A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. -- George Bernard Shaw

Thursday, May 31, 2007

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You wanna know what else

... I love about this country?

That people like Herself can run for President, and people can pretend to claim that she is actually “presidential"…

That diversity of opinion (common sense and the facts be damned, sez I!) without one of us being locked up in a loony bin is the very essence of an open society, where even a politician spewing the most hate-filled rhetoric imaginable (or even committing major felonies) is not enough for people to disqualify him or her from public office.

This is a Patriot’s Journey post. Also on this year’s journey are JimK, Scott, Larry, Cosmicbabe, and Doug

Rhetoric such as…

“F**k off! It’s enough that I have to see you shit-kickers every day, I’m not going to talk to you too!! Just do your G*damn job and keep your mouth shut.”
(From the book “American Evita” by Christopher Anderson, p. 90 - Hillary to her State Trooper bodyguards after one of them greeted her with “Good morning.")

and

“We just can’t trust the American people to make those types of choices.... Government has to make those choices for people”
(From the book “I’ve Always Been A Yankee Fan” by Thomas D. Kuiper, p 20 - Hillary to Rep. Dennis Hastert in 1993 discussing her expensive, disastrous taxpayer-funded health care plan)

and

“Many of you are well enough off that [President Bush’s] tax cuts may have helped you. We’re saying that for America to get back on track, we’re probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We’re going to have to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.”
(Hillary grandstanding at a fund raising speech in San Francisco; SFGate.com 6/28/2004.)

God Bless America.

We’re gonna need it.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

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I *heart* the Second Amendment

Because while the First Amendment gives us the opportunity to get together and plan the overthrow of the government, the Second Amendment gives us the right to back up those words with action.

The reasons behind this Amendment lie not in the Constitution, but in the Declaration of Independence.

This is a Patriot’s Journey post. Also on this year’s journey are JimK, Scott, Larry, Cosmicbabe, and Doug

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Without any means of enforcing their will upon the government, how can the citizens have any way to “alter or abolish” it? There has to be some way for the average man to stand up and say “Not just ‘no’, but HELL No!” and make it stick. That method is the right enshrined in the Second Amendment.

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.

Speaking of Everyday Heroes

They’re allowed to make mistakes every once in a while…  

I’m going to tuck this below the fold, because I don’t want it to have to load every single time the page loads, and I am not quite sure what it’s going to do to my bandwidth, but enjoy. (I’m sure he did...)

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

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Fanboy Nerd Alert

Squeeeeeeeee!

Obtained from JimK

Link: The Heroes Personality Test written by freedomdegrees on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

You scored higher than 99% on Idealism

You scored higher than 99% on Nonconformity

You scored higher than 99% on Nerdiness

A hearty (if belated) Welcome Aboard!

To last-minute entrant Doug Arrington of Inessential Musings.

I was just checking some odd trackbacks and found that he had joined us on the Journey this year, so everyone go over and say “Hi!”  

Everyday Heroes

I’m not talking about the NBC television drama (although I *heart* Hiro), I’m talking about the people who make it their jobs to protect us from our collective folly and random miseries.

Such as the police officer or the firefighter - the ones who run to the sound of the sirens and the screams.

Yes, there are cops who have shamed the badge, and yes, there are firefighters who have committed arson, but the vast majority of them are good and kind and honorable and would willingly lay down their lives for yours. These heroes have taken up the gauntlet of duty by putting the good of their community ahead of the good of themselves or their families, and taken that step up the pyramid of self-actualization.

These are heroes who set the examples for the rest of us, and protect the rest of us against the chaos and hurt to the best of their limited abilities.

Because people like that exist, we have the leisure time to advance our own goals and plans.

Some poems below the fold…

Monday, May 28, 2007

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Found on my Internet Travels

Went browsing through the archives over at Cosmicbabe and found this. It speaks so much to the concept of the Patriot’s Journey that I included it here.

You all know how much I respect Robert Heinlein, so this is especially cool…

This I Believe ©1952 Robert A. Heinlein

I am not going to talk about religious beliefs but about matters so obvious that it has gone out of style to mention them. I believe in my neighbors. I know their faults, and I know that their virtues far outweigh their faults.

Take Father Michael down our road a piece. I’m not of his creed, but I know that goodness and charity and loving kindness shine in his daily actions. I believe in Father Mike. If I’m in trouble, I’ll go to him.

My next-door neighbor is a veterinary doctor. Doc will get out of bed after a hard day to help a stray cat. No fee — no prospect of a fee — I believe in Doc.

I believe in my townspeople. You can knock on any door in our town saying, “I’m hungry,” and you will be fed. Our town is no exception. I’ve found the same ready charity everywhere. But for the one who says, “To heck with you — I got mine,” there are a hundred, a thousand who will say, “Sure, pal, sit down.”

I know that despite all warnings against hitchhikers I can step up to the highway, thumb for a ride and in a few minutes a car or a truck will stop and someone will say, “Climb in Mac — how far you going?”

I believe in my fellow citizens. Our headlines are splashed with crime yet for every criminal there are 10,000 honest, decent, kindly men. If it were not so, no child would live to grow up. Business could not go on from day to day. Decency is not news. It is buried in the obituaries, but is a force stronger than crime. I believe in the patient gallantry of nurses and the tedious sacrifices of teachers. I believe in the unseen and unending fight against desperate odds that goes on quietly in almost every home in the land.

I believe in the honest craft of workmen. Take a look around you. There never were enough bosses to check up on all that work. From Independence Hall to the Grand Coulee Dam, these things were built level and square by craftsmen who were honest in their bones.

I believe that almost all politicians are honest … there are hundreds of politicians, low paid or not paid at all, doing their level best without thanks or glory to make our system work. If this were not true we would never have gotten past the 13 colonies.

I believe in Rodger Young. You and I are free today because of endless unnamed heroes from Valley Forge to the Yalu River. I believe in — I am proud to belong to — the United States. Despite shortcomings from lynchings to bad faith in high places, our nation has had the most decent and kindly internal practices and foreign policies to be found anywhere in history.

And finally, I believe in my whole race. Yellow, white, black, red, brown. In the honesty, courage, intelligence, durability, and goodness of the overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters everywhere on this planet. I am proud to be a human being. I believe that we have come this far by the skin of our teeth. That we always make it just by the skin of our teeth, but that we will always make it. Survive. Endure. I believe that this hairless embryo with the aching, oversize brain case and the opposable thumb, this animal barely up from the apes will endure. Will endure longer than his home planet — will spread out to the stars and beyond, carrying with him his honesty and his insatiable curiosity, his unlimited courage and his noble essential decency.

This I believe.

We Be Clubbin’

This is a damned expensive hobby.

I went on a voyage to get a set of golf clubs yesterday, using the information you guys provided to me in the post from the other day. Everyone told me to get a cheap complete set, or just a few drivers, a putter, and a wood to get me used to whacking around the ball on the driving range. My plan is to stick to the range until I feel comfortable enough to go on the course. I went to Sports Chalet to check out a few clubs. Low and behold, they have drivers and woods that cost somewhere around $499 a piece. I thought the decimal point was in the wrong place when I saw the price tag, but it wasn’t. Up on the wall they had a set of Dunlop clubs, with the bag and a few goodies, for around the same price as that one club. That was still out of my price range, so I moved to the right and looked at the cheaper sets.

I called my dad when I was there, because as most retired cops seem to do, he does nothing but golf now that he’s retired. He even moved into a condo on a golf course. I guess that makes for a quick drive to have a few hours of fun. Anyway, he told me to stick with buying just a few clubs, stuff them in my trunk, and hit the range when I have the time. Using Helo Math (R), the price of just a few clubs came out to the same cost as this complete set from Cougar.

Don’t get me wrong, I know the quality of these Cougar clubs aren’t as good as the Callaway or the Dunlop clubs. Hell, I thought both of those companies stuck in the automotive realm, but I guess I was wrong. I’m going to head to the driving range in a little bit and give these things a shot. I haven’t played golf in about 15 years, so this is going to be an experience.

Wish me luck.

Welcome, one and all

...to this inaugural posting of the Fourth Annual Patriot’s Journey.

Joining us this year are:

• JimK of Right Thoughts
• Scott of Speed Of Thought
• Larry of The Bastidge (who apparently got started a day early), and
• Cosmicbabe

The simple fact that we have ANYONE joining us on this Journey is one of the subtlest benefits of the First Amendment.

Y’see, the First Amendment covers a whole lot of ground. It guarantees that Congress cannot prevent us from getting together (freedom of association) whether with religious (freedom of religious belief) or secular intentions (petition the government for redress of grievances) or even patriotic ones, such as “we few, we happy few, we Band of Brothers”…

But today, let us remember the reason for this day, and pay tribute to those fallen heroes.

In Flanders Field

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

John McCrae, 1915.

And another…

Taps

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Go to sleep, peaceful sleep,
May the soldier or sailor, God keep.
On the land or the deep, Safe in sleep.

Fading light, dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright.
From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night.

Thanks and praise, for our days,
‘Neath the sun, ‘neath the stars, neath the sky;
As we go, this we know, God is nigh.

Sun has set, shadows come,
Time has fled, Scouts must go to their beds
Always true to the promise that they made.

While the light fades from sight,
And the stars gleaming rays softly send,
To thy hands we our souls, Lord, commend.

God bless our fallen heroes.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

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An odd thought

You all know that I’ve been going through the Harry Potter books recently, and it occurred to me that there are real-world people who seem to have been based on the HP books (or vice versa)…

For instance, John Edwards = Gilderoy Lockhart

and

Hillary Rodham Clinton = Dolores Jane Umbridge

Any others you guys can come up with?

Saturday, May 26, 2007

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Tell us more about the Quagmire

Because the facts say otherwise…

Nothing positive going on at all, is there?   

Hey, remember that “hypothetical” ticking time bomb?

Well, it’s ticking pretty fucking loudly now, wouldn’t you say?

Torturer/killers know where our boys are. They already tortured and killed one of our troops; doubtless they have the same planned for the remaining two, if they haven’t tortured and killed them already.

So: Shall we protect these nice fellers from harsh treatment and physical discomfort while our troops are getting drills through their hands and heated irons to their faces and genitals?

Is that “moral”?

You think giving these fellas the full court press of “pretty please with sugar on top” and “If you don’t, I’m going to write a nasty note to your UN Ambassador, doggone it!” will get them to give up that critical time-sensitive information?

Howsaboutit, you “True Conservatives”? Or are you already writing them off for dead?

What happens when it is a REAL time bomb? Better start learning how to spin your justifications of all those bodies…

Starting with Spc. Alex Jimenez and Pvt. Byron Fouty…

Over at Right-Thinking…..

I’m involved in a little debate/thread discussion.  The gist of it has to do with torture, Lee’s opinion of GWB, and the authority of the POTUS. 

My opinion is thus:

1.  Bush never ordered, tacitly or otherwise, the use of torture.  His point that the President’s duty to protect and defend the COTUS overrides his duty to follow international treaty was not meant to give anyone under him authority to torture.

2.  The Constitution is the law of the land, and it cannot be trumped by any international treaty we are signatory to.  The COTUS has supremacy, and no treaty can be ratified that is at odds with the Constitution. 

3.  Lee, whom I respect, has attached many negative traits to GWB because he personally dislikes the man’s religion and politics..

My point is this:  IF Bush thought that torture would protect the United States, he has the authority as POTUS to order it, no matter the treaties we are part of.  If he also thought that eating fish on Fridays would do it, and we were members of a treaty that said we couldn’t eat fish on that day, he would have the authority to order it and go against that treaty.  The point about torture where presidential authority is concerned is kind of secondary. 

Now, if torture is considered illegal by statutory law, or by the COTUS, the President cannot order it. 

Now, remember, I have said that torture is wrong in any case.  It isn’t effective, and it is inhuman.  However, what we have done is nothing compared to what terrorists are instructed to do.  That point was taken to mean that I support US soldiers torturing the enemy. 

YOu all should go over and read the thread objectively, and reply here with your opinions.  Please don’t blast Lee on his blog if you think he’s wrong, but do so here if you think I’M wrong.  Lee’s entitled to his opinion, and we are all friends.  I’m more curious if I’m missing some sort of obvious fact or reference.

The Unofficial Start of Summer

Well, yesterday was one of the busiest travel days of the year as millions leave their homes in a desperate attempt to “beat the traffic” as the three-day weekend kicks off…

It’s a shame that most people only see Memorial Day as nothing more than a three-day weekend or a reason for a shitload-and-a-half of sales across the spectrum of manufactured goods, from mattresses to cars, from yarn to adult beverages. Or the Indianapolis 500…

Well, this is your final announcement for - and chance to join in on - the Fourth Annual Patriot’s Journey. (cue trumpet flourish)

Once more, for those who have never heard of it, all you need to do is make a single post on your own blog - or as a comment in someone else’s blog (although you should post a link in that comment back to one of the participating bloggers, so that you don’t confuse the other people commenting) - of something positive about the United States of America. Once a day, from Memorial Day (May 28th) to Independence Day (July 4th) is all it takes.

So far, we have JimK, Scott, The Bastidge, and Cosmicbabe (Larry’s friend). Plus Your Humble Host, of course, and John Cross has even alluded to posting one or two things along the way.

The reason for this annual journey is simple: I thought it was interesting how those who cry that we “shouldn’t question their patriotism” are precisely the same ones who don’t bother expressing anything positive about this country?

When was the last time you heard a liberal - or “True Conservative”, for that matter - actually say anything positive about the US?

Well, let’s show ‘em how it’s done!

Starting Monday…

Friday, May 25, 2007

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Hitting the Green

After all, I do need a new hobby...

I’ve been wanting to get into golf for the past year or so. My dad is an avid golfer, but like most people who treat golf as a way of life, talking to him about getting a starter set of clubs was like talking to a professional chef about what kind of affordable fish to get at the local supermarket. I was met with more hostility than when I tell left wingers than global warming is a myth.

So, loyal readers, would anyone like to help me out with this golf dilemma? All I want to go is a get a start set so I can hit the driving range and get used to whacking around some balls.

Comments, please.