Saturday, July 28, 2007

Patton Speech on Today's War on Terror & Iraq

I normally don't post YouTube videos (actually, this is the first), but I heard this on Bill Bennet's Morning in America show on either Thursday or Friday (can't remember - too tired). 

Warning - In the traditional Patton style, there is profanity, but the message is excellent.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Approval of Congress?

By now, everyone has heard or read that the approval rating for Congress is below that of the President. While it is not surprising to me that this is the case, there are those that do not understand how this Democrat-controlled body has fallen so far from the promises that they touted during the last election cycle.

One of the first things that come to mind (and the biggest) is the immigration reform fubar. I don’t think that anyone was happy with the obvious closed-door backroom deals that were made to even bring this miserable piece of legislation to the floor of the Senate. This displeasure was made known to the Senators by the numerous phone calls and emails made by the concerned citizens of this country. If the Senators thought that they were doing the will of the people, this was certainly the loudest wake-up call that they have received in a long, long time that they were way off the reservation.

Next on my list is that the Democrats ran on the platform of reforming the Republican’s “Culture of Corruption” in which they were to clean Congress of misdeeds, earmarks, and wasteful spending. Never mind that William Jefferson (D-La) was caught with over $90,000 of FBI marked money in his freezer and was later indicted. Ignore the dust-up made by John Murtha over a challenge by Mike Rogers on Murtha’s blatant attempt at earmarking funds for a pet project. And let’s not mention all the deals that were made just to bring the aforementioned Immigration Reform Bill to the Senate floor. These are just a few of the many dealings along this line that this Congress has shown that it’s “business as usual” in the Capitol instead of the reforms that the Democratic leadership promised.

Then there are the incessant investigations into this, that, and the other. The political prosecution of Scooter Libby, investigation into the Attorney General’s office, NSA wiretap investigation, the detention of terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, the calls to investigate and impeach the President are but a few of the antics that this Congress is busying themselves with instead of the more important issues facing this country. I’m now waiting for a Congressional investigation into steroid use in professional wrestling a la baseball. Need I say that the country is sick and tired of investigation upon investigation over nothing and non-issues?

Then there is the Iraq War and the War on Terrorism. This Congress called for the President to change strategies, and he eventually did - and then they still complained even with the new strategy appearing to be working. Congress has called for a withdrawal of troops but lack the intestinal fortitude to withdraw funding for this conflict. And the Congress is trying their best to micro-manage the President and the military, even though it is not within their Constitutional authority to do so. Along with this is a shortsighted view of the big picture – i.e., the security of this country, and it is no wonder I feel more insecure knowing that these bozos are running the show.

Last are the obvious power politics. How many non-binding resolutions on the same subject can be voted on? Who cares that it involves a sleepover along with pizza and beverages? The results are the same – nothing significant gets done, no problems are solved, and more problems are the result. The only thing that these clowns are doing is playing power politics to have the next President be elected from the Democratic Party.

Quite frankly, with the antics of the Democrats in charge and the past actions of the Republicans, I’m not really sure if I want either party in the White House. It is a shame that there is not a credible third party out there that enjoys nationwide support. A change is needed in Washington, and I just don’t see it happening with the current political parties that we have to choose from.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Tale of the Trids

Haven't done one of these for a while, and considering that I just went through workplace violence prevention training today, perhaps it's time to purge some of these non-conformist thoughts...

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On an island in the South Pacific, there lived a tribe of natives called the Trids.  They are a peaceful people, although, well, vertically challenged.  But their island had everything that they could want or need.  It was Paradise....except for the giant.

The giant lived on a mountain on one end of the island.  Every now & then, usually once every couple of months, the giant would come down from the mountain into the village of the Trids and kick them around.  No deaths, no broken bones, just lots of bruises.  Only the very young and the very old were spared the wrath of the giant.

One day, a cargo ship was passing by the island, and stopped for supplies.  On the ship was a Rabbi looking for a place to live for a while.  He saw the island as a sanctuary, a place to relax while he sorted out the problems of life in general.  The Trids welcomed the Rabbi as their guest, but they did warn him about the giant.  He promised that he would do his best to help save them from the giant.

The cargo ship sailed away with the captain promising to return for the Rabbi in four months.  And for about six weeks, everything was as if the Rabbi was in the Garden of Eden.  Then the giant came down off his mountain.

The Trids heard the giant, and ran screaming through the village for everyone to run and hide.  The Rabbi heard this commotion, and went to the front of the village to confront the giant.

And he saw the giant coming down the path from the mountain.  And he was huge!!  The Rabbi's confidence was fading with every step the giant took toward the village.  Finally, the giant reached the village and stopped in front of the Rabbi. 

The giant looked down on the Rabbi and started to chuckle a low, rumbling, bemused type of chuckle.  With every passing second, the Rabbi's knees began to shake.  The giant saw this, and chuckled louder.

Finally, the Rabbi couldn't take it anymore.  He looked up at the giant and shouted, "You're not going to kick the Trids around unless you start with me first!!  Well, get on with it!!  Start kicking!!"

The giant let out the loudest chuckling laugh ever heard, shaking the very ground and echoing through the land.  The giant leaned down and looked the Rabbi in the eye.  The Rabbi thought he was a goner as the giant fixed him with a penetrating gaze with his yellow eyes.

Still chuckling, the giant said, "Silly Rabbi.  Kicks are for Trids..."

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Illegals Cost You Money, and So Do Politicians!!

Gayle has this post over at Dragon Ladies Den which really tells how much our elected Senators were going to hose us for if the Immigration Reform Bill became law.  I stand by my assessment that these jerks need to be replaced by someone with, well, a little more common sense than a rock. 

It still amazes me that most of these Senators have law degrees, which means that they are supposed to have some smarts upstairs.  But how can they be so stupid as to not see the reality of the situation?  But then again...

Quoting from an earlier post:

In case any of you didn't know, a typical politician's primary job is not to serve the people who elected him. His primary job is to get himself (or herself) elected or re-elected. Second job is to reward all those contributors that gave $$ to help him get elected. Third is to get as many perks & benefits as he can while he is in office. Last on the list is the common person like you & I.

While there are some exceptions, they are the minority (or they're up for re-election), but I am just amazed at the arrogance of the politicians.  After all, it's not their money, but yours.  Earmarks, pork, and backroon deals all come together for power to the politician, not to the people that elected them.  Why am I reminded of the Jimmy Stewart movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington?

Then there is the open microphone incident that exposed HRC (a.k.a Hildebeast) and JE (a.k.a. Breck Boy) plotting to exclude their competition.  If this doesn't demonstrate the elitism that these politicians believe in, then nothing will.

Term limits, financial responsibility of Congress, flat tax or a national sales tax instead of an income tax are all things I would like to see, but then again, I'd like to have a winning Powerball ticket too.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Friday the 13th vs. Global Warming

Just when you thought it was safe to hide under the bed and cringe over the Algore prophesy of Global Warming doom, some facts come out. Of course, Al's not going to let a few facts get in his way of hawking carbon credits.

The American Thinker published an article a couple of days ago titled Global Warming and Solar Radiation. To summarize the article, Global Warming is not a man-made or caused phenomenon. Big surprise...

But then again, what else would you expect from someone who has great expectations of himself with an ego to match?  A not so complementary article is here, which beats mine to pieces...

Monday, July 09, 2007

200 Posts and 10,000 Visitors...

...and then I get tagged!!  This time, Always on Watch ever so nicely slipped me the assignment of listing 8 things/habits.  I normally treat such things as the electronic equivalent of a chain letter, but how can I say no to a teacher?  I sure don't want detention, so here we go...

1)  I was involved in sports 30 years ago, track mostly.  Didn't do much between then and a year ago when my wife and I started training together.  If I'm not careful, she's going to kick my ...

2)  One of my ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence.

3)  Learned how to play golf without a single lesson at 16, and was down to an 8 handicap after two years of playing.  I'm now fighting to keep an 18 to 20...why does it get to be so hard when you get older?

4)  Medically, I'm allergic to cats, but we have two and I'm not having any problems.  Go figure...

5)  I firmly believe that the Constitution of the United States outlines the most perfect form of government.  Now if we can just keep the politicians from mucking it up...

6)  Life is too short to not have fun.  Are we having fun yet?

7)  In God I trust - all others bring data.

8)  I speak my mind and opinion without much sugar - sugar is for my morning coffee.

 And no, I'm not going to tag anyone (unless you ask really, really nice...) 

Friday, July 06, 2007

Pardon Me!?!

Let's get one thing straight – Lewis “Scooter” Libby has not been pardoned by President Bush. His sentence has been commuted. He still pays a $250,000 fine, and will not be able to practice law. If he was pardoned, then he wouldn't have to pay the fine and he would be allowed to practice law.

So he didn't pull a Bill Clinton, who seemed to pardon almost everyone around him for similar and worse crimes. So why are the Democratic candidates (especially HRC) making so much of this? In a word – politics.

The problem that the Democratic candidates have is that they are not running against President Bush in the next election. They really don't have anything else to showcase what they stand for. National or universal healthcare is an issue that might fly at first blush, but if anyone with half a brain thinks about it for any length of time, this is one elephant that no one wants in the same room. All the candidates have stated is that they will raise taxes on the wealthy, but they differ on who exactly fits in that category. They also want to repeal the tax cuts that helped boost the economy (and exactly what do they think this will do?) They can try to hang their hats on Iraq, and they might get some traction there, but again, they are not running against Bush. And let's not even talk about the “culture of corruption” - both parties have major problems with this one.

So they are left with trying to make political hay over a commuted sentence. Big deal. But since they decided to bring up the rhetoric a notch or two, why don't we chew on this one for a couple of minutes...

Why don't we start with the Democrats favorite son, the former President Bill Clinton. Looking at his pardon record at the US Department of Justice, there are so many pardons that he issued it is unbelievable. Some of the most notorious are Marc Rich, who was pardoned while he was still evading authorities and after his family made a $1,000,000 “donation” to the DNC. Then there were the FALN pardons timed to help his wife gain the New York Puerto Rican vote in her successful bid for the Senate. Or how about his brother's drug sentence? All in all, Bill Clinton pardoned and commuted the sentences of over 180 people for various crimes.

Compare Bill Clinton to his predecessor, George H. W. Bush, who only pardoned and commuted the sentences of 78 people. The current President, George Bush, currently has a paltry 117 pardons and commutations.

In all fairness, many of the pardons issued by all the Presidents were for run of the mill items. But some really stand out, and others are for the same types of offenses. But the political rhetoric is incredible!!

So now the Democratic Presidential hopefuls are screaming at the top of their lungs, “Unfair! Unfair!” to which could I say “Can it!!” Or maybe we should keep quiet and let these buffoons continue to shoot themselves in the foot. After all, the more noise they make, the more scrutiny they bring upon themselves (especially HRC), and the more attention they will garner on their many faults.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

The Declaration

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Immigration Reform Defeat Backlash

If anyone thought there wouldn't be any repercussions from last week's defeat of the Immigration Reform Bill in the Senate, they are dead wrong. In fact, the seeds of discontent sown by the citizens of the United States are bearing horrible fruit in the Senate and House.

Because so many people bombarded the Senators with their objections over the proposed Immigration Reform, the Senators are royally honked off. It isn't often that their constituents object to what this glorified elitist country club does – they are often left to “legislate” in peace without much scrutiny by the public at large. Not this time as talk radio informed millions of people what the Senators were trying to do behind closed doors. The result was thousands of phone calls and emails that clogged the switchboards and email servers.

So now our “esteemed” Senators are trying to bring the defunct FCC “Fairness Doctrine” back to life in the form of a law. The Fairness Doctrine requires that communications media either refrain from publishing controversial opinions or to present all sides of an issue. On the surface, this doesn't sound like a bad idea, but it is just as bad if not worse than the Immigration Reform Bill.

First of all, who decides what issue is controversial? Who defines what sides there are? The government? This definitely sounds like the beginnings of censorship, which is prohibited by the First Amendment.

Next, the proposal that has been floating around only targets radio, specifically talk radio (at least that's what I understand). Why not other media such as television and newspapers as well as commercial media websites?

And then there is free choice. You and I have the choice to listen to or read opinions as we wish. Air America died because no one wanted to listen to the Liberal opinions expressed on that station. In many respects, the market (you and I) determined that Conservative Talk Radio was what we wanted to listen to, probably because we were tired of the daily Liberal newspaper and TV mindwashing.

Last, where would this stop? Private blogs such as this one be forced to present all sides? That would mean that the fabled “thought police” would now roam the Internet, seeking out all the malcontents and free-speakers like you and I.

George Will had this quote from Supreme Court Justice William Douglas in his excellent article Fraudulent 'Fairness':

"The Fairness Doctrine has no place in our First Amendment regime. It puts the head of the camel inside the tent and enables administration after administration to toy with TV and radio."

I look at our elected official's actions during the Immigration Reform Bill debacle, and now with this latest assault on the populous at large, I cannot shake the thought of our elected officials being completely out of touch with the people who elected them in the first place and the laws of the United States that they are sworn to uphold. I'm reminded of two things – One, the Jimmy Stewart movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” and two, of a child being caught with his hand in the cookie jar just before supper. In the first case, Senators trying to weasel back-room deals with each other to get votes for their bills. In the second case, the Senators got caught trying to pull a fast one.

The bottom line to all of this is that the Senate (and probably all politicians) would much rather that we disappear until election time, because that is the only time that they really need us. As for me, I'll try and vote out any politician that voted for or supports the Immigration Reform Bill and the Fairness Doctrine, regardless of their party affiliation (providing that they meet a couple of my personal criteria).