tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60645333226750293232024-03-05T05:05:33.322-06:00Dark Days QuotientBlogging about the subtle and overt attacks on our freedom, our faith, and our families. But, there is hope...Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-75521812470950979032011-06-18T18:00:00.000-05:002011-06-18T18:00:31.876-05:00Chapter 34. Pusillanimous Pawlenty"Haagen Dazs could put his picture on vanilla," Bill O'Reilly quipped to fellow Fox newsman Chris Wallace on the June 10 <em>O'Reilly Factor</em> program. The "his" in their conversation was former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty.<br />
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What an insult to vanilla ice cream. After all, it's smooth; Pawlenty often looks like the socially clueless dad from a 90's sitcom, as he did while<a href="http://nation.foxnews.com/tim-pawlenty/2011/06/12/vanilla-pawlenty-jokes-oreilly-playing-race-card-him"> responding to the slight</a>, to Wallace a couple of days later. Vanilla ice cream is consistent; Pawlenty is an example of the so-called moderate Republican whose <em>modus operandi</em> is triangulating answers to major policy issues, then parsing, mincing, or downright denying when the politically correct vector has moved. <br />
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In 2007 <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/11/15/govsgreenhouse/">Pawlenty signed on to a regional cap and trade scheme</a>; in 2008 he joined then-Arizona Governor Janet 'Big Sis' Napolitano in a <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/polinaut/archive/2008/01/pawlenty_hits_t.shtml">radio ad sponsored by the Environmental Defense Fund</a> to promote climate change fiction; and in 2009 <a href="http://www.startribune.com/politics/52622067.html">he was touting wind energy and ethanol at a farm event</a> "with a down-home message tailored to his rural audience." Yet, just this week he <a href="http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000027176">attempted to shove all of this down the memory hole</a> in in interview on CNBC Squawk Box, in responding to a cap and trade question by Jack Welch, saying that he had "flirted with it for sure, but I've just admitted my mistake." During the first Republican debate on May 5, Pawlenty said the issue was one of his "clunkers."<br />
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Back in 2007 Pawlenty signed into Minnesota state law the <span style="font-size: small;">Omnibus Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill, which "provided funding for the Health Care Transformation Task Force, a panel of health care experts charged with exploring ways to reduce health care spending, improve quality, and ensure that Minnesota develops a universal health care plan by 2011." (<a href="http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/State-Health-Reform1.pdf">Kaiser Foundation Report</a>) By 2010, the Governor had <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/10/08/pawlenty-health-exchanges/">backed off the idea</a>, and on June 12 coined the phrase "Obamney care" as a shot across the bow of Mitt Romney's candidacy for president. But, true to fashion when given the chance to fire again during the televised CNN Republican debate the very next day, he sputtered and withered and ended his bid to become the 45th President of the United States.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Good. The Republican Party needs a quick and ruthless winnowing fan to separate the candidates from the candy asses, if they are to unseat a President who reportedly will raise $1,000,000,000 to spend on re-election.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Quotient out.</span>Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-36706009967298766872011-06-12T23:51:00.000-05:002011-06-12T23:51:37.393-05:00Chapter 33. The Third-And-A-Half Estate<blockquote>"Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." <a href="http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/images/vc115.jpg">Thomas Jefferson, 1786</a></blockquote>The term "Fourth Estate" generally refers to the press, or in its most modern sense the collective various news media, which has long been recognized as a powerful, unregulated societal check and balance. An independent and vigorous media is an indispensable protector against a tyranny of the elite or of the mob.<br />
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Too bad it no longer exists in America.<br />
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On June 9 the New York Times published a post entitled, <a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/help-us-investigate-the-sarah-palin-e-mail-records/">Help Us Review the Sarah Palin E-Mail Records</a>, in which NYT blogger Derek Willis implores readers to "help us identify interesting and newsworthy e-mails, people and events that we may want to highlight." The former governor's emails were scheduled to be (and were) released the next day, and apparently the <em>grande dame</em> of newspapers found the task of reporting on the information dump (which they had requested) too onerous a slog for her aging, ailing bones.<br />
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Never mind that so far Mr. Willis' ochlocratic experiment <a href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/a-guide-to-palin-e-mail-notes/">yielded such world-shakers</a> as "Concern about <em>Transformers</em>" and "Offer to Donate a Wedding Dress to Bristol." No doubt they were hoping for something along the lines of, "Gov. Palin hiding Amelia Earhart and Jimmy Hoffa!" The post-modern blurring between the accountability and privilege of the media's job, and the delustional aspiration of every unemployed, politically motivated journalism wannabe is a continuing danger to our republic. No less than <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution">an Amendment to our Constitution</a> protects the media's right to investigate and report facts that might be unflattering or even scandalous to rich and common alike. Power and responsibility always go together, a simple lesson that has been tossed aside by the web-based, social mediated, instant gratification, "trust fund" journalists of today. The best thing the New York Times, and other media outlets that are resorting to this so-called "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing">crowdsourcing</a>" technique can do, is buy a sturdy overcoat, a thick-soled pair of shoes, a miniature tape recorder, and get out there and pay their dues.<br />
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Or, change the motto of the paper to, "All the news that's in our inbox."<br />
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Quotient out.Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-50410731645301853012011-05-30T01:12:00.000-05:002011-05-30T01:12:05.021-05:00Chapter 32. The Last Full Measure of Devotion<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Thank you.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Quotient out.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-60910239072157899812011-05-29T01:56:00.000-05:002011-05-29T01:56:29.653-05:00Chapter 31. Rhetoric Gone WildThere is a quip which goes, "if I've told you once, I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate."<br />
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On Monday May 23, at an event in Des Moines where he announced his candidacy for POTUS, former governor <a href="http://www.minnpost.com/minnpotus/2011/05/23/28551/text_of_pawlentys_presidential_announcement_speech">Tim Pawlenty gave a rouser about the Herculean tasks he could accomplish</a>, where others had failed. At least he tried. It was really big things like balancing the budget and cutting ethanol subsidies to corn farmers.<br />
<blockquote>"The problems we face as a nation are severe. But if we could move Minnesota in a common sense, conservative direction, we can do it anywhere, even in Washington D.C. It won't be easy, but it's not supposed to be. This is America, we don't do easy. Valley Forge wasn't easy. Normandy wasn't easy. Winning the Cold War wasn't easy."</blockquote><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMVVL5DCiO1_uJxK6a3dFaZyUbtjCcJwYi5FhRrVtfx1kG1O7YvhzuqYGIYUAKHIydrvWWtJUZfBYbTj6q6aPZlaUynN3So0wGBkW_H1u85VsxIdqpURk5W93el1Q5w8luH1jIKJ2zLLum/s1600/20110523_pawlenty1_33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMVVL5DCiO1_uJxK6a3dFaZyUbtjCcJwYi5FhRrVtfx1kG1O7YvhzuqYGIYUAKHIydrvWWtJUZfBYbTj6q6aPZlaUynN3So0wGBkW_H1u85VsxIdqpURk5W93el1Q5w8luH1jIKJ2zLLum/s400/20110523_pawlenty1_33.jpg" t8="true" width="400" /></a></div>Well. Not to say that our problems are minor, and not to say that there isn't a well-worn political tradition of drawing on momentous historical events to amp up the drama. Both of these are realities. But comparing fairly mundane economic positions to truly extraordinary moments in American history seems a to be a bridge too far in the way of stepping up to "the challenge." It's the verbal equivalent to Michael Dukakis' infamous tank ride debacle during the 1988 presidential campaign, in which an orchestrated photo op that was supposed to counter the criticism that Dukakis was soft on defense, backfired to say the least.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqit8YiEI7gm5aN57Os_NbAvEcF7fuAvkZ7aPPEWcSLcOTZDSuleTF6RgV2mpPP2QRlc9DpXUdxwtW2c0v4ZSUiOhp6CvzdM_qoOVCczkkSuraxDeyKwHRoTdHYjhs5JiJdDdePTBVGmAf/s1600/dukakis+in+the+tank.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqit8YiEI7gm5aN57Os_NbAvEcF7fuAvkZ7aPPEWcSLcOTZDSuleTF6RgV2mpPP2QRlc9DpXUdxwtW2c0v4ZSUiOhp6CvzdM_qoOVCczkkSuraxDeyKwHRoTdHYjhs5JiJdDdePTBVGmAf/s400/dukakis+in+the+tank.jpg" t8="true" width="400" /></a></div><br />
But, cut Pawlenty some slack. Now that American corn farmers have been reduced to welfare queens, it could be as politically dangerous to infringe on their new ethanol "right" as it is to <a href="http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/sessionweekly/art.asp?ls_year=87&issueid_=73&storyid=2356&year_=2011">cut booze and cigs off the list of allowed purchases on EBT's.</a><br />
<br />
<br />
It certainly makes one wonder whether the Republicans really have a candidate somewhere with the chops to take down an incumbent; a man who can make history instead of using it as a campaign punch line. Like the one who really <em>did</em> win the Cold War...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN5QbONGPsAgzBid0zzgGj_F4I8-uVX_Inl1fUMeOFEk4NNAkYzvC-xXLOIvMJHnsxsVaYkOBZkTL8hBwyNVZLCjPBJQVB3mRHThgiCfHDdkxoXmyuPpEHfP1XQDy9Pos3z_6S52mPw1sM/s1600/ReaganBerlinWall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN5QbONGPsAgzBid0zzgGj_F4I8-uVX_Inl1fUMeOFEk4NNAkYzvC-xXLOIvMJHnsxsVaYkOBZkTL8hBwyNVZLCjPBJQVB3mRHThgiCfHDdkxoXmyuPpEHfP1XQDy9Pos3z_6S52mPw1sM/s320/ReaganBerlinWall.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Quotient out.Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-32765664980591996532011-05-25T01:48:00.000-05:002011-05-25T01:48:26.527-05:00Chapter 30. Citizenship... At The Point Of A GunOn the traffic message boards on Interstate 94 around the Twin Cities in Minnesota, the following endearing message has appeared recently:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ7LnaGxx-T94tq67cTlDw1SRA5V9DninWH1j9wh3KSUYWNVYqpu4d5Aw6BSdRduXSlyuetvnx9NE5ow_pqub7UeYGOVBLfuk8-eCKPAs9PZ5J7l0hsbOBQRoqK7bueD1b0-D3m9B8ajNU/s1600/THANK+YOU+FOR+BUCKLING+UP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ7LnaGxx-T94tq67cTlDw1SRA5V9DninWH1j9wh3KSUYWNVYqpu4d5Aw6BSdRduXSlyuetvnx9NE5ow_pqub7UeYGOVBLfuk8-eCKPAs9PZ5J7l0hsbOBQRoqK7bueD1b0-D3m9B8ajNU/s320/THANK+YOU+FOR+BUCKLING+UP.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It would seem on the surface to be a polite sentiment from the state known for its "Minnesota Nice" attitude. In fact, it is an instructive example of "nudge" tactics by the state that eventually dictates behavior that is enforced by punitive threats.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In 1986, the state passed a secondary seat belt law, meaning that motorists could not be pulled over for not wearing the belt, but could be cited if pulled over for a separate, primary offense (e.g. speeding). The fine was modest, at $25. As of 2009 belt usage was 87%, according to an <a href="http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811106.PDF">NHTSA report</a>. For nudge-based behavioral modification, however, that relatively high rate of compliance is simply not good enough. So <a href="http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/06/05/primary_seatbelt/">in June, 2009 the law was "upgraded" to primary status</a>, so that authorities could pull over and ticket a motorist solely for not wearing the belt. Again, the fine is $25. Seems pretty reasonable for such an obviously sensible matter. Nonetheless, this evolution of the power of the state to force motorists into a behavior is an example of the imprudent use of law.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All laws ultimately are enforced at the point of a gun, or similiarly lethal weapon, even in such a small matter as a seat belt infraction. If you don't pay the $25 fine, and it accrues for too long or you try running away from it, you will eventually be arrested. Resist arrest and you may be clubbed, tasered or-- if the resistance is severe-- shot. There is no law that, at the end of some chain of events of disobediance, doesn't end in violence being inflicted on the individual by the government. This level of seriousness is why passing laws should be reserved to direct those behaviors that truly impact the rights of others: speeding, robbery, rape, murder, and so forth.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And that is why displaying a disingenuously cordial and Orwellian <em>thank you</em>, when in reality the individual really has no choice but to comply, should be a signal to the citizens that the government really is going too far.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One might imagine a similar sign back in the Hungary 1942: THANK YOUR FOR SQUEEZING INTO A CATTLE WAGON FOR DEPORTATION.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Quotient out.</div>Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-90889583014266366412011-05-15T21:26:00.000-05:002011-05-15T21:26:48.881-05:00Chapter 29. Unwelcome PLAN<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The recent news that President Obama has discovered yet another way to march our country toward a socialist paradise, deserves further consideration.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Last week, the FCC and <a href="http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=54882">FEMA announced</a> that under a new emergency alert system, called the Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN) local, state and federal authorities will be able to send text messages to every cell phone in the country, in the way of alerts about "imminent threats to safety."</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">"Consumers do not need to sign up for this service," FEMA informs us. "A PLAN alert will be accompanied by a unique attention signal and vibration, which is particularly helpful to people with hearing or vision-related disabilities." Very thoughtful. And, the alerts can be blocked by cell phone subscribers. </div><br />
Except for messages from El Presidente, of course.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR2MIGCdaCzr_IjYhmyntsNdv1KisY24VmWdmUnxERDNnja9QM0BZqtk5VnY85nu0RJUPieDOdFtRur4ilh15hj6Gg66oGyPHQsdo8IYD6R7zgtHD8evJ9G5oA8VWJ71NPuQt10Mzy-wPH/s1600/obama+texting.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR2MIGCdaCzr_IjYhmyntsNdv1KisY24VmWdmUnxERDNnja9QM0BZqtk5VnY85nu0RJUPieDOdFtRur4ilh15hj6Gg66oGyPHQsdo8IYD6R7zgtHD8evJ9G5oA8VWJ71NPuQt10Mzy-wPH/s320/obama+texting.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Do we really need the 21st century equivalent of the street-level loud speakers of 1930's European dictatorships, forcing citizens to endure unnecessary and unwanted messages from the fearless leader? Imagine what the texter-in-chief might consider critical news to share with all of us:<br />
<br />
<blockquote><em>OMG. i really did it. hes dead, bin laden dead. i shot him well it was the soldiers but i gave the order. man this president thing is HARD work i need another vacation. peace out yall... p.s. dont spike the football thats my job ;)</em></blockquote>We've already had a taste of the nefarious direction that Barack Obama and his Braintrust would take such power. Remember-- less than two short years ago-- that <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/">citizens were urged to turn each other in</a> for suspicious opposition to the President's health care takeover:<em> </em><blockquote><em>"These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."</em></blockquote><br />
<br />
Reporting "casual conversations" of fellow citizens, and sending targeted messages to every citizen regardless of their disposition to receive them, is the kind of Big Brotherism that belongs in the chilling history of the last century's totalitarian regimes, not in the United States of America.<br />
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Quotient out.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXgjoj42nUZqzPyXqJaedc_6W3CGEy9b2Xv-JwXf8c7FJ-VqM7TnyQcxEpej5d_0wuDq1CLsA-zlabOK3rmfKKJkjXzK2WK3qnwAPiNN7iyS6WRkw2iVS9CF7qBz_UD6B9U5euWsb4m15b/s1600/iraqi+voter+purple+ink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><em><img border="0" height="200" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXgjoj42nUZqzPyXqJaedc_6W3CGEy9b2Xv-JwXf8c7FJ-VqM7TnyQcxEpej5d_0wuDq1CLsA-zlabOK3rmfKKJkjXzK2WK3qnwAPiNN7iyS6WRkw2iVS9CF7qBz_UD6B9U5euWsb4m15b/s200/iraqi+voter+purple+ink.jpg" width="138" /></em></a></div><br />
<blockquote></blockquote>Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-766168623894824682010-10-21T17:31:00.004-05:002011-05-15T21:17:14.689-05:00Chapter 28. The Penalty for Being An Uncle Juan<blockquote>"We're profoundly sorry that this happened during fundraising week."<br />
Vivian Schiller, President & CEO<br />
National Public Radio<br />
<a href="http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2010/10/npr_memo_to_stations_why.php">Internal NPR memo on the Juan Williams firing</a></blockquote><br />
Sorry, indeed, considering that this organization could never be successful in an open and fair market.<br />
<br />
In a swirl of irony and injustice, NPR fired news analyst Juan Williams after <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/21/npr-fires-juan-williams-oreilly-appearance/">comments on The O'Reilly Factor</a> about being afraid of fellow airline passengers in Muslim garb. In addition, Williams commented on the recent statements from would-be mass murderer Faisal Shahzad warning Americans that war with Muslims is "just beginning."<br />
<br />
<br />
"I don't think there's any way to get away from these facts," Williams said.<br />
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Apparently Williams also cannot escape the fact that he is part of a segment of the American scene in which there is complete and utter intolerance of opposing viewpoints, not only in the legitimate debate of ideas and opinions, from which liberals ran away decades ago, but in the business world of uber-left wing elites who are willing to sacrifice anyone, even an honest fellow socialist like Williams, to appease their own god of political correctness.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, Williams had it coming. Playing with fire, he has recently begun to decry the very philosophy on which he cut his journalistic teeth, namely the high-tax, low-productivity, nanny-state redistributionist mentality of victimhood. In his heart of hearts, he must have known this wasn't to be allowed for long.<br />
<br />
Like the term "Uncle Tom," <a href="http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/post_11.html">hijacked long ago by liberals to describe a Black flunky</a>, and recently applied to successful Black men such as Bill Cosby, Justice Clarence Thomas, Mr. Williams and <a href="http://www.blackcommentator.com/14_belafonte.html">even moderate Colin Powell</a>, who dare to express a view different from the media and political left; a new wave of intolerance has emerged in which it's simply inexcusable to quote facts about Islam and the growing existential threat to the West. To do so invokes a visceral response that is an odd admixture of anti-Americanism, apathy, intellectual blindness and intentional cowardice.<br />
<br />
Don't feel too sorry for Mr. Williams. He immediately signed a lucrative contract with Fox News. And who knows, perhaps he will soon have the distinction of a new epithet coined after him to describe the continuing journalist pogrom of the left...<br />
<br />
A damned ol' Uncle Juan.<br />
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Quotient out.Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-40081545453481883542010-06-12T01:50:00.000-05:002010-06-12T01:50:47.664-05:00Chapter 26. Assessing the Situation for the PresidentRespectfully submitted to the President: a list of "whose ass to kick." <br />
<br />
1. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iranian president and Holocaust denier who continues to move his country closer to nuclear weapons even under a whither hail of stern, stern UN warnings.<br />
2. Hamas. Recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, the EU, Japan and Canada; and looks to the obliteration of Israel.<br />
3. Vice President Joe Biden. Also known as Uncle Mouth and Joe Who?? Semi-covert politician who, similar to groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, emerges into public view once a year. In the open, Biden either says something stupid, in which case he is immediately sent away; or says something completely incoherent and is allowed to continue explaining himself to reporters for six more weeks.<br />
4. Kim Jong-il. Supreme Leader of North Korea, another dictator looking to throw nuke weight around. Routinely flaunts sanctions and threats; recently sank a South Korean warship while the world tsk-tsks and wonders why Someone doesn't Do Something.<br />
5. Ken Salazar. Secretary of the Interior who did little to correct Bush-era deficiencies in his own agency's governance and oversight of deepwater oil rigs, then fiddled and blustered for weeks after the disaster began.<br />
6. James Cameron. Legendary film maker and tease, got America thinking that taking pictures of the dead wreck of the Titanic, creating CGI avatars that fly, and stopping a several thousand psi oil leak a mile under the sea are all equally feasible.<br />
7. Himself. Because the buck always stops with him, not Tony Hayward.<br />
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Quotient out.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6kMRGapqCmMn8ik_x73JR5nlxL35BaIfKYhQzhLLqkWiL_l0FJF5oDTCtk29dwHDDfvSyyJq16LMMqRxDzNdlwkuhyl5BVzheaEI3ziOPl9803gx1lEXIhfogPyCpjV-b_2l1gzbZA_M/s1600/barack-obama-oil-spill-006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6kMRGapqCmMn8ik_x73JR5nlxL35BaIfKYhQzhLLqkWiL_l0FJF5oDTCtk29dwHDDfvSyyJq16LMMqRxDzNdlwkuhyl5BVzheaEI3ziOPl9803gx1lEXIhfogPyCpjV-b_2l1gzbZA_M/s320/barack-obama-oil-spill-006.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrDk3ykf_8w"></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-66777961806296022322010-06-03T02:58:00.002-05:002010-06-03T03:02:56.717-05:00Chapter 25. Term Limits Au Naturel Part 2: Collecting the Data<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Continuing from <a href="http://darkdaysquotient.blogspot.com/2010/05/chapter-22-term-limits-au-naturel.html">Chapter 22</a>, this blog calls for a voter led action against any incumbent United States Senator who has completed three or more terms as a Senator or Representative. Here is a list of the current Senators who qualify to be ousted.<br />
<br />
The concept is simple:<br />
<ol><li>Collect the information you need to take informed action</li>
<li>Do not elect any Senator to serve more than three terms at the national level</li>
<li>Vote your conscience, so do not pull the lever for any candidate that doesn't meet your moral criteria (i.e. devout Catholics should never vote pro-choice)</li>
<li>If all else fails, write in a candidate if necessary</li>
</ol><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVR309ZnUe8t_WfZ9z37AEWIoi1h3lg0EaoMbINLb1hpYv1tJidRQR_AgowhKBtC7n6xgyKJjEUTanJmnyPTVIjMteS55exdCCZ9TqER28aX-KIdv-UukY5DdYasTiLMdGjvUXftl_EBNR/s1600/Senators+terms.bmp.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVR309ZnUe8t_WfZ9z37AEWIoi1h3lg0EaoMbINLb1hpYv1tJidRQR_AgowhKBtC7n6xgyKJjEUTanJmnyPTVIjMteS55exdCCZ9TqER28aX-KIdv-UukY5DdYasTiLMdGjvUXftl_EBNR/s640/Senators+terms.bmp.png" width="308" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For many, this action will be difficult. But it is necessary to unravel the knot of corruption in our elected officials.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Quotient out.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU-bj01ceIQyGgArHv6tMMARsBmzRUXYWIpMLt-XosNUbYtnxuvfvGy781d_Ofojthro1Xi916teeIQ3WWt8HwbdouelcVMOlrT0HsWq_-VG8pSkuZD9NCqOTvK0pAF-KLBe0m-qaGN-pg/s1600/iraqi+voter+purple+ink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU-bj01ceIQyGgArHv6tMMARsBmzRUXYWIpMLt-XosNUbYtnxuvfvGy781d_Ofojthro1Xi916teeIQ3WWt8HwbdouelcVMOlrT0HsWq_-VG8pSkuZD9NCqOTvK0pAF-KLBe0m-qaGN-pg/s320/iraqi+voter+purple+ink.jpg" /></a></div>Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-90874909322660457962010-06-02T02:42:00.001-05:002010-06-02T02:45:52.483-05:00Chapter 24. ...Same As The Old Boss.In 1994, President Bill Clinton, a self-described loather of the military, did his presidential duty by giving a D-day speech to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Allied landing at Normandy, France. The irony of a draft dodger who studied Russian while American boys were fighting the communists in Vietnam, was naturally lost on the press. After the speech, Clinton strode Omaha Beach and suddenly stopped to "discover" several stones lying in the sand. He then knelt and arranged them in a cross. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/19/magazine/on-washington-beached.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all">According to Maureen Dowd</a>, Clinton's aides had preplanned the photo-op.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijiBuFG38MmiRy4eT0DDskViX1PZkTrPACCJoqRBFVxbBLwQjD8OCtyYJ2Ohb-urHhZokE2dN1yHB80SFJNABwwUaggH-99kX1c_AgzUTcZCsxpkRrC7Yg-PvgQspVLmDPwLW8b1q8-1bv/s1600/clinton+at+omaha+beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijiBuFG38MmiRy4eT0DDskViX1PZkTrPACCJoqRBFVxbBLwQjD8OCtyYJ2Ohb-urHhZokE2dN1yHB80SFJNABwwUaggH-99kX1c_AgzUTcZCsxpkRrC7Yg-PvgQspVLmDPwLW8b1q8-1bv/s200/clinton+at+omaha+beach.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
Fast forward 16 years. A few days ago President Obama made his second foray down to the Gulf to help solve the crisis (his presidency, not the oil leak). As usual he promised a lot without really promising anything:<br />
<blockquote>"There are not going to be silver bullets or a lot of perfect answers for some of the challenges that we face, but we're going to keep at this every day... I'm here to tell you that you are not alone, you will not be abandoned, you will not be left behind. The media may get tired of the story, but we will not. We will be on your side and we will see this through."</blockquote>Uh, we?? Who exactly is the President talking about? Well, as he left he did indicate that, "we've got the best minds working on it, and we're going to keep on at it." But not before he took his own stroll along the beach, knelt down and picked at oily balls that had apparently washed onto the shore.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhIoDTpoLbdsYNmXz6oHIVJt0zQig-ALp3w7-S6s4NRKszRK0icQ8K5MRYFWX_rCpMiSNDbQ5PuBbtO7zED8GNPjegusBQlVilY5DFJFqUofFTyKLcyVWUIu_YEYtT3DQs9HXcPs9cAYH/s1600/obama+on+gulf+beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhIoDTpoLbdsYNmXz6oHIVJt0zQig-ALp3w7-S6s4NRKszRK0icQ8K5MRYFWX_rCpMiSNDbQ5PuBbtO7zED8GNPjegusBQlVilY5DFJFqUofFTyKLcyVWUIu_YEYtT3DQs9HXcPs9cAYH/s200/obama+on+gulf+beach.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
Like Clinton, President Obama is out of his element. Clinton avoided the military and exploited D-day; Obama has managed to avoid working a day in his life at a job that requires profitable results, and now sanctimoniously chides the only knowledgeable corporate entity on the planet that has a direct vested interest in fixing this problem: BP.<br />
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Louisiana shrimpers and fishermen need experienced engineers and drilling experts to keep trying potential solutions. What they don't need are photo-ops and presidential visits or the soft, unspoiled hands of his Brain Trust whose orders amount to inspiring sage rejoinders like "just plug the damn hole."<br />
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Quotient out.Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-15019328989944090772010-05-22T04:35:00.000-05:002010-05-22T04:35:39.165-05:00Chapter 23. President Pussycat<blockquote>"Here's how you get him. He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send you of his to the morgue. That's the Chicago way, and that's how you get Capone." <strong>Officer Jimmy Malone (Sean Connery) <em>The Untouchables</em> 1987</strong></blockquote>In the first 16 months of his presidency, Barack Obama has carried the reputation of a Chicago hardballer, bullying slow moving liberals and recalcitrant moderates into submission as he seeks to socialize everything from health care to oil changes. Who but a broad-shouldered enforcer could respond to a lady's question about whether her mom should have gotten a pacemaker at age 100, by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-dQfb8WQvo">saying the old gal might be better off "taking the painkiller."</a> That's tough.<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Obama's minions are equally granite. Take White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. It takes a man confident in his abilities to push others around, <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/03/08/massa_rahm_emanuel_would_sell_his_own_mother_for_votes.html">to accost a "member" of Congress in the House gym shower</a>, both of them naked, reportedly poking then-Representative Eric Massa in the chest and berating him for not supporting the President's budget plans. And earlier this month Obama's Interior Secretary Ken Salazar indicated on CNN that it is the administration's job <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JorKgvmfF_4">"to keep the boot on the neck of British Petroleum"</a> regarding the Gulf oil rig disaster. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs repeated the phrase at a briefing the next day. The messages are clear: don't mess with this President or his posse.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Unless you're a tin pot dictator or radical Muslim terrorist, that is.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Chief law enforcement officer and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stammered his way through Congressional questioning by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOQt_mP6Pgg&feature=PlayList&p=7D8B21BD70D2A87F&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=32">refusing to say that radical Islam might have been a motivating factor</a> in the Times Square bombing attempt. One wonders if Holder might have had this much trouble if Congressman Smith had asked him whether gravity <strong>might</strong> be a factor in keeping us all from floating around the room. A year ago Holder had the same trouble explaining why his Justice Department dropped all charges in the voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdIp7K_kV4qeMiyQknaxcC8Z-cAsNWn2XMNi8NN1mUKU0SKvGtFzhBk6aynmQFKiRfQ8FYpRp-XQjsOh7rpi884kC6c6qoW9UBwOAKepBPD9_JEydCWtykLYmjgP18UEJYS43xcMC7BFoB/s1600/eric+holder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdIp7K_kV4qeMiyQknaxcC8Z-cAsNWn2XMNi8NN1mUKU0SKvGtFzhBk6aynmQFKiRfQ8FYpRp-XQjsOh7rpi884kC6c6qoW9UBwOAKepBPD9_JEydCWtykLYmjgP18UEJYS43xcMC7BFoB/s200/eric+holder.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
To be fair to Holder, his boss doesn't fare any better. While the President has bowed and groveled his way across the globe since taking office, North Korea took the opportunity to explode a nuclear bomb, fire off a couple of long-range missile tests, sink a South Korean warship, and imprison two American journalists and essentially hold them for political ransom. Korean dictator Kim Jong Il threatens all out war if there is any retaliation. Not to be outdone, the equally diminutive and badly dressed Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad forged ahead with his nuclear weapon ambitions, and captured his own American prisoners back in July 2009 (the three hikers still await release, perhaps in exchange for the release of Iranian terror suspects).<br />
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Apparently gone are the days when a sunk ship or the harassment of a nation's citizens spurred action. For America, it led to two world wars (and the liberation of a continent from the Nazis). In response to Libya's role in the 1986 West Berlin discotheque bombing, in which American servicemen were killed and wounded, President Reagan ordered air strikes of Libyan targets. At his 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush famously called Iraq, Iran, and North Korea the "axis of evil." A year later, he began the liberation of Iraq from Saddam Hussein.<br />
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<blockquote><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihb6TnnHv2ZJMFfjeQ6cLo_LrHD988fvQ4ZoFfwqz2y051Zx0IDg7_8bNGwB_0X3yto5zPR91Q2jl4MyiYipS50-_E8Ng-Snp8eKFiODSvETx66ooUr5CJZdXlxsbqSmJFaH_0WDULn1cG/s1600/KimJong+Il.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihb6TnnHv2ZJMFfjeQ6cLo_LrHD988fvQ4ZoFfwqz2y051Zx0IDg7_8bNGwB_0X3yto5zPR91Q2jl4MyiYipS50-_E8Ng-Snp8eKFiODSvETx66ooUr5CJZdXlxsbqSmJFaH_0WDULn1cG/s200/KimJong+Il.jpg" width="160" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFnRnz8TZDkZAD77rQsEJVdIZieWxAMovC6hrpn1D0LuatfUpi9Zlh_IQw_5kgnwdNUGj6Ifa6OpkbYoxVBmb9ySmCWrusfWlw5YAp9Nsl1yRZU6_kZXCB45Ivugh8Z22S2hJwSYSyEDk8/s1600/saddam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFnRnz8TZDkZAD77rQsEJVdIZieWxAMovC6hrpn1D0LuatfUpi9Zlh_IQw_5kgnwdNUGj6Ifa6OpkbYoxVBmb9ySmCWrusfWlw5YAp9Nsl1yRZU6_kZXCB45Ivugh8Z22S2hJwSYSyEDk8/s200/saddam.jpg" width="146" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ujkqHh1ipn3_a5n-Dwjs7l0Sa6q2JONzPh0v3T2PLzB1LmppzKaKI_x2fJam3HuURyb8AqBf8baO4yTYPat18QeKFk0CdzoGpirDQ57w8X5IGMHDWNYoyXvrI4nLxO1OSNBUJ-XEoDYt/s1600/mahmoud-ahmadinejad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ujkqHh1ipn3_a5n-Dwjs7l0Sa6q2JONzPh0v3T2PLzB1LmppzKaKI_x2fJam3HuURyb8AqBf8baO4yTYPat18QeKFk0CdzoGpirDQ57w8X5IGMHDWNYoyXvrI4nLxO1OSNBUJ-XEoDYt/s200/mahmoud-ahmadinejad.jpg" width="179" /></a></div></blockquote><br />
Today, President Obama's foreign affairs and national defense actions consists of unleashing the only arrow he has in his quiver: rhetoric. When today's bad guys do something against the U.S. or her allies, they don't fear grabbing a tiger by the tail; instead, they know they'll get complimentary admission to President Pussycat's Petting Zoo.<br />
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Quotient out.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDHBf27SI1Ud2h-C_lrWHNFRnFCwP2WHXNyUqAz170KCRVMvkPwBRNcZBWoPJejAHvpO0otlFtAgxsEfuO2XA8ujL35MDuxogYp6c9FQQ2eMKLD7KaExQhv-MzURqLii_R5CVNnxD7_hUO/s1600/obama-bow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDHBf27SI1Ud2h-C_lrWHNFRnFCwP2WHXNyUqAz170KCRVMvkPwBRNcZBWoPJejAHvpO0otlFtAgxsEfuO2XA8ujL35MDuxogYp6c9FQQ2eMKLD7KaExQhv-MzURqLii_R5CVNnxD7_hUO/s320/obama-bow.jpg" /></a></div>Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-69402011597137084212010-05-15T17:02:00.001-05:002010-05-15T17:03:33.330-05:00Chapter 22. Term Limits Au Naturel<blockquote>"Power tends to corrupt... Great men are almost always bad men."<br />
Lord Acton, 1887</blockquote>When we last left 18 year Utah Senate veteran Bob Bennett, <a href="http://darkdaysquotient.blogspot.com/2010/05/chapter-21-nothing-more-than-feelings.html">he was sobbing his way out of office</a>, having been ousted by voters in the state's GOP convention in the midst of what Bennett called the "toxic" atmosphere of anti-incumbent dissatisfaction. Three terms in public service should be enough for any citizen, but given the money and power involved it's no wonder that Bennett is far from the most extreme example of the American Political Tick.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In fact, of the 100 current senators in office, 27 have longer tenures than Bennett (he is tied with four others). When former stints in the House of Representative are counted, 14 additional "public servants" jump ahead of him. Many of them have decades more, such as Senator Robert Byrd (class of 1959), Daniel Inouye (1963) and Patrick Leahy (1975). Then there's Pat Roberts (1997) and Chuck Schumer (1999) who also formerly spent 16 and 18 years in the House, respectively, giving them each longer times at the trough than Bennett.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This also gives them longer tenures than the dictatorships of Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolph Hitler, and Joseph Stalin.</div><br />
Experience shows that our politicians will generally not voluntarily give up their powerful positions in government; very few resign unless clearly facing voter rejection or perhaps under cloud of scandal, and even then they sometimes have to be forcibly shown the door. Many would-be reformers call for imposed term limits as a solution, but such legislation must be sponsored and supported by the very men and women taking advantage of the system, so the term limitists probably shouldn't hold their breath.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">No, there is only one sure way, already built into every election, to limit the time politicians remain in office: the voters. Voters must resolve that after a particular number of terms or years in office, they will automatically cast a ballot for another candidate in the primary and general elections. Unfortunately, many Americans have the classic age-old opinion, "he may be a son of a bitch, but he's <em>our</em> son of a bitch." If we are to change the dynamic of higher stakes and lower expectations in our political system, this naive and robotic sentiment must be eliminated.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This blog calls on all American voters to pull the opposing lever against any politician who is running for a cumulative fourth term, regardless of the promises, the pork, or the winning smile. If we don't do this, there may come a day when we lose the right to throw the bums out. Shame on us if this happens.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Quotient out.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnm4fEecJNeQ1OvOuPrX-Zsd-Kc4ugfxxNEZfC406A9om_SBwPHq6kIlPt_2eUNjREvEuVqrwfF833WiG5TWtutst9FZWbd-b_6lL69ClZcOK20mh60vomjgl9g-zrXeHDLcC6i0tRY12V/s1600/iraqi+voter+purple+ink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnm4fEecJNeQ1OvOuPrX-Zsd-Kc4ugfxxNEZfC406A9om_SBwPHq6kIlPt_2eUNjREvEuVqrwfF833WiG5TWtutst9FZWbd-b_6lL69ClZcOK20mh60vomjgl9g-zrXeHDLcC6i0tRY12V/s320/iraqi+voter+purple+ink.jpg" width="219" wt="true" /></a></div>Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-47780904366116027362010-05-10T02:31:00.001-05:002010-05-10T02:34:48.577-05:00Chapter 21. Nothing More Than FeelingsOn the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Q6mxhm28o">May 2 edition of ABC's Sunday morning <em>This Week</em> show</a>, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was asked by host Jake Tapper how concerned she was that the Times Square car bomb attempt of the evening before was not an <strong>isolated incident</strong>, after Tapper pointed out the obvious similarities between it and previous attempts in Great Britain. Napolitano smoothly stated:<br />
<blockquote>"We have no evidence that it is anything other than a one-off..."</blockquote>This despite the events of the so-called "underwear bomber" only four months earlier, of which Napolitano said <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRufMANjLWg">"the system worked."</a> It is as if the Secretary is a drone that is occasionally re-booted and rolled out to spout the ridiculous, so that more favored Obama cronies like Eric Holder can correct the misstatements, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/37047420#37047420">as the Attorney General did today</a> when he announced what everyone besides Napolitano already knew: this was another terrorist with Middle Eastern training and funding. One must wonder why the "Napolitanobot" is kept in perpetual <strong>patsy-mode</strong>. Her job seems to be to soft peddle the bad news that we're still in a war on terror, er, <strong>overseas contingency operation</strong>. The same day she even <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2010/05/02/napolitano-time-square-bomb-attempt-was-amateurish/">tossed out that the Times Square attempt was amateurish</a>. Wouldn't want to hurt the <strong>feelings</strong> of all those <em>professional </em><strong>man-caused</strong> <strong>disaster</strong>ists out there.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUjpMGN7LnOdcr7hzS-2HQok5hpUthGwdqxIrqvp171QQt7yTa920AcNYUsZdWdW0WttRtHoAwzdDHbhd8ZHiMjmgPKif-YeWmcTbKfWgtqYEVb6G8Yi16eDJfIX6nzQkhQZP-_mrQ9mIZ/s1600/napolitano+and+holder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUjpMGN7LnOdcr7hzS-2HQok5hpUthGwdqxIrqvp171QQt7yTa920AcNYUsZdWdW0WttRtHoAwzdDHbhd8ZHiMjmgPKif-YeWmcTbKfWgtqYEVb6G8Yi16eDJfIX6nzQkhQZP-_mrQ9mIZ/s320/napolitano+and+holder.jpg" tt="true" width="320" /></a></div><br />
CNN got into the act in the intervening week between respective interviews, when anchor <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu4j-1LTz-g&NR=1">Jim Acosta suggested</a> that Times Square terrorist Faisal Shahzad's home foreclosure must have put a lot of pressure on him and the family. The President was probably kicking himself for not having the Napolitanobot lead with that theory, since the financial and foreclosure crisis can be so readily linked back to George W. Bush. At any rate, the manic suggestion that Shahzad, and those like him, may have been a victim is becoming a pattern of the left that reveals an increasing distance from common sense reality. Not hurting the <strong>feelings</strong> of jihadists is not going to spare us any violence, and may in fact get us killed.<br />
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In a different example of feelings on display, just-deposed <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/09/AR2010050900485.html">Senator Bob Bennett (R-UT) had his <strong>feelings</strong> hurt</a> in a big way, when Utah's GOP convention delegates voted him third behind two newcomers on Saturday. No doubt the tears summoned as he thanked supporters and family were real; he had just seen his meal ticket torn up and tossed into the air by voters tired of career politicians bedding their nests for life. Bennett called the political atmosphere "toxic":<br />
<blockquote>"The political atmosphere obviously has been toxic, and it's very clear that some of the votes that I have cast have added to the toxic environment."</blockquote>What Bennett calls toxic a lot of other folks simply call democracy. Bennett's conservative credentials are more than respectable, but three terms in office is enough, and sometimes voters get it. Eighteen years in a public office can corrupt just about anyone, and our political system is awash in corruption. There will be more on term limits in upcoming posts.<br />
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Napolitano, CNN anchors and Bennett have one vexing thing in common: the attempted shielding of the truth from the public, and all of them look silly trying it.<br />
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Quotient out.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7QzBymKYv81zbi18h1XgqwxVSyqIhqhAVCVzwreR_ODDZfG5fO4nnksFLdgcJsv1hVVCoHeZNxqyp7f4-ihMZFX3I6vAcU2FNyzTs-oxqPGxmcicU8bJ4ABL1CEaRAa8W8VnH3UQc0cU/s1600/Robert+Bennett+crying.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7QzBymKYv81zbi18h1XgqwxVSyqIhqhAVCVzwreR_ODDZfG5fO4nnksFLdgcJsv1hVVCoHeZNxqyp7f4-ihMZFX3I6vAcU2FNyzTs-oxqPGxmcicU8bJ4ABL1CEaRAa8W8VnH3UQc0cU/s320/Robert+Bennett+crying.jpg" tt="true" width="320" /></a></div>Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-82218777629689717552010-04-27T04:55:00.002-05:002010-04-27T04:58:19.518-05:00Chapter 20. Quite Frankly, Fess UpIn <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSNPFVLIWjI">General Motors' recent television ad</a>, first-year CEO Ed Whitacre proudly states that GM has "repaid our government loan, in full with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule..." President Obama repeated this report during his <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqLwKvQRPS8">subsequent Weekly Address</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHfvxGR9C9NaeHUieVyCw2wlHKwzd6AvlT3IU6q6nhwVLLvooDAhDsYVo7-b7kFzEky3CYxrnNWuYBsVhj7oaYh6N3Q0JWgqgIMAc38DZlTdnCq4SLTvxugX8wGV3zrv_vQGoPyTFyvnp3/s1600/gm-ed-whitacre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHfvxGR9C9NaeHUieVyCw2wlHKwzd6AvlT3IU6q6nhwVLLvooDAhDsYVo7-b7kFzEky3CYxrnNWuYBsVhj7oaYh6N3Q0JWgqgIMAc38DZlTdnCq4SLTvxugX8wGV3zrv_vQGoPyTFyvnp3/s200/gm-ed-whitacre.jpg" tt="true" width="200" /></a></div>There has been a lot of reaction to GM's claim, mainly simple common sense about a company that is still operating in the red; still has several tens of billions of taxpayers money, and is still majority owned by the government. The general consensus is, the "repayment" is a shell game using even more taxpayers' dollars.<br />
<br />
<br />
But one part of Whitacre's commercial is especially galling: <br />
<blockquote>"A lot of Americans didn't agree with giving General Motors a second chance. Quite frankly, I can respect that."</blockquote>That tidbit of condescension comes from a man who is drawing a $9,000,000 salary for running a company of which the government owns 61%, and whose stock (no longer GM, but Motors Liquidation, symbol MTLQQ.PK since the company is still in receivership) has dropped nearly 50% since Whitacre took over as Chairman. <br />
<br />
"Quite frankly," he starts. Quite frankly, as if the opinion of the American taxpayers, the ones who funded and continue to fund extravagant bailouts, might not have a valid concern about giving GM the money and thus need Whitacre to ground the conversation in seriousness. As far as "I can respect that," who cares what Ed Whitacre respects or doesn't respect? The fact is, the bailout happened despite the disagreement of "a lot of Americans." Whitacre's respect is immaterial, but it's nice to get a gentle pat on the head from a multimillionaire now and again.<br />
<br />
Whitacre doesn't seem to be a bad guy, and may turn GM around and get it back to profiability, no doubt a steep uphill climb. For the sake of beleaguered Detroit, let's wish him well.<br />
<br />
But, American taxpayers deserve to have a transparent view into their "investment," not silly and contrived fairy tales about Imperial clothing.<br />
<br />
Quotient out.Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-32611487622693255112010-02-28T22:20:00.001-06:002010-02-28T22:22:05.237-06:00Chapter 19. The Firmest Ground: PrincipleOn Friday, the Daily Mail Online <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1254417/Gay-equality-laws-threatening-Roman-Catholic-adoption-agency-lead-harm-children-care.html">published the news</a> that Catholic Care, the last Catholic adoption agency in Britain would be fighting the so-called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equality_Act_(Sexual_Orientation)_Regulations">Sexual Orientation Regulations </a> requiring agencies to accept gay couples as applicants, by an appeal to the High Court. All previous encounters have ended in the closing of Catholic adoption agencies in the UK.<br />
<blockquote>"But the Charity Tribunal ruled that it would be unlawful to allow Regulation 18 to be used as a defence by Catholic Care, saying that the proposed alteration of the objects ‘arose substantially out a desire to maintain a principled stance rather than being specifically designed to advance the ... charitable purpose of the support, relief and care of children and young people without families to care for them’."</blockquote>Indeed. The principle that a child is best raised by a father and mother, is not new to the Church or numerous other denominations and faiths. Further, the principle not to knowingly participate in a grave evil is also a time-tested tenet of Christianity.<br />
<br />
In a <a href="http://www.dioceseofleeds.org.uk/pdf/1258_1267212997.pdf">pastoral letter read at parishes</a> in the Dioceses of Hallam, Leeds and Middlesbrough, the respective Bishops state:<br />
<blockquote>"We are not judging other agencies that accept same sex couples for adoption, but feel strongly that we should not be forced to do so, nor is there a necessity for this to happen. We believe that this is a legally justifiable position to take and that it is a reasonable response to a legitimate end."</blockquote> But Catholic Care's reasonable position, based on principle but also justified within the pragmatic goal of placing at-need children into loving homes, is not good enough for the rabid forces, including but not limited to the homosexual activist community, that are now arrayed against the social structure of the western world and its primary building block, the family. Compromise is not in their dictionary, or play book. It's not about one singular issue, but rather a radical re-making of our society.<br />
<br />
The key to rebuffing this attack are our principles, and the willingness to stick to them when the false premises of political correctness, tolerance and an apparent short-term good make it easier to give in.<br />
<br />
Quotient out.Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-83691964720274760442010-02-19T02:33:00.000-06:002010-02-19T02:33:05.561-06:00Chapter 18. To Green Drivelists: Just Answer The QuestionTwo multibillionaires have become the revealed archetypes for the newest form of exploiter: green. As the catch-basket name would imply, green means making earth's foilage healthier and more abundant. We are told this is to be accomplished by reducing our "carbon footprint" by cutting back on energy-producing processes that create greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. But don't those plants breathe carbon dioxide, the chemical that <a href="http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/epa-sets-carbon-crackdown/">the EPA, in December 2009, determined is dangerous</a>? And what about water, the most abundant greenhouse gas on the planet: is it time to regulate water vapor?<br />
<br />
These are a couple of the numerous Questions-Never-To-Be-Answered by the advocates of green. Two such champions are enough for us to get a glimpse behind the curtain.<br />
<br />
In a recent Economist <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20src='http://video.economist.com/linking/index.jsp?skin=oneclip&ehv=http://audiovideo.economist.com/&fr_story=b8e219c710f2746d9554dca08ebe055d4d86958b&rf=ev&hl=true' width=402 height=336 scrolling='no' frameborder=0 marginwidth=0 marginheight=0></iframe>">interview with Shai Agassi</a>, the Israeli-born entrepeneur stated his glorious vision for the world of the electric car, complete with fueling stations that allow the vehicle to have "infinite range." He also states that the gas-powered car technology "has not undergone any innovation in a century." Such exaggerations are the bread and butter of money-men like Agassi. He also bombastically tosses out the claim that he can renovate a ten trillion dollar industry of "cars, spare parts, and everything else," without ever connecting this number to the switch to electric cars. But, maybe spare parts are not needed for phantoms.<br />
<br />
Mr. Agassi is an extremely bright and successful man, and maybe he is a visionary after all. If so, can he answer the first <strong>Question-Never-To-Be-Answered: where does the electricity come from?</strong><br />
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The other green man is T. Boone Pickens, he of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2bOug1d20c&feature=channel">national media blitz</a> urging us to follow his plan to eliminate America's dependence on foreign oil in 10 years. Pickens is a well known corporate raider from the 1980's, when he gobbled up oil companies and made his fortune off of fossil fuels. Now he's green, at least partially. His Pickens Plan would have created the largest wind farm in the country, supplying 4,000 megawatts of power to Texas homes. The initial plan to purchase General Electric wind turbines became a <a href="http://www.newsok.com/article/3198755/">possible purchase of 2,000 turbines</a>, and eventually led to a <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1521224020080515">single purchase of 677 turbines</a>. By July 2009, Mr. Pickens had <a href="http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/pickens-drops-plan-for-largest-wind-farm/">abandoned his wind farm scheme</a>, and recently turned his attention to his next money machine, <a href="http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/t-boone-pickens-tweaks-his-energy-plan/">natural gas</a>. Once again, maybe Pickens has the answer and deserves to be rewarded for it, but many doubts remain.<br />
<br />
So, the<strong> Question-Never-To-Be-Answered: how much power per dollar invested does a wind farm generate?</strong><br />
<br />
Don't hold your breath awaiting the answers to these questions from these men, or any other green advocates. The answers exist, but have more to do with lining the pockets of green oligarchs than advancing fanciful notions that more properly belong on the cover of <em>Popular Mechanics</em>.<br />
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Quotient out.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlH6IKfnUbM3dRlSukfNby_o7PztePGT2xK8ROlI276kdMrDqUtM7ZHUUJuIR6753ZqQvb1yGqKv1J5PXyDgvpcGgyDpgeK3rcQFMs17S4BpKZ29WwrjcFR8cHuMLNlaqnG-GnpDgya3Ql/s1600-h/popular_mechanics_flying_car_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ct="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlH6IKfnUbM3dRlSukfNby_o7PztePGT2xK8ROlI276kdMrDqUtM7ZHUUJuIR6753ZqQvb1yGqKv1J5PXyDgvpcGgyDpgeK3rcQFMs17S4BpKZ29WwrjcFR8cHuMLNlaqnG-GnpDgya3Ql/s320/popular_mechanics_flying_car_cover.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-14541006520436984292010-02-09T22:08:00.006-06:002010-02-09T22:26:48.814-06:00Chapter 17. NOW What??One might have thought that with all of the hype surrounding the decision of CBS to run the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BIOTItUwvk&feature=player_embedded">Super Bowl ad featuring quarterback Tim Tebow and his mother</a>, the ad itself would be a gritty re-telling of what might have happened to Timmy and the family had mom heeded the deadly advice of her doctors and had an abortion.<br />
<br />
With a mixture of premature disgust and meaningless protestation, pro-abortion advocates awaited a gut rot straight-whiskey shot of audio-video.<br />
<br />
The ad turned out to be more like a strawberry smoothie.<br />
<br />
The 30 second commercial is benign, playful and somewhat vague, featuring the mother and son against a blank background, smiling and hugging amid gentle folksy guitars. It ends with humor and an invitation to visit the Focus on the Family's website to watch the real, full story.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSPzslenbOPeDOHi4xDSSJOpzlkp3irB5WzgCYOzA-M_8eVv6y-_0cNc55WW4Wj-lgC09W-n3KPx_tKvtbpXicO2tQVxn2P_U8ayPc9dypQBteQt-IGyuELa5Nma2NizeNiG4s1_2hktE/s1600-h/Tim+tebow+and+mom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMSPzslenbOPeDOHi4xDSSJOpzlkp3irB5WzgCYOzA-M_8eVv6y-_0cNc55WW4Wj-lgC09W-n3KPx_tKvtbpXicO2tQVxn2P_U8ayPc9dypQBteQt-IGyuELa5Nma2NizeNiG4s1_2hktE/s200/Tim+tebow+and+mom.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
Prior to the ad being shown, Terry O'Neill, President of the misnomered National Organization for Women, stated to Politico.com: <br />
<br />
<blockquote>“The goal of the Focus on the Family ad is not to empower women. It's to create a climate in which Roe v. Wade can be overturned. There are always going to be women who need abortions. In this country, one in three women will have an abortion.” <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32187.html">Full Story</a></blockquote><br />
Loins girded for battle, the fembots were simply left looking silly. Not to be deterred, however, Miss O'Neill experienced a sudden change of heart, or maybe face. Her latest, and even shriller, objection to the ad concerns the CGI enhanced "tackling" of Mrs. Tebow by her son. It's humorous, and at the end of spot she even says flat-out that she's tougher than him. Apparently the sweetness and humor are lost on Miss O'Neill:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>"I am blown away at the celebration of the violence against women in it. That's what comes across to me even more strongly than the anti-abortion message." <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-tebow-abortion8-2010feb08,0,1153376.story">Full Story</a></blockquote><br />
Er, okay. Right, celebration of violence. Got it.<br />
<br />
The fact is, Miss O'Neill and those of her ilk hate the Tebows, and for good reason. They're Christian, successful and even good looking. But most repulsive of all the Tebows don't suscribe to the philosophy of rending babies' limbs and crushing their skulls. Go figure.<br />
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Quotient out.Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-16275003366935724322010-01-31T20:02:00.008-06:002010-04-29T02:58:09.699-05:00Chapter 16. Who Is Democracy's Jonathan E.?Anyone who has watched a 1950's "look into the future" will snicker at the predictions of the world of tomorrow, say in the 1970's or 80's, or even the turn of the century. The promises of flying cars and housework-busy robots and moon bases seem quaint and naive in the face of the reality of Communism and unpopular wars and a terror-driven Middle East.<br />
<br />
Some predictions, however, while not literally manifested, can inform us about the dark machinations of the human psyche. If some author can imagine the future world, why not a politician, or dictator, or corporate giant? The paragons of <em>1984</em>, <em>Brave New World</em> and <em>Fahrenheit 451</em> are familiar to us as cautionary tales.<br />
<br />
Another interesting look into the future is <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollerball_(1975_film)">Rollerball</a></em>, the 1975 film by director/producer Norman Jewison and starring James Caan and John Houseman. The year is 2018, and nations have dissolved by conflict into six mega-Corporations: Transport, Food, Communication, Housing, Luxury and Energy. A few executives on the Directorate make all the decisions. Mankind has rid itself of famine, disease and war.<br />
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And individuality.<br />
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The deadly game of rollerball pits teams from corporate-cities in a mixture of roller derby (remember that?), football and extreme fighting. Players can be injured or killed, and the masses can return home with their innate human desire for conflict quenched, until the next game. The Game has been carefully designed to encourage allegiance to the Corporations and to its authority.<br />
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But as in all utopias, there is trouble brewing. There is Jonathan E. of Houston's Energy team; he is rollerball's best and most popular player, and its longest survivor (ten years). In fact, he's too popular, and has risen above the game itself and its purpose. So the executives "ask" him to retire, and when he refuses they begin making the game and its rules more deadly until at last, at the world championship, there will be no penalties and no time limit, meaning it will continue until all players are maimed or dead, even Jonathan.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzU3ZwU-LIRGsVJ_NewGtaHbFlTno84Us8qYq9t6V9zW2P6SqsnsPGJcbM4XKB2C_OLnU4gCStJuIMXyt3Vng' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br />
<br />
There is, of course, only one way for Jonathan to make it through the final game, and you can watch the movie yourself to see what happens.<br />
<br />
Well, 2018 is right around the corner. We don't have flying cars, or moon bases or rollerball yet. But we do have a growing public sector that rewards mediocrity and dissuades high individual achievement, as the only way to perpetuate the single truly mega-Corporation in the United States: the government itself.<br />
<br />
Watch closely as our contemporary Jonathan's are torn down, simply from their brazen defiance of the Directorate.<br />
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Quotient out.Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-5144008755502147042010-01-22T03:27:00.005-06:002010-01-31T22:07:50.536-06:00Chapter 15. Stinking CandySo, what to make of Scott Brown's election in The Blue, er Bay State?<br /><br />It is difficult to avoid post-electoral hyperbole to say that this is the beginning of some counter-revolutionary conservative uprising. Some claim that Massachusetts voters simply didn't like the dour Martha Coakley, at least to the tune of a 110,000 vote margin of victory for Brown. Others say it was about health care, or the President, or simple anger at Washington...<br /><br />Or, perhaps it was the phantasmic fantasy of faux candy.<br /><br />Perhaps voters in Massachusetts, as they did in 2009 in Virginia and New Jersey, have come to the realization that they were duped, or were victims of their own willful naivete. It's clear that many well-meaning Americans have awakened to the ideological shove to the left, even as a lot of them are breaking to the right on several important socio-cultural issues. During the election Senator Obama promised tax cuts for nearly everybody, bipartisanship, and transparency. In the last few months hundreds of millions of dollars worth of targeted "candy" was doled to various Congressmen to buy their votes on radical health care change.<br /><br />A lot of Americans stood in line for the big parade, and excitedly clamored to catch the handfuls of promissory candy being thrown out by the Left.<br /><br />Unfortunately, they thought they were getting a chocolate kiss, and it turned out to be a turd. Guess the decision to eat it is in the hands of the voters.<br /><br />Quotient out.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqVyoadFdjSToZrW5YCcQiC3qauJb7Chs-R_rw33xFYDUiPPmjC-oR73dBXTt6Df1stgbeLA7ccJQEtlln1B2B0Hk6G0wvbqk2Vdwy_PRNxEQcPLrNZhQ1NOiMajvP3qCM1v_Omc05fHR/s1600-h/candyman.bmp"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 211px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429507470820149554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqVyoadFdjSToZrW5YCcQiC3qauJb7Chs-R_rw33xFYDUiPPmjC-oR73dBXTt6Df1stgbeLA7ccJQEtlln1B2B0Hk6G0wvbqk2Vdwy_PRNxEQcPLrNZhQ1NOiMajvP3qCM1v_Omc05fHR/s320/candyman.bmp" /></a>Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-24259033340671505982010-01-03T17:30:00.001-06:002010-01-03T17:37:53.765-06:00Chapter 14. It's Easy To Kill Children......as long as you can convince yourself that they are dirty aliens, or crustaceans, or "prawns."<br /><br /><OBJECT id=BLOG_video-5e97dcb387027f6d class=BLOG_video_class width=320 height=266 contentId="5e97dcb387027f6d"></OBJECT><br /><br />The movie District 9 gives us many things to think about: immigration, segregation, racism, and in this chilling scene, abortion. More to the point, when is life considered unworthy to be? <br /><br />The character Wikus van de Merwe becomes the supervisor of an effort to control and relocate a million aliens (from another planet) who have mysteriously shown up hovering above Johannesburg, South Africa. At first they are brought down to an area near the city, but soon crime and poverty, not to mention their appearance and habits, make them unwelcome and earn them the pejorative "prawn." So it's time to move them further away, under Wikus' direction. <br /><br />In the abortion scene above, he cavalierly detaches the feeding tubes keeping the prawn eggs alive. Note halfway through the scene the reaction of the reporter following Wikus around, as he refuses Wikus' offer to "pull the plug" on a prawn egg, then mutters and looks back briefly at the camera as Wikus kills the egg. Finally, the reporter gingerly takes the defunct feeding apparatus from Wikus, who cheerfully gives him a "souvenir from your first abortion."<br /><br />The film direction is obviously designed to be a little over the top. Or is it?<br /><br />How cavalier must abortionists treat human fetuses as they suck, carve and pith their way through 1,000,000 baby murders a year in the U.S. alone. We somehow must emerge from our euphemistic-complacent, radical feminist driven eugenic haze to again comprehend what is happening.<br /><br />Everyone should watch the <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/twenty/watch/abortion.html">1983 PBS Frontline special on abortion</a>, featuring an abortion "clinic" in Chester, PA. It is objective, graphic and real. No actors or CGI special effects. Real women, real men, real doctors. <br /><br />And real children.<br /><br />Quotient out.Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-91567594124954607202009-12-29T03:24:00.003-06:002009-12-29T03:29:30.430-06:00Chapter 13. Moments in American Leadership<blockquote>"But as I was among the first who embarked in the cause of our common country. As I have never left your side one moment, but when called from you, on public duty. As I have been the constant companion and witness of your distresses, and not among the last to feel, and acknowledge your merits. As I have ever considered my own military reputation as inseperably connected with that of the army...it can scarcely be supposed, at this late stage of the war, that I am indifferent to its interests." <strong>George Washington March 15, 1783</strong><br />
</blockquote><br />
As the Treaty of Paris was nearing completion to end the Revolutionary War, General George Washington's officers were in a state of discontent at the prospects of not getting paid, for the country was broke. Anonymous letters were circulating at the camp at Newburgh, NY urging the army, in the event of a successful treaty, to remain formed in order to pressure Congress into paying them. This action would essentially create a military government rather than a representative democracy. <br />
<br />
Washington appeared before his officers at a meeting on March 15, and delivered a short prepared speech, dubbed the <a href="http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/newburgh/">Newburgh Address</a>. In it he essentially made his case for patience with Congress and implored the officers to give it, and him, their trust. As he had done many times before, he put his own reputation and integrity on the line to avoid disaster for the fledgling nation. After he concluded the speech, however, he sensed that the officers were still angry.<br />
<br />
Then, he produced a note describing Congress' monetary dilemma. He squinted as he read and was thus forced to dig out his spectacles. This simple action reminded the officers, many of whom didn't know that the General required glasses, of what Washington had done for the country through the war years, and that he indeed had been with them at every moment: the night time retreat from General Howe's British troops in New York; crossing the Delaware on Christmas Day 1776 to engage the Hessians at Trenton in a surprise counterattack, then success later at Princeton; enduring the miserable winter at Valley Forge in 1777; the training of the troops by Baron Von Steuben; and Washington's inspirational rallying of the retreating American troops at Monmouth.<br />
<br />
Having been reminded of their leader's incredible courage and leadership, many wept in shame. When Washington had left the meeting, the officers quickly resolved to follow Washington's example and reaffirmed their loyalty to the American republic.<br />
<br />
It would not be the first or last time that George Washington's personal integrity saved the United States of America from short sighted folly. We Americans owe this great man our unyielding gratitude and respect. And, if possible, our emulation of his feats of faith and his strength of character.<br />
<br />
Quotient out.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGk-fW-htE3ZBXULW0jYW8QS18Ijr03dgQBd1b1-zbPvRMlrZlkzCxL_oXXiPD803_hVO70SKE1VgHC2rz1cW94cMX7BU951kQyAkT2GBXwR0jiXsUNWdw3RX79USrg2SbvSftnksmHw5S/s1600-h/300px-BattleofMonmouth.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGk-fW-htE3ZBXULW0jYW8QS18Ijr03dgQBd1b1-zbPvRMlrZlkzCxL_oXXiPD803_hVO70SKE1VgHC2rz1cW94cMX7BU951kQyAkT2GBXwR0jiXsUNWdw3RX79USrg2SbvSftnksmHw5S/s320/300px-BattleofMonmouth.bmp" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong>Washington at the Battle of Monmouth</strong><br />
</div>Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-77552008580102600622009-12-19T02:26:00.002-06:002010-02-03T05:37:43.854-06:00Chapter 12. Get Your Gore-tex, There's More Snow Coming...There's an rumored phenomenon out there called the "Gore Effect." Whenever the former Vice President arrives at a venue to warn that the next 5 years will be critical to save the planet from the ravages of anthrogenic global warming, the region experiences unseasonably cool weather.<br /><br />How laughingly fitting that the most visible new disciple of the hoax of the century, President Barack Obama, fresh from his jaunt to the U.N.'s Climate Change Conference, might have to land Air Force One at an alternate location due to a unseasonably strong winter storm bearing down on Washington at this very hour. D.C. has declared a snow emergency.<br /><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" class="separator"><a style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; MARGIN-RIGHT: 1em" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ui67oRWRWICA15WJ1ih6vhmuRoFzyqmyWqFnozMty59rhkwe1JKChyOx5d6pW9GMlHjnav2j0LaINu8dZKZbsfvNHLdnaEsImWLArd_wgqqSaDTj9oXeRXeG-GYq0j1A9b-_RlqEeHvc/s1600-h/snowfcst_600x405.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ui67oRWRWICA15WJ1ih6vhmuRoFzyqmyWqFnozMty59rhkwe1JKChyOx5d6pW9GMlHjnav2j0LaINu8dZKZbsfvNHLdnaEsImWLArd_wgqqSaDTj9oXeRXeG-GYq0j1A9b-_RlqEeHvc/s320/snowfcst_600x405.jpg" ps="true" /></a><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" class="separator" align="left"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; CLEAR: both" class="separator" align="left"><br /></div>At tin pot dictator and limousine-rich Copenhagen, the so-called "leaders" of the world sat around eating luxurious food, being waited on and sniffing their own greenhouse gases, while decrying the unfair treatment of the United States toward Mother Gaia and demanding reparations from us.<br /><br />It's the perfect curtain call for the President, who seems to never tire of striding on to the world stage to stump for yet another economically crippling Marixist program. Galling enough Hugo Chavez, but our own President?<br /><br />Odd that there was no mention of the recent revelations of data-fixing from East Anglia, sensor hiding from Siberia, and the polar bear exploding Artic Circle. Just the robotic recitation of imminent danger ahead if we don't "act now."<br /><br />Once he eventually lands back at the capitol Obama can at least claim to have kept the plow and salt truck drivers employed this winter. We're getting used to his snow jobs.<br /><br />Quotient out.Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-58491251483562150942009-12-10T05:38:00.002-06:002009-12-30T00:20:17.988-06:00Chapter 11. Socialism Doesn't Kill People, Socialists Do Part 3: Euthanasia's Example<blockquote>"Is there any difference between watching someone drowning without doing anything and pushing them into the lake?”<br />
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So asked Dr. Eduard Verhagen of the Netherland's University Medical Centre in Groningen, when interviewed in 2006 by the Times (UK) about the impending new Dutch law which legalized "baby euthanasia," effectively expanding the 2002 legalization of euthanasia (anyone over age 12). Infants could now be put down. You might say that in 2006 the Dutch finally put the "Youth" in "Euth"anasia.<br />
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Dr. Verhagen claims to agonize over each of the several times he has killed an infant. Nevertheless, he called the new law "a giant step and we are very happy about it."<br />
<a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article737519.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1">http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article737519.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1</a><br />
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Verhagen's absurd question about the drowning person belies the fallacy of the euthanasia mindset, in which people who are suffering are better off dead, and even better than that if someone actually <strong>intervenes to hasten their death</strong>. But it is instructive to analyze the doctor's wordplay. <br />
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In Verhagen's argument the act of pushing someone into a lake is no different than happening upon someone already in trouble in the water and letting them drown, presumably because the victim drowns either way. But, the doctor is misusing the analogy, since the <strong>predicament</strong> of the victim is that he is drowning at all. How the victim got into the water is not part of the proper argument; in the case of the infant with a disease one could refer to "the pusher" as Fate, Chance or God. So let's discard Verhagen's comparison.<br />
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The real question is, when one encounters a drowning man (a\or infant with a terrible, painful disease) what is the response?<br />
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In most real life situations, including those Verhagen describes being a part of, doctors will try to help the victim, to cure them or to at least ease the pain. This is compassionate and right. But if that doesn't work, then Verhagen oversteps his moral authority and prescribes the "final solution." <br />
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So here's the analogy: Encounter a drowning man (infant with disease), perhaps try to help him with a outstreched hand (medicine, surgery, palliative care), but if you can't haul him out of the water (cure him), then you have a choice: either do nothing while perhaps waiting for another person to help (for instance, a new technology or medicine); or, jump into the lake, swim over to the victim and hold his head under water until he's dead (that would be the analogy to euthanasia). Verhagen chooses the latter course, in which he actively kills the drowning man, but attempts to make it somehow eqivalent to the passive spectator. We know that it is not.<br />
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Furthermore, doing nothing (a misnomer really but we'll use it) allows for hope, for a cure, for a miracle. Verhagen's approach, while many times driven by distraught parents and a misguided sense of mercy, simply abandons all hope.<br />
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In the utilitarian-socialist world developing around us, choosing to take life becomes something of a bad habit. That is the danger to America, as we launch into our 27th year of federally approved abortion, several states have indeed approved "assisted suicide," and we wrestle mightily to understand stem cell research and to define marriage.<br />
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We've come upon that man struggling in the water. Time to decide what to do.<br />
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Quotient out.Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-26986884336461885492009-12-01T23:59:00.002-06:002010-02-03T05:36:27.339-06:00Chapter 10. The First Amendment vs Fascism In Our Churches & The Media<em>"Congress shall make no law respecting an <strong>establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof</strong>; or abridging the <strong>freedom of speech, or of the press</strong>; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."</em> The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 1791<br /><br /><em>"Fascism: a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation... above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and <strong>forcible suppression of opposition</strong>."</em> Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online<br /><br />After the Revolutionary War was won, the Founding Fathers labored to create a governmental structure that both allowed the States to form up into a strong national entity, but also maintained the rights of individuals and States that had already been written into the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. The resulting Constitution and Bill of Rights, has to be counted among the top few documents of human history. The delicate balance that was debated and embodied in the Bill of Rights has enabled our freedom, our industry, and our very lives to flourish for over two centuries.<br /><br />Not for the first time, however, these "first freedoms" are under attack by a growingly emboldened radical coalition: politicians seeking power, special interests and advocacy groups, and even outright enemies of the United States.<br /><br />In Connecticut, a state bill (<a href="http://www.cga.ct.gov/2009/TOB/S/2009SB-01098-R00-SB.htm">S.B. 1098</a>) was proposed in January 2009, specifically changing the governance structure of the Catholic Church in CT. Ostensibly written to address financial mismanagement amid an embezzlement scandal in 2008, the bill would have fundamentally altered, by <strong>force of law</strong>, a church's pastor/laity relationship, which in the case of the Catholic Church has existed since the dawn of Christianity, literally since the days of the Apostles. As it turns out the language of S.B. 1098 that would reorganize the Church and emasculate the clergy, seems to be lifted from the strategic planning of an organization called Voice of the Faithful, a collection of liberal Cathlolics and ex-Catholics formed in 2002 to respond to clergy sexual abuse, but which expanded to include defiant radicals bent on "reforming" the the entire Catholic Church, such as <a href="http://catholicinsight.com/online/feminism/article_246.shtml">Sister Joan Chittister</a>. Those like Sr. Chittister want nothing less than a fundamental upheaval of the Church, goals which are predicated less on dedication to the teaching of the Church than on their own personal, misguided, arrogant, and selfish agendas.<br /><br />S.B. 1098 failed, mainly due to the outrage of local and national Catholics speaking up against it. Nevertheless, forces continue to push for the dilution of the central tenets of Christianity, if necessary by the <strong>forcible takeover</strong> of the Church by the State. This will not be the last time we see our churches under attack.<br /><br />As for the media: in 1949 the FCC adopted the Fairness Doctrine, which stated that due to the limited resource of radio frequencies, broadcasters were required to present controversial issues of the day and to do so in a manner which was, well, fair and balanced. In 1969 the Supreme Court (<a href="http://epic.org/free_speech/red_lion.html">Red Lion Broadcasting, Inc v FCC</a>) upheld the right of the FCC to enforce the Doctrine, again citing the scarity of the spectrum of broadcast frequencies. In 1987, under President Reagan, the Doctrine was abolished by the FCC; this was before the rise of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, meaning Reagan himself would be at greater risk of media attack without the Doctrine. Yet the principle was, the Doctrine impedes free speech and should therefore be abolished. Over the intervening years various legislators called for reestablishment of the Doctrine, and even a push to codify it into federal law. Curiously, these proponents were all Democrats.<br /><br />The Fairness Doctrine is not needed. There is no scarcity of frequencies today, and really never was. And yet, the Democrats continue to attempt to exhume it from the deserved grave it inhabits. Clearly the success of conservative media in the last decade has whipped the left into a manic frenzy while they watch their own instruments like Air America founder from mismanagement and irrevelancy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in 2007, announced that she would like to see the Doctrine ressurected. Figures. It would allow the State to <strong>force</strong> successful broadcasters to offer material from those who- for many reasons- don't have a commercially viable messsage.<br /><br />True to form, what the left cannot achieve through legitimate argument and advocacy, it seeks to gain through legislative or judicial <strong>force</strong>. And some day the means may extend to the realm of the baton and gun. It's been done before.<br /><br />Quotient out.Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6064533322675029323.post-76577037541117946012009-11-30T01:37:00.001-06:002009-11-30T01:53:58.120-06:00Chapter 9. Thanksgiving Lesson from 1623: Communism Is A LoserThe 2009 Thanksgiving weekend is coming to an end. The American tradition of reflecting on the bounty afforded us, how it came to be and how we might keep it is a laudable and useful excercise. The sharpest lesson, it appears, comes from the very Pilgrims we often remember in between parades, football games and rounds of turkey of various moistnesses.<br />
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It turns out that the original societal plan for the Plymouth settlers was a <strong>communist</strong> system in which stronger, more able bodied men and women were expected to give their all in part to support those who couldn't contribute as much. It was "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs," nearly two centuries before Karl Heinrich Marx was a twinkle in his vater's eye. <br />
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And (surprise) communism was a failure. In his contemporaneously compiled <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=tYecOAN1cwwC&pg=PA136#v=onepage&q=&f=false">history of the Plymouth Plantation</a>, pp. 134-136, <strong>William Bradford</strong>, who was <strong>Governor of the Plymouth Plantation</strong> in various years from 1621 until his death in 1657, details how the folks of Plymouth didn't take kindly to working in the field or performing labors on behalf of others, without getting compensated. The able began to feign weakness or illness, or to simply complain to the Governor that things had to change. Then in 1623, they decided to divide the plantation into equal parcels of land for each family and let them get out of it what they could, meaning generally what they put into it.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF8zshDMkLGORuIC4QJ2bxGAEq14vQZf1z9nv9IZ-3DWJaj96lETgNtKWC4pRA0fUBh2h49ePN84FDFTZUveQJE6R2UOHpCPhzKcNORQ3ERXkG5-kzFsdPPpjx_5DLxUeIH5eRYFxZh15K/s1600/800px-Thanksgiving-Brownscombe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF8zshDMkLGORuIC4QJ2bxGAEq14vQZf1z9nv9IZ-3DWJaj96lETgNtKWC4pRA0fUBh2h49ePN84FDFTZUveQJE6R2UOHpCPhzKcNORQ3ERXkG5-kzFsdPPpjx_5DLxUeIH5eRYFxZh15K/s200/800px-Thanksgiving-Brownscombe.jpg" yr="true" /></a><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">And (surprise) privatization was a success. Men, women and children worked to their potential, because they got to keep the fruit of their labors, rather than giving them over to those who didn't earn it. Through the centuries of time, Bradford waxes pointedly to us on the communist folly:<br />
</div><blockquote><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">"...that ye taking away of propertie, and bringing in coiiiunitie [community] into a coirfone wealth, would make them happy and florishing; <strong>as if they were wiser then God</strong>. For this comunitie (so farr as it was) was found to breed much confusion & discontent, and retard much imploymet that would have been to their benefite and comforte..God in his wisdome saw another course fiter [fitter] for them."<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Indeed. Too bad our leaders today don't see the merits of learning the hard lessons of our forefathers, but rather are inclined to believe the fanciful fairy tales of modern day radicals.<br />
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Quotient out.Quotienthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04348783641872032475noreply@blogger.com0