radio.
Now, here in Minneapolis we have five talk radio stations (six if you count failed 950 Fresh Air). I've left AM1500 behind. Joe Soucheray just got too sophomoric. His "bits" became poor locker humor episodes. He also lost me when he fell over for Carl Pohlad's stadium robbery deal (Joe is also a sports guy over at the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He also does NOT live in Hennepin County and so doesn't pay a damn dime for the stadium he wanted). Added to that was when AM1500 lost Jason Lewis and proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly with schedule and on air personality changes. So, now I listen to AM1280 , KTLK and Glenn Beck on the internet.
In 1999 I got my first computer. And shortly thereafter I discovered Al Gore's greatest invention (no, not man made global warming, though he has and does vigorously imagine it). No. I mean the internet. And I discovered a whole new world where the MSM didn't reign and didn't control. I found out that Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and their ilk had been either lying or deceiving me and the rest of America. I found that Big Education had created a generation of ignorant bobble head children imbued with hating America. I found that there was truth out there. And I was angry! I could do more research in an hour on the computer that I could in a month in a library. I could email hundreds of people. With a blog I could write my thoughts (BTW, SavageRepublican.com gets well over 1,000 hits a day). The monopoly and the back of the lefts grip on "truth" was broken. I've also bookmarked Victor Davis Hanson, Michael Yon, the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute and Hot Air (following my friend Ed Morrissey) just to name a very few.
So, when you hear about a divided America, it's because people like you, people like my brother, my sister,my friends and fellow lovers and defenders of liberty like me have discovered where we can find the truth after having been lied to and deceived for decades.
And we're fighting back.
And it started with Rush.
Congratulations Rush.
And thanks.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Pakistan, Illegal Immigrants and the Constitution
The title for this piece is probably the most discordant at first glance title I've ever put together. But, there is logic in my seemingly incongruous heading.
I just finished reading an entry over at Hot Air where my friend Ed Morrissey writes. There is an article about the Pakistani Intelligence Service (ISI) and the danger to the US and the region that the ISI loyalties are engendering. There are comments about the ISI and a nuclear Pakistan and A.Q. Khan that can be made later. What caught my eye was in the comments section by a contributor called "coldwarrior". He makes mention of the diminishing Pakistani middle class. He states that they are leaving Pakistan and had at first gone to the UK. Their reception there was less than warming and so they've started to come to the US. And any country can not survive well with only an elite and a lower class. The movement of this population gave me pause however.
I restate the obvious when I talk about illegals coming from primarily Mexico to the US. Again it's no secret why they come to America. But what a horrible indictment of the Mexican government! That your citizens find it necessary to leave their birthplace because of no discernible economic hope of improvement. And they come knowing that that is hostility towards them, that they may very well be exploited. And yet they come. But, here was where I tied the Constitution into this immigration scenario from two widely divergent countries: The Founders put great emphasis on individual and states rights. They envisioned and created a federation of individual and therefore fairly autonomous structures called states. The rights of the states were well protected within the framework of the Constitution (read the IX [aka 9th] Amendment to the Constitution). The Founders created a framework of territories (states) where if a citizen found a state inhospitable or not to his or her liking, they were able to move to a state that they found more agreeable. That as a moral and educated people, as long as neither force nor fraud were employed in any activities, we were free to be about our business as best we saw fit to pursue it. Truth be told, that if the Founders wrote a Constitution that did not guarantee that sovereignty to the states and individuals, there would have been no ratification potential by the states at all! This was the idea behind federalism. That idea is now moribund. With an overarching federal government, there is now no place to go to escape bad and crushing federal laws, bloated and "badge heavy" bureaucrats and bureaucracies with bad rules and even worse outcomes. This is not what the Founders had created. They created a constitutional republic. We now live in a functional democracy administered by a class of bureaucrats. They Founders abhorred the idea of a democracy.
And so, the Pakistanis and the many Mexicans exercise a type of international federalism in coming to the US, legally or otherwise. But they do come.
And where do we Americans go to escape a tyrananny federal government?
I just finished reading an entry over at Hot Air where my friend Ed Morrissey writes. There is an article about the Pakistani Intelligence Service (ISI) and the danger to the US and the region that the ISI loyalties are engendering. There are comments about the ISI and a nuclear Pakistan and A.Q. Khan that can be made later. What caught my eye was in the comments section by a contributor called "coldwarrior". He makes mention of the diminishing Pakistani middle class. He states that they are leaving Pakistan and had at first gone to the UK. Their reception there was less than warming and so they've started to come to the US. And any country can not survive well with only an elite and a lower class. The movement of this population gave me pause however.
I restate the obvious when I talk about illegals coming from primarily Mexico to the US. Again it's no secret why they come to America. But what a horrible indictment of the Mexican government! That your citizens find it necessary to leave their birthplace because of no discernible economic hope of improvement. And they come knowing that that is hostility towards them, that they may very well be exploited. And yet they come. But, here was where I tied the Constitution into this immigration scenario from two widely divergent countries: The Founders put great emphasis on individual and states rights. They envisioned and created a federation of individual and therefore fairly autonomous structures called states. The rights of the states were well protected within the framework of the Constitution (read the IX [aka 9th] Amendment to the Constitution). The Founders created a framework of territories (states) where if a citizen found a state inhospitable or not to his or her liking, they were able to move to a state that they found more agreeable. That as a moral and educated people, as long as neither force nor fraud were employed in any activities, we were free to be about our business as best we saw fit to pursue it. Truth be told, that if the Founders wrote a Constitution that did not guarantee that sovereignty to the states and individuals, there would have been no ratification potential by the states at all! This was the idea behind federalism. That idea is now moribund. With an overarching federal government, there is now no place to go to escape bad and crushing federal laws, bloated and "badge heavy" bureaucrats and bureaucracies with bad rules and even worse outcomes. This is not what the Founders had created. They created a constitutional republic. We now live in a functional democracy administered by a class of bureaucrats. They Founders abhorred the idea of a democracy.
And so, the Pakistanis and the many Mexicans exercise a type of international federalism in coming to the US, legally or otherwise. But they do come.
And where do we Americans go to escape a tyrananny federal government?
Friday, July 04, 2008
Put your life at risk!
OK kids, put your life on the line! Risk being arrested and tried for treason and being executed! Step up! Sign the Declaration of Independence!
Now, a quick history refresher:
What does the 4th of July commemorate here in America? (Insert Final Jeopardy interlude music here). It commemorates the PASSING of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress, not its signing.
Anyhow, here is what the final product looks like:
Your signature appears at the bottom of the far left column.
So, there I am, Amendment X, risking the calling down of the furies for high treason against the Crown.
So be it. Bring it on!
By the way, here is the story of the Declaration of Independence and what happened to the signers.
Brave men indeed as there was no prohibition against "cruel or unusual" punishment. And high treason was punishable by drawing and quartering.
Now, a quick history refresher:
What does the 4th of July commemorate here in America? (Insert Final Jeopardy interlude music here). It commemorates the PASSING of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress, not its signing.
Anyhow, here is what the final product looks like:
Your signature appears at the bottom of the far left column.
So, there I am, Amendment X, risking the calling down of the furies for high treason against the Crown.
So be it. Bring it on!
By the way, here is the story of the Declaration of Independence and what happened to the signers.
Brave men indeed as there was no prohibition against "cruel or unusual" punishment. And high treason was punishable by drawing and quartering.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
His name is Don
He was a B-17 ball turret gunner. What he did was called "flying the ball". It, along with the tail gunner position were considered to be the most dangerous positions for the B-17 air crew.
His completed tour was supposed to be 25 missions that were upped to 30. But, he was shot down and served as a POW (prisoner of war). When being transported , the train he was on was strafed and jumped the tracks. Trains were considered "targets of opportunity" for fighters and it was not uncommon for American fighters to strafe POW trains as they were usually unmarked. He and a few other POW's, on seeing that they weren't being guarded after the derailing, took off and walked for five days, without food, and crossed the border into Switzerland where he was interred for the rest of the war.
He flew B-29's in the Pacific after being liberated in Europe, then flew B-52's.
I met Don at the Wednesday lunches for the 8th Air Force Historical Society, a group of many WWII vets including, but not limited to air and ground crew from the 8th, 15th, 9th, 12th, 7th and 20th Air Forces. We also have Navy and Marine ground and air personnel from the PTO. We also have vets from Korea, Vietnam, first Gulf War and now the second. And we have hanger-ons like me.
A couple of years ago Don was too ill to drive, so he asked me if I would pick him up for the lunches. Of course. I can't refuse a vet. How could I?
Well, I heard a bit of a different story about Don's career as a POW as we drove to Bloomington. He told me that he and a few others were fairly dissatisfied with their treatment in the Stalag. And he commented that the cuisine left much to be desired next to Mom's meatloaf. So, he said "We decided to leave. They weren't treating as nicely as we thought they should, and we heard the food was better in Switzerland. So, that's where we went." It was only later that I heard about his being on a POW train that was strafed.
And of course there was another story that took the entire twenty minutes on our second drive.
After Don was liberated, he got orders to report to California. He flew to, I believe, San Francisco. His next orders were to report to Hickam Field near Pearl Harbor. His next orders were to report to, again I believe, the Philippines. In all these orders he was never told the end point.
On that the far Pacific airbase he was told which officer to report to. The officer told him to suit up, which he did. Don, being an enlisted man, learned early on never to question orders or officers (who usually gave orders). Don suited up, was driven out to the flight line and was told to board one of these bad boys:
It's a Northrup P-61 Black Widow. And off to combat they flew. In combat, the pilot's screaming at Don "There's a Zero. Shoot the bastard!!!!" "Sergeant, what the hell's wrong with you? They're Japs all over the place and you haven't shot a single round!!! What the (very strong expletive here staring with 'F') are you doing?!?!?" Don's reply "I've never been trained as a P-61 gunner. Only a B-17 gunner!" Oops. Seems that some REMF (Rear Echelon Mother [Same expletive as before] military slang for someone behind the lines) had seen that Don went to gunnery school, was a combat experienced air crew gunner, and off he was ordered to the Pacific. To be the gunner on a P-61. Ain't the military bureaucracy grand?
Don flew B-29's afterwards,where his experience was much more relevant. And he was much happier. And the B-29 pilot didn't scream at him with nearly as much vigor (or as much colorful language) as did the P-61 driver. I failed to ask if the Air Force food was better than Swiss victuals. An oversight on my part, but a question for which Don would have had a wry answer.
Don had been in failing health over the past few years. He had gone from being old to being frail as are more and more of my WWII friends. He was on oxygen.
About two weeks ago Don fell and broke his hip. Rushed to the hospital Don was successfully operated on. All pinned up and on the mend Don was cracking wise with the hospital staff. But there was clot from the surgery. It broke loose,went to his heart and killed him.
His funeral service was Tuesday.
One of the members of his POW group led the prayer. He talked about our liberating God. How He liberated Moses and the enslaved Israelites. How He liberated Daniel from the lions' den. Liberated the three Israelites from the fiery furnace, the Israelites from Babylon and Paul and Peter from prison. Liberated Jesus from the grave. Liberated me from the consequences of my sins and my self-purchased first class one-way ticket for an eternal trip to hell.
Seems that the only acceptable currency for the purchase of liberty is blood. For us and our sins, it's the Blood of Jesus. For the luxury and liberty of being able to write, in English, and read this small memorial to Don, in the greatest nation on earth, the currency was and is the blood of soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen.
The blood of Don's brothers-in-arms.
And I feel the emptiness in my chest from missing him already.
So, go out and honor Don and others by fighting for liberty. Don and all those brothers-in-arms of his who risked all their tomorrows so we could have today.
Celebrate what he and millions of others fought and many died for.
Happy 4th of July.
By the way, here is a picture of Don and his air crew. Don is in the back row, third from the right.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Is Google Anti-American?
This may be the last blog entry for a while.
Seems there are questions regarding Google, its ownership of Blogger and the suspension of some Blogger sites that don't speak highly of the Obamamessiah.
Newsbusters has an article about the questionable suspension of these sites.
il Duce' at The Anti-Strib also has two articles .
Google, to be able to run its engine in China, agreed to censor results from searches run on its search engine.
Yahoo, Dogpile , Search and Ask (the old Ask Jeeves) are just a few alternatives. Maybe even consider MSN search. Just ignore the results from Google.
Seems there are questions regarding Google, its ownership of Blogger and the suspension of some Blogger sites that don't speak highly of the Obamamessiah.
Newsbusters has an article about the questionable suspension of these sites.
il Duce' at The Anti-Strib also has two articles .
Google, to be able to run its engine in China, agreed to censor results from searches run on its search engine.
Yahoo, Dogpile , Search and Ask (the old Ask Jeeves) are just a few alternatives. Maybe even consider MSN search. Just ignore the results from Google.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Thoughts on Heller
I had been anticipating the D.C. v Heller decision for some time. My friend Dr. Joseph Olson was one of the members of Heller's legal team in the oral arguments phase before SCOTUS.
You know some of my background when it comes to the 2nd Amendment (leadership team member for MNCCRN/GOCRA , AACFI Instructor , permit carrier under the former and present statute. I've been instructed by and shot with an Army Ranger, Air Force Intelligence officer, SWAT Sniper, member Delta Force, BCA certified Range Officer [the one responsible for teaching firearm techniques and range certifying police officers ] to name a few).
I'm not going to review the Heller decision. There are many sites that will do that for you (Second Amendment Foundation, the NRA and you can read Justice Scalia's majority opinion).
I am pleased at the Heller decision. I am also concerned. For the first time there is a SCOTUS decision that the 2nd Amendment means what it has always meant. This a significant victory. I won't discount that.The concern: it was a 5-4 decision on a case that absolutely should have been 9-0.
Now, in the late 1780's, as we were still waiting for Marconi to invent radio and Al Gore to get that internet thing up and running, the only available mechanism to broadcast the proposed Constitution was the printing press. To be sure that the citizens understood what the document meant, it was written in plain, common everyday language for the late 18th century. The federalists wrote a series of articles that collected were called the Federalist Papers that explained in detail what the framers meant. The Anti-Federalists were very concerned about this federal government, having just finished fighting the most powerful central government in the world, the British monarchy and Parliament. The Anti-Federalists were responsible for the Bill of Rights to ensure redundancy in the preservation of liberty. The Bill of Rights was also written in the common , everyday 18th Century vernacular so as to absolutely clear about intent and meaning. And with all that, there were four Supreme justices who found a new and completely contrary meaning in those 27 simple and direct words. Justice Breyer wrote :”In my view, there simply is no untouchable constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns in the house in crime-ridden urban areas.” Justice Stevens wrote that there was a "settled" precedent regarding the regulation of firearms for militia use. He then wrote:"The Court's announcement of a new constitutional right to own and use firearms for private purposes (emphasis mine) upsets that settled understanding." A "new" constitutional right. Unlike the old right of habeas corpus for foreign enemy combatants that these four plus Justice Kennedy magically "found" and "announced" this session, that somehow my copy of Constitution doesn't contain.
Justice Scalia wrote about the interest in keeping firearms out the hands of the mentally unstable and felons. And therein lies the fight: how is "mentally unstable" defined? How are they "prevented" from owning or having firearms? How well has gun control kept firearms out of the hands of criminals? The left will never, ever give up. Always remember,evil only compromises to establish the new negotiating point. Evil always wants it all.
As I told a friend of mine last night this a very important decision. But, it is only a single victory for a single battle, albeit an important battle ,as was Gettysburg, in the never ending war the left wages on America, liberty,freedom and good. How the significance of this decision plays out will show itself over the coming decades with state judges and legislatures, the federal judiciary including SCOTUS and Congress.
It bears repeating and certainly remembering: Heller was a 5-4 decision. It hung on a single Justice , Kennedy, who was also the swing vote for the child rape law and the enemy combatant/habeas majority opinions . Plessy v Ferguson established that "separate but equal" as being constitutional was overturned 58 years later by Brown v Board of Education.
Heller can also be overturned.
Some additional thoughts I posted at Hot Air.
You know some of my background when it comes to the 2nd Amendment (leadership team member for MNCCRN/GOCRA , AACFI Instructor , permit carrier under the former and present statute. I've been instructed by and shot with an Army Ranger, Air Force Intelligence officer, SWAT Sniper, member Delta Force, BCA certified Range Officer [the one responsible for teaching firearm techniques and range certifying police officers ] to name a few).
I'm not going to review the Heller decision. There are many sites that will do that for you (Second Amendment Foundation, the NRA and you can read Justice Scalia's majority opinion).
I am pleased at the Heller decision. I am also concerned. For the first time there is a SCOTUS decision that the 2nd Amendment means what it has always meant. This a significant victory. I won't discount that.The concern: it was a 5-4 decision on a case that absolutely should have been 9-0.
Now, in the late 1780's, as we were still waiting for Marconi to invent radio and Al Gore to get that internet thing up and running, the only available mechanism to broadcast the proposed Constitution was the printing press. To be sure that the citizens understood what the document meant, it was written in plain, common everyday language for the late 18th century. The federalists wrote a series of articles that collected were called the Federalist Papers that explained in detail what the framers meant. The Anti-Federalists were very concerned about this federal government, having just finished fighting the most powerful central government in the world, the British monarchy and Parliament. The Anti-Federalists were responsible for the Bill of Rights to ensure redundancy in the preservation of liberty. The Bill of Rights was also written in the common , everyday 18th Century vernacular so as to absolutely clear about intent and meaning. And with all that, there were four Supreme justices who found a new and completely contrary meaning in those 27 simple and direct words. Justice Breyer wrote :”In my view, there simply is no untouchable constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns in the house in crime-ridden urban areas.” Justice Stevens wrote that there was a "settled" precedent regarding the regulation of firearms for militia use. He then wrote:"The Court's announcement of a new constitutional right to own and use firearms for private purposes (emphasis mine) upsets that settled understanding." A "new" constitutional right. Unlike the old right of habeas corpus for foreign enemy combatants that these four plus Justice Kennedy magically "found" and "announced" this session, that somehow my copy of Constitution doesn't contain.
Justice Scalia wrote about the interest in keeping firearms out the hands of the mentally unstable and felons. And therein lies the fight: how is "mentally unstable" defined? How are they "prevented" from owning or having firearms? How well has gun control kept firearms out of the hands of criminals? The left will never, ever give up. Always remember,evil only compromises to establish the new negotiating point. Evil always wants it all.
As I told a friend of mine last night this a very important decision. But, it is only a single victory for a single battle, albeit an important battle ,as was Gettysburg, in the never ending war the left wages on America, liberty,freedom and good. How the significance of this decision plays out will show itself over the coming decades with state judges and legislatures, the federal judiciary including SCOTUS and Congress.
It bears repeating and certainly remembering: Heller was a 5-4 decision. It hung on a single Justice , Kennedy, who was also the swing vote for the child rape law and the enemy combatant/habeas majority opinions . Plessy v Ferguson established that "separate but equal" as being constitutional was overturned 58 years later by Brown v Board of Education.
Heller can also be overturned.
Some additional thoughts I posted at Hot Air.
Friday, June 20, 2008
A musical tribute to honor my worthy opponents
To honor Barack Hussein Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters and Maurice Hinchey and all left wingers ideas for energy policy, I humbly present the following more than appropriate musical tribute:
And ya know the irony of it all? The modern state of Russia is gloming onto, drilling for, mining and scraping every bit of oil/gas/uranium/coal that they can find. The Russians are better capitalists than the majority of Americans in Congress!
Go figure.
And ya know the irony of it all? The modern state of Russia is gloming onto, drilling for, mining and scraping every bit of oil/gas/uranium/coal that they can find. The Russians are better capitalists than the majority of Americans in Congress!
Go figure.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The USS Yorktown, the 35W bridge and oil
I'm a WWII history buff. Have been for years. In 1942, the USS Yorktown was heavily damaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea. She set sail for Pearl Harbor for extensive repairs. When she arrived, it was estimated that she would require at least three months of repair. As she was needed for the Battle of Midway, she was alloted 72 hours in port for repairs. She set sail three days later and fought at Midway where she was sunk. But, instead of being in dry dock, she helped mortally wound the Japanese Navy.
Last August, the 35W bridge across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed. It's a bridge I had been across thousands of times. A socialist friend of mine kept repeating that the reason the bridge collapsed was because Gov. Pawlenty vetoed a gas tax increase. He went on to say that it would take at least five years to build a new bridge. I said, "No. We could do it in a year if the government gets out of the way!" The bridge is controlled by a number of jurisdictions: the city of Minneapolis, the federal government, Hennepin County, the State of Minnesota, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard (the Mississippi is a navigable waterway) to name a few. Then throw in the EPA, OSHA, MN Dept. of Natural Resources and a few others just for giggles.
Well, as the 35W bridge was/is critical to business all across the state. So, it was agreed to "fast track" the bridge and suspend a bunch of the regulations and just get on with it. And the new 35W bridge is set to be completed in under a year from the time the bids were let. And it will come in under budget. Not 5 years and $300,000,000 +. Newt Gingrich forcast that fast build possibility just days after the collapse.
So now, I keep hearing that it will take 5-10 years to bring new oil fields online. Nah. Well, yes it will with all the crap BS regulations from a myriad of alphabet soup agencies. However, get the Congress out of the way, kill all but absolutely essential regulations (and there precious few of those) and I'd bet the farm that we could bring oil fields online in under two years. Do something like telling oil drillers/oil companies that they get a 100% tax write-off for all their expenses. And only a 10% tax on oil revenue. Then, suspend all those crap EPA/OSHA regulations and tell the Exxon/Mobil/Chevron/Shell/ etc that they get the same deal to build 20-30 new oil refineries. 100% tax write off for all expenses. Nah, better yet, make that a 100% tax credit instead. Yah. That's the way to go. And a 10% tax on all oil revenue. And if they keep all that oil in America, the tax drops to 5% or less. just an incentive to keep the energy here.
Same type of deal for oil shale, natural gas, coal, nuclear. Cheap energy and the country hums and purrs along.
Last August, the 35W bridge across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed. It's a bridge I had been across thousands of times. A socialist friend of mine kept repeating that the reason the bridge collapsed was because Gov. Pawlenty vetoed a gas tax increase. He went on to say that it would take at least five years to build a new bridge. I said, "No. We could do it in a year if the government gets out of the way!" The bridge is controlled by a number of jurisdictions: the city of Minneapolis, the federal government, Hennepin County, the State of Minnesota, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard (the Mississippi is a navigable waterway) to name a few. Then throw in the EPA, OSHA, MN Dept. of Natural Resources and a few others just for giggles.
Well, as the 35W bridge was/is critical to business all across the state. So, it was agreed to "fast track" the bridge and suspend a bunch of the regulations and just get on with it. And the new 35W bridge is set to be completed in under a year from the time the bids were let. And it will come in under budget. Not 5 years and $300,000,000 +. Newt Gingrich forcast that fast build possibility just days after the collapse.
So now, I keep hearing that it will take 5-10 years to bring new oil fields online. Nah. Well, yes it will with all the crap BS regulations from a myriad of alphabet soup agencies. However, get the Congress out of the way, kill all but absolutely essential regulations (and there precious few of those) and I'd bet the farm that we could bring oil fields online in under two years. Do something like telling oil drillers/oil companies that they get a 100% tax write-off for all their expenses. And only a 10% tax on oil revenue. Then, suspend all those crap EPA/OSHA regulations and tell the Exxon/Mobil/Chevron/Shell/ etc that they get the same deal to build 20-30 new oil refineries. 100% tax write off for all expenses. Nah, better yet, make that a 100% tax credit instead. Yah. That's the way to go. And a 10% tax on all oil revenue. And if they keep all that oil in America, the tax drops to 5% or less. just an incentive to keep the energy here.
Same type of deal for oil shale, natural gas, coal, nuclear. Cheap energy and the country hums and purrs along.
Friday, June 13, 2008
NBC's Tim Russert
I was shocked to read about Tim Russert's passing today.
While I don't believe we agree politically, he was a very gracious man.
I had the privilege of spending some time with him on the media level at the Republican National Convention in New York.
He took the time to talk to anyone who would stop him and even waited to take a picture with myself and Ella (the little elephant).
Losing him days before Father's day is a reminder to enjoy each moment you have with your family.
My Prayers are with his family this weekend.
While I don't believe we agree politically, he was a very gracious man.
I had the privilege of spending some time with him on the media level at the Republican National Convention in New York.
He took the time to talk to anyone who would stop him and even waited to take a picture with myself and Ella (the little elephant).
Losing him days before Father's day is a reminder to enjoy each moment you have with your family.
My Prayers are with his family this weekend.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
It's Coca Cola's fault! Or the bakers.
OK kids. Today Uncle Amendment X is going to do a lame imitation of a Dr. Walter E. Williams type economic lesson.
Now, we all know that the average price for a gallon of gas is $4.05 nationally. And the Dumbcrats want you to believe many reasons are behind this price rise. All their reasons are wrong. Dead wrong. They want you to believe that:
Now, whenever there is an increase in gas prices, as surely as the sun rises in the east, Congress hauls oil company executives into a hearing room, screams at them then commissions yet another study about collusion and price fixing within the industry. Well, review the following graph (compliments of Powerline):
Now, click on the above image. Go to the titles on the x axis and read across. Let's see, we have NIOC (the national oil company of Iran), Aramco (the Saudi Arabia national oil company) and Kuwait, Iraq, PEMEX (controlled by Mexico). Notice number 14- Exxon/Mobil. To finally come across a publicly traded (meaning private citizens own the company) you have to go to the company that is 14th on the list of how much oil/gas they control. As the chart says, 94% of all the oil and gas in the world is controlled by national oil companies. Exxon/Mobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Chevron, Conoco/Phillips are all owned by schlubs like you, me, Grandma and Grandpa, pension funds. Not tyrants like Hugo Chavez or a thousand princes from the House of Saud or the Royal Family of Kuwait.
Exxon/Mobil, Chevron and the others are more correctly called oil refiners, or gasoline/diesel refiners. These companies buy the oil they refine from the Aramcos/PEMEXs of the world. They are caught in a squeeze because their cost of materials has increased. So, when the trolls in Congress haul the execs from Chevron, et al before them and scream about gas prices, well, this makes as much sense as screaming at Coca Cola for high Coke prices when the price of corn goes up (high fructose corn syrup is the most expensice ingredient in Coke. And Pepsi, etc.). Or screaming at bakers for the high price of bread when there is a wheat bust and the price of wheat goes through the roof. Go here to read what I wrote about Congress and oil/gasoline two years ago. And yesterday, they, the Dumbcrats, refused to allow drilling 50 miles off shore on the continental shelf.
Save us from Congress!
Now, we all know that the average price for a gallon of gas is $4.05 nationally. And the Dumbcrats want you to believe many reasons are behind this price rise. All their reasons are wrong. Dead wrong. They want you to believe that:
- Very evil oil company executives are drooling at the thought that Grandma has to select between Alpo or Purina Dry dog food as those nasty executives are going through her retirement check with higher oil prices and therefore higher prices on everything. Well, they reckon that Granny can set fire to her table to keep warm this winter. And besides, when Grandma dies, well, less worry about that Social Security/Medicare thing you know.
- "Speculators" are driving up the cost of oil because they are greedy bastards and were also spawned from the same malevolent, vile, recalcitrant, sinful seed that produces oil company executives.
- Republicans- well, just because.
- OPEC- well worth a lawsuit, they say!
Global warming. Sorry. Climate Change! (Hard to keep up with the changing terms you know). Brought on by all the above.- YOU! You vile consuming prigs! Hurting Gaia while little children someplace are starving. And polar bears are drowning. How dare you think you have freedom to drive, eat, keep warm! WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH FOR YOU?!?!?
Now, whenever there is an increase in gas prices, as surely as the sun rises in the east, Congress hauls oil company executives into a hearing room, screams at them then commissions yet another study about collusion and price fixing within the industry. Well, review the following graph (compliments of Powerline):
Now, click on the above image. Go to the titles on the x axis and read across. Let's see, we have NIOC (the national oil company of Iran), Aramco (the Saudi Arabia national oil company) and Kuwait, Iraq, PEMEX (controlled by Mexico). Notice number 14- Exxon/Mobil. To finally come across a publicly traded (meaning private citizens own the company) you have to go to the company that is 14th on the list of how much oil/gas they control. As the chart says, 94% of all the oil and gas in the world is controlled by national oil companies. Exxon/Mobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, Chevron, Conoco/Phillips are all owned by schlubs like you, me, Grandma and Grandpa, pension funds. Not tyrants like Hugo Chavez or a thousand princes from the House of Saud or the Royal Family of Kuwait.
Exxon/Mobil, Chevron and the others are more correctly called oil refiners, or gasoline/diesel refiners. These companies buy the oil they refine from the Aramcos/PEMEXs of the world. They are caught in a squeeze because their cost of materials has increased. So, when the trolls in Congress haul the execs from Chevron, et al before them and scream about gas prices, well, this makes as much sense as screaming at Coca Cola for high Coke prices when the price of corn goes up (high fructose corn syrup is the most expensice ingredient in Coke. And Pepsi, etc.). Or screaming at bakers for the high price of bread when there is a wheat bust and the price of wheat goes through the roof. Go here to read what I wrote about Congress and oil/gasoline two years ago. And yesterday, they, the Dumbcrats, refused to allow drilling 50 miles off shore on the continental shelf.
Save us from Congress!
Who's Responsible for $4.00+ Gas?- I Am.
And now, introducing the Official Amendment X/Savage Republican Congressional "You Don't Need Cheap Gas, We Know Best, No Drilling, Not Now, Not Ever, Death to The Evil Oil Companies, Tax Them Into Oblivion, We're Going To Appoint Maxine Waters To Run Your Miserable Oil Companies, Ignore the Fact that We In Congress Have Brought You To This Place, But Vote For All of Us This November Because We Really Do Have a Plan for Cheap Gas, Just Like Nancy Pelosi Promised Two Years Ago But Evil Dick Cheney And Puppy and Kitten Killing Satanic Halliburton Have Prevented Us From Implementing It" theme song!
George Will was interviewed on the Colbert Report. His money maker line about exactly what the government should do-"Deliver the mail, protect the shores, get out of the way." I like it. In his recent column Will is direct about who brought this crisis upon us: we did. You and me. He refers to Sen. Chuck Schumer (who excellently represents the arrogance and hubris of all Congress) and his stand on oil, gas and Saudi Arabia:" Saudi Arabia, he said, "holds the key to reducing gasoline prices at home in the short term." Therefore arms sales to that kingdom should be blocked unless it "increases its oil production by one million barrels per day," which would cause the price of gasoline to fall "50 cents a gallon almost immediately."" Will is correct in that Schumer states the obvious and is therefore aware of the connection between supply/demand and price. He and 96 other Senators voted to stop putting oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve thereby putting a pittance of oil into the market. Will goes on to indict Schumer with his own words:" So Schumer, according to Schumer, is complicit in taking $10 away from every American who buys 20 gallons of gasoline." Therefore, will goes on to state that those who put Schumer, (Schumer also has voted against drilling in ANWR), in office have no reason to complain about high gas prices. These people are now experiencing the consequences of their vote.
Will also states-" Also disqualified from complaining are all voters who sent to Washington senators and representatives who have voted to keep ANWR's oil in the ground and who voted to put 85 percent of America's offshore territory off-limits to drilling."
In other words, I have no reason to complain. I voted for Norm Coleman even though in 2002, at the Scott County Republican Convention , he was very clear that he was against drilling in ANWR because he was in favor of bio-diesel. He voted for Warner/Leiberman Cap and Trade. And on and on.
So, kids, we are the ones responsible for high gas prices. We voted for these people who, over 35 years (from the first oil embargo in 1973) have voted consistently to stop American oil companies from drilling and using our own resources. Even though a vast majority of Americans NOW want drilling, Congress still is voting from arrogance.
I will be calling Sen. Norm Coleman's office. I will tell the receptionist that if the Senator doesn't vote to drill anywhere, everywhere there is oil, now and doesn't get out the way, I will vote for anyone else but him this fall. If he votes again for a "Windfall Profits Tax" on oil companies, I will not vote for Uncle Al, but I will also not vote for Norm Coleman.
My next post will talk about real world common sense solutions to the crisis that we have brought upon ourselves.
BTW- I just called Sen. Coleman's office and left a messgae, with my name and bona fides, that if he votes again for a Windfall Profits Tax, Lieberman/Warner, no ANWR, that I will not be voting for the Senator this fall. I said I would not be voting for Franken either. I told the receptionist I read the Senators web page on energy and saw nowhere where oil production was increased. The receptionist said that the Senator does support drilling off the coasts. I said good but the majority of his energy policy was in supporting alternative fuels and strategies that have been a three decade failure. She said she would give him my message.
George Will was interviewed on the Colbert Report. His money maker line about exactly what the government should do-"Deliver the mail, protect the shores, get out of the way." I like it. In his recent column Will is direct about who brought this crisis upon us: we did. You and me. He refers to Sen. Chuck Schumer (who excellently represents the arrogance and hubris of all Congress) and his stand on oil, gas and Saudi Arabia:" Saudi Arabia, he said, "holds the key to reducing gasoline prices at home in the short term." Therefore arms sales to that kingdom should be blocked unless it "increases its oil production by one million barrels per day," which would cause the price of gasoline to fall "50 cents a gallon almost immediately."" Will is correct in that Schumer states the obvious and is therefore aware of the connection between supply/demand and price. He and 96 other Senators voted to stop putting oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve thereby putting a pittance of oil into the market. Will goes on to indict Schumer with his own words:" So Schumer, according to Schumer, is complicit in taking $10 away from every American who buys 20 gallons of gasoline." Therefore, will goes on to state that those who put Schumer, (Schumer also has voted against drilling in ANWR), in office have no reason to complain about high gas prices. These people are now experiencing the consequences of their vote.
Will also states-" Also disqualified from complaining are all voters who sent to Washington senators and representatives who have voted to keep ANWR's oil in the ground and who voted to put 85 percent of America's offshore territory off-limits to drilling."
In other words, I have no reason to complain. I voted for Norm Coleman even though in 2002, at the Scott County Republican Convention , he was very clear that he was against drilling in ANWR because he was in favor of bio-diesel. He voted for Warner/Leiberman Cap and Trade. And on and on.
So, kids, we are the ones responsible for high gas prices. We voted for these people who, over 35 years (from the first oil embargo in 1973) have voted consistently to stop American oil companies from drilling and using our own resources. Even though a vast majority of Americans NOW want drilling, Congress still is voting from arrogance.
I will be calling Sen. Norm Coleman's office. I will tell the receptionist that if the Senator doesn't vote to drill anywhere, everywhere there is oil, now and doesn't get out the way, I will vote for anyone else but him this fall. If he votes again for a "Windfall Profits Tax" on oil companies, I will not vote for Uncle Al, but I will also not vote for Norm Coleman.
My next post will talk about real world common sense solutions to the crisis that we have brought upon ourselves.
BTW- I just called Sen. Coleman's office and left a messgae, with my name and bona fides, that if he votes again for a Windfall Profits Tax, Lieberman/Warner, no ANWR, that I will not be voting for the Senator this fall. I said I would not be voting for Franken either. I told the receptionist I read the Senators web page on energy and saw nowhere where oil production was increased. The receptionist said that the Senator does support drilling off the coasts. I said good but the majority of his energy policy was in supporting alternative fuels and strategies that have been a three decade failure. She said she would give him my message.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
There is hope when we have kids like this
Sometimes it not how you win or lose, but how you play the game.
In this era of steroids, me first and gotcha politics - sometime it takes a game of ball to reminds us of the good that is America.
Better to fight the good fight with honor, then to win not on your merit but by taking advantage of your opponents weakness.
In this era of steroids, me first and gotcha politics - sometime it takes a game of ball to reminds us of the good that is America.
Better to fight the good fight with honor, then to win not on your merit but by taking advantage of your opponents weakness.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
This just in: Hugo Chavez's Lost Sister Found in America!
And she just keeps getting re-elected.
Do you think ratings for Congress can possibly get any lower? You bet they can.
Just watch.
Remember, what Congress has done for gas and food prices they'll do for health care.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
I'm an American Kid
Needed to update.
Don't feel like being serious, so a fun song from one of my favorite groups.
If you have kids - you should have these guy's CDs.
Don't feel like being serious, so a fun song from one of my favorite groups.
If you have kids - you should have these guy's CDs.
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