Value of self

While the engraving machine was chewing up a piece of brass, I was traipsing around the blogosphere and hit this Protein Wisdom link to a bit of investigation done by Doug Ross.  Gist of the story:  Ross dug around in web archives, looking for changes in Obama's "literary bio" - the junk that goes inside or on the back of a book jacket...

Turns out those bios were edited several times, marking such things as barry's ascension through State Senator, US Senator, etc...    The "born in Kenya..." parts remained after each edit, right up until 2 weeks before barry declared his intentions to run for the presidency - at which time it just went away and became "born in Hawaii..."

Alright, I'm a Birther Agnostic.  Evidence for/against Hawaii/Kenya is unconvincing to me.  I'm pretty much past caring about it.  Just seems like that dog won't hunt, and I don't think there will ever be a satisfying explanation.  And even if there were, I doubt it could become something actionable, or something that would sway much of the electorate.  So I don't sweat it.

But the dishonesty at work here really chafes me.  I, being human, am far from perfect.  I have lied.  I remember a time in 2nd grade (about 1977) when I was misbehaving on the playground and started a bit of a ruckus.  When confronted by the teacher on duty, I blamed it all on this bully kid I didn't like.  For once in his bullying life, the bully wasn't involved.  But because of his rep, (and mine) the teacher had no problem believing me.  He got in trouble and I skated.  Guess what?  That still bugs me.  I can't claim that's the only lie of told.  If only.  But I really, really, avoid lying.

(Parenthetic:  Aaron Schrempf, if you somehow happen upon this blog post, I'm sorry for making you look like a d-bag back in 1977.)

The LAST thing I can see myself lying about is just that: my self.  There are all manner of things that each of us holds dear.  Self is important to me.  Not in the "I gotta be at the front of the line!!1!" sense, but more in a "who I am and what I'm going to someday become is important to me" sense.  I generally don't give half a bleep about people think of me.  I care what I think about me - which influences dictates my treatment of others, particularly those I love.  Hence I can't even begin to understand how a person like barry could so cavalierly misrepresent the self.  To assert a false self implies that the genuine self is lacking.  I would consider that the ultimate betrayal, made worse because it was done by me, against me.  It would be a thousand times more preferable to shape and adjust my life until I WAS what I wanted to be, than to shrug off that effort and just claim it, while knowing otherwise.

It is further boggling that such a man could end up in the nation's highest office.  It would eat at me continually if I attained so much only by BSing people about who I really am.  If barry has so little respect for something as important as the self, how can he be expected to respect anything external?  Like Rights.  Institutions.  Laws.  This flaw of his is much more important than what patch of dirt Stanley birthed him on.

"Pissgate" and a theory.

It's old news now, that some Marines widdled on a dead taliban thug.  I'm firmly in the "don't care" camp on that one.  It doesn't bother me.  I don't want to institutionalize that behavior as acceptable, but neither do I think it is bad enough to warrant any kind of meaningful consequence.  To me, it should be like driving 70mph in a 65 zone - technically a violation, but generally ignored.

The outrage brought on by "pissgate" - both feigned and genuine - prompted me to do some thinking, though, and now I want to bounce that thought off you:

Compared to veterans of other wars, veterans coming home from the War on Terror seem to have a higher incidence of PTSD and/or troubles re-integrating into daily life.  I could be wrong about this.  That might not be the case at all.  But it certainly *seems* that way.  If it is true, the next question should be "why?"  Why are today's veterans more likely to come home with emotional problems?

In previous conflicts, the enemy was clearly depicted as enemy.  Check the propaganda of the time - the enemy was made worse than merely "enemy."  The enemy was made bestial, barbarous and barely human.  The enemy was given unflattering names like "Jap" and "Kraut" and "Gook" and "Hun bastard" whose entrails would make a "good lube for our tank tracks."  American society believed our troops to be better than the enemy's, and our cause greater than the enemy's cause.  Firebombing (or, gasp, nuking!) a city was acceptable.  If an American disrespected an enemy corpse, there wasn't outrage.  Because it was the corpse of a enemy!  Corpse of a quasi-human devil of an enemy! Americans lost in battle were mourned, and victors given a Hero's Welcome upon coming home.  The veteran comes home knowing he did right.

Contrast that with today.  Today is tolerance.  Today is diversity.  Today is moral equivalence.  Today it is unacceptable to much of America to assert one's culture is superior to the enemy's other's culture.  Today it is "proportionate response" instead of using martial skill and superior arms to the utmost. Kids are taught that all cultures and all religions are equally good.  And equally bad.  We are told that they are "just like us" and that their customs (however deviant or downright evil) should be respected.

What does all this PC junk do to our troops?  Instead of having confidence that the fight is just and the cause is noble, how does that Soldier or Marine not ask himself "What kind of person am I?  I've traveled halfway around the world to kill somebody whom I've been told over and over is just like me!  What kind of a monster am I becoming?"  The veteran comes home but there is no tickertape parade.  Instead there is doubt and angst and uncertainty that he did right.

Little wonder that today's veterans are more apt to suffer emotional problems, and that the (mostly harmless) act of urinating on a dead terrorist would prompt so much outrage.

R.I.P. SEALs and helo crew

Some Taliban protohuman got lucky and hit one of our helicopters.  Some say it was an with RPG, others speculate that it was a real surface-to-air missile.  Facts aren't all in yet.  But it was a chopper full of SEALs along the the helo crew and some Afghani locals.  The biggest loss of life in any one incidence in the history of the SEALs. 

** Horrible!! **

Image from wikipedia

I idealize America as rather like a beehive: basically a bunch of industrious people getting things done and not bothering anybody.  We come and go; we produce and consume.  In the course of just getting things done, we (almost inadvertently) improve things around us.  The bee, just looking for food, does the flowers great service without even knowing it.  Pollination happens and multiplication follows.  One flower becomes a field of flowers.  Americans offer the entire world a Great Marketplace where things can be exchanged.  Quality of life for both Americans and others is improved.  Like a pharmacologist who toiled making a new drug just wants to get paid his due wages, but a little kid in Africa is cured by that pharmacologist's work.  Do you see what I mean?  Just let us do our thing and we all stand to benefit. 

So the bee pollinates the plant and the birds and the deer eat the fruit that results from the bee's work.  The bee and the bird and the deer all get along fine and mostly ignore each other.  There is balance and there is abundance.  As long as nobody screws with the bee.  Screw with the bee and things change.  The bee doesn't recall its ambassadors.  The bee doesn't seek a bipartisan solution.  The bee doesn't give a half a crap about proportionate response.  Screw with the bee just a little, and now you're in a fight to the death.  Screw with the bee hive and the response is even more dramatic.  The bees will make sure that the one who molests the hive pays dearly.  The bee hive gains a reputation as "something you just don't screw with."  The bees' very ferocity means they don't have to be ferocious very often.  People and critters alike just learn not to screw with the bees.

Therefore, peaceful coexistence is the usual order of things.

That's where I'm at with the War on Terror.  I no longer give half a crap about proportionate response.  Which is just newspeak for "tit-for-tat."  I am not in favor of trading our guys for theirs.  I am in favor of Grossly Disproportionate Response.  We have the means to utterly destroy every place the Taliban might be hiding.  There is no good reason for our nation's best to be making themselves vulnerable to ground fire from wife-beating cavemen.  There is no good reason to be engaging the Taliban "at their level."  There is no good reason for this to be a battle between guys-with-guns against other guys-with-guns.  While our guys-with-guns are exceptionally well trained, well equipped and well disciplined and their guys-with-guns are morons, sometimes the morons get lucky.

Enough!

Bomb.  Bomb.  Punish.  Bomb.  Show the world what happens when the American beehive is screwed with.  What about all the non-combatants who will be killed or injured?  Isn't that totally inhumane and unjust?  Two kids are standing next to the beehive when one kid whacks it with a stick.  The bees come out and sting both.  Only one kid is truly guilty but they both feel the pain.  So it should be in dealing with terrorists.  Let the non-combatants say to themselves "We need to get these terrorists out of here before America destroys our entire village!"  The price of hanging out with kids who whack bees' nests is pain.  The price of abetting or even tolerating terrorist activity must also be pain.  If the price of tolerating terrorists is just a "friendly American presence that provides security and sometimes shoots bad guys" then the population will tolerate terrorists in their midst forever.  And our guys will continue dying forever.  Unacceptable.  Make a vicious, bloody example of these troglodytes and in the long run the will actually be less blood shed.

Lay down! Stay! Good dog!

As most are now aware, President Obama gave a speech in Wisconsin where he moaned about people talking about him like a dog.  The root of the problem is that Obama and others in gov't have a serious inversion regarding the master/servant relationship.  "...by the People, FOR the People..."  Maybe that sounds vaguely familiar to these elites - something once chattered by a teacher - but it is certainly not the prevailing mindset among those in government.

See, when everything is whittled down to the basics, each individual is responsible for EVERYTHING that goes on in that person's life.  Governments are instituted among men to preserve our rights.  Governments are also given authority, delegated by the people, to do certain things.

A real-life example of this is public schools.  The people are responsible for education their kids.  Period.  Some  people may choose to meet that obligation through homeschooling.  But the people can also accomplish this by telling their b*tch servant, the government, "It makes more economic sense to put more of us in the workforce rather than individually educating our kids.  Therefore, we have collected finances through voluntary taxation.  Use these resources to educate our kids."  The government is the servant who does the bidding of the people.

Each individual is responsible for his own security.  But we delegate much of that authority to various law enforcement agencies.  We ASSIGN many tasks to our servant.  I could generate a long list of them.  But the point is, government is the servant of the people.  The people are the Master. 

That a government official bristles at being compared to a dog completes my point.  Government is SUPPOSED to be the servant who does the bidding of the Master.  Government is SUPPOSED to be talked down to; given COMMANDS from the people.  When that relationship gets skewed and the servant usurps the place of the Master, conflict becomes inevitable.

I love my dogs.  To an almost irrational level.  I'd probably take a bullet for my dogs.  But I remain the Master.  If Chance or Sunshine is sitting on the couch where I want to sit, they darned well better move when I tell them.  It is good that they bark when somebody approached the front door.  But they darned well better shut up when I tell them to.  I will bring correction if they fail. 

Mr. Obama, I'd really like to be able to love you like I love my dogs.  I'd love it if you listened to me the way they do.  I'd love it if you responded to correction.  I'd love it if you recognized that while you may be "Head Dog", you remain a servant - chosen by the people.  We could have a great relationship, like I have with my dogs.  I really, genuinely, would like that.  But I will not give up my position as Master.

Lindsey Gaymnesty??

Seems William Gheen from ALIPAC, while speaking at a TEA Party event, said that Graham is from the Larry Craig/Eric Massa side of the preference spectrum.  Gheen asserts that Graham is so pro-amnesty only because ol' Linz is worried that the pro-amnesty forces will out him if he doesn't continue to push the issue. Gheen then suggests that Graham just go ahead and admit it so they no longer have this leverage over him.  

A google search shows that this question has been being asked for a while.  I have no idea if Gheen's claim is valid.  In a conservative southern state, such an admission would almost certainly be a career-killer.  But if it is true and Graham is essentially allowing himself to be blackmailed, that would be an even bigger issue - the idea of sovereignty over our national borders all going kaflooey because one fruitball can't keep his hands out of the pickle jar is just too much for me to handle.

Obama, Space Cadet Class 3

So most of you have no doubt heard about Obama's restructuring of NASA.  If not, here's some background.  There's lots more if you care to look.

From time immemorial until the Renaissance, the nation with the greatest army ruled.  They were the superpower of their day.  The Mongols, Persians, Romans, etc, etc, all maintained empires that far exceeded their national boundaries.  The superiority of their ground forces enabled them to dominate their neighbors.  Sea travel was still difficult and treacherous, and what little naval activity there was generally occurred only close to shore.  This was the way of things for millenia...

Then there was a dramatic change - the nations of Europe gained mastery of the seas.  They could confidently sail to any place on the planet.  And soon their empires spanned the entire globe.  England and Spain were the superpowers of the era, based on their naval power.  This was the way of things for a handful of centuries...

Another dramatic change arose - the mastery of the skies.  Countries such as Japan and Germany had mostly "missed out" on the seafaring colonial era. But now, with their aircraft able to devastate their enemies from on high, they began to build their empires.  The victors in WWII won in large part because they were able to answer this challenge in the air.  Even the great naval battles of the era were mostly won and lost through air power.  The United States and USSR emerged with the superior air capabilities, and became the superpowers of the era.  This was the way of things for decades...

These two superpowers then set forth to conquer the next frontier:  Space.  Both enjoyed successes and suffered failures.  The USSR could not match our efforts in space (such as the shuttle and SDI) and ceased to be a superpower and eventually ceased to be a union at all.  The one who truly masters space will be the next superpower. 


The USA has shown much restraint as a superpower.  We have not invaded unjustly.  We have not domineered over our neighbors.  We have not enslaved our enemies.  We can be trusted with superpower status.  It is not yet known whether the next superpower will behave as responsibly.  President Obama, through his gutting of NASA, is forfeiting much of our advantage in space and thereby ceding future superpower status to an unknown.  Hopefully they will manage that power as judiciously as we have.

As Joe Biden might say, backing down on space explorations is a "Big ******* Deal."

Scary Stuff

This was discussed on Lars Larson's NW show yesterday.  Here's a related article from the Medford Mail-Tribune.


Background:

• An unnamed guy gets put on PAID administrative leave from his job at ODOT and escorted out of the building by state police.  Turns out this is the third time the ODOT boss has done this to his personnel.  Co-workers say the guy never did anything threatening.
• Unnamed guy buys some guns.  Legally.
• Some anonymous bedwetters at ODOT say unnamed guy is a creep and they're afraid of him.
• Local police realize that he recently bought some legal firearms.
• Police freak out and assemble SWAT team of 13 guys with assault rifles and tactical gear at unnamed man's house.
• SWAT wakes the guy up in the middle of the night at takes him in for a psych evaluation.  He complies and offers no resistance.  "He's not under arrest, we're just taking him into custody.  And, oh, by the way, we're taking his guns, too."
• Unnamed man is not charged with any crime.  Unnamed man passes psych eval.  Unnamed man hasn't got his guns back yet.  Unnamed man's reputation is now in the sh*tter.
• All authorities involved refuse to say a dang thing, saying it would violate unnamed man's HIPAA rights.

 So, maybe unnamed man is a genuine psycho and the police intervened just in time to keep the guy from Going Postal ODOT.  Or, maybe, we're increasingly living in a police state where if you piss off the wrong person the full Weight of the Government Juggernaut will come down on you and squash you like a bug. 

Please convince me that I have nothing to worry about and this could never happen to me. 

Tea Parties and Afterbirf

iOTW has a post up about Erick at Red State banning Troofers and Birfers. There's nothing wrong with Red State.  I used to go there fairly often and still check in once in a while.  I'd go there more, but I guess it is just too "mainstream" for my tastes. In other words, I'm much more likely to learn about what's going on at Red State by visiting funky sites like iOTW than I am from actually visiting Red State.  I don't say all this to complain about banning or not banning certain topics on a blog.  They can do as they please.

But later in the post Erick starts talking about keeping Birthers out of the Tea Party movement.  That's where I have a little issue.  I'm a semi-birther for lack of a better description.  I don't get hung up on the issue.  I don't think it is a winning issue to pursue.  I disapprove of Obama's records being sealed up so tight.  I feel he has things to hide.  But he IS in office and trying to move his agenda, and I tend to think that is the bigger fish to fry right now. 

The whole point of the Tea Party movement is that it is a spontaneous expression of the peoples' dislike of how our government is functioning.  It had its roots in bailouts and tax policy, then became a revolt against socialized medicine.  It has absorbed other issues too like anti-corruption and anti-incumbency.  It is becoming a catch-all for people who have a beef.  I'm cool with that.  Originally it was poo-poo'd completely by the media.  Now they at least notice it and report on it, though often unfavorably.  Herein lays the problem.  The Left is in charge right now.  They will NEVER see this as a valid movement.  People like Erick would like to weed out certain elements that are too "fringy."  It doesn't matter to the media, or to those in power, who is part of the movement.  If everybody showed up at a Tea Party in an expensive suit and spoke with an Ivy League diction, it would matter very little.  The ideologues want to implement their agenda.  Period.  We will not persuade them otherwise, whether we are "rabble" or "respectable".  The only thing that matters is pure power - numbers, dollars, and energy.  The Left will never like us, respect us, or choose to do things "our" way, so our only outlet is to amass as many people and dollars as possible and steamroll them.  Trying to somehow "legitimize" the Tea Party movement and shepherd it in certain directions is an attempt to turn it into something that it isn't.  It is spontaneous and amorphous.  It is decentralized.  That is its attraction.  It ought not be cubbyholed.  There should not be a litmus test of who "belongs."  Allowing certain prominent individuals to shape it to their liking will alienate some factions whose energy is valuable.  This could be the movement's undoing.

Run your blog how you want.  Run your mouth how you want.  Leave the Tea Party movement alone.

Sanctions, smanctions...

You may not have realized it, but you have been punched by the Iranian mullahs this morning.  Or so they tell us.  They announced that they have managed to enrich their uranium up to 20% from 3.5%.  Need to get to about 90% before it qualifies for weapons-grade.  So, not much has changed.

In another area where not much has changed, Obama is calling for a new round of "sanctions."  This crap drives me CRAZY!  First off, I have much difficulty remembering ANY modern instance of "sanctions" (note generous use of 'scare quotes') actually accomplishing anything.  But put that aside for a moment.  What I want to know is why we're having another round?  If "sanctions" are our strategy, why have we not long ago applied every form of "sanction" we can think of?  How bad does a rogue state need to behave before they feel the full wrath of ALL our "sanctions"?

Iran has funded terrorism around the world.  Iran has directly contributed to the deaths of many valiant Americans in Iraq.  Many Israelis and Palestinians have died by way of Iranian proxies causing trouble. Dissidents have been slaughtered.  Barry H. Obowma, (and GWB, for that matter) are you really trying to tell me that while Iran was perpetrating these things, you still held unplayed "sanction" cards?  What were you saving them for?  Holy crap! There has literally been blood in the streets!  And you have been sitting on some unapplied "sanctions"?  Spit!

The parent/child analogy is imperfect, but I can't help but fall back on it...  Lefty diplomacy is like the permissive parent that catches his child in the midst of misbehavior.  Permissive parent begins counting.  1...2...3...  The kid, barely a toddler, already knows that he doesn't really have to stop until the parent says "niiiinnnnnne..."  Even the "nine" gets drawwwwn way out, so as to avoid having to say "ten!" and actually perform some discipline.  The kid, still too young to talk, already knows that "no" isn't really "no."  He knows he can continue his misbehavior, in FULL VIEW of the parent, for at least 9 more seconds.  Disgusting.  Bad enough when a permissive raises a kid this way and a brat results.  How much worse to have our government immersed in this same mindset.

I just don't see how this story is going to have a happy ending.

Hawaiian Airlines security problem (?)

Local news station KATU is reporting that there was a "disturbance" aboard a Hawaiian Airlines flight that departed Portland at 1:30 (about an hour ago).  F-15s from the Oregon Air Guard were scrambled to intercept and escort the plane back to Portland. 

A spokesperson for Hawaiian Airlines is saying that the disturbance was "not the kind of newsworthy thing like everybody has been talking about lately."  Hmm.  I dunno, but it seems to me that sending up fighter jets shouldn't be done for trivial reasons.

Lots of "we still don't know" kind of phrasing in the reportage.  Hopefully we'll know more soon.

For the record

If you came here expecting some sarcasm or humor, presently I have none to offer.  Hopefully soon.  Perhaps the writing of this post will provide some relief of the anger that is clogging up the ducts of my funny gland.  We shall see.

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Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

from the US Declaration of Independence                   

I pay my taxes.  Last year there were unexpected tax liabilities that I could not afford to pay by filing time.  I now work two jobs.  Most of that extra income continues to go towards catching up on those old taxes.  The rest goes towards keeping my household finances above water, for I am very committed to being one who pulls the wagon rather than one who gets a free ride on it.  I pay gas taxes and vehicle fees yet find potholes in the roads.  My taxes go towards public education, yet few students make it through the system with a decent education.  Yes, I grumble about such things.  I grumble aloud; I grumble on the blog.  I grumble to my elected representatives.  But my actions stop at grumbling, for these are evils that are sufferable.  I've even been arrested once:  My concealed handgun permit was expired and it would take a few days to get it renewed, but I carried anyway. One of my dear, sweet co-workers became aware of my situation, and thought it was something the Sheriff ought to know about.  I offered no resistance and even had a pleasant conversation with the arresting deputy as he drove me "downtown."  Many later told me they thought it was flat-out sh*tty that I was arrested for that.  Yes or no, I had done wrong, so the deputy was acting within his lawful authority when he arrested me.  Lawful authority is not my enemy.  Ever.

The Senate recently voted for cloture on the hideous healthcare bill.  Nothing has been formally enacted and signed into law.  There even remains a possibility that no bill will be passed.  The versions of the bill that are advancing, though, contain language mandating that individual Americans purchase government-approved health insurance.  Penalties for non-compliance can include prison, with the IRS empowered to enforce compliance.  The government does not possess the authority to impose this mandate, despite claims to the contrary from Pelosi and others.  Nancy Pelosi can say the moon is made of green cheese.  She can believe it in her heart and speak it with all conviction, but that does not mean she is correct.  Similarly, the constitutionality of this mandate.  The power is not there.  Nancy Pelosi can believe in her heart that this mandate is constitutional, and say so with all conviction, but it simply is not. 

My own decisions and circumstances will determine whether I have health insurance.  Government approvals and mandates will not factor in my decision, nor even influence it in the least.  I will not be participating in any government healthcare system.  Period.  If I die a slow and miserable death because I am not enrolled in a government program, so be it.  That is an evil that to me is sufferable.  If an agent of the IRS or other agency should decide that my non-compliance calls for my arrest, then the line between sufferable and insufferable evils is crossed.  A kidnapper is one who holds me against my will with no lawful authority to do so.  I would be willing to use elevated levels of force- even lethal force - to thwart a kidnapping attempt on me or my family.  One who has a badge and a standard-issue weapon and an authoritative title on his business card, yet lacks legitimate constitutional authority, is a mere kidnapper.  Having a mandate thrust upon me against my will differs much from my voluntary participation in my state's concealed handgun program.  My response to being arrested for not complying with that mandate will also differ.  Much.

The Tiger Woods Made for TV Scandal

Reports are coming in and so far it is sounding like Tiger Woods is more a Mr. Putz than Mr. Putts.  While the recent events in his life prompt me to write this, let's instead put him aside for now and take a wider look at fame, fortune and power:  When one looks across the landscape of the people who have become very successful in their careers (as the world counts "success") we see a troubling number who are total failures at other, more fundamental levels of life.  We ask ourselves how people could allow their lives to get so messed up.  Then the wiser among us pause to take an inventory of our own lives. 
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My beat up old car, modest home, relative anonymity, discount-store blue jeans and MARRIAGE THAT WORKS is looking pretty good right now.

Distant hoofbeats of tyranny

Alert innominatus reader and generally far-above-average-guy aA points me at this Reuters article from last month. It describes a treaty being discussed among arms-exporting nations. "Interesting" that it hasn't gotten wider play in the media. Ya see, the totalitarian little dictators don't like their uppity little peons having guns. And squishy socialists don't like guns, mostly because they are loud and "scary" and the girly little socialists keep wrecking their manicures when trying to rack the slide on a 1911. So the totalitarian dictators and squishy socialists (but I repeat myself) got together a few years ago and tried to work out a treaty where all arms exporting countries would really get in there and extra-super-regulate the manufacture, sale, and transfer of firearms. Ostensibly to keep guns out of the hands of bad guys, but no doubt also making it way harder for ordinary Americans to obtain them. President Bush's response was a rhetorical "can you see my middle finger yet?" but of course Obama and SoS Clinton aren't so opposed and talks are being renewed.

So, when we put our ears to the ground (hey, did you know Obama can do that without even bending over?) we hear the distant hoofbeats of oppression bearing down on us. The enemy is still far off in the distance and there is no need yet of panic. The US, so far, is demanding conditions that will probably kill the thing. And even if it passed it wouldn't be implemented for a couple years. So it isn't panic time, it is preparation time. But the move is on and must not be ignored. Do you really think an international treaty regulating the transfer of firearms would only affect big export deals without mucking things up for Joe the Gun Enthusiast? Nah. Remember that treaties supersede the Constitution. If ratified, some totalitarian socialist with a bad haircut and a corner office at the UN would be in charge of deciding whether we were living up to our treaty obligations. That's a big bowl of scaryberries right there.

So, like I said, don't panic. Prepare. And think real hard about who your Senators are, because they are the ones who would ratify a treaty.

Thoughts on 9/12

Haven't heard any official headcount, but there are guesses running from 100k up to 2 million people who raised a peaceable stink in DC today. Lots of places are showing a cool time-lapse vid of a crowd of protestors crossing a certain intersection. Gives a little illustration of the kind of turnout there was. I saw the vid first at Goomba's so I'll send you there rather than just embed it.

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Anyway, when one is on one of the big conservative sites, there are always trolls who mock and deride. One of the good guys will cite the 2nd Amendment or Jefferson's "blood of patriots and tyrants" quote, and then the trolls are start up with the "Yeah, right, like you're actually going to overthrow the government" stuff. This crowd assembled peacefully, for no real good reason except to take a symbolic stand. Imagine this crowd reassembled - not marching symbolically , but angrily responding to actual tyranny. So, trolls, do you still feel the same way? Do you still think that your beloved Big Government is immune to the actions of dedicated patriots?

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If History has even the slightest tinge of Justice, the big players in New Media will be given huge credit when we successfully restore our Constitutional Republic. There are many who deserve to be named. Glenn Beck, Andrew Breitbart, Sarah Palin, Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh and others have exposed corruption and abusive government, and are shining an ever-brighter light on all the general BS in DC while the legacy media laments Jacko and Ted and calls us racists. Textbooks of the future ought rightly mention such as these alongside the pamphleteers of old. The left say it is all about ratings and selling advertising, and that their presentations are over-the-top just to garner attention. I'm not so sure. Go read the quotes from Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry. Do you really think they spoke such words in a dreary monotone, devoid of expression? No, I'd wager that the discussions were quite animated. And I can easily picture the David Frums of the 1700s rolling their eyes and complaining about overheated rhetoric and attention-grubbing, and that we need to just tone it down. Mustn't scare the moderates! No! Turn it up! God bless all the quirky bloggers and booming radio voices and weepy Fox commentators who keep the movement moving!

Thoughts on 9/11

For some reason 9/11 seems more relevant this year. I suppose our country just seems a little more fragile these days. Lot on my mind right now. I think it'll help me just to put things into words. Like everyone else, I experienced shock, fear and rage that day. Mostly rage. I really wanted to hear reports of mushroom clouds over Tehran and Damascus.

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On 9/11/07 my mom died. Complications from cancer. I was right there in her room all that last day. Wasn't until an hour or so after her passing that I even realized what day it was.

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Back in high school (1987), I did really well on the ASVAB. Not long after taking that test, a uniformed Marine officer strode purposefully into my classroom and whispered to my teacher. My teacher pointed at me and my friend Doug. "OH ****!!" was all I could think of. "John, Doug, you're with me!" so we followed him. "Which way to your counselor's office?" So we led him there. "We need your office. Excuse us." The counselor said "alright" and left in haste. Face reddening, tendons in the neck sticking out a la Buzzcut from Beavis & Butthead, the recruiter started yelling. "2000 Marines held Guadalcanal against 10,000 Japs! If those had been 2000 regular army, right now we'd be eating sushi and bowing to the emperor!" He even banged his fist on the desk as he said "You two are the kind of men we want in the United States Marine Corps!" Yeah, I just about soiled my linens.

Then a few weeks later the Army recruited talked me into visiting his office. He had his feet up on the desk and was reading a car magazine when I arrived. "Let me find you file. Hmmm, looks like your overqualified for anything we do in this man's army. But in the other room there are a bunch of videos. Look through them and see if anything catches your eye." I watched about half a vid about being a tank gunner before I got up and left. I never even talked to the Navy and Air Force recruiters. The two extremes of what I'd already experienced with recruiters pretty much soured me on the whole thing. Now I go to church with this guy. Super cool dude. And the kid down the street who was my best friend from elementary school all the way through college is now a freakin' Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force! I now really regret that I never served in the military. During my 20s, I figured, "Aw, one of these days I'll just enlist." But I never did. Circumstances of life made me put it off and put it off and now I'm too old to do much about it. If you're in your 20s and reading this, don't pitterfutt around with your goals. Whether that is education, career, relationships or some kind of service. You'll find that another year has gotten behind you, and it happens fast.

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Last night I noticed on AoS that Allahpundit from HotAir had done a series of twitter messages regarding his first-hand 9/11 experiences. Powerful stuff. Exblogitate has a compilation of his tweets that is a little easier to read. Check it out.

Upon further review...

After reviewing the play from every different angle, I can only conclude that in the case of the Great Presidential School Speech, we on the right got punked. Obama is a divisive lefty weasel. We know it. We've seen enough of him to know that he'd love to proselytize our kids with his ecohealthyhopeychange, and we made a rightful stink about Obama demanding audience with our kids. So Barry backs off - and instead of it being an Obama Youth recruiting message, 'Bams comes along and gives a very mainstream mom & apple pie kind of speech that catches us off guard. His supporters can now say "See? You haters make him out to be the bogeyman! He's not! He's just a normal, patriotic, hard-working guy like everybody else!"

Well, we know he's full of crap. A goodly portion of America also knows he's full of crap. But in this one instance, he got us. Not gonna pretend otherwise.

Elephant breaking his chains

Normally news items like this and this would infuriate me. It seems the Obministration and his congressional buddies aren't used to ordinary Americans speaking up, so they're bringing in union goons to try to stifle the "mobs." Somehow I am strangely at peace with this turn of events. Kind of cathartic, I guess. It is desperation on Obama's part, and I relish it.

It reminds me of the young elephant who is chained to a stake. The young elephant learns early on that he lacks the strength to break the chain or uproot the stake. The young elephant then grows up, still tethered, not realizing that in his adulthood he has within him more than ample strength to free himself. He suffers abuse after abuse. The Obministration, playing the role of elephant tamer, seems to have pushed too hard, though. Retreating to avoid the blows from the tamer and straining against his shackles, the elephant's chains begin to fail. The elephant is now realizing that the limits on him are self-imposed and his opposition is not able to keep him restrained. The elephant is breaking loose.

Pray for Pfc Bowe Bergdahl

The name of the captured US Marine has been released. He is PFC Bowe Bergdahl from Idaho. I can't imagine how hard it would be to be held captive by the taliban, and be paraded in front of the cameras like that.

Ideally, his captors would release Bergdahl, come out with their hands up, announce that they have renounced islam and all its lies, and ask for mercy. That is really what I'm hoping for.

But if that doesn't happen, I hope our Marines find him and liberate him. I hope that when they find his captors, their aim is true. The taliban need to learn the brutal lesson that taking our men hostage is WAY TOO EXPENSIVE TO EVER CONSIDER DOING AGAIN. If the taliban don't release our countryman, I want to see taliban brains spattered on the wall and taliban entrails hanging from the fenceposts. No, I'm not kidding.

Having ears, but not hearing...

Alright, it seems every blogger feels a need to chime in on the GOP's "Listening Tour." Short version of my chime-in: Truckload of crap. Semi hauling triples with flashing OVERSIZE LOAD signs kind of truckload of crap.

Longer version: The GOP is equating electoral defeat with philosophical defeat. Hence, they feel the need to remake the party. Ordinary Republicans also feel like remaking the party, but for totally different reasons. The base is SCREAMING "No More RINOs! Give us real conservative candidates!" And the party bigwigs look at each other and say "did you just hear something?" The empty suit next to him replies "Nah. Not a thing. Maybe we should go on a Listening Tour so we can hear what others think we should be, 'cuz we're not hearing a thing here in our posh offices."

OK. It's bad enough to dis the base by ignoring our cries. It's FAR WORSE to not even know what you stand for. To Steele and other GOP "leaders": If you need to go out on the road and ask people what to stand for, YOU ARE NOT A LEADER! This is exactly why people are disassociating from the GOP. Sticking your finger in the breeze is NOT leadership. Courageous stands and reliance on principles are signs of leadership. People FLOCK to a genuine leader. The Big Tent you want so bad will burst at the seams if you'll just man up and stick to the platform. But no, you want to know whether we should be more 'hip-hop.' You want to know how to be more 'cool.' This is wretchedly horridly immeasurably idiotic. The base is already telling you what to do to win. The base is already telling you what will generate big turn-out and big donations. The independents are already telling you why they left the party. But you don't care. You just want the vote of that unemployed tatted-up skateboard punk with so many body piercings he looks like he did a swan dive into a big box of fishing tackle. And along the way your message has become "I want to say what you want to hear, but I don't know what that is. Please tell me, so I can tell you what you want to hear. I'll be whatever you want me to be. I'm basically a vote-whore."

I hate you.

Do you want to know who I'll vote for? No? I'll tell you anyway. I'll vote for the one that says "Screw popularity! I absolutely refuse to focus-group my opinions before I announce them. Ya wanna know where I stand? Then just ask me and I'll tell you what I believe and why I believe it - right now, right to your face! I believe what I believe, PERIOD!" Even if I barely agreed with half of that person's agenda, I'd fight to the death for him. To the death.

Are you listening now, GOP?

Am I making any sense now, GOP?

¿Comprende, GOP?

So maybe you will hear some great ideas on this tour. Do you think we care? If you can't stick to the most basic principles of the party, what confidence are we supposed to have that you'll stick to any of this new stuff either? We know that to you all is negotiable, and whatever new platform you do come up with, you'll piss all over it next week if you think it'll make you a little more popular.
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Wow, I can't believe how mad I'm getting as I type this. Need to chill for a second... This post started off about nostalgia and invoking Reagan. I wanted to lay a little groundwork for my argument, but the groundwork seems to have taken over the whole post!

Obama a taste of our future?

From middle school to my first year of college, President Reagan was in office and was pretty much a hero to me and my whole circle of friends. We were conservatives all the way. We even called ourselves the "Commie Chasers." We'd see through our teachers' attempts at indoctrination and call them out. My favorite example was my Advanced Global Studies teacher bringing out a huge bar graph that showed federal expenditures on public schools and defense. Of course the defense bar was DRASTICALLY higher than the education bar, as schools are mostly funded at state and local levels. She went on about how tragic it was that we were spending so much on missiles and bombers and so little on schools. (Maybe she wanted a raise? No, that would've been too capitalist for her.) So my friend Gary did a little research and made a graph of education spending at all levels of government compared to defense spending. When state and local budgeting was added to the graph, of course education now dwarfed defense. Teacher had to eat crow. During my college years, it was largely the same story. Even at a state university, liberal students were scarce and kept a pretty low profile. The school was full of Reaganites.

For many years since, I'd held to the notion that My Generation would make things right. I'd been confident that right about now, people about my age were quietly making their way through statehouses and mayor's offices, on their way to higher positions. People of my generation who were motivated my liberty and nationalism would be in places of influence, and we'd start to roll back the liberal nonsense foisted on us by the baby boomers.

I'm less confident now. I didn't see Obama's punch-drunk moment on 60 Minutes, but I've read some transcripts and I was really deflated by what I read. Don't get me wrong, I have no quarrel with the interviewer confronting Obama's indifference/casualness/whatever. He needs to be called out. But what bothers me is the realization that Obama is an early example of what we'll be seeing a lot more of. He is part of the Indulged Generation. It seems I was on the trailing edge of "normalcy" and those right behind me were the first to be the indulged in large numbers. You know, the ones who were never disciplined by their parents, or were raised by one frazzled parent who couldn't keep up. The ones who were praised in school for being mediocre. The ones who get trophies for every event they participated in, whether they won or came in last. The ones who could skip school, get high and go skateboarding all day without consequence. The ones who can't hold a job because no matter where they go "the boss is an idiot and I don't have to put up with that." The ones whose self-esteem must not be endangered for any reason. These are the ones who think they deserve everything for nothing. Obama is their prototype. He was raised in a permissive environment, praised and elevated by all, while accomplishing zilch. Grossly overconfident because he's been such a notable "success" at every previous endeavor, when difficulty arises he is unable to seriously consider the possibility that he may actually be wrong.

My generation, which I've had such hopes for, seems to have found a distaste for political service. We look at DC and want nothing to do with it. Sadly, that void is being filled by the coddled, the lazy, the adulation-seeker. Obama is a preview of the kinds of people that our society has produced in great numbers. Statesmen need not apply.