Sunday, April 18, 2010

Anti-TEA party

The left wing raging about the TEA Party folks continues unabated, with the ire directed at Americans whom Mr. Obama describes as a "core group" of people who question whether he is a U.S. citizen and that believe he is a socialist. He told NBC that he “recognizes the movement involves "folks who have legitimate concerns" about the national debt and whether the government is taking on too many difficult issues simultaneously.” But… Mr. Obama also said he feels "there's still going to be a group at their core that question my legitimacy." He further stated that he didn't want to paint Tea Party activists "in broad brushes" and he hopes to win over members who have "mainstream, legitimate concerns." In comparison, many left wingers claim that TEA partiers are “racist”, “mouth breathing rednecks”, “illiterates”, “religious fanatics”, “right wing radicals”, and (horror of horrors) gun owning “militiamen”, along with quite a number of less complimentary descriptors. I guess I can understand where this leftist viewpoint comes from, as the political left is pretty well made up of “intelligentsia” and a wide assortment of over educated, overpaid, and under worked folks with nothing better to do with their time than sit around thinking up new ways for the government to spend what little money the IRS leaves us, new political theories, and insisting they know better than anyone else about almost everything. While I’ve never been able to understand that particular line of thinking, you might note that those same folks never get tired of telling us how smart and wonderful they are either.

Every time some suicidal Muslim blows himself up and kills a few more innocent people, we hear from the Left how we should not judge all Muslims because of a few extremists. Talking heads on TV assure us that Islam is the "Religion of Peace." Well, Okay… Yet these same leftist politicians and media hacks are attacking right wing Americans because somebody allegedly used a politically incorrect racial slur at a Tea Party protest (with no corroboration from numerous video recordings). I’m not defending racial slurs if they were used, but what happened to the tolerance that we're supposed to show others? Don’t our fellow Americans deserve at least the same tolerance as Muslim terrorists?

I’ve attended a couple of TEA party meetings in my role as a columnist, and I apparently see things a bit differently than the liberals. All Tea Party members are ignorant I’m told, (probably because they didn’t attend an Ivy League college). And of course all Christians are close-minded because they believe in Jesus. Then too, it’s okay for a group of gays to run into a church on Sunday morning during the services and scream “Jesus is a homo”, but it's forbiden that anyone should say a prayer in public, despite the fact that even the US Congress opens each session with a prayer... a prayer delivered by the Congressional Chaplain. But counter to those leftist claims, at Tea Party meetings I’ve seen elderly retirees, bankers, lawyers, doctors, ministers, engineers, mechanics, custodians, carpenters, farmers, teachers, and retail workers, all sharing common ideals and values. I’ve seen young and old folks, people with disabilities, rich and poor. I saw people who have the audacity to exercise their Constitutional rights as American citizens, in a responsible and civil manner, almost as if the United States were some sort of democratic society that allowed such free expression of thought.

Even better from my viewpoint, some polls indicate that the “Tea Party” is composed of about 25% Republicans, 50% Independents, and 25% Democrats! That almost sounds like a very broad selection of American voters rather than a handful of “right wing radicals”! Still, I find it rather strange that the left considers pornography to be “free speech”, but if I voice my somewhat conservative political views in public I’m supposed to be a “bigoted racist”. Do we have a double standard here perhaps?

Come November, the voting public needs to remember that what Mr. Obama and his cronies are doing to our nation today has been in the planning stage for many years. Today, the political right is doing nothing more terrible than opposing the socialization of America. Anger in American politics is nothing new, but now the left is happily stoking that fire, a dangerous thing to do in any large group of people. What happens when the people who have been working hard their entire lives to build a future for themselves and their families, suddenly find themselves being forced into poverty by our home grown socialists? Their response might well be something on the line of; “You might try to do this to me, but you really don’t want to try doing this to my children.”

One of the most disturbing things in America today is a mass media that “edits” the news so that no bad things appear in print, or on TV, about the administration. The American media has become a western version of Pravda and that is frightening. But of course anything they can say about the “evil right” is “fair and balanced” in their minds. With the aid of the media, Democrats are exploiting these real or imaginary Tea Party slurs in an effort to portray themselves as victims, political martyrs as it were, and to smear their opponents as racists and bigots. New York Times columnist Frank Rich recently compared the Tea Party treatment of Democrats to Nazi treatment of the Jews during Kristallnacht, which suggests a growing paranoia on the left. Not since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made "some Americans run off the rails," said Rich, have we seen anything like this. Just where was Mr. Rich in 1964? It certainly wasn't the George Wallace populists or the Barry Goldwater conservatives that went off the rails! That was the work of folks who went "all the way with LBJ." Even more interesting is that one of Mr. Obama’s leading mentors was part of the 1960’s radical left Pentagon and Capitol Hill bombing bunch, while at the same time many of today’s leading leftists were busily chanting praises of Fidel Castro and Ho Chi Minh, while happily throwing fire bombs at police officers on Detroit’s streets.

Mr. Obama preaches “change” to the left, and promptly nationalizes the auto industry, our banking system, and now our health care system. Ms. Pelosi invites a democratic Congress to “kick in the door” because there are more changes on the way (“Cap and Trade” I suspect). If the Tea Party folks think it’s the leftist elites who wish to destroy the America we all grew up in, they’re quite right.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Tyrannos

"Sometimes 'The Majority' only means all the fools are on the same side."
- Ronald Reagan

“Tyrannos” is an ancient Greek word that initially meant nothing more than “master”. But, as free men will not endure masters, the meaning has changed through the centuries, and today the very word is hateful to free people. When John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln at the end of the civil war, he shouted “Sic simper Tyrannis” --Thus be it ever with Tyrants!-- as justification for his heinous act, which it probably would have been had his fellow citizens believed that Lincoln was nothing more than a tyrant. After all, authorities of religion and morality both have openly proclaimed that tyrannicide is not murder. While most people didn’t agree with his act, Booth’s action did release a flood of real claimants to mastership on an unsuspecting nation, everything from carpetbaggers and raging abolitionists on the defeated southerners, to a quite vindictive US Congress on the rest of the nation. However, our Constitution, our laws, and our traditions were far to strong for that post civil war tyranny, and it faded into oblivion after a few short years… almost. The times planted the seeds of tyranny in our government, and while slow to mature, they’ve been growing ever since.

No nation and no people are safe from the grasp of tyranny. Governments force us to do things we’d rather not do, claiming that “it’s for our own good”, “it’s the will of the people”, or perhaps they’re just “redistributing the wealth”. Tyrants and tyranny rarely come with hands dripping blood, eyes burning with hatred, or dragging the chains of our servitude with them. Instead they claim to be friends of the people, workers for the public good, hero’s who will save the nation from the babble of political parties. They promise they will carry out the peoples will. Certainly they come with “heaven sent” promises. If we disarm ourselves they will provide professionals to protect us from evildoers. If we give over our property they will provide us with jobs and the means of a better life. The economy will be strengthened. Crime and poverty will vanish. Together we will build a new nation, worthy of our glorious new future. And of course they would never misuse their enhanced power. With such rhetoric (and the sword) Ferdinand of Naples, generally regarded as the worst despot in European history, took power, as did Adolf Hitler in Germany, Lenin and Stalin in Russia, Mao in China, and Kim Il Sung in Korea.

The tyrant does not just appear out of the blue, the ground must be prepared for him, either deliberately with malice aforethought, or by accidental circumstances as can be seen during the early days of the 20th century. The 19th century could be called the Century of Liberty, starting with the French Revolution. Countless nations cast off the chains of servitude and entered a golden age of individual freedoms. With the rise of personal wealth that individual liberty allows, came the seeds of destruction as well. The political and economic disaster that the western allies allowed to develop in Weimar Germany assured the rise of a political strong man. Adolf Hitler rose to the top of the heap, eliminated his opposition, and made a nearly successful effort to take over all of Europe. Six years of a particularly vicious war, tens of millions of needless deaths, and the expenditure of many trillions of dollars in treasure, finally saw the defeat of Nazi tyranny and the liberation of Europe. The same generalized conditions in Russia gave birth to Stalinist communism, mass murder, forced collectivization, the gulag, and a forty-five year long Cold War. Mao promised to end corruption in China… well, he pretty well did (except for the corruption of his cronies), along with ending a few million more human lives.

A republic of free men can only survive as long as the law of the land severely restricts the activities of the government, or until the common citizen can no longer understand the meaning of the law. When law becomes so complex that only specially trained individuals can make law (as they see fit), or interpret it’s meaning, the republic falls to a tyranny of elitists. It is no longer a government of “We the People” as stated in the preamble to our Constitution, it becomes “We the Congress” or “We the Majority”, and our free society dies at the hand of a “tyranny of the majority”, ignoring the rights of the minority that our political left has so long decried, and now utilizes to advance its own agenda. At some point the thirteenth amendment becomes meaningless because we become slaves to government. Instead of government working for us, government becomes our master. And once governmental authority is passed to unelected bureaucrats that remain in office long after we have voted out the politicians who imposed this illegal regime on us, even the basic right to control our own destiny is taken from us. Our nation’s Founders understood this proclivity toward tyranny; and that is why we have a Constitution of negatives. The Left doesn’t like this, and are willing to destroy our freedom and liberty in following their totalitarian ideology. If Congress, through our inaction, and by it’s assumption of powers outside their constitutional mandate, can compel us to take actions “for our own good” irregardless of our will, then Congress can compel our actions in any manner they so desire.

James Madison, Federalist Papers, no. 45, 313–14 26 Jan. 1788:
“The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the Federal Government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State Governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will for the most part be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects, which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties and properties of the people; and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.”

“The operations of the Federal Government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the State Governments, in times of peace and security. As the former periods will probably bear a small proportion to the latter, the State Governments will here enjoy another advantage over the Federal Government. The more adequate indeed the federal powers may be rendered to the national defence, the less frequent will be those scenes of danger which might favour their ascendency over the governments of the particular States.”

It’s our watch, and we’re rapidly losing our Constitution, our liberty, and our country, to far left elitists. What are we going to do about it?

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Health Care?

Looks like Mr. Obama got his government health care take-over, irregardless of whether “we the people” wanted it or not, and my understanding is that most Americans don’t/didn’t want anything to do with what promises to be nothing more than another government boondoggle. The vast majority of American citizens said, loudly and clearly, “No Way” to the government grab of the health care industry. Of the remainder, half said “Yeah, good idea”, and the other half were undecided. I’ve noticed over the last twenty years or so, that every time government wants to take something away from us, the Liberals scream “majority rule” at the rest of us, and grab whatever it is they want. But now, with the majority saying “NO” to this proposal, it’s a different story entirely, and they still seem to get whatever they want, irregardless of the wishes of the rest of us.

One straw poll asked; “Do you approve or disapprove of the entire health care reform overhaul as presented by President Obama and congressional Democrats? Strangely enough 13.75% approved, 85.46% disapproved, and 0.79% offered no opinion. But despite that overwhelming public opposition, the Democrats passed it anyway. Another question asked in this poll was; “Have President Obama and congressional Democrats explained their ideas well to the American people?” to which 79.78% answered NO. I particularly liked the response to the last question of; “Will be it be better or worse for the Democratic party in the 2010 midterm elections if they pass health care reform with their current strategy? 81.26% responded “Worse”, which perks up what has been my rather glum outlook for the next election.

Passage of the health care bill has improved Mr. Obama’s standing temporarily, at least with the liberals, and the polls indicate he’s at the crest of what’s called the “dead cat bounce”, which is a slight rise in popularity immediately followed by yet another decline. Congress on the other hand is now down to about a 10% approval rating… not the lowest they’ve ever reached, but it’s getting close. The mainstream media is literally gushing praise for Mrs. Pelosi and her political acumen, along with her only slightly improved standing among Democrats. Watching her in action however, I can only feel sorry for the poor shmuck out in socialist California known as Mr. Pelosi. Sen. Reid is engaged in a particularly gory political battle in Nevada, and the HCR bill passage has probably eased his travails somewhat. Still, I’d recommend he remain hiding out in DC for the time being, as it’s reported that nearly ten-thousand irate TEA partiers, led by none other than Sarah Palin, are congregating on his home town. (I have no idea where they’re going to put ten-thousand people in the metropolis of Searchlight! The last time I was through there, the whole town wasn’t much bigger than Stites!)

So, ObamaCare passed the Senate and House, Mr. O signed it into law, the Democrats are ecstatic, the Republicans are rather glum about the whole mess, while the Conservatives (and more than a few Moderates) are understandably infuriated. So where do we go from here? There is talk of repealing the entire law, which is about as likely to happen as is a sudden repeal of the Patriot Act. There’s also talk of modifying certain portions of the HCR act, which will probably confuse the issue even more, along with raising the opportunity of even more congressional pork. About the only winners are the Insurance industry and the Pharmaceutical industry, with naturally the taxpayer covering the tab. And how about the “poor folks” who can’t afford health insurance, that the act was initially meant to take care of? They’re not even mentioned in the first few phases of the program. But I also notice that right up front, our younger citizens can expect a 17% increase in their health insurance premiums.

The majority of Americans have consistently voiced their concerns with, and rejection of, Washington's huge spending bills, health care bills, expanding government, and raids on our guaranteed freedoms. But at every turn our politicians have ignored us and demonized our opposition to their shenanigans. Now, with the passage of this measure against our expressed will, I can only say that we need to “vote the blackguards out”. However, because so many citizens are “just to busy” to vote, throwing the bums out has become an almost meaningless chant over the last couple of decades. So, we need to be realists, understanding that unless we get off the couch and do something, the destruction of our nation will continue unabated. “Progressives”, which the far left likes to call themselves, are nothing more than a political movement with the avowed goal of changing our Republic into something far different than our Constitution created. (Remember Mr. Obama’s stated goal of “changing” America?) In lieu of the far left suddenly deciding to take up residence in their poster child state of North Korea, our conservatives certainly do need to become the “Party of NO”, refusing any compromise or even negotiation with the far left, and repealing just about everything the “Progressive” government’s done over the last fifteen or so years! What happens if we don’t do that? Welcome to the United Socialist States of America.

ObamaCare violates the federal government's 10th Amendment restrictions over the authority of U.S. states and citizens, which is why well over three-quarters of the states across the nation are now engaged in a 10th amendment legal battle with Washington over whether federal law can trump state law. In the meantime, “We the People” have a duty to replace all the federal legislators that voted in favor of this latest violation of the limits and controls our Constitution places on the federal government.

(I am happy to report that Idaho’s Rep. Walt Minnick [bless his black Democratic heart] voted against the passage of ObamaCare, despite what I’m sure were plenty of political threats from Ms. Pelosi and company. Good going Walt.)

The time for polite commentary and political dialogue is over. Our Constitution is on life support, and the federal government is about to pull the plug. The gathering clouds are not governmental control, but masses of American citizens who will continue to fight tyranny (Democrat and Republican) until it is forced out of our nation, just as happened during the American Revolution. Washington bureaucrats need to know that if they encouraged, endorsed, or voted for ObamaCare in any form, they can expect a dark cloud to precede their exit as we vote them out of office. As an old time western necktie party is illegal nowdays, as well as being somewhat out of fashion, I can only hope that those "progressive" politicians, as they return home in disgrace, are met by an irate mob equipped with a plentiful supply of tar and feathers.

We will remember in November. The storm is coming.