Archive for November, 2007

Fall Of An Empty Empire

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

     Time has a funny habit of marching inexorably forward, leaving in its wake a plethora of faded memories. Some fade rapidly while others retain their luster quite well, often long enough for the shine to be ground off by the light of truth rather than a faulty recollection.

     This usually happens to the false memories. I call it God’s way of reminding us of how foolish we once were. He allows the true memories to fade intact, preserving the radiance of them forever in our minds. The ironic thing is that we curse him at times for the very blessing bestowed upon us for this gift.
    
     The Clintons were once untouchable, virtually unscathable in the public arena. Whatever their enemies had to toss at them, there was either a well-timed duck or a willing sacrifice there to catch the barb flung, tearing it asunder and using the offending projectile to great effect against he who had flung it. It was truly a wonder to behold for those who were among the non-believers. A modern marvel, if you will.
    
     The not-so-faded memory of the Clinton era has been preserved, in part, by God as I alluded to previously, but also in part by the Clintons themselves by their refusal to go gracefully. They simply would not go away, and so here we are, watching the very press that so adored them beginning to grind away at the radiant veneer that once covered them and protected their legacy. Time heals all wounds, but only if permitted to do so.
    
     Reports were in abundance today about Bill Clinton’s stumping for his candidate wife while touting himself ad nauseam. Perhaps he and his wife were lulled into believing that the cocoon would always hold fast, not realizing that eventually the butterfly is born. Now the press is regaining what could only be called suppressed memories and flinging the barbs themselves, and the shield is nonexistent.
    
     Clinton today stated that he was against the Iraq war from the beginning. The opposition pundits launched into action immediately, pointing out that it was the Clinton administration’s official position of “regime change” in Iraq, meaning that they wanted Saddam gone. Further, they pointed to Clinton’s own support for the impending invasion in March of 2003. The few remaining guardians of all things Clinton dutifully sprang into action, saying that a person was entitled to a rethinking of a position previously held. They were quickly swatted away with the following revelation…
    
     Clinton wrote an OpEd piece in the UK’s Guardian in which  he unequivocally supported the looming war. To say otherwise today is not disingenuous, it is a lie. Once upon a time, he would have been given a total pass by the blogosphere, but not so these days. His feet, and hers along with him, are about to be held to the fire, finally. It’s been a long time in coming.
    
     We are already seeing the cracks in the Clinton foundation in the Huffington Post, of all places. Could the Daily Kos be far behind? Even if not, the circled wagons have lost their cover, and it will be oh so much fun in the coming weeks and months to watch the reaction of former royalty forced into final accountability with no safety net.
    
     To be quaintly colloquial, it is akin to seeing the idiot who cut you off on the highway pulled over by the police further down the road. Sometimes justice, however poetic, prevails. And God let’s us remember.
     -Woody

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Potentially Lethal Tolerance

Sunday, November 25th, 2007

   How far do we go towards our own demise for the appearance of being a tolerant people? Is our open-arms mentality as a nation not enough? It is one thing to tell people, “Mi casa es su casa”, but when they let themselves in and put their feet all over the furniture, it’s time to set a few things straight where the line is drawn.

     America is the bastion of free speech, free expression of religion (at least it once was), and the place where people can still, for the time being, do pretty much what they want. But there must be some things which cannot go unchallenged lest we dilute what it means to be an American altogether.
    
     One of the biggest challenges we face is the rise of radical Islam, as the current “war on terror” bears out. So why do we allow this sort of thing to stand?
    
     In Fairfax County, Virginia, there is an islamic school “affectionately” dubbed “Terror High“, whose real name is The Islamic Saudi Academy.
    
     An excerpt:

“The academy opened in 1984 and stayed out of the spotlight until the Sept. 11 attacks. Criticisms were revived in 2005, when a former class valedictorian, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, was charged with joining al-Qaida while attending college in Saudi Arabia. He was convicted on several charges, including plotting to assassinate President Bush, and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.”

     It would seem that the subject matter may be somewhat virulent at this school, though it does have its defenders. However, I think the twelve U.S. Senators and the Federal Commission looking into the matter are on the right track.

      People will attempt to make the argument that if we can have Catholic Schools and Jewish Schools, then why not Muslim Schools. The crux of the matter in this case, however, is not the mere fact that it’s a Muslim School. The investigation is about what is contained in the textbooks and whether the school’s curriculum is one of intolerance.

     It is not much different than the government investigating a neo-nazi school in which hatred of others is the curriculum. Catholic and Jewish Schools do not teach such things, and neither should a Muslim School.

    Tolerance for the sake of tolerance can be a deadly thing.

-Woody

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Snake Oil For Sale

Friday, November 23rd, 2007

    Virtually anyone who has been embroiled in a heated (no pun) discussion on global warming has seen the tried and true tactic used by true believers; Google the denier and prove that he has a vested interest in denying that global warming is a problem that man has created. Oh come on, you’ve all been there.

     Find an article written by a top scientist/climatologist that states that the hysteria is unwarranted, and someone will post or cite “proof” that he is being funded by Exxon or some other evil oil company and therefore, a poor witness. It makes no difference if this expert’s research is dead-on accurate; it simply cannot be believed because he has been funded by Exxon, however indirectly.
    
     So, what does that suggest? It would seem rather clear that if there is money to be made from the advocacy of a particular position, the position is, by default, rendered suspect and therefore worthless, easily dismissed. I wonder then if Al Gore’s supporters will be jumping ship any time soon.
    
     The best get rich quick scheme succeeds this way: Invent a situation that will cause people consternation and once they have bought into the fear, assuage that fear with your product. Brilliant! In other words, scare the bejeebers out of people and then ride to the rescue with the thing they think they need to save them.
    
     Al Gore has been running around championing the Planet and in effect, setting up his new business venture. According to the New York Times, it is a six trillion dollar venture. Let’s put that in numbers, just for the full effect: $6,000,000,000,000.00. Will Gore receive $6T? Obviously not, but he’ll receive a hefty salary in the form of “carried interest”, which also, notably, is taxed at a lower rate than a traditional paycheck.
    
“Al Gore made big news this month when he said he would join Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as a partner focusing on clean-technology investments. At the time, much of the attention was focused on how he would donate his salary to a nonprofit advocacy group he founded.

But a blog, Fortune’s Go West, says that one nugget of news has gone ignored. The former vice president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate will keep his share of profits from the venture capital firm’s investments, known as carried interest.”

     Ah, so he says he will donate his “salary”, but he won’t donate his “carried interest”. That way when anyone asks later, he can say that he meant what he said but that he simply wasn’t earning a tradional salary and therefore, there was nothing to donate.

     His displayed hypocrisy in flying all over in a private jet was pooh-poohed by his supporters. His buying carbon offsets was defended as somehow good for the planet. Is there a valid defense the left will conjure in light of this news? Highly doubtful.

     No, the only hope here is that when the climate begins to cool again and the “threat” of global warming is once again laughable, Al’s business will go belly up and he’ll be reduced to selling pencils out of a tin cup.

-Woody

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Nine Will Decide

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

  The political almanac (if there were such a thing), is predicting a huge storm beginning sometime in March of 2008 and intensifying through, ostensibly, June of the same year. It is expected to rival or exceed the last storm of such magnitude, which occurred almost 70 years ago. Current models are already in play, and the speculation about the readings will be a topic in the forefront from now until the storm hits.

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      The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of District of Columbia v. Heller, Heller of course being the plaintiff. The significance of the case is enormous, for it will hinge on the judgement of nine people regarding the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
    
     The District of Columbia instituted a ban on personal gun-ownership thirty-one years ago, a ban the federal appeals court recently ruled was in violation of the Constitution because their interpretation was that the Second Amendment right was an individual right, not tied to service in a militia. That is crucial, since the argument has long been that those not in a militia had no need, and subsequently no right, to bear arms.
    
     To refresh, the Second Amendment is a short one: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
    
     Having fled the tyranny of a monarchy, it is fair to assess that the founding fathers, in reference to a “free state”, could only have intended the freedom from oppression by one’s own government. The only way to ensure that freedom was to be well armed. Without weapons the governed had no way to prevent the governors from imposing whatever they wished upon the masses.
    
     With the way society has evolved over the past two-hundred-thirty plus years, it is now also the general criminal element that must be guarded against, lest they be in competition with the government over who gets to rule the completely unarmed. While there are many, many people in this country who have no firearms, myself included, the critical element is this: no one knows who does or who does not, and therein lies the deterrent that safeguards us all. With a total ban on firearms, every standing house becomes a soft target, and chaos will triumph.
    
     An important thing to remember is that if the Supreme Court rules in favor of Heller, it will likely not invalidate the other, more modest restrictions that are already in place by many states, those which are designed to prevent accidents in the home, et al. But look for the argument from the left in this country to play to those fears. The ones they will use to persuade people that, should the SCOTUS rule in Heller’s favor and uphold the Second amendment, they will directly be responsible for small children accidentally blowing their brains out while playing with dad’s gun. Do not fall prey to those tactics.
    
     This is an issue which will affect even those who have never owned a gun, and the effect could be disastrous. Stay vigilant, and stay up to speed with this case. Believe it or not, it could mean the survival of America as we know it.
-Woody

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Civil War Redux?

Tuesday, November 20th, 2007

     OK. I’m getting mad. I mean, really, truly, spitting mad. I hope that by the time I finish writing this, whoever reads it will be spitting mad as well. What in God’s name have we come to in America?

    
     We can’t have the little children sing “Christmas” carols in school because it might offend the minority population of muslim children, but we can have American Christian and Jewish children, who are in the majority, forced to dress and act muslim as part of a curriculum to espouse “diversity”?
    
     A charitable organization discriminates because they require English-speaking persons to work for them, but it’s just fine to demand spanish-only speaking recruits? To make matters worse, it’s the Speaker of the House, San Fran Nan, who is attempting to penalize the Salvation Army in the first link, and yet it’s the San Francisco Bay Area Craig’s list doing the hiring in the second. WTF, mate?
    
     Then we have the case of a business in Nevada illegally flying the Mexican flag above the U.S. flag. A retired Army vet drove to Nevada just to cut down the American flag and leave the Mexican flag laying on the ground, completely unobstructed by the stunned owner who had neither the courage nor the desire to stop him. Not to worry, though. The absence of cajones displayed by the bar owner in Reno means naught, as our own government will have his back. Plus, we have a lib website enraged at the “temerity” of the man who “stole a business owner’s flag”.
    
     Sure, it’s against Federal law to fly any flag above the U.S. flag, but vigilantism simply cannot be tolerated! Nein!! Why should an outraged American be permitted to exercise his right of civilian justice? More importantly is this; why did the City of Reno not perform it’s civic responsibility in citing the bar owner for flying the Mexican flag in such a manner?!? Municipalities certainly seem to waste no time in taking punitive action when an American has the gall to display Old Glory in a manner unbefitting of the New Order Frontier that passes for your local Home Owners Association.
    
     We live in a time that I never thought I’d see, but sadly, it has come. It is not ok to smoke a legal cigarette in one’s own home is some places, but sneaking into the country, a crime, is pooh-poohed by our own lawmakers, the buffoons, that we elect to office!
    
     I am beginning to believe that America is actually headed for a civil war. The war has already begin in rhetoric only at this point, but the way we’re going I can sincerely forsee it escalating into something much larger.
    
     Roger Daltry may have been onto something when The Who sang, “My Generation”. God help us.
-Woody

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Good Lies, Bad Lies

Thursday, November 8th, 2007

    Once there was a time when parents raised their children much differently than they do today. I was raised differently, and my own children were raised in the same fashion as I was. Somewhere along the line though, something caused a disconnect, and people began raising their children in manners totally contrary to what they experienced as youngsters.  

     Some saw their own rearing as something shameful, some saw it as nothing more than incorrect, but many changed the rules along the way and they started a snowball effect that, true to its moniker, will not slow or stop until the downward slope levels and the snowball loses kinetic energy.
    
     One thing I remember being subjected to and what I also remember “inflicting” on my own children was the big lie. We lied about Santa, we lied about the Easter Bunny, and we lied about the Tooth Fairy. I can’t speak for my own parents, but I know I felt a twinge of guilt and foreboding about the day when my kids would, must, learn the truth. That truth was that these characters never existed and that we made it all up for them, yes, but also for us. Generations of parents have taken great delight in the joy in their children’s eyes.
    
     Now I can just see many of you nodding along as you read while wondering where this all leads. I don’t blame you.
    
     Here’s where it all leads; the big lie being fed to our kids today. What is that lie, you ask? The terrorization of our kids regarding global warming. Here’s what they’re being fed in schools, and I have no doubt, in homes by well meaning parents who have bought into the hysteria.
    
     What happens when these kids grow up and learn that all they have been taught about anthropogenic global warming has been a big lie? While I have learned from experience as both child and parent, the “happy” lies about holiday spirits are easily forgiven and gleefully passed on to future generations. I doubt that false scare tactics will garner the same reception from the victims.
    
     There is much more damage attributable to this Al Gore driven madness than mere economics. The kids are going to be dark cynics as they mature. What will they believe, or not believe, in subsequent years?  
    
     I fear that the practice of crying wolf may attain new stature in the damage it causes. When we are all elderly, we will rely on those we have lied to so blatantly as our first line of defense. Will they heed warnings, or dismiss them with a cavalier wave of the hand?
    
     Perhaps it might be prudent to tell them the truth now, for all of our sakes.
-Woody

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The Fascist State Of Healthcare (Revisited)

Monday, November 5th, 2007

      I just can’t take it anymore. Last night I was watching the Colts-Pats game, which was every bit as good as billed. The game that is; the bit with Costas, Collinsworth and Overbite was nothing short of ridiculous. Doing the broadcast and halftime with the studio lights out to “save the planet”. Please. Why didn’t they have the referees running up and down the sidelines with flashlights and candles to show that they were serious?
    
     Let’s keep going; they banned smoking in every indoor public place. OK, we understood that. Then they banned smoking in many outdoor public places. We grumbled, but eventually abided by that. Now they want to ban smoking in your own home, all the while refusing to outright make tobacco illegal because the government makes too much money from its sale.

     You know what, I want those two 80 year-old sisters living down the hall to stop cooking kilbasa and cabbage, how about that? That stuff makes me ill.
    
     Moving on, they are making strides, albeit in baby steps, to ban foods that they deem unhealthy. No cupcakes are to be brought to school. Soda machines and snack machines, verbotten. New York City’s ban on transfats, whatever the hell they are. Now there’s this, which comes to us from the U.K., but which will doubtlessly make its way here.

     Fat Santa Sets A Bad Example. OK…now we have to have a skinny Santa Claus? The Tooth Fairy may be in jeopardy if anyone is inclined to point out that the name could be offensive to homosexuals, but a skinny Santa?

     For all of the people who lament the loss of freedom under the “fascist regime” of the Bush Administration, consider this; while it may be true that Bush’s people may have overheard that conversation in which you declared your penchant for wearing women’s underwear, here’s a news flash. They don’t care.

     No, the real threat to our civil liberties is the day when the health fascists decide what we eat, drink, and how much will be allowed. It will be the day that they can drag you out of your own home because you are behaving in a fashion contrary to the best interests of…you. It will be the day that you can receive a fine for not wearing a jacket on a chilly day.

     I’m not the least bit concerned about the Commander in Chief. I’m terrified of the Surgeon General.

     -Woody

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